Dubai to Seattle with Al Hepburn Part 11

On July 12, we flew from Xian to Beijing. I believe we were the first single engine airplane to be permitted to land there. On arrival the visibility was advertised as 3000m, but it was more like 1000. There is a business aviation center there and that's where we went for another big welcoming committee. Carolyn got in around 5 p.m. This stop was managed by Chinese AOPA, which has 1000 members, a beautiful magazine (at least it is nicely printed and has nice pictures - I couldn't read a word of it, of course), but I doubt if the own an airplane amongst them, unless you count Wei, who I'm sure is a member.

Next day, Carolyn and I went out to the Great Wall and there was an AOPA meeting in the late afternoon, featuring Wei. Only trouble was, he failed to show. He had taken the media out to see the airplane at 08:00, and it took all day to get permission to take them out to the ramp. He finally showed about 10 minutes before the mandatory banquet.

The following day, Carolyn and I visited Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City. We went by subway, which was an experience in itself, and a guide picked us up as we left the station. He was a school teacher, moonlighting to make a little extra money. Both sites were interesting. Lots of Chinese tourists wanting to be photographed with the round-eyes. The traffic in Beijing was heavy, but not impossible. You might credit this to the fact that, ten years ago, there were only bicycles, so the car population is relatively young. But there's another explanation. Your licence plate in Beijing is only valid one day a week!

On the 15th, we left the hotel at 05:00 to be airborne by 08:00, as mandated by ATC. Carolyn headed back home later that day. When we were ready to taxi, it emerged that there was a problem. The yellow line from our parking spot crossed another parking stand, and there was an A320 parked on this stand. No matter that there was 300 feet between it and the next airplane, and our wingspan was about 45 feet. The system says you must follow the yellow line, so if something is parked on that yellow line, you're screwed. And nobody knew when the A320 was going to move. We weren't the only ones affected - there was a bizjet sitting with his APU running as well. Finally, after 3 hours, they moved the offending airplane, and after a long delay due to departures, we were airborne for Harbin, in northeastern China.

On arrival, there was a presentation of cheques to some deserving school children to further their education. The poor kids had, of course, been waiting for several hours also. It was pretty touching, actually. One of the girls had tears running down her face as she accepted the cheque. This will probably make a huge difference to their lives.

So now, I am in Harbin, a little provincial town of 12 million or so, where we expect to see the Siberian tiger collection at the zoo this afternoon. Tomorrow at noon, we head off to Khabarovsk, Russia, assuming the permits arrive in time. The original plan was to go to Sakhalin, but the airport there is closed for runway repairs, hence the change in plan.

Stay tuned.

Al

Morrisburg Aerodrome (CNS8) not Closing, For Now.

Pilots fly to Morrisburg to show their support. This photo is looking east towards the golf course from the button of Rwy 25 at Morrisburg CNS8.

Over the past year or so, there had been rumours that the St. Lawrence Park’s Commission was planning to close its Airport (CNS8). On 12 July 2011 a group of Eastern Ontario pilots flew into the airport to meet with the Darren Dalgleish, the Commission’s GM and CEO.

Darren Dalgleish is at the head of the table in the photo.

As requested by Patrick Gilligan of COPA, Darren Dalgleish and some of his staff met us at the airport. We then walked over to the Admin building across the road. 9 planes flew in and about 20 pilots from Cornwall, Iroquois, Ottawa, Carp, Bearbrook, Ingleside and Embrun dropped in to show their support. To use the Darren's language, there is no current plan to close the airport, but the Commission must rationalize each asset, and so far see no revenue and fortunately little cost is associated with their airport. The Parks Commission wants the airport to complement their primary activity at Upper Canada Village. Dalgleish noted that the Parks Commission has to ask the Ontario Government to cover its operating short fall each year to the tune of $1.8M. He noted that he has no experience in running an airport and would welcome any suggestions from the flying community.

Various models of management and operation of the small airports were discussed. JD Ross from Iroquois (CNP7) describe how the City of Iroquois manages their airport successfully in a town recreation park using local pilots to manage the airport under an agreement with the city. The Rockcliffe model was described where the Museum owns the land, they have an Airport Commission, and management and operation is by Rockcliffe Flying Club. Capital projects are shared between the Museum and the Flying Club.

The Parks Commission has no idea how much use the airport actually gets. Their primary concern is exposure to risk and liability. Several pilots noted that the CARs put responsibility for the airports they use directly on them, not specifically the airport operator. That said, it was also noted that aerodromes must follow the CARs too. The Ontario Government self-insures the Park. The pilots suggested that the airport ask pilots to sign a book to keep some record of usage.

