Diamond releases Twin Star test data
Modest airline hiring forecast for 2003
During the first month of 2003, the airlines continued the modest hiring pace that characterized 2002. A total of 471 pilots were hired in January, according to Atlanta-based pilot career information firm AIR, Inc., which projects industry hiring of 7,075 new pilots this year. That projection represents a 21-percent increase over the 5,845 airline pilots hired in 2002. Kit Darby, president of the company, said that 68 percent of airline pilots hired last year came from civilian aviation backgrounds. The average civilian-trained pilot hired by a major airline in 2002 was 35.1 years old and had 6,014 total hours, while the average military-trained pilot was older - 38.4 years - and had less flight time, 4,286 hours. For more information, visit the AIR, Inc. Web site.
Justice Department may expand new background checks
The U.S. Department of Justice issued a new "final" rule the week of February 10 establishing security background check procedures for all foreign pilots training in aircraft weighing 12,500 pounds or more. This took effect March 17 and replaces an interim rule from last June. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) has introduced legislation to expand this background check requirement to all foreign pilots. For more information see AOPA's regulatory brief.
Oldest pilot dies
Ralph Charles, a 103-year-old pilot from Somerset, Ohio, who in the 1920s built airplanes for the Dayton-Wright Airplane Company, died February 2. Born November 6, 1899, he began flying in the 1920s but took a 50-year hiatus after working as a test pilot during World War II. In the late 1990s Charles bought a 1942 Aeronca Defender and was actively flying on his 100th birthday; he was considered the oldest active pilot in the United States at the time. He was the subject of an article in the March 2000 AOPA Flight Training.
FlightSafety upgrades helicopter sims
A Bell 212/412 simulator used at FlightSafety International's Fort Worth, Texas, helicopter training center has been upgraded with an enhanced visual system, FlightSafety announced. The 212/412 is now certified at FAA Level C with the addition of a new high-definition visual system that provides the simulator with enhanced visual training realism, FlightSafety explained. The company plans to refit a Bell 222 flight simulator with a similar system, which is also incorporated in a second Cessna CJ2 business jet simulator - at FlightSafety's Wichita Learning Center in Kansas - that recently received FAA Level D certification.
Robinson boosts production, hires more staff
As many general aviation manufacturers lay off employees and consider plant closings, Robinson Helicopter Company is bucking the trend. Founder Frank Robinson reports that business is good and he plans to hire an additional 50 production line employees and double his manufacturing space. The Torrance, California, company built 255 R22s and R44s in 2002, down about 20 percent in units and 10 percent in revenue from the year before. However, acceptance of the new R44 Raven II is running higher than forecast, giving the company a significant order backlog. In addition, a weakened U.S. dollar has helped international sales, which traditionally run about 60 percent of total production. To meet rising demand, Robinson is building 215,000 square feet of additional manufacturing space and plans to ramp up production from seven helicopters a week to 10 or 11 a week by May. The Raven II features a fuel-injected engine, which offers better high-altitude performance, greater speed, and a higher gross weight than the carbureted Raven I.
Micco production to restart under new owner
Micco Aircraft, located in Fort Pierce, Florida, has been purchased by LanShe Aerospace, a firm owned by Wadi Rahim that is restoring the Lake amphibian aircraft to production. Rahim, a Bangladesh native who has lived in the United States since 1967 and helped to build unmanned vehicles for Lockheed and Martin Marietta during his career, owned the rights to the Lake before he bought Micco. "When first approached, I wondered why I would want another aircraft company," Rahim recalled. Then he saw the modern Micco factory and realized it was less expensive to buy it and move Lake production there than to modernize the Lake factory in Maine. He plans to build the Lake 250-hp and turbocharged 270-hp models in Florida, along with the Micco SP26 aerobatic aircraft that has been pitched to flight schools for upset training. The Lake and Micco names will be retained. -Alton K. Marsh
Aviat to offer GA airbags
Another general aviation aircraft company has signed up to offer airbags in the cockpit. Aviat Aircraft is working with Amsafe Aviation to provide the Aviation Inflatable Restraint (AAIR) in the Husky, Husky Pup, Pitts Special, and Eagle airplane models. The airbag inflates from a section of the lap belt, expanding up and out from the pilot/passenger to cushion a forward impact. "There are rare times when a five-point harness just isn't enough, and we believe that airbags, especially a model that expands forward instead of hitting you in the face, is in everyone's best interest," said Aviat President Stu Horn. Amsafe will also offer the airbags in the Australian GA-8 Airvan manufactured by Gippsland Aeronautics and Zenith Aircraft Company's CH2000. Certification for the AAIR on GA aircraft is expected in mid-2003. Amsafe has also signed agreements with 17 airlines for installation of the AAIR.
Museum of Flight expands rapidly
Do you brake for Boeing 747s? If you were in Seattle on February on 22, you may have waited for not only a 747 but also a Boeing 727 to cross the road near Seattle's Museum of Flight. A new building - for which funds are still being raised - will be built around the aircraft across the street from the present museum. When all three phases of the $140 million museum expansion are completed, there will be more acreage under its roof than that of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM), and that includes NASM's new annex nearing completion at Washington Dulles International Airport. Phase I of the expansion, an 85,000-square-foot addition to the present museum called the Personal Courage Wing, is under construction and will open June 6, 2004, the sixtieth anniversary of D-Day. It will contain 28 fighter aircraft new to the museum, plus interactive exhibits and full-motion simulators for would-be and present-day pilots. Fund-raising efforts for phases II and III have been hurt by the nation's poor economy. Phase II, when funds are available, will see the construction of the Red Barn Pavilion, while the Commercial Aviation Wing will be built in Phase III. -AKM
School News
AST delivers training device to Kansas school
Kansas State University recently took delivery of a new flight training device from Aviation Simulation Technology Inc., AST announced. The AST 3000 incorporates a customized multifunctional generic cockpit that will permit the user to install any one of four aircraft models and cockpit configurations: the Piper Saratoga II HP or Seminole, Beech 1900 turboprop, or Cessna Citation 550 business jet. It also features a full-color day/night/twilight visual system and a King Silver Crown IFR avionics suite, including a KLN 89B GPS. For more information, see AST's Web site.
ERAU students to conduct studies on NASA aircraft
Two student teams from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) have been selected by NASA to conduct experiments of their own design aboard NASA's KC-135. Also known as the "Vomit Comet," the airplane is used for research by flying parabolic arcs to simulate weightlessness.
The first ERAU team to participate in the program - April 24 through May 3�was to conduct research into the effect of near-zero gravity on fluid pressure in the human head. The second team, scheduled for July 10 through 19, will test a device that cleans contaminants from the air in reduced gravity without using filters.
Held annually at Ellington Field near the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, the program is sponsored by NASA in an effort to increase the number of technical professionals graduating from U.S. schools. NASA selected 72 student teams from across the country to participate in this year's program.
UND buys new tower radar simulator
The UND Aerospace Foundation has acquired a 360-degree MaxSim tower radar simulator that school officials said would continue to ensure accurate training for current and future air traffic controllers. The system has an integrated four-position radar that was bought from Adacel Inc., a simulation and training development company. The foundation, which serves as a link between industry and the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences at the University of North Dakota, previously bought a 225-degree MaxSim tower radar system from Adacel. The MaxSim system offers high-quality visual scenes, flexible aircraft performance databases, and advanced voice recognition.
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