The FAA's preferred IFR routes are available on the Web. According to the NBAA, pilots filing using preferred routes can (1) usually get ``cleared as filed'' and (2) experience minimum route changes in flight. Operators can find a preferred routes database at www.fly.faa.gov. Selecting ``Products'' on that site will take you to the ``Route Management Tool'' where a link to preferred routes can be found.
High-wing hazards. The FAA reported a FedEx Cessna Caravan was taxiing for departure from Phoenix on Nov. 13 when the jet blast from a Bombardier CRJ blew the single-engine turboprop onto its left wing. No injuries to the pilot were reported. The same day, a Cessna 172, ``overturned due to crosswinds while executing a run-up'' at New York's Long Island MacArthur Airport (ISP). That airplane was battered, but the pilot was OK.
This report provides a list of countries whose Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP) publicizes that all navigation coordinates included in the AIP have been re-referenced to WGS-84 or an equivalent geodetic reference datum. Note: Many countries only include international airports in the AIP. Therefore, the conversion of coordinates to WGS-84 associated with domestic and military airports may still be ongoing in some of the listed countries.
Avfuel Corp., an independent supplier of aviation fuels and services, will be funding a scholarship through the NBAA to encourage aviation careers for Michigan students. AvFuel's headquarters is located in Ann Arbor, Mich. Students enrolled in aviation programs at colleges or universities located in Michigan will be eligible for the $500 grant, which can be used to offset tuition or any of the numerous high costs related to educational materials. The applications will be available on the NBAA Web site at www.nbaa.org/scholarships beginning Dec. 1, 2003.
Nov. 3 -- A Eurocopter AS350 B3 experienced a loss of control during an emergency landing at Falcon Field Airport (FFZ) in Mesa, Ariz. Native American Ambulance, Inc. was operating the helicopter, which sustained substantial damage. No injuries were reported. The aeromedical flight, carrying a medical patient, had departed Show Low, Ariz., en route to Scottsdale, Ariz. Nov. 3 -- A Bell 206B helicopter was destroyed when it burned after crashing into a residential building in Coleman, Wis.
Honeywell is offering its ``Astreon'' series of high-performance LED wing-tip position lights specifically designed for business jets. The modular design of the lights allows form-fit retrofit in a number of business aircraft including the Gulfstream IV and GV, Citation X, Learjet 31 and Learjet 60. The lights will be FAA approved under a new TSO that Honeywell has applied for and the G550 will be the first aircraft that will flight test and evaluate the lights.
The National Air Transportation Association opposes the FAA's proposed new transoceanic ETOPS requirements for U.S. FAR Part 135 operations. The NPRM proposes to restrict charter operators to staying within 180 minutes flight time of an ``adequate airport,'' although certain aircraft and operators could qualify for 240-minute ETOPS.
Innotech has a proprietary FAA STC for a DirectTV installation on Challenger 601s, similar to the one it gained in 2003 for Challenger 604s. Montreal-based Innotech had to design, fabricate and certify a tail fin radome for the satellite television antenna. It performed the work for a U.S. customer. The system uses a Honeywell AIS-1000 to distribute the four independent TV channels, DVD video and Airshow to various cabin locations.
Rockwell Collins has introduced its latest satcom -- the SAT-6100. The system is designed to provide multiple voice and data communications for both the cockpit and cabin. It comprises a Collins SRT-2100 and two Collins HST-2100 transceivers and provides three Aero-I/H/H+ channels and two Swift64 channels. The SAT-6100 can be installed outside of the pressure vessel in order to preserve space. A new 50-watt high-power amplifier allows simultaneous usage of two voice, two high-speed data and one low-speed data channels.
Embraer has confirmed that Swiss International has asked for a postponement of its order for 15 Embraer 170s and 15 Embraer 195s. Swiss was to have taken delivery of four Embraer 170s in 2004. Despite that, Embraer says that it does not anticipate lowering its forecast 160 aircraft deliveries in 2004 as demand from other operators will fill the production slots postponed by Swiss.
British Airways' seven newly retired Concordes will now become supersonic artifacts at museums and airports around the world. The Museum of Flight in Seattle, and the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City will each get one, as will Grantley Adams Airport in Bridgetown, Barbados. The remaining aircraft are destined for Filton, Bristol, Manchester and London-Heathrow airports in the United Kingdom and the Museum of Flight in Edinburgh.
Jet Aviation Singapore's Cessna Service Station authorization now includes the Caravan 208 as well as the Citation line. Jet says there are 35 Cessna Caravan 208s operating in Southeast Asia.
Each year the editors of B/CA recognize and celebrate the achievements of individuals who have made significant contributions to improving business aviation, presenting them with our Vision Award. In all cases the recipients have been active members of the community who continued about their work in making the industry safer, more efficient and more vibrant long after the applause quieted and the plaques were mounted on their office walls. This year, however, we thought we'd take a somewhat different approach.
