The FAA issued an emergency AD grounding all T-34s (Beech Model 45) following the Dec. 7, 2004, inflight breakup of a T-34 owned by Texas Air Aces, Inc., which also operates as Aviation Safety Training (AST). Texas Air Aces pilot Rick Gillenwaters and his client died. The aircraft was on an Advanced Maneuvering Program (AMP) flight, which is designed to demonstrate techniques for recovering an aircraft after an inadvertent loss of control. Company founder Don Wylie and another pilot were killed in a similar T-34 inflight breakup in 2003.
Concord, Calif.'s Buchanan Field (CCR) is the object of a major real estate developer's intention to replace the airport with 6,000 tract houses and apartments, commercial buildings and a college campus. In November 2004, Shapell Industries submitted a $2.64 million proposal to Buchanan's operator, Contra Costa County, whose review committee had four months to decide whether to accept it.
Diamond Aircraft has received Chinese Civil Aviation Authority (CAAC) certification for both the Lycoming- and Thielert-powered versions of its DA 40 Diamond Star single. This was preceded in summer 2004 by CAAC certification of the Austrian company's two-seat DA 20-C-1. Beijing PanAm, the first Chinese independent commercial flight-training academy, has ordered a fleet of 41 Diamond Stars and 19 DA 42 Twin Stars, all to be fitted with Garmin G1000 glass cockpits.
Another new product from 3M Aerospace is the 900AST, an advanced systems tester designed to quickly locate wiring faults. The unit incorporates time domain reflectometry (TDR) test functions with traditional multi-tester functions. The unit is programmable and can be customized for specific repeatable tasks. Internal memory storage allows the technician to store known good characteristics of a particular wire, to be used as a reference for identifying insulation breakdown and other problems.
For those days when everything else fails, there's the Lifesaver. Manufactured by Mid-Continent Instruments, Lifesaver is an attitude indicator with a built-in battery backup. So, if every other thing on the instrument panel flags, Lifesaver can help you keep the right side up until you get the ship in the clear and back on the ground. The battery is good for up to one hour. Installation of the 3.7-pound unit involves hooking up one standard four-pin connector.
Despite the flash and dazzle of satcom, ARINC hasn't forgotten its VHF customers. The company recently announced an enhancement to its Air/Ground Domestic VHF voice radio service: direct dialing from air to ground using DTMF (Dual Tone Multi-Frequency) tone dialing. This direct dial access will allow pilots in the air to route calls to their dispatchers and other ground points by dialing through the ARINC VHF network.
Twin Commander Aircraft, in cooperation with Meggitt Avionics, has special end-of-year discount pricing for a Meggitt MAGIC system for 690A/B Twin Commanders. The package includes MAGIC EFIS (Primary Flight Display and Navigation Display) on the pilot's side, two Meggitt ADAHRS (Air Data Attitude and Heading Reference System), and the new second-generation Meggitt 2100 Digital Flight Control System. The MAGIC package is priced at $99,999, plus $40,000 for installation when done by a participating authorized Twin Commander Meggitt sales and installation center.
December is the last month that aircraft operators that want to perform a major upgrade of their aircraft will be able to take advantage of accelerated bonus depreciation. Recently enacted legislation, which includes a provision that extends the placed-in-service date for large capital assets (such as aircraft) from the end of 2004 to the end of 2005, reportedly does not apply to major capital expenditures such as cabin refurbishment or installation of new engines or major avionics systems.
Brazil's aviation regulator, CTA (Centro Tecnico Aeroespacial), has certified the world's first production ethanol-fueled aircraft, the Embraer EMB 202 Ipanema crop-duster powered by a 300-hp Textron Lycoming IO-540-KIJ5D. Ethanol produced from the country's abundant sugar cane supply is three to four times cheaper than avgas in Brazil. Embraer claims that ethanol is also more environmentally friendly. The downside -- a tank of avgas gives the Ipanema a range of about 435 nm, while its ethanol equivalent provides 305 nm.
Mark Prenger, customer support engineering manager of aircraft wheels and brakes for Goodrich Corp., says pilots need to understand how the newer carbon brakes operate. Historically, pilots tended to keep the pressure off the brakes thinking they were ``using them up,'' but with carbon brakes the opposite is true.
How much maintenance work on an airplane can a pilot do these days? The quick answer is: not much. As aircraft have become increasingly technologically complicated, the opportunities for pilots to perform their own maintenance -- that is, to turn, twist, drain or smack something -- have significantly diminished.
-- FirstFlight Management (Elmira, N.Y.) -- This full-service aviation company, which offers aircraft sales and acquisition in addition to other services, has established a wholly owned business unit at New Jersey's Teterboro Airport. Industry veterans Mike Moore, Toni Drummond and Omar Diaz are staffing the new TEB office.