Pilots talked about how the airport draws them to Upper Canada Village, the Golf course, Restaurant and marina several times a year. In fact, several attendees arrived early enough to lunch at the Golf course. It is this ability and the easy access to Upper Canada Village that makes the airport an attraction for local pilots. Some suggested wider advertising to draw other flying visitors, perhaps even Airport of Entry status for visitors from outside Canada. Pilots pointed to Lamacaza airport near Mount Tremblent as a successful small airport. As well some suggested hangars and a flight school might work to improve revenues from the airport. Several private airport operators present noted  that when the paved runway is no longer useable they switch to grass which is cheaper to maintain. Only the Mooney pilot from Cornwall indicated he preferred asphalt.

Patrick Gilligan suggested that an annual fly-in breakfast associated with a visit to Upper Canada Village could be used to involve the local communities and pilots, and perhaps raise revenues.  This could be arranged by one or more of the local COPA Flights and take advantage of COPA’s insurance.

It was an upbeat productive meeting introducing aviation to the St. Lawrence Parks Commission management and the Park’s Commission to local Pilots. COPA Flight 8 thanks Darren Dalgleish and his staff for inviting us to meet.

Dubai to Seattle with Al Hepburn Part 10

Our first internal leg in China, from Changsha to Xian was uneventful. The main impression is that the visibility in the cities is mostly less than 3 km. Wei wants people in China to fly GA. Well, they're going to need an instrument rating before first solo!

Carolyn and I visited the Terracotta Warriors exhibit, and found it most interesting. The had amazing technology 2200 years ago - armour, bronze weapons, pottery in massive quantities, archers, cavalry etc.

Tomorrow, we leave the hotel at 04:20 local, as the want is to be on the ground in Beijing before 09:00 local. The main challenge looks to be low visibility in what the Chinese euphemistically refer to as "mist". Also, some scattered CBs.

Next report from the capital city, which apparently has been the forbidden city for private aircraft up until now.

Al

Dubai to Seattle with Al Hepburn Part 9

We got off the ground at 11:52 local, and arrived in Changsha, China at 1:37. Despite our agreement to use English unless clarification was required, Wei insisted on talking to the controller in Mandarin, which I think confused him a bit. However, everything was quite unremarkable. Altitudes were, of course, in metric. The weather on arrival was hot and humid. The advertised visibility with 10km+, but I think this is a public relations move. Right now, they are still calling at 7km, but looking out the window, it can't be better than 3km.

This is Wei's home town, so again there was a big welcoming committee. They are saying this is the first single engine airplane to be allowed in to China, but it seems to me a Spanish airline captain flew a Kitfox to Oshkosh via China several years ago. Maybe he went through Taiwan. Also, I think a few single airplanes flew in from Burma during the Second World War. I'm really puzzled by what all the fuss is about. You'd think we'd achieved something remarkable. Now, if we'd been flying a Kitfox, I could have seen cause for celebration.

We were warned by the Boeing Business Jet captain who briefed us yesterday to expect a track offset clearance, but that did not happen. I suspect there is not much demand for the levels at which we fly. Frankly, things were pretty quiet all the way.

We are here for 3 nights, then off to Xianyang, followed by Beijing. Hopefully, based on today's performance, Wei will be able to negotiate a more civilized arrival time.

For some reason eurofpl would not accept our route BEKOL A461 LIG ZGHA. It changed the EET to several hours, so obviously it thought one of the waypoints was on another continent.

Al Hepburn

Dubai to Seattle with Al Hepburn Part 8

We have permits to go in to China, and it appears we will be operating under English ATC at the airports we will be using, so tomorrow, in we go. Apparently, this will be the first time that a foreign-registered single engine airplane has been allowed in. Also, we are being allowed in to Beijing in a few days, but they are not taking any chances. Arrival after midnight and departure before 6 a.m.

WX tomorrow is forecast to be OK, just some scattered thundershowers. Wish us luck.

Al Hepburn.

Dubai to Seattle with Al Hepburn Part 7

We had another uneventful flight down from Laos to Ho Chi Minh City yesterday afternoon. There were a few potholes in the road as we descended into Vietnam, but nothing unusual. The handling bill in Laos was again fierce. No wonder, they flew the handler's representative up from Bangkok to look after us, kept her there two nights, then flew her back again! Nobody said anything about GA being competitive in this part of the world.

I shudder to think what the handling bill here is going to be like, since the airplane is occupying an airline stand for the best part of two days, and these stands normally rent by the hour. Ah well, that part of it is not my planning and not my bank account, thank God.

Today, we visited an orphanage, where Wei and his friend (who has been with us since Bangkok) made some donations. The theme of his flight is helping kids around the world. This afternoon we went out on the river for lunch at a small town, Mytho, on another arm of the Mekong Delta. These Chinese never stop eating! We stopped at three different locations and ate at each.

