I have flown many different types of aircraft, and when I was operating both Airline and Air Taxi work single crew it was often slow and ponderous to try and use a check list, especially on simple aircraft like the Islander or Trislander.

So I developed a Mnemonic which I have adapted and use for all the aircraft that I currently fly or have flown. It is necessary to get the mnemonic in your head first, and some of these are well known like the FREDA checks or the HASELL checks that are used for the cruise and pre-aerobatics. When reading many UK checklists there is a pretty standard mnemonic annotated within the checks. This is the one I have adapted and it works for all aircraft I have flown including turboprops like the King Air or Twin Otter.

If you want to develop your own based on the following if it does not quite fit into your current checks, then it is easy to adapt. What is needed is to carefully go through the aircraft check list and make sure that using this mnemonic everything is covered. If there is something missing, then weave it into your mnemonic. (more…)

Aircraft interior design should provide a flawless full service from the project phase to the turnkey option for the completion of the flight environment. Skills, planning and aircraft design creativity are required to satisfy the customer. Building on solid technological experience and a modern hand-crafted approach, products and hand-manufactured supplies must be tested and certified for aeronautical applications.

Aircraft interior designers integrate aesthetic requests, functional needs and creativity, according to the highest professional standards. Exclusivity is an important combination of materials and design. An environment which is unique, elegant and classy needs high value materials and able craftsmen who provide interiors with endurance, safety and pleasure.

14CFR part 25.562

Every aircraft cabin re-configuration, in all types of aircraft (Transport, General Aviation and Rotorcraft), needs to be certified as per the existing Code of Federal Regulation governing that particular type of aircraft. The current practice used to comply with Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR’s) related to aircraft cabin seating and aircraft cabin interior design is to conduct full-scale system sled tests.

This approach can be expensive and the test results are sensitive to changes in test conditions, such as the sled pulse, dummy calibration, seat belt elongation, etc., resulting in scatter in the results. With the development of the more robust codes for the analytical tools, it should be possible to successfully capture the test conditions by one of these tools and to obtain results which compare favourably with the actual tests results. Part 25 category of transport aircrafts, 14CFR 25.562 states: “Each seat type design which is approved for crew or passenger occupancy during takeoff and landing must successfully complete dynamic tests or be demonstrated by rational analysis based on dynamic tests of a similar type seat, in accordance with each of the following emergency landing conditions” and then the conditions are stated. (more…)

Recently I had the privilege to obtain my Private Pilot’s License. That was a wonderful experience. What it has given me now though, is even better. I have the ability to fly anywhere I want, with passengers, day or night.

That freedom is very exhilarating. I’d like to cover the requirements for obtaining your Private Pilot’s License and explain in detail each of the requirements. For me, some of the areas were a bit foggy until I had finished.

First off, you have to be at least 17 years old to get your license. You can start training younger. (more…)

Flight or pilot training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate pilot training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills. Pilot training is gaining a lot of interest and momentum these days especially among the adventurous types and prospective pilots. This has resulted in the opening up of many aviation academies in India like Chimes Aviation Academy, which boasts of providing pilot training on Cessna 172 and is also one of the best aviation academies in the country.

While undergoing training at an aviation academy, the student is given a Student Pilot License. After training, he can opt to become a private pilot or a commercial pilot. To become a private pilot, one has to obtain a Private Pilot License while to fly a commercial plane, Commercial Pilot License is required.

Student Pilot License is given those with 10+2 with science and aged at least 16 years should register at a flying club which is recognized by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Government of India. (more…)

General Aviation

Raytheon – Founded in 1922, it is a very significant defense contractor in the US, and is also the foremost producer of guided missiles throughout the world. In 1980, it purchased Beech Aircraft Corporation, an important manufacturer of piston and turboprop aircraft. In 1993, it added the Hawker line of business jets from British Aerospace. In early 2007, Raytheon disposed of its aircraft operations, which now conduct business under the name of Hawker Beechcraft.

Light Aircraft

The majority of the general aviation fleet consists of light aircraft. The most significant recent developments in this category have been the introduction of advanced avionics (which consists of the electronics systems used on the aircraft, and is made up of the communications, navigation, and the display and management of the multiple systems). Such avionics also include GPS (or Global Positioning System, which is a U.S. global navigation satellite system positioned above the earth. Its role is to provide dependable positioning, navigation, and timing data to worldwide users, on a continuous basis, regardless of weather, 24 hours a day, and anywhere on or near the Earth). Such sophisticated avionics were previously only available on large airliners. A further groundbreaking addition to make small aircraft lighter and faster has been the introduction of composite materials (or composites, which are finely engineered special materials, such as carbon fibre, made from two or more constituent components with significantly different physical or chemical properties, which remain separate and distinguishable within the final structure. (more…)

Marshall Business Aviation Centre.

