The sum of the parts was worth more than the market was willing to bear for the airworthy aircraft . . .'' the man uttered sotto voce, in the manner of a physician explaining the most terrible diagnosis to a patient's family. In this case the speaker is J.R. Dodson, proprietor of Dodson International Parts, an aircraft salvage yard in Rantoul, Kan.
The TSA has certified a $350,000 explosive detection system: L-3 Communications' eXaminer 3DX 1000, which is three-quarters the weight and 10 feet shorter than the company's larger, more expensive machines, L-3 program manager Dawn Golden said. The smaller machine is slower (50 bags per hour vs. a standard-size EDS unit's 500 bph), but it is capable of detecting small amounts of explosives, she said, and is suitable for commuter airports (or corporate/ FBO applications). The machine must undergo a 90-day TSA field test before it can be put into service at U.S.
A ``Queen's Flight'' BAe 146-100 has been purchased by an Indonesian presidential candidate as a VVIP transport. The aircraft features a three-cabin layout with four rows of three-abreast seating forward, an eight-seat luxury mid-cabin section and a large divan in the rear. The sale leaves the Royal Air Force's 32 Royal Squadron operating two 146s in behalf of Queen Elizabeth II and high-ranking government officials. M.V.
Q: Business aviation has been concerned about security issues -- such as not being able to fly into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, and presidential TFRs popping up. How does the agency navigate through those concerns when they involve matters in which the FAA has little latitude?
The Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA) is now distributing the AEA Part 145 Transitional Guidance Workbook to its members. The workbook assists AEA members in revising their Inspection Procedures Manuals to the new format required by FAR Part 145 for a repair station manual and quality control manual. The workbook is free for AEA members. Nonmembers can get one for $500. AEA Headquarters is in Independence, Mo.
The NBAA will offer a new seminar, ``NBAA Security Training for Part 91 Operators,'' based on the proof-of-concept TSA Access Certificate (TSAAC) security project it developed with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The association has conducted security training seminars for FAR Part 91 operators based at New Jersey's Teterboro (TEB) and Morristown (MMU) airports, and New York's Westchester County Airport (HPN).
ExecuJet Switzerland has acquired the Zimex Flight Support FBO at Zurich Airport. The new ExecuJet FBO is located at the Business Aviation Center just north of the Runway 28 threshold. ExecuJet was previously known as Avcon, and was active in aircraft management and charter. Avcon is now the name of the company's aviation consultancy. ExecuJet also provides FBO services at Johannesburg, Copenhagen and Sydney as a joint venture with Universal Weather and Aviation. M.V.
MotoArt has introduced its limited-edition B-25 Rear Elevator Desk. Only 20 units have been created. The famous aircraft was deployed in all theaters during World War II and took Jimmy Doolittle's Raiders off the deck of the USS Hornet as retaliation for the attack on Pearl Harbor. The desk is constructed from an authentic B-25 rear elevator. The skeletal aluminum frame that was once covered in cloth is now powder-coated with a metallic finish. The desk surface is a half-inch-thick piece of glass with a polished contoured edge.
Although the Homeland Security Emergency Air Transportation System (HSEATS) was formed a year ago and received a $253,000 federal grant for fiscal 2003, the group of volunteer pilots has been unable to reach cooperative agreements with the American Red Cross, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), FAA and other agencies, according to Ed Boyer, a HSEATS leader. By 2005, the group plans to have a nationwide network of 5,000 pilots and aircraft to be used in ferrying people, equipment and supplies to where they are needed most in times of crisis.
It was an October afternoon in 1999 when a Dassault Falcon 900B en route from Portland, Ore., began a VFR descent into Grand Rapids, Mich. The aircraft had been cleared from its cruise altitude of 37,000 feet to 11,000 feet, and as it passed through 11,400 feet at 355 knots, the captain realized the autopilot was in ``pitch-hold'' mode. Thinking the autopilot would not make the level-off at the assigned altitude, the copilot pulled back to level off. That's when the trouble started.
Elite Flight Solutions, Inc. is transferring four jets to Anchorage, Alaska, to support its new air ambulance contract with Yuklon-Kushkokwin. The company's president, Gregory Love, said that a Learjet 25D is already in Anchorage and that revenue flights on the contract should begin on Oct. 1. Love said two Learjet 35As and a Cessna Citation II should arrive in Alaska in early fall. Elite anticipates annual revenues on the five-year contract to be approximately $4 million but could be as much as $6 million annually.
First of all, my congratulations to Richard Aarons for his continuous contribution to aviation safety; he is such an admirable person for his clarity and concepts. Sin-cerely, it's an honor for the aviation community to have him among us. Currently, I'm a B737 first officer and an airplane performance ground instructor for commercial pilots. A couple years ago I sent a request for permission to translate for my students his ``Avoiding Trouble in Part 23 Twins'' (Cause & Circumstance, November 1999, page 92).
