PC-24 Shows Versatility with Grass Strip Touchdown

The Pilatus PC-24 Super Versatile Jet turned heads at this week’s Festival of Speed show at Goodwood Aerodrome in southern England when it became the first business jet to land on the rural site’s 2,621-foot grass runway. The Swiss manufacturer is in the process of getting the PC-24 certified for operations on grass, with the super-midsize twinjet having already been approved for dirt and gravel runways by both the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and the U.S. FAA.

According to Pilatus, the PC-24’s short-and-unpaved landing capability allows it to operate from almost twice as many airports as comparably sized jets. The aircraft also is approved for steep approach, such as the 5.5-degree approach to London City Airport.

At the Festival of Speed event (July 4-7), the PC-24 is being displayed in the VIP air arrival area alongside a pair of Pilatus PC-12NG turboprop singles by UK authorized Pilatus center Oriens Aviation. Also featured in the event’s aviation display area are Bell 407 and 505 helicopters and a PAL-V Liberty flying car.

AINsight: Radical Transparency—Life in a Fishbowl

Isn’t it great to think we are a part of an industry that is waking up to the idea that good ethical behavior and transparency is not an option but a mandate? For too many years, full disclosure by all involved in a preowned aircraft transaction could not be assumed to be the norm. In fact, many knew that was not the norm. But that is changing. Witness the statement of ethics paper NBAA issued two years ago.

I am on the board of an animal science foundation and at our quarterly board meeting a couple of weeks ago, one of the slides said the organization operates as if it is in a fishbowl with "radical transparency," the belief that all corporate entities should be honest, open, and straightforward.

I am proud to say that this relatively new awareness in our industry shows that most are embracing the idea of being good stewards to our internal partners and employees, our clients, and our fellow industry professionals. 

Remember, we all work in a fishbowl environment. We are always on display so both the good and bad are on display. We are at a very exciting crossroads and we must continue to seize this as an awareness extravaganza.

Wake Vortex Reduction Trials Go Live at Vienna Airport

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) has started trial operations at Vienna International Airport for a process designed to reduce wake turbulence during final approach, and researchers describe first results as “very encouraging.” The researchers are using a DLR-developed and -patented configuration of parallel ground plates to dissipate the circulating vortices in front of a runway more quickly. Lidar records the behavior of wake vortices in detail for subsequent evaluation.

“This project represents a major achievement in providing test results during live traffic at a highly frequented airport,” said Christian Kern, director of air traffic management at Austria’s air navigation service provider (ANSP) Austro Control. “Early results are very encouraging, and if these measures prove to be broadly effective, which we expect, this could result in improved safety and increased capacity at all airports.”

Frank Holzäpfel of the DLR Institute of Atmospheric Physics said wake vortices near the plates decay “noticeably faster” than with approaches without the DLR plate lines and “reach our goal of reducing the lifetime of the longest wake vortices by 30 percent.” The current trials, he added, show the “same very encouraging” characteristics of previous tests with the DLR HALO research aircraft, a modified Gulfstream G550, at the center’s site in Oberpfaffenhofen.

The Vienna trials ran over three days but project leaders aim to complete 26 days of measurements over six months.

Clay Lacy Aviation Awards Two More Pilot Scholarships

California-based aircraft services provider and FBO operator Clay Lacy Aviation has announced the latest recipients of the Clay Lacy Pilot Scholarship at Orange Coast College (OCC). The company founded by legendary pilot Clay Lacy initiated the scholarship program in 2017 to recognize the dedication and hard work of four OCC aviation science students each year, awarding them funds to help lower the costs of flight training, allowing students to earn their private, instrument, or commercial pilot license.

Katie Kirby and Joseph White are the two latest to be recognized. Kirby is the co-captain of the OCC flight team and will soon take her private pilot checkride, while White, a member of the two-year school’s flight team, is working through the cross-country flight phase of his training. The program recognizes two recipients per semester.

“When companies like Clay Lacy are involved, it helps us hone our program so our students are better prepared to enter and succeed in the workforce,” said Daniel Schrader OCC’s dean of the school of technology. “We look forward to continued collaboration with Clay Lacy as we educate the next generation of aviation professionals here in Orange County."

Since the start of the program, the company, which has its headquarters at Van Nuys Airport, has contributed more than $32,000 in scholarship funding.