Jeppesen has released its latest computer-based training program designed specifically for corporate flight department pilots. Called FliteCrew DLS v2.0, the interactive CD-ROM features 28 hours of interactive courseware that allows the pilot to study from their own computer, anywhere. The courses are FAR Part 135 compliant and include topics such as weather, performance, charts/navigation, airport operations, regulations, AIM procedures, human factors and MedAire inflight medical training.
SimCom Training Centers will provide authorized training for pilots and maintenance technicians of the Ibis Ae270 turboprop. A comprehensive training manual supported with computerized courseware will be augmented with hands-on parts and training aids. SimCom plans to construct a type-specific simulator for the Ae270 within three years following the first delivery aircraft in North America. Price: TBD SimCom Pan Am International Flight Academy 6989 Lee Vista Blvd. Orlando, FL 32822 Phone: (407) 275-3900; Fax: (407) 275-0031 www.panamacademy.com
In this, the centennial year of powered, heavier-than-air flight, the focus is on the great pilots like von Richthofen, Lindbergh and Doolittle, and on pioneering aeronautical designers such as Sikorsky, Douglas and Martin. While these aviation giants are all deserving of acclaim, so too are those who demonstrated skill and ingenuity with calipers and wrenches -- the professionals who get the machinery into flying condition. Case in point is Charles E.
Woodward Governor Co. will supply the ignition and integrated engine control systems for the Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) PW615F turbofan engine, which will power Cessna's Citation Mustang business jet. The PW615F is the first production application of P&WC's PW600 family of engines, which could include turboshaft and turboprop variations. Woodward will design and manufacture the ignition system as well as the fuel pump, metering unit and bleed valve actuator for the engine control system.
FlightSafety International's Simulation Systems Division has seven simulators in the delivery pipeline for several learning centers. The Wichita Raytheon center will get the first Hawker Horizon and a King Air 350. The Wichita Cessna Learning Center gets the first CJ3 and the sixth Citation Excel. West Palm Beach gets a Sikorsky S-92. Wilmington will get a Global Express and the Teterboro Learning Center will get a Falcon 2000 with the EASy cockpit.
Universal Weather and Aviation says pilots can now view a specific Universal flight plan or great-circle route on the company's weather graphics. Universal clients can overlay flight plans on: High-Level Significant Weather, Low-Level Significant Weather, Surface Prognosis and Preliminary Weather charts as well as scalable wind and temperature, turbulence, icing, fog stability index, and convective and non-convective precipitation charts. For more information, visit www.universalweather.com.
Lanmar Aviation has begun construction of a new 28,000-square-foot FBO facility at the Groton-New London Airport (GON), Conn. The new facility will house the company's aircraft management and charter services and will include a passenger terminal, reception area, lounge, kitchen and conference room. Office space will be available for clients who hangar aircraft on site. Transient pilots will have use of a dedicated pilot's room, showers, flight planning and weather service. Lanmar is offering pre-completion specials on aircraft storage and office space.
``The forces of security have been overzealous in their treatment of business aviation, and we must react with . . .'' He paused, laughed softly, and continued, ``I've slipped into `we' again, and I should not. But I still feel it's a part of me, or I'm a part of it.'' John Haldeman Winant was speaking from his retirement home in Williamstown, Mass., where he serves as a volunteer in local service groups. It is a quiet time, but after years in the thick of action, he's earned the peace. The action began in April 1944 when Winant, a U.S.
Corporate Flight Management (CFM) has ``kid-proofed'' a Cessna 150 for the National Air and Space Museum's (NASM) ``How Things Fly'' exhibit -- where museum visitors are invited to sit in the trainer to operate the controls and get a sense of flight in the aircraft. CFM of Smyrna, Tenn., will adopt the Model 150 into its maintenance database and its technicians will ensure that the airplane stays in top form. Earlier, company mechanics designed and built a full-motion flight simulator scaled for children in which nearly 200,000 kids have since earned their wings.
Dassault's new, 4,500-nm Falcon 900EX EASy received its FAA and EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) certification, in Bordeaux-Merignac, France, on Nov. 13. ``This is great news,'' said John Rosanvallon, president and CEO of Dassault Falcon Jet Corp. ``It means deliveries of aircraft will begin almost immediately from our Little Rock Completion Center.'' Early customers have already graduated from training on FlightSafety International's 900EX EASy Level D Simulator. The first 900EX EASy (s.n. 97) flew in February 2002.
Horizon Air converted two firm orders for Bombardier CRJ700s to Bombardier Q400 70-seat turboprop airliners for delivery in 2004. Horizon already operates 15 Q400s and 16 CRJ700s. Bombardier stated that Horizon Air now has firm orders for 12 additional CRJ700s. Under the new plan Horizon will take delivery of the aircraft through 2009. The Seattle-based carrier also has options for an additional 25 CRJ700s and 15 Q400s, according to Bombardier.
It is surely a sign of another time and of the subject's modesty that Walter Pague's resume uses but a single typewritten page. It notes that in 40 years of professional flying, he had just three employers, and describes his involvement with the NBAA in barely more than a sentence. Nowhere does it mention that Pague was one of the founding fathers of modern business aviation, or that his volunteerism helped assure the industry's success, but both are true.
