Apr
Douglas Aircraft
Flight News On Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association Annual Aviation Summit Held In Long Beach,California In 2010 Raises Spirits
Nearly ten thousand pilots and aviation enthusiasts gathered in Long Beach, California, recently for the 2010 Aircraft Owners and Pilots Associations (AOPA) annual Aviation Summit to hear from industry leaders, see the latest and greatest, from aircraft to engines and avionics to pilot supplies, and to attend more than 60 hours of educational forums.
Hundreds more from the local community came out to see the aircraft on display at Airport fest, which was free and open to the public. Registered attendance for the 2010 Aviation Summit was 9746 and altogether 1101 aircraft flew in for the three-day event.
At Airport fest, 11373 people-a mix of registered attendees and members of the local community –came out to get an up-close look at all the planes. Three days of beautiful weather brought throngs of people to the airport, where an array of more than 80 aircraft provided a chance to see how far aviation has advanced.
Glass cockpit avionics, ballistic parachutes, and other safety features were on prominent display. Exhibitors and members are already looking forward to next years AOPA Aviation Summit, to be held next September in Hartford, Connecticut. More than 100 booths have already been reserved for next year by exhibitors at this year Aviation Summit.
The main hall at the 2010 event hosted about 500 exhibitors, and the schedule included programmes and speakers for new pilots, seasoned fliers and enthusiasts. A variety of social events and fundraisers were held.
Among the industry updates, cirrus Aircraft co-founder, Dale Klapmeier, discussed the Vision SF50 personal jet and the new perspective ESP flight-stability-augmentation system.
The Terrafugia crew showed their proof-of-concept "flying car" inside the main exhibit hall. Cessna and Bye Energy had an update on their progress toward building and electric-powered Skyhawk
Long Beach Airport hosted static displays, including Fifi; the only flying B-29 Superfortress.To get to the show saw Fifi make its first long cross-country flight in six years. The Commemorative Air Forces (CAF) freshly re-engined B-29 Fifi is the only airworthy example of its kind anywhere in the world and it was on display as part of AOPAs Summit.
The aircraft is running on four new custom engines that are a cross between the R-3350-95W and the R-3350-26WD .They were installed through two years hard work of volunteers and thanks largely to the financial backing of Jim Cavanaugh.CAF plans to take Fifi on tour soon.
Long Beach, 38th-largest city in the USA, has grown with the development of high-technology and aerospace industries in the area. It is known for the homes of major aerospace companies. Douglas Aircraft Company (later McDonnell Aircraft Corporation and now part of Boeing) had plants at the Long Beach Airport where the companies built aircraft for World War 11, and later built DC-8s, DC-9s, DC-10s, and MD-11s.
Boeing built the Boeing 717 until 2006 and continues to build the C-17 Globe master 111 strategic airlifter in Long Beach .Even after greatly reducing the number of local employees in recent years, Boeing is still the largest private employer in the city.
More than 100 flight training professionals, from certificated flight instructors through educational content providers to flight training device and aircraft manufacturers, gathered in Long Beach to attend a day-long Flight Training Summit Sponsored by the AOPAs flight training magazine. During the day, they heard new research into why student pilots drop out, and discussed how to help more of them complete their training.
The summit meeting was the first public step in AOPAs flight training student retention initiative.
"This is beginning of a national conversation on growing the pilot population," said AOPA president and CEO, Craig L. Fuller, during his opening address. "It is something that will affect all of us for years to come. I believe we can make a difference to the future of general aviation, but only by working together."
Electric Cessna 172
Bye Energy says its electric-powered Cessna 172 will be much more than an air show curiosity .In fact, the company told the press that it hoped to revolutionize the Part 23 training market with the aircraft.
"Our clear focus is mainstream aviation," company president, George Bye, said."It's ideal for training."
Bye said the aircraft would be a two-place model with an endurance of two hours on a combination of battery power, solar and power reclaimed from wing tip devices intended to capture vortex energy in flight and by the push on the propeller during descent. He said the company intended it to be"the point of entry for new pilots."
Bye added that the 172 was the ideal platform for the aircraft because it was already the most popular training aircraft in the world. By making it electric, operating costs would drop dramatically (he is predicting $ 5-$10 an hour in energy costs) and the TBO of the 180-horse-power, 42-pound engine was estimated at as much as 25000 hours.
The resulting 172, which the company hopes will fly in early 2011, will look a little different. The cowling will be tapered for the much smaller motor and that means virtually the entire propellers thrust will be used for movement, rather than the significant amount that is used for engine cooling in current models. The conforming aircraft will have a six-bladed composite propeller but the proof of concept will have a conventional two-blade propeller. The weight shed by getting rid of the piston engine and the fuel it needs will be taken up by lithium ion batteries and the weight and balance is not expected to change.
New R66 Makes Its Debut
Robinsons R66 hopped over from its home port Torrance. It is a newly certified five-place Rolls-Royce turbine-powered helicopter now available from Robinson, which hopes to fit the aircraft into the market between its own very popular piston R44 and more expensive light turbine helicopters.
The turbine blends vastly improved high altitude performance and load carrying capabilities with a moderate increase in fuel burn. The R66 burns about22 gallons in the same hour its piston sibling burns closer to 15.
As company president Kurt Robinson told the press, aside from the added capability and some nuances specific to turbine helicopter operation" the aircraft actually handles very similar to an R44, it just does it with a 300-horsepower Rolls-Royce turbine."
Cirrus Sends Upbeat Signals
Preference for Cirrus aircraft continues at all time high levels as the newest model in the best selling line-the SR22T-made its global debut.
