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April 7, 2010
By The AVweb Editorial Staff
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Search for aircraft (hourly updates). Find companies, products, and services. Locate dealers/brokers. Call or e-mail sellers, and click directly to their web sites. With our web and mobile
editions, you can view all of our ads at no cost, all the time! Call (800) 337-5263, or
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NTSB Follows Accident Trail to Tire
Maintenance |
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The operator of a chartered Learjet 60 failed to properly maintain its tires, starting a chain of events that ended with a deadly crash in Columbia, S.C., in September 2008, the NTSB said on Tuesday. All four of the main gear tires were severely underinflated, which compromised their integrity. The first
tire failed about 1.5 seconds after the airplane reached V-1, the maximum speed at which the takeoff could be safely aborted. The captain's decision to then attempt a high-speed rejected takeoff "went
against standard operating procedures and training," the NTSB said. Making things worse, the tire failure damaged a sensor, which caused the jet's thrust reversers to return to the stowed position.
While the captain was trying to stop the airplane by commanding reverse thrust, forward thrust was being provided at near-takeoff power because the thrust reversers were stowed, contributing to the
severity of the accident. "This entirely avoidable crash should reinforce to everyone in the aviation community that there are no small maintenance items because every time a plane takes off, lives
are on the line," said NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman.
After the airplane left the departure end of Runway 11, it struck airport lights, crashed through a perimeter fence, crossed a roadway and came to rest on a berm. The captain, the first officer,
and two passengers were killed; two other passengers were seriously injured. The Safety Board also found that neither the FAA nor Learjet adequately reviewed the airplane's design after a similar
uncommanded forward thrust accident that occurred during a landing in Alabama in 2001. As a result of its investigation, the safety board made 14 recommendations to the FAA, suggesting changes in
maintenance procedures, pilot training, and manufacturers' methods of safety analysis.
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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.
Visit
CessnaRise.com. 
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A British environmental group says business aircraft should pay a fuel tax currently charged airline passengers. The Air Passenger Duty is part of every airline ticket but the Campaign for Better Transport says business aviation passengers don't pay it even though they have a
much larger environmental footprint than the average airline passenger. Although bizav is a soft target for the environmental movement, pronouncements such as this might carry a bit more weight as the
U.K. heads to the polls May 6.
In the organization's aviation blog, the writers call on the government to close the "loophole" and note that 67,000 fuel tax-free business aviation flights occurred last year. EasyJet, Britain's
largest budget carrier, is jumping into the fray and commissioned a study last year, that, to no one's surprise, found the majority of its passengers think private operations should be subject to the
tax. The Campaign for Better Transport says the tax should be imposed for environmental reasons, claiming that business aircraft passengers create as much as 30 times the pollution, per capita, as
airline pax. "Charging fuel duty on these ultra-polluting aircraft wouldn't raise enormous sums of money, but it would make sure that all flights were held accountable for the damage they cause to the
environment," the group says.
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Phase 1 Is Complete — Including Utilities, Services, and Infrastructure!
Big South Fork Airpark is proud to announce the completion of Phase 1 and properties available for sale! Our roads are in. This includes the welcome center, underground utilities, city water
and sewer services, electricity, natural gas, fiber-optic DSL, roads, hangars, apron, direct taxiway access, stables, and equestrian center. Join us May 15-16
for a Spring Weekend Adventure! Stay at one of our luxury houses, indulge in a gourmet meal, and enjoy all of the amenities the Airpark has to offer. A hangar and rental car are included.
All for only $99. Space is limited.
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schedule your Spring Weekend Adventure today.
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A leading market analyst says it doesn't really matter why Honda is joining the business jet market, the fact that it will start delivering aircraft in less than two years should be enough to give
existing airframers pause. The Gerson Lehrman Group says critical observations about the HondaJet's quirky engine-over-wing design and the lack of
scalability of the aircraft are similar to those heard when Honda introduced the Civic 35 years ago. "The Detroit automotive establishment said that Honda would never be successful," the analysis
says. "Honda in fact went on to make the Civic the best selling subcompact in the industry." No one doubts the company's ability to follow through with the HondaJet program but there are two schools
of thought on the "real" motive behind it.
There are those who say Honda simply wants a piece of the whole pie, starting with the HondaJet and creating new models as it identifies markets for them. Others say engines are at the heart of the
aerospace venture and the partnership with GE is a match made in OEM supply heaven, from both technical and finance perspectives. Gerson Lehrman notes the scalability of the HF120 engine, which
Honda/GE claims will be 30 percent more efficient than anything comparable. Whatever the motivation, Gerson Lehrman says Honda will make a go of it. "Executive boardrooms in Montreal, Savannah,
Merignac, Sao Paolo and Wichita should take notice that Honda has arrived," the company says.
