News

Two EAA Members Striving to Be Youngest Solo Circumnavigators

2013-06-18T19:45:28Z

Over the next couple of months, two young EAA members hope to break the world record for the youngest person ever to make a solo flight around the world, and promote youth involvement in aviation in the process.

Twenty-year-old Jack Wiegand is already well into his trip after departing from California’s Fresno Yosemite International Airport (FAT) on May 2.

Wiegand plans to fly his family’s Mooney Ovation2 GX approximately 21,000 nautical miles over the course of his trip, crossing three oceans and visiting 14 countries. The flight is expected to take approximately 36 days, and will include 24 scheduled stops. Wiegand had hoped to conclude his trip on June 6, landing at his starting point in Fresno but has been delayed in Sapporo, Japan due to poor weather conditions.

Nineteen-year-old Ryan Campbell, EAA 1001585, an Australia native and former EAA Young Eagle, began planning his solo trip right after earning his commercial pilot certificate two years ago. He has since partnered with World Youth International and Teen World Flight to support his trip.

Campbell will depart for his journey in a Cessna 182T on June 30, so his travel stops coincide with EAA AirVenture 2013. He will land in Appleton, Wis., on July 25, and make a short hop down to Oshkosh the following Monday, July 29.

Campbell estimates his circumnavigation will take approximately 200 flight hours, span 23,000 nautical miles, and take him to 25 destinations in 15 different countries.

Learn more about Campbell and his upcoming trip on the Teen World Flight website, www.teenworldflight.com.

DTC DUAT supports AOPA’s Flying Clubs Initiative

2013-06-18T19:41:20Z

By AOPA Communications Staff

DTC DUAT, the popular pilot-weather and flight-planning information service, has stepped forward to support AOPA’s core mission to protect the freedom to fly.

As an AOPA Supporting Sponsor, DTC DUAT will lend financial support to AOPA’s Flying Clubs Initiative, a program to support and expand the more than 635 flying clubs nationwide that offer pilots and prospective pilots the opportunity to fly affordably in well-maintained aircraft.

“This partnership highlights our work right at the heart of general aviation,” said Ed Thompson, AOPA’s vice president of corporate partnerships. “DUAT is a widely recognized service that helps pilots fly safer, and it fits perfectly with AOPA’s core mission of expanding the aviation information base and advancing aviation safety. We’re proud to call DTC DUAT a supporting sponsor, and we’re excited that it is bringing financial support to our popular Flying Clubs Initiative.”

The DTC DUAT (Direct User Access Terminal) service provides online access to weather briefing, flight planning, and filing information to allow pilots to obtain a self-briefing and file a flight plan prior to flying. The service is free to qualified pilots, dispatchers, and other authorized users.

“Strengthening pilot communities through flying clubs not only encourages current pilots to keep flying, but also provides encouragement and mentoring support that can convert aviation enthusiasts into new student pilots,” said Bill Young, Program Manager for DTC DUAT. “DTC DUAT is excited about the work that AOPA is doing to help improve and grow flying clubs, so we wanted to show our support in a very tangible way as a co-sponsor of this important activity.”

DTC DUAT has provided FAA certified weather and flight planning services since 1989 and is a long-time sponsor of the annual AOPA Aviation Summit. DTC DUAT will be one of the co-sponsors of the 2013 AOPA Aviation Summit in Fort Worth, Texas, Oct.10 through 12.

DTC DUAT becomes the first Supporting Sponsor in AOPA’s Corporate Partnership Program, which also includes four Strategic Partners: Enterprise Holdings (Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental, Alamo Rent A Car), Aircraft Spruce & Specialty Co., Aero-Space Reports, and Bank of America. The AOPA Corporate Partnership program includes three tiers of support: Strategic Partners, Premier Partners, and Supporting Sponsors.

“It’s terrific that DTC DUAT is lending its support to our Flying Clubs Initiative,” said Adam Smith, senior vice president of AOPA’s Center to Advance the Pilot Community. “Flying clubs are just a great, affordable way to be part of a vibrant pilot community, and the stronger they are the stronger general aviation becomes.”

Fifteen Million Global Visits to “The Davis-Monthan Airfield Register” Online Spurs Launch of Five New Aviation History Web sites

2013-06-18T19:33:09Z

Delta Mike Airfield, Inc., a 501(c)3 educational producer of online and print materials chronicling America’s rich aviation heritage between the world wars, launches interrelated companion Web sites celebrating five other famous airfields around the United States.