Tomorrow morning we're off bright and early to Hong Kong, where Carolyn should join us. I guess I screwed up on her flight, with the date, airline, etc., so she will arrive a few hours after us, rather than the day before. I had advised Wei before the start of the trip that he should get a qualified Chinese pilot to accompany him in to China, and he said he had one. However, this guy is a Cessna 172 instructor who has difficulty communicating with ATC, as he speaks Cantonese, so that is not very promising. I want to check the Chinese AIP when we get to Hong Kong, but I suspect that, on non-English ATC routes (which he will be on) there will be a requirement to have a crew member with a "Mandarin Competent" statement (similar to our English competent statement) aboard, and Wei does not have one, of course. While Mandarin is his mother tongue, he does not know Mandarin ATC speak, so I don't know whether this proposed trip into China is going to work. He does, however, have the permits from the Chinese government to go in. Maybe he can get a Chinese pilot to brief him in Hong Kong. Stay tuned for the next episode!

Al

Dubai to Seattle with Al Hepburn Part 6

We arrived here in Laos after an uneventful 1 hour trip from Bangkok.

At Bangkok, there was a media extravaganza on arrival. Two busloads of fans to great the intrepid pilot, then a party in the evening with hundreds of guests, including a representative from the Chinese Embassy (see photo).

We saw the Grand Palace (really, a whole collection of palaces) yesterday morning, but I think some of the food at the party must have disagreed with me, so I took the rest of the day off, and had a small meal in the Italian restaurant (only customer) last night. Pretty well back to normal today, but now Wei has the bug, so it's not only round-eyes who are affected.

Our missing Jep charts finally caught up with us from Reykjavik (have been using my year old ones up to now). It took 1 1/2 hours to drive to the DHL service centre to pick them up, and we never left the city.

The handling bill at Bangkok was the highest so far ($3,500). After this, $1,500 a landing in Russia is going to look like a bargain. For any Scotsmen, the real challenge is to fly around the world and not pay a single handling fee. I doubt if that's possible, except in a real long range airplane, or maybe a balloon.

Al

Dubai to Seattle with Al Hepburn Part 5

We had a trouble free ride from Agra to Calcutta. In view of the concerns about high oil temperature, we climbed over the airport at Agra before proceeding on course. However, all we saw was a couple of very brief excursions above the redline and this is normal according to the ops manual, so we are putting it down to high ambient temperatures. Socata, the manufacturer of the airplane, do not seem to be concerned.

The weather enroute was better than expected, with only isolated buildups above our level (FL270). So apparently these cloud charts are a bit pessimistic.

As we joined the localizer, tower advised us that there was "heavy rain over the field". Sure enough, we touched down in decent weather and rolled out into a waterfall. We sat in the airplane on the ramp for half an hour before anyone came to meet us.

I'm rather glad we're only staying one night here. The place is like a big, overpopulated trash heap. Quite a jolt to the senses.

Off this morning to Bangkok, where apparently there will be a big media extravaganza. Looks like the weather should be similar to yesterday, with isolated thundershowers forecast. Let's hope they don't get the one on arrival right over the field.

Al

Dubai to Seattle with Al Hepburn Part 4

We are waiting to see if we can get a new oil temp. probe. Also, since it is the weekend, we cannot get any permits approved to go any futher until tomorrow. We tested the engine on the ground today, and everything was normal. We plan to head towards Kolkuta tomorrow, but stay over the airfield for 10 minutes or so before proceeding enroute. Meanwhile, the dreaded monsoon seems to be advancing. Today, it looks like we might have made it as far as Patna, or even Kolkuta with a bit of luck. The southern alternative, through Sri Lanka and across to Puket does not look like it would have been very nice today either. Stay tuned.

Al

Dubai to Seattle with Al Hepburn Part 3

Well, here we are in Agra, and all set to visit the Taj Mahal this morning.

It has not been an uneventful trip, but contrary to expectations, weather has not been a major issue.

I forgot to mention in my last report that Wei had no charts beyond Europe. The are apparently resting in the Hotel Borg in Reykjavik. After thinking of the alternative, we decided to press on with my 2010 vintage charts. It has not so far been an issue. The only glitch was that our filed airway through Pakistan was not on the chart, but thanks to the Garmin 750, we had airways defined in the database.

Our brief look at Muscat in the morning revealed quite mountainous terrain, without the high rise architecture of Dubai. They have oil in more moderate quantities, but much more minerals. As usual, we had delays getting out of Muscat. The flight to Ahmedabad (VAAH) was uneventful. On arrival, we had to go through the international terminal. There was a minor problem because we had invited along a friend who was not included in our permit for Agra, our next destination, which is a military airport. However, the handler was able to fix this.

Departure required us to go out through the domestic terminal. So we wound up with a very close run thing getting in to Agra before they closed.

Crossing Jaipur, we had an indication of high oil temperature. The gauge was fluctuating, and I suspect a sensor problem, but this has still to be resolved.

On arrival at Agra, we found the ILS (the only approach for which we had an IAP) was unavailable. Fortunately, it was good VMC, so we just did a visual approach. The main feature of the trip in the dark to the hotel was the incredible traffic. This has to be the definition of anarchy. But we arrived unscathed.

Stay tuned.

