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African Pilot Newsletter 01 - 2009
Tuesday 06 January 2009
Now that 2008 has flown into history and a New Year is about to take-off into the blue yonder, may I, on behalf of African Pilot, wish you all an amazing flight into 2009. May your dreams and ambitions become airborne into this world of uncertainty, whilst your businesses and personal lives become all the richer for being part of the aviation family. Athol Franz
Some facts about African Pilot
My offices re-opened today after a two-week break for the Christmas season. This means that the AFS Studio team will be flat out with the preparation of the February 2009 edition, heralding our eighth year of publishing African Pilot. During this time African Pilot has become established as Africas leading monthly aviation publication in terms of quality of production, standard of photography and journalism as well as publishing a consistent number of pages (122) each month.
In addition to the monthly magazine, my team has been involved in many other aspects of aviation publishing as part of our commitment to African aviation. My free e-mail weekly newsletter is one of the services that my magazine offers its readers with interesting aviation news, in an attempt to bridge the long gap between monthly magazines. This e-newsletter is directly mailed to more than six thousand recipients and due to extensive forwarding I believe the newsletter is read by more than twenty thousand people all over the world.
African Pilots Website: http://www.africanpilot.co.za/ has attracted an incredible hit rate of more than 2.3 million hits, which included 49 640 unique visitors during 2008. In addition, the African Pilot aviation images Website received a further 265 185 hits, which included 7 872 unique visitors. The monthly magazine is on-line entirely free, for the benefit of readers. All one is required to do is to register once and one may receive the entire magazine in the comfort of ones home or office. All advertisers messages are also available on the African Pilot Website and any particular advertisement acts as a direct conduit to its own Website. African Pilot is the only African aviation magazine that has a proven Website structure which actually works for advertisers every month.
African Pilots February edition
Now that we are firmly back at work, the task of preparing the February edition is at hand. This edition will feature certified piston engine aircraft types available to the South African market as well as women in aviation, which will be a series of monthly articles I have thoroughly enjoyed researching. For advertising positions please contact Marius at (011) 702 2342/3 or send an e-mail: marketing@africanpilot.co.za. The closing date for the February edition will be Monday 12 January and the magazine will be prepared for printing the same week.
EAA talk shows
Please note that there will not be a talk show in January. The next talk show at the EAA auditorium at Rand Airport will be Thursday 12 February. Full details to follow in a forthcoming African Pilot newsletter. The amazing tireless coordinator Jeremy Woods never fails in his pursuit of top quality aviation speakers. It promises to be another exciting evening on the 12th. Miss it you miss out.
NBAA cancels ABACE 2009
The National Business Aviation Association says the continuing economic downturn has prompted it not to participate in this years edition of the Asian Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition in Hong Kong. The event was planned for 11 and 12 February. Last year's ABACE attracted 50 exhibitors and about 800 registered visitors. NBAA President Ed Bolen did not say what the count was for the coming show, but it clearly was not worth the time and expense to stage the exhibition.
Viking proposes resurrection of the DHC-5 Buffalo
Earlier this year Viking Air, of Victoria, Canada resumed production of the de Havilland twin Otter and now it has its sights set on an even more ambitious project. The company, which owns the type certificate to seven de Havilland models, is proposing to start building the DHC-5 Buffalo, a large twin-engine utility aircraft with ultra short takeoff and landing capability and a rear cargo door that accommodates bulky cargo. The aircraft has been the backbone of the Canadian Forces' fixed wing search and rescue fleet for decades, but the military is now looking for replacements for the 40-year-old aircraft. Viking President Dave Curtis says the most affordable answer is an updated Buffalo. "The requirement to replace the present fleet is not based on a lack of ability for the Buffalo to do the job, but simply due to the aging of the aircraft," he said.
Patty Wagstaff apologises for the Oshkosh incident
American airshow pilot Patty Wagstaff says she is sorry for the undue or unwanted attention to the EAA or the local community her incident with Oshkosh authorities may have caused on 31July, when she was arrested for driving drunk on a runway at Wittman Regional Airport after the airport had closed. Wagstaff, last Friday, pleaded no contest to the first-offence of drunk driving and a misdemeanour charge of resisting arrest. She was fined $500, ordered to pay court costs and banned from driving for eight months. "I have accepted personal responsibility for my actions by pleading no contest to the remaining reduced charges. Despite statements or actions which some people have either attributed to me or insinuated as to what may have occurred that evening, this outcome puts those rumours to rest as well," she said. Wagstaff said she is now focused on the coming season and Todd Simmons, vice president of marketing for Cirrus Design said the company will continue with her sponsorship.
