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October 27, 2004
NewsWire Complete Issue
By The AVweb Editorial Staff
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This issue of AVweb's AVflash is brought to you by ... LightSPEED Aviation
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Pilot Says He Was Pressured To Fly Unsafe Airplane...
A Michigan pilot claims he's being persecuted by his employer for rejecting an airplane he considered unfit to fly. Chris Gottwald told AVweb he's been kept off the flight schedule and assigned
menial office tasks since May when he told his superiors he wouldn't fly a King Air that had propeller-control problems. But while such pilot-management tussles may be all too common in the
cash-strapped world of commercial aviation, Gottwald doesn't fly for some tin-shack terminal commuter line. The operator he claims is trying to pressure its pilots to fly unsafe airplanes is the FAA.
Gottwald is (was?) an airspace system inspection pilot based in Battle Creek, Mich. The FAA maintains a fleet of King Airs throughout the country used to check the accuracy and dependability of VOR,
GPS, ILS and other flight navigation equipment. Gottwald was working in Indiana last May when the aircraft he commanded (a Model 300) had what Gottwald claims was the latest in a series of problems
with its prop controls.
Gottwald said that when he landed the King Air at Hulman Field in Terre Haute, Ind., last May 13, the props wouldn't go into reverse. With up to 9,000 feet of runway in front of him, the lack of
reverse thrust wasn't much of a concern, but it wasn't the first time the props had acted up. Gottwald said he'd experienced at least two uncommanded pitch changes on King Air props previously, one
while taxiing and another in which one propeller went to a virtually flat-pitch setting while he was on short final. "It caused a tremendous amount of yaw," he said. When the props wouldn't obey his
inputs at Terre Haute, he'd had enough. "I didn't know what the props were going to do," he said. Gottwald discussed the problem with FAA maintenance staff, pointing out that there were two shops at
Terre Haute qualified to examine the aircraft. Also, about 60 miles away, in Indianapolis, there's a Raytheon service center. But the agency, instead, asked him to fly the aircraft back to Battle
Creek under a ferry permit. When Gottwald rejected that option, the FAA sent a replacement pilot by car to Terre Haute to fly the King Air back, which was accomplished safely. Gottwald's co-pilot also
agreed to take the flight. According to Gottwald, the replacement pilot wasn't told of the propeller snag before he took the flight.
The FAA launched an investigation and immediately took Gottwald off the flight schedule. He's been "working" at a desk job ever since. "I don't have any office duties. I look at reports, file
miscellaneous forms and I study flight manuals. I'm just supposed to keep myself busy," he said. He still gets paid his full salary of just under $100,000 a year. Gottwald said the FAA wrapped up its
investigation in June but still won't tell him when to expect a decision. FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Cory said no date has been set for the decision and, in the meantime, she can't comment in any
detail. She did say that FAA maintenance standards, um, meet FAA maintenance standards and that FAA flight operations have an outstanding safety record. Raytheon is also staying out of the
controversy. Spokesman Tim Travis declined comment, saying it was impossible to determine whether the aircraft was safe to fly without a detailed examination of all the factors at play. A high-time
King Air pilot AVweb spoke with offered a similar opinion.
Gottwald said he believes the agency wanted the airplane back in Battle Creek to save money. "They didn't want to spend the money to have it fixed somewhere else," he said. Gottwald said he's since
reviewed the logs for the aircraft based at Battle Creek and discovered that even though the aircraft spend much of their time away from the base, most maintenance snags are written up in Battle
Creek. But Gottwald said it's less obvious why he appears to have been singled out for rejecting this airplane when other pilots have done the same without any repercussions. Gottwald said he has a
clean flying record and doesn't believe he's regarded as any sort of troublemaker. He would, however, stand out in a crowd of his contemporaries and he can't help but wonder if there's a not-so-subtle
form of discrimination at play. At 33, he's the youngest pilot in flight inspections and was promoted to pilot-in-command above much older co-pilots. He's also a nationally ranked road cyclist and is
therefore in peak physical condition, a sharp contrast to some of his colleagues. "Maybe my age, my appearance, my success in other areas has something to do with it," he said.
