April 28, 2010

By The AVweb Editorial Staff

Changed Your Mind About Who Makes the World's Quietest, Most Comfortable Aviation Headset? Then be sure to look into Lightspeed Aviation's greatly expanded trade-up program that not only includes Lightspeed headsets, but premium headsets from four other manufacturers. You could receive a significant credit toward your purchase. So if you've been waiting to make a move, there's never been a better time to buy a Zulu. More details are available at LightspeedAviation.com. Heads Up — HUD Saves Lives, Says New Report back to top  Sponsor Announcement Can Head-Up Displays Prevent Accidents? If pilots had head-up displays in the cockpit, hundreds of accidents over the last 13 years could have been prevented or at least mitigated, according to a study released on Monday. The Flight Safety Foundation analyzed 983 accidents between 1995 and 2007 involving large multi-engine aircraft (12,500 pounds and up). The study (PDF) found that overall the technology could have affected the outcome in about one-third of the accidents. About 69 percent of takeoff and landing accidents likely could have been prevented, the study found. The technology eliminates the need for the pilot to repeatedly transition between the instruments and the forward view, enhancing overall situational awareness. "Head-up guidance systems technology is a great safety tool for the prevention of runway excursions, loss of control, and approach and landing accidents," said Bob Vandel, one of the authors of the study. "This technology provides extremely useful data to the flight deck crew." The study was funded by Rockwell Collins, which is a leading supplier of the head-up technology. However, the Wall Street Journal said the Flight Safety Foundation is well-respected in the industry and its conclusions aren't likely to be challenged. The Foundation, an independent nonprofit based in Alexandria, Va., was founded in 1947. The Journal also noted that a recent study by American Airlines found that pilots using head-up displays in Boeing 737s tend to land farther down the runway than recommended. That study is ongoing and the airline has not drawn any conclusions from that data. The most important information provided by the display is flight path and speed information, the Foundation said. YES! Powered by AirFleet Aircraft financing available? Yes! Flexible financing programs for new and used aircraft are still readily available, and AirFleet Capital can fix today's low rate for up to 20 years. In this buyer's market with big tax incentives and historically low interest rates, now is a great time to buy and finance the aircraft you've been waiting for! Please call (800) 390-4324 or request a quote online at AirFleetCapital.com. ... As Does Flying the Airplane (Sans Distractions) back to top  FAA To Pilots: Put Those Phones Away The FAA on Monday told airline pilots they should "evaluate their personal practices" regarding the use of devices such as phones and laptops while on duty. Also, the FAA said, operators need to create a "safety culture" that reinforces the importance of controlling cockpit distractions. The FAA released its guidance in an Information for Operators memo (PDF). The memo cited several recent incidents of distracted flying -- the crew that flew past their destination while working on their laptops, a pilot who was texting after pushing back from the gate, and an FAA inspector's report that a crew member's mobile phone started to ring during the takeoff roll. The NTSB has asked the FAA to tackle the distraction problem, and will hold a three-day forum on professionalism among pilots and air traffic controllers next month. "NTSB's investigations into the midair collision over the Hudson River last August, the crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407 in February 2009, and the October 2009 Northwest pilots' overflight of their intended airport provided the impetus for this forum because all of them clearly demonstrated the hazards to aviation safety when pilots and air traffic controllers depart from standard operating procedures and established best practices," said NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman.  "During the forum, we will gather information on the screening, selection and training of pilots and controllers and methods to reinforce professionalism and excellence." The forum will take place in Washington, D.C., May 18 to 20. "Every aviation professional needs to take the issue of distractions in the cockpit seriously," said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt on Monday. "And when there are two or more professionals on the flight deck, they must hold each other to the highest safety standards. Allowing distractions is unacceptable." The New Meridian G1000 — Commanding The new Meridian G1000 with Garmin G1000 avionics and GFC 700 autopilot suite, business jet luxury and turbine simplicity for 30% less than any comparable six-place turbine-powered aircraft. With a panel as