The NBAA's Joe Ponte announced his retirement effective at the end of November. Ponte came to the NBAA in early 1994 when the organization claimed 3,300 members. Membership passed the 8,000 mark at this year's convention in Las Vegas. As vice president of membership, marketing and regional programs, Ponte directed an aggressive program to attract smaller, one-airplane flight departments along with the larger corporate flight departments that had always been the core of the NBAA's membership.
Business aviation offers an appealing alternative to those who must travel quickly but are weary of the discomforts, security indignities, intrusiveness and schedule constraints so characteristic of the airline experience. Aircraft charter, so-called card membership (a form of block-purchase charter), fractional aircraft ownership, and placing one's own aircraft with a charter/management firm, all offer an escape from the airlines, with gradually escalating freedom and expense as one proceeds from basic charter to whole aircraft ownership.
Avfuel named William Merriweather the 2004 Avfuel and NBAA Michigan Business Aviation Scholarship Award recipient. A senior at Western Michigan University, Merriweather is majoring in Advanced Aviation Technology, with a minor in Business Management. The NBAA, in conjunction with Avfuel Corp., offers the $500 scholarship to a student with a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or above on a 4.0 scale and pursuing an aviation degree at an eligible Michigan college or university.
Chapman Freeborn Airchartering, which recently opened an office at Dubai International Airport, says it has been operating Antonov AN-24 twin turboprop passenger charters from Dubai and Kuwait into Iraq. The company says this is an ongoing operation and that it is also organizing AN-24 domestic flights.
``AOPA's true political power comes from its more than 400,000 members -- people who are more likely to vote and participate in the political process than the general population. And the politicians know that,'' said association President Phil Boyer in an e-mail newsletter. The AOPA has the largest staff of lobbyists of any general aviation organization. The AOPA Political Action Committee supported 105 candidates for Congress, providing nearly $600,000 in political contributions this election cycle.
The FAA awarded a grant to GCR & Associates Inc. to expedite the collection of airport facility data at all of the approximately 5,000 public-use, general aviation airports in North America for the agency's airport database. GCR is spearheading the compilation of detailed information such as runway lengths, approach standards, navaids and myriad facility and operational data. The New Orleans-based company has subcontracted with Southern Illinois University Carbondale to assist in the effort.
ASA, Inc. has published three reference handbooks of information pertinent to pilots, flight crew and aviation maintenance technicians, respectively. All three FAR/AIM books show changes since last edition, marked for quick reference and indexed to provide clear access to the subject matter with paragraph number or regulation. The Aeronautical Information Manual has been re-typeset for greater readability, and full color graphics have been added. A new combined FAR/AIM index has been added at the back of the book.
Lower Mill Estate, a gated housing development in England's Cotswolds, is being touted as the United Kingdom's first fly-in community although it's actually 10 minutes' drive from Kemble airfield (EGBP). Kemble has a 7,000-by-150-foot runway and offers transient service with aircraft parking and hangarage. According to airfield manager David Young, Kemble handles two to three corporate aircraft per week, ranging from Hawkers to Gulfstream IVs, but he expects this to grow.
The NTSB has released updates on the Oct. 14 crash of Pinnacle Airlines Flight 3701 in Jefferson City, Mo., after both engines on the Bombardier CRJ-2 quit at FL 410. The two pilots, the only occupants on board for the staging flight, were killed. Examination of the two General Electric CF34-3B1 engines found that the cores of both engines were free to rotate and there was no indication of any pre-existing problems that would have led to the accident.
Dave Cann, manager of the Aircraft Maintenance Division for the FAA Flight Standards Service in Washington, D.C., says it's important for corporate pilots to understand that they are allowed to practice preventive maintenance only on the aircraft they fly, operate or own, and that such maintenance is permitted only during non-revenue operations.
ACR Electronics has received FCC approval for its AeroFix 406 GPS I and AeroFix 406 GPS I/O personal locator beacons. While not designed to replace aircraft ELTs, the units are small enough to be worn on a flight jacket or mounted on easily accessible bulkheads. Both units broadcast on the 406 MHz frequency to the international COSPAS-SARSAT network, which is the international standard, as well as on the 121.5 MHz frequency, which is still used as a homing frequency. The GPS I is equipped with an interface cable to attach to an external GPS receiver.
Without the built-in checks and balances of an airline or independent commercial operation, business aviation flight departments often have little way of knowing if they're edging too close to reasonable safety and security limits. So, to help keep things in line, they develop self-checking mechanisms, from training with well-equipped and objective vendors, to periodically bringing another set of expert eyes onto the premises to check things out.
