Passenger and luggage scales take the guesswork out of weight and balance calculations. Sporty's new digital passenger scale can measure weights up to 300 pounds, and the luggage scale, consisting of heavy-duty steel hooks, weighs luggage up to 55 pounds. The passenger scale operates on AAA batteries and weighs less than 2 pounds. The passenger scale measures 9.5-by-9-by-1.75 inches; the luggage scale's dimensions are 9-by-2-by-1 3/8 inches.
GAMA's 2004 priorities as outlined at its annual industry review and forecast presentation in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 11: Promote safety; enhance general aviation security; preserve access to airports and airspace; extend bonus depreciation; expand air transportation capacity; improve the certification process; facilitate research; foster international markets; and promote the benefits of general aviation to the public. The association also noted that upon a recommendation of the Commission on the Future of the U.S.
AirCare Solutions Group, an aircrew services and training specialist, bought a flight attendant staffing business from Air Elegance in California. AirCare, based in Olympia, Wash., will rename the business AirCare Aircrews and extend the unit's services by including pilots, mechanics and dispatchers for contract or permanent placement. Douglas Mykol, AirCare CEO, said the acquisition ``will allow us to assist both professional crewmembers looking for placement and flight operations looking for high-quality personnel.''
Atlantic Aero, Inc., Greensboro, N.C., has hired Steve Kluck to lead the cabinetry division in the expansion of its new aircraft interior facility on the Piedmont Triad International Airport. Additionally, William Prescott has been hired as a sales manager. He was most recently the service sales manager at West Star Aviation.
Because of all the hoopla surrounding the celebration of the centennial of powered flight in 2003, another significant aviation milestone recently passed with little notice: the 75th anniversary of the founding of Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC). Incorporated on Nov. 29, 1928, outside Montreal in Longueuil, Quebec, the company has become a world leader in the design, manufacture and servicing of turboprop, turboshaft and small turbofan engines for business, regional, ag, utility and military aircraft operators.
Not long ago, we were chatting with Kevin Wayt, a Falcon 10 captain, about mountain waves and rotors at his firm's hangar office at John Wayne-Orange County Airport (SNA) in Santa Ana, Calif. We were interested in Wayt's knowledge of these often violent weather phenomena because he's a 13,000-plus-hour business jet pilot who also is a triple-diamond award-winning sailplane pilot and instructor. Wayt's pilot certificate has DC-8, Boeing 737, Learjet and Citation type rating endorsements, and he's logged PIC time in a variety of World War II vintage war birds.
NBAA, Washington, D.C., has named Dina E. Green manager, seminars. In her new position she will assist in the planning and implementation of the NBAA Seminar Program and Informational Sessions at the annual meeting and convention, EBACE and LABACE. Her previous position was with the National Aircraft Resale Association (NARA).
Jet Aviation's Bedford, Mass., operation performed the first Spirent Systems AvVisor Plus cabin display system installation in a Beechjet 400A. The AvVisor Plus adds worldwide moving maps and digital video capabilities to the cabin audio interface and real-time flight data displays of previous Spirent systems.
Several different types of extinguishers are commonly used in aircraft cabins. While the FAA is not in the business of certifying specific extinguishers or extinguishing agents, the regulations do require that the available extinguishers be approved and appropriate for the type of fires likely to occur (refer to AC 20-42C, Hand Fire Extinguishers for Use in Aircraft). Aircraft cabins typically provide fuel for Class A (ordinary combustibles such as paper, wood and fabric), Class B (flammable liquids) and Class C (electrical) fires.
Jet Aviation will use NewspaperDirect to provide its passengers locally printed same-day issues of more than 200 newspaper titles from around the world. The list of newspapers available includes The Wall Street Journal, The Times of London, The Washington Post, El Pais, La Repubblica, The New York Times, Le Figaro, Sydney Morning Herald, Folha De S. Paulo, Neue Zuricher Zeitung, Yomiuri Shimbun, and Asharq Al-Awsat. The newspapers are exact reproductions of the originals but delivered in a printable 11-by-17-inch format.
Here's a little nightmare: You take in your aircraft for some servicing that involves maintenance work on the reversers. Come the appointed day, you return to the shop, sit down with the maintenance supervisor to review the paperwork, do a careful walk-around, and then put the airplane back into service. Fine. What you don't know is that the fellow who was installing the thrust reverser bumper pads on your airplane wasn't sure how to complete the task, and didn't have the right tools to do so. When he asked for help, he was told to finish the job himself.