Al

Dubai to Seattle with Al Hepburn Part 2

Dubai was rather interesting, but the whole place is kind of like an oversized American theme park. Construction is evident everywhere. Virtually the whole place was built within the last ten years. Took a desert safari where they take you out and drive you around the desert in SUVs. There are dozens of them out there driving around the dunes which are composed of very fine wind blown sand.

Our departure was delayed by lack of action on the part of the client, and (sorry Trevor) by a glitch in Eurofpl. The locals insisted on adding "R" to the equipment codes, despite the fact that we had G there already, and when did that, we got some kind of weird error (R added and not something or other), which forced us into manual filing. That took a while. Eventually, we had an uneventful flight down to Muscat, arriving after dark. No language problems, because all the controllers are Brits, US etc.

As far as we can see in the dark, Muscat is a lot more interesting and beautiful. We don't know whether we will get out tomorrow or not. Lots of convective cloud with out destination VAAH just on the edge of it. Stay tuned.

Al

Dubai to Seattle with Al Hepburn Part 1

Well-known (at least to Flight 8 members) globe-trotting pilot Al Hepburn of Pembroke, Ontario is off on another adventure and the Flight 8 blog will be posting updates from Al as he does his trip.

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Al explains the trip:

The proposed route is Dubai – Muscat – Amehabad, India – Agra, India, Kolkuta, India – Bangkok – Vientanne – Ho Chi Minh City – Hong Kong. At this point, there’s a big question mark on whether my client, Wei Chen (his website) will be able to fly in to China. He has apparently located a Chinese pilot to help him do this. I was not interested in flying in an environment where ATC was not in English. After China, the plan is to proceed to Seattle via Sakhalin, Russia – Petropavlovsk – Anadyr and Anchorage Alaska. Wei’s main objective appears to be publicizing his trip. He has several publicity events set up that cannot be missed. No harm in hoping, I guess.

There’s a well known quote by Robert Burns, Scotland’s national poet: “The best laid schemes o’ mice and men gang aft agley (often go wrong)”.

At this point, the major challenge appears to be getting through the monsoon in India, which sounds kind of scary. You can get an idea of the weather in close to real time by looking at this website.

Remember, India is Z+5.5 hours. Although I intend to use Eurofpl to file the flight plans, there is no real-time tracking available in that part of the world, though Wei does carry Spidertracks which provides tracking to those with whom he is in contact.

The other challenges are the Indian bureaucracy, and what will happen in China. If I’m off the program for 10 days while Wei is in China, Carolyn may come out to Hong Kong to join me. Since Russia is now a known quantity, the bureaucracy there does not loom so large as it otherwise might.

The equipment, by the way, is a TBM 700, which cruises around 275 knots at FL270, and at a stretch can fly 1500 nm.

So, I’m off to Dubai tonight. I’ll send a progress report when there is some progress to report. Wish me luck. Stay tuned.

Al Hepburn

Leavens Aviation Closing

Leavens Aviation, in business since 1927 as an air carrier, aircraft manufacturer and more recently as a parts supplier and engine overhauler will be closing on 31 August 2011. In a recent e-mail to customers the management explains the move:

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June 15, 2011

Dear Valued Customer:

As you're probably now aware, Leavens Aviation Inc. has decided to wind-up its operations. After 84 year in the aviation business this is, of course, a very difficult decision but one which we, as a family, felt needed to be made.

Our initial plan had been to wind-up the Parts side of the business and, under different Leavens' ownership structure, keep the shop side of the business going. That, unfortunately, couldn'tbe accomplished.

However, our Propeller, Accessory, Hose and Cable shops appear to have found a new life. two of our long-serving employees (George in Propellers and Harry in accessories) have acquired the shop tooling and equipment and are looking to make a new start in partnership with Quantum Aviation. I hope that you'll hear news from them in the very near future.

Also, we've been able to sell our Engine shop tooling and equipment to the Brampton Flight Centre and I hope thatyou'll hear news from them in the near future as well. Between now and then, however, we still have a few engines on the shelf, deeply discounted and ready to ship. Please review the attached Engine Sheet and let me know if you have any interest.

As to our timeline, we've conditionally sold the Mississauga building and are working to be moved out by August 31, 2011. (We'll still be available after that point, cleaning up our books and records and winding-up the financial side of things.) We're busily selling-off all of our parts inventory and appreciate all of the support that you all have shown during recent weeks. We still have quite a bit of inventory, and some real bargains, remaining.

Thank you all for your business and support over the years and for your many kind words during the past few months. If anyone requires advice on whereto turn for alternate supply sources, please don't hesitate to ask us.

Sincerely yours,

Jeff, Lea Anne, Heather & Bruce Leavens
Leavens Aviation Inc.
(905) 678-1234 ext 211
1-800-263-6142

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The company website does not currently reflect this information, but a call today to the company confirms that it is accurate and that the website will be updated soon.

