Cessna lays off workers at piston-engine plant
For the first time in 15 years Cessna Aircraft Company has reduced its work force. Citing sluggish sales, the company laid off 280 out of about 1,000 workers at its piston-engine factory in Independence, Kansas, in June.
"It's something we certainly didn't want to do," said Cessna spokeswoman Marilyn Richwine. The move revealed just how vulnerable general aviation can be in a weakening economy. Cessna noted a drop in sales after the first of the year as potential buyers became more sensitive about discretionary spending, Richwine said. Cessna was also hoping to get a bigger boost than it did from sales incentives.
The layoffs came on the heels of a record year in 2000 for general aviation manufacturers following a six-year upward trend. Cessna was planning to build 1,100 piston airplanes this year but is now shooting for 900. Last year, the company sold 912 piston airplanes, according to figures from the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA).
In recent months there were also layoffs at other GA manufacturers, but the root causes may be different. In April, Raytheon Aircraft Company announced that it would cut 450 jobs. Raytheon's parent company has been trying to sell off its aircraft division, and company officials have remained tight-lipped about potential deals. Last year Raytheon delivered more new airplanes than any other year in nearly two decades. Most of the growth came in the turbine segment.
And in February, Cirrus Design Corporation said that it was laying off 127 employees, leaving 512. Cirrus said the restructuring was needed because of the rapid growth that had created inefficiencies in manufacturing the SR20 and SR22 aircraft. Cirrus has an order backlog of about 700 airplanes.
Cessna opened the Independence plant in 1996 after the passage of the General Aviation Revitalization Act that put limits on product liability lawsuits. Cessna makes the 172 Skyhawk, 182 Skylane, and 206 Stationair at the factory.
Turbine aircraft sales for Cessna remain strong, and there is an order backlog extending through most of 2002 and beyond for some models of the Citation business jets, Richwine said. Since Cessna is continuing to hire at its jet plant in Wichita, some of the displaced workers will likely find jobs there. Last year Cessna began delivering the CJ1, CJ2, and the Encore.
General Dynamics buys Galaxy
General Dynamics, parent company of Gulfstream Aerospace, announced that it has bought Galaxy Aerospace for $330 million in cash. The acquisition will add the super-midsize Galaxy and mid-size Astra business jets to the Gulfstream fleet.
Included in the deal are Galaxy's two paint bays and 165,000-square-foot service and completion facility at the company's headquarters at the Fort Worth Alliance Airport in Texas. If revenue targets are met through 2006, General Dynamics would pay an additional $315 million to the selling partners (Galaxy is a joint venture between the Hyatt Corporation and Israel Aircraft Industries). At the same time the deal was announced, Executive Jet Inc.'s NetJets fractional ownership program placed an order for 50 Galaxies to be delivered over the next five years. Officials said that the Alliance facility will continue to serve the Astra and Galaxy fleet's completion and service needs. - Thomas A. Horne
GA crash causes differ for male, female pilots, study shows
A study of older general aviation pilots (ages 40 and up) involved in crashes reveals that women mishandle the aircraft a greater percentage of the time than men, while men make poor decisions more often than women. The study covers crashes of both aircraft and helicopters from 1983 through 1997 and was produced by the Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center for Injury Research and Policy at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
The study did not include airline pilots.
Aircraft mishandling was the most common problem for both men and women, but it got the blame in 81 percent of female pilots' crashes and just 48 percent of men's.
Flawed decision making, such as poor weather decisions or flying airplanes with mechanical defects, was responsible in about 29 percent of male crashes compared with 19 percent of women's. Inattention was a factor in 32 percent of male crashes but only 19 percent of female crashes.
Crashes are often the result of more than one error, the researchers said.
Women lost control on landing or takeoff, mishandled crosswinds, or crashed following a stall more often than men. An example was a woman who flared too high, cut the throttle, and stalled. She rolled left and crashed.
Men were more likely than women to initiate or continue flight into bad weather, fly aircraft with known defects, or maneuver at extremely low altitudes, such as when buzzing a friend's house. An example of poor decision making is the male pilot who decided to take off in a twin-engine aircraft with an obvious fuel leak in the left wing; his aircraft caught fire and crashed. At least nine crashes involved male pilots who flew aircraft with known defects. The more common occurrence of faulty judgment among males may be related to carelessness, inattention, and risk taking, the study said. For males, crashes related to pilot error decreased with age.
Two of the authors, Susan P. Baker and Margaret W. Lamb, are AOPA members and coauthored the article "Mountain Flying and Weather" in the July 1989 AOPA Pilot magazine. - Alton K. Marsh
Raytheon Aircraft names new CEO
James E. Schuster, 48, has been named chairman and CEO of Raytheon Aircraft Company. Schuster has served as president of Raytheon's Aircraft Integration Systems business since joining the company in September 1999. Previ.usly he worked for Magne-Tek Inc., where he served as executive vice president of the company and president of the electric motors and generators division.
Schuster replaces Hansel E. Tookes, 53, who has been named president of Raytheon International Inc. Tookes will be responsible for expanding Raytheon's business outside the United States. Before joining Raytheon in September 1999, Tookes served as president of Pratt & Whitney's large military engines group.
PILOT HEADLINERS
Golden Knight to take long leap
The first female member of the U.S. Army's famed Golden Knights parachute team, Cheryl Stearns, said that she will attempt next spring to jump from a balloon flying at 130,000 feet.
Italian company offers airplane
Tecnam Costruzioni Aeronautiche, located in Naples, Italy, is offering its two-passenger, 124-knot, all-metal high-wing P92–2000RG to the U.S. kitplane market. The fast-build kit will cost $32,100.
Koliber 160 receives U.S. certification
PZL International's Koliber 160A, a four-seat, all-metal monoplane, has received FAA type certification. The airplane is the upgraded version of the Koliber 150A, which first arrived in the United States in the mid-1990s.
CAF grounds unit
The Confederate Air Force grounded its High Sky Wing following two fatal crashes so that it could review the wing's operations and maintenance procedures.
Company buys Orbcomm satellite system
International Licensees LLC announced that it has bought all the business assets of Orbcomm Global LP, the world's first commercial low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellite-based data and communica-tions system.
Race car legend buys Robinson helo
Legendary auto racer Bob Bondurant bought a Robinson R44 helicopter to use as a platform for filming students at his Arizona race car driving school.
Heavy-hauler makes maiden flight
The Murphy SR3500 Super Rebel kitplane made its first flight. Based on the SR2500, it features a 1,759-pound useful load.
To sign up for the free AOPA ePilot or to view the archive, see AOPA Online ( www.aopa.org/members/files/pilot/epilot/).
Covering the big surf has its ups and downs
For certain times of the year helicopter pilot John DuGan is on call. He may have to rise at dawn and head out to sea. He's not flying for the Coast Guard, and he's not an air ambulance pilot. He's just waiting for the perfect wave.
DuGan has a unique job that focuses on a section of ocean near San Francisco. He operates Bay Aerial Helicopter Service along with a partner and has the surfing market cornered when he's not doing scenic flights. Last year DuGan started using his Robinson R22 and R44 helicopters to capture on film the Quicksilver Mavericks Men Who Ride Mountains Big Wave Event. It takes place on a big reef off the tip of Pillar Point in Half Moon Bay when the swell, tide, current, and wind serve up a menacing brew.
With the helicopter flying sideways, viewers can actually roll with swells that exceed 25 feet, while the faces are twice as high. DuGan provides coverage for a surfing video production company. He said the key is to safely get close so that the waves look as big as possible on film. But there's a lot of air moving around and the tremendous turbulence keeps him on his toes. "It's wild. It's good fun," he said. "We can show a new angle and everybody's loving it."
DuGan also provides search-and-rescue services for the surfers in an area that demands respect. In 1994, the competition flexed its muscle when Jay Moriarity got launched off a giant wave and was held under water for 30 seconds. Another surfer, Zack Wormhoudt, came to the surface coughing blood after a bad wipeout. Four days later Hawaiian surfer Mark Foo drowned, and his body wasn't located for hours.
But if you want the really big waves, you need to go to Cortes Bank, 100 miles off the coast of San Diego. It's where a 17-mile mountain range juts to the surface at a place called Bishop Rock, the site of shipwrecks since the 1700s. Surfers monitor weather conditions on the Internet and try to predict when the biggest wave of the year will come. This year it came on January 19 with a face towering some six stories high. After a high-speed tow from a personal watercraft, Mike Parsons took home the $60,000 prize sponsored by the Web site www.swell.com and its affiliates such as Surfing magazine.
But the prize was disputed because DuGan believed he flew the photo mission that captured a bigger wave at Mavericks. Next year DuGan plans to take one of the Robinsons out on a boat to film at Cortes Bank.
Though he's not a world-class surfer, one thing that helped DuGan with this tricky type of flying is his solid nerves. He was on the U.S. Ski Team from 1987 through 1994 and currently competes as a speed skier. Ranked seventh in the world, he has gone 149 mph on skis, even faster than he can fly in a Robinson.
Pilot takes the long road to certification
The long road to private pilot certification is paved with good intentions. But for one reason or another, it takes some longer than others to earn their tickets because of lifestyle interruptions. For David P. Smith of Pacific Palisades, California, it took 42 years.
When he decided to start flying again a few years ago it was a matter of opening up his old logbook to the same page and picking up where he left off. And, remarkably, he had the same instructor.
Malcolm K. Oleson, now 88 and still plenty sharp, first taught Smith to solo through the Boy Scouts when he was a teenager. Oleson was helping the scouts rebuild crashed airplanes in his backyard. Smith first soloed at the age of 17 in a Cessna 120 called Lady Edna after Oleson's wife. "He was just a little guy when I met him," Oleson said about Smith, who was a good friend of his son's.
But in college Smith's flying became spread out. And later his first wife, an engineer, had concerns about the safety of small airplanes. "She had a categorical objection to the owning of an airplane," Smith said.
After his second wife died of cancer, he was inspired by her strength. He decided that it was time to start flying again and later bought a Cessna 150. Oleson once again signed him off to solo in the fall of 1998, except it took him longer the second time around. At the age of 54, Smith had matured, of course - and become an aerospace engineer - but everything had changed. The airspace in California wasn't as simple as it once was, and there were a lot more regulations to adhere to.
He received his private pilot certificate in February 2000 and is currently at work on his instrument rating with Oleson and wants to become an A&P. Although much has changed, much has remained the same. Oleson has been living in the same house since 1941. And Smith is planning to get a taildragger kit to make his airplane more like, well, Lady Edna.
Italy forms manufacturers' association
Five aircraft manufacturers in Italy have formed the General Aviation Manufacturers Association of Italy. The organization is unrelated to a similarly named association based in the United States and serving U.S. manufacturers.
The Italian organization represents manufacturers offering a variety of sport planes and business aircraft. The members are: Arrow SRL, located in Rome, manufacturer of the Rondine aerial surveillance system; C.M.D. (Centro Motori Diesel), located in Potenza, developer of a 300-horsepower diesel aviation engine; Iniziative Industriali Italiane, located in Rome, manufacturer of the Sky Arrow; Piaggio Aero Industries located in Genova, manufacturer of the P–180 twin-engine turboprop; Tecnam Costruzioni Aeronautiche, manufacturer of two- and four-seat P92 series aircraft; and Vulcanair, located in Naples, manufacturer of several twin-engine aircraft including the Spartacus and former Partenavia models. For information, send an e-mail ( [email protected]). - AKM
Polly Vacher makes around-the-world flight
On May 17, British aviator Polly Vacher completed an around-the-world flight, touching down in Birmingham, England, under the escort of two Royal Air Force Harriers. Vacher, an instrument-rated commercial pilot from Oxon, England, conducted the 29,000-mile solo flight in her 1994 Piper Dakota. Her sponsors funded a scholarship program for disabled pilots.
The program, the Royal International Air Tattoo Flying for the Disabled, will endow scholarships enabling disabled persons "in the rehabilitation stage to find the intellectual and physical challenge of learning to fly," said Vacher. So far, approximately $215,000 has been raised for the fund.
Vacher's route began in England on January 12 and took her to Cyprus, Jordan, India, Indonesia, Australia, Fiji, Samoa, Hawaii, across the continental United States, and back to England via the North Atlantic. From avgas in a mysterious barrel sent to her in Jodphur, India, to the "worst turbulence ever" on the way from Big Bear, California, to Colorado Springs, Colorado, Vacher had great faith in the Dakota and herself. "This dear aircraft…has so stoically carried me and protected me through so many different climates without so much as the odd grizzle - well, perhaps one or two small ones!" Pilots can relive the flight through Vacher's diary on her Web site ( www.worldwings.org). - Julie K. Boatman
Controllers honored for emergency actions
Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta honored five air traffic controllers who help-ed to continue normal operations following a February 28 earthquake in the Seattle area. The five received the Award for Valor for remaining at their posts as the 6.8-magnitude quake shook the 108-foot-tall Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Tower. The Tower was later evacuated and closed for repairs. An earthquake-resistant tower is expected to open in 2004. The five are controllers Sheila R. Furlong, Feliciano B. Pagan III, Brian M. Shimpf, Debra S. Hart, and Jamie E. Erdt. The Award for Valor is the department's highest award for civilian employees. - AKM
CAF seeks new name
After enduring flak for the political correctness of its name, the Confederate Air Force is reviewing proposals for a broader identity that will lead it through less battle-ridden skies. The group wants to spend more time raising money and less time defending itself.
The CAF received more than 1,000 recommendations from English majors, World War II veterans, lexicographers, teachers, doctors, plumbers, engineers, electricians, retirees, children, pilots, navigators, politicians, and just about everybody else.
The CAF voted to change its name in October 2000 by an 82-percent margin. Many of the group's 9,000 members felt that the old name didn't accurately reflect the objectives of the organization, which are directed toward preserving World War II aircraft and honoring the men and women who flew them. There were also major concerns about the drying up of corporate sponsorships tied to anything carrying the Confederate name. The name was originally painted on a North American P–51 Mustang as a joke in the 1950s and it stuck.
A committee that includes seven CAF members was tasked with reviewing the suggestions for new names and narrowing them down to four choices. The committee is looking for something that will have universal appeal and survive the test of time. The names will then be voted on by CAF members in October. The new name is to take effect in January 2002.
Members in the news
Steve Ward, AOPA 1167056, has published Haunting of a Sky Warrior. The 343-page novel follows superheroine Christina Matthews along a perilous route toward her dream of becoming a NASA astronaut-pilot. Before she can fulfill her destiny, she must face her adversary in the sky and destroy the evil demons that vex her soul. The book is available from 1stBooksLibrary ( www.1stbooks.com or 888/280-7715) for $12.95 plus shipping, or $20 for a copy signed by the author. E-mail the author ( [email protected]).
Kenneth McKown, AOPA 1406085, and Franco Valentino, AOPA 3338808, have launched a new brand of headset. They say their Spectrum QLS Sierra and Tango models offer a host of standard features at prices below comparable headsets. For more information, see the Web site ( www.spectrumpilot.com).
Dan Garrett, AOPA 1006024, was recently selected as the Naval Reserve Sailor of the Year 2001 from six finalists representing the best of more than 68,000 reservists worldwide. The weeklong selection process involved such criteria as interviews, examination boards, and physical training. Garrett is an aviation warfare systems operator in the reserves and has accumulated more than 2,500 hours in P–3C Orion submarine hunters in addition to his 400 hours as a private pilot and part owner of a Cessna 172.
John S. Daniel, AOPA 1400088, has been named president and chief operating officer of Luscombe Aircraft in Altus, Oklahoma. Formerly, Daniel was the director of single-engine piston aircraft assembly at Cessna Aircraft Company. Luscombe is in the final stages for the research and development of its type certificate for the Spartan 185-11E, an all-metal, four-place airplane.
Daniel V. Manningham, AOPA 815915, Stephen Quigg, AOPA 3735307, Joe Hopkins Jr., AOPA 198997, and Barry Trotter, AOPA 488113, led a series of safety events in late February in the east African countries of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. The group provided the training under Mission Safety International, a nonprofit ministry that provides educational and consulting services. Kenya's Division of Civil Aviation was one of the sponsors of the safety seminars, aimed at preventing disasters in the area's dangerous skies.
David N. Zeehandelaar, AOPA 1011899, has been appointed to Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street's Airport Advisory Board. The board advises the mayor on operations at Philadelphia International Airport. Zeehandelaar is an attorney with the firm of Blank Rome Comisky & McCauley.
Don Fairbanks, AOPA 023754, has self-published Once Around the Patch (of Life), an autobiography about his flying adventures as a tail gunner in World War II, and as an airline pilot, flight instructor, and air-racing pilot after the war. To order, send $20 plus $3 for shipping and handling to Don Fairbanks, Post Office Box 44208, Cincinnati, Ohio 45244.
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