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February 1, 2010
By The AVweb Editorial Staff
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Business Aviation Will Help Companies Not Only Survive
But Prosper During the Current Financial Crisis
To be your most productive, and your most efficient, you must keep flying. Because in so doing, you will emerge from these times even stronger than before. And you will replace the uncertainty that
surrounds many, with the confidence and courage to light the way for all.
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After Sebring: The FAA, Regs, and the
Future |
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The FAA has withdrawn or modified certain language that defines the certification of aircraft and airmen for the operation of light sport aircraft. In the final rule, the FAA has modified one
proposal first listed in the 2008 NPRM and eliminated eight others. The FAA has chosen not to replace sport pilot privileges with aircraft category and class ratings on all pilot certificates.
Similarly, the FAA has withdrawn a proposal to replace sport pilot flight instructor privileges with aircraft category ratings on flight instructor certificates. And sport pilot flight instructors
will not be required to log 5 hours of flight time in a make and model of light sport aircraft before providing training in same. And for those student pilots and sport pilots seeking to operate an
airplane with a maximum calibrated airspeed of greater than 87 knots, the FAA will require one hour of flight training under the hood. Of 22 proposals contained in the 2008 NPRM, 14 remain (including
the aforementioned modified proposal).
Interested parties should read the full details of the final rule for themselves. The changes will update prior
regulations implemented in 2004. The FAA says it received about 150 comments on the NPRM, the bulk of which were from individual pilots and flight instructors. It also saw formal comments from the
EAA, AOPA, NAFI, and the U.S. Ultralight Association.
The FAA plans to host open meetings, the results of which "will affect the next 20 years of small airplane design, certification, and operations," according to the agency. The plan is to use public
input to help determine how well the current airworthiness standards work through the course of an aircraft's service life and with respect to anticipated future requirements. "Many previous
assumptions for small airplanes are no longer accurate," says the FAA. The agency would now like to consider requirements based on airplane performance and complexity instead of the previous approach
that has until now been based on propulsion and weight, according to the FAA. The FAA is encouraging public participation. "We would like feedback from manufacturers, pilots, owners, mechanics,
instructors and anyone else with an interest in the small airplane industry," says the FAA. Dates, times, and details after the jump.
The first meetings will be held Feb. 23 and 24 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Marriott, 9100 Corporate
Hills Drive, Wichita, Kan., 67207. Space is limited, so all interested parties should notify the FAA's Lowell Foster via phone at (816) 329-4125 or by e-mail at lowell.foster@faa.gov . Each meeting's
starting point will be a discussion of findings from a previous
study. The FAA says that at least three two-day meetings will be held, with more to be scheduled as needed to match interest.
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The first official meeting of the Senate General Aviation Caucus, co-chaired by Senators Mark Begich (an Alaska Democrat) and Mike Johanns (a
Nebraska Republican) took place Thursday, Jan. 28, composed of 23 members. The meeting addressed the role that GA serves in the U.S., and how the concerns of the GA community could be elevated in the
Senate. The Senate Caucus was founded in September. Its members will seek to serve as a platform for bipartisan action on issues important to the GA community. Specifically, "The goal of the Senate
General Aviation Caucus is to work with pilots, aircraft owners, the aviation industry, and relevant government agencies to insure a safe and vibrant environment exists for General Aviation (GA) in
America," according to Begich's Web site. The House General Aviation Caucus, formed last year with assistance and urging from AOPA, held its first meeting in May. GA advocacy groups support the
organization of the caucuses as a better-organized vehicle to advance their concerns. The caucuses so far hold more than 100 members on their rosters.
Said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen, "The continued growth of these caucuses underscores the recognition by Congress that general aviation creates jobs, provides a transportation lifeline to
communities across the country, helps businesses succeed and supports people and communities in times of crisis." NBAA has compiled a list of active General Aviation Caucus members listed by state for
both the House and Senate. It is available here.
With a recent focus on funds spent under President Obama's stimulus package, CNN Friday highlighted a $14.7 million runway project currently under way in Ouzinkie, Alaska, population 200. The town is located on a smaller island adjacent to Kodiak Island,
south of mainland Alaska. According to CNN, the runway project was going to happen anyway, stimulus money or not. FAA funding had been slated for the project; the stimulus package just identified it
as shovel-ready. But the project's attachment to the Obama administration's stimulus package may have added controversy. An opinion written by a contributor to the Alaska Standard detailed the project
in a Dec. 31 article titled, "The Ouzinkie airstrip boondoggle." In it, author Mike Dingman writes,
"this is just one example of Obama stimulus funds gone awry."
