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All News

March 31, 2008

Aero-News Featured Aero-Casts For Monday 03.31.08

The Art Of Holding Patterns, With CFII Bob Miller

ANN Daily Touch N Go: 03.31.08 (ANN's Short-Form Daily News Program) ANN Daily Aero-Briefing: 03.31.08 (ANN's Long-Form Daily News Program) ANN Special Feature -- The Art Of Holding Patterns: 03.31.08 (ANN Special Report, with CFII Bob Miller of "Over The Airwaves.")

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Avidyne, West Star Aviation Collaborate On RVSM

Aim To Bring Technology To Alliant/Envision Customers

Representatives with Avidyne and West Star Aviation told ANN Monday the two companies have launched a joint engineering effort to provide Envision/Alliant retrofit avionics customers with Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM) capability.

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Australian Officials React To Laser 'Cluster Attack' On Planes

Considers Ban On Laser Pointers

It's hard to know, sometimes, whether people who point lasers at aircraft really mean to harm anyone... or are just experimenting, albeit foolishly, to see if they can see the dot show up in the night sky.

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FAA, NATCA Announce Agreement On Air Traffic Safety Action Program

"Agreement?" "FAA, NATCA?" Is It April 1st ALREADY?

We couldn't believe it, either... and no, this is NOT an April Fools story (but rest assured, those ARE coming!) On Monday, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association signed an agreement to create an Air Traffic Safety Action Program (ATSAP), designed to foster a voluntary, cooperative, non-punitive environment for the open reporting of safety of flight concerns by employees of the FAA.

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NASA Pushes Discovery Launch To May 31

Weather Delays Tank's Arrival At KSC

Citing the need for extra time to get the shuttle Discovery's modified external fuel tank to Florida -- and the agency's desire to give its employees the Memorial Day weekend off -- on Monday NASA announced it is targeting May 31 as the launch date for the STS-124 mission to deliver the large Japanese Kibo Pressurized Module to the International Space Station.

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Dancing On Aloha's Grave: go! Steps Up Flights With Rival's Demise

Will 'Predatory' Pricing Win The Day In Hawaiian Skies?

Sometimes, the airline industry reminds us of the old "Wild Kingdom" TV series... complete with graphic images of prides of lions jumping over themselves to devour the carcasses of slain prey. Hot on the heels of Aloha Airlines' discontinuation of service, on Monday rival Mesa Airlines announced its go! Airlines subsidiary will increase the number of flights it operates in the region, from an average of 54 flights per day to 94 flights beginning Tuesday.

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Reports: Northwest Clings To Delta Merger Deal

Now Says Pilots Don't Have To Agree On Terms

According to reports coming out of Atlanta and Minneapolis, officials at Northwest Airlines -- motivated to see an oft-reported joining with Delta Air Lines come to fruition, as fuel prices continue to climb -- now say pilots at both carriers don't necessarily need to come to terms on seniority agreements ahead of such a merger.

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Hawker Beechcraft Names New Marketing VP

Charles Mayer Comes From Maserati NA

Hawker Beechcraft Corporation (HBC) announced Monday the appointment of Charles D. Mayer as vice president, marketing.

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Former Auto Racers Among Victims Of Farnborough Citation Downing

Five Lost When Jet Goes Down On Takeoff From Kent Airport

Reports from the scene of Sunday's downing of a Cessna Citation 501 business jet in Farnborough, England indicate two former automobile racers were among the five victims onboard the stricken aircraft... but possible reasons why the business jet experienced problems immediately after takeoff are hard to come by at this time.

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Another Airline Shut Down: Champion Air To Cease Operations Next Month

Charter Carrier To Stop Flying May 31

Two days... and two fewer US airlines. Hot on the heels of Aloha Airlines' Sunday announcement it will stop flying at the close of business Monday, Champion Air announced it will cease flight operations effective May 31.

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Bombardier Sells Four Q400s To Portugal's Grupo SATA

Firm Turboprop Orders Now Total 300 Aircraft

Bombardier Aerospace announced Monday Grupo SATA (Sociedade Acoriana de Transportes Aereos, S.A.) of Ponta Delgada, Portugal recently signed a contract to acquire four Q400 NextGen aircraft for its SATA Air Acores regional airline.

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Things NOT To Do On Approach

Admit It... We've All 'Almost' Done Something Like This...

There's not a lot to say about the following report... except for the fact that we've all "almost" done something like it -- while a few of us have just flat-out experienced the same degree of "brain-fade" and gotten to take the "shortest step" out of an airplane known to an aviator... after landing gear up. We include the report for one reason only -- to remind EVERYONE that you need to VISUALLY confirm what you're doing rather than depending on the Braille method.

