The G550's infrared Enhanced Vision System is the first such technology to be installed on a production aircraft, culminating a 10-year, $20 million R & D effort to certify the system for low-visibility approaches. The system uses a cryogenically cooled, highly sensitive IR camera that's tuned to detect both incandescent approach, runway and taxiway lights, and background thermal images. The camera is about 100 times more sensitive than uncooled designs and it also rejects almost all IR ``noise'' outside those two narrow temperature detection bands.
Early this month, an industry working group is expected to embark on one of the most sweeping regulatory tasks to come along in years: drafting a template that would rewrite at least two parts of the Federal Aviation Regulations and fine-tune a few others. The FAA in April selected a 28-member Steering Committee to spearhead the effort to take a close look at FAR Parts 135 and 125 and overlapping portions of Parts 91, 119 and 121. The agency invited participation to the newly formed aviation rulemaking committee (ARC) on the rewrite.
Innotech Aviation, Montreal, Canada, has appointed Robert C. Dragon to the position of sales manager for the U.S. Northeast region. Dragon has been in the commercial aircraft maintenance industry since 1977.
Dassault Falcon Jet Corp., Teterboro, N.J., has hired Ray Hughes as a customer service manager. Hughes will be based in the Los Angeles area, supporting Falcon operators on the West Coast.
The NBAA reports several suggestions to help ease congestion and delays for Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard and Cape Cod traffic during the peak summer months of June to August. Operators should: (1) file a flight plan as soon as possible, but no later than two hours before departure; (2) avoid peak times -- between the hours of 1:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Fridays, 1:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Sundays, and 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
As the aviation world prepares to celebrate the 100th anniversary of powered flight, Microsoft Corp. plans to launch its ``Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight'' in July. The new program allows aviation enthusiasts to take control of 24 historic aircraft including Charles Lindbergh's Ryan NYP ``Spirit of St. Louis,'' the Douglas DC-3 and Orville and Wilbur Wright's 1903 Wright Flyer. New, engaging features such as interactive multimedia also provide historical information on the airplanes that shaped aviation history and the pilots who flew them.
The FAA's Federal Radionavigation Plan specifies a timetable for phasing out ground navaids in favor of a satellite-based navigation system as a means of saving money. But that was before the Volpe Transportation Center issued its report on GPS vulnerability to jamming and prior to 9/11. The current plan still calls for phasing out NDBs, plus a large number of VORs, DMEs and ILSes at several airports. But a full complement of VORs and DMEs will be retained in mountainous sections of the United States for low-altitude navigation.
Epps Aviation, Atlanta, named Mike LaConto to the position of avionics manager. LaConto, who has been with Epps since 1998, was previously avionics service supervisor for the company.
Boeing said its X-31A VECTOR aircraft wrapped up its three-year flight test program on April 29, successfully demonstrating the use of thrust vectoring for performing extremely short takeoff and landing (ESTOL) operations. In its final flight at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., the X-31A performed fully automated ESTOL landings on an actual runway, approaching at a 24-degree angle-of-attack (twice the normal 12-degree AOA) at only 121 knots (more than 30 percent slower than the normal 175-knot landing speed).
Corporate Rotable and Supply, Inc., Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has hired Karin Muller to assist in the development of the new CRS International Sales Facility in Farnborough, England.
Most historians point to Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic flight as the watershed event that propelled aviation's rapid expansion. However, as Reed Chambers learned the hard way when he tried to launch an airline in the 1920s, public interest in the feats of daring aviators would not alone spur the widespread acceptance of the airplane as a safe and practical mode of transportation. If commercial aircraft operators were to prosper, they would need to be insured against the catastrophic losses that occurred all too often during the industry's formative years.
HE SAID IT WASN'T MUCH of a fire -- after all, it was just a school tool shed. The source and reason for ignition are unclear and now are likely to remain so forever. The notoriety came later after he and a buddy were laid low with scarlet fever, causing the school to pretty much shut down for days. By the time he returned, all the kids were aware of the fire and so pleased with the unexpected vacation they'd received on his account, they cheered him as a conquering hero. ``Here comes the `Torch!''' they shouted of the shed burner.
Globalstar has two new voice and data communications products for airplanes and helicopters. The company's new ARNAV RCOM-100 SatPhone is a single-line, multi-port Globalstar duplex transceiver that uses a standard telephone interface for installation flexibility and easy connectivity to a phone handset, PC or cockpit multifunction display. ARNAV also offers a number of accessories for the RCOM-100, including cordless and retractor-reel handsets as well as a dialer/adapter that allows calls to be made through the aircraft's audio panel for full headset operation.