According to CNN, from a stimulus/jobs creation standpoint, only about 46 temporary jobs have been created by the project. But, CNN noted, more than 120 companies are benefiting from the trickle
down, through materials and services. Ouzinkie currently operates a 2085 x 80-foot runway that (due in part to its size) ends just shy of Marmot Bay and is not available during weather conditions the
area experiences through much of the year. That runway "does not meet minimum design standards for runway length, runway width, runway safety areas, and runway lighting and is being actively eroded by
the ocean," according to the Alaska DOT. And it's close to a bird-seducing garbage dump, says CNN. When finished, the new larger runway will operate 1.7 miles away and supplement the existing runway,
which will continue to operate when conditions permit.
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The FAA now believes a radio call from someone who claimed to be a passenger aboard a small plane that (he alleged) impacted mountains near Stanford University actually originated from a handheld
transceiver in a downtown neighborhood, according to a local ABC affiliate. ABC7 of San Francisco says their source heard a recording of the 30-minute call between the alleged passenger and
controllers. That call last Saturday initiated a three-county-wide search and rescue mission that ultimately involved "nine different law enforcement, fire and rescue agencies," and included a request
for assistance from the Civil Air Patrol. It also, as a matter of course, delayed or interrupted some routine radio communications. ABC7's source said the caller identified himself as Mike Henderson
and stated he had a broken leg and his pilot was unconscious. The man said the two had departed South County Airport for a tour of the Bay Area and had crashed in the mountains. The search was called
off midday, Sunday, and the FAA has isolated the origin of the call to downtown Los Altos.
The FAA believes the caller used a handheld transceiver. The ABC news story included comment
from aviation consultant Ron Wilson. Wilson said the event should raise concerns that a criminal "could actually communicate with the pilot of an aircraft, say on approach to San Francisco, if they
knew the frequency and it's not hard to find out, and give the pilot instructions that could cause that pilot to make a turn in front of another airplane, for instance." First responders remain on
standby, just in case further evidence presents itself of a real emergency, while others begin tallying the cost of the search in time and resources.
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Russia flew a prototype of its new Sukhoi T-50 fighter on Friday. The aircraft is said to be the first fighter jet designed and built in post-Soviet Russia, albeit with help from India. The unique
twin-engine, all-weather, low-visibility, stealthy "fifth-generation" fighter is expected to be capable of extended supersonic flight. Its design is said to have been determined "taking into account
the F-22's capabilities, merits and drawbacks," according to RIA Novosti. Having won a design contest in 2002, the
Russian jet was expected to fly first in 2007. With Friday's first flight, testing is expected to continue over the next five to six years. According to Russian military commentator Ilya Kramnik, the
T-50 compares with aircraft like the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, developed from the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program. The Russian jets are expected to "replace the Su-30MKI Flanker-H fighters
currently serving with the Indian Air Force, in the 2020s and the 2030s. Moreover, it is likely they will be mass-produced in India," as well as Komsomolsk-on-Amur (far south-eastern Russia),
beginning as early as 2015.
According to RIA Novasti, the Russian T-50 was designed to include: "greater agility, sustained supersonic-flight capability in non-afterburning mode, low radar visibility, low heat signature, as
well as enhanced take-off and landing performance." The T-50's specifications remain classified, but Russian
sources believe it will have a takeoff weight of more than 30 metric tons and is close in dimension to the Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker. It is said to be fitted with Russian Saturn 117S turbofan engines.
Short-field abilities may include the ability to take off from a 1000-foot runway and the jet is expected to have a range of about 5,500 kilometers.
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China has plans to build almost 100 new airports by 2020 and one of them planned for completion in 2014, Nagqu Dagring Airport, may claim the title of highest airport in the world. The Tibetan
Branch of the China Civil Aviation Administration says the airport's construction will begin in 2011 at Nagqu prefecture in Tibet and sit at an altitude of 4,436 meters (about 14,553 feet, or about
2.75 miles above sea level). Tibet may hold the current "highest commercial airport" title with its Bamda Airport, which sits at 4,334 meters (about 14,219 feet) and hosts an 18,000-foot runway. The
landing altitude is obviously well above the 6,000- to 8,000-foot cabin pressure altitudes set by many commercial airlines and business jets. Details about the coming Nagqu airport runway are scarce,
but one official said the airport itself will cover an area of about 245 hectares, which is about 0.94 square miles, and construction costs could range near $263 million.
