Engine excitement at and after Expo
As we went to press, Teledyne Continental Motors formally proved true the rumors circulating at Expo: It has purchased Long Island, New York-based Mattituck Aviation Services.
This purchase falls into TCM's plans to offer its FADEC engine-control system to a wide audience, specifically for airplanes fitted with Lycoming engines. Mattituck is a recognized leader in Lycoming engine overhauls. The new entity will be called Teledyne Mattituck Services.
Meanwhile, Superior Air Parts revealed its Millennium Certified Pre-Owned Engine program. It has teamed with Montrose, Colorado-based Western Skyways to overhaul engines to new limits. Superior intends to emphasize quality service and support and a five-year/TBO warranty. For more information, see " Airframe and Powerplant: Taunting Goliath"; visit the Superior Air Parts Web site ( www.superiorairparts.com); or call 972/233-4433. — Marc E. Cook
Becker Avionics certifying GA glass cockpit
Germany's Becker Avionics has designed a glass cockpit for the general aviation market that is now undergoing certification in the new Extra 400, announced Robert Noah, director of marketing and sales. The product will be standard equipment in the Extra 400; certification is expected later this year.
"What we offer today is not only a moving map display, but a full data-processing system" that also analyzes engine and other systems' performance, he said. The complete package consists of a GPS moving map, engine monitoring, and primary flight displays.
Currently certified only for VFR, the moving map includes a digitized, chart-like moving map and is differential GPS-ready, he said. "It's very simple, because the pilot needs to be concentrating on flying — not on this new equipment."
Two new lightweight flat-panel displays are each only one inch deep; the navigation system can store as many as 999 flight plans, each with up to 99 waypoints; and the engine monitor can record up to 150 hours of engine-performance data. The primary flight display can also be used to display weather and traffic information.
For more information, e-mail Becker Avionics at [email protected] or visit the Web site ( www.becker-avionics.com). — Michael P. Collins
Raytheon displayed new Beech Bonanza and Baron models at AOPA Expo '99 that were each equipped with two Garmin GNS 430 IFR GPS navcoms. A recent agreement between Garmin and Raytheon makes the 430s standard equipment in next year's models of Raytheon's Beech piston line. A PS Engineering PMA7000 audio panel and intercom tops off the stack of a mixture of Garmin and AlliedSignal Bendix/King avionics. AlliedSignal still supplies transponders, ADFs, DMEs, autopilot, and weather radar equipment for Raytheon. The two Garmins offer their displays to depict information from remote BFGoodrich Stormscope and Skywatch sensors. An interface with Ryan's TCAD traffic avoidance device is also available. For more information, see the Garmin Web site ( www.garmin.com) or the Raytheon Web site ( www.raytheonaircraft.com).
Officials from Explorer Aircraft announced plans at AOPA Expo to develop three new versions of the Australian utility aircraft. The Explorer 500R will be powered by a 600-hp, liquid-cooled Orenda V-8. The Explorer 500T is to be powered by a Pratt & Whitney PT6 turboprop, as is the stretched Explorer 750T. The prototype Explorer 350 is powered by a 350-hp Continental TSIO-550. Company officials say the Continental-powered variant of the Explorer is on hold indefinitely while certification of the 500T takes place. Explorer also announced a launch order for the 500T. For more information, see the Web site ( www.exploreraircraft.com) or call 303/388-0600.
The first production-line Lancair Columbia 300 made its debut at AOPA Expo '99 in Atlantic City as the com-pany planned its first delivery for late November. The production aircraft, which is lighter than the prototypes, has a 1,200-pound useful load and cruise speed of 190 kt. Other refinements to the prototype have moved the CG forward by one-and-a-half inches. Lancair announced that production has begun on the aircraft bearing serial numbers four through seven and that the factory should be producing six to 10 airplanes per month by August 2000. To date, Lancair has 95 firm orders for the Columbia 300 and expects to be able to deliver 60 of those aircraft in 2000. The new aircraft sells for $285,500 with the standard IFR package and $299,700 with the premium IFR package. — Thomas B. Haines
Payload Systems Inc. of Cambridge, Massachusetts, announced at AOPA Expo '99 plans to offer a "black box" recording device that will record various flight parameters to provide useful information for flight training, accident investigation, and maintenance troubleshooting. Using a built-in GPS receiver and recorder, accelerometers, and cockpit and intercom recorders, the so-called True to Flight system can provide information about nearly everything that occurred on a flight. Replays show an airplane depiction over a scanned sectional chart with flight instruments that display what the pilot saw at the time. The company is working under a NASA small-business innovative research grant. Payload Systems hopes to team up with an aviation company to obtain an STC and market the system. Expected cost will be approximately $3,000. For more information, call Payload Systems at 617/868-8086 or visit the Web site ( www.payload.com).
