Sommaire pour October 2015 de Flying

The Flying Aviation Expo, as you’ve no doubt heard, is coming to Palm Springs, California (Oct. 15-17 at the Palm Springs Convention Center). If you can figure out a way to make it there, you should. Already it is a substantially bigger affair than last year’s inaugural event. Companies big and small that sat out the show last year have figured out that the Flying Aviation Expo is for real, so they signed up early for the 2015 edition, joining a long list of exhibitors who were there last year and who were the first to sign up again. A couple of airplane makers signed up for 2015 on the final day of last year’s Expo. For me the Flying Aviation Expo is something really different. All year long we…

As would-be manufacturers of electric-powered airplanes argued about who was really first to fly across the English Channel over the summer, one company was busy building the airplane it hopes will soon revolutionize electric-powered flight. Aero Electric Aircraft Corp.’s first all-electric Sun Flyer trainer is now on the assembly line after partner Arion Aircraft of Shelbyville, Tennessee, was contracted to build the initial two-seat prototype, which will feature an Avidyne touch-screen avionics system. “After extensive analysis of the options available for this critical phase of the development process, we have selected a company that offers a flexible, high-quality process for the assembly of this first two-seat prototype,” said George Bye, CEO of AEAC and a pioneer in the field of electric aircraft research. Bye has plans to bring the first…

ACCIDENT ANALYSIS THAT GOES BEHIND AND BEYOND THE NTSB REPORT He was, according to his obituary, an “extreme and gifted athlete” in all he tried, including distance running, snowboarding and motocross racing. He “worked hard, but played harder.” A CFI who prepared him for his Private Pilot license described him as having “very high achieving and performance traits” and as being, though a conscientious flight student, “a ‘go-go-go’ type personality [who] led a fastpaced life.” The instructor knew that his student intended to use the airplane in connection with the telecommunications business run by him and his wife, and told investigators, after the fatal accident, that he “was concerned that he might try to ‘push too hard’ with respect to weather conditions, fatigue or airplane maintenance to accomplish a business…

It was a bright, bitter morning in the high desert, and a latewinter gale scoured the Inyokern, California, airport as I taxied the Piper Lance to a cavernous heap of a 1940s-vintage hangar and shut down the engine. I paused to listen to the mournful wind as it jostled the little freighter, and then gathered my coat tightly about me and alighted to the deserted ramp. I was early, and the couriers wouldn’t arrive for another 20 minutes. I trudged toward the threadbare pilot lounge, savoring the pungent aroma of sagebrush and wondering if any of the usual lot of ancient birdmen were haunting the airport this chilly morning. I had just stepped into the dark lounge when my cellphone rang, startling me. I assumed it was Dottie, the hard-bitten…

We were sitting on the porch, reading the paper. My wife, Cathy, held actual newsprint in her hand while I stared at the bright black-and-white copy and colorful photos on a tablet. As the newspaper rustled toward her lap, she looked over at me and asked, “Why is it that you want to be captain?” I rested the tablet on the floor, nonplussed. She might as well have asked me if I enjoyed breathing. I stammered to find an answer to a question I’d never considered. Of course I want to upgrade to captain. Who wouldn’t? But why? On the face of it, there aren’t many good reasons from her perspective. The Part 135 company I work for is generous about sharing the piloting duties. I sit in the left…

A LOOK BACK AT FLYING MAGAZINE 25 AND 50 YEARS AGO 25 YEARS AGO OUR COVER FEATURED THE MAJESTIC BEECHCRAFT STARSHIP, WHICH WE FLEW FOR THE FIRST TIME AFTER ITS SEVEN-YEAR DEVELOPMENT. THE FUTURISTIC-LOOKING BIRD DELIVERED TAME STALLS, UNRIVALED STABILITY AND A LARGE CABIN. BUT IT HAD ITS WEAK SPOTS TOO, WITH LOWER-THAN-EXPECTED CRUISE SPEEDS AND LESS-THAN-STELLAR LOAD CARRYING CAPABILITY. We explored the benefits of vortex generator kits, which employ tiny aluminum strips mounted on the wing and vertical tail of an airplane to force the airflow to remain “glued,” in a sense, to the plane’s surface. The end result is much better performance at lower speeds, such as a reported stall speed drop of up to 10 knots in a Cessna 340, the airplane we flew for the report.…

DO YOU HAVE A SUBSCRIPTION QUESTION? GO TO FLYINGMAG.COM/CS. GRASS STRIP STORIES I am not normally a big reader of editorials, but I truly enjoyed July’s Going Direct [“Propulsion”]. I absolutely believe general aviation will survive and flourish. I believe the reason for its decline is not only economics but also increasing government regulations, though it seems, as of late, regulations are relaxing and making it much easier to get into GA. I have been a pilot for 30-plus years now and have owned several airplanes, including amateurbuilt. I believe that Robert Goyer is spot on. From his observations to his optimism, he sounds like someone to sit at a grass airstrip with and talk over adventures. Thank you for such a wonderful editorial and for speaking about what it…

Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP) has announced it is developing a more-powerful Rotax engine. Following the immensely popular Rotax 912/914 series of engines, which have collectively accumulated more than 50 million fl ight hours, the turbocharged 915 iS will be designed to provide 135 horsepower up to 15,000 feet and have a service ceiling of 23,000 feet. The 915 iS will have an electronic ignition and fuel injection system, like some of its predecessors, providing optimized engine operation to reduce maintenance costs and fuel burn. The system will operate with a redundant dual-channel electronic control unit (ECU) produced by Rockwell Collins. Weighing in at 185 pounds, the 915 iS may be a bit heavy for the restrictive LSA category where the Rotax engines have seen a lot of success. However, this…