Check your Cessnas alternative static port
A new airworthiness directive (AD) from the FAA applies to certain Cessna 172, 175, 177, 180, 182, 185, 188, 206, 207, 208, 210, 303, 336, and 337 series airplanes. The AD requires operators to check the alternate static air source selector valve to assure that the alternate static air source selector valve port is not obstructed by a part number identification placard. The FAA has been notified that several aircraft have been found with blocked ports as the result of improper installation of the part number identification placard on the alternate static air source selector valve. The agency hopes to identify affected ports and prevent the condition from providing pilots with incorrect flight information that could lead to loss of control. The agency is asking operators to check the port, determine whether a placard-induced obstruction exists, and remove the placard if it does. Those finding an obstruction are asked to report it to the FAA. This AD is a direct-to-final rule action which goes into effect on 5 January, whilst it is accepting comments through to 23 February.
New CEO at Cirrus
Cirrus Design co-founder Alan Klapmeier announced late last year that Chief Operating Officer Brent Wouters has been promoted and will take over from him as Chief Executive Officer of the company effective 1 February. Klapmeier said that he would continue as chairman of the board of directors and his brother and company co-founder Dale will continue as its vice chairman. In an interview with AVweb, Klapmeier said the move reflects the reality of the current organisational structure at Cirrus. In fact, as chairman of the board, he said he retains overall responsibility for the company, but he will not play as big a role in the day-to-day operations of the company. "This is just the reasonable thing to do. It's not really that much of a change," he said. Klapmeier said the company remains focused on developing and manufacturing the Vision jet and on keeping costs in check during the current downturn. Klapmeier said he also intends to try and change the perception of general aviation in the public and mainstream media, a perception which has taken a beating in recent months with the controversy over auto executives' use of business jets. Klapmeier said his goal is to change that perception from one that revolves around luxury and perks, to one which expresses general aviation's value in enhancing productivity and saving time. He acknowledged that changing the perception will be difficult. "However, does that mean you don't try?" he asked.
FAA certifies Phenom 100
Three days after receiving the official nod from Brazilian aviation authorities, the FAA certified Embraer's Phenom 100 entry-level jet. The paperwork was signed on Friday 12 December and the first of the $3.6 million jets will be in a customers hands within days. "We are thrilled to announce that the Phenom 100 is certified by the FAA, as planned, confirming all of the exceptional performance characteristics previously approved by ANAC (the FAA's Brazilian counterpart)," said Lus Carlos Affonso, Embraer Executive Vice President, Executive Jets. "U.S. certification validates the jet's design and its suitability for one of the most important business aviation markets."
A tough sell, but there are still good opportunities in aviation
With Boeing, Textron, Cessna, Cirrus, Piper and Mooney either cutting back on their number of workers, hours, or operations, it is difficult to see beyond the recession, to a time when skilled aviation personnel will be sorely needed, but advocates say that day is coming ... maybe sooner than one thinks. The trick is that the predicted drought is not the result of an economic boom or bust, but has to do with a generational shift. "The aerospace and defence industry does not have nearly enough skilled workers, especially engineers, to replace the ones approaching retirement," according to an ABC, San Francisco, report. U.S. News on Friday expanded that argument to include pilots, stating in its Best Careers section that the outlook for employment of aircraft pilots and flight engineers is expected to grow 13 percent per annum through to 2016, and keep pace with the average growth for careers on the whole. The foundation of that article hinges on information provided in a publication by the Bureau of Labour Statistics which appears to have been collected prior to 2006, but pilot retirements have long been expected by many industry analysts to be one driving force for a shift in supply and demand. Meanwhile, a recent article published by the Hartford Courant states that at least one flight school in the northeast "has seen an increase in demand for its services, particularly flying lessons" despite the economic downturn. However, with that increase a shift has come about. "There has been an increase in students over 50 years of age," the article states. No one should expect these new pilots to be seeking careers in the cockpit, so theoretically those future jobs created through airline restructuring, the expansion of regional services, the economics of smaller aircraft and air-taxi travel and the expansion of global shipping are all expected to contribute to demand. However, there are some oddities in the numbers.
Eclipse is granted Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
An Albuquerque television station is reporting that Eclipse Aviation's application for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection was approved by a Delaware court late last year, and there is competition for Roel Pieper's bid to take over the company through a Luxembourg subsidiary of his company, ETIRC. KRQE does not identify the second potential purchaser for the company, which filed for Chapter 11 on 25 November. In the paper before the court, the company proposed that it essentially sell itself to Pieper's company and more recent reports say the proposed price is $198 million, roughly 20 percent of the money owed to investors, suppliers and customers. According to the TV report, the sale must be completed by 12 January 2009 or the court could order the company to be liquidated. Meanwhile, as the high-stakes drama, which could determine their own futures, plays out in the courtroom and boardroom, Eclipse employees are focusing on helping those less fortunate than themselves during the Christmas season.