NBAA NEWS
AlliedSignal offers new products for GA market
Navigating the future will be easier, thanks to two new products from AlliedSignal. At October's NBAA convention in Atlanta, the company introduced the Bendix/King KMD 550 and the KMD 850.
The 550 is a multifunction display (MFD) designed for nonradar-equipped piston and light turbine aircraft. The four-inch-high color LCD is identical to the KMD 850, except that the 850 has the ability to interface with an on-board weather radar. Both displays are the first GA avionics to be designed with a distributed processing architecture that uses multiple central processing units (CPUs), says AlliedSignal. Why should you care? Because with the technology you can easily upgrade your system without fear of running out of processing power. Need more power? Just add another processor.
With that in mind, AlliedSignal also introduced two integrated hazard avoidance systems (IHAS) that interface with the MFDs — with the addition of a processor. The IHAS 8000 and the IHAS 5000 integrate and display position, weather, traffic, and terrain information on a Bendix/King MFD — including the new KMD 550 and 850. The IHAS 8000 uses the KMD 850 to display moving map data, flight plan overlays, and weather radar. Throw in the new KMH 880, and you can also have active traffic interrogation and an enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS). The IHAS 5000, working with the KMD 550 MFD, displays textual and real-time Nexrad radar weather information via VHF datalink. It uses a Mode S datalink for traffic information and also incorporates terrain warnings through the EGPWS.
First deliveries are set for early 2000. The entire system should be available by the middle of next year. Expect to pay about $6,500 for an MFD. A full-up IHAS can go for around $22,000; a traffic-only system will be about $17,000; an EGPWS module will set you back less than $10,000. — TBH
A Lancair Columbia 300 dealership has been established in Germany with Hanseatische Luftwerft in Bremen.
FlyTimer Corporation introduced software for the Palm Computing platform that aids pilots with timing, E6B calculations, checklists, and warning reminders such as the switching of fuel tanks or periodic checks of the suction gauge. The FT2000 software is customizable for pilots who fly multiple aircraft. Aural, visual, and vibrating reminders can be set so that pilots don't miss a warning regardless of where the unit is installed. FT2000 software lists for $89.95. FlyTimer also took the opportunity at AOPA Expo to announce plans to introduce a portable GPS/ com/ACARS datalink unit that can provide in-cockpit weather. FlyTimer expects the unit to be available next July and list for less than $2,000. For more information, contact FlyTimer at www.flytimer.com or call 978/318-0600.
Rotax returns to Diamond, DA40 progresses
Diamond Aircraft, which dropped the DA20 Katana's original 80-horsepower Rotax engine for a 125-hp Continental on its current DA20-C1, has announced that it plans to offer the new 100-hp Rotax 912S as an option on the C1 Katana. "The C1 airframe was also designed to take the 912S Rotax," said Errol Bader, vice president of Diamond Aircraft Sales U.S.A. "We have just made the decision to go ahead and seek certification for that engine." Katana operators lobbied for the engine, he noted, which offers a constant-speed propeller and a higher service ceiling.
In other news, Diamond is currently conducting an "unprecedented" flight test of its new four-place model, the DA40. Bader said that the aircraft would be flown almost continually until the engine reaches TBO; as of October 11, the airplane had logged 500 hours, including 10,000 takeoffs and landings. "We're just cycling pilots through," he said. Except for minor fuel pump and mixture linkage problems, "we're just changing a lot of tires." Certification of the DA40 is expected early next year, with production to begin shortly thereafter. — MPC
Mooney offers faster Ovation
Mooney Aircraft at AOPA Expo '99 unveiled a new model, the Ovation2. It is powered by the same 280-horse-power Continental IO-550 engine as the current Ovation, but cruises at a faster 194 knots, explained Chris Dopp, Mooney's president and CEO. The performance increase comes from a new two-blade McCauley propeller system, he said.
