Flight Safety Information October 23, 2018 - No. 215 In This Issue Incident: Algerie B738 at Algiers on Oct 17th 2018, FOD ingestion Incident: Hawaiian A21N over Pacific on Oct 22nd 2018, engine problem Incident: Canada B789 enroute on Oct 14th 2018, oven dislikes junk, smoke EVAS - Cockpit Smoke Protection Incident: Southwest B738 at Los Angeles on Oct 21st 2018, hydraulic problem or flaps malfunction Air Canada jet damaged while on LaGuardia taxiway by another jet United pilot to passengers: We're turning around because our plane's too big LIBIK Fire Suppression Kits for the Cabin and Flight Deck Canada and Central America agreement to improve aviation safety UK CAA plans for 'hard Brexit' FlightAware Launches Ground Coverage for Business Aviation Volocopter to flight test air taxi in Singapore Rename Oakland airport? Petition seeks to recognize trailblazing Berkeley pilot The Life of a Kit Airplane Factory Pilot SpiceJet seeks more time to pay for aircraft lease Pilot instructor training "embraces change" through virtual reality Cathay Pacific's trainee pilots appeal against lower pay package UND forms partnership with Sun Country airlines NASA Tests Astronaut Survival Systems for Orion Splashdowns GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY AIRCRAFT PILOT Job in Forbes AFB, Kansas - Department of the Army Gas Turbine Accident Investigation from SCSI Upcoming USC Aviation Safety Courses Medallion Foundation - PROVIDING ASSURANCE IN YOUR SYSTEMS HIGH ALTITUDE FLYING: WHAT EVERY PILOT NEEDS TO KNOW - Course Incident: Algerie B738 at Algiers on Oct 17th 2018, FOD ingestion An Air Algerie Boeing 737-800, registration 7T-VKH performing flight AH-6026 from Algiers to Constantine (Algeria) with 130 people on board, was accelerating for takeoff from Algiers' runway 27 when an engine (CFM56) emitted a loud bang. The crew continued takeoff, climbed to 3000 feet and returned to Algiers for a safe landing on runway 09 about 10 minutes after departure. The airline reported the engine ingested some "foreign object debris" (FOD) during "taxiing" which forced the aircraft to return to Algiers about 20 minutes after departure. The foreign object debris might include a bird strike as there is migratory season as of current. http://avherald.com/h?article=4bf4e9cb&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: Hawaiian A21N over Pacific on Oct 22nd 2018, engine problem A Hawaiian Airlines Airbus A321-200N, registration N209HA performing flight HA-37 from San Diego,CA to Kahului,HI (USA) with 178 passengers and 7 crew, was enroute at FL310 about 220nm west of San Diego when the crew decided to return to continental USA due to an indication of an engine (PW1133) problem. The aircraft descended to FL300 and diverted to Oakland,CA (USA) for a safe landing about 100 minutes after departure. The airline reported the aircraft diverted to Oakland as a precaution following indication of a possible engine problem. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/HAL37/history/20181022/1535Z/KSAN/PHOG http://avherald.com/h?article=4bf4e713&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: Canada B789 enroute on Oct 14th 2018, oven dislikes junk, smoke An Air Canada Boeing 787-900, registration C-FNOH performing flight AC-833 from Toronto,ON (Canada) to Tel Aviv (Israel) with 296 passengers and 12 crew, was enroute at FL350 about 50nm northwest of Deer Lake,NL (Canada) when cabin crew noticed an oven in the economy class galley emitted smoke. The oven was shut down and cleaned, the smoke and odour dissipated. The aircraft continued to destination for a safe landing about 8 hours later. The Canadian TSB reported the oven emitted smoke due to debris left in the oven. The debris had not been noticed during preflight safety checks. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/ACA84/history/20181014/2040Z/CYYZ/LLBG http://avherald.com/h?article=4bf4e082&opt=0 Back to Top Back to Top Incident: Southwest B738 at Los Angeles on Oct 21st 2018, hydraulic problem or flaps malfunction A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-800, registration N8619F performing flight WN-4921 from Tampa,FL to Los Angeles,CA (USA) with 179 people on board, was on final approach to Los Angeles' runway 25L when the crew initiated a go around from about 1000 feet subsequently advising ATC they had a "hydraulic problem or flap malfunction", they needed 10 minutes to run the related checklists. The aircraft entered a hold at 5000 feet for about 20 minutes, then positioned for another approach to runway 25L and landed safely at a normal speed about 35 minutes after the go around. The occurrence aircraft returned to service about 17 hours after landing. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/SWA4921/history/20181021/1605Z/KTPA/KLAX http://avherald.com/h?article=4bf4bcec&opt=0 Back to Top Air Canada jet damaged while on LaGuardia taxiway by another jet Runway crew members examine the wing tip of an Air Canada plane which arrived at LaGuardia Airport in New York on Monday, Oct. 22, 2018. An Air Canada flight that had just landed at New York's LaGuardia Airport late Monday afternoon was damaged as it sat on the taxiway by another passing plane. New York Port Authority spokesman Rudy King says the Air Canada jet was stationary on the taxiway when an American Airlines plane that was attempting to turn clipped its wing. Tim Clark / THE CANADIAN PRESS NEW YORK - Airport officials in New York say an Air Canada flight that had just landed at the city's LaGuardia Airport late Monday afternoon was damaged as it sat on the taxiway by another passing plane. Rudy King, spokesman for the Port Authority New York and New Jersey, says the Air Canada jet was stationary on the taxiway when an American Eagle plane operated by Republic Airlines that was attempting to turn clipped its wing. King says both planes continued to their gates under their own power. He says a 38-year-old woman on the American Eagle flight suffered a neck and back injury. Air Canada spokeswoman Angela Mah says the A320 jet was arriving from Toronto with 142 passengers and everyone on board disembarked normally, but the aircraft is now out of service. Tim Clark, an Air Canada passenger who was waiting at the gate to board the plane for its return flight to Toronto, says some passengers who left the plane went immediately to the windows to snap pictures of the damage. "There's a very small amount of damage, but it's on the wing tip, on one of those split pieces on the wing tip," Clark said as he waited in the terminal for news about how he would get home. "It's probably very important for flying." King said the Federal Aviation Administration has been notified of the incident but had no word on the cause or who was at fault. He said the incident caused no disruptions to operations at the airport. https://theprovince.