CYOW Noise Management Committee

Cessna 150

Single engine light aircraft like this Cessna 150 draw a high share of noise complaints at Ottawa’s International Airport.

I attended Ottawa International Airport Authority’s Noise Management Committee meeting 7 June 2011. There is good noise news and bad. First the good news, Ottawa really does not have a noise problem. There was a increase in complaints from 55 in 2009 to 81 in 2010. At the same time there was a small increase in aircraft movements from 129,773 to 132,322. For every 1000 aircraft movements there are .61 complaints. I don’t have statistics for other airports but I am told that this is low in comparison with other major Canadian airports. As one would expect the majority of complaints come from residential areas, particularly for departures to the north that fly over the city off runway 32. Complaints generated by noisier aircraft like First Air’s now retired Boeing 727s have dropped. First Air replaced their B727s with Boeing 767s which are significantly quieter. Still military and noisier civil aircraft such as the older Boeing 737s generate some complaints. The airport is considering modifying its noise abatement procedures to limit the times of day when these noisier aircraft (Chapter 2) can operate. Such a change would be voluntary for Military activities.

The bad news is that many complaints are generated by light flight training aircraft operating on runway 04-22. Unfortunately the flight schools based at the airport chose not to attend the meeting. To mitigate this noise the Airport Authority is asking flight training and itinerant aircraft to turn crosswind after takeoff from runway 22 along Merivale Rd. I saw no reason why this could not be done to help mitigate noise. It would have been helpful if the based flight training operators had been at the meeting to comment on the proposal. My concern is that itinerant pilots likely would not know which road is Merivale Rd.

It was noted that there are a couple of repeat noise complainers, particularly about light aircraft. This is likely true at all airports. Nonetheless, if we can make safe small changes to our flight paths and practices to mitigate these complaints we should do so.

This figure shows current flight paths in blue along with the noise sensitive area in red. Following Merivale Rd. rather than over the noise sensitive area will not be difficult. Instructors can easily show student pilots the preferred routing to avoid noise complaints. This will move the downwind leg of the circuit farther from the airport and potentially increase risks if an engine failure occurs.

The other unusual complaint is generated by police aircraft. The Airport Authority obviously has no responsibility for this noise, although they do log the complaints. It was suggested that the police consider installing a quieter muffler system similar to those in use in Europe.

Interestingly there was also a discussion of the language used in Noise Abatement procedures, particularly, turbo-prop vs Turbo-jet. Apparently some more modern Turbo-fan aircraft do not believe the noise abatement semantics applies to them?

We light aircraft operators can do our part to mitigate aircraft noise that disturbs our neighbours. We certainly don’t want to see the Airport Authority give up on the north field and close it just because of noise we can control. Let’s do our part!

What Happened To The 2011 Classic Air Air Rallye?

After attending the 2010 edition of this small airshow I noted that despite the perfect weather that attendance was poor. Probably only 500 spectators showed up on the Saturday of the show when I was there.

In that previous blog posting a number of theories were bandied about as to why the public were a no-show for the Air Rallye. These included the high price ($20 for adults), the economy, that the Air Rallye conflicted with the Central Canada Exhibition (Super EX), the level of disorganization at the Air Rallye, weather that was perhaps too nice, that the Air Rallye was too small and dull and also competition with the free and much larger Vintage Wings Open House and Airshow that was held at Gatineau Airport on the 4 July and which 25,000 people attended plus another free Gatineau Airshow in September that drew 15,000 people.

It looks like Flightworks, the group that has put on the Classic Air Rallye, has somewhat answered the question and also announced their plans for 2011. They say:

"The 2011 Classic Air Rallye"

We've been planning some changes for the Classic Air Rallye for the future. Not all these changes could be implemented for this year, so for 2011 only, here's what's happening."

"With the growth of the Vintage Wings show just across the river in September so close to our August date, the competition for resources - participants, volunteers, media, etc - was becoming too great. Therefore we decided to change our date to the beginning of the airshow season, in early June. The only date the Museum could accommodate us on this year was the June 18th weekend. This of course is the same date as the newly revived Hamilton show. So clearly we wouldn't be able to run the same sort of CAR as in previous years."

"So, for 2011, Flightworks is cooperating with the Museum in staging the Capital Classic Wings and Wheels show on June 18th. This will attract a large number of classic and collector cars, the reenactors, supported by an increased participation by fighting vehicles from the War Museum, and fly-in aircraft. There will not be a formal flying display, but pilots will as usual be welcome to participate and display their aircraft. And we'll be back on the first weekend in June 2012 with the full event."

This year's Wings Over Gatineau airshow will again feature a Canadian EAA convention, the Snowbirds and of course the Vintage Wings fleet. It will be held on 17 September 2011 and is in commemoration of Canada’s First and Second World War Victoria Cross Recipients. As in the past admission will be by donation.

