Pilot Briefing

Bob Jordan and Andy Scheidemantel are the winners of Sporty's Twin Katana Sweepstakes. Jordan is a student pilot and vice president of operations for Western Technical Services of Anaheim, California. Scheidemantel, of North Olmstead, Ohio, is an ATP who flies a Learjet 31 and a McDonnell Douglas 520 helicopter for Park Corporation. Both winners were selected at random from a pool of last year's customer orders. This year's Sporty's sweepstakes is a 1997 Cessna 172 Skyhawk.

Cessna lands $600 million order

No it's not for the first 4,800 172s to be produced, it's for 25 new Citation X and 20 Citation VII business jets slated for delivery to Executive Jet Aviation headquartered in Montvale, New Jersey, beginning in 1997. The agreement is the largest ever for Cessna and may be the largest business jet order ever.

Executive Jet sells shares of aircraft under its NetJets fractional ownership program. For example, shareholders can put down one-quarter the cost of an airplane and fly it 200 hours per year. EJA currently has 85 aircraft on its roster and another 85 on order, including the new Citations.

The recently certified Citation X has a max cruise speed of Mach 0.92, making it the fastest business jet ever manufactured. The $10-million Citation VII, in production since 1992, is the latest iteration of the 650-series Citations, which began life as the Citation III in 1983.

Bob and Al's excellent adventure

Bob Leonard, 66, of Huntington Beach, California, and Al Kossoff, 70, of Los Angeles, recently completed their attempt to touch down in all of the 48 continental U.S. states in 44 hours, flying in a Mooney M20C.

Although they missed the 44-hour (Hobbs) mark by nearly three hours, the pair enjoyed what they termed "a grass-roots aviation experience." Bob and Al had their trip log signed at every stop and ran into many interesting and generous people. In Pierre, South Dakota, Mike the lineman set up Bob and Al with his Aunt Shirley, who not only gave them a tour of Pierre but provided dinner and a room for the night.

Bob and Al made it to the EAA International Convention and Fly-In in Oshkosh before pushing into the Northeast. Stop 32 brought Bob and Al to AOPA's headquarters in Frederick, Maryland, for an impromptu visit with AOPA President Phil Boyer. Later in Sandersville, Georgia, Bob and Al managed to end up in jail (only to get their trip log signed).

Bob and Al returned to Needles, California, on August 12, capping off their 13- day (including four days at Oshkosh) foray around the lower 48 states. They averaged 777 miles a day on the 7,000-mile trip.

Pena reportedly planning to resign

Secretary of Transportation Federico Pena intends to make good on a longstanding promise to resign after President Bill Clinton's first term, the Rocky Mountain News has reported. Pena did not confirm the report, but former staff members who worked for him said that it is his intention to return to Colorado to spend more time with his children.

As previously reported (see " Pilot Briefing," August Pilot), FAA Administrator David R. Hinson also will leave as Clinton's term winds down. Tony Broderick, the FAA's chief of regulation and certification who got high marks from members of Congress, quit earlier this year, a victim of an apparent political move to restore public confidence in the FAA following the ValuJet crash in the Florida Everglades.

Stevens Aviation to sell V-8-powered King Airs

Stevens Aviation, of Greer, South Carolina, has committed to order 140 Orenda V-8 engines over the next four years, for installation on used Beech King Air C90s for resale.

The 600-hp liquid-cooled, turbocharged V-8s are produced by Orenda, a division of the Fleet Aerospace Corporation of Toronto. They are expected to propel the refurbished King Airs to 260 knots (more than 30 knots faster than a standard C90), while reducing fuel consumption by 25 percent over the turbine models. In addition, a maximum gross weight increase of 1,200 pounds is expected with the retrofit; only 750 pounds of the increase is useful, however, since the engines weigh more than the Pratt & Whitneys they replace. Stevens expects to start selling the airplanes by the first quarter of 1997.

Merlyn Products of Spokane, Washington, is expected to fly a King Air with one Orenda V-8 any day now. Soon after, the airplane is expected to fly with both V-8s in place. Orenda's Rich Neill says that the airplane will definitely fly before the National Business Aircraft Association's convention in Orlando, Florida, next month.

The New Piper Aircraft has established a site on the Internet at www.newpiper.com. It includes press releases and specifications on Piper aircraft. Also, look for Executive Flyers Aviation of New Bedford, Massachusetts, at www.executiveflyers.com. The flying school has established links to weather radar for the Boston area.

