A recent article published in the Flight Safety Foundation's ``Human Factors and Aviation Medicine'' newsletter highlights the danger of yet another form of visual illusion caused by flickering lights. Referred to as ``flicker vertigo,'' the problem can develop when a pilot is exposed to lights flickering within a specific range of frequency. As the report authored by Charles E.
Thales and Honeywell have settled their patent infringement disputes over TAWS technologies. Honeywell claimed infringement of its patents by the T2CAS product manufactured by ACSS -- a joint venture of Thales and L-3 Communications. Thales claimed that Honeywell's EGPWS product infringed Thales patents. The settlement covers all Honeywell and Thales claims, and is based on a cross-license of each party's TAWS patents. Other settlement terms were undisclosed.
Executive Jet Management (EJM) reported that nine client aircraft in its charter fleet each generated at least $1 million in charter revenue in 2003. Albert C. Pod, EJM president and CEO stated, ``All of these management clients exhibit similar traits. Each has a crew that can respond within a short timeframe to fulfill our charter customers' needs, and the owners are eager to make the aircraft available for charter when not performing owner trips.
Premier Turbines, a division of Dallas Airmotive, now offers Core Zone Inspections on the new-generation Honeywell TFE731-20, -40 and -60 engine models. Neosho, Mo.- based Premier has configured an engine test cell to support CZI work. Premier has been a Honeywell authorized heavy maintenance facility since 1996. The company now performs CZIs on all models of the TFE731. More than 1,250 TFE731-20, -40 and -60 engines power business jets that are currently in operation worldwide.
Every charter provider B/CA interviewed for this report emphasized the fact that the backbone of the charter industry has been the cadre of independent brokers who represent the business to corporate and individual customers.
Truly a black Friday the 13th. Hurricane Charley took a major bite out of America's aviation heritage when it roared across Central Florida on August 13. Airplanes from history as well as new general aviation aircraft were destroyed in record numbers from the west coast to the east coast of Florida. The eye passed directly over Kissimmee Gateway Airport (ISM) and aviation witnesses reported that tornadic activity compounded the damage from hurricane winds at the field, collapsing many hangars.
Gulfstream Aerospace has received a follow-on certification from the FAA for the company's PlaneView flight deck. The integrated avionics suite features four 14-inch LCDs in landscape format, which provides more display area than other designs while reducing the overall weight and volume of the equipment. According to the airframe manufacturer, ``This new certification brings an array of new functionality to the integrated cockpit, including electronic charts and video displayed directly on the primary flight displays.''
Delta AirElite Business Jets has added a Gulfstream G550 to its operating certificate. The aircraft, which is based in College Station, Texas, joins the Delta AirElite fleet through a charter management agreement. Delta AirElite Business Jets is a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines.
Rockwell Collins has received certification of a dual Integrated Flight Information System (IFIS) on a Falcon 50, integrated with the aircraft's Pro Line 21 avionics retrofit. The IFIS enables electronic charting, graphical weather and enhanced map overlays. Installation of a dual system brings level three electronic flight bag (EFB) capability to the Falcon's flight deck, allowing operators to transition to ``paperless'' operations. The system's electronic charting functionality provides operators with approaches, SIDs and STARs, airport diagrams and NOTAMs.
Rockwell Collins and NASA recently conducted tests of synthetic and enhanced vision using a Gulfstream V. The tests used the company's head-up guidance systems and head-down cockpit displays with computer-generated images, and showed that synthetic and enhanced vision could be used for complex visual approaches at night or in bad weather. Test flights were conducted in Reno, Nev., to see how the system worked in mountainous terrain.
How good can life get? Patty Wagstaff, fresh from her induction into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio, traveled to the Farnborough Air Show to fly demo routines for Raytheon Aircraft in the company's T-6 turboprop trainer. Wagstaff was inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 17, along with William Anders, Harriet Quimby and Jack Ridley. The T-6 is serving in the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, NATO Flying Training in Canada and the Hellenic Air Force of Greece. Wagstaff is a three-time U.S. National Aerobatic Champion and a six-time member of the U.S.
I NEVER HEARD IT, but supposedly movie-maker Woody Allen once famously remarked, ``Eighty percent of life is showing up.'' Having recently been sorely dependent on others to help me first to get my airplane home from far away and then to join in an important anniversary celebration (Yes, loyal readers, both events were described on this page previously) I am deeply indebted to those who made the effort to show up.
Accidents are unusual. Many accidents happen to good pilots who just happen to fly into illusion situations. ``Illusions'' are a form of ``pilot error'' -- the pilot isn't aware of making the error. Seek redundant information. Suspend belief in ``the obvious.'' Keep your head on a swivel (to avoid stabilization). Avoid fixation (of attention). This is a form of sensory deprivation, a kind of fog or cloud that masks ambient cues. Keep your head out of the cockpit in the pattern.