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/air-canada-jet-damaged-while-on-laguardia-taxiway-by-another-jet/wcm/e43fa011-7851-492a-b613-d39aefc46290 Back to Top United pilot to passengers: We're turning around because our plane's too big The text alert from United Airlines sounded ominous. "Your 2:13 p.m. United flight to Chattanooga is delayed because of unforeseen circumstances,'' it said. "This is an unusual situation and we're working hard to solve it. We value your time and we're sorry for the inconvenience.'' Unusual was putting it mildly. And the "situation" wasn't news to the 50 passengers on Flight 5277 on Oct. 16. They received the alert after the problem arose, after their Chicago-to-Chattanooga flight returned to O'Hare International Airport mid-flight. Vince Fallon, who was traveling from Omaha to Chattanooga via Chicago for a business meeting, said the United Express flight, a daily flight operated by partner SkyWest Airlines, started out without any major issues. Fallon and another passenger on the plane said there was a last-minute aircraft swap, from one type of regional jet to another due to a mechanical issue, which changed their seat assignments but didn't delay the flight. Flight tracker FlightAware says the plane left the gate at 2:17 p.m. local time, just a few minutes behind schedule, and took off at 2:45 p.m. It was due to land in Chattanooga less than two hours later, at 5 p.m. local time. More than halfway into the flight - Fallon figures they got to the Kentucky border from a map of the flight route a friend sent - when the pilot told passengers he had some bad news. "We're going to turn and go back to O'Hare,'' Fallon said, recalling the gist of the pilot's message. There was a collective grumble. Fallon and passenger Jill Lohsen recall the pilot saying the plane, a 76-seat Embraer 175, was "too large'' to land in Chattanooga. Lohsen said that didn't make sense because she's been on Delta flights to Chattanooga on the same plane. "The pilot, nor the flight attendants, did not have any information for us and just kept saying they would figure it out when we land,'' she said via e-mail. Flight 5277 landed back in Chicago at 4:29 p.m. and passengers were greeted with Cheez-Its, pretzels and water, and a new flight scheduled to leave within the hour. "We still were only told that there was a mistake, saying we could take the larger plane to Chattanooga, but no real explanation,'' Lohsen said. A text message with details on the new flight offered more insight into the reason for the u-turn: "We're sorry for returning to Chicago. The airport in Chattanooga is unable to assist with ground operational requirements for your current aircraft type. We assigned your flight a new plane." SkyWest spokeswoman Marissa Snow did not provide any other details, saying only that the 76-seat Embraer aircraft used on the first flight to Chattanooga was "just a different aircraft than typical for ground personnel there.'' She would not elaborate on why the airline used the plane on the route in the first place or didn't check with the airport to see about necessary ground crews. Passengers were put on a 50-seat Bombardier CRJ 200, which United typically uses on the flight. Passengers finally arrived at the gate in Chattanooga just before 8:30 p.m. local time, more than three hours late. Fallon took the delay in stride and said he's had worse weather delays. United refunded the Chicago-Chattanooga leg of passengers' flights and gave them a $300 flight voucher or miles for their trouble. Fallon took the voucher and plans to visit his brother in Boston. Lohsen termed the U-turn a "very strange experience.'' "It was my first time flying United so not the best impression," she said. https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/2018/10/22/united-flight-chicago-chattanooga-returns-ohare-plane-mixup-skywest-passenger-refunds-vouchers/1694330002/ Back to Top Back to Top Canada and Central America agreement to improve aviation safety Canada has agreed to cooperate with Central American and Caribbean States on Accident and Incident investigations (AIG) matters to improve regional safety. Representation of the Caribbean Aviation Safety and Security Oversight System (top photo). Representation of the Central American States (bottom photo) In order to promote regional collaboration in support of the timely and appropriate investigation of incidents and accidents, Canada entered into a memoranda of understanding (MoU) with Caribbean and Central American States at a special ceremony at ICAO Headquarters last week. In the presence of ICAO's Secretary General, Dr. Fang Liu, Canada's agreement was undertaken by Mr. Pierre Gavillet of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB), on the behalf of its Chair, Ms. Kathleen Fox. The Caribbean MoU was signed by Mr. Anthony Kirchner, Deputy Director Department of Civil Aviation of Aruba; Mr. Charles Beneby, Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of The Bahamas; and by Mr. Francis Regis, Director General of the CAA of Trinidad and Tobago, who also represented the Caribbean Aviation Safety and Security Oversight System (CASSOS). The Central American MoU was signed by Mr. Juan Carlos Trabanino, the Executive President of Corporación Centroamericana de Servicios de Navegación Aérea (COCESNA), in representation of the Central American States. The signing ceremonies were attended by Mr. Julio Siu, in his capacity as the Deputy Regional Director of ICAO's North American, Central American