Delta Mike Airfield, Inc. proudly announces release of five related Web sites to expand its educational holdings online. The five new sites celebrate the aircraft and people who landed and signed the Golden Age Airfield Registers at Clover Field, Santa Monica, CA (www.cloverfield.org), Grand Central Air Terminal, Glendale, CA (www.grandcentralairterminal.org), Parks Field, East St. Louis, IL (www.parksfield.org), Peterson Field, Colorado Springs, CO (www.petersonfield.org) and Pitcairn Field, Willow Grove, PA (www.pitcairnfield.org).

Each interactive site stands alone. Each is crafted as an attractive and engaging exposition of 20th century aviation history. However, important linkages are made among the sites. Visitors will delight in discovering the overlap in the movements of people and aircraft from airfield to airfield. The linkages clearly reveal the patterns of air traffic and, more broadly, the evolution of civil, commercial and military aviation in the United States during what historians call the Golden Age of Flight, nominally between the years 1920 and 1940.

Since 2005, the non-profit company has also operated a sixth site, www.dmairfield.org, which celebrates the history of the people, aircraft and aviation events recorded in the Register of the old Davis-Monthan Airfield,Tucson, AZ. Over fifteen million visitors around the globe have stopped by the site; hundreds are relatives of Register signers. Thousands more are students or authors of aviation history, or historians with interest in the people and aircraft.

Delta Mike Airfield president, Gary W. Hyatt based in Naples, FL states, “All together, my six Web sites now analyze the history of 21,667 Airfield Traffic Days between 1925 and 1942, across Airfield Registers that are trans-continental in scope. Each interactive site is driven by databases I built from handwritten records in the Airfield Registers. Now, embedded in the Web sites online, the databases form a rich, interactive environment for researching pilots, airplane registrations, and patterns of movement by people and machines across the United States during the period. The possibilities are bounded only by the dates of the Registers. My sites are the first and only extensive sources of information contained in these important Airfield Registers. They are now accessible to people around the world.”

All the Web sites are wholly owned by the non-profit corporation Delta Mike Airfield, Incorporated. The mission of the company is education, encouragement and support of historical aviation research and multi-media publication to enhance knowledge among public and private sectors around the globe. Specific emphasis is on the Golden Age of Flight. The company operates primarily, but not exclusively, through its Web sites. Other mixed media publications and public appearances also support the Company. Delta Mike Airfield, Incorporated is a tax-exempt, public charity in accordance with U.S. Internal Revenue Code 501(c)3. Your donations can be made through any of the Web sites.

Hyatt concludes, “About fifteen million visitors have come to my first Web site. To the 30-percent of them who are repeat visitors, I have a track record of research, publications, enhancements and additions to that site. In turn, many have contributed information and photographs, for which I’m very grateful. What I offer is a compelling mix of history, biography, stories and engineering that breathes life back into the tens of thousands of people, aircraft and events recorded in the Registers. Over the years to come, I’ll commit the time, resources and effort to build and maintain all my new sites to the same high levels of interest, value and robustness.”

Still Time to Apply for EAA/Ninety-Nines Flight Training Scholarship

2013-06-18T19:24:23Z

What’s your price for flight? For some deserving young women between the ages of 16 and 20, it could be nothing, as EAA and the Ninety-Nines continue to accept applications for the Karen Johnson Solo Scholarship, which can cover training costs through the first solo flight.

Karen Johnson was a member and chapter chair of the Ventura County Ninety-Nines. She passed away in January 2013 during a frost control flight in Delano, Calif. The scholarship was named in her honor, as she was always known for inspiring many of her colleagues to pursue advanced flight training.

Johnson’s Ventura County chapter raised the money for the scholarship in hopes of helping another young woman pursue her dream of flight. Charitable donations were made by Barry Schiff of the Van Nuys Propeller Aircraft Association, as well as from friends and family of Karen Johnson.

EAA and the Ninety-Nines encourage young women to apply for this unique scholarship opportunity. If you qualify, or know young women with a passion for flight, the application deadline is July 1. The application can be found on EAA’s scholarships page at www.eaa.org/support/scholarships.asp

Scholarship winners will be announced on Friday, August 2, during AirVenture Oshkosh WomenVenture activities.

Applicants are required to write a 500-600 word essay on why they want to fly, how they will apply their training, and their goals for the future, and winners are asked to write an additional essay following their training to share the experience with future applicants.

The first prize winner will receive $3,000 and the second place winner will receive at least $2,800, which will be paid in installments to a flight program of the winners’ choosing.