commanding as the airplane, and a million dollars less than its closest competitor, "Pilot in Command" means precisely that. Click here for more information on the new Piper Meridian G1000. Recession Drags Down Q1 for Textron back to top  Cessna Declines Sap Textron Revenues Cessna parent company Textron posted a first-quarter loss of about $8 million, and Cessna's 44-percent sales decline was a significant factor (although the company's finance arm was also off 40 percent). Cessna is usually Textron's biggest moneymaker but the continued sales drought is keeping things quiet at the Wichita planemaker. Almost half the workforce remains laid off and, as CEO Jack Pelton told AVweb in an interview earlier this month at Sun 'n Fun, the recovery is expected to be long and slow. Meanwhile, Pelton told CNN the company is trying to make the best of the current circumstances by examining every aspect of its operations for efficiencies and cost savings. CNN's segment on Cessna includes an interview in which Pelton says the company cleared out one whole section of its Wichita plant to reorganize the building process. Among the efficiencies they discovered was that if wings were placed upright on the production line rather than flat, workers could more quickly and easily work on them. Pelton also said the company was continuing research and development as it waits for the effects of the recession to subside. Get More Rewards Faster with WingPoints®! Reward yourself when you refuel with WingPoints from Phillips 66® Aviation. Start earning points immediately, and earn double points when you use WingPoints with any Phillips 66 Aviation branded card. Get your card today! Not Especially Loud — But Maddeningly "Irritating"? back to top  Naples Targets Piaggio Noise The Piaggio Avanti normally turns heads because of its unconventional configuration but now it's attracting the attention of noise-conscious Naples, Fla., for its unconventional sound. The Naples Airport Authority is working with Avantair, a fractional and charter company that operates the Italian twin turboprop pusher, to minimize the impact of the unique noise it makes. It's not that the Avanti is particularly loud. In fact, according to FAA measurements (PDF — small print, so be ready to use the "zoom" feature in your PDF reader), there are plenty of aircraft that emit more decibels. However, the configuration of the Avanti, according to a Wikipedia entry, results in the wing wake and engine exhaust hitting the props to create a square wave noise. The unscientific description offered by Alan Parker, chairman of the airport authority's technical committee, is that the Avanti is "irritating loud" with a high pitch he likens to fingernails on a chalk board. Parker told the Naples Daily News the sound made by the Avanti disrupts conversations and regular activities in the neighborhoods near the airport. He stressed that the airport authority isn't trying to ban the aircraft, which make about 20 visits a month to Naples. Avantair Chief Pilot William Allbright said pilots are being advised to invoke manufacturer-suggested noise abatement procedures, including cutting propeller revolutions from the normal 2,000 to 1,800. "We are now going to increase our diligence and make sure that our pilots are using these techniques at Naples," Allbright said. The airport is also updating its FAA-mandated Part 150 noise compatibility data to reflect changes in demographics and neighboring activity to establish flight corridors that have the least negative impact on residents and businesses. Eur-Avia Cannes Is Southern Europe's Leading Exhibition in General and Business Aviation The exhibition brings together the leading proponents in general and business aviation to allow a demanding clientéle to discover the latest developments and industry innovations in a geographically logical and appealing setting. This professional exhibition is designed for owners and pilots, whether passionate fans or professionals, in general and business aviation throughout Europe — offering visitors a large and representative palette of the aeronautics industry. Click here for more details. Go North, Young Man back to top  Show Circuit Shifts North A week after Sun 'n Fun wrapped up in Florida, the focus shifts north to Anchorage for the Alaska Airmen's Trade Show and to Hamilton, Ontario, for Canadian Aviation Expo. The annual Alaska gathering will feature 250 exhibitors and hundreds of aircraft at Ted Stevens International Airport May 1-2. Canadian Aviation Expo will be held on the same dates at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum near Hamilton, which is about 40 miles west of Toronto. The Anchorage show is Alaska's biggest and Expo is Canada's largest aviation trade show. As might be expected, the Alaska show emphasizes bush flying and, for the third year in a row, the grand prize in the fundraising draw is a PA-18 Super Cub rebuilt by Dan's Aircraft repair and decked out for bush flying with Tundra tires, Landis Airglas skis, and Aerocet floats. An ultralight helicopter, the new Gweduck composite amphib from Washington State and a host of aircraft from various manufacturers will be there. In Hamilton, there's a lot of big piston engine noise as the museum sets the scene for the show with rides for hire in its impressive collection of warbirds. The museum operates a Lancaster bomber featured in an AVweb video shot at last year's AirVenture Oshkosh, among other classics used during armed conflicts. The museum's spacious hangar will be filled with vendors and exhibitors. 