For the 2000 model year, both the Ovation2 and Mooney Bravo will come standard with Bendix/King's KFC225 autopilot and leather interiors; Garmin GNS 430 navigators with color moving maps will be available as factory options. What should pilots expect from Mooney in the future? Dopp said the company has seen a lot of interest in the M20T Predator, a two-place tandem model, and is seriously considering a new six-seat, pressurized aircraft. "That would be a four- to five-year project," he commented. — MPC
Hartzell launches new Web site; props for Jet Prop DLX, Cessna Caravan
Hartzell Propeller announced the launch of its new World Wide Web site at the NBAA convention in Atlanta. Visitors to www.hartzellprop.com can obtain information on service and maintenance, Top Prop conversions, and propeller advice for builders of kit aircraft.
Hartzell also announced the development of a new composite propeller for the Jet Prop DLX turboprop conversion for the Piper Malibu/Mirage airplanes. The four-blade propeller, which is largely constructed of Kevlar, is 23 pounds lighter than the comparable metal propeller and offers an unlimited certification life designation from the FAA.
In addition, Hartzell announced the development of a four-blade propeller STC for the Cessna Caravan that will meet strict European noise standards. Testing of the propeller to obtain the STC has pegged the Hartzell-equipped Caravan at 76.9 dBA, eight dBA lower than the ICAO Chapter X limit. In addition, the propeller increases ground clearance by five inches. For more information, call Hartzell at 937/778-4200 or visit the company's Web site ( www.hartzellprop.com).
Ethanol avgas?
Great Planes Fuels announced at AOPA Expo '99 that its AGE-85 ethanol-based aviation fuel was to be available for sale by the end of November. The fuel, which was designed as a lead-free substitute for 100LL, has been approved for use in specially modified Continental O-470 engines. The new fuel consists of 87 percent ethanol, 12 percent isopentane, and 1 percent soy diesel, and is designed to run in any piston aircraft engine with appropriate modifications.
Great Planes claims that the fuel will produce as much as 15 percent more horsepower than avgas and double TBO. The company hopes to certify the fuel for use in any Continental or Lycoming engine and estimates that conversions for most engines will cost less than $500. In addition, the modified engines will be able to run on avgas, AGE-85, or a blend of AGE-85 and 100LL. Madison, South Dakota, will be the site of the first retail outlet for the fuel, which will sell for approximately $1.30 per gallon.
A third Raytheon Premier I has joined two aircraft currently in the flight test program. The aircraft will be used for avionics certification. It will be equipped with the Rockwell/Collins Pro Line 21 integrated avionics system. The three-display system will be certified for reduced vertical separation minimums. The aircraft has a maximum speed of 461 KTAS and has a 1,500-nm range. Powered by two Williams/Rolls FJ44-2A engines, it will take off in less than 3,000 feet.
$60 million donation made to NASM
The Smithsonian Institution received its largest-ever donation in October from Hungarian-American businessman and jet pilot Steven F. Udvar-Hazy. The $60 million will be used by the Smithsonian to construct the Dulles Center — an aircraft display, restoration, and storage facility to be located at the Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia.
Udvar-Hazy is the founder, president, and CEO of International Lease Finance Corporation, an aircraft leasing company based in Los Angeles. His contribution brings the total of the private funding for the Dulles Center to $92 million. The facility is expected to cost a total of $173 million and open by December 2003, in time for the centennial celebration of the first flight of the Wright Flyer.
A new way to shop for airplanes was introduced at AOPA Expo '99. PlaneQuest.com allows airplane performance, equipment, and cost comparisons to be made for a fair "apples-to-apples" look at various makes and models. Currently more than 250 aircraft types are listed with PlaneQuest.com. In addition, the service plans to provide expert consultation services to buyers and sellers interested in a certain type of airplane. PlaneQuest.com is free to visitors until the end of the year. After that a membership fee will be charged. Contact www.planequest.com or call 513/459-8989.
Every child who has ever held a helium-filled balloon has had a dream — hang onto the string and float high above the adults. Now, adult children can live the dream. A California company, One Giant Leap, will sell you a helium balloon for $8,900 that is big enough to lift a 250-pound person 100 feet into the air. Unless you have a balloon certificate, though, you'll have to be tethered and restrict flight to no more than 150 feet. The company claims that, assuming a long-enough tether, you could hop a quarter-mile — enough to leap tall buildings in a single bound. So, Superman fans, click over to www.parabounce.com for the full story, or call 323/882-6172. Send e-mail to [email protected].