The Classic Air Rallye indicates that they will have a regular airshow next on 2-3 June 2012. It will be interesting to see how that event pans out and whether the new date, as far from the Gatineau shows as possible, will bring the crowds back. My own guess is that even with that date spread, that they are still competing with Gatineau for price and that the past $20 admission for the Classic Air Rallye will have to come down to $10 or less if they are to draw a serious crowd to the event in 2012.

RAA Unveils New Website

The Recreational Aircraft Association, based in Breslau, Ontario, has recently uploaded a new website.

The organization has had several different designs over the years, but this new one, created by George Gregory, is a very simple and clean layout and makes good use of attractive photos.

Have a look at:

*http://www.raa.ca/

New in Ottawa Skies

It's orange and it makes a very different sound than the S-76A that it replaced on 7 May 2011. Almost everyone in Ottawa has probably seen the new AgustaWestland AW139 that is now operating from the Ornge base at the Ottawa International Airport, since it is hard to miss.

The two crew, 15 passenger aircraft is used in the medical evacuation role by Ornge, the non-profit foundation that runs Ontario's air ambulance service. Their original aircraft were Sikorsky S-76s, at first on contract from Canadian Helicopters and later Ornge-leased. The new AW139s are bigger, faster and louder than the S-76s they replace and also have more range.

Originally an Agusta-Bell joint venture to produce a new Twin Huey-sized medium utility helicopter, the first 54 built were designated AB139s. Bell dropped out of the project and Agusta continued on its own. After merging with the UK company Westland to become AgustaWestland in July 2000, the later build aircraft were designated as the AW139.

Like the similar-sized Bell 212 Twin Huey, the 139 is powered by twin Pratt and Whitney Canada PT-6 powerplants. These are the PT6C-67C version, however and put out 1,531 hp per side, propelling the 14,110 lb gross weight aircraft to a maximum speed of 193 mph. The aircraft is fairly clean for a helicopter and features retractable nose-wheel-configuration landing gear that gives it that higher top speed, a useful asset in medevac flying.

The 139 has a fully-articulated five-bladed main rotor that gives it a very different sound compared the four-bladed S-76 it replaces. It is definitely louder than the S-76 in flight, although the sound is nothing like the sharp bark of the old two-bladed Twin Huey, it is more like a slowly building whir when approaching.

The AW139 has been very successful with a wide range of customers, from the Bulgarian border police to the Lebanese Army. The 139 is the right size for medevac as well as SAR, executive transport, off-shore oil rig support and military troop-transport use. In fact an enlarged derivative, the AW149, was announced at the Farnborough Air Show in 2006 and is being actively developed.

The 139 is built in Italy and also on a second production line at the AgustaWestland Aerospace plant in Philadelphia.

In Ornge service the 139 is being deployed to seven bases. For this mission Ornge is acquiring eight aircraft, leaving one spare, which will be located in Toronto when it isn't needed elsewhere. The Ottawa base was the third to receive their 139, after Sudbury and London. The aircraft at the Ottawa base covers eastern Ontario including Algonquin Park, from Mattawa in the north, to Hawkesbury in the east, Cornwall in the south and Kingston in the west.

The Ornge 139s have special-configuration medevac interiors that include attendant seats that can swivel and traverse, allowing the paramedics to work on patients with unstrapping. The swivelling stretcher installation, that includes a lift and lower mechanism, permits much easier loading and unloading of patients and reduces the potential for paramedic injuries.

The AW139s belonging to Ornge will be a familiar sight around Ottawa and indeed most of Ontario this summer. They are hard to miss with their bright orange paint schemes, with their distinctive sound.

* AgustaWestland AW139 higher resolution photo

Election 2011

City Center Airport Toronto

I sent the message immediately below to the candidates in my riding, Ottawa – Orleans, namely Royal Galipeau (Conservative), David Bertschi (Liberal), Martine Cenatus (NDP) and Paul Maillet (Green).

Dear Candidates

I am writing to you to get your opinions on various issues related to personal aviation.

First, I am a private pilot and owner of a light aircraft. I use it for personal travel. Although it is currently not flying, when it is, it is based at Rockcliffe airport here in Ottawa.

As a pilot I would like to confirm your disagreement with the proposed Kettle Island interprovincial bridge which may potentially make Rockcliffe Airport unusable, not to mention clearly putting truck traffic through the backyards of many families in Ottawa. I live in Orleans and support a new interprovincial bridge being built at Lower Duck Island. This location will remove truck traffic from downtown Ottawa and its residential neighbourhoods. Will you support this option and ensure the continued life of Rockcliffe Airport?

As well Canada lacks a clear policy on airports primarily used by personal aircraft, namely Local and Regional airports. This has lead to the announced closure of Edmonton City Centre airport and Buttonville Airport in Markham, On. Both relieve nearby international airports by attracting corporate and personal aircraft that would otherwise consume valuable capacity built to accommodate scheduled airlines at the international airports. Canadian cities tend to be poorly served by reliever airports when compared to other similar cities in North America and the World. This is largely because of a policy vacuum at the federal government level. Currently all levels of government neglect their airport infrastructure primarily in response to the early 1990s National Airports Policy, which was aimed at removing airports from the federal budget process.