and Caribbean Regional Office, which played a pivotal role in the coordination of these agreements. The Caribbean States participating in the MoU are Aruba, the Bahamas, and the members of CASSOS (which include Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.) The Central American States participating in that MoU are the member States of COCESNA: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. These agreements focus on compliance with the mandates described in Annex 13 - Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation and Annex 19 - Safety Management of the Convention on International Civil Aviation, and the need for States to ensure the independence of investigations. These MoU also pertain to the importance of Regional Accident and Incident Investigation Organisations (RAIO) in this regard: the Central American Regional Aviation Accident Investigation Group (GRIAA) and the Caribbean Regional Accident Investigation Organisation (RAIO-C). https://www.internationalairportreview.com/news/76864/canada-central-america-agreement/ Back to Top UK CAA plans for 'hard Brexit' The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) wants to stay within the EASA system after the UK exits the European Union (Brexit) next year, but given that the UK government has not determined how it will exit, the CAA is preparing for a hard Brexit, a scenario where no mutually beneficial deal is reached. Most of CAA's preparations are based on a hard Brexit, or "worse-case scenario," so it's ready after the March 29, 2019 deadline, CAA policy specialist (Brexit), safety and airspace regulation group, Steve Horton said at Aviation Week's MRO Europe Conference. As part of this, the whole EASA regulation package, with slight tweaks to replace Europe with UK and EASA with CAA, will be sent to Parliament by the end of December, Horton said. "If we're still in the EASA system, the stated position is that we will follow the regulation," Horton said. "If we're out," and now relying on UK legislation that mirrors the European aviation laws at the point of exit, "we'll follow the rules ... but could change bits of it" after a two-year period if CAA sees room for improvement. Whether it will be a hard Brexit or not, the UK is preparing bilateral air safety agreements with the FAA, EASA and Brazilian ANAC because the current EU bilaterals will no longer apply. Horton said CAA hopes to have those in place before March 29. The plan is to recognize Part 66 maintenance licenses for up to two years within the UK, Horton said. CAA, which is in the process of rebuilding itself after greatly shrinking following the creation of EASA, is in hiring mode, but Horton acknowledges the authority is having a hard time recruiting the experience level it needs based on the uncertainties of the Brexit process. No matter what the final Brexit agreement will look like, Horton stresses that one second after 11 p.m. local time on March 29, 2019, UK-registered aircraft will be flying to Europe and back. "Everything will be in place from a UK perspective to enable that," Horton said. http://atwonline.com/aeropolitics/uk-caa-plans-hard-brexit Back to Top FlightAware Launches Ground Coverage for Business Aviation ReadyToTaxi Status Screen HOUSTON, TX - October 15, 2018 - FlightAware has announced a new service for business aviation operators that provides information and tracking for an aircraft's movements on the ground. Ready to Taxi notifies users when an aircraft powers on at its origin, taxis out, taxis in and parks at its destination FBO or airport. "We developed these new features specifically for our business aviation users and we think they are going to love what we've done," said Daniel Baker, FlightAware Founder and CEO. "Customers will automatically receive an alert when the crew powers on the aircraft and when it taxis out, eliminating the need to call the FBO or pilots for this information. It makes things a lot easier for everyone involved." Ready to Taxi leverages FlightAware's network of over 19,000 terrestrial ADS-B receivers that will provide ground coverage at over 1,000 airports, including 2,000 FBOs. For aircraft traveling to airports currently not coverage by FlightAware's terrestrial ADS-B network, users will see the same surface statuses without the specific FBO information. FBOs can add coverage at their facility for free by contacting FlightAware's customer service team. FlightAware's Ready to Taxi fully supports aircraft that are ADS-B equipped. Additionally, limited support (taxi alerts but not FBO assignments) is available for aircraft with Mode C or S transponders when taxing with transponder in ON or ALT mode at over 50 major US airports. Ready To Taxi is available as an add-on to FlightAware Global, a product that allows aircraft owners and operators to track their aircraft anywhere in the world as well as selectively unblock their aircraft to allow friends, family, employees and business associates to track their aircrafts movements while remaining hidden from public view. FlightAware Global is used by thousands of aircraft owners and operators around the world and can integrate tracking from most major datalink providers. https://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/12434032/flightaware-launches-ground-coverage-for-business-aviation Back to Top Volocopter to flight test air taxi in Singapore Volocopter plans to start flight tests in Singapore before July 2019 (image: Volocopter) Volocopter plans to start urban flight testing of its electric vertical take-off and landing air taxi in Singapore between January and July next year. According to the German company, its electrically-powered 2X aircraft can fly two people up to 27km (17 miles) on a single charge with a cruise speed of 70km/h (43mph). It has been designed to remain stable in urban areas, despite the micro turbulences that may occur around tall buildings. The company also claims the aircraft is so quiet it cannot be heard over the "typical background noise of a city". The 2X, which can piloted or remotely controlled, performed an unmanned test flight in Dubai in September 2017. The flight tests in Singapore are designed to validate and verify