Helicopter sales figures published by the Aerospace Industries Association for the first half of 1999 show Robinson Helicopter leading in total units with 129 delivered, followed by Bell Helicopter Textron with 62. The Robinson R44 was the most popular model, with 73 units produced.
Squawk Sheet
Following the discovery of a cylinder in which a standard-size valve seat was installed in an oversize machined valve-seat port, Lycoming released Service Bulletin No. 540 requiring the immediate inspection of cylinders for correct valve seat installation. Owners of aircraft equipped with Lycoming cylinders shipped between June 25 and September 24, 1999, are subject to the mandatory service bulletin. Cylinders that have amassed a total of at least 10 hours time-in-service are exempted from the inspection requirements. Lycoming has tested the majority of the cylinders from the suspect lots at the factory. Lycoming will extend warranty credit for inspections/cylinder replacements conducted in accordance with the provisions of the service bulletin. For a complete listing of affected cylinders and service instructions, please refer to Lycoming Service Bulletin No. 540 dated October 11, 1999. To obtain a copy of the service bulletin, contact Lycoming at 800/258-3279.
Arnav's Weatherlink service — the weather information that the company provides through datalink — can now be accessed via the Internet for preflight briefings, and pilots can see it as it is formatted for cockpit use. Arnav recently received an FAA contract to provide uplinked weather information. METARs will be offered free, and Nexrad radar imagery will be available as a premium, extra-charge service.
The first annual National Aviation Heritage Invitational took place during the National Championship Air Races in Reno in September. The purpose of the competition is to encourage the preservation of aviation history through restoration of vintage aircraft to original, flyable condition. It is sponsored by Rolls-Royce; the National Air and Space Museum; the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio; and the Reno Air Racing Association. This year's winner was this F2G-1D Super Corsair.
New jet on hold as Piper focuses on current line
Don't expect to be flying a Piper jet anytime soon. The New Piper Aircraft Company has announced that it will defer development of a light jet until after the Meridian single-engine turboprop is fully up and in production, and the company has gone public. Certification of the Meridian is scheduled for mid-2000. Four aircraft are in flight test, and a fifth is undergoing static tests. The quartet has flown 350 flights and 500 hours. The company has 137 orders for the $1.38 million turboprop; 82 of them are already sold to retail customers. Piper is exploring plans to make an initial public offering. However, no specific timetable for the project has been established.
Development of the Malibu Meridian turboprop is not the only thing keeping engineers at Piper busy. They have nearly completed work on upgrades to the Seneca and Malibu Mirage panels, giving them the same Garmin avionics and S-Tec autopilots that debuted on the Archer and Saratoga this year. Pilot training for these two models and the rest of the Piper fleet, including the Meridian, will be conducted by SimCom International. Under the long-term agreement, SimCom will be the training facility for customers transitioning into or undergoing recurrent training in Saratogas, Senecas, and the Malibu Mirage. Piper and SimCom will also partner in the development of pilot and maintenance technician training courses for the Meridian. Key to the training will be a new simulator that SimCom will construct for the program. — TBH
The National Aeronautic Association's Wright Brother Memorial Trophy has been awarded to Del Smith, founder and chairman of Evergreen International Aviation.
AOPA members in the news
Ernest W. "Bill" Colbert, AOPA 217764, of Nashville, Tennessee, was presented with the Tennessee Aeronautics Commission's 1999 Career Contributions to Aviation Award. Colbert founded Colemill Enterprises in 1944. Today the company runs a successful charter service and modifies Beech Bonanzas and Barons, Cessna 310s, and Piper Navajos (see " Born Again Navajo," November Pilot).
The National Association of Flight Instructors inducted three AOPA members into its 1999 Hall of Fame in October. Anders Christenson, AOPA 623598; Dale DeRemer, AOPA 194795; and Verne Jobst, AOPA 724211, have a combined total of nearly 40,000 hours of flight instruction time. Christenson, of Bloomington, Minnesota, has logged more than 23,000 hours as a flight instructor; DeRemer, of Grand Forks, North Dakota, has more than 40 years in aviation with 3,100 hours instructing; and Jobst, of McHenry, Illinois, has 11,500 instructional hours among his 40,000 logged flight hours.
