Different Ways to Fly

There are lots of different ways to fly. Some people use an airplane, while others prefer something a bit different, like Jeb Corliss, for instance:

Do You Own a Cessna?

If it is a 100 or 200 series single and was built between 1946 and 1986 then you will need to know about this new requirement that Cessna has added to the manuals for your annual inspection.

It actually isn't anything new and any sharp AME is probably doing all of it already, but as aircraft age the need to keep on top of metal fatigue and corrosion increases.

The inspections are simple, but necessary and as an owner you need to know what is being done to keep your aging Cessna flying.

* Powerpoint presentation on the new requirements (Zip file)

* You Tube video (4:37 in length)

Wardbird U at Vintage Wings

From Robert Fleck, President, Vintage Wings of Canada

Once again this winter we are offering our “Warbird U” series of educational ground schools. This year will feature the Harvard, Mustang, Spitfire, F-86 Sabre and Swordfish. The ground schools cost $250 for non members (Harvard $200) and $200 for members (Harvard $150). These are the exact same ground schools that our pilots have to take for recurrent training, so in addition to covering all aircraft systems, there is always discussion about how each pilot actually operates the plane, validated by our Warbird U guest who inevitably flew the aircraft in combat.

This is a fund raising event for Vintage Wings and the Canada Aviation and Space Museum.The ground schools make a nifty Christmas gift.

Complete details on the Vintage Wings Website.

Diamond Solves Financial Woes With Buy Out

As previously reported earlier in 2011 Diamond Aircraft of London Ontario indicated it was in dire trouble and needed a federal government loan or it might not survive.

Company President Peter Maurer said in March 2011 "If we don’t get the funding from the federal government, it puts us in a difficult situation. If the D-JET, for example, in a worse case scenario, were not to continue it would have a negative impact on the rest of the company’s operations...[The debts are] at a level that would be very difficult to satisfy out of piston sales. I’ll let you do the extrapolation."

Of course as we now know the government said "no" and the company went away looking for other options, Maurer oddly saying that he had considered a government bailout a "long shot".

On 13 November the company announced its solution to the crisis. It is now majority owned by Medrar Financial Group, an investment company based in Dubai. The buy-out was for an undisclosed amount.

Stories:
*Diamond press release
*AVweb
*London Free Press

It is hard not to note the trend here, as I have written before many aviation manufacturers have recently been bought out by middle eastern or far eastern countries. A short list:

* Diamond Aircraft - majority owned by Medrar Financial Group, Dubai
* Cirrus Aircraft - Government of the Peoples Republic of China
* Continental Engines - Government of the Peoples Republic of China
* Liberty Aerospace - 75% owned by the Kuwait Finance House, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kuwait Finance House of Bahrain
* Piper Aircraft - Government of Brunei.
* Epic Aircraft - partly owned by the Government of the Peoples Republic of China

Once again, though I will make the point that in almost all of these cases investment from North America, Europe and other western countries was not to be found. That means that while many people from North America will shake their heads and say "this is too bad", that is all they will do. They didn't pony up and put money on the table to keep these companies going. The case is the same with Diamond. It is pretty obvious that the choice was simply between selling it to interests from Dubai or shutting it down.

If westerners want to retain ownership of our aerospace industry, then we need to stop the "tut-tutting" and start buying companies out ourselves.

*Complete rundown on the Diamond story

More Free Aircraft!

Back in August 2009 I wrote a blog post about free aircraft, that discussed Hubert Beaujon's great idea of giving away free plans for his Beaujon Enduro on the internet.

Well it turns out he isn't the only one doing this. Amateur aircraft designer and builder Mike Sandlin has posted "technical drawings" for five of his Bug, Goat and Pig glider designs on his website and released them to the public domain. Such charity should not go unnoted, so thank you Mike!

His designs are all ultralight gliders that are easy and inexpensive to build. All have flying examples, too, as can be seen on his You Tube channel. Complete descriptions are on Mike's website.

If you only have time to watch one video then have a look at Mike narrating the flight of the "Red Goat" at Torrey Pines, California.

There are now Wikipedia articles about two of Mike's designs that give a good overview:

* Sandlin Bug
* Sandlin Goat

Yes he gives his designs funny names. I think the Goat is called that because it climbs so well. The Bug stands for "Basic Ultralight Glider" while the Pig is his "Primary Instruction Glider".