China's push for airports is intended to put 80 percent of its population within a 90-minute drive of an airport. Nagqu will be located near the Qinghai-Tibet railway line. Some 400,000 people live
in Nagqu. The airport, plus six new rail lines connecting to Beijing, is expected to drive the region's economic growth. Most of Tibet's land sits some 16,000 feet above sea level. China hopes to
develop direct air routes from Tibet to neighboring countries.
Chet and Matt Pipkin plan to set a new record for time aloft in an airplane, a record that currently sits at 64 days, 22 hours, 19 minutes and five seconds, according to the men. The record was set
in a Cessna 172, and the Pipkins intend to beat it in a (modified) 172 ... this time with a video feed and Wi-Fi. Like the current record holders, Robert Timm and John Cook, who set the mark between
Dec. 4, 1958, and Feb. 7, 1959, the Pipkins plan to refuel via low-level flyby, transferring fuel from a truck. Timm and Cook managed that over long straight flat roads in the Mojave desert until
their plane's engine had deteriorated to the point where they could no longer climb away. Chet and Matt Pipkin plan to modify their engine with plumbing to allow for in-flight oil changes. As for
their own essential fluids and waste, that too will be passed between the ground vehicle and aircraft. "This project is ridiculous," the men admit. "In fact, that is why we love it." But it does have
a serious side -- the men hope to raise money for charity.
"It could create a huge opportunity to contribute so some great causes, and also inspire people to go do crazy things for the sake of living exciting, purposeful lives," the men wrote on their blog. The sentiments have come a long way from Matt Pipkin's first impression that the flight was "the dumbest idea he had ever heard."
Target date for liftoff is Oct. 1, 2010, from Boise, Idaho.
Related Content:
Podcast interview with Matt Pipkin
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File Size 7.0 MB / Running Time 7:02
Podcast Index
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How to Listen
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It's been a little more than 50 years since anyone tried to break one of the most bizarre aviation endurance records. Matt Pipkin and his father Chet are aiming to try next October
by keeping a Cessna 172 in the air for 65 days straight. AVweb's Russ Niles spoke with Matt Pipkin about the attempt and how it will benefit others.
Click here to listen. (7.0 MB, 7:02)
Original, Exclusive Videos from AVweb
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Reader-Submitted & Viral Videos
What's special about preflighting the Rotax engines found on most LSAs? Tim Brooks, Director of Maintenance for Heart of Virginia Aviation, takes you on a just-the-facts tour
explaining what you're looking for and why it's important.
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The Top Reporter on Our Crack Staff ... Is
You! |
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 Our best stories start with you. If you've heard something 200,000 pilots might want to know about, tell us. Submit news tips
via email to newstips@avweb.com. You're a part of our team ... often, the best part.
Aviation Consumer is conducting a survey to hear your experiences with engine overhaul shops. Whether the experience was propulsion bliss or aggravation of a new order, please take a couple
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Click here to participate.
(The results will appear in a future issue of Aviation Consumer. For subscription information, click
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Nominate an FBO
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Tips
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Questions
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AVweb reader Charles "Doc" Truthan told us how StarPort USA at the Orlando-Sanford International Airport (KSFB) is
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 | | Overheard in IFR Magazine's "On the Air" |
One rainy evening in the L.A. basin, SoCal approach was trying to merge a bunch of traffic with
wildly different airspeeds onto V23 southbound:
SoCal:
"Cessna Eight Eight Tango, what's your best airspeed?"
Cessna 88T:
"One hundred ten knots."
SoCal (gloomy) :
"Oh."
Cessna 88T:
"Don't be disappointed. It just means we'll get to spend more time together."
SoCal:
"Well, if you like me so much, Cessna Eight Eight Tango, turn left heading 090-a 360 for spacing."
Jeffery Westbrook
via e-mail
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AVwebFlash is a weekly summary of the latest news, articles, products, features, and events featured on AVweb, the internet's aviation magazine and news service.
The AVwebFlash team is:
Publisher
Timothy Cole
Editorial Director, Aviation Publications
Paul Bertorelli
Editor-in-Chief
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Contributing Editors
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Glenn Pew
Features Editor
Kevin Lane-Cummings
Webmaster
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Contributors
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