Virgin Galactic Breaks Speed of Sound in First Rocket-Powered Flight of SpaceShipTwo

2013-06-18T18:55:40Z

Sir Richard Branson witnesses vehicle-proving milestone as company sets year-end goal for spaceflight.

Virgin Galactic, the world’s first commercial spaceline owned by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and Abu Dhabi’s aabar Investments PJS, completed the first rocket-powered flight of its space vehicle, SpaceShipTwo (SS2). The test, conducted by teams from Scaled Composites (Scaled) and Virgin Galactic, officially marks Virgin Galactic’s entrance into the final phase of vehicle testing prior to commercial service from Spaceport America in New Mexico.

“The first powered flight of Virgin Spaceship Enterprise was without any doubt, our single most important flight test to date,” said Virgin Galactic Founder Sir Richard Branson, who was on the ground in Mojave to witness the occasion. “For the first time, we were able to prove the key components of the system, fully integrated and in flight. Today’s supersonic success opens the way for a rapid expansion of the spaceship’s powered flight envelope, with a very realistic goal of full space flight by the year’s end. We saw history in the making today and I couldn’t be more proud of everyone involved.”

The test began April 29 at 7:02 a.m. local time when SS2 took off from Mojave Air and Space Port mated to WhiteKnightTwo (WK2), Virgin Galactic’s carrier aircraft. Piloting SS2 were Mark Stucky, pilot, and Mike Alsbury, co-pilot, who are test pilots for Scaled, which built SS2 for Virgin Galactic. At the WK2 controls were Virgin Galactic’s Chief Pilot Dave Mackay, assisted by Clint Nichols and Brian Maisler, co-pilot and flight-test engineer, respectively, for Scaled.

Upon reaching 47,000 feet altitude and approximately 45 minutes into the flight, SS2 was released from WK2. After cross-checking data and verifying stable control, the pilots triggered ignition of the rocket motor, causing the main oxidizer valve to open and igniters to fire within the fuel case. At this point, SS2 was propelled forward and upward to a maximum altitude of 55,000 feet. The entire engine burn lasted 16 seconds, as planned. During this time, SS2 went supersonic, achieving Mach 1.2.

The entire rocket-powered flight test lasted just over 10 minutes, culminating in a smooth landing for SS2 in Mojave at approximately 8 a.m. local time.

“The rocket motor ignition went as planned, with the expected burn duration, good engine performance and solid vehicle handling qualities throughout,” said Virgin Galactic President & CEO George Whitesides. “The successful outcome of this test marks a pivotal point for our program. We will now embark on a handful of similar powered flight tests, and then make our first test flight to space.”

In the coming months, the Virgin Galactic and Scaled test team will expand the spaceship’s powered flight envelope culminating in full space flight, which the companies anticipate will take place before the end of 2013.

“I’d like to congratulate the entire team,” said President of Scaled Kevin Mickey. “This milestone has been a long time coming and it’s only through the hard work of the team and the tremendous support of Virgin Galactic that we have been able to witness this important milestone. We look forward to all our upcoming tests and successes.”

FAA Asked to Remove Outdated Knowledge Test Questions

2013-06-18T18:48:14Z

By Alyssa J. Miller (AOPA)

Questions about loran, microwave landing systems, and direction finding would be more fitting for Barry Schiff’s popular “Test Pilot” trivia column in AOPA Pilot than on FAA knowledge exams.

But students and pilots taking FAA knowledge exams are expected to know about and are tested on these outdated systems. Loran was turned off in 2010, few microwave landing systems ever became operational, and direction-finding services are available only on a limited basis and only in Alaska.

That’s why AOPA Manager of Regulatory Affairs David Oord and Jason Blair, former executive director of the National Association of Flight Instructors—both of whom serve as co-chairs on the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Group’s Airman Testing Standards and Training Working Group—have requested that the FAA remove knowledge test questions about obsolete terms and technologies. The questions were provided from members of the working group.

Other subjects that they asked be removed are the inertial navigation system, transcribed weather broadcasts, on-airport flight service stations, composite moisture stability charts, incorrect terms in winds aloft forecasts, and instrument approach plates with outdated and obsolete components.

“The working group further recommends that once these terms and associated questions are no longer issued on the FAA Knowledge Exams, the FAA issue a formal notice so training providers can remove the terms/technologies from the training process,” they wrote.