Vintage Wings On You Tube

Vintage Wings, the Gatineau Airport based flying museum now has its own You Tube channel, so you can feel like you are in the cockpit.

There are also links to other people's Vintage Wings You Tube videos. Recommended: "Scratch" takes the F-86 Sabre for a ride

Canada Flight Supplement Error

There have reports from members of COPA Flight 70 Oshawa that the new edition of the CFS, dated 20 October 2011, has pages missing.

They report:

*Pages 1093 to 1124 are missing. (Wiarton, Winnipeg, etc)
*Pages 1029 to 1060 are included twice.

If you find this is the case in your edition please send a message to service@navcanada.ca.

COPA President and CEO Kevin Psutka has asked Nav Canada to investigate this problem and for Nav Canada as a minimum to post the missing pages on their website for free download in the interests of safety.

Autonomous Flocking UAVs

There are lots of things to contend with in the air these days, but Sabine Hauert, Severin Leven and Dario Floreano of the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale’s Laboratory of Intelligence Systems in Lausanne, Switzerland have added one more: they have taught ten small unmanned aerial vehicles to flock.

This is actually an interesting use of technology, combining small aircraft with Linux to make them fly together in different ways, depending on the parameters entered. This science project shows what is possible with the combination of aircraft and computers.

Story and short video

Air Show Risks And How They Affect The Public

After the death of Jack "Flash" Mangan in a crash at an airshow in Martinsburg, VA this week while flying a T-28, AVweb has published a very interesting and thoughtful article written by a non-aviator who witnessed the crash. Twenty-year-old Chloe Barkdoll describes the effect seeing this sort of accident has on non aviators. This is very well written and certainly should give airshow organizers and pilots something to think about.

I think her message is clear, while airshows can motivate and inspire people to fly, or at least become aviation fans and supporters, one accident can turn thousands of people into aviation opponents. We need to put safety ahead of all other considerations in airshow planning if we are to avoid this.

Presentation: "Rejuvenating General Aviation…..from the ground up!"

From: Bruce Dwyer, Professor/Coordinator Aviation Studies, Algonquin College:

Rejuvenating General Aviation…..from the ground up!

Presented by: the Raviator

Time: Monday 26 September 2011, 19:30 hrs

Location: Canada Aviation and Space Museum, Main Theater

You are cordially invited to join Algonquin College students in the Aviation Management and Aircraft Maintenance programs at the Museum next Monday for an evening presentation by Ravi. I have seen Ravi perform this summer at Oshkosh both on stage at the NAFI (National Association of Flight Instructors) breakfast as a guest speaker and heard him perform with his guitar at the Sennheiser booth. Last year I was also at the presentation Ravi gave during the ATAC (Air Transport Association of Canada) meetings.

If you are interested in Aviation and passionate about seeing General Aviation grow in Canada then I think you will enjoy this event and hope that you take the time to come join us next Monday. See Poster Attached!!!

All Flight Schools and Students are welcome to attend!!!

The event is free and you can even enter to win a Sennheiser HD 238 high performance headphone!

British Commonwealth Air Training Plan Tribute

From John Phillips, West Capital Dev elopments:

In 2011, Vintage Wings of Canada will pay tribute to one of the greatest military and industrial achievements in Canada, indeed the world, during the Second World War. The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) was a stunning achievement in planning, construction, community involvement and aircrew training that involved every province of Canada, hundreds of small and medium sized communities across the country, and hundreds of thousands of airmen from Canada, the British Commonwealth and the United States of America.

The Vintage Wings of Canada "Yellow Wings" program will span a year and a country to bring the story of how everyday Canadians, communities and companies did their part as the Aerodrome of Democracy to win the war against two evil empires.

September 24th, between 10:00 am and 5:00 pm the planes will be at Carp Airport (CYRP). West Capital Developments will be providing a shuttle service from the airport to the Carp Fair which will be going on the same weekend. Planes include the Vintage Wings Harvard, Tiger Moth, Cornell, Finch and Stearman.

More information www.yellowwings.ca

Ottawa Flying Club Needs Volunteers for Fly Day 1 October 2011

From Marc Desjardins, President, Ottawa Flying Club:

Hosted by the Ottawa Flying Club, Fly Day is an event supported and contributed to by local area pilots, aviation related businesses and organizations, many sponsors, and the Ottawa Rotary Club, and we need volunteers to make it work! Fly Day

Fly Day Pilots Wanted!

