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What: Beechcraft Baron G58

What: Near Frederick, MD

Photographer: Chris Rose

Diamond Aircraft’s single-engine D-Jet got a financial boost with the announcement that a Dubai investment firm, Medrar Financial Group, has purchased a majority interest in Diamond Aircraft Holdings, Canada. The company, based in London, Ontario, makes single- and multiengine piston aircraft and is developing the 240-knot true airspeed D-Jet.

Jamil Marmarchi, CEO of Medrar, said the current state of the economy highlights the need for, and potential of, aircraft like the D-Jet. He said the firm is excited not only by the model in development, “but also by the derivative models to follow.” Christian Dries, chairman of the Diamond Group, said the acquisition can only strengthen his company’s worldwide position.

Marmarchi said he expects international pilot demands to drive a sustainable market for training aircraft in the long term. Medrar is a specialized asset management and investment firm based in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. He said he wants to make sure Diamond’s capital needs are met, but places special emphasis on development of the D-Jet.

Academy opens to public

Learn to fly in a structured setting

Aerosim Flight Academy in Sanford, Florida, has opened its training courses to the public for the first time in five years. The academy, formerly known as Delta Connection Academy, offers career-oriented pilot training to nearly 600 students at four facilities. About 60 to 70 percent of the students are international students.

The courses include private and instrument training under Part 61 rules, as well as flight reviews and instrument proficiency checks. The school is also a Cirrus Training Center and uses Cirrus SR20 aircraft. The instrument proficiency check in a flight training device based on the Cirrus SR20 is $199 for a one-day course. The flight review, VFR or IFR, is also a one-day course and can be accomplished for between $300 and $500 depending on a pilot’s currency.

Other facilities are located at Jacksonville and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and in Houston. Public training is available only at Sanford and Houston.

FAA updates CFI renewal clinic guidelines

New language added to FIRCs advisory circular

The FEDERAL AVIATION Agency (FAA) added angle of attack to one of the 10 core topics that must be covered in flight instructor refresher courses (FIRCs).

The Nationally Scheduled FAA-Approved, Industry Conducted Flight Instructor Refresher Course advisory circular highlights the top causes of general aviation accidents and stresses that instructors need to be aware of the factors that can lead to them, including “excessive angle of attack, aircraft weight and balance (W&B), bank induced G loading, and many others.” Instructors also must know how to avoid them.

“Angle of attack is often misunderstood,” said AOPA Foundation President Bruce Landsberg, who has written extensively about the topic. “Ensuring instructors have a comprehensive understanding of angle of attack and can teach it to their students will help to reduce the accident rate.”

As pilots learn in training, angle of attack is the angle formed between the wing’s chord line and the relative wind. Each aircraft has a critical angle of attack at which the wing stalls regardless of the aircraft’s airspeed, attitude, or weight. The Air Safety Institute offers an online course about aerodynamics that examines this critical concept.

In addition to inserting angle of attack into one of the core areas, the agency streamlined the FIRC outline from 16 to 10 core topics. It also spells out that FIRC participants must complete a test of at least 30 questions during the clinic and pass with a minimum score of 70 percent.

The FAA met with aviation industry representatives, including AOPA, in December 2010 about updating the advisory circular. The association and other industry representatives supported changes to the core topic areas covered in the FIRCs.