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Sometimes when you're on the leading edge you have to put up with a little turbulence. Diamond Aircraft says it has delayed (to individuals) the first deliveries of its innovative diesel-powered DA-42
TwinStar because an adequate support network won't be in place for the Thielert diesels in time. "We have to be able to provide service for those customers," Diamond's North American CEO Peter Maurer
told AVweb. While the company had hoped that first deliveries would be made by the end of this year, they've been put off for at least a year. "It's quite realistic that in 2005 there will be
Thielert deliveries," he said. Fleet customers (who presumably will have trained service personnel) will get the Thielert aircraft as scheduled. Diamond designed and built the diesel twin in 2002 and
it was certified in Europe earlier this year. It made its North American debut at EAA AirVenture last July and the company claims it's redefining fuel-efficiency standards for light twins. The
135-horsepower diesels, based on Daimler car engines, have a one-of-a-kind, single-lever full authority digital engine control (FADEC) system and other features that would be utterly foreign (pun
intended) to the average FBO mechanic. Therefore, Diamond wants to ensure that there are enough service centers available in North America to fix the engines to avoid having its customers stranded.
But while many potential customers are drawn to the technically advanced TwinStar, the launch hiccups have shown Diamond that there's also a market for something a little more conventional. Earlier
this year, the company flew a Lycoming 0-360-powered version of the TwinStar and is accelerating its development. In fact, said Maurer, he expects the avgas version to be ready about the same time as
the diesel and at the same price. "We'll introduce both aircraft and let the customer decide," he said. The gas-powered TwinStar uses more fuel but also has noticeably better performance than the
diesel. Maurer said that with all that extra horsepower (360 combined vs. 270 for the diesel) the gas TwinStar makes full use of the high-lift wing and lightweight construction and can climb faster
than 2,000 feet a minute on two engines and about 900 fpm on one. One reviewer has described it as a "hot rod." To fly as far as the diesel it has to carry more fuel, but the extra weight is
compensated for by the lighter engines and the fact that gasoline is also lighter than kerosene. Aircraft -- they're all about compromise.
Maurer said early-position diesel customers are naturally disappointed that they won't be getting their airplanes when they expected but most have been understanding. "Anybody that's acquiring
leading-edge technology expects and is very tolerant of teething problems as long as they're dealt with effectively," Maurer said. He said Diamond is committed to the diesel program because the
company believes the time is coming when 100LL will be phased out. "The future in fuel is jet fuel or mogas," he said. "We're looking to that future but we're not going to go into it blindly."
Someone once said he could teach a monkey to fly but researchers at the University of Florida have taken it a quantum leap further. The biomedical team says it has a dish full of about 25,000 rat
neurons that can keep a PC flight simulator on the straight and level. "It's as if the neurons control the stick in the aircraft, they can move it back and forth and left and right," Professor Thomas
DeMarse told Wired News. Now, the researchers aren't explicitly looking to replace pilots with rat neurons ... at least not yet. DeMarse said the team needed something for their neurons to do so they
could try to decode the "language" they use to communicate with one another. After a few first-flight jitters (we all have them, right?) the rat neurons got the hang of keeping the simulated F-22
straight and level. "Right now the process it's learning is very simplistic," said DeMarse. "It's basically making a decision about whether to move the stick to the left or to the right or forwards
and backwards and it learns how much to push the stick depending upon how badly the aircraft is flying." Hmm. We know some pilots who haven't quite grasped those concepts, yet ...
A system that's helped fighter and attack aircraft pilots see better for decades could soon be coming to a GA panel you recognize. Forward.Vision, a division of Aercomp Inc., has developed a relatively low-cost (under $20,000) forward looking infrared system (FLIR) for general aviation. It's been selling them
to homebuilt owners for the last couple of months but company spokesman Pat Farrell says several major manufacturers are interested in a certified version. "They are some of the biggest OEMs you would
recognize," Farrell told AVweb after a successful showing at AOPA Expo last week. We might hope that one would endeavor to take on the certification hurdles. The Forward Vision system uses an
infrared camera to peer through smoke, haze and precipitation, with varying degrees of clarity. The company is quick to point out that your mileage may vary ... really ... depending on the density of
the precip and other factors. But because every object has its own unique heat signature, the display clearly depicts buildings, parked aircraft, trees or terrain that might be in the way. Even runway
markings are visible because the white paint is reflective and the markings are a different temperature than the pavement around them. Farrell said the setup, which he calls a vision augmentation
system, has limitations (which he appears to genuinely seek to make known) but it can definitely enhance situational awareness and flight safety. It also differs from synthetic vision in that the
image is in real time and doesn't rely on a computer database of terrain information. "Those systems can't see an airplane sitting on the runway because it isn't in their database," he said. Farrell
said he's hoping to work with a manufacturer to certify the system without significantly increasing the price.
