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Aviation news & comment -- 2009
FanJet seeks fans 15 January
It’s not often that you trip over a jet site that has a builder assistance link, but that seems to be the case with ViperJet, which says it is now in its second generation for its two-seat (tandem) FanJet aircraft.
The build-assist idea might be a flight of fancy, though the company seems to be trying very hard to swing GA pilots over to the joys of flying a real jet at minimal cost.
Basic stats look impressive to the GA pilot: such as a 5000fpm climb rate at max weight of 2560kg, 350-400ktas at cruise and a 1400nm range, albeit with a (US) 300 gallon tank, plus a stall speed at a little over 70kts. Power is from a Pratt & Whitney JT-15-4D turbofan. Price, always an ugly subject, is not mentioned. Though you are invited to become a dealer.
The company has been trumpeting it has recently hired former Cessna CEO Charlie Johnson as Business Development Manager.
“I’ve been involved with aircraft all my life, and rarely have I been as excited as I am now about the future of personal aviation,” said Johnson. “From concept, to design, to production, the Viper FanJet is a remarkable airplane; perfectly positioned in the market to meet demand for a low cost, high performance aircraft. The team at Viper has accumulated over 400 hours of flight time on the first ViperJet, and it is a pleasure to fly!”
After leaving Cessna, Johnson briefly worked with the now-failed Javelin project run by ATG.
Exactly how you go about building, or even buying, your own jet is unclear, though the flight video at the corporate website is very sexy. In any case, a cost-effective light jet still sounds like huge fun.
Watch this space: ViperJet web
China consolidates rotary wings
China’s government-run Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC) has decided to consolidate a number of rotary wing enterprises under one umbrella, called China Aviation Industry Helicopters Corporation.
Pulling together four different makers, it will be based in the port city of Tianjin, with the local municipality holding 31 per cent of the company. The city already hosts Airbus manufacturing facilities.
Production will initially concentrate on medium and heavy-lift aircraft.
And now for a little video…
Zenith Zodiac XL demo vid – not dramatic, but a nice “I wish I was there” effort.
Link
Farewell Nancy Bird Walton 14 January
Australian aviation pioneer Nancy Bird Walton passed away in her Sydney home yesterday, aged 93.
Her legacy is considerable, having started the Australian Women Pilots Association and done much over the years to promote aviation as a necessary link for our large, thinly-populated, nation, and working as a pilot and tireless advocate of air ambulance services.
She took her first flying lesson at age 17 with the legendary aviator Charles Kingsford Smith, in 1933 – a move which did not win the approval of her father.
She went on to become the nation’s first female commercial pilot.
In 2008, Qantas named its first A380 airliner after her. She had already been named a national living treasure, in 1997.
Further reading:
Nancy Bird Walton bio
Charles Kingsford Smith bio
Australian Women Pilots Association
Debate over first multi-crew trainees
Boeing training offshoot Alteon in Brisbane has produced its first crop of six Chinese pilots trained under the new Multi-crew Pilot Licence (MPL) regime, designed to shorten the usually expensive, long and sometimes ruinous system which requires a graduation from private (PPL), to commercial (CPL) and air transport licences (ATPL).
The idea is to start training immediately in a simulator for heavy jets, teaching the students to fly in a multi-crew environment. There is also a practical element, but much shortened when compared to the traditional route.
Australia’s Civil Aviation Authority (CASA) has given the idea a qualified thumbs-up, saying the most recent graduates showed good flying skills. Chief Executive Bruce Byron recently told The Australian newspaper, “Instead of working their way up from a private pilot licence to a commercial and then air-transport licence, people can be trained from day one for the job they will be doing in aviation.”
Australian Federation of Air Pilots industrial officer Lawrie Cox is reported to be a critic of the system, saying pilots miss gaining the experience and situational awareness gained by flying a light aircraft and working up through the ranks.
More at The Australian
Ed's comment: As someone who is sponsoring a budding commercial pilot, I have to say the MPL sounds like a wonderful shortcut -- if your only concern is cost. MPL supporters also, with some justification, say that students are taught from day one how to handle the complexities of the cabin environment, plus analyse and prioritise. That is a critical skill for airliner crew, often missing -- if you watch the air crash docos. However, and this is a big however -- as a flyer -- I worry that these future first officers and then captains are not meeting face-to-face the harsh realities of flying in the teeth of much bigger forces than you and the aircraft, with a Cessna, Piper, or whatever. Stumbling out into the big bad world in a light plane can be a very effective reality check. A simulator, or even the right-hand seat of a heavy jet, does not do the same thing. The MPL risks teaching people to be effective bus drivers, without giving them exprerience with flaky and very immediate forces beyond their control -- when they need to turn into flyers. Managing the cockpit is one thing, but being able to fly when things turn ugly is another. They need both and I'm not convinced the MPL does the job. I strongly suspect this is something which will come back to bite us, unless it's addressed. Now. -- Guy Allen
Air traffic control crisis?
Ben Sandilands, an aviation commentator at Crikey, argues that Air Services Australia (ASA) is facing a crisis – namely a chronic shortage of air traffic controllers – regardless of whether ASA can solve its long-running dispute with its staff.
What is clear is that this sector is increasingly incapable of providing adequate coverage of the country’s airways. Flights are being delayed and re-routed, while at least one major local airline has threatened to seek compensation.
He says, “Air Services doesn't have enough controllers to man the terminals, regardless of whether they are members of a union or not; it doesn't have a credible or functioning training program to create new controllers; and it has a work force that is quitting in significant numbers for better pay and conditions in Eire, Dubai, Hong Kong and Germany.”
Also
The Defence Department has recently signed a contract for the delivery of mobile air traffic control systems, from Rohde & Schwarz Australia.
More
Also
Well-known aviator Dick Smith has called for a control tower to be built at Newcastle, which he said would cost as little as 50 cents per passenger.
More
Recession – what recession? 12 January
While the economic indicators might be grim, it’s good to hear that general aviation is feeling bullish. AERO Friedrichshafen, Europe’s top GA show (and a sponsor of this site), reports that bookings are up.
It says: A double-digit increase in bookings for AERO 2009 in these turbulent economic times reflects both a rise in the number of exhibitors and an increase in the amount of exhibition space booked. For the first time ever, AERO 2009 will take place in ten instead of seven halls. Project Manager Thomas Grunewald is particularly impressed with the rising number of bookings from Eastern Europe. The Czech Republic has shown the strongest growth in exhibitor numbers, but there has also been a sharp rise in interest from the US. In addition to a large number of new exhibitors like Hawker Beechcraft (site pictured), major manufacturers such as Cessna, Cirrus, Diamond, Embraer, Pilatus and Piper are once again planning to significantly increase their presence at AERO.
“In these turbulent times, it is evidently important for most customers to maintain their marketing efforts in order to create a basis for future growth,” says Thomas Grunewald.
More
Okay – so things are a little tough
Textron, the owner of Cessna, has announced it will lay off around 2000 employees by March, around 13 per cent of its workforce. "People taking delivery of new aircraft are canceling or delaying and new orders are slowing globally," spokesman Doug Oliver said. The biggest drop is with light jets – a sector which showed huge promise as little as a year ago.
Meanwhile Boeing has also announced job cuts, numbering around 4500 from a global workforce of 68,000. The company has cited an industrial dispute as part of the cause, though its much-delayed Dreamliner 787 development program is also in the mix. The company delivered 375 jets in 2008, down from 441 in 2007.
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