operation in an urban environment and will culminate in a series of public demonstration flights. Volocopter and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) are working together to establish the scope of the flight trials and ensure that the necessary safety requirements are met before flight tests commence. The company also plans to set up a product design and engineering team in Singapore. Florian Reuter, CEO of Volocopter, said, "We're getting ready to start implementing the first fixed routes in cities and Singapore is a logical partner. We are confident this is another exciting step to make air taxi services a reality." Ho Yuen Sang, director of aviation industry at the CAAS, said, "There is potential for air taxis, or eVTOLs, to transform mobility and logistics in urban cities. Volocopter is at the forefront of such new and innovative technology in the aviation industry. CAAS is pleased to work together with Volocopter to study the technical capabilities and develop appropriate operational guidelines to facilitate such trials in Singapore." Volocopter has held a preliminary permit to fly from the German authorities since 2016 and is working with the European Aviation Safety Authority to obtain a full commercial license Volocopter conducted the first test flight of its VC200 aircraft at the end of 2015. https://www.aerospacetestinginternational.com/news/drones-air-taxis/volocopter-to-flight-test-air-taxi-in-singapore.html Back to Top Rename Oakland airport? Petition seeks to recognize trailblazing Berkeley pilot Maggie Gee, 86, of Berkeley holds her old airman identification card on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2009, at her home in Berkeley, Calif. Gee served as a pilot for two years during World War II and was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in July. A children's book based on her life as a Women's Airforce Service Pilot (WASP) was just published. (Jane Tyska/Staff) She was a pioneering pilot, flying planes for the military during WWII, a coder in the early days of computers and a tireless community advocate. And now, one Walnut Creek resident is on a quest to rename Oakland International Airport in her honor. History hasn't always been kind to women like Maggie Gee, said Tiffany Miller, who posted a petition on the website, Change.org, to rename the airport after the Berkeley native. There are no major international airports in the country named after women. And, she said, it's about time for that to change. "Why not? Why can't we get the airport named in her honor?" Miller said, standing inside the Women in Aviation room at the Oakland Aviation Museum. "She would really represent the personality of Oakland: unique, trailblazer. ... People would fly into the airport and say, 'Maggie Gee? Who is that?' And they would learn about her and about the WASPs." An old portrait of Maggie Gee in her pilot's uniform is shown on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2009, at her home in Berkeley, Calif. (Maggie Gee/Contributed) The WASPs, or Women Airport Service Pilots, were a civilian faction of the Air Force who weren't recognized for their service until more than a decade after the war, though they routinely put their lives at risk for their country, Miller said. She would know; her grandmother, Elaine Harmon, was also one. They were shot at with live ammunition while pulling gunnery targets for their male counterparts and test-flew planes that had recently been repaired to ensure they were ready for male pilots to fly, she said. They ferried planes from base to base as needed for the war effort and trained new pilots. Thirty-eight WASPs died during their service doing something society at large didn't think was possible for women to do, Miller said. At the time, housing was very much segregated in Berkeley, with Chinese-Americans excluded from most neighborhoods, Gee told interviewers at UC Berkeley in 2003 for an oral history project at the Bancroft Library. Gee's own mother, who was born in Monterey, lost her citizenship under the Cable Act when she married a Chinese-born man, due to immigration laws. But, despite rampant discrimination, when Pearl Harbor was attacked and Gee saw her friends going off to war, she wanted to do her part in the war effort too, said Harvey Dong, a lecturer of Asian Studies Department at UC Berkeley. "(Gee) actually changed the way we look at the role of Asian-American women in history," Dong said. "She broke stereotypes of Asian-American women at that time." Gee had spent a number of Sundays with her family watching planes take off from the Oakland airport, Miller said. And she loved Amelia Earhart. So, when she saw a notice advertising the WASPs, she started scraping together paychecks from her work as a draftsman at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard for the $800 to pay for private flight lessons. With the country still reeling from the attack on Pearl Harbor, trained male pilots were in short supply. So, the military turned to qualified women. Twenty-eight women with commercial flying licenses initially signed up, but by 1944, their ranks had grown to 1,074, said Jean Harman, a Palo Alto resident and fellow WASP who trained with Gee in Texas. "It's a mystical thing, flying," Harman said. "Every WASP was a WASP because she loved to fly." Maggie Gee, 86, of Berkeley, left, is shown in an old photo of her time in the WASPs on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2009, in Berkeley, Calif. (File photo by Jane Tyska/Staff) Though they were necessary to the war effort, the WASPs were not necessarily welcome in the military, Harman said. Many of her male instructors were annoyed at having to spend their time training women, she said. But the women completed the same training program as the men, learning to fly every plane the military had to offer, including the B-17, a big bomber Gee described as a slow and noisy machine. It didn't matter. Gee loved being in the air. "I felt that I was in another dimension that gave me a sense of freedom," she told the UC Berkeley interviewers in 2003. "It's a disassociation with the Earth, that's really what I liked so much. I felt as if I were