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: 2010 1/2 FAR/AIM eBook | $11.95 2010 1/2 FARs for AMTs eBook | $17.95 Who's Where back to top  Vail New AEA Chair Greg Vail Greg Vail has been named chairman of the Aircraft Electronics Association. Vail has 29 years of experience in the industry and is the general manager of Bloomington Avionics. Greg Harpster of Duncan Avionics is the new vice chair. Sambiase Joins GAMA Joe Sambiase Joe Sambiase has been named the General Aviation Manufacturers' Association's manager of airworthiness and maintenance. He was formerly with Compass Airlines. Coast Flight Training Appointments Eric Midby Patricio Puga Eric Midby has joined Coast Flight Training as chief financial officer. He formerly worked in the real estate development industry. Patricio Puga is an advisor to the board of directors. He's the former treasurer of Coca Cola and was vice president of ING Bank. Who's Where? You Tell Us Get a promotion or a new job? Your colleagues want to know about it, and AVwebBiz can get the word out. Drop us a line about the staff 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. Looking for Low-Cost, Yet Effective, Marketing Options? Let AVweb assist your company in creating effective direct-response marketing campaigns to generate leads. No other digital aviation news media reaches more qualified subscribers more often. Text messages in newsletters combined with online banners reach over 255,000 readers monthly and deliver more new users to sponsor sites weekly than most print publications do monthly. Click now for details. AVweb Media: Look, Listen, Laugh and Learn back to top  IFR Magazine Shows You How to Get More from a Portable GPS in IFR Original, Exclusive Videos from AVweb | Reader-Submitted & Viral Videos That gadget you bolted to the yoke can do a lot more than show pretty moving maps. Come along with IFR magazine editor Jeff Van West to see how correct use of track (and several other features) on your portable GPS can improve all aspects of your IFR flying. If you enjoy this video, be sure to check out our sister publication, IFR magazine. Don't see a video screen? Try disabling ad blockers and refreshing this page. If that doesn't work, click here to download the video directly. Ride-Along with Dale Snodgrass Original, Exclusive Videos from AVweb | Reader-Submitted & Viral Videos Famed air show and fighter pilot Dale Snodgrass took an AVweb camera along on his Paris Jet afternoon air show at Sun 'n Fun. In this unique video, he gives us the details about his routine. Don't see a video screen? Try disabling ad blockers and refreshing this page. If that doesn't work, click here to download the video directly. Help Us Celebrate AVweb's 15th Anniversary back to top  15 Years and Now 15 Grand Giveaways ... It's Your Chance to Win Scheyden Frames and Flight Gear Win Scheyden Dual RX frames and Flight Crew Ensemble flight gear as we celebrate our 15th Anniversary! All you have to do is click here to enter your name and e-mail address. (You only have to enter once, and you'll be entered in our prize drawings for the entire year — so if you've already entered, you're all set.) And no, we're not going to rent or sell your name, ever. Tell your friends, and invite them to sign up for AVweb so they can qualify for our 15 Grand Giveaways prize drawings, too. (We won't spam them, either — but we hope they will sign up for our newsletters.) Deadline for entries is 11:59pm Zulu time April 30, 2010. Click here to read the contest rules and enter. Congratulations to Jack Feiden of Wichita, Kansas, who won an XM WX Satellite Weather Receiver from WxWorx in our last drawing! (click here to get your own from WxWorx) AVweb's Newstips Address ... 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. Names Behind the News back to top  Meet the AVwebBiz Team 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 Click here to send a letter to the editor. (Please let us know if your letter is not intended for publication.) Comments or questions about the news should be sent here. Have a product or service to advertise on AVweb? A question on marketing? Send it to AVweb's sales team. If you're having trouble reading this newsletter in its HTML-rich format (or if you'd prefer a lighter, simpler format for your PDA or handheld device), there's also a text-only version of AVwebBiz. For complete instructions on making the switch, click here. Aviate. Navigate. Communicate.