L-3 Avionics Systems and Aspen Avionics have teamed up to connect the Lynx NGT-9000 multifunction ADS-B transponder with the Aspen Evolution flight display system. The relationship allows ADS-B traffic and weather from the Lynx unit to be displayed on the Aspen PFD and MFD, providing situational awareness right in the pilot’s field of view. The L-3 Lynx NGT-9000 is a stand-alone ADS-B In and Out solution providing Mode-S transponder and WAAS GPS capabilities. It also has an optional add-on feature that enables the unit to connect the data wirelessly to some aviation tablet apps, such as WingX Pro7 and SkyRadar. The NGT-9000 has an LCD touch-screen display for entering transponder frequencies and displaying data such as traffic and weather. Scrolling from one feature page to another is done by simply…

THE FOLLOWING ARE EXCERPTS FROM NTSB REPORTS OF GENERAL AVIATION ACCIDENTS. BELLANCA 8KCAB Kosciusko, Mississippi/INJURIES: 2 Fatal Two witnesses reported observing the airplane fly over a private airstrip that was adjacent to a small lake. One witness said that the airplane initially made a high pass over the airstrip before it turned back at a lower altitude and then “buzzed” over the lake. He said that, when the airplane passed over the lake, the pilot appeared to be having fun and was smiling and that the passenger was waving out the window. The pilot then pulled the airplane straight up, likely to clear a stand of 50-foot-tall pine trees, and the airplane suddenly nosed over and dropped straight down into the ground. The witness said that the engine was operating…

When some Connecticut boosters recently dusted off the claim that Gustave Whitehead, of the township of Fairfield in that great state, was “first in flight,” I, and I suspect quite a few others, emitted the sigh of jaded déjà vu. These “who was first” arguments have become pretty tedious. Predictably, the few who were stirred to action by the Whitehead claim trotted out their own candidates: Clément Ader, Richard Pearse, Karl Jatho, Alberto Santos-Dumont and so on. That all of the usual suspects cluster around the turn of the 20th century is no accident. The basic principles of flight were already understood. Model airplanes and man-carrying gliders existed. Beginning around 1890, when small, powerful gasoline engines became available, there was such a surge in aeronautical experimentation that success was both…

BendixKing has introduced a product that addresses a pressing need for a great number of aircraft owners fl ying legacy airplanes with older electromechanical attitude indicators that are prone to failure and expensive to fi x. The new KI 300, launched at EAA AirVenture in three distinct versions, is a standard-size, solid-state, gyro-based attitude display with a bright LED screen that replaces the company’s existing legacy KI 254, 255 and 256 and KG 258 and 259 attitude indicators, providing a more reliable, durable and accurate ADI solution compared with older mechanical units. The KI 300 ADI also includes integrated battery backup in case of the loss of aircraft power, providing ample juice to keep operating until a suitable landing spot can be found. It will also be capable of serving…

My thumb was already in motion toward the mic button to declare an emergency when the Anchorage Center controller’s voice sounded in my headset. “N4577L, cleared for the ILS DME Runway 11 approach at Ketchikan.” It was January in southeastern Alaska. John and I were on our way home to San Diego in our Cessna 340 from teaching weekend ground school classes in Fairbanks and Anchorage. It was our 11th round trip to Alaska in our own airplane, and our refueling stops in southeastern Alaska were always challenging. The area has a well-deserved reputation for generating icing conditions. Plus, there were sections of the route where we would lose navigation signals and communications with ATC. We would just hold our heading until we picked up the next vortac, and start…

The airplane world certainly has its share of unique lingo and clever slang. I thought I knew most of it until I came across “pilot pellets” — those cheese or peanut butter crackers in every FBO’s vending machine — and “rental power” — flying a “wet” rental airplane at full throttle. A little closer to the edge are “panel envy,” the emotion felt by pilots on seeing an airplane with exotic avionics; “hangar queen,” which I thought referred only to a maintenance hog; and, of course, the old “Tango Uniform,” a phonetic alphabet abbreviation for something that doesn’t work. There’s a great Canadian expression, “dangling the Dunlops,” for extending the landing gear. In fact, it’s in military, British and airline pilot lingo where you find an endless list of colorful…

One sunny July afternoon, a private pilot was returning to his home base from a lunch run to a nearby airport. He was flying a 1946 Luscombe, a well-worn classic but a new airplane to him. As he descended along the mountains skirting a populated area, the unthinkable happened — the engine quit. At his altitude and position, the pilot had very little time to react and very few choices. Unable to restart the engine, he selected a small clearing up against the mountains. If there hadn’t been a rocky berm at the approach end of the field, or if he’d had a couple of feet more altitude, or if the field had been just a tad longer — if, if, if, if — he would have made it. But…

On July 25, 2000, Air France Flight 4590 begins a takeoff roll from Runway 26R at Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris. The airplane is a Concorde, en route to the John F. Kennedy International Airport. It is operating as a charter flight with passengers that will board a cruise ship in New York. Barely a minute into the takeoff, the tower controller advises the flight, “You have flames behind you.” The crew acknowledges the report. Fifteen seconds later, an unconfirmed voice on tower frequency states, “It’s really burning and I’m not sure it’s coming from the engines.” Cockpit gauges indicate that the No. 2 engine on the left side of the airplane has suffered a serious loss of power while the No. 1 engine on the same side is…