To help pilots round out their knowledge of modern aircraft systems and equipment at an affordable price, Sporty's is introducing the ``Five Dollar Educational Program.'' For a sawbuck, pilots can obtain informational CD-ROMs and videos on a variety of subjects including Ground Proximity Warning Systems, Airborne Flight Information System, GPS, comm/nav, engine management, aviation oil, tailplane icing and icing for regional/corporate pilots. Price: $5 Sporty's Pilot Shop, Clermont County Airport Batavia, Ohio 45103-9747
Metro Business Aviation Ltd. has signed a long-term contract to support the Flexjet Europe fleet of Learjet and Challenger aircraft at London Luton Airport. The agreement is to provide maintenance to JAR Ops 1 standards on a 24-hour basis as well as complete aircraft handling services which includes cleaning and fuel provision. Metro, owned by the Harrods Group, has bases at London Heathrow and London Stansted as well as at Luton.
KaiserAir at Oakland International Airport (OAK) in California has been authorized by the FAA to install Terrain Awareness and Warning Systems (TAWS) in all Gulfstream III aircraft. The company also is seeking STC approval to install the same system in G-IV aircraft.
In the minds of attorneys, aircraft represent potentially catastrophic civil liability. And when presented with any kind of potentially devastating liability, an attorney's instinctive response is to create a separate corporation to ``shield'' the rest of the corporate family, and the individual assets of those who direct it.
Wahl Instruments has introduced the DHS110 Heat Spy series of compact, handheld, non-contact infrared thermometers. The six-by-two-inch unit has a temperature range from 0F to 850F and can display in either the Fahrenheit or Celsius scale. The unit features a keypad-actuated backlight that aids the display in low light conditions and comes equipped with a laser-aiming beam for targeting. One nine-volt battery supplies power for the Heat Spy and the LCD indicates when the battery is running low.
-- Historical CFIT risk from 1984 to 1994 (no GPWS), 30 million departures with 22 losses, is one CFIT accident for every 1.3 million departures. -- Post-GPWS operation with 24 million departures, there has been one loss, demonstrating a CFIT risk of one CFIT accident for every 24 million departures, a reduction in CFIT risk of 18 times since GPWS introduction. -- Aircraft fitted with EGPWS will further reduce the CFIT risk by another 100 times or one CFIT accident every 250 million departures.
Sky Helicopters has announced the expansion of the Garland/DFW Heloplex Heliport (T57), located 15 miles east of downtown Dallas, which the company says will make it the largest heliport in the United States. With completion expected in early 2002, the facility will expand to more than 45,000 square feet with additional parking and security for the eight-acre heliport. Sky Helicopters operates the heliport in cooperation with the city of Garland. The FBO provides Jet A and 100LL seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and additional times may be requested.
If you don't yet have any level of GPWS installed in your aircraft, weather radar can paint terrain quite well if you understand tilt management. Contact Archie Trammell of AJT at (903) 778-2177 to purchase his weather radar videotape series. Included is a section on using your weather radar as a poor man's GPWS.
Aviation Research Group/U.S. (ARGUS) has launched an online safety analysis program for FAR Part 135 charter operators. Called the Charter Evaluation and Qualification (CHEQ) Report, the system searches the databases of NTSB and FAA accidents/incidents, Aircraft Service Difficulty Reports, and the National Vitals Information System Certificated Operators and evaluates the safety record of charter providers on a daily basis. The reporting system is divided into historical safety ratings, current aircraft/pilot data and on-site safety audits.
Aviation Research Group/U.S. (ARG/US), an aviation information and analysis company, has released its report on the fractional aircraft ownership market in 2000 and is predicting growth over the next five years. Joseph Moeggenberg, ARG/US president, said the expected ``in service'' fleet size will grow to over 1,400 aircraft by 2005 and he sees an increase from 400,000 passengers carried to 1.6 million.
Following several years of steady growth, Mercury Air Group says it will spin-off its fuel sales and services business. Mercury shareholders will receive stock in the new public-traded company -- MercFuel -- while retaining their existing Mercury Air Group shares. CEO Joseph Czyzyk says the change will enable the company to ``unlock . . . hidden shareholder value'' as well as ``raise additional capital.'' Mercury operates 19 FBOs and provides ground support services and fueling for airlines, general aviation and government aircraft.
Handcuffs and guard dogs greeted the passengers and crew of an Atlantic City-bound helicopter that mistakenly landed at a military airfield. In a report filed with NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System, the pilot claimed that air traffic controllers suggested using the airfield (unnamed, but possibly McGuire AFB) because it was closer to the New Jersey city's casinos than the flight's original destination. The helicopter continued to land even after receiving no replies from the airport's control tower and witnessing ``many B-52 bombers . . .
Million Air at Teterboro Airport (TEB) in New Jersey has received FAA authorization to add Raytheon Hawker, Dassault Falcon 50/900 and Canadair Challenger aircraft to its maintenance/repair certificate. Previous to the amendment, Million Air Teterboro had been approved to maintain Cessna, Gulfstream and Learjet aircraft.
Europe's newest airport, Eleftherios Venizelos at Spata, near Athens, Greece, due to open on March 1, was delayed until March 28 after the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and airline representatives expressed grave doubts about the airport's land-side infrastructure.
BAE Systems has signed up Atlantic Coast Airlines for its Material and Component Repair and Overhaul (MACRO) program. This makes it the first North American Jetstream 41 customer to sign up for the fixed-rate per flight hour program and covers the airline's entire 32-ship Jetstream 41 fleet. Tom Moore, Atlantic Coast president and chief operating officer, said, ``We appreciate the customer-focused approach BAE Systems has taken in the design of the MACRO program.
Inadequate communication leads to deficient planning and briefings that are manifested in poor IAPs. Communication skills can range from cockpit communications where all pertinent information is discussed between flight crewmembers to communications with dispatch and ATC.
The BFGoodrich Co., now primarily an aerospace company, hopes to distance itself from its history as a tire maker by changing its name to Goodrich Corp., and with that change, introduce a new logo design. ``The long and short of it is, this company's transformed,'' said company spokesman Kevin Ramundo. ``It's now one of the leading aerospace suppliers in the world, and it's also strong in engineered and industrial products. And we think it's very appropriate to have an identity that reflects the transformation of this company.''
If your operation is still using flares or traffic cones to designate a helicopter landing zone (LZ), then Priority 1's FlightSite Landing Zone Kit may be an option for you. Used primarily by medevac units, FlightSafe is a five-strobe system enabling LZ identification from a 12,800-foot visible ceiling. The system employs a non-vision-im-pairing xenon flash that is secured by patented weightwashers to en-sure the strobes will remain in place during heavy rotor downwashes.
Piper's new Malibu Meridian turboprop is a pretty slick piece of machinery. Its look is all-business, it's easy to fly, and its Meggitt avionics are a refreshing departure from the antiquated steam gauges found in the instrument panels of most light aircraft. Some will no doubt say the Meridian is what the Malibu should have been in the first place, but it's really a different airplane.
Delivery numbers for January and early numbers for February show the market for new and used turbine business aircraft is continuing its solid pace. The same holds true in the compilation of delivered fractional aircraft, count of fractional buyers and the number of fractional shares sold.
Dallas Airmotive's Millville, N.J., facility has donated $2 million worth of jet engines and maintenance equipment to the New Jersey Academy of Aviation Science, an airframe and powerplant (A&P) school, located on Millville Municipal Airport (MIV).