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The NTSB has blamed the first officer's "unnecessary and excessive rudder pedal inputs" for the crash of American Airlines Flight 587 in Belle Harbor, N.Y., on Nov. 12, 2001. In its final report, released Tuesday, the NTSB said the vertical stabilizer separated from the Airbus A300-605R after the first
officer "inappropriately manipulated the rudder back and forth several times" after hitting the wake turbulence of a Boeing 747. The extreme movements exceeded the design loads of the vertical fin,
which separated -- 265 people died, including five on the ground. The NTSB also cited peculiarities with the aircraft's rudder-system design and elements of American Airline's pilot-training program
as contributing factors. The NTSB said the first officer had a tendency to overreact to wake turbulence and that the airline's Advanced Aircraft Maneuvering Program contributed to the accident "by
providing an unrealistic and exaggerated view of the effects of wake turbulence on heavy transport-category aircraft." In fact, the board found that if the crew had simply ridden out the wake
turbulence or if the first officer had stopped the rudder inputs at any time before the tail came off, the accident wouldn't have happened. The board made eight recommendations, some of which called
for modifying the rudder controls on A300-600 and A310 aircraft to prevent this type of over-control. Another called for airline pilot training to "avoid the kind of negative training found in
American Airlines' upset recovery training."
Possibly one of the nicest perks of corporate air travel has been quashed in a provision in a corporate tax bill signed into legislation by President Bush last week, and it could put a damper on the
bizjet and fractional-ownership industry. While alphabets and manufacturers lauded a provision in the bill that extended the delivery dates on airplanes qualifying for deferred depreciation to the end
of 2005 (a perk worth about $250 million) another measure was slipped in at the last minute. That measure drastically decreases the tax deduction corporations can claim when their aircraft are used by
officers and employees of the corporation for personal business. According to Forbes Online, the provision, tucked in during the final Senate-House conference on the bill, will save the government
$2.2 billion. Under the old rules, the owner of the plane could write off the full cost of a flight as long as the Standard Industry Fare Level (SIFL) was assessed as income against the recipient of
the flight. The SIFL is roughly equal to the price of a first-class airline ticket and, depending on the plane, the flight profile and duration, the actual cost would be many times that amount. Under
the new rule, the company can only deduct what it reports as income for the personal-use passengers. General Aviation Manufacturers Association spokesman Jeffrey Sural told Forbes that GAMA tried to
lobby against the provision but it was steamrolled by public perception of corporate compensation excesses and a Congress trying hard to keep the bill from costing the government any money.
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Epic has announced its intention to produce a (very light) jet (download the press release, here) with an expected cruise 35 knots faster than it's "older" turboprop sibling on which it is based, for a higher fuel burn and an extra $150,000
in base price -- perhaps simply proving the practicality of the turbine. Recall the Epic LT. Announced one year before its debut, the $1.2 million Epic LT -- a six-place, all-carbon-fiber experimental
turbine -- is currently going through its flight-test paces and expects to offer full-tanks, full-load flying at 350 knots. The jet will use most of the same major airframe components. If history is
any indicator, expect it (springtime) soon. Working with the same wing, stabilizer and fuselage shell, the company plans to strap a nose cone to the front and modify the tail ... most notably with
twin 1500-pound-thrust turbines. (We smell Pratts.) If the experimental jet has buyers, they will serve three weeks' penance building with professional staff before leaving the completion entirely to
those with more experience. Epic says the FAA is aware of that scenario and comfortable with it. Epic plans to self-insure the aircraft until the insurance companies see a track record they're
comfortable with. In another interesting twist, Epic plans to fund a curriculum at Oregon State University that would provide students with a professional and practical grasp of composite technologies
in aerospace design. It's possible those students may be building some airplanes for Epic, too. Stay tuned.