Marshall Aerospace have just redisignated the airport at Cambridge the Marshall Airport Cambridge, set up a new Business Aviation Centre, offering business aviation and corporate aircraft maintenance to London and the East of England. This is an addition to their traditional business of aircraft modification and maintenance across the range from large military aircraft to Cessna Citations.

Executive jet electronics and datainthesky.

Today’s “state of the art” in executive jet data systems equals hardware and features that aren’t too much more advanced than what’s already available on the ground. Bigger classes of business jets, such as Boeing Business Jets and Airbus ACJs, have always had better in-flight system options because they have more space, can take on more weight and generally require larger budgets to complete. (more…)

At all times a pilot needs to know how his aircraft is performing and at what position they’re in above the earth. The charter jet provides just that with excellent aircraft instruments. In the early days of flying, pilots flew “by the seat of their pants,” or depended entirely upon their senses to tell them the position or attitude of the plane.

Medical science has proved that pilots cannot depend on their senses for this all the time. Just for an example: a pilot may be leaning to one side but think that he is sitting straight up.

With the development of aircraft instruments has made it possible to fly blind or fly with instruments when the pilot cannot see the ground because of bad weather or darkness. Charter jet instruments are complicated to build and expensive to buy. Just for an example take one electronic fuel gauge may cost upward of $6,000 or more.

There are three general groups of aircraft instruments at bay. The first group is the navigation instruments which help the pilot to find his way from one airport to the other. The second group is the flight instruments, which tell the pilot the aircraft attitude of his aircraft while in the air. Last but not least are the engine and airframe instruments which tell how the aircraft is operating. (more…)

Native American tribes are beginning to purchase aircraft. This may be because tribal officials and leaders are involved in more travels out of area for meetings and conferences. Tribes have also taken to lobbying which may necessitate frequent trips to Washington, DC. Then add to those needs that most tribes reside a good distance from a major airport, and simply boarding a flight may add up to half a day (or more) in additional travel time to just getting to and from the airport. A tribe possessing its own airplane or jet can take travelers to a gathering a great deal faster. Naturally, the biggest issue is the politics. Even corporate CEO’s are under fire for flying in private jets.

Some tribes are trying to make air travel more accessible to everyone. Rural airports serve tribes located in rural areas. In rural airports there might not be sufficient travelers to warrant routine commercial service. However, tribes using their Bureau of Indian Affairs transportation money for aviation and leveraging Congressional help for rural airport projects have been able to establish some form of regular commercial service in their area. (more…)

In the early days of airline supplies, airline food service was severely hampered by low-altitude turbulence. It was only as aircraft design improved, with the advent of the jet airliner, that the meals served didn’t end up on passengers’ laps. The introduction of frozen meals and ovens on board aircraft did coincide chronologically. However, did you know that in-flight food products become quite bland at high altitudes and that airline food products have to be specially designed to reflect and counteract this?

As the demand has increased, the business of airline catering has become contracted out to specialist catering companies. These companies have organised their own purchasing, production and delivery of a vast number of items to the aircraft, including the airline catering disposables in which the in-flight supplies are packaged and served. Today a jumbo jet may have as many as 42,000 separate items loaded onto it for a single long-haul flight. Information technology systems and software play a large part in the success of the undertaking and have had a huge impact. (more…)

If you ever dreamt to become a helicopter pilot, and has been wondering about ways to see that your dream materialized, you should then think of undergoing helicopter training professionally. This kind of training is easily available. In fact, when you enroll for a pilot training, this will include helicopter training as well. Pilots should be aware of the aviation and the pilot training curriculum includes training in how to fly a helicopter.

Of you have received the correct type of training, flying a helicopter will be easy. You can put to use all the skills and training that you obtained as a trainee pilot, for flying a helicopter as well. If flying is your interest, and have the determination and courage to become a pilot, the requisite training can be obtained by enrolling into a good institution and obtain a certificate for flying. Some would like undergo training and after the training programs are completed, instead of becoming commercial pilots they will put to use their training for hobbies and recreation purpose, even as others would convert it into their career. (more…)