It seems that over the past year the world has experienced every type of major disaster — and many small ones as well. From floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, wildfires, hurricanes and tornados, there is no telling what Mother Nature will throw at us next. I predict locusts or frogs. If you cannot fly away before a natural disaster strikes, riding out the storm can be a nerve-racking experience. While the wind and rain howls is not the time to wonder if your insurance policy has you covered.
As Honda Aircraft begins its sixth year, it is advancing cautiously but steadily toward the 2012 scheduled certification of its $4.5 million HA-420 HondaJet. One pacing item for the airplane's overall approval is its turbofan engine, the HF-120. A product of GE Honda Aero Engines, the powerplant first ran in 2009 and became available for testing on a conformal aircraft for the first time in 2010. Development issues with the engine are forcing Honda to delay first deliveries of the light business jet by around nine months to mid-2013.
Based on its most recent poll of aircraft dealers, Vref Publishing Inc., the Arizona-based provider of data on the resale market, reported in the third quarter edition of its Market Leader newsletter, “There has been a surprising amount of activity. Early this summer, many dealers reported, 'they've never been busier.'”
ExecuJet Aviation Group, the Swiss-based aviation management company, reported in September that it has experienced continued growth in new and used aircraft sales since the beginning of the year. The company predicts the trend will continue well into 2012. Year-over-year figures show ExecuJet's deliveries this year increased by almost 100%, with aircraft sales revenues up by 90%.
American Eurocopter and Milestone Aviation Group announced at the Air Medical Transport Conference the sale to Milestone of five new Eurocopter EC130B4 helicopters. The order is valued at $17 million. Deliveries will take place in the second half of 2012. Milestone, the first global finance company focused exclusively on the helicopter market, will offer these aircraft for lease to operators.
Israel Aircraft Industries invented the super-midsize business aircraft in the mid-1990s when it launched its IAI 1126 Galaxy. These aircraft can fly eight passengers 3,200 nm and land with NBAA IFR reserves. They offer nearly Gulfstream GII cabin dimensions, but with the fuel consumption of a standard midsize jet. On a 1,000-nm trip, for instance, the aircraft actually burns slightly less fuel than a Hawker 750 or Cessna Citation Sovereign. IAI earned FAA certification for the Galaxy in December 1998, and 53 units were delivered from 1999 to 2001.
The arch cantilever design of TWA's new terminal at Idlewild is based on four concrete shells joined at the center, tapering out to a thickness of only 8 in. at the edge. Designed by architect Eero Saarinen, it covers one and one-quarter acres, cost $15 million and uses four concrete buttresses to support the massive shell.
As well noted in “High-Altitude Upset Recovery” (July 2011, page 52), pilots must know the basics for maintaining or, if necessary, regaining controlled flight. But what is the primary obstacle to maintaining that control? I would suggest that the answer, both at high and low altitudes, is confusion — the old, “Where's this thing taking us now?”
The comments made concerning the Dassault 7X recent trim incident are from customer briefing sessions that Dassault has held ever since the incident occurred.
An easy-to-surf guide to 31 CFR 515, the federal code governing licensing for travel to Cuba. Note, especially, the “definitions” section. (http://www.law.justia.com/cfr/title31/31-3.1.1.1.4.html) worldtravelguide.net/cuba/ passport-visa (Good review of Cuban visa requirements.)
Canadian Chris McCabe, chief pilot for Toronto-based Chartright Air Group, has had extensive experience flying chartered business jets into several locations within the Republic of Cuba. As the country adheres to ICAO procedures and altimetry, McCabe offered to provide a PANS OPS review for domestic operators who might eventually be Cuba-bound (or flying anywhere else that uses ICAO procedures):
Similar to other Model 525 aircraft, the Citation M2 will be powered by two Williams International FJ44 turbofans. The current plan is to keep the 1,965-lb. takeoff thrust rating, but it's certain that the new engines will have more robust cores that will provide improved hot-and-high airport performance, more climb thrust and higher cruise thrust. Expect a slight improvement in specific fuel consumption because the new powerplants will incorporate more advanced technologies than the FJ44-1AP engines fitted to the CJ1+.
The Caribbean region is a popular recreation and business destination for North Americans, Europeans and Middle Eastern residents. Universal Weather & Aviation's Dwayne Janczak, who is assigned to the Flexjet fractional ownership headquarters in Dallas, provided a review for operating in the area.
In late September, Cessna introduced the Citation M2, a less-expensive and more-capable version of the CJ1+ that's intended to be a more attractive intermediate step up in speed, range and cabin comfort that will be positioned between the Citation Mustang and the CJ2+. The new design has been in development for three years and it's slated to fly during the first half of 2012.
The Citation M2's cockpit is a clean-sheet design, a complete break from any avionics package yet installed in a 525-series airplane. The configuration embraces the ergonomic design philosophy of the Citation Ten, using three, side-by-side 14-in. landscape configuration, flat-panel displays with LED backlighting and 1,280-by-800-pixel resolution. These screens provide far more display area than the three, 8- by-10-in. portrait configuration displays in the CJ1+. Indeed, they provide the most display area available in current production light jets.
Computerized maintenance management systems have all but replaced paper for the same reason that such digital systems usually take over any task: It's all become too complicated for humans.
Cuba is the largest and westernmost island in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea. It also bears the distinction of having been “discovered” by Christopher Columbus on his first journey to the New World in 1492.
As pilots we don't seem to think much about the brakes until we really need them, and then our interest intensifies in direct proportion to the proximity of the runway end and the speed at which it is approaching.
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Given all the problems facing the Obama administration — intractably high unemployment figures, plunging poll numbers for the president and lack of traction for his latest stimulus proposal — it is increasingly difficult to understand why the executive branch continues to waste energy defending its wrong-headed attempt to “out” the owners of private aircraft.
Minimize quick turn-arounds. Fully release brakes during turn-arounds. Don't drag a brake during taxi. Consider single-engine taxi. Use reverse thrust/flat pitch if allowed. Anticipate the need to slow down and make necessary power changes ahead of time. Minimize brake applications. Apply a smooth, firm pressure to slow down the aircraft. Land at the slowest speed consistent with safety. Land on longer runways with the wind.
The opening of a new FBO typically is cause for industry celebration in an age when then the number of FBOs has diminished from 5,000 in the 1980s to 3,000. For Million Air, this summer's opening of its newest facility brings the addition of a 29th location, another company-owned base, and an entrance to what company executives believe is an up-and-coming market. This comes when financing is hard to find for new FBOs.
If you're a scheduler or dispatcher and you just received this issue of BCA, you have just about two weeks to make the Oct. 17 deadline for filing an application for a scholarship under the NBAA's Schedulers & Dispatchers Scholarship Program. The awards are announced in December and presented at the next S&D annual meeting, scheduled for Jan. 15-18, 2012, in San Diego.
Skyservice Inc., Canada's largest charter/management company, often dispatches Learjets from its air ambulance division to Cuba for patient-transfer missions. Based in Montreal, Skyservice has 56 managed and company-owned business aircraft in its stable, including five Learjet 35 air ambulances equipped with intensive-care units that routinely operate on a worldwide basis.
