PFD4000

The PFD4000 is Avidyne’s new compact big-glass primary flight display system that is designed with the flexibility to be installed in a number of different aircraft types and configurations.

Designed as a “6-pack” replacement, the PFD4000 adds all the enhanced situational awareness and reliability benefits of an all-glass flight deck to virtually any general aviation aircraft.

The PFD4000 fits in virtually any panel space, conveying traditional primary flight instrumentation as well as a pilot-selectable moving map presentation of flight plan data and an RMI/Bearing pointer, all within the primary field of view, reducing pilot workload.

Installed with Avidyne’s versatile EX5000 or EX500 MFD – which shows navigation data, MultiLink™ datalink weather, lightning, traffic, obstacles, and terrain – Avidyne delivers a high-reliability glass flight deck solution with our hallmark “easiest-to-use” pilot/user interface.

The PFD4000 brings Avidyne’s industry-leading Entegra glass flight deck capability to an expanded list of General Aviation aircraft.

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PFD4000 Primary Flight Display

Boeing company announs that British Airways is ordering six jetliners, two from Boeing and four others as leased from the third party.

This “long-term relationship” brings the option to BA for four more 777s delivery.

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Boeing says: British Airways buys 777-300ERs

The backbone of THY’s fleet, Boeing 737-800 can carry 162 to 189 passengers and has a range of 5,665 km. The 737 is the world’s most popular jet airliner, with more than 8,000 orders, and is still the most efficient, most reliable jet transport in its class.

Turkish Airlines was founded in 1933 with a fleet of five airplanes that could carry 28 passengers in total. The airline made its first domestic flight in 1933 and first international flight in 1947; today, THY carries approximately 20 million passengers per year. THY has direct flights to 108 international and 33 domestic destinations. THY Technic, a subsidiary of THY, is certified as a maintenance center for 737s for Russia and neighboring countries.

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Boeing Next-Generation 737 Becomes 110th Turkish Airlines Airplane

“Diamond is proud to be the only company to offer a full range of aircraft, from a 2-seat trainer to 4-seat and 5-seat piston singles, to a modern, composite light twin and a Personal Jet. Our display at Oshkosh will showcase the full line up – a family of aircraft which can take new pilots from their first lesson all the way to a jet type rating,” explains Heike Larson, Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

The static display D-JET is one of Diamond’s aerodynamically conforming prototypes. It will be displayed right next to the full-scale D-JET mock-up, which allows people to experience the amazing roominess of the D-JET Personal Jet.

The AE 300 Austro engine is a next-generation turbo-diesel. It offers 26% more engine power than the engine currently on the DA42, for better performance across the board: take-off performance, climb performance, singleengine performance and, of course, speed. Developed with key technology partners, including MB Tech (Mercedes Benz) and Bosch, the engine is slated for European certification in fall 2008. It incorporates many improvements over previous diesel powerplants, including a gear box without a clutch, a cast-iron crankcase, integral oil/coolant heat exchanger and improved turbocharger air induction and cooling systems.

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Diamond to display D-JET and Austro Engine

Launch customer, Lufthansa, a leading German airline, has signed a letter of interest (LOI) for up to 60 aircraft, including 30 options. The approximate list price of each aircraft is $46.7 million US. Additionally, discussions with a number of established airlines worldwide are progressing well.

  (Image: Newscom)

“Today is a great day for Bombardier, our customers, our employees, our shareholders and our suppliers. I am proud to say that we have met our business plan objectives: a technologically advanced aircraft family, a strong pipeline of orders and repayable investments with governments and agreements with key suppliers. With the latest in system technologies and aerodynamics, the CSeries family of aircraft will revolutionize the economics and network strategies for airline operations in the 100- to 149-seat commercial market. It is another example of our commitment to designing and manufacturing innovative aircraft that will ensure our continued industry leadership,” said Pierre Beaudoin, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bombardier Inc.