Pilots with 4-place aircraft are needed for the 53rd Annual Fly Day at the Ottawa Flying Club to carry out sightseeing flights over Ottawa.

If you are a pilot with:

· A Private or Commercial Licence

· 100 hours or more PIC (special consideration for Algonquin students who wish to volunteer with 85 hours PIC and reviewed by CFI)

· 10 hours on Type

· 10 hours in the previous 12 months (or a checkout by an OFC instructor)

· Familiarity with procedures at Ottawa

· Recency and Currency as per the CARS

· 1 hour PIC or Dual within the last 30 days before FlyDay, and

· a 4-place (or better) aircraft to fly (owned or rented)

...you can take part in Fly Day!

Benefits

If you fly as a volunteer pilot, you will receive:

· Tax receipts for all operating costs

· Free Fuel

· Landing and Departure at CYOW are waived for participating aircraft

All of the Cessna 172s and the Beech Duchess have been reserved for rental use on Fly Day.

Ground volunteers needed too!

Ground volunteers are needed to escort passengers to and from the aircraft and to marshal aircraft.

As most activities take place on the OFC ramp, ground volunteers are required to be licensed pilots, student pilots with their student pilot permit, or airport authority red pass holders.

To Volunteer

If you are interested in flying or for volunteering for other activities, in taking a ride at the event, in being a sponsor, or contributing a static exhibit, please contact Marc Desjardins.

Website: http://flyday.ca/

Ottawa International Runway 04/22 Repaving

Ottawa International's general aviation runway 04/22 will finally be repaved this summer, starting on Monday 22 August 2011.

The work includes repairing the existing runway surface and some taxiways, plus creating a new taxiway from the button of runway 04 to the Ottawa Flying Club. Designated taxiway "S", the new route will enable aircraft to use the full length off 04 on take-off without requiring a backtrack.

As part of the job most of taxiway "P" and the other unused asphalt left over from the World War II runways in the north in-field will be removed. The part of taxiway "P" that joins "S" to 04/22 will be repaved.

The repaving work by Tomlinson is expected to take 2-3 weeks and thus should be done by mid-September.

* Ottawa Flying Club Article

Dubai to Seattle with Al Hepburn Part 15

Now that he is home, safe and sound, Al has posted a selection of photos from his flight.

Print Your Own Aircraft?

That may not be as far-fetched as it sounds, in fact it has already been done!

Scientists in the UK designed a small UAV using CAD-CAM software, printed it out with a 3D printer, assembled it and flew it all in a five day period. This is a sophisticated design, too, with a geodesic structure.

3D printing is a relatively new technology that works similarly to a paper printer, except that the 3D printer builds up layers of plastics to form a three dimensional shape.

Now it is true that this is only a small aircraft with a wingspan just under 5 feet, but you have to start somewhere. It wouldn't take a lot to scale this up to man-carrying size and essentially print your own kitplane. The main advantage here is the speed at which this can be done.

* Story
* Video

Canada eh! ForeFlight on my iPad

ForeFlight is nice software for the iPad. It even has some Canadian information.

You have several options for chart and airport information. The first option below is really US based and gives only coincidental Canadian information along the border. The second option adds dereferencing to approach plates in the USA, not sure if this is true in Canada. The third option adds Canadian IFR information such as departure, approach and arrival plates. As well as Canadain Low and High Enroute charts, but no IFR Terminal Charts. The last choice is the same as the number 1 but for three months.

1. ForeFlight HD 1 year    74.99
2. ForeFlight Pro 1 year  149.99
3. ForeFlight Mobile Aviation Weather, Flight Planning, EFB, and Charts, Canada IFR (1 Year), Seller: ForeFlight, LLC  149.99
4. Foreflight HD 3 mos 24.99

I selected the 3rd choice above and was immediately billed 149.99 plus HST for a total of CAD$169.49.  I assumed the software is priced in US Dollars, but no, I was charged the same prices in Canadian Dollars at a loss of exchange of about 5%. Thanks Apple!

Canadian pilots that fly under the Instrument Flight Rules IFR  will get most of what they need. The weak link is for Canadian Visual Flight Rules guys like me. The Sectionals are just that FAA charts that happen to include parts of Canada along the border. This is not serious if you live in Southern Ontario, but even there it could mislead one into missing Mandatory Frequency (MFs) airports where one is obligated to use the radio. Also, some Class D Transponder areas could be missed such as around Ottawa. FAA Sectionals always warn pilots to use Canadian Charts and publications in Canadian airspace. There are no Canadian VFR Terminal Area Charts (VTAs).