Gulfstream Aerospace has received FAA approval to install the Honeywell Runway Awareness and Advisory System (RAAS) on aircraft already equipped with the Honeywell Mark V enhanced ground proximity warning system. The STC authorizes all 11 Gulfstream and General Dynamics Aviation Services' service centers to install RAAS in more than 20 different business jets, including those made by Boeing, Bombardier, Cessna, Falcon, Hawker and Learjet, as well as Gulfstreams.
Williams International received FAA type certification on July 31 for its FJ44-3A turbofan engine for Cessna's new CitationJet 3 (See ``Cessna Citation CJ3,'' page 34). FAA officials presented the type certificate to Gregg Williams, president of Williams International, at the Experimental Aircraft Association's recent AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis. The dual-channel FADEC FJ44-3A engine produces 2,780 pounds of thrust, a 14-percent increase in takeoff thrust and 12-percent more cruise thrust than the FJ44-2C engines on the CJ2.
WE KNOW THAT MOST accidents occur when tolerances line up unidirectionally. Sometimes, the tolerances are way out of the box, while at other times the unidirectional shift is very subtle. Such is the case of FedEx Flight 1478, which struck trees on short final approach and crashed short of Runway 9 at Tallahassee (Fla.) Regional Airport (TLH) just before dawn on July 26, 2002. The three cockpit crewmembers were seriously injured and the aircraft was destroyed by the impact and fire.
FOR MANY YEARS Alaska, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon have not had any state sales and use taxes. Now there are a few more states that do not impose state sales and use tax on aircraft specifically. The first state to exempt the sale of aircraft from its sales and use tax was Connecticut, which, however, imposed a weight restriction -- therefore only exempting aircraft weighing over 6,000 pounds. Massachusetts followed a couple of years later and exempted the sale of all aircraft, regardless of weight, from its state sales tax. And effective Jan.
The King Air Foundation is restoring the first Beechcraft King Air, s.n. LJ-1, so that it can make a 30-leg flight around the world -- and the foundation wants celebrities to pilot each 1,000-mile, four-hour leg. The flight, planned for 2005, is expected to take 45 days. The LJ-1 has four seats, and passenger space on each leg of the flight will be auctioned and raffled to the public. Winners can pick the celebrity pilot they want to fly with on the trip.
Business Jet Center completed a $5 million expansion of its facilities at Dallas Love Field, including a new hangar and adjoining office and ramp space. Business Jet Center increased its square footage by about 24 percent, from 178,000 square feet to 220,000 square feet. Ramp space has grown 65 percent, from 9.6 acres to 16 acres.
Cessna is developing a series of Service Bulletins for installation of the new Honeywell Runway Awareness and Advisory System (RAAS) on the Citation Bravo, Encore, Excel and X. Cessna released the Service Bulletin for the Excel in July and will release the remaining bulletins this month. The RAAS system improves situational awareness and helps protect against runway incursions by providing an aural advisory to the flight crew during taxi, takeoff, final approach, landing and rollout.
Paul A. Schweizer, who along with brothers Ernie and Bill founded Schweizer Aircraft, died Aug. 18 at age 91 in Elmira, N. Y. The son of Swiss immigrants, Schweizer became enamored of aviation as a teenager, and in 1930 he and his brothers designed and built a glider and taught themselves to fly it. Since then their company has produced over 6,000 aircraft, a third of them sailplanes and gliders, but today builds helicopters, UAVs, and covert surveillance aircraft.
New Piper Aircraft will offer Avidyne's FlightMax Entegra Integrated Flight Deck as optional equipment on all of its entry-level aircraft: the PA-28 family -- the Warrior III, Archer III and Arrow. The FlightMax systems have been available for about a year on the Saratoga II HP, the Saratoga II TC, the Piper 6X and the Piper 6XT.
Rene Co.'s 8400K Optical Micrometer measure the width of scratches and the vertical depth of surface features. The kit includes a Microm-eter with digital display, three bases for different surfaces, four lenses (two eyepiece, two objective), a flashlight with batteries and spare bulb, and an allen wrench. The digital display features a readout in inches or millimeters. In inches, the readout displays four places to the right of the decimal. Accuracy is 0.001 inches, resolution is 0.0005 inches. In millimeters, the readout displays two places to the right of the decimal.
Proposed Rules Honeywell TFE731-2 and -3 engines -- Replace certain low-pressure first- and second-stage turbine rotor discs. Lockheed 1329 airplanes -- Conduct repetitive inspections to detect crack damage in the front spar cap assembly of the lower vertical stabilizer and repair any damage. If no damage is found, rework the spar cap doublers.