Boeing To Launch Latest EcoDemonstrator Phase with 777

The latest iteration of Boeing’s ecoDemonstrator program will use a 777 airliner to serve as a flying testbed for some 50 projects this year, the company announced Monday. During this latest phase of the ecoDemonstrator program, Boeing plans to test technologies dedicated to sharing digital information between air traffic control, the flight deck, and an airline's operations center to aid routing efficiency and safety.

Other tests involve an electronic flight bag application that uses next-generation communications to automatically provide rerouting information to pilots when weather conditions warrant; so-called connected cabin technologies that make galleys and lavatories “smart” and monitor cabin conditions such as temperature and humidity to facilitate automatic adjustments; and cameras to provide more passengers with a view outside the airplane.

More than a dozen partners are participating in the 2019 program, including an industry consortium developing a connectivity standard for networked cabins of the future known as iCabin.

Plans call for flight tests to start this fall. The flights will include a trip to Frankfurt Airport in Germany, where Boeing will present the ecoDemonstrator's technology mission to government officials, industry representatives, and STEM students to help inspire the next generation in aerospace leadership. A majority of the test flights will fly on sustainable aviation fuel to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and demonstrate the fuel's viability.

Duncan Sees Growth in Mx Internship Program

Duncan Aviation’s opening of a maintenance hangar in Provo, Utah, earlier this year means the MRO provider has seen its summer avionics and maintenance internship program grow by 23 percent, to 37 interns. The paid interns are spread between Provo and Duncan’s other main facilities in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Battle Creek, Michigan.

“Over the last two years, we’ve put a lot more focus on our internship program, and it will continue to grow with the expansion of our third full-service MRO facility in Provo,” Duncan human resource team lead Jennifer Monroe said.

Since 2017, the program has proved especially valuable in recruiting new hires at a time when the availability of maintenance and avionics technicians is tightening. Last year, Duncan made full-time job offers to 12 of its 30 interns. “I think one of the most valuable benefits of the program is that interns get the chance to experience our culture,” Duncan airframe services manager Jeremy Rangel said. “Duncan Aviation’s culture is one of our biggest selling points, and it is difficult to [convey by just] speaking to a group outside the company.”

In addition to a paycheck, eligible interns receive a $1,500 housing stipend from Duncan.

Simcom’s TBM 910 Simulator Now Online in Scottsdale

Simcom has fielded the first FAA-certified Daher TBM 910 simulator at its Scottsdale, Arizona training facility. Manufactured by Frasca International, the level-C simulator has a 220-degree field-of-view visual system and exactly reproduces the TBM 910’s cockpit environment, including Garmin G1000 NXi digital avionics, airborne weather radar, synthetic vision, traffic advisory, and enhanced envelope protection.

This new simulator joins Simcom’s existing fleet of simulators for the TBM 700, 850, 900, and 930 at its Orlando, Florida training facility. In addition to simulator-based training, Simcom offers in-aircraft TBM training for all versions of the aircraft through its TSI division.

“Simcom has been training TBM pilots for more than 20 years, and no training company has more experienced TBM instructors,” said Simcom president and CEO Eric Hinson. “Daher and Simcom are committed to delivering training that helps our customers become safer more proficient pilots.”

NASA Plans Drone Flights On Saturn Moon Titan

NASA plans to fly a drone on the surface of Saturn moon Titan beginning in 2034. The eight-rotor Dragonfly lander will traverse through Titan’s dense—four times that of Earth’s—atmosphere carrying a scientific payload designed to detect prebiotic chemistry.

“With the Dragonfly mission, NASA will once again do what no one else can do,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “Visiting this mysterious ocean world could revolutionize what we know about life in the universe. This cutting-edge mission would have been unthinkable even just a few years ago, but we’re now ready for Dragonfly’s amazing flight.”

Slated to launch in 2026, Dragonfly will land in the equatorial “Shangri-La” dune fields, explore the region in short flights, and build up to a series of longer “leapfrog” flights of up to five miles, stopping along the way to take surface samples. It will finally reach the Selk impact crater, where there is evidence of past liquid water. The lander will eventually fly more than 108 miles—nearly double the distance traveled to date by all the Mars rovers combined.

Titan is larger than the planet Mercury and is 10 times farther from the sun than Earth. Its surface temperature is around -290 degrees Fahrenheit and its surface pressure is also 50 percent higher than Earth’s.