YOUR AIRPLANE IS DOWN for unscheduled maintenance, and the boss needs to fly tomorrow. Your friends at the flight department across the ramp fly almost identical equipment, and their schedule is clear. Why not just have them fly the boss tomorrow, and you will owe them the favor? If no money changes hands, there shouldn't be any legal problems, right? With a little pre-planning, you should be fine legally swapping time with another flight department, but it would be difficult to get done everything that needs doing the day before a trip. First, the FAA issues.
Embraer announced that a gear-up landing on one of its EMB 170 test aircraft won't affect the aircraft's November certification date. The airplane, serial number 004, had damage on its engine nacelles and lower aft fuselage. Embraer started repairing the aircraft immediately.
A front-seat crash-test dummy lurches forward against a straining seat belt and blossoming air bag as the car surrounding it crumples like a soda can. It's a generic slow-motion scene now firmly imprinted in the visual memory of the American public, courtesy of the automobile safety establishment. What the pilot community may not be aware of, however, is that a similar scene, sans air bag, caps an intense development process for any new cockpit seat before it can be used in a business aircraft, courtesy of the FAA.
CHC Helicopters International has been awarded a five-year contract renewal with Total Exploration and Production Co. in Southeast Asia for the provision of one dedicated Sikorsky S-76A++ helicopter. The contract, awarded after a competitive bid, will generate anticipated revenue of approximately CDN$18.8 million over the five-year period. CHC has worked with Total in Southeast Asia for the past 10 years. Additionally, CHC has been awarded a short-term contract with Daewoo International Corp. and a 12-month contract expansion with Premier Petroleum.
The FAA has certified the Beriev Be-103, a six-place, Russian-built amphibious aircraft. The two aircraft now in the United States are for sale at a reduced price of $650,000 by the U.S. distributor, Kent Linn, at Sky Manor Airport (N40) in Pittstown, N.J. The aircraft has a claimed payload of 849 pounds, is powered by two 210-hp Continental engines and is equipped with Honeywell Bendix/King avionics. It has a maximum cruise speed of 135 knots and lands on its fuselage for water landings or landing gear for land operations. It was designed by Beriev Aircraft Co.
Featuring more than 200 full-color photographs and written by Von Hardesty, a curator at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, Air Force One takes the reader inside each aircraft to show how the office of the president was altered by aeronautical advances of the last 60 years and how each president in turn influenced the airplane. The book contains a foreword by Bob Schieffer, chief Washington correspondent for CBS News and host of ``Face the Nation.'' Price: $29.95 NorthWord Press 18705 Lake Dr. E.
FAA Administrator Marion Blakey plans to stay put. Addressing rumors that have swirled around Washington, D.C., during the summer that she is a likely candidate for the role of DOT secretary should Norman Mineta step down, she said, ``I have no ambitions whatsoever [to do that],'' in an interview with B/CA. Those rumors surfaced after Mineta had spent considerable time in the hospital recuperating from a series of health problems. Some began to question whether he would continue in his role.
NovAtel Inc. reports its selection by the Institute of Navigation and the National Aeronautic Association (NAA) to develop a GPS differential system for use by the association to validate straight course speed records for aircraft in flight. One of the NAA's functions is to encourage, coordinate, document and promote competition and record-making aviation and space events in accordance with the rules prescribed by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI), of which the NAA is the official U.S. representative.
In reading B/CA for over a quarter of a century now, I have yet to be disappointed . . . and the August issue was certainly no exception. The Operations Planning Guide was superb, especially the article about hourly cost maintenance programs. Your editorial staff has a talent for taking the most complicated subject and presenting it such a way that even I can understand it. Additionally, I know that those of us who have been around a while really appreciate the Greenhouse Patter reprints.
The Gasoline Analysis Test Separator (GATS) jar is a fuel tester that allows you to put preflight fuel samples back into your airplane. The pilot samples and checks the fuel as always, but as the sampled fuel is returned to the tank, a built-in screen separates solids and non-petroleum contaminants, so that only clean fuel is returned. A reversible sump actuator fits both pin and petcock actuators, while a wide-mouth collector helps protect hands and clothing.
The AOPA also objects to the FAA's January 2005 DRVSM implementation schedule, arguing that the FAA has not given itself or industry enough time to properly equip and certify aircraft to meet the new requirements. Instead, the association proposes a phased implementation that covers FL 350 to FL 390 by December 2004 and full implementation covering FL 290 to FL 410 coming at least two years later. Further, the AOPA says the cost of equipping aircraft in some cases exceeds their market value.
Women in Aviation International (WAI) scholarship listings are now posted online at www.wai.org. WAI has given out $3 million worth of training, equipment and money through scholarships since 1996. Awards in 2002 totaled $300,000, according to the association.
New Piper President and CEO Chuck Suma announced Sept. 9 at Piper's Worldwide Dealer Meeting in Orlando that the FAA has issued a Type Certificate for the Piper 6XT. The TC was issued just seven months after project launch. The Piper 6XT is a turbocharged fixed-gear version of the popular six-place Saratoga II aircraft. The Piper 6X, which was certified in July, is its normally aspirated equivalent.