This move is part of the working group’s effort to fundamentally change flight training and testing to integrate aeronautical knowledge and risk management topics with specific skills. The draft airman certification standards for the private pilot certificate and instrument rating are currently out for review and comment. AOPA believes the FAA’s piecemeal adoption of changes to testing and training has hampered efforts to keep flight training relevant to operations in the modern environment.

For more information, visit www.aopa.org

Cessna Turbo Skylane JT-A Takes First Production Flight

2013-06-18T17:42:44Z

(Courtesy Cessna Aircraft Company)Cessna Aircraft Company has announced the first production flight of its Turbo Skylane 182 JT-A took place late in May at the company’s facility in Independence, Kan. The aircraft has the distinction of being the first modern single engine aircraft powered by a piston engine specifically designed to run on Jet-A fuel.

“The Turbo Skylane JT-A performed just as expected,” said Cessna senior test pilot Dale Bleakney. “The weather conditions were fantastic, and we took the turbo 182 up for what turned out to be a very normal first flight. We flew for 2.3 hours, achieved a flight level of 8,000 feet, and attained a true air speed of 158 kts. We brought it in and did some takeoffs and landings, and everything went as expected.”

“This Cessna aircraft is in the unique position to change the way single-engine pilots approach flight planning due to the aircraft’s incredible performance envelope,” said Jodi Noah, Cessna’s senior vice president of single engine/propeller aircraft. “The Turbo Skylane JT-A is evidence that Cessna is committed to delivering the groundbreaking fuel solution that general aviation customers have been seeking for a long time.”

“The JT-A is the result of years or hard work put in by our engineering, research, and manufacturing teams,” said Jeff Umscheid, business leader for the Cessna 172, 182 and 206 model aircraft. “This is groundbreaking in that it is the first aircraft powered by a diesel engine specifically designed for aviation. Operators will find many surprising advantages with the JT-A, and pilots will enjoy the lower workload. Add to this the benefit of being able to fuel it with a much cheaper, more available fuel anywhere in the world and it’s not difficult to see why the JT-A is in such demand.”

Industry observers have noted a looming fuel issue for general aviation in most parts of the world. Avgas is typically used to fuel most single engine aircraft, but the fuel is becoming scarce, expensive, and even unavailable in many parts of the world. With the advent of a single engine craft designed to run on the much more common Jet-A fuel, operators can now access many more parts of the world without worrying about the unpredictable availability and price of increasingly scarce avgas.

The Safran-made SMA engine in the Turbo Skylane JT-A is engineered specifically for aviation. It uses only 11 gallons per hour of the typically lower-cost Jet-A fuel at the estimated maximum cruise speed of 156 knots. The 227 horsepower engine will offer customers increased range or payload capacity without sacrificing performance. Flight at the maximum cruise speed demonstrates greater fuel efficiency, and it is expected to burn approximately 30 percent to 40 percent less fuel than comparable avgas engines.

The Turbo Skylane JT-A has a seating capacity for four and an estimated range at max cruise speed of 1,025 nautical miles (1,893 kilometers). The certified ceiling will be 20,000 feet (6,096 meters). The Garmin G1000 avionics suite is pilot-friendly and highly functional, bringing great levels of situational awareness to the cockpit. The engine diagnostics are shown on the primary and multi-function flight displays. Fuel capacity is 87 useful gallons (329 liters), with an estimated useful load of 1,018 pounds (462 kilograms).

For more information on the Turbo Skylane JT-A, visit Cessna.com.

Rep. Mike Pompeo Introduces Small Aircraft Revitalization Act of 2013

2013-06-18T17:35:01Z

In May Congressman Mike Pompeo, R-Kansas, introduced the Small Aircraft Revitalization Act (SARA), which would cut regulations on the general aviation industry and thereby improve safety, decrease costs, and free private-sector innovation. The bill is cosponsored by Dan Lipinski, D-IL, Sam Graves, R-MO, Todd Rokita, R-IN, and Rick Nolan, D-MN.

The bill addresses a number of challenges facing the general aviation industry caused by outdated regulation, including the steady decline in new pilots, flight activity, and the sales of new small general aviation airplanes. For example, the average general aviation airplane is 40 years old.

Over the last 18 months, the FAA Part 23 Reorganization Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC), composed of aviation authorities and industry representatives from around the world, has worked to create a regulatory environment that will contribute significantly to revitalizing the health and safety of new and existing small airplanes. SARA requires the implementation of the Part 23 ARC recommendations by the end of 2015.