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Prop Failure Necessitates Unplanned 'Water Landing'

You can never be too careful... or too prepared... but a prop failure is one of those weird situations that can put you down in a heartbeat -- as an RV-6 pilot found out. Thankfully, there was no injury to the pilot, but a landing in a flooded field did wind up doing significant damage to his pride and joy. We hope the bird can be fixed.

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Gobosh Gets Bigger... Aero-TV Looks Over the G800XP

All-Composite Speedster Equipped With 'Chute

Recently, Gobosh Aviation unveiled a new addition to their product line, the all-composite 800XP. Sporting rakish lines similar to several other low-wing LSAs -- more on that in a minute -- the 800XP is a Czech-designed-and-built aircraft, unlike the Polish-built G700S that kicked off Gobosh's presence in the US last July. The aircraft boasts a "structural composite" design, reducing the need for underlying metal frame supports. Gobosh adds performance also benefits from a high-performance laminar-flow wing, designed specifically for the US marketplace.

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Sign Of The Times? Aloha Bids Farewell

Another Carrier Bites The Dust

ANN has learned that Aloha Airlines will shut down its passenger operations later today. With this, a "61-year tradition of service to Hawaii" ends. Aloha Airlines announced that it will be shutting down its inter-island and transpacific passenger flight operations with the last day of operations being today, Monday, March 31, 2008.

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Gobosh Gets Bigger... Aero-TV Looks Over the G800XP

All-Composite Speedster Equipped With 'Chute

Recently, Gobosh Aviation unveiled a new addition to their product line, the all-composite 800XP. Sporting rakish lines similar to several other low-wing LSAs -- more on that in a minute -- the 800XP is a Czech-designed-and-built aircraft, unlike the Polish-built G700S that kicked off Gobosh's presence in the US last July.

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Seaplane Access Being Restored By Bureau Of Reclamation

AOPA, SPA And Other Organizations Win Big

AOPA tells ANN thhat there is 'Good News' for seaplane pilots. The Bureau of Reclamation intends to return seaplane access to more than 400 lakes in 17 western states.

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United Airlines Publishes Intent To Help Aloha Airlines Customers

United Airlines has posted notices promising that it is prepared to assist and accommodate customers who are affected by the termination of Aloha Airlines service.

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Klyde Morris (03.31.08)

Klyde Cops Some Zzzzzzzzzzzzz's FMI: www.klydemorris.com

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Joyriding Jet Thief Gets Four Years For Citation Theft

Is Four Years Jail-Time For Copping A Citation, Enough?

Remember Daniel Wolcott? The pilot who earned the distinction of being listed as one of ANN's annual Aero-Bozos is going to spend (more) time in the slammer. Nearly two and a half years after stealing a Citation for a multi-state joyride, the pilot has been sentenced to serve another year and a half in jail, to complete a four year sentence (having been giving credit for the time he has served, thus far, in Georgia and Florida jails).

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NASA's Orion Simulator Heads West

Late in the evening of March 27, the Orion crew module simulator was loaded on a C-17 aircraft for its next step on a mission to complete the next generation of NASA's apce transportation system. The Orion crew module simulator weighs nearly 20,000 pounds.

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That's NOT Gonna Be A Quick Tire Change...

SWA 737 Blows ALL MG Tires On Landing

After all the flak that has hit Southwest in the last few days, this is the last thing they needed. Somehow, an SWA B737-500 managed to blow out all its main gear tires while executing a landing at Houston Hobby Airport. A brake fire ensued, but the overall damage was determined to be "minor" and NO injuries occurred. Here's hoping the week ahead is a bit calmer...

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USMC/Iraq ATC Keeps Air-Traffic Flowing At al-Asad

With no guidance from the control tower, landing an aircraft on the flight line would be much like approaching a busy intersection without any stop signs or traffic lights. The Marines and sailors of Detachment Alpha, Marine Air Control Squadron 1, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward), are inherently responsible for providing all-weather air traffic control services to civilian, tactical and non-tactical aircraft operating within al-Asad’s (Iraq) airspace.

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ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (03.31.08)

Aero-Linx!

A Cloudhopper is a single-person hot-air balloon. There is no basket: the pilot wears a harness that is attached to the balloon, with a fuel tank and burner situated behind him or her.

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ANN's Daily Aero-Term (03.31.08): Flame Tubes

Aero-Terms!

Small diameter metal tubes that connect can-type combustors to carry the ignition flame to all of the combustion chambers.

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Aero-News: Quote Of The Day (03.31.08)

“With reduced visibility, the equipment is more vital because the aircraft won’t land, so it’s our responsibility to keep them separated from other aircraft in flight... The extreme environment the equipment is being operated in has an adverse affect on the length of its life cycle and the amount of maintenance required to keep it operational.”

Source: Master Sgt. Jason A. Sunstrom, maintenance chief for Detachment Alpha, MACS-1, in discussing support for the Marines' ATC Tower in al-Asad, Iraq. 

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