At least two companies, LightSpeed Aviation and Aloft Technologies, have set aside over-the-ear headset ANR technology with in-ear technology products, driving sound with hearing-aid speakers and
dampening it with ... replaceable ear plugs. A third, the Panther CATS system (which is similar, but not as new) takes a mold of the user's ear, making the sets individual-fit perfect -- but
multiple-user exclusive. All three units look very much like fancy earplugs at the end of some wire (excluding the tiny boom mics). So there's a marketing challenge for the arguably superior products:
It's not likely to come in comfort (we've tried them all) or noise dampening, and it might take some talent to convince pilots that what appear much like earplugs on a string should cost more than
$400. All manufacturers -- LightSpeed, Aloft, and Panther -- claim comparable attenuation when compared to active-noise-reduction sets
and superior attenuation when compared with conventional passive sets, especially in the low-frequency (read engine-noise) range. Differences between the LightSpeed and Aloft units include the way the replaceable
earplug portion attaches to the speaker unit. Aloft has a patented twist-on design and a metal structure that slips over one ear and around the back of the head to stabilize the boom mic. LightSpeed
simply slips its plugs over an acoustic post, which may make their removal from the ear seem a bit more delicate, and allows the boom mic to hang from the left ear's plug/speaker unit. LightSpeed also
includes a jack for cell-phone or stereo device input.
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Small aircraft usually lose in an encounter with power lines but an Ontario pilot is a living exception to that rule. The 19-year-old Pembroke man managed to land his 172 safely after slicing
three large lines carrying 230,000 volts each. A power company official termed the incident "a miracle"…
Dudley J. Hill, a well-known Pennsylvania pilot and business owner, died Sept. 28. He established Hill Aviation at Lancaster Airport in 1954 and operated the business until his retirement in
1990. Hill was recognized by various aviation organizations throughout his career. He was 85...
A Finnish pilot has pleaded guilty for intending to fly a planeload of passengers while drunk. Heikki Tallila was pulled off a Finn Air plane by authorities as he was doing the final preflight
checks. A breath check and subsequent blood test confirmed he had excessive alcohol in his system when he was readying the plane on Aug. 23. He'll be sentenced Dec. 2...
Civic officials in Minneapolis say an airport has to close to provide better bus service. Crystal Airport is in the way of a new highway project planned by the Northwest Corridor Partnership.
The group has asked the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) to consider closing the airport and to give an answer soon so it can plan its Bus Rapid Transit system…
The first flight-training devices featuring Garmin G1000 glass panels have been ordered from Frasca International, an Illinois company. Atlantic Flight Training, in Coventry, England, and the
University of Tennessee have ordered the visual display systems for training devices for the Diamond DA42 and DA40 respectively.
Drop us a line. If it caught your attention, it will probably interest someone else, too. Submit news tips via email to
newstips@avweb.com.
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_______
COLUMNS
The Savvy Aviator #11: Ignition TLC
Mags and spark plugs don't need a lot of maintenance, but they do require some and it's often neglected. You may get away with such neglect for a while, but eventually it'll bite you.
*** PREVIOUS RESULTS ***
Last week, AVweb asked our readers to compare the roles of pilot and
controller. All else being equal, we asked, who's more important — an
above-average pilot or an above-average controller? Our readers'
answers were telling, with 71% of you saying the pilot is more important.
(The other 29%, of course, sided with the controllers on this one.)
Hmmm. Maybe we should start a sister site, ATCweb.
Be sure to check out
Monday's AVmail
for a sampling of reader reactions to last week's question.
*** THIS WEEK'S QUESTION ***
This week, we want to know which very light jet contender you would pick
as a winner in the marketplace.
Click here to
pick your champion.
Have an idea for a new QOTW? Send your suggestions to
qotw@avweb.com. NOTE:
This address is
only for suggested QOTW questions, and not for QOTW answers or
comments.
Use
this form to send QOTW comments to our AVmail Editor.