Arnold Kolb, AOPA 073052, of Spearfish, South Dakota, was recently inducted into the South Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame. Kolb established Black Hills Aviation in 1957, a charter, air ambulance, and forest firefighting service that operated Lockheed P2V aircraft. In 1972, Black Hills Aviation moved to Alamogordo, New Mexico, and Kolb retired in 1993. He has more than 24,000 flight hours and also was named to Who's Who in American Aviation.
Dr. Kenneth Stein, AOPA 465180, of Merritt Island, Florida, was presented with the Astronaut's Silver Snoopy Award by astronaut Alan Poindexter for his contributions to the success of manned space flight missions. Stein works for Boeing Space Coast Operations at Kennedy Space Center and flies volunteer missions for Angel Flight Southeast.
Dennis A. Bazemore, AOPA 904819, of Ingleside, Texas, has been designated a Master CFI by the National Association of Flight Instructors. The Master Instructor program allows top instructors to enhance their abilities as both pilots and educators. Bazemore is an FAA aviation safety counselor at the San Antonio FSDO and is an aircraft systems instructor for Lockheed Martin in Corpus Christi, Texas.
David Frazier, AOPA 1002989, of Jackson, Michigan, has written the fourth edition of The ABCs of Safe Flying, published by McGraw-Hill. Frazier is the director of aviation for Jackson Community College.
Dr. Allan Silverstein, AOPA 924161, of New York City, was featured in The Independent after he and Pauli Overdorff were married in Silverstein's Piper Saratoga over East Hampton, New York.
Michael A. Berlin, AOPA 682815, of West Hartford, Connecticut, was named Gold Seal flight instructor by the FAA. Berlin also has been designated a Master CFI by the National Association of Flight Instructors.
Ted CoConis, AOPA 811656, has completed a painting commissioned by the U.S. Air Force showing the integration of air and space into the Air Force of the future. The painting features a number of firsts, from early aircraft to the first reconnaissance satellite and the X-1, the first piloted aircraft to break the sound barrier. Contemporary aircraft include the F-22 fighter, the X-38 lifting body, and the B-2 bomber.
BFGoodrich Avionics Systems has in-troduced the LandMark Terrain Awareness and Warning System (TAWS). The system satisfies new requirements that are forcing operators of turbine aircraft with more than six passenger seats to in-stall a terrain awareness system. TAWS is expected to be certified by the end of next year. The cost of a basic system is expected to be less than $10,000. The company is also offering a Mark VIII EGPWS enhanced ground proximity warning system. The unit weighs 4.3 pounds and measures 10.25 by 3 by 6 inches to fit the panels of light business jets. The price is $33,900. EGPWS compares aircraft position with a terrain database to provide flight crews with a map-like picture of nearby terrain on a radar display or MFD. Terrain is color-coded to designate its elevation relative to aircraft altitude. The system, with a worldwide terrain database, also offers alerts for excessive rate of descent, excessive closure to terrain, descent after takeoff, insufficient terrain clearance, descent below glideslope, and excessive bank angle. — TBH
FAA to form committee on fractional ownership
FAA Administrator Jane Garvey told National Business Aviation Association convention attendees that she expects to soon announce an industry/government committee on the regulation of fractional-ownership aircraft. At the moment, aircraft in fractional-ownership programs are operated under FAR Part 91 rules.
A majority of NBAA members have indicated in polls that they prefer that the fractional-ownership programs operate under Part 135 charter rules. (Most of NBAA's 6,050 members are Part 91 corporate flight departments.) NBAA officials released studies in October indicating that fractional-ownership aircraft have a safety record almost as good as that of the airlines, and told Garvey before her speech that no new regulations are needed.
The committee, to be appointed by the FAA, will draw heavily from the corporate and fractional-ownership community, and will reach a conclusion by January on the level of regulation that will provide the safest operation of fractional-ownership aircraft. Fractional-ownership companies are acquiring huge fleets of aircraft from business jets to airliners.
On another front, Garvey said that efforts to reduce accidents in the general aviation community will focus on those involving weather and controlled flight into terrain. Next, the FAA will plan "direct intervention" for those accident causes, Garvey said.
Norman Howell, AOPA 1141476, won the Copperstate Dash Air Race. His speed of more than 195 kt in a Long-EZ beat 33 other pilots. He flew from Apple Valley Airport near his home in California to the finish line near Phoenix in slightly more than 93 minutes.
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