Letterman's Got Nothing On Us When It Comes To Top
Ten Lists...
By ANN Associate Editor Juan Jimenez
Every year, ANN takes a look back at the year about to become
history, and picks what we think are the ten most important
aviation milestones of the year. Without further ado, the
countdown...
10. Election Night, November 2, 2004
The evening when the TFR's From Hell ceased. Need I say more?
ANN published a whopping 1,152 Temporary Flight Restriction NOTAM's
during the past year, and most of them came up between January and
the first week of November. A few were not published because by the
time we saw them, they were set to expire before our next
publication day. TFR's had to be near the top of the list of ten
things which caused the most stress and aggravation to general
aviation. Some of them were so confusing I doubt the FAA itself
knew exactly how to fly around them. In fact, in some cases they
did not, and controllers failed to warn aircraft that they were
about to infringe on TFR'd airspace. Finally, did you know that Sen
John Kerry never requested a single TFR during his entire
campaign? The US Secret Service could learn a thing or two from
that...
9. Garmin G1000 Joins The Field
The introduction of Garmin's G1000 EFIS has taken the GA world
by storm. Who would have ever thought that we would see an
airliner-quality EFIS on the venerable Cessna 172? Granted, Garmin
was not the first to introduce such a system, but no one can deny
that Garmin's reputation and clout with the pilot community was an
important catalyst in (further) opening those gates.
Virtually all the GA manufacturers are getting on the EFIS
bandwagon with some type of EFIS installation, and it is becoming
clear that other manufacturers of similar hardware such as Avidyne
and Chelton are going to have to work hard to keep up
their lead after bringing their products to the market in advance
of the G1000 (especially Avidyne, who has hundreds of installations
flying very nicely right now and is easily the most mature product
line in this market segment, at the moment). Our only gripe
with the G1000 is that it is not available for use on experimental
amateur-built aircraft, and we hope that will soon change.
8. NBAA 2004, Las Vegas Convention Center
One of the fun parts of our job as aviation journalists is
covering the various trade shows around the country. Since 9/11,
the general and business aviation shows had been... well... let's
just say that folks had not been exactly thrilled about where the
industry was going. In our opinion, NBAA 2004 changed all of that
for the business aviation community. The show was upbeat and
exciting, and one could feel the electricity on the floor and in
the various seminars. There are clear signs that the industry is
recovering from the downturn that followed the deadliest terror
attack in our country in recent memory. The decision to continue
into 2004 the accelerated depreciation programs that benefited
business aircraft sales in 2003 was a good one for NBAA's
members, and we believe that the NBAA will see the momentum carried
into 2005 and beyond.
7. Spirit And Opportunity, The Hardest-Working Robots On
Mars
In January, three and a half years of work on the part of the
JPL Mars Rover Team paid off. Two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity,
touched down on the surface of Mars and began what has been one of
the most spectacular and eye-opening episodes in the exploration of
our reddish-colored neighbor. The rovers have already operated for
far longer than the team thought was possible, and the science they
are returning to this planet is nothing short of amazing. The
discovery of evidence pointing to an era in the planet's history
where water was plentiful has scientists from every country in the
world buzzing with excitement. There is no doubt in anyone's mind
that NASA has made up for the loss of two spacecraft enroute to
Mars in 1999. Let us hope that the lessons learned from this
success story are repeated over and over again.
6. The FAA's Sport Pilot Rule And Light Sport Aircraft
Initiative
The long-awaited Sport Pilot Rule finally saw the end of the
tunnel and became... well... final! For nine years our various
alphabet organizations had been working to make this a reality, and
it finally became so hours before the beginning of EAA AirVenture
2004. As we said in the past, we believe that this rule has the
potential to become the rocket that powers Sport Aviation to new
heights. The rule still needs work, though, and it did not help one
bit that the FAA decided at the last minute to do something we
thought it would never do -- refuse to allow pilots who had been
denied a medical to exercise Sport Pilot privileges. Never mind
that a new pilot with serious medical conditions can simply put a
driver's license in the glove compartment and go fly -- Aeromedical
refused to let go when it came to the ones they already had in
their grip. So far, we at ANN have not seen proof that the FAA
truly meant what it said when we were all told during Oshkosh that
there was no intention to keep anyone from flying. It remains to be
seen if this situation will change in 2005, because that is the
only reason this milestone did not garner a higher spot on this
list.
