The snowy mountains and deep canyons of Moab, Utah, present a striking backdrop for the Cessna 185 Skywagon in this photo. But the businesslike Skywagon is entirely at home in this rugged part of the country. It’s a true bush airplane—one that will haul pilot, passengers, and camping gear, and has the necessary horsepower to hoist them out of higher-elevation airports. Introduced in 1961 as a follow-on to the Cessna 180, the 185 is a six-seat airplane that can be fitted with floats, amphibious floats, or skis.
What: Cessna 185 Skywagon
Where: Moab, Utah
Photographer: Chris Rose
Disruptive technology keeps Redbird on the move
Using technology to advance flight training
By Thomas B. Haines
Redbird Flight Simulations demonstrated four new technologies and proposed a new way to organize flight schools at its annual Migration at the Redbird Skyport in San Marcos, Texas, in October. Some 300 flight school owners, managers, and CFIs attended.
Founder and Chief Pilot Jerry Gregoire noted that the new technologies, mostly software upgrades to the company’s simulators, show that Redbird is migrating from being just a hardware company to also being a software company.
According to Redbird Chairman Craig Fuller, the company delivered 332 simulators over the past year, with one model or another operating in 42 countries—including more than 1,000 in the United States. Redbird, which specializes in low-cost full-motion simulators, has developed disruptive technology, Fuller said. With a price point well below $100,000, the full-motion simulators compete against others that cost millions of dollars. With that, even small flight schools have options not available to them previously. As is typical with disruptive technologies, it is taking a while for some schools to figure out how to take advantage of the new capabilities.
Among the new technologies demonstrated was Trace, a part of the company’s GIFT (guided individual flight instruction) software package. Trace is the backbone of GIFT, which graphically lays out scenarios on the simulator’s displays to help guide and coach a student through various maneuvers. Trace scores the student’s performance on a maneuver based on FAA practical test standards, showing red, yellow, and green bar charts and a numerical score for various components of the exercise. For example, a student’s steep turn might show a good (green) score for holding a continuous 45 degrees of bank, but the student’s sloppy altitude or airspeed control might result in a yellow or red bar and corresponding poor score. Until the student progresses, Trace offers visual and voice coaching—saying “Add power,” for example, if airspeed begins to decay. As the student becomes more proficient, the level of coaching is reduced.
Another area where Redbird is experimenting is with its Redhawk 172 project, where it remanufacturers Cessna 172s and replaces the Lycoming avgas engines with Continental CD-155 diesel engines. Also installed is the gear to record and then transmit a series of data sets to ease aircraft and pilot paperwork. As the airplane taxis up to the flight school, it connects to a Wi-Fi signal and uploads flight time and other parameters, including the pilot’s and CFI’s names—which it picks up from a radio-frequency chip in the pilots’ ID badge or logbook. By the time the student is inside the school, the system has sent a bill for the lesson to the accounting department, charged the student’s account, completed aircraft logbook entries, and alerted maintenance to any issues with the airplane.
Brown Aviation Lease is setting up financing for flight schools to buy or lease the Redhawks. Schools can buy them for about $249,000 or lease them based on a usage plan. The usage plan returns higher margins to the flight school and eases cash flow, according to Jason Griswold of Brown Aviation Lease. Its lease program provides the school with essentially a flat hourly fee for the airplane, which includes all scheduled maintenance.
None of the new technologies is yet ready for sale, although the company expects most of them to be available in 2015. One technology that is closer is one that puts QR codes on the airframe at key places in the preflight inspection. Using a Redbird app on a smartphone, the student can scan the codes and then watch a video that discusses that step in the inspection and highlights important things to look for in that area.
Mooney unveils diesel M10T, M10J
Intended for international training market
Mooney is taking aim at the international market with its new M10T and M10J diesel-powered singles. The composite, fixed-gear M10T is powered by a Continental CD-135 diesel engine and marks Mooney’s first foray into the flight training arena. The retractable M10J plays off the popular Mooney M20J, and is powered by the Continental CD-155 diesel engine.
“I am very excited to officially present the new M10 series of Mooney aircraft for training and performance. These aircraft mark a new beginning for Mooney, and are an indication of great product innovation coupled with Mooney’s long line of history-making aircraft,” Mooney International CEO Jerry Chen said during an unveiling ceremony at the Airshow China 2014 in Zhuhai, China.
The M10T is a technically advanced trainer that Mooney said will pave the way for pilots to step up to the M20 series. The M10J is an upgraded version of the M10T that is intended to have a more luxurious feel, more speed (anticipated 170 knots true airspeed), and more range (more than 1,000 nautical miles).
“The M20J helped change general aviation by making flying practical to more people across the U.S.,” Chen said. “Now, the M10J promises to do the same for the world.”
Mooney, which now has offices in Kerrville, Texas; Chino, California; and Beijing, China, did not immediately release price estimates but said the aircraft should receive certification and start deliveries in 2017.
Image courtesy Mooney International.
First students complete new ATP course
One of five FAA-approved programs
Two students at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (www.erau.edu) are the first in the nation to complete a newly required course for the multiengine airplane airline transport pilot (ATP) certificate, the school announced recently.
Ethan Connor and Chien-Hsuan Hung, students at the university’s Daytona Beach, Florida, campus, completed the ATP certification training program (ATP CTP) that the FAA began requiring August 1, 2014, before airplane multiengine ATP applicants may take the knowledge test. The FAA lists only five certificate holders authorized to conduct the ATP CTP, two of which are Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach and Prescott, Arizona, locations. Embry-Riddle’s was the first program to gain approval.
The program is available to full-time students and includes a minimum of 10 hours of flight time in the university’s simulators, including a Level D CRJ-200 full-motion simulator. Students who complete an FAA-approved aviation degree program from the school also are eligible for the ATP certificate, which permits pilots with academic degrees with an aviation major to qualify with fewer than 1,500 total hours. Both the ATP CTP course and restricted ATP certificate are included in the FAA’s final rule for pilot certification and qualification requirements for air carrier operations.
Michigan aviation program marks 75 years
AOPA helps with the celebration
AOPA took part in celebrating 75 years of excellence in aviation education by sponsoring and attending an anniversary gala for Western Michigan University’s College of Aviation. The October event, capping a year of celebratory activities for the school, was held at the College of Aviation’s campus at W.K. Kellogg Airport in Battle Creek.
From 1939, when a two-year program for aviation mechanics was offered, the school has gone through many transformations that have produced, in 2014, an academic institution with accredited four-year programs ranging from flight science and maintenance technology to management and operations, and Air Force ROTC. The program has more than 700 students. In 2014, the college added a master’s degree in business administration with an aviation concentration, in partnership with WMU’s Haworth College of Business. A fleet of aircraft available to students includes a Cessna 150; a Piper PA-18 Super Cub on floats that was restored and built by program students; a Piper Arrow; Cirrus SR20; and a twin-engine Piper Seminole.
Flight school gets diesel 172s
Set for Ethiopian Aviation Academy
Africair Inc., a Continental Diesel Master Installation Center, will install Continental CD-155 retrofit diesel engines in seven Cessna 172s for Ethiopian Aviation Academy. The company had already installed three of the engines for the Ethiopian Airlines training academy in 2014; Continental said the diesel aircraft, which run on jet fuel, will be used for flight training an average of six to seven hours a day during peak training. Jet-fuel-powered piston engines are popular for aircraft outside the United States, where avgas is often scarce or prohibitively expensive.
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