above, looking down." Maggie Gee climbs out of an open cockpit plane in an undated personal photograph shown at her home on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2009, in Berkeley, Calif. (Maggie Gee/Contributed) By the time they graduated, the war was already beginning to wind down. With male pilots returning home, Congress refused to militarize the WASPs, Harman said. And, about two months after they had been reassigned to their respective posts, the program abruptly ended. With no opportunities available to women to fly planes commercially, neither Gee nor Harman ever flew again. For Harman and her fellow pilots, it was a crushing blow. "We weren't given severance pay. Even our way home wasn't paid," she said. "We were dumped. Just plain dumped." Gee returned home, but her service didn't end there. She finished college at UC Berkeley and became a physicist, working on defense projects at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Working in its theoretical division, Gee designed code for "large computing machines," she told George Michael, who, in 1998, compiled an oral history of the early days of large-scale scientific computing at the Lawrence lab. But her spare time was devoted to her community. According to longtime friend Susan Kennedy, Gee served on the rent board in Berkeley, became very involved in the Berkeley Democratic Club and the Berkeley Community Fund, made registering citizens to vote a lifelong pursuit, and advocated strongly for the rights of women. "She never had her own children or got married, so community was a big part of her life," Kennedy said. "She was a very outgoing person, and she loved Berkeley." It's this legacy - of a pioneering trailblazer, long overlooked by history, who was devoted to her community - that Miller wants to honor in renaming the airport, she said. But she'll have competition. Another Change.org petition is seeking to rename the airport after Amelia Earhart, whose final flight took off from Oakland and was due to land there before her plane disappeared without a trace somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. And there have been past efforts to honor Bessie Coleman, the first African-American pilot to earn an international aviation license, who landed a job as a stunt pilot for the Coast Tire and Rubber Co. in Oakland. "Amelia Earhart and Bessie Coleman were amazing pilots," Miller said. "But Maggie Gee is a local. And she got inspired to fly watching planes take off from the airport, so how poetic would it be to have the airport named after her?" Earhart and Coleman both have streets near the airport named after them, and Miller is keenly aware of the years it took to make those changes. And even though, as of Sunday evening, her petition had already received nearly 2,000 signatures, Miller knows she's facing an uphill battle. It could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to replace the signs at the airport, Miller said. But first, she'll have to convince Chris Lytle, the port's executive director, to make a recommendation to the Board of Commissioners. And early conversations with the board's secretary, Daria Edgerly, left Miller less than optimistic, she said. "There are a lot of streets and buildings at the airport that you could petition the executive director to rename after Maggie Gee," Edgerly wrote to Miller in an email. But Miller doesn't want a street or building named after Gee. Women have been told to "think smaller" for decades, Miller said. Centuries. "If we showed that we value women's contributions as a society, I think people's attitude would change," she said. "I could take my daughter to the airport and point to the sign and say, 'See? Maggie Gee's contributions were so important they named a big airport for her.' " https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/10/22/rename-oakland-airport-petition-seeks-to-recognize-trailblazing-berkeley-pilot/ Back to Top The Life of a Kit Airplane Factory Pilot Roger Dubbert has worked for Zenith Aircraft Company since 1993 and has flown over 10,000 demo flights. After almost 25 years of representing Zenith Aircraft Company, Roger Dubbert is one of the most recognized customer service individuals in the kit aircraft business. Like most of the people working for these relatively small producers of homebuilt aircraft designs, Dubbert wears many hats, shifting roles as needed among the flight line, front office, and shop. We visited with him at the Mexico, Missouri, plant, where the company has been producing Chris Heintz's designs since 1992. "I never know exactly what I'll be doing when I come to work each day," said Dubbert. "Last week we hosted a delegation of builders from Japan, who were looking at the STOL CH 701 kit as a way to fly in the highly restricted Japanese airspace." While we were talking, he took time to field questions from a builder, a kit buyer, and various Zenith employees. "I joined Zenith in 1993, right after I had graduated from Central Missouri State University [now the University of Central Missouri] with my degree in aviation technology," Dubbert related, "working in the small shop we occupied at the time." Back then, he said, there was one drill press, one band saw and one bending brake, and the Zenith kits were largely unfinished metal sheets and parts. "Now we use CNC manufacturing extensively to make the kits, and they are much easier and quicker to build." Zenith president Sebastien Heintz (left) shares the cockpit with Roger Dubbert on a typical day of flying in the CH 650 demonstrator. A native of the local area and possessed of an aviation interest, Dubbert was a perfect fit for Zenith. Like most kit aircraft company employees, he filled in at various jobs, as needed. He built his own STOL CH 701 airplane in 1998, which has served as a venerable demonstrator as the company's offerings have grown. At this point, it has 2000 hours of demonstration time on its airframe, and it continues to be used as a factory demo plane, in part to showcase the durability of the "Sky Jeep," as it is often called. Dubbert's flying is largely oriented toward familiarization flights with prospective builders and providing some transition