MY MOTHER'S FATHER died when I was a little boy. Still, I remember him a bit, in particular at one meal at his lovely Forest Hills home when I spilled my glass of chocolate milk. Grampy suffered neither fools nor flaws and as the brown liquid spilled onto the floor he glared first at me and then at my grandmother, who, bless her, rose immediately in my defense. The crisis abated, but he was clearly upset, and consequently so was I. That anecdote draws a terribly unfair picture of a man who deserves a rousing epitaph.
Bombardier President and CEO Paul M. Tellier recently reiterated that the future of its aerospace industry should be a priority for Canada. In a Feb. 16 speech to the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, the executive posited three key elements of a Canadian national aerospace policy: the design, manufacture and financing of new products.
The Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge is an official FAA compilation of the theory and knowledge required of pilots and is the official source for information used in developing questions for the FAA Knowledge Exams. This new edition covers changes and revisions since 1997 and is organized to provide the broadening spectrum of knowledge required as pilots progress from student through advanced pilot certificates.
Delta AirElite Business Jets added a new Citation X to its charter certificate. The aircraft is based at the San Jose, Calif., International Airport (SJC). Delta AirElite Business Jets is a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines. For more information, call (877) DAE-JETS (323-5387) or visit www.airelite.com.
AIRCRAFT REPORTS Inflight Report: Falcon 2000EX Fred George Jan., p. 38 Eclipse Program at Crossroads Fred George Jan., p. 48 Helicopter Operations in Temporary Landing Areas David Esler Feb., p. 56 Your First Business Jet Fred George March, p. 40 Operator Survey: Citation Encore Fred George April, p. 34 Business Airplanes 2003 Fred George May, p. 46 Used Airplanes 2003 Jessica A. Salerno May, p. 78 Emerging Aircraft 2003 William Garvey May, p.
The DA40-180 DiamondStar is now certified and available with Avidyne's FlightMax Entegra integrated flight deck, which includes the new EMax primary engine instrument display. The Entegra system on the DiamondStar consists of two 10.4-inch diagonal, high-resolution, sunlight-readable displays -- a FlightMax Entegra EXP5000 primary flight display (PFD) with an integrated solid-state air data and attitude/heading reference system (ADAHRS), and the EX5000 multi-function display (MFD).
The Embraer 190, a 100- to 108-seat twinjet, rolled out on Feb 10. Meanwhile, Honeywell has delivered new software that should help the Model 170 win FAA/JAR certification. Embraer hopes to deliver a total of 53 of the type this year. The aircraft is expected to be approved for operation at London City Airport with a full 70-passenger load and with a range of 700 miles.
AOPA, Frederick, Md., has named Roger Cohen to its vice president of regional affairs position. He joins the AOPA from the Air Transport Association of America, where he served 15 years as managing director of state and local government affairs. In his new position, Cohen will oversee the AOPA's 13 regional representatives, state affairs, the airports department and the Airport Support Network.
In summer 2003 on a high overcast night, a Learjet was arriving in the Phoenix area from the northeast. The destination was Scottsdale (Ariz.) Airport (SDL). Although it was one of those post-thunderstorm, somewhat hazy nights, the visibility was more than adequate for a visual approach to Runway 21.
Bombardier Skyjet, Washington, D.C., a reservation service for charter business jets and a unit of Bombardier Aerospace, appointed Alexandre Monnier to the post of general manager. Monnier most recently served as director of marketing and business development for Bombardier Flexjet.
The fundamentals of flight are the same for everyone. Lift must overcome gravity. Thrust must be greater than drag. Or else nobody goes anywhere. But the business landscape is littered with the wreckage of flight operations that mastered the flight fundamentals only to run afoul of the hazards of the spreadsheet. Staying not only alive but fiscally virile and viable for 50 years requires something extra. Peter Wright Jr., son of Keystone founder Peter Wright Sr., grew up in the corporate culture that is Keystone.
Trajen Flight Support, now an Air BP dealer, has completed a new hangar and terminal facility. Located at Tucson International Airport (TUS), the new facilities feature 12,000 square feet of hangar space as well as office space and a new terminal area. The facility has a 52,500-square-foot parking ramp. Plans are also in place to expand the facility next door to Trajen. Over the next three years, the company plans on expanding that facility with an additional 7,100 square feet of hangar space, to be used primarily for general aviation operations and services.
Aerospace Filtration Systems has received STC and PMA approval for its engine inlet barrier filter (IBF), the same system currently flying on military Bell OH-58D and Boeing/MDH AH/MH-6J helicopters in the Iraqi desert. The first STC is for Bell 407s, and the company is seeking certification for installation on Bell 206-L3s and L4s.