"We see several positive factors combining to push our piston market share higher in a tough market" noted Todd Simmons, vice president, marketing."Most impactful in the third quarter was the introduction of the SR22T with its all-new TCM TSIO-550-K engine installation.
"This latest iteration in the best-selling SR22 line is not only a performance leader but also defines the path forward around future fuels.
"For the third quarter, the new model accounted for nearly 40% of the total deliveries right out of the gate .Additional new product features including Electronic Stability and Protection in the Cirrus Perspective by Garmin avionics suite, certified flight into known icing, and new personalization options are driving sales and delivery activity as well," he said.
Simmons added: "Of couse, the airframe parachute is as much a topic of discussion today as it was when we introduced CAPS as standard on every Cirrus more than a decade ago. The only difference is now we don't talk about how it works or why to have it, but instead what an invaluable safety feature it has proven to be and why would anyone own a plane in this class without it."
Mustang Gains Popularity
The Citation Mustang, already a star as an entry-level business jet around the globe, is fast becoming one of the most versatile as well, as customers continue to expand its role, thanks to its performance efficiency and low operating costs.
"We knew the Citation Mustang would be popular the world over as a business jet ,both as an owner-flown aircraft and in traditional on-demand roles, but we are finding our customers leading us to define new applications such as training and special mission work," said Jack Pelton,Cessna Chairman, president and CEO at AOPA Summit.
Earlier this year, Cessna delivered five Mustangs to Singapore Airlines for its pilot training programme.In July, Cessna teamed with Spectrum Aeromed to offer a medical evacuation system for the Mustang.
Cessna recently announced a new High Sierra Edition Mustang featuring luxury editions of the three currently offered interiors, a special paint scheme, a Garmin G100 with synthetic vision technology, electronic charts and locking fuel caps, as well as unique service and parts programmes.
Cessna announced that production of the 162 Sky catchers continued to increase. Cessna was on target to delivery 30 Sky catchers by the end of the year and more than 150 in 2011.
The Sky catcher features the Garmin G300 avionics suite and a Teledyne Continental O200D engine. The two-seat, single-engine aircraft has maximum speed of 118 knots with a maximum range of 470 nautical miles.
Piper Planes on Display
Piper exhibited a mock-up of its new single-engine, single-pilot business jet. In addition, the company displayed other single-engine aircraft, including the turboprop Piper Meridian and Matrix piston-powered cabin class aircraft, Archer light single and Piper Sport LSA.
"This will be the first time that the Piper jet Altaire mock-up is on the West Coast, and we are anticipating strong interest at this important AOPA venue," said Randy Groom, Piper executive vice president. "It is the logical extension of the renowned Piper single-engine product line that aircraft owners and pilots have been aspiring to for decades," he added.
WAAS/LPV Upgrade on Premier IA
Hawker Beech craft Services announced at the summit that it was taking orders and scheduling wide area augmentation system (WAAS) upgrades on Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21-equipped Premier IA aircraft.
This installation follows the introduction of the King Air C90GTi and 200/300 upgrades announced earlier this year.
The HBS Premier IA WAAS upgrade offers operational flexibility and cost savings associated with direct and curved area navigation (RNAV) routes.WAAS RNAV offers improved access to special use airspace, high traffic and/or terrain challenged airports.
There are currently more than 2300 LPV approaches certified and in use today. WAAS LPV approaches provide decision heights as low as 200 feet with one half mile visibility .The result is improved safety and cost savings associated with the reduction of missed approaches and flights to alternate airports.
WAAS upgrades for the Premier I, Hawker 400XP /Beech craft 400A and early model Hawker 800XP aircraft equipped with Honeywell flight management systems are currently in process.
Twin Commander Enthusiastic
Twin Commander LLC is pleased with the response to its Airport fest display at AOPA Aviation Summit. "The annual AOPA conference is a great way to meet owner-pilots who are interested in performance aircraft," noted Twin Commander president, Matt Isley,"and this years event did not disappoint .The crowds were large and enthusiastic and we saw steady traffic all three days," he said.
"We've found that a lot of customers who are looking for an aircraft that has 300-knot cruise speed capability and a proven and tested airframe, are selecting the Twin Commander," noted Aero Airs Richard Urban, a long-time customer.
Twin Commanders Airport fest display featured a recently refurbished 690B Twin Commander owned and operated by Aero Air.
The immaculate 690B featured upgrade Honeywell TPE3311-10T engines, a sate-of-the –art Garmin panel with G600 electronic flat-panel flight and multi-function displays and GNS530 and 430 WAAS-capable flight management systems ,a new paint and interior.
About the Author
Anthony Juma is the Editor and Senior Aviation Director at Wings Over Africa Aviation.
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Why no contra-rotating props on high performance single engine A/C?
I know in the 40'and 50's numerous British aircraft had them (Fairy Gannett, Wyvern and even before, the last RNAF Spitfire) and in the USA the Douglas Skyshark ( an abject failure), but it never translated into civilian aircraft. I would think with modern design, metals etc. the problems of the gearing of the props would be solved. I ask, as this would eliminate torque on take off and landing , and, I would assume make operations in high wind, bad weather easier, as the pilot would not have to correct for the "swing" of the aircraft . Comments?
The reason for counter rotating propeller was and is because of the horse power the engine develops. The number of blades increases the power they can absorb from the engine. There are a lot of mechanical gears (weight) that is required to make all of this happen. The weight factor out weighs the added number of blades.
You will see counter rotating engines and propellers on some multi engine aircraft. However today with the small turbine engine putting out the same if not more power in a much smaller unit the need for counter rotating propellers is not required. With four plus blades per engine to absorb the power with reduced weight the counter rotating is now a thing of the past.
The torque of “P” factor is designed into the airframe with larger tail sections or strakes. Torque really isn’t a problem.
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