Will you support development of a comprehensive airport policy, dealing with both large and small airports, by the Minister of Transport in consultation with stakeholders and the other jurisdictions?

Also, will you commit to supporting a review of Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELTs) regulations that currently require aircraft owners to install devices that have proven to fail in most accidents and hence save few lives? Better technology is available and government should consider alternatives to the current regulations. Will you support reviewing the Canadian Air Regulations as they apply to ELTs?

Sincerely,

Mike

Michael Shaw

Captain: Flight 8 - Ottawa - Canadian Owners and Pilots Association

VP, Short Wings Over Canada Chapter (formerly Seaway Chapter) Short Wing Piper Club

airmail@rogers.com

mike@mikegail.com

http://shortwingsovercanada.com

http://web.ncf.ca/fn352/flight8/

http://copa8.blogspot.com

613-824-7145

Orleans, ON

Canada

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So far, at 11:40 19 April 2011, only two candidates have replied to my message, the Greens (twice) and the Conservative.

Here are the responses in the order they were received:

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CONSERVATIVE PARTY

Mr. Shaw,

Thank you for your message regarding a new proposed interprovincial bridge.

It is important to understand that this project has been in the making for over fifty years. I have been very clear that I support the conclusions of the Greber Report which acknowledges the need for an interprovincial bridge at Kettle Island. This is the most logical place for a bridge in the NCR.

That said, my primary concern regarding a bridge is that it not intrude on our Greenbelt. The Greenbelt is a treasure in our community and some proposals for a bridge intrude on it. These proposals should not even be considered.

I trust that this information will be satisfactory to you. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely yours,

Royal

Royal Galipeau’, the incumbent, seems unwilling to consider other bridge locations, or even mention airport policies, or ELTs. This makes him appear to have a closed mind! Mike

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GREEN PARTY: (3 messages)

18:40 18 April

(to Mr. Shaw)

We are for a fair solution that does not create any more fatalities on King Edward by thousands of truck going through the center of the city. This will require cooperation from all communities, but we must put lives first.

That is our position.

regards

Paul.

Paul Maillet

Candidate

Green Party of Canada Ottawa Orleans

Tel: 613.841.9216 Cell: 613.866.2503

Web: http://paulmailletgreenpartyorleans.wordpress.com

Twitter @PaulMaillet

Facebook

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14:35 18 April 2011

To me from Rob Schmidt

I saw a response from Paul Maillet about the Kettle Island option and wanted to quickly clarify our position in Ottawa Vanier.

We are against the Kettle Island Bridge option. We believe there are alternatives that mean no new bridge will be built, but if there needs to be a bridge we agree with Mauril's preference: the Canotek Road idea that would preserve the Green Belt and reduce impact on residential communities significantly.

Rob Schmidt

Campaign Manager for Caroline Rioux

Green Party Ottawa Vanier

Sent from my iPad

__________________

12:38 16 April

Dear Mr. Shaw

As a retired Air Force Colonel with 33 years service. I do understand the challenges of aviation in terms of rising costs, airspace management, flight safety, airport availability, and the regulatory framework.

The issue of the interprovincial bridge is primarily an issue of the Vanier riding, however, I firmly believe in the urban planning imperative that communities have a strong and significant voice in development decisions that most affect them. That voice I will support. The bridge decision is important in that the congestion and fatality incidence on King Edward is clearly unacceptable. The kettle island decision impacts residents of Manor Park, your airport and the Montfort Hospital. The road network to receive the bridge in Gatineau also deserves consideration. The economics and truck traffic patterns have their arguments. The challenge is to balance competing interests so that all are satisfied to the maximum extent possible. You are one of the stakeholders involved that deserve consideration. That I completely agree with and now we need to be able to make it heard.

Regarding comprehensive airport policy I do agree that a reasonable balance between large and small airports is essential for a country of this size and for the sustainability of large, small and recreational operators. We have the same problem in agriculture between family and corporate farming. Everyone deserves a fair share of the capacity, financial support and resources available. A policy is overdue.

Being a former aerospace engineering officer, the issue of flight safety is always a real concern. I am not aware of ELT failure incidence data, but would always be in favour of better solutions and advances in technology. I agree that air regulations need to keep up to date with advances and more cost effective alternatives. I would support CAR reviews periodically in this respect, and for other improvement opportunities available.

I do hope I am given the opportunity to represent aviation issues in the next parliament.