Submit a Photo |
Rules |
Tips |
Questions
Current POTW Winner |
Past POTW Winners
Californian Kendall Mauldin takes home top honors in this week's "POTW"
contest — with a SpaceShipOne photo we kinda wish we'd taken! Great
job, Kendall — we're sending you a nifty AVweb baseball cap as a token of our
appreciation.
If you want an AVweb cap of your own, send us your best amateur aviation
photos. Funny, exciting, serene, or as downright strange as this week's
bonus picture, your photo is sure to bring some joy and mirth to our workday.
So what are you waiting for?
Submit!
Due to privacy issues, AVweb does not publish e-mail addresses of
readers who submit photos.
*** THIS WEEK'S WINNERS ***
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 |
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copyright © Kendall
Mauldin
Used with permission of
Kendall Mauldin |
"SpaceShipOne and Pilot — Post-Flight Victory Lap"
Kendall Mauldin of Rosamond, California
captured this
image of SpaceShipOne pilot Brian Binnie playing to the crowd
following his record-setting, X-Prize-winning flight on October 4.
Click
here to view a large version of this image
Click here for a
medium-sized version
AVweb continues to receive a large number of excellent images for our
POTW contest. Here are some of the runners-up. Click on the links below to view
larger versions.
 |
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Used with permission of
Joe Ruley |
"Friends from the Past"
Joe Ruley of Marion, Indiana
snapped this shot of four post-war
Aeroncas returning from a warbird fly-in.
Large
 |
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copyright © Dennis Persyk
Used with permission of
Dennis Persyk |
"Marry Me, Megan"
Dennis Persyk of Hampshire, Illinois
spotted this unusual crop formation from 3500 feet,
begging the question: Did she say "yes"?
Medium
Large
And a special bonus:
 |
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Used with permission of
Rozner Roi |
"It's Not a Bird, Not a Plane ..."
Rozner Roi of Israel sends this odd photo
with the simple note:
"No words needed ... the man with the green pants flies!"
Large
To enter next week's contest,
click here.
A Reminder About Copyrights: Please take a moment to consider the
source of your image before submitting to our "Picture of the Week" contest.
If you did not take the photo yourself, ask yourself if you are indeed
authorized to release publication rights to AVweb. If you're uncertain,
consult the
POTW
Rules or
send us an e-mail.
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aircraft. It tells a pilot how to develop and expand situational awareness, develop accurate perception of situations, and then train the correct responses that become instinctive and natural,
so that reaction time is reduced to an effective minimum. It covers beginning, advanced, instrument, and multi-engine flying skills. Order at http://www.avweb.com/sponsors/mountain/avflash. |
ATTENTION, MECHANICS! SOFTWARE FOR YOUR HARDWARE!
John Schwaner's The Mechanic's Toolbox +
Engineering Manual Companion has been a mainstay of mechanics for years. John has revised and updated this publication and put it on CD. The Mechanic's Toolbox Program contains
everything from: Ohm's Law for Mechanics, Torque Wrench Extension Calculator, Pressure Conversions, Velocity Computing, and more; to a Palm operating system including: Alternator Charging System
Checker, Hose Shop, Starter Analyzer, Metals ID using Field Methods, and much more. Whew! This is immense! For complete details and to order (in the U.S. only), go to http://www.avweb.com/sponsors/skyranch/avflash. | | _____________________________________
We Welcome Your Feedback!
AVflash is a twice-weekly summary of the latest aviation news,
articles, products, features and events featured on AVweb, the
Internet's Aviation Magazine and News Service.
http://www.avweb.com
Letters to the editor intended for publication in AVmail should be
sent to mailto:editor@avweb.com.com. Have a comment or question? Send
it to mailto:newsteam@avweb.com.
Today's issue written by News Writer Russ Niles:
http://www.avweb.com/contact/authors.html#rniles
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marketing? Send it to AVweb's sales team: mailto:sales@avweb.com.
Fly it until all the pieces stop moving.
AVflash is now available in optional easier-to-read graphic format, which includes some photos and illustrations. If you prefer, you can continue to receive AVflash in text-only format. Simply follow
these instructions and AVflash will continue to arrive as it always has, in text format.
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