MY GOOD FRIEND DICK AARONS received a call at home from Torch Lewis on a Sunday night just about a week and a half before Torch died. In a voice so weakened that Dick had to strain to hear the words, Torch had called up castigating Chicago Mayor Richard Daley for sending in backhoes in the dark of night to destroy the runway at Meigs Field in Chicago. Fulminating to the end against those who would do harm to aviation is just the way Torch was, and one of the reasons he was such a popular fixture on the back page of this magazine for nearly four decades.
OMF Aircraft announced it's developing a four-seat Symphony 4, derived from its two-place Symphony 160. Powered by a 250-hp Lycoming IO-540 engine, the Symphony 4 is projected to have a useful load of 1,190 pounds, allowing it to carry four full-size adults and their baggage with full tanks. Anticipated range is 485 nm on 50 gallons of fuel, and cruise speed at 75-percent power is estimated at 145 knots. A spokesman for OMF expects the Symphony 4 to be flying by year-end, with certification in late 2004 or early 2005.
The Falcon is level at FL 390 and two hours into a transcontinental flight when a passenger opens the lavatory door, and smoke begins to billow into the cabin. Startled, the man slams the door shut and alerts the pilots, who immediately don their oxygen masks, declare an emergency and begin a rapid descent. Despite the closed lav door, smoke continues to seep into the cabin and the frightened passengers open drawers and cabinets in a desperate search for a fire extinguisher. By the time one is located beneath the galley sink, the airplane is on a long straight-in final.
GAMA President Ed Bolen was named to chair the Steering Committee for the FAA's Part 135/125 review, scheduled to begin this month. Bolen, who gained Capitol Hill experience as a top aide to former Sen. Nancy Kassebaum (R-Kan.), has drawn praise for his leadership of GAMA, which he joined in mid-1995. Bolen also serves as chairman of the Management Advisory Council that advises FAA Administrator Marion Blakey and is a member of the Commission on the Future of U.S. Aerospace Industry.
The NBAA has awarded a total of $5,000 in scholarship funds to five students. The winners of the 2002 NBAA UAA Janice K. Barden Aviation Scholar-ship are Anthony Gregory, Liesl Kummer, Miguel Martinez, Gregory Radun and Scott Woodel.
TAG Aviation has built 120,000 square feet of new hangar and office space at Farnborough Airport outside London to support a growing base of customers. TAG's long-range plan is to turn the airport into a key European business aviation center. In addition to FSI's planned development there (see below), it is believed that at least one major equipment manufacturer is considering building an aircraft service center at Farnborough.
GAMA named Clay Jones, chairman, president and chief executive of Rockwell Collins, to the position of chairman, succeeding Bill Boisture, who resigned that post after he stepped down as president of Gulfstream Aerospace. Boisture joined the GAMA board in 1999 and chaired the International Affairs Committee in 2000 and 2001. GAMA said he also was instrumental in the creation of the GAMA Security Committee. Jones was named vice chairman of the association in November 2002.
Boeing is marketing a corporate shuttle version of its 717-200. The Boeing 717 Business Express is targeted at organizations with significant and regular employee movement between two or more key business facilities, said Thad Dworkin, sales director, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The aircraft can be configured to seat from 40 to 80 passengers in first- and/or business-class configurations. Additionally, the airplane can be equipped with airborne workstations, meeting spaces, videoconferencing capability and full broadband connectivity -- using Connexion by Boeing.
It was a March afternoon and all was quiet in the clear Midwestern skies. It was too early in the season for thunderstorms to be a problem, and traffic was light. The Gulfstream passing through the controller's sector was still more than 100 miles from its destination, but soon the pilot would begin his descent. ``Gulfstream eight-five-Sierra,'' came the controller's call.
Safire Aircraft is making major changes to its personal jet program. The S-26 design will not be produced. A new design, dubbed the Safire Jet, to accommodate the new choice of the Williams' FJ33-4 engine, will change the fuselage material from composite to aluminum and feature a larger cabin with an aft lavatory and have increased speed and range over the original design despite a heavier gross weight.
Tell your kids and friends ``Learning to Fly'' is back on TV. The Experimental Aircraft Association and National Association of Flight Instructors' 13-week series on flight training produced for the Discovery Wings Channel will air its final eight episodes beginning on July 5. The first five episodes premiered April 28-May 2. ``Learning to Fly'' is the first television series dedicated to showcasing the steps in earning a pilot's license.
