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aerokurier 4/2000
Glider tow flight safety: The wrong signal The German aviation authorities LBA are planning to ban glider tow flights with the
belly coupling. The LBA’s approach to this plan is planned as follows: Testpilot training in the Mojave desert The Mojave desert in California is the home of the National Test Pilot School (NTPS), the world’s largest civil testpilot school. Here, future testpilots and flight test engineers are flying exotic aircraft such as the Saab Draken, de Havilland Chipmunk or Aermacchi Impala Jet. Modern aircraft are only chartered when needed. The NTPS’s philosophy: The aircraft’s age is not important when learning how to test. What ultimately counts are the laws of physics and aerodynamics – and those are always the same. Luscombe Spartan 185: Second youth Swift Fury, Silvaire 8F, Micco SP20, Monocoupe Model 110 – the retro wave is rolling. Almost 50 years after the last Luscombe Sedan 11A came off the line, the tailwheel four-seater is looking at a second youth – designated as Spartan 185 Model 11E and equipped with an up to date tri-cycle landing gear, a more powerful engine and modern avionics. According to plan, the aircraft is supposed to receive its final certification in the second quarter of the year 2000. The four-seater is currently listed for 144500 Dollars. Its cabin is wider than that of a Cessna 182 and its flight performance is not far off the Skylane’s in many areas. Also, the price for a highly equipped aircraft with autopilot and moving map is quite reasonable. This version will reportedly be available for just above 160000 Dollars. Silent glide In the frame of future visions for the development of aviation in the next century, Walter G. Sonneborn has written down his thoughts about the future of rotary aircraft. Sonneborn, who was born in Achim in the German state of Lower Saxony, has been responsible for developments at Forth Worth, Texas based Bell Helicopter since 1965. He is one of the foregoers of modern helicopter technology and sees an especially bright future for tilt rotor designs. Caribbean and paper war A pile of immigration paperwork and custom declarations accompanied the two German pilots, Ulrich Hagmann and Thankmar Meyer, on their trip through the Caribbean. With a Piper Arrow, they flew to 24 islands in five different authorities. From Florida they flew via the Virgin Islands, St. Maarten and the Grenadines, further on to Tobago and Trinidad. From there they flew via Curaçao, Aruba and Santo Domingo to the Bahamas and back to Florida. JAR-VLA certified: Hansa-3 from India On 1 February, the Indian aviation authorities DGCA has issued the type certification
for the Hansa-3 according to JAR-VLA. This aircraft is also the country’s first
all-composite aircraft project. Its development dates back as far as 1989. In spite of
many obstacles the project was never given up. Step by step, three prototypes were flying,
powered by Rotax (914F3) and Teledyne Continental (IO-240) engines. Lufthansa has a first female captain On 31 January, Lufthansa has named its first female captain. Since then, Nicola Lisy is flying a Boeing 737 from the left seat. With this, Germany’s largest employer of pilots is still behind a current trend. Several other airlines, also in Germany, have female captains. The Lufthansa concern has about 50 female copilots employed, as compared to 3200 male colleagues. Worldwide the situation of female pilots looks better: About 450 female captains are flying for major airlines. United Airlines, with 68 female captains and 445 copilots, has the most pilots in the cockpit. Airspace F in Eggenfelden Eggenfelden has become the pearl of aviation in Lower Bavaria. After the runway has been extended and widened, the Eggenfelden airfield, as the first airfield in Bavaria, has an airspace F since October of 1999. In the past, Eggenfelden counted approximately 20000 aircraft movements per year. Since October 1999, there has been an increase in aircraft movements. US manufacturers: The upward trend continues The American manufacturers of General Aviation aircraft delivered 2525 aircraft in 1999. The General Aviation industry in the US has all the reason for optimism: 13,7 percent more aircraft than in 1998 and a plus in turnover of 35,1 percent up to 7,9 billion Dollars. Business jets are especially good selling. But also with piston-engine powered aircraft, the positive trend of the recent years continues upward. Jeppesen FlightStar: Flight plan from the PC Flight planning, including picking the right route and the calculation of the individual legs, often is a laborious business. Not so with the new Jeppesen FlightStart in its version 8.0. With an amazing accuracy, the FlightStar’s Route Wizard is guiding the user through the individual steps of the flight planning. PreFlight 3.0: VFR flight plan intuitively The PreFlight software offers VFR pilots two possibilities to do their flight planning: Either to write the route into the map with mouse clicks or to define the points in text windows. Heinz Lüdert’s PreFlight for Windows 95 and Apple-Macintosh computers is now available in the version 3.0 (version 2.1 was presented in aerokurier issue 3/1996). The software is aimed at VFR pilots and requires that the users are scanning the ICAO maps for the software themselves. Pilatus P-2: Swiss hometrainer Almost 20 years ago, the Swiss Air Force took its last P-2 out of service. The Pilatus trainer aircraft had been exclusively used by the domestic air force. Today, one aircraft in flying condition is based at the private airfield in Rottweil. It belongs to the airfield’s owner Erwin Birk. The P-2’s history started when the Second World War ended. The prototype accomplished its first flight on April 27, 1945. Shortly after, the series production started. Facing the bad supply situation of that time, the practical thinking Swiss engineers had the idea of using many parts from Me 109 fighters which were available in a sufficient number directly after the war. The P-2 airframe was built out of metal while the wings were a wood construction. Know-how: Kids in the cockpit Taking kids on board of airliners is not a problem. But what is the situation on board of General Aviation aircraft? Pilots can take their infants on board of their aircraft at an early stage without problems: "In principle, there is no age restriction for taking kids on board of aircraft", says Dr. Matthias von Mühlmann from the Lufthansa medical service in Frankfurt. "Only newborns should not be taken in the air during the first weeks since the lungs are not fully developed and altitudes of 500 meters can be damaging." The aerokurier April issue has a checklist with tips to follow when flying with kids. Meteorology: Planning two days ahead The first part of the "two-day planning" explained the documentation to use for such a briefing. With a flight from Munich to Dresden, we now want to apply the planning in a practical flight. On December 16, 1999, a flight is supposed to take place from Munich to Dresden in the time period from 1300 to 1500 Central European Time. Based on pc_met documentation, a detailed flight weather forecast is to be worked out on 14 December until 1400 hours. What is the best approach to this task, which documentation should be used and what are the points to take in consideration when interpreting them? Accident analysis: Belly landing in the snow On a winter afternoon, the pilot of a Mooney M20 took off for a round trip in Switzerland with one passenger on board. When the weather deteriorated and the alternatives were only limited because of the approaching night time, the pilot decided to fly to Wangen-Lachen at Lake Zurich. During the landing approach, the pilot could not extend the landing gear and he decided to do a belly landing in the snow. Jet Fox 97: Easy Rider The Italian Jet Fox 97 received its German type certification in October of last year. We have flown the new and fully updated version. While the basic concept of the Jet Fox comes from the Ikarus C-22, engineer Alfredo di Cesare designed his very own interpretation of the concept and has perfectionated the new Jet Fox 97 both, technologically and aerodynamically. The aircraft not only impresses with its very good finish but most of all with its excellent performance. With a cruise speed of 150 km/h the Jet Fox 97 might not be the right choice for friends of fast cross countries. But, the aircraft is especially well suited as a trainer aircraft. Market survey: Touring gliders Today, the market for touring gliders is a market for buyers. There are eight
manufacturers the customer can choose from just in Germany/Europe. There is a manifold of
models to choose from: nine basic aircraft in 26 versions! 1550 kilometers straight: From San Martin to Tierra del Fuego On 16 December of last year, Klaus Ohlmann accomplished a flight over 1550 kilometers
into the most southern tip of Argentina. From the Pampa seca into the waves of the Andes Argentina: For Central Europeans this South American country lies at the edge of the
world. Here – in a region which even Argentinians say is remote – the country
offers excellent and, so far, only little used gliding conditions. In this past winter,
two expeditions have explored the region. Tow flight study by the German Research Center The German aviation authorities LBA plans to forbid glider tow flights with the belly
coupling. The LBA reasons this plan with the results of a study which the German Research
Center (DLR) has done. However, the LBA’s plan is not conclusive. aerokurier On-line contest Flying decentralized, but still being central and always up to date. With the idea of the on-line contest, the Internet captures the topicality which makes central competitions so exciting. This contest requires a logger documentation. Top of Page |
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Last updated March 27, 2000