Eclipse Aviation customers organise
Customers of Eclipse Aviation announced late last year that they have formed an ad hoc Customers Committee to represent the interests of owners and position holders as the company works its way through bankruptcy proceedings. Eclipse delivered 259 aircraft and took deposits in the estimated amount of $300 million for future deliveries before filing for Chapter 11 late last month. "Eclipse customers hold contracts under which Eclipse is obligated to provide warranty coverage, upgrades, uninstalled equipment, maintenance coverage, subscription services, and future aircraft deliveries," the group said in a news release. "In terms of dollar amounts, customers are likely the largest constituency in Eclipse's Chapter 11 case." The news release said the new committee will act for the common interests of all owners and position holders for both the Eclipse 500 twin jet and the Eclipse 400 single-engine jet. David Green, who is also the president of the Eclipse 500 Owners Club, was chosen as chairman. "The ad hoc Customers Committee is funded by the owners and position holders in recognition that a unified voice is the most effective way to ensure that customers are fairly treated, and that the Eclipse order book is preserved as one of the most valuable assets of Eclipse," Green said.
First delivery of Cessnas XLS+
Cessna announced last Friday, the first retail delivery to an undisclosed customer on the US east coast, of its recently certified Citation XLS+ business jet. The XLS+ traces its roots to the Excel, introduced in 1998. The updated XLS came out in 2004 and the XLS+ was certified by the FAA in May of 2008. Among the updates are a Rockwell Pro Line 21 avionics suite, FADEC-controlled Pratt and Whitney Canada engines and an improved diagnostic system. In addition, there are some styling and comfort changes. European certification is expected in 2009. Meanwhile, Cessna is celebrating a milestone in Europe with its 1,000th Citation delivery.
WhiteKnightTwo completes taxi tests
When the huge double-hulled aircraft rolled out in July last year in Mojave, the media was told to expect a first flight by the end of the year. This week, Flight International, reports that at least one low-speed taxi trial took place on Friday 12 December. The airplane was designed to carry space tourists for Virgin Galactic. WK2 will fly to about 50,000 feet with a spaceship suspended beneath its wing. The spaceship will then fall free and light a rocket to reach altitudes above 100,000 feet, where tourists can experience weightlessness and view the curvature of the Earth. This week, the age of space tourism took another step forward when the FAA issued a licence for vertical and horizontal launches for Spaceport America, in New Mexico. Virgin Galactic was expected to sign a lease for the facility by the end of 2008, and construction should begin early this year. The project will be the first purpose-built commercial spaceport in the US.
First flight for WhiteKnightTwo
WhiteKnightTwo, the twin-fuselage all-composite aircraft designed by Scaled Composites to carry SpaceShipTwo aloft, flew for the first time on Sunday morning 21 December, at the Mojave Air and Space Port in Southern California. The flight lasted about an hour. "Today Virgin Galactic passed a huge milestone in its mission to create environmentally benign, safe and affordable access to space," reads a brief statement posted on the Virgin Galactic Website on the same day. "In the early hours of a beautiful Mojave morning, Virgins revolutionary carbon composite carrier aircraft performed a flawless maiden flight. Congratulations to Burt Rutan and all at Scaled Composites for this fantastic achievement." said Will Whitehorn, president of Virgin Galactic. "With these aircraft, nothing is ever a foregone conclusion. It is not like pulling another Airbus off the line and putting it into the air. This was a big moment. I think it was a big milestone for the whole industry. More test flights are expected, then sometime next summer WK2 will take off carrying SpaceShipTwo, the rocket ship that will carry space tourists to the edge of space.
Dash for cash sets a record
Carol Ann Garratt and Carol Foy flew around the world in a Mooney, shattered a speed record in so doing, and raised more than $145,000 to fight a fatal disease. Not a bad week's work. The pilots returned to Orlando, Florida, on Thursday morning 11 December, some eight days after leaving on a westward circumnavigation that took them through just eight fuel and rest stops. In doing so, they more than doubled the average speed of the standing record for their aircraft's weight class (final calculations are still being done). However, Garratt said that the most important effort of the Dash for Cash was to raise awareness and money for research into Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), sometimes referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, named after the famous US baseball player who died from the disease.
Some obituaries of note
Van Johnson - American actor
Van Johnson, who has died aged 92, was a Hollywood film star of the war years and the 1950s whose popularity at one time was second only to Bing Crosbys. His greatest film success was undoubtedly The Caine Mutiny (1954) with Humphrey Bogart, but to the writer, Van Johnson will be forever remembered as the Mitchell B25 pilot in the 1944 classic Thirty seconds over Tokyo. That wonderful black and white war-time film of Lt. Colonel James A. Doolittles 1942 surprise raid on Tokyo, as a reprisal for Pearl Harbour. The film with much genuine war-time footage starred Spencer Tracy as Lt. Colonel Doolittle. Being a true story added much to the value of the film. It was a first, loading those two engine bombers onto an aircraft carrier and the tension in the film with the departure of the planes from the flight deck is well worth watching. They could take off, but could not return. Van Johnson was seriously injured in a car accident just prior to the war and although he made an almost full recovery, he was exempted from military service.