“General aviation has never asked for a bailout, but we can cut red tape and at the same time improve safety, effectively revitalizing the industry by cutting the cost of new planes,” said Congressman Pompeo. “The existing outdated certification process needlessly increases the cost of safety and technology upgrades by up to 10 times. With this bill, we can ensure that the general aviation industry has what it needs to thrive.”

“Congressman Mike Pompeo has long been a champion of general aviation, and we applaud his efforts to move this process forward,” said Michael Thacker, Cessna’s senior vice president of engineering. “The active and willing participation of the FAA and other international regulatory bodies has been critical to the success of this effort so far.”

“We appreciate Congressman Pompeo’s leadership on this important legislation that spurs the FAA to adopt regulatory change to double the safety and cut certification costs in half for light general aviation airplanes,” said GAMA President and CEO Pete Bunce. “We look forward to working with him and other members of Congress in moving this legislation forward.”

GAMA Pleased with Introduction of Small Aircraft Revitalization Act in Senate

2013-06-18T17:28:00Z

Bipartisan legislation is companion to House measure; would double safety, halve costs.

The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) welcomed the introduction of the Small Aircraft Revitalization Act of 2013 by U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). The bipartisan bill is the Senate companion to H.R. 1848, which U.S. Representative Mike Pompeo (R-KS) and a bipartisan group of U.S. House members introduced in May. The bill would establish a date certain for implementing the FAA’s Part 23 Reorganization Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) recommendations, with the aim, as stated by FAA Administrator Michael Huerta, of doubling safety and cutting certification costs in half for light general aviation (GA) airplanes.

“GAMA is very encouraged by the growing momentum in Congress to address this important issue, and we deeply appreciate the leadership of Senators Klobuchar and Murkowski to improve aviation safety and help promote manufacturing growth in general aviation,” said GAMA President and CEO Pete Bunce. “The support of other bipartisan sponsors of the bill – including Senators Mark Begich (D-AK), Mike Johanns (R-NE), Jerry Moran (R-KS), James Risch (R-ID), Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Tom Udall (D-NM) – makes it clear that the FAA should move quickly to embrace the ARC’s recommendations. These will improve safety, allow manufacturers to invest in new products and install lifesaving equipment on current airplanes, and bring new energy to the lighter segment of the aircraft market, which has been hurt by the overly prescriptive, outdated and rigid rules in place today.”

The ARC report will recommend setting performance-based design requirements, rather than prescriptive, technology-dependent requirements that rely on assumptions based on weight and propulsion type on light general aviation airplanes. Adopting the new regulations would simplify the current process and give manufacturers needed flexibility by allowing them to achieve compliance by meeting consensus-based standards agreed to by industry and the FAA. The current rules have hindered new safety-enhancing products from coming to market and hurt the lighter segments of the GA market.

The ARC, comprised of 150 government and aviation industry representatives, spent 18 months developing the recommendations, and was co-chaired by Greg Bowles, GAMA’s Director of Engineering & Manufacturing.

GAMA Files Comments in Support of FAA Airman Certification Standards for Pilot Training

2013-06-18T17:27:49Z

The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) has filed comments on the draft Airman Certification Standards (ACS) for private pilot and instrument ratings. The comments strongly support the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) efforts to continue modernizing how pilots are trained and certified by implementing the ACS for all pilot certificates.

Jens Hennig, GAMA’s Vice President of Operations, who chaired the FAA Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) that proposed the establishment of the ACS, said, “The creation of the Airman Certification Standards framework addresses concerns raised from across the aviation training community that the existing practical test and knowledge test are outdated and need to better focus on safety priorities.”

The ACS framework brings together the existing Practical Test Standards (PTS) and knowledge test questions into a single set of standards that provide the bridge between the Part 61 regulatory requirements and the knowledge, skills and risk management that should be taught to pilots. The draft ACS was developed jointly by representatives from across the aviation training community – including manufacturers, pilot and instructor training organizations, universities, and aviation training providers and material developers as well as the FAA. The FAA has made the draft ACS available for public comment to ensure that their content is subject to the broadest review by affected stakeholders.

The development of the ACS is one of three joint-FAA/industry programs focused on enhancing general aviation safety. Work is also underway to reorganize the Part 23 airplane certification standards and to analyze and establish data-driven risk mitigations under the auspices of the General Aviation Joint Steering Committee (GAJSC). GAMA’s comments to the FAA on the draft ACS (Docket No. FAA-2013-0316) are available at www.GAMA.aero under Advocacy.