training. Although not a CFI, he is intimately acquainted with the right-hand seat, having given an estimated 10,000 demo flights over the years. Dubbert still enjoys taking enthusiasts up on demo flights and showing them the capabilities of the various Zenith designs. He has performed first flights of newly completed planes as well. Dubbert was officially recognized last year at the company's 25th annual Open Hangar Days celebration for his 10,000th demo flight. These factory demo planes are just a few of the many Zenith aircraft Dubbert has flown since joining the company in 1993. Some of his more interesting flights involved checking out EAA employees at Oshkosh so they could fly the CH 750 Cruzer, including famed copilot Jeff Skiles, who did the first flight of the One Week Wonder airplane that was built during AirVenture 2014. He also flew with Kazakhstan cosmonaut Toktar Aubakirov, who was hired to evaluate using a Zenith STOL CH 801 for agricultural applications (crop spraying) in his home country. Asked about the changes he had seen during a quarter century in the kit aircraft industry, Dubbert said the level of completion and maturity of today's kits is a giant leap ahead of where he began. Today's kits are much more advanced, requiring fewer tools, skills, and time to successfully put together. This has made aircraft homebuilding accessible and feasible to a wider audience. Today's builders often have no prior aviation or mechanical experience. To celebrate having flown over 10,000 demo flights, William Wynne of FlyCorvair (right) presented a flight jacket to Roger. In the early times of ferrying planes to airshows, it wasn't unusual for a minor malfunction forward of the firewall, involving something like an exhaust or a bracket, to require an unplanned stop for repairs. Reliability has increased to the point that today's trips are routine, making them a lot less "experimental," thanks to product development and better quality components, especially modern engines and accessories. While Zenith still sells plans and parts to support scratch building, the great majority of its business is made up of supplying kits (prebuilt parts and components), allowing builders to get into the air quickly. Matched-hole assembly and CNC-produced parts make the job of putting an airplane together much easier than in the old days, and available quickbuild kits jump-start the building process. While the number of customers served by Zenith continues to increase, the volume of technical support questions doesn't seem to have increased, mainly because of more detailed assembly instructions and drawings (blueprints), and a higher quality kit, despite the fact that kit manufacturers now reach a broader spectrum of the population (also known as inexperienced first-time builders). "We invite and encourage all our customers, especially first-time builders, to call if and when they have questions," explains Dubbert. These inquiries help the company develop more detailed assembly manuals, in turn leading to fewer repeat questions. It's never too early to start: Roger Dubbert introduces Cub Scouts to homebuilding. Zenith ships an average of one kit per workday, so the phone calls and factory visits keep coming. With Zenith president Sebastien Heintz, Dubbert also co-leads the monthly workshops at the Zenith factory, guiding first-time kit builders in the assembly of their own rudder tail kit, helping them understand the blueprints and instructions, the tools and materials, and showing them how to assemble their very first airplane component. While at the factory for the workshop, every willing participant is taken up for a demo flight by Dubbert. "My relationship with our customers really only starts with the demo flight and the kit sale," explains Dubbert. "I look forward to continuing to work with customers as they complete their Zeniths and start flying their new creations." Dubbert also maintains the fleet of Zenith demonstrator aircraft , currently made up of a Zenith CH 650, a STOL CH 750 and CH 750 Cruzer and his STOL CH 701 (as well as the new SAMEX aircraft ). Not only building but also maintaining the aircraft gives Dubbert the knowledge and experience to professionally support the growing number of Zenith builders and owners. Dubbert flies his personal Luscombe 8A in his spare time, as a change of pace, and recently transitioned into the SAMEX retro kit design Zenith has added to its line. His varied duties will continue, as he enjoys working in a constantly changing industry. Adam Burch, Van's Aircraft Factory Pilot Adam Burch and the RV-14A prototype. In talking with Adam Burch, factory pilot and marketing person for Van's Aircraft in Oregon, we had the impression he felt extremely lucky to have gotten a job with Van's, doing exactly what he wanted to do-drawing and flying airplanes. A graduate of the University of Northern Colorado, Burch joined Van's in 2011, after a stint at Adam Aircraft (no relation) in Denver. A self-self-taught CAD user, he's also an extremely talented digital artist. His work can be seen and purchased online at http://tinyurl.com/h6pwyqc. You'll be amazed at his abilities. Burch's roles at Van's have varied from drafting to engineering to flight test to marketing. "As a small company," he says, "we have to step in wherever we're needed, and we all wear many hats." As he puts it, he just said "yes" to everything he was asked to do, and he showed a willingness to adapt to different positions in the company. So, with his Private Pilot license already in hand, he was checked out in N666RV, the venerable company RV-6A, under the tutelage of Mike Seager. Burch also learned a lot from the late Joe Blank, to whom he owes a huge debt. His latest flight review was accomplished in the RV-14A; he was only the 6th pilot to get to fly it. Burch now has 750 hours, of which 550 have been accumulated at Van's, where he helps with relatively simple flight testing of engineering changes, like flying speed boxes or checking oil cooler mods. Half of Van's small engineering section is made up of pilots; nobody is just a pilot, he stresses. Because Burch is able to talk in non-technical terms with interested