TLS receives FAA equipment approval

After 20 weeks of testing, the FAA granted equipment approval of the Transponder Landing System (TLS), a ground-based precision approach system that, from a pilot's standpoint, is identical to an ILS.

The FAA stated, "TLS is capable of providing precision approach guidance that meets or exceeds specifications and recommendations for a Category I ILS." TLS's advantages lie in the fact that no supplemental equipment is required for an airplane to fly a TLS approach. Ground sensors rely on the aircraft's transponder returns in order to triangulate its position and provide guidance through standard localizer and glideslope indications. One TLS system can be deployed at an airport to provide precision approach guidance to every runway — unlike an ILS, which can serve only one runway.

Last year, FAA Administrator David Hinson flew a TLS approach into the Watertown (Wisconsin) Municipal Airport while visiting the 1995 EAA International Fly-In at Oshkosh. Hinson stated then that TLS could have a bright future for airports that pose unique challenges to standard ILS installations. Advanced Navigation and Positioning Corporation of Hood River, Oregon, has installed three systems in the United States, and one will be set up for the Farnborough Air Show in England. ANPC is in negotiations to set up seven more airports in the United States by the end of 1997, and 10 internationally. Each installation costs $500,000 to $1 million, depending on terrain surrounding the site.

Robinson has received FAA design approval for the R44 Clipper float-equipped helicopter. Robinson claims that the Clipper will add $18,000 to the standard R44's base price and reduce cruise speed and payload by 10 knots and 50 pounds, respectively. Robinson also offers a float-equipped version of its popular R22, called the Mariner.

A U.S. Air Force Lockheed C-5 burps up the all-composite fuselage of a V-22 Osprey tiltrotor at Naval Air Station Fort Worth, Texas' Carswell Reserve Base. The Boeing- built fuselage was later mated with a wing assembly made by Bell Helicopter in Arlington, Texas. Bell Boeing is to produce sixteen V-22s over the next three years. Production deliveries to the U.S. Marine Corps are to begin in 1999.

Gulfstream Aerospace going public

Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation of Savannah, Georgia, is going public with an offering of 28 million shares of common stock. At $23 a share, the midpoint of the expected price range of the stock, the offering should raise $2.2 billion.

The underwriters are Goldman, Sachs; Merrill Lynch; and Morgan Stanley. The shares were offered by the company, certain of its employees, and affiliates of Forstmann Little & Co., a New York investment firm that bought Gulfstream in 1990.

The San Fernando Valley, California, chapter of The Ninety-Nines, Inc. is sponsoring the eighteenth annual Valley Air Derby to take place on October 5. About two dozen airplanes are scheduled to compete in the 450-mile VFR race. For more information or to enter, call Mary Rawlings at 818/888-5360.

Golfing legend Arnold Palmer takes delivery of a Citation X, his sixth Cessna Citation over the years. Of his 14,000 total flight hours, 6,000 are in the Citation. He started with a Citation 500 in 1975, moved up to a Citation II in 1978, a Citation III in 1982, a second Citation III in 1985, and a Citation VII in 1992. He traded up to Citation X serial number 003 and transferred his N number, N1AP, to it. It flies at Mach 0.92, or approximately 600 mph.

Raytheon wins $620 million order

Raytheon Electronic Systems (RES) has won a contract from the U.S. Air Force for the Defense Department/FAA Digital Airport Surveillance Radar (DASR) program. Raytheon will build up to 213 radars. The potential contract value is $620 million.

"Raytheon's DASR will provide key air traffic services at DOD and FAA airports," said William H. Swanson, executive vice president and general manager of Raytheon Electronic Systems.

The DASR system, known in the FAA as the ASR-11, is a critical element of the DOD and FAA air traffic modernization program. The DASR provides primary radar surveillance of aircraft out to an instrumented range of 60 nautical miles, and secondary radar coverage up to 120 nautical miles.

Raytheon Electronic Systems in Marlboro, Massachusetts, will provide program management, systems engineering, and design support.