Regards

Paul

Paul Maillet

Colonel retired

Candidate - Green Party of Canada Ottawa Orleans

Tel: 613.841.9216 Cell: 613.866.2503

Web: http://paulmailletgreenpartyorleans.wordpress.com

Twitter @PaulMaillet

Facebook

The Green Party seems to have an open mind and potentially an understanding of the issues. Mike

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LIBERAL PARTY: no reply

Their silence is deafening? Current National Airports Policy was developed under the liberals. Minister of Transport was Doug Young.  Mike

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NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY (NDP): no reply

Are they afraid to engage a citizen? Mike

Some Aviation Good News

The aviation news all seems to be bad these days. For instance Narco is in liquidation, there was a tornado that wrecked 40 aircraft at Sun 'n Fun, Diamond Aircraft is not doing well and then there is the price of avgas hovering at $1.50 per litre here in Ottawa and definitely looking to be on the way up.

But there are some good news story in aviation this week. First off the Chinese government buy-out of Cirrus is proceeding and that is a good thing because the company was heading towards bankruptcy and no one in North America seemed interested in buying it. A Chinese-owned Cirrus is better than no Cirrus at all.

At Sun 'n Fun 2011 Cessna launched its new update to the Cessna 400 (Formerly the Columbia 400 and Lancair Certified LC41-550FG before that) which includes a whole new avionics package including IR touchscreens, an updated interior and even snazzy new paint. The TTX model is now the only one in the stable and the older Cessna 350 has been discontinued. The really good news is that the TTX got lots of attention at SNF and picked up 16 orders. That may not sound like many, but Cessna only sold seven of them in all of 2010, so that is a good sign. Cessna also sold 13 high-wing piston singles and one Cessna 208 Caravan and SNF, so they had a good trip there from Wichita.

Also at SNF LoPresti Speed Merchants introduced seven new speed mods and business was brisk for them. Evektor sold seven SportStar light sport aircraft and the WACO Classic sold six brand new Great Lakes biplanes. It seems that at least some people are buying in the aviation world here in 2011.

As far as Ottawa goes the last of the snow has just melted and the next week or two promise temperatures close to 20C or so. It sounds like spring is here and the skies beckon to do some flying.

Some uplifting reading:

* Sun 'n Fun 2011: Green Shoots by Paul Bertorelli
* Cessna Sells 30 Airplanes At Sun 'n Fun By Russ Niles

Aviation's "elephant in the room"

This week at Sun 'n Fun they had an aircraft-destroying F1 tornado touch down, but the 40-odd planes that were damaged will be repaired or replaced. At least no one was seriously hurt! But other far more damaging things are happening in aviation, ones that are much more long-term than a simple act of nature.

Pete Bunce, the head of the General Aviation Manufacturer's Association (GAMA) brought up the topic that no one wants to talk about, as part of a Sun 'n Fun general aviation "Town Meeting" panel discussion. It is what he called aviation's "elephant in the room", poor salaries for professional pilots that are killing student starts and causing real world safety problems. They were cited as a cause in the Colgan Air crash in Buffalo, for one.

Bunce said, "Nobody wants to talk about that." Flight training is expensive, yet pilots are launching a career with salaries that won't pay their expenses, never mind their student loans, and "there is something fundamentally wrong with that equation."

Bunce is right, young pilots working for air carriers are finding that the six figure salaries they dreamed of no longer exist and that they will be living with their parents for the foreseeable future, unable to make enough to eat. The problem is the same all over North America and indeed most of the globe. Student starts are down as most young people heard what Chesley Sullenberger, the very senior pilot who safely ditched US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River on 15 January 2009, saving the lives of all 155 people on the aircraft said, when he testified before the US House of Representatives's Subcommittee on Aviation of the Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure on 24 February 2009. He told them that his salary had been cut by 40 percent and that his pension, like most airline pensions, had been terminated and replaced by a "PBGC" guarantee worth almost nothing. He also told them that an airline career was no longer worth pursuing and he recommended young people choose something else to do with their lives. He saw the very low pay, not just for new hires, but for all professional pilots, regardless of seniority, as a serious safety problem.

A lot of people have been hanging a solution to this problem for years on the "upcoming shortage of airline pilots" that the flying schools have been pitching to prospective students since the 1970s. I heard it when I learned to fly in the mid-1970s and it hasn't happened yet. Here in 2011, as in 2008, fuel prices are rising quickly again, airlines are cutting schedules and looking at more pilot lay-offs this year and so that old flying school recruiting saw, an "upcoming pilot shortage", isn't likely to happen in the near future either.

Bunce didn't offer any solutions in the panel discussion, but he thought it needed to be discussed.

In theory, in a free labour market, the problem will sort itself out over time, all on its own. Young people are already avoiding flight training and this will, even in a shrinking airline world, eventually result in a pilot shortage and subsequent raising of wages to above starvation levels, or at least to the point where new pilots may have a chance to pay off their student loans and move out of their mom's basement.

Personally I don't see any other way to solve this problem than market forces, but until it does that cadre of young people coming in the door to aviation and getting involved in general aviation as a hobby or as a stepping stone to that hoped-for airline career won't be there.