Flight Lieutenant Blondie Walker
Flight Lieutenant Blondie Walker, who has died aged 91, was a dashing and courageous fighter pilot who excelled at very low level flying to attack ships with rockets. Many of his attacks were carried out at night in his single-engine Hurricane, and his exploits earned him two DFCs. Walker was transferred to the Balkan Air Force in 1944 for operations in the Adriatic. A week after his arrival, his aircraft was hit and he ditched a mile off the enemy coast. He was subsequently rescued. Two weeks later, Walker was again attacking a ship when his plane was hit by flak and he was forced to bail out over an island. After a week of living off his survival rations and water, Walker was able to catch the attention of two passing Spitfires by his SOS marked out on the beach. A few hours later he was rescued by a Catalina. As an aside, when Walker joined The RAFs 94 squadron in 1942 he flew one of four Hurricanes donated by a Lady Mac Robert, whose three sons had been killed whilst serving with the RAF, one of them with 94 squadron. The sons names and coats of arms were painted on the noses of the aircraft. Walkers allocated Hurricane was named Sir Roderic.
Air Commodore Peter Brothers
Air Commodore Peter Brothers, who has died aged 91, flew throughout the Battle of Britain and was one of the RAFs most distinguished fighter pilots, credited with destroying at least 16 enemy aircraft. Leading his flight of eight aircraft during one patrol in July 1940, he encountered more than 100 bombers and their fighter escort. Despite being outnumbered Brothers was able to break away from a number of Messerschmitt fighters and close on a bomber, which he shot down. Later on that day he shot down a fighter. In order to relax as he was returning from combat, Brothers would open the cockpit canopy and light a cigarette. After one particularly exhausting day of flying and fighting in August 1940, Brothers collapsed on his bed and fell into such a deep sleep, that when he awoke the next day he found a line of bomb craters across the officers mess lawn close to his bedroom. He had not heard a sound.
Flight Lieutenant Bill Potter
Flight Lieutenant Bill Potter, who has died aged 86, became the youngest wartime flying instructor in the RAF at the age of 18 in 1940.
Editors comment
So yet three more of The Few depart for the big hangar in the sky. Rest in peace gentlemen, you deserve it.
Too foggy for me says pilot and turns his passenger jet back home
A pilot with 30 years experience told passengers I am not qualified to land this plane in this fog, as he approached Paris. Instead the Captain turned the plane around and flew back to Britain. Startled passengers on Flybe flight BE1431 from Cardiff, were given the news as the plane approached Charles de Gaulle airport, Paris. A spokesman for Flybe backed the pilot. He has not yet completed the requisite low-visibility training to complete a landing in conditions such as the dense fog experienced in Paris Charles de Gaulle, he said. The captain quite correctly turned the aircraft around and returned to Cardiff. The company backed his decision 100%. The spokesman added that when the plane departed from Cardiff the weather in Paris was clear. The Civil Aviation Authority said the incident was unusual, but probably not unheard of. Many of the passengers comments are not printable.
Lockerbie Two decades on
Relatives and friends of the 270 victims of the Lockerbie bombing gathered on 21 December, at memorial services in Britain and America to mark the 20th anniversary of the atrocity. Pan Am flight 103 was 38 minutes into its flight from Heathrow to New York on December 21, 1988, when it was blown apart at 19h03 by a bomb hidden in a suitcase. All 243 passengers, 16 crew and 11 people on the ground in the Scottish village of Lockerbie, died in the worst terrorist atrocity up to that time, and the biggest mass murder in British legal history. The former Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, 56, is serving a minimum of 27 years in prison for the bombings. At the present time Megrahi is appealing to be released on compassionate grounds, as he is apparently dying of cancer.
Editors comment. I hope the International Tribune in The Hague resists this appeal, and Megrahi suffers for a long time in the Scottish jail where he resides, probably in the lap of luxury. He does not deserve any sympathy from anyone.
Aviation Humour
An elderly man in Pretoria calls his son in Cape Town and says, I hate to ruin your Christmas, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing. 50 years of misery is enough.
Dad, about what are you talking? the son replies.
We cannot stand the sight of each other any longer, Dad says. We are sick of each other and I am sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in England and tell her. He hangs up.
Frantically, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone. Like heck they are getting divorced, she retorts, I will take care of this.
She calls her Dad immediately, and emphatically states to him, You are NOT getting divorced. Don't do a single thing until I get there. I am calling my brother back and we will both be with you and Mum on Christmas Eve. Until then, do not do a thing. Do you hear me? and hangs up.
Dad puts the phone down and turning to his wife says. Great news, darling. The kids are coming for Christmas and paying their own airfares. |