5. The Thielert Aircraft Engines GMBH Certified Aviation Diesel
Engine
One of the seminars we attended at EAA's AirVenture was
presented by an expert on fuels and lubricants with 35 year
experience in the field, Mr. Ben Visser of AeroShell/Shell Oil
Products. During that seminar, Mr. Visser explained in great detail
what it takes to make 100LL aviation fuel and deliver it to your
local airport. There is no doubt 100LL is on its way out, and that
is why we welcome the development of new diesel/multifuel engines
such as the newly certified Thielert Aircraft Engines GBMH 310 HP
powerplant. Now FAA certified, this engine represents the first of
what we hope will be many new engines that will reduce our
dependence on a fuel that is hard to produce and transport, and
whose days are literally counted.
4. Diamond DA-42 Atlantic Crossing - St John's, Newfoundland,
Canada To Portugal For $200
Normally we would not feature an Atlantic crossing in a twin
aircraft as a milestone for a calendar year, but this one goes hand
in hand with our comments on diesel engines. If there ever was an
example of what diesel aviation engines can do to excite even the
most jaded pilot, this was it. On August 16, Diamond Aircraft test
pilot Gerard Guillaumaud ferried the DA-42 twin that had been on
display at Oshkosh back to Europe. He departed London, Ontario,
Canada and arrived at St John's, Newfoundland. He then topped
off his 78 gallon extended tanks and 26 gallon ferry tank, and took
off for Porto, Portugal. He arrived twelve and a half hours and
1,900 NM later, and still had the contents of the ferry tank plus
six gallons in the extended tanks. At a 42 percent power setting,
burning a total of 5.74 gallons per hour, the trip cost less than
$200 at August fuel prices. Had the weather cooperated, he could
have made his final destination in Toulouse, France... with
reserves. Folks, in our book, that is one heck of an
accomplishment.
3. One Word: "Cassini!"
Yes, we are going to give NASA another milestone recognition.
Just as with the Mars rover robots, Cassini has been a spectacular
success. Launched in 1997, the spacecraft made the long voyage to
Saturn after engaging in four gravity-assisted maneuvers. Cassini
entered orbit around Saturn in July of 2004, and began what is to
be a four-year mission that is scheduled to include 70 orbits
around the planet and its moons. Cassini has already returned an
incredible wealth of information, including what can only be
described as spectacular imaging as part of its multigigabyte daily
download of data. As this feature article was being written,
Cassini was on an impact trajectory with Titan, playing "chicken"
with the moon so as to be able to deploy the Huygens probe. The
spacecraft will then veer back into orbit and, if everything goes
well, begin receiving data from the probe as it descends and
impacts Titan. This is the stuff that space exploration dreams are
made of, and we hope to see much more of it in the next four
years.
2. Scaled Composites Wins The X-Prize
We have said so much about the accomplishments of Burt Rutan and
his SpaceShip One team that not much is left to be said, except to
think about the future, and the doors that Rutan and the little
spacecraft that could have opened for the rest of us in that
future. Rutan has accomplished what most people thought impossible
just a short decade ago -- to put a civilian into space without
spending the annual budget of most small countries, and to do it
three times in a row! We at ANN consider ourselves very privileged
to have been part of an event that we know, without a shred of
doubt in our minds, will become just as much a part of our aviation
and aeronautics history as the Wright Brothers' first flight and
Yuri Gagarin's trip into space.
1. We Made It!
Admit it -- you were wondering why SpaceShip One's flight into
space was number two on the list, and what could possibly
be number one, right? The reason is simple: we at ANN feel
that our biggest aviation milestone is that the aviation community
is still flying, still going strong and still growing.
Three years after 9/11, we have to say it -- the terrorists
lost, and we are back, stronger than ever. Aviation has suffered
many attacks since 9/11, from many sectors of our society; the
NIMBY's, the non-aviation media and their shameless fishing
expeditions to look for the ratings at our expense, flea-brained
politicians who think they are above the law and beyond Phil
Boyer's reach... you name it, we took it on and won. Of course, it
is important to recognize the accomplishments of the individual
members of our aviation and aerospace family, but it is also
important to recognize that our community has beat the odds.
Stand up and applaud yourself! You deserve it!