persons, he also took over some marketing tasks, allowing him to attend airshows with Van's and answer questions from curious buyers and builders. Burch has also gotten to ferry airplanes back and forth to the shows, and he's grateful for the no-pressure company flying policy at Van's, which he terms "the most ethical company he knows." If the weather is uncomfortable, he reports, Van's employees are under no pressure to keep pushing on; they're told to just sit down and wait it out, however long it takes. Van's is a very safety conscious company, he says. Another thing Burch loves about working for Van's is that it gives him a chance to help "make flying achievable," which just so happens to be the Van's motto. Joe Norris, Chief Flight Instructor at Sonex Aircraft Joe Norris set up the T-Flight transition training program in 2013. When company pilot Joe Norris joined Sonex Aircraft in early 2013, he was tasked with setting up the T-Flight in-house transition training program for individuals wanting to fly a Sonex airplane for the first time. Sonex is probably the only kit manufacturer offering its own transition program, rather than supporting training through outside contractors. To do this requires a LODA (letter of deviation authority) from the FAA, since the Experimental/Amateur-Built regulations prohibit flight training, but Norris succeeded in obtaining such authorization, and over 200 pilots have participated since 2013. Who utilizes T-Flight? Norris says there are three categories of individuals participating in the program. Primarily, T-Flight is a flight and ground training program for Sonex builders who are about to complete their project and make the first flight, but have no experience flying a Sonex. The goal is to make them comfortable with the airplane before they make that first flight and to satisfy any insurance requirements. Other transition-training customers include buyers of a used Sonex and persons who are interested in building a Sonex but want to take a half-hour of dual to see what the airplane is like before committing. During T-Flight transition training, Joe Norris (left) explains the Sonex's construction to Paul Dye, KITPLANES editor in chief. Norris previously worked for the EAA in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, right across the airport from Sonex, and he holds CFI ratings for both airplanes and helicopters, as well as being an A&P with Inspection Authorization. His duties are, like most employees at kit aircraft companies, very flexible; he runs the T-Flight transition-training program, he answers technical questions about engines, and he does flight testing in the piston-powered Sonex airplanes. Recently, he's been busy expanding the flight envelope with the new B-model versions of the Sonex line, which offer increased cockpit room and panel space. He reports that no deterioration of performance has thus far been found with the bigger airframe. Growing up on a farm, Norris naturally gravitated to technical skills like welding and fabrication, and he worked for a time with a helicopter operator, where he honed his rotor-flying skills. He still helps EAA with the vintage Bell 47 helicopters seen flying over AirVenture, and he is a board member at the Vintage Aircraft Association. His homebuilt aircraft background included building a Sonerai II, so it was natural for him to gravitate toward the later Sonex airplanes. He never knows what the day will bring in his multiple roles at Sonex Aircraft, but if there's T-Flight training on the schedule, he knows he'll be flying. https://www.avweb.com/news/features/The-Life-of-a-Kit-Airplane-Factory-Pilot-231751-1.html Back to Top SpiceJet seeks more time to pay for aircraft lease A delay in delivery of 737 Max planes by Boeing Co. has caused liquidity issues at SpiceJet, says Crisil Crisil has downgraded its long-term rating on SpiceJet's bank facilities from BBB stable to BB negative. Photo: Reuters Mumbai: SpiceJet Ltd has sought a three-month extension from a leasing company for making payments on aircraft leases as a delay in delivery of 737 Max planes by Boeing Co. has caused liquidity issues at the budget airline, said ratings agency Crisil Ltd. Crisil also downgraded its long-term rating on SpiceJet's bank facilities from BBB stable to BB negative. It also downgraded the short-term rating on the bank facilities from 'A3+' to 'A4'. "Delay in delivery of Boeing 737 Max aircraft further led to liquidity mismatch as the company was to receive healthy profits on sale and lease back transaction," Crisil added in the report. Instruments with A3 rating are considered to have moderate degree of safety, while those with A4 rating are considered to have a minimal degree of safety regarding timely payment of financial obligations. "The downgrade reflects Crisil's belief that SpiceJet's operating performance will remain under pressure in the near to medium term, driven by significant increase in the operating cost and limited ability to pass on the increased cost to customers because of intense competition," said Crisil. "Further, SpiceJet was expecting some cash infusion from the sale and lease back transactions that got delayed because of late delivery of the new aircraft. Hence, the liquidity profile has weakened," it said. Under the sale and lease back method, airlines often sell their new planes at a premium to their buying price to leasing companies and free up cash by leasing them back. SpiceJet had in January 2017 ordered 205 Boeing aircraft valued at $22 billion at list prices. This was on top of a previous order for 155 Boeing planes. The airline is expected to fund a large part of its aircraft purchases through the sale and lease back mechanism. SpiceJet planned to take delivery of 15 Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft by March 2018. "All the funding for Boeing 737-8 Max that is delivered to be us during 2018 and 2019 has been completed," SpiceJet chairman Ajay Singh said in March, adding that all the aircraft are on sale and leaseback model. The airline said the ratings downgrade is an industry phenomenon and that it continues to outperform the domestic aviation industry on financial