Whole story here at http://www.bombardier.com/en/aerospace/media-centre/press-releases/details?docID=0901260d800326db

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Bombardier Launches CSeries Aircraft Program

Airport Unicom, what is your active runway?

For some reason I get all worked up whenever I hear someone ask this. Let’s lay down the situation. This airport has no control tower. There is an ASOS on the field. So why do I hate hearing this so much?

There is no such thing as an “active” runway at an airport without a control tower. You are free to use whatever runway you choose. Normally speaking you should use the runway most closely aligned with the current winds. In this case the airport has an ASOS so why not just tune in, listen to the winds, and figure out on your own what the best runway is?

So what he meant to say was something closer to “Which runway is most of the local traffic currently using”? Perhaps he just wanted to go with the flow so to speak.

Perhaps…. someone should break the chain if the majority of the local traffic isn’t using the runway most closely aligned with the winds. So many times I’ve approached an airport and everyone is using the runway that was aligned with the winds an hour ago…. but not any longer. Everyone just keeps following along.

In my opinion, you just need to break the cycle. There shouldn’t be any reason to ask the local Unicom what the “active” runway is in most cases. Listen to the ASOS and figure out where you should land. If everyone else is going for a different runway, break the chain and help out everyone arriving behind you.

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Radio Pet Peeves

The clip made me think about all of the other senses that appear in General Aviation and how they greatly add to the experience.

Sights: One of the most memorable sights for me was seeing the perfect rainbow for the first time. I had heard of them, but had never seen one until cruising across upstate New York at about 8,000 feet. I looked down across some broken clouds below and there it was… A perfect rainbow in a complete circle… not just an arc.

Sounds: I would agree that the sound of gyros spinning down is a treat, however I’ll say that the sound of a float plane approaching for landing is special. With the power back you can hear the “whistle” of the floats being dragged along and the splash at touch down is quite special too.

Touch: My favorite touch sensation flying is the feeling of the yoke during a soft field take-off just as you’ve left the ground and are still building speed in ground effect.

Taste: Other than $100 hamburgers, there are not too many tastes specifically tied with aviation. But my most memorable aviation taste are those HUGE drumsticks everyone eats at Sun-n-Fun. mmmmmm….

Smells: There are lots of nice, and not so nice, aviation smells. 100LL comes to mind. However I think the smell I most often associate with flying is the smell of new sectional charts. I don’t know if the smell comes from the ink or the paper… and I can’t really even describe the smell, but it is a smell I will always associate with aviation. I’m almost embarrassed to say this but whenever I get a new sectional chart I always open it up and take a whiff… just to make sure it smells right.

Have any favorite aviation senses of your own? Share them in the comments below!

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See, Hear, Smell, Touch, and Taste General Aviation

“We can imagine the outcry from the public if Jacksonville passed a rule saying residents could not work on automobiles, boats or motorcycles at the their own homes,” said Earl Lawrence, EAA’s vice president of industry and regulatory affairs. “It seems quite unfair that an aircraft builder could not quietly fit two parts together while his neighbor might be able to rebuild and engine test a muscle car next door.”

Landed via av web.

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Jacksonville Bans Building Aircaft

• Handcrafted carbon-fiber headband for maximum strength and durability
• Super-lightweight, low profile head pad provides long-term comfort
• Dual voice coil ENC technology provides superior active noise cancellation
• Cell phone and aux music input, with three included accessory cords
• Ear cups fold for compact storage
• Super-soft, fabric faced gel ear seals make a proper seal
• Auto-shutoff with 30 hour battery life
• High fidelity stereo earphones with dual volume controls
• Latest M77 noise-canceling microphone with flexible boom

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David Clark X11

Simply put, it requires that any U.S.-registered aircraft with a takeoff gross weight of 100,309 pounds or less that crosses a U.S. border be on an active IFR or VFR flight plan, squawk an ATC-assigned transponder code over a Mode C or Mode S transponder, maintain two-way radio contact with U.S. air traffic control, and comply with all U.S. Customs requirements.

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FAA Makes it Easier to Cross Borders