Grob to offer G115TA to U.S. next year

Grob is continuing the certification process for its G115TA advanced military trainer and expects to begin selling the two-place airplane in the United States by 1997. Despite a setback in which two people were killed in the preproduction prototype after a low-level aerobatic accident, Grob plans to begin delivery in November of the first 12 airplanes to the United Arab Emirates Air Force, which has an option for 12 additional airplanes. Powered by a 260-hp Lycoming AEIO-540, the all carbon fiber- constructed Grob will be fully aerobatic and have an aerobatic envelope of plus 6 and minus 4 Gs. Initial pricing for U.S. customers is estimated to be $350,000 to $400,000 for an IFR-equipped airplane.

Can't find a boat to which to anchor your soon-to-be-phased-out 360-channel com radio? ADRA International, a nonprofit humanitarian development and relief agency, is looking for working 360-channel com radios for shipment to African countries where they can be installed in aircraft that currently have no radios. ADRA will provide a 501(c)(3) tax receipt for the donation. In addition, ADRA is in need of a four-place single-engine airplane to be donated to a west Africa leprosy hospital. Call Jim Lanning at 301/680-6368; fax 301/680-6370; or E-mail at [email protected].

While 360-channel coms are being phased out in the United States, Europe may soon be requiring radios that have 8.33 kHz channel spacing. ICAO has called for further splitting of European VHF voice channels from 25 kHz to 8.33 kHz, to begin in January 1998 or 1999.

Squawk Sheet

An amendment (96-CE-36) to airworthiness directive 96-03-11 regarding American Champion models 8KCAB, 8GCBC, 7GCBC, 7ECA, 7GCAA, and 7KCAB airplanes will require that removable inspection panels be installed for repetitive inspections of the wing strut front attach fittings.

A new airworthiness directive has been tagged on Bellanca models 17-30, 17-30A, 17-31, 17-31A, 17-31TC, and 17-31ATC airplanes that requires repetitively inspecting, testing, and possibly replacing the nose landing gear strut and brackets. A copy of this AD is available on AOPA Online on CompuServe (library: Aircraft Ownership; filename: AD961807.TXT).

Atelier Dedalius Aviation of Sherbrooke, Quebec, has developed a high-lift wing with automatic slats to give STOL performance to the Zenair 701. Called the Pega STOL, the wings will be offered as a retrofit to all amateur-built Z701 aircraft. For information, call Atelier Dedalius Aviation in Canada at 819/563-4121, or E-mail [email protected].

Idea once ridiculed
Father of jet engine dies

At first it was the engine that no one wanted. Gas turbine technology had been tried, without success, until 1928, when Sir Frank Whittle — who died at 89 on August 8 — thought of a way to make it work. His ideas were generally ridiculed until 1936, when the British Air Ministry helped to fund his new company, Power Jets Ltd. His gas- turbine engine ran for the first time under its own power in April 1937, only a month after Germany's Hans J. P. von Ohain had secretly tested a similar engine powered by hydrogen.

The German engine flew first, powering a Heinkel He 178 on a seven-minute flight in 1939. Whittle's engine flew in 1941 on a Gloster E28/39. By the time it flew, Whittle had shared his information with Rolls-Royce and General Electric in the United States. Power Jets was nationalized in 1947 and limited to component research, causing Whittle and several of his workers to resign in protest.

He retired from the Royal Air Force in 1948 and was given a $400,000 prize a month later, recognition at last for his contribution to aviation. He was a consultant to companies in the United States and Britain, and contributed to design of the engines for the Concorde supersonic transport. He became a professor at the U.S. Naval Academy in 1976.

Venture Light Aircraft Resources of Tucson, Arizona, has bought the manufacturing rights to the Thorp T-211 Aerosport two-place trainer. Larry Rebling of Venture says that the company should have two of the Part 23-certified airplanes flying by year's end. Estimated cost of the all-metal, Continental O-200-powered Aerosport is $70,000. For further information, call 520/883-8295.

Sherwin-Williams of Cleveland has become the first U.S. operator of the Astra SPX. It will join the Sherwin-Williams flight department. The SPX was certified by the FAA in January and has a claimed cruise speed of Mach 0.82. It is certified for 45,000 feet and can go nonstop from New York to Los Angeles.

Sino-Swearingen Aircraft Company, of Martinsburg, West Virginia, has appointed Jack Braly as its president and chief executive officer. Braly was president of Beech Aircraft in the early 1990s.

Hartzell Propeller Inc. of Piqua, Ohio, has obtained a supplemental type certificate to install its three-blade scimitar propeller on Piper Comanche 260s. The propeller utilizes the "synchro-pulse" system that, by use of a flap on the blade's trailing edge, forces a blast of air into the intake to increase manifold pressure. The conversion kit, including the spinner, is $7,295. For more information, call 513/778-4200.