metrics. "However, with regard to one single lessor mentioned in the Crisil report, we had taken a one-time relief of 2-3 months to better manage cash flows during the lean month of September 2018," SpiceJet said on Monday. SpiceJet is not the only airline to be subjected to a rating downgrade. Ratings agency ICRA had in October downgraded Jet Airways (India) Ltd's long-term borrowing programme, from BB to B. A 'B' rating signifies high risk of default on servicing financial obligations, while a 'BB' rating signifies a moderate risk of default. Indian airlines, including SpiceJet, are facing a financial crunch because of rising fuel prices and a weakening rupee, which have swelled the operating costs of airlines as most payments are dollar-denominated. The domestic aviation sector is facing headwinds. SpiceJet is facing stiff competition from other budget airlines and this has prevented it from fully passing on the increase in operating costs to customers. "SpiceJet has taken several steps to address its costs and liquidity issues. Ability to pass on the increased cost to consumers, timely infusion of cash from sale and lease back transactions and resultant impact on liquidity profile will remain key monitorables," said Crisil. The airline, which currently has a fleet of 60 aircraft, had a 12.4% share of the domestic air travel market as of August, according to the latest data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). https://www.livemint.com/Companies/gA9xiCikWzXWHCSU02YJ7N/SpiceJet-seeks-more-time-to-pay-for-aircraft-lease.html Back to Top Pilot instructor training "embraces change" through virtual reality At Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, pilot instructor trainees assigned to the 12th Flying Training Wing, are utilizing a variety of emerging technologies to aid in their learning and development. It's known as Pilot Instructor Training Next, also referred to as PIT Next, a technology-based learning approach, which began with Pilot Training Next, an undergraduate pilot training program that leverages virtual and augmented reality. JBSA-Randolph, Texas -- Lt. Gen. Steve Kwast, commander of Air Education and Training Command, has empowered Airmen across the recruiting, training and education enterprise to "be bold, take risks and embrace change" as they make changes to their training curriculums and processes to find the best way to inspire and develop Mach-21 Airmen. With that charge in mind, the "Pilot Instructor Training Next" program was forged, as two 12th Flying Training Wing squadrons have integrated virtual-reality simulators and 360-degree video headsets into the training syllabus. The genesis for this technology-based learning approach began with Pilot Training Next, an undergraduate pilot training program based in Austin, Texas, that leveraged virtual and augmented reality to reimagine what the future of Air Force pilot training could look like. Lt. Col. Matthew Strohmeyer, 560th Flying Training Squadron commander, and Lt. Col. Justin Chandler, 99th Flying Training Squadron commander, added the new technology to their squadrons here in May and June of this year, respectively. "Students that get into the seat and start flying in the virtual environment are reacting like they would in the actual aircraft within minutes," said Chandler. "This ability to recognize and drive change at the operational level is a monumental step for the Air Force." Since VR use in PIT Next was implemented, there have been measurable benefits from the addition of the technology and ten instructor pilots are slated to graduate from the PIT Next program each month. "In line with the National Defense Strategy, the Air Force is focused on maintaining its competitive advantage," said Strohmeyer. "We're making sure our pilots are capable of providing air superiority and air power for America in future conflicts. Our leaders are enabling us to find the advantage we need to ensure we can deter a peer-level adversary from fighting us, and if we have to fight, we can dominate." One of the biggest training advantage to PIT Next that has been noted is the ability to place students in complex or dangerous situations that would otherwise be impossible to do in an actual aircraft. "In real-life, an instructor cannot put a student in an intentionally dangerous situation and compromise flight safety, but that is not the case virtually," said Strohmeyer. "Virtually, instructors can put students in any situation to determine if they would recognize the danger and whether or not they take the right course of action." Students also have the opportunity to take home mobile-video headsets which connect to the pilot's smart phone, allowing for on-command and on-demand training. "Incorporating this level of technology and deep-repetition learning allows these students to see the flight environment so many more times than they would have in the past," said Strohmeyer. "In the end, this allows students to gain a much higher level of mastery of the skills they need to be competent on at the end of the program." The changes in the 99th FTS include the incorporation of the VR and 360-degree video headsets, as well as a new perspective in the unit approaches traditional classroom academics. "We need to acknowledge there are new insights into how the human brain learns and processes information. There needs to be an evolution in how we tackle these tasks," said Chandler. "We refuse to accept the status quo and that refusal has driven us to a higher-level of training." Chandler believes the Air Force is just now scratching the surface on what is possible with advancements in training. "We began with our specialty, aviation, but I think this is just the beginning for the Air Force," said Chandler. "I think this will have impact on every career field." https://www.aetc.af.mil/News/Article/1667413/pilot-instructor-training-embraces-change-through-virtual-reality/ Back to Top Cathay Pacific's trainee pilots appeal against lower pay package, but airline says no returning to more generous earlier terms • Cadets say they were misled before they signed up • But loss-making airline says it is 'unmanageable' to retain earlier terms amid overