Originally from Nairobi, Kenya, Musimba is a junior at Parks College of St. Louis University where she is studying aviation science. She ultimately hopes to hold a position where she can influence the quality of flight operations in her native country.
Flight Training sponsored their trip expenses, including hotel, airfare, and meal costs, a value of $2,000. The magazine has given the scholarship to two winners each year since 1995. For more information, visit the Web site (www.aopaflighttraining.org ).
Julie K. Boatman
FAA Certifies Turbo Skylane
It's official. Cessna has completed certification of its turbocharged Skylane, the T182T. The 235-horsepower Textron Lycoming engine provides slightly better performance than its predecessor, the T182, produced until 1983. "We have listened to our customers and are pleased to provide them with an increase in power, rate of climb, and takeoff performance," said Cessna spokeswoman Christina Taylor. A three-blade propeller comes standard, as does a Honeywell Bendix/King avionics stack, including a single nav/com and two-axis autopilot. Avionics options include the new Bendix/King KLN 94 GPS and KMD 550 multifunction display and BFGoodrich WX-500 Stormscope. The base price is $281,600. For more, see the Web site (http://turboskylane.cessna.com).
J. Boatman
Airplane On Schedule, Liberty Says
Liberty Aerospace of Montrose, Colorado, announced that its Liberty XL-2 airplane is on schedule to be certified in last-quarter 2001. The Liberty XL-2 is larger than the Europa line of homebuilt aircraft and is designed as a "cruising two-seater."
Ivan Shaw, chief designer, said at the Sun 'n Fun EAA Fly-In in April that the latest manufacturing technology and processes are being utilized for the XL-2 design. Simple bonded all-aluminum wings (the 22.5-gallon fuel tank is in the fuselage) bolt onto a welded 4130 chrome-moly steel tube structure that forms a sturdy cage around the cabin. The fuselage consists of 11 carbon fiber parts that are bonded together to form a low-drag shell. A 100-hp Rotax 912S water-cooled engine and a new propeller give the airplane a cruise speed of 120 knots. The airplane, which will be built by STW Composites of Montrose, Colorado, sells for $97,500.
Steven W. Ells
Awards Program Names CFI Of The Year
The 2001 General Aviation Industry Awards Program has named Phillip J. Poynor of Farmingdale, New York, CFI of the Year.
Poynor has been a flight instructor since 1981 and is the owner of Nassau Flyers, a flight school in Long Island, New York, and an associate professor of aviation at the State University of New York at Farmingdale.
The program also named Dwain A. Chase of Phoenix, a 24-year career veteran, Aviation Maintenance Technician of the Year and Brenda "Cori" Olson of Tucson, Arizona, a quality assurance inspector at Bombardier Aerospace, the Avionics Technician of the Year.
A formal presentation to the winners was made on February 10 at Helicopter Association International's HeliExpo 2001 in Anaheim, California. The national awards program is a cooperative effort between the FAA and the aviation industry. The winners are selected from FAA regional winners and are chosen by a national selection committee of aviation professionals.
SPN Announces Scholarship Winners
Student Pilot Network (SPN) and its parent company, McConnell Aviation Inc., announced the most recent winners of the online aviation community's scholarship program. Student pilot John Racanelli of Jefferson, Wisconsin, won $1,000, while Melissa Miller, a certificated flight instructor in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and student pilot Kari Wentzloff, of Chanhassen, Minnesota, each received $500. McConnell Aviation, based in Wheeling, Illinois, is the parent corporation for several retail and online aviation companies. For more information about SPN, see the network's Web site ( www.studentpilot.net ).
Popular CFI Leaves Legacy
Amelia C. Reid, Northern California's "first lady of aviation," died March 3. She was 77. She suffered a stroke on January 16 and remained in a semi-comatose state until her death. Reid trained airshow pilot Sean D. Tucker and more than 4,000 others in basic stick-and-rudder flying and aerobatics. She received AOPA's Sharples Award in 1996 for her rugged defense of San Jose's Reid-Hillview Airport and for a lifetime of devotion to preserving and advancing general aviation.
BRS To Certify Skyhawk Parachute System
Ballistic Recovery Systems Inc. has applied for FAA certification for its emergency parachute system on Cessna 172s. BRS has begun tests and hopes to receive certification by the end of 2001. Similar to systems used on the Cirrus SR20 and SR22 and on Cessna 150s, the BRS-172 parachute system is designed to lower the airplane and its passengers to the ground in an emergency. The factory-direct price for the first 50 units is $13,495. For more information, see the Web site (www.airplaneparachutes.com ).
Air Force Delays Trainer Purchase
The Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs, Colorado, has put "on hold" a contract that would result in the purchase of between 30 and 35 new trainer aircraft. The contract would require a bidder to provide the aircraft, instructors, and 50 hours of training per cadet for the private pilot certificate at the academy. An Air Force Academy spokesman hinted that noise concerns might be to blame for the hold. Other sources said area residents have enlisted the aid of their representatives in Congress to oppose the start of the Introductory Flight Training Program because of noise issues. Air Force Academy spokesmen could give no date as to when the program might proceed.
Alton K. Marsh
FAA Certifies OMF Symphony
OMF Aircraft, of Trollenhagen, Germany, announced at the Sun 'n Fun EAA Fly-in in April the FAA certification of its two-place OMF-160 Symphony. The 160-hp, 130-knot airplane is currently certified for day VFR in Europe. The Symphony, based on the GlaStar kitplane, is designed to appeal to flying clubs and private pilots looking for a straightforward cross-country airplane. The $120,000 airplane comes with either a Bendix/King KX 125 nav/com or a KLX 135A GPS/com. It has a useful load of 639 pounds and range of 520 nautical miles. OMF Aircraft was founded in 1998, and the Symphony is its first product. Aircraft Manufacturing and Development (AMD) of Eastman, Georgia, serves as the importer and U.S. contact for the Symphony under a partnership agreement with OMF.
J. Boatman
Group Submerges Airplanes In Quarry
Normally, scuba diving and aviation don't mix. That is unless you're talking about a dive quarry near Findlay, Ohio.
Mark Coleman and Mike Williams worked for more than a year to acquire an aircraft that they could sink in the Gilboa Stone Quarry to serve as both a dive attraction and a search and rescue trainer. They were in luck in December 2000 when the Michigan Institute of Aeronautics donated a 24-passenger Grumman Gulfstream I.
A small group of people worked to disassemble the Grumman and move the parts to the quarry. Dubbed the "Gilboa Grumman," it was slated to go in the quarry on April 14. Oddly, the airplane is no stranger to water. Based on Grumman historical records, the same aircraft was used for hydrostatic testing in large water tanks.
The group has also secured a second aircraft, a DC-8. Two Web sites have been set up about the project. See (www.divegilboa.com ) or ( http://photos.yahoo.com/arkley68).
NWA Offers Online Thunderstorm Course
The Aviation Weather Committee of the National Weather Association (NWA) now offers an online course in "Thunderstorms and Flying." Designed to teach general aviation, airline, and military pilots about convective weather, the six-lesson course is free. Course materials include articles from AOPA Pilot. More than 1,000 pilots have enrolled. The course runs through May 31. To sign up, see the Web site (www.nwas.org/committees/avnwxcourse/course.htm ).
Thomas A. Horne
School News
KLM Closes Academy For Contract Training
KLM Flight Academy, which has conducted ab initio pilot training in Arizona for European airlines, is closing its U.S. flight-training academy. Instead, Pan Am International Flight Academy (PAIFA) has announced that it will train up to 120 new pilots per year at its new Fort Pierce, Florida, facility under the terms of a three-year contract.
The training, from the private pilot certificate through ATP, will be provided under the European Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) Flight Crew Licensing (FCL) rules. Pan Am has hired Michael H. Gill, a former Royal Air Force instructor pilot and founder of Gill Airways in the United Kingdom, to head all training conducted under JAA and U.K. Civil Aviation Authority rules. KLM Flight Academy will continue to provide ground training segments, multiengine ratings, and airline transition bridge courses in the Netherlands. The KLM academy is primarily owned by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, but students also work for British Airways, Lufthansa, and other European carriers.
Michael P. Collins
Ohio State, Executive Jet Team Up
A fractional jet company and a major university have teamed up in an effort to increase the number of graduates in aerospace fields and to spur aviation research and related product development.
Ohio State University and Executive Jet Inc., a global fractional jet company owned by Warren Buffet, forged a broad partnership to explore the creation of an accelerated flight training program. It will serve aviation students at Ohio State, Executive Jet scholarship recipients, and experienced pilots.
"We are very proud to announce this partnership," said Richard G. Smith III, executive vice president of Executive Jet. "Ohio State has long been a nationally recognized leader in aviation education. With this partnership we hope to see Ohio State's undergraduate flight training program double its annual enrollment to 500 in the next two to three years."
Interested students will be able to enroll in a program that prepares them to enter into an accelerated pilot training course designed by Executive Jet. The students would begin their pilot training after they graduate from Ohio State.
In addition, Executive Jet will continue to recruit students to work as interns at the company's operational headquarters complex at Port Columbus International Airport. The company will select students for scholarships and grants.
FAA Taps ERAU As Center For Excellence
The FAA has selected Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University as the team leader that will form the new Air Transportation Center of Excellence for General Aviation.
Through the program, the FAA enhances internal research efforts and accesses academic research to benefit aviation. The FAA helps create a pool of aviation professionals and finances graduate education.
Centers for Excellence are designated on behalf of the FAA administrator following a rigorous competition and formal evaluation. Other members of the team will include Florida A University, the University of Alaska, Wichita State University, and the University of North Dakota.
"This designation reconfirms that Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is one of the premier general aviation research institutions in the nation," said U.S. Rep. John L. Mica (R-Florida), chairman of the House subcommittee on aviation.
School Enhances Maintenance Tech Program
In an effort to ease the critical technician shortage facing the aircraft maintenance industry, Saint Louis University's Parks College of Engineering and Aviation has created the Institute for Aviation Maintenance Studies. Under the auspices of the Department of Aerospace Technology, the institute will offer a restructured FAA Part 147 airframe and powerplant technician certificate program beginning in July.
Students enrolled in the restructured program can complete the Part 147 certification requirements in only 13 months, as compared to the two academic years required to complete the A program prior to the restructuring. The institute features an affordable, fixed cost for the restructured A program that is independent of university undergraduate tuition. It will be housed at the University's Amelia Earhart Hall, a 50,000-square-foot facility, which will be enhanced and modernized to include state-of-the-art training facilities.
After completing the A program, students can pursue a career in the aviation/aerospace maintenance industry or enroll in either the school's aircraft maintenance engineering or aircraft maintenance management degree programs.
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