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Experience AeroExpo Europe, 28-30 May 2010
Europe's Festival of Aviation brings visitors a dedicated weekend of general aviation at its finest. With new features designed to cover as many aspects of general aviation as possible,
visitors will have the opportunity to Compare, See, Try and Buy at Europe's Festival of Aviation. Pribram Airfield, LKPM.
Click here for more
information. 
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Paying the Piper, Part II: Staying
Airworthy |
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As if they didn't have enough troubles already dealing with excessive costs and a manufacturer in bankruptcy, owners of Thielert diesel engines now must cope with a proposed new Airworthiness Directive that could cost them another $1,600. The FAA posted the proposed AD on Monday, citing a problem with
an oil separator that could fail, leading to an in-flight power loss or possible shutdown due to excessive gas pressure. The problem was found in servicing, and the FAA didn't note any cases of actual
failure. About 250 of the Thielert engines have been installed in Diamond twins, some Piper Cherokees, and Cessna 172s in the U.S. Owners must take care of the problem within 110 flight hours of the
effective date of the AD. Comments will be accepted on the proposal until May 20.
The Thielert engines proved to be expensive to maintain, and service was slow and difficult. Some of the fleet has been effectively grounded. Diamond, based in Austria, recently reintroduced its
twin-engine DA42 with a choice of its own Austro diesel engines or a traditional Lycoming IO-360. Owners of the Thielert versions can trade them in for new engines, but at a cost of over
$100,000.
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New York City's "fourth" airport, Stewart International, is getting a temporary Customs and Border Protection facility as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey looks for ways to expand
service. Stewart International is a former air base about 60 miles north of the city in the Hudson Valley. It
has the runways to handle any size aircraft but airline service is limited to a few flights to mainly Northeast destinations. The Port Authority hopes the availability of Customs service will attract
overseas charter service.
The Customs station will be set up in the current baggage claims area but plans call for a permanent facility by 2012. The Port Authority is already in discussions with charter operators with an
eye to bringing shopping and spring break tourists to the city. The facility will only be staffed when flights are scheduled to arrive but could lead to a regularly staffed inspection station as
traffic warrants.
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Now Available: 2010 1/2 FAR/AIM & FARs for AMTs eBooks
Extensive changes have been made to the FAR/AIM & FAR/AMTs since the 2010 printed editions were last published. These changes through 3/2/10 are now available in a complete new
eBook edition. All eBooks are single-file .PDF documents. They are extensively bookmarked, fully searchable, and printable. There is no easier way to access the information you need, whether you
are flying or maintaining aircraft. Click these links to order:
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There are plenty of examples of bad aviation reporting in the mainstream media, but AVweb's Mary Grady came across one of the worst recently — a mish-mash of inaccuracy made worse by
bad timing and a poor understanding of airplane stalls. Mary shares the details on the AVweb Insider blog.
Click here to read her take on the story and share your own thoughts.
The FAA's relaxation of rules for depressed pilots already generating discussion among aviators — and especially those aviators who work in medicine. Dr. Brent Blue joins us on the AVweb
Insider blog with his take on the decision.
Click here to read more and share your own comments.
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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
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appointment, with a nice recent photo, and we'll do our best to include it in our new section, "Who's Where." The items will be permanently archived on AVweb for future reference,
too.
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Original, Exclusive Videos from AVweb
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Reader-Submitted & Viral Videos
If you like your aviation information to come straight out of the AIM, umm — this is not that. In this week's video, Paul Bertorelli takes a somewhat biting look into the heads
of CFIs who teach their students to fly traffic patterns that would be too large for a Triple Seven.
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Congratulations to Colleen Keller of San Diego, California, who won a Garmin 510 aera handheld GPS in our last drawing! (click here to get your own Garmin aera)
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AVwebBiz is a weekly summary of the latest business aviation news, articles, products, features, and events featured on AVweb, the internet's aviation magazine and news service.
The AVwebBiz team is:
Publisher
Timothy Cole
Editorial Director, Aviation Publications
Paul Bertorelli
Editor-in-Chief
Russ Niles
Contributing Editors
Mary Grady
Glenn Pew
Features Editor
Kevin Lane-Cummings
Webmaster
Scott Simmons
Contributors
Jeff van West
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