Another Step Toward Certification

SJ30-2 flight test aircraft S/N 0004 (shown below, leading the formation with supersonic F-100 chase plane during high speed Mach .90 testing at Mojave Airport) successfully completed dive speed testing to Mach .90, according to a statement to ANN from Sino Swearingen. The dive testing is required to confirm the Mmo (Maximum Mach operating speed) of Mach .83 and to confirm that the aircraft does not encounter flutter at any operating speeds or safety margin speeds to Mach .90.

May Also Have Been Overloaded

From the NTSB: On August 3, 2004, at 1159 central daylight time, an Aerostar PA-60-601P twin-engine airplane, N601BV, was destroyed shortly after take off from Runway 16 (a 3,930- foot-long and 70-foot-wide asphalt runway) at Lakeway Airpark (3R9), Austin, Texas. The commercial pilot and five passengers (three adults and two children) sustained fatal injuries. The airplane was registered to and operated by Aviation Flight Standards, LLC, Wilmington, Delaware. A visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan was filed for the flight that departed Lakeway, about 1158, and was destined for Wylie Post Airport (PWA), Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the business flight conducted under 14 Code of Federal Re

S-3B Viking Failed To Return

Four naval aviators were listed as missing after failing to return to the carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) on the evening of Aug. 10.

Cockpit Kitty Forces Emergency Landing -- Really

(With apologies to Dr. Seuss -- ed.) This is the story of a very bad cat Though the very bad cat did not wear a hat The very bad cat decided to play In a Belgian jetliner that was going away.

Armadillo Aerospace Log: 08/08/04

On Tuesday we did a very successful set of hover tests with the big vehicle. I had two changes that I wanted to test: an optional PWM of the throttle movement to make it change position slower when it was in hunt-for-an-acceleration mode, and testing a 50% gain increase which I might enable during high speed flights if it looks like it is having a hard time controlling the attitude. I had these set up momentary overrides on the joystick, so I could lift the vehicle up, engage the change, let go real fast if it isn’t working, then try the other one, all on a single propellant load.

Passengers Duke It Out With Cops In Accra

Ghana Airways passengers stranded in Accra battled with police at the company's headquarters in Kotoka International Airport Monday.

End Of The Line

It was a bittersweet mixture of "job well-done" and "goodbye, old friend." Workers at Boeing's 757 assembly line in Wichita (KS) gathered Monday to mark the end of an era. They rolled the last 757 fuselage off the line.

DOT Lifts Restrictions On Some US-Libya Air Services

The Department of Transportation today lifted restrictions to allow certain air services between the United States and Libya. The United States first imposed sanctions on Libya in 1986, and applied additional prohibitions on air services between the United States and Libya in 1992.

Amid Bankruptcy Warnings

Delta Airlines Monday raised the volume on its warnings that, unless it gets major concessions from its unions, it will file for bankruptcy protection.

Will Spend Six Years In Prison

A Texas man who got drunk on his 21st birthday and stole a Cessna 172, crashing it into power lines, was sentenced to six years in prison Monday.

Will Lead Advisory Committee To Set Standards For UAVs Flying In US Airspace

"We volunteered for this job because we want to make sure that these unmanned aircraft don't have an impact on our members, literally and figuratively," said Andy Cebula, AOPA senior vice president of Government and Technical Affairs. "Before UAVs are ever released into general airspace, they'll have to be able to do what a pilot in a Cessna 172 does — see and avoid other aircraft, operate within the confines of today's ATC system, and operate without special conditions or special services such as being able to deal with emergencies without endangering other aircraft."

Worth Up To $3.6 Billion

Rockwell Collins and Warner Robins Air Logistics Center (WR-ALC) have entered into a 10-year strategic contract to enhance the availability of Rockwell Collins resources and improve technical and logistics support to maximize operational readiness. This indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract has a ceiling of $3.6 billion.

AD NUMBER: 2004-16-06 MANUFACTURER: BAE Systems SUBJECT: Airworthiness Directive 2004-16-06 SUMMARY: This amendment adopts a new airworthiness directive (AD), applicable to all BAE Systems (Operations) Limited Model Avro 146-RJ series airplanes, that requires replacing the existing digital flight guidance computer(s) (DFGC) with a new or modified DFGC(s).

AD NUMBER: 2004-16-08 MANUFACTURER: MDHC SUBJECT: Airworthiness Directive 2004-16-08 SUMMARY: This amendment adopts a new airworthiness directive (AD) for MD Helicopters, Inc. Model MD900 helicopters. This action requires installing a fan input force limiting control rod assembly fail-safe device (fail-safe device). This AD also requires, after installing a fail-safe device, before the first flight of each day, checking the fail-safe device for bent clips, taut lanyards, and piston rod movement.

AD NUMBER: 2004-16-02 MANUFACTURER: Short SUBJECT: Airworthiness Directive 2004-16-02 SUMMARY: This amendment adopts a new airworthiness directive (AD), applicable to all Short Brothers Model SD3 series airplanes, that requires installing a new warning annunciator light on the central warning panel and revising the Normal Procedures Section of the Aircraft Flight Manual to provide the flight crew with procedures related to the new light.

AD NUMBER: 2004-16-04 MANUFACTURER: Short SUBJECT: Airworthiness Directive 2004-16-04 SUMMARY: This amendment adopts a new airworthiness directive (AD), applicable to all Short Brothers Model SD3 series airplanes. This AD requires testing for stiffness of the aft pintle pin bushing of the main landing gear (MLG), and inspecting and measuring the aft pintle pin bushings of the MLG for damage, and for out-of-limit dimensions of the bushing bore. This AD also requires corrective action if necessary.

AD NUMBER: 2004-16-03 MANUFACTURER: Gulfstream SUBJECT: Airworthiness Directive 2004-16-03 SUMMARY: This amendment adopts a new airworthiness directive (AD), applicable to certain Gulfstream Aerospace LP Model Galaxy and Model Gulfstream 200 airplanes, that requires a one-time detailed inspection of the wing flap actuators for proper bonding of the flap actuator fairings to the lower skin of the wings, and related corrective or preventative actions.

AD NUMBER: 2004-16-05 MANUFACTURER: Boeing SUBJECT: Airworthiness Directive 2004-16-05 SUMMARY: This amendment adopts a new airworthiness directive (AD), applicable to all Boeing Model 747 series airplanes, that requires a one-time inspection to determine whether the outer cylinder of the wing landing gear has certain part numbers, and replacement of the outer cylinder of the wing landing gear with a new, improved, or reworked part if necessary.

Judy, Duane, and Rolly Are Together Again

We lost Duane just a short while ago... and experienced the bittersweet sadness involved in remembering a fallen friend and dearly beloved member of our collective heritage... and now we must do so again. Judy Cole has joined her husband Duane, and son Rolly (lost over 40 years ago in a tragic airshow accident), where all aviators must someday go when she passed away peacefully Monday, surrounded by her family.