Most Canadian aerodromes at there. I assume they are also in the US versions of the software. I believe the source is the US defense department data. The current update includes correct frequencies even for pretty small aerodromes, such as Embrun, CPR2. In past versions of the data, frequencies were missing for small airports  like Embrun.

I have not explored the whole package, but clearly the ForeFlight folks have done Canada well in this update.

Michael Shaw

airmail@rogers.com

Dubai to Seattle with Al Hepburn Part 14

Our non-flying day in Anchorage was spent - flying. We got a ride in a Cessna 206 floatplane of Rust's Flying Service up to the glacier. It was neat - we landed on the lake at the end of the glacier and taxied beside the ice walls. Not in the same class as the icebergs in Ilulissat, Camilla, but still pretty impressive. Also there were a few moose on the river flats.

Later in the day, we took off and flew VFR around Mt. McKinley (the highest mountain in North America at 20,300'). Not too sure about the regs regarding height above terrain that goes above 18,000', but ATC said we could not go above 17,500', so we actually never went above 16.5. Got some spectacular photos.

Next day, I was able to convince Wei that 1300 miles direct without a guaranteed tailwind was not a good plan and we decided to stop for breakfast/lunch at Juneau, the state capital (population 30,000). We were IFR at FL270 and could see Mt Logan (~19,000') off to the east, so asked ATC for a deviation to fly around it. No problem. Imagine trying this in China!

We grabbed a burger in Donna's Diner at Juneau (first burger of the trip) and continued on top of a cloud deck down to Boeing Field Seattle. The hotel Wei had booked turned out only to have one bed in the room, but our friendly taxi driver found another. I snuck out at 5:45 next morning and took the high speed ferry to Victoria BC, where I was met by Roy Olmstead, a long time friend from AECL days. Now enjoying some R&R in Campbell River BC before returning to Ontario on Sunday.

That's it, folks. The last update. I hope you enjoyed the tale.

Al Hepburn

Dubai to Seattle with Al Hepburn Part 13

We had great weather for the trip across Siberia to Anadyr and the Russians were really efficient, so everything went on schedule, until we got to Anadyr. It seems the ferry schedule across to the town has changed. We were told that it now runs only 3 times a day, and the last one was at 5 o'clock, so we'd missed it. They had arranged for us to stay at the airport hotel. No restaurant, no internet, and all for $180 a night. We bought some food in the store and made our own supper and breakfast. It turns out that a private boat could have been arranged. I suspect they were just trying to generate business for the airport hotel.

Next morning, we had a one-hour delay getting fuel and finding a form which had been given to Wei on arrival in Russia. Then we were off on the leg to Anchorage, based on the TAF and a text message from Air Journey about enroute conditions, which fortunately were not complicated. So now we have a day's rest in Anchorage before heading down the coast to Seattle tomorrow. We had hoped to do some sightseeing along the way, but that isn't going to happen, due to a low over the Alaska panhandle and the Queen Charlottes. The good news is we should have some help from the wind, so should be able to make the trip direct. That should put is in to Boeing Field mid afternoon.

Dubai to Seattle with Al Hepburn Part 12

We had one full day in Harbin, during which the only activity of note was a visit to the Siberian tiger park, a safari park where view the tigers from the safety of buses. Two or three chickens and a couple of ducks were not so lucky. There must have been at least a hundred tigers in the park.

I tried to have our flight plan brought forward an hour next morning, but as this would have involved a change in permits via Moscow, I decided it was not worth the risk and we left our departure at noon local time. We finally got the nod at 1:30. The delay was blamed on military activity, but Wei says he thinks they were waiting for a bribe to speed things up.

We had a few build-ups to dodge on the way to Khabarovsk, but on arrival the weather was severe clear. We were in our hotel with refuelling complete within an hour of touchdown, so if we have an equally efficient start, things look good for tomorrow. Khabarovsk has a pleasant park with fountains in the middle of town, and an impressive Russian Orthodox cathedral.

A long day is planned tomorrow, from here to Anadyr, with a fuel stop and Magadan. The weather looks good, however.

Alan

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