The B-17 bomber Aluminum Overcast will visit four locations in October before returning to its home base in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The tour is sponsored by the Experimental Aircraft Association and the EAA Aviation Foundation. Tour stops include Elmira, New York, October 7 to 10; Fulton, New York, October 10 to 14; Millville, New Jersey, October 14 to 17; and Morristown, New Jersey, October 17 to 20.

Dr. Bernard A. Heckman of Silver Spring, Maryland, has been elected president of the Flying Physicians Association. The commercial instrument-rated pilot has 4,000 hours' total flying time. He flies a Cessna T210.

AOPA Pilot contributor Michael Maya Charles has been named a correspondent for the CNNfn (financial news) network's new show, The Most Toys. The show covers cars, airplanes, and boats. It airs daily Monday through Friday at 8 p.m.

American Aviation Art, headquartered in Euless, Texas, is online on the Internet at www.amavart.com with 100 aviation art selections. The pictures may be seen and ordered online. For information, call 817/358-9533.

The latest design from Curtis Pitts, his giant (for him) Pitts Model 12 — better known as the Pitts Monster — features a Russian 360-horsepower Vendenyev M-14P engine and is now available in kit form. It is offered by Mid-America Aircraft of Wichita. Mid-America claims roll rates in excess of 300 degrees per second, and a climb rate exceeding 3,000 feet per minute. It can handle G loads of plus 6 and minus 4.5 Gs. The aircraft is 19.5 feet long and has a wingspan of 23 feet. Plans cost $300. Call 316/683-6537 for further information or to order the plans.

DGPS purchased for Florida airport

Flagler County Airport near Bunnell, Florida, will be equipped with a Raytheon DIAS- 3100 Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) allowing Category I precision GPS approaches. It will be the first DGPS in Florida when it becomes operational this fall.

The state of Florida financed the system, which will be used primarily by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, for training and as a university research test bed.

It will be considered a private-use approach that is not available to the public without special FAA approval, and requires the aircraft to have special Category I DGPS avionics.

Six winners were chosen at a recent aviation maintenance competition called Skills USA Championships and conducted by the Vocational Industrial Clubs of America. Winning medals and tools are Randall Lindeman, Michael Ellis, Michael Koumoullos, James Hiner, John Hepner, and Barton Heath.

AOPA members in the news

Former Olympic champion Bruce Jenner, AOPA 693412, of Beverly Hills, California, will sell corporate aircraft through Bruce Jenner Aviation, to be based in South Carolina. Jenner owns a Mitsubishi MU-2 and has approximately 5,000 hours of flight time.

Brent Regan, AOPA 1153137, of Davis, California, won the fifth Great Cross-Country Flying Race to Oshkosh from Denver, Colorado, in his Lancair IV-P. Regan averaged a speed of 299.9 knots over the 777-nm course.

Guido Bouckaert, AOPA 933345, of Belgium, has completed Aeroscript Annual 95/96 and Aeroscript Album: Celebrating 50 Years, Belgian Air Force. Both paperback books are available for sale and offer a beautifully photographed story of aviation in Belgium. For information, write to Aeroscript, Grietestraat 6B-8810, Lichtervelde, Belgium, or phone 32 (0) 51/72-23-71.

Russ Meyer III, AOPA 1178178, of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, has been named team leader-domestic fleet sales for Cessna's single-engine sales and marketing group. Meyer is the son of Cessna Chairman and CEO Russ Meyer and flew 50 combat missions in Operation Desert Storm in an F-16.

Edward L. Ely, AOPA 094294, has received the FAA's Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award. Ely, who took care of Williams Municipal Airport in Williams, Arizona, for many years, collects and restores antique aircraft under the company name Micky Mowse Flyin' Machines. He owns a 1937 Cessna Airmaster.

Dieter Langer, AOPA 1098968, of Long Beach, California, flew a uniquely painted Maule on a 375-hour, 50,000-mile journey to connect 28 Olympic cities. In the spirit of the Olympic games, Langer says that he was on a four-month mission of supporting friendship among the people of all nations of the world.

Lois Erickson, AOPA 759998, of Corning, California, has been elected president of The Ninety-Nines, Inc. Erickson is a member of the Mt. Shasta chapter of the organization and currently owns a Piper Cherokee 180.

Vern Moldrem, AOPA 760033, has self-published Tiger Tales, the story of his aviation career. He began as a mechanic and ended as the captain of a Boeing 747 for Flying Tiger Line. To order, send $29.95 plus $3.50 shipping (Florida residents add $2.34 sales tax) to Tiger Tales, Vern Moldrem, Flying M Press, 2704-C South Drive, Clearwater, Florida 34619.

Charles Hampton, AOPA 878901, Bob Chambers, AOPA 301979, and James (Pete) Campbell, AOPA 322831, were presented with the Tennessee Aeronautics Commission's Award of Excellence for 1996.

Geni Grant, AOPA 926628, of Bay City, Michigan, and Kris Baumgarten, AOPA 1156949, of Saginaw, Michigan, have created A Pilot's Guide to METAR/TAF, an explanation booklet and "cheat sheet" for pilots to use in understanding the new weather reporting codes. Grant is the chief flight instructor at Delta College in University Center, Michigan. She has been named Michigan's Flight Instructor of the Year. The booklet is available for $5, including shipping. Call 517/686-9030 or write to Delta College Bookstore, University Center, Michigan 48710.

XVII WORLD AEROBATIC CHAMPIONSHIP

Russians claim world aerobatic titles

Russia's aerobatic team dominated the eighteenth World Aerobatic Championship (WAC) in Oklahoma City and needed the huge Antonov transport that delivered them just to carry home the trophies. The United States had not hosted the biennial competition in 16 years and had high hopes for taking top honors, thanks to a home- turf advantage.

ESPN will feature the contest in a program to air October 8 at 10 p.m. Eastern time.

In 1980 — the last year the contest took place in the United States — the headline on AOPA Pilot's WAC story told of an American triumph in which the U.S. team won 28 of the 30 medals offered. But on August 29, most of the medals and trophies given in the 20-nation contest went to Victor Chmal as the new world aerobatic champion, and to the Russian men's team and the Russian women's team for highest team scores. Russian pilot Svetlana Kapanina claimed the unofficial title of hottest new sensation on the aerobatic competition scene, and the official title — plus a gold medal — of top- scoring woman. Publication of the photogenic former gymnast's picture on Air & Space Magazine's Internet page generated a flurry of adoring E-mail — mostly from males — for the (married, sorry guys) 23-year-old.

The championship was determined after only two rounds of competition because of weather cancellation of the third round. Kapanina placed fourth out of the 79 WAC pilots in overall individual scoring. Carl S. Whittle, the WAC director, said that there is a move afoot to drop the distinction between male and female competitions. The contest was primarily a fight between the incumbent French champions and the Russians. The U.S. women's team of Patty Wagstaff, Diane Hakala, and Linda Meyers- Morrissey captured the women's silver team medal, with France third. The U.S. men's team took the bronze medal, behind Russia and France. Wagstaff, the highest-scoring member of the U.S. team (including both men and women), took the bronze medal as third-highest scoring woman pilot. She will retire from competition to concentrate on her airshow and movie stunt pilot careers. She ranked twelfth overall (men and women), followed by Diane Hakala at fourteenth, Phil Knight at fifteenth, and Mike Goulian in sixteenth place. (Two U.S. team members — Linda Meyers-Morrissey and Debby Rihn-Harvey — became sick for a few days early in the two-week contest. Meyers-Morrissey finished twentieth overall, while Rihn-Harvey finished thirty- first.)

While the French and Americans were disappointed, the Italians were ecstatic over their fourth-place male team standing. Short of both funding and practice time, the Italians were forced to put most of their preparation effort into a two-week practice prior to the contest.

While it was a test of piloting skill, it was a test of aircraft, too. U.S.-built aircraft were scarce. There were 25 Russian-built Sukhoi 26 and 31 aircraft in the contest, 27 German-built Extra 300S and 300L aircraft, 10 French-built CAP 232 and 231EX aircraft, and a Russian Yak 55.

The U.S. team was considered aloof by pilots from other nations. Rather than hanging out in the United States tent near the taxiway, the Americans closeted themselves in a distant hangar and were driven to their aircraft just prior to their flights. That led to an impromptu parade of ridicule in which a Canadian male pilot was driven to his plane on a golf cart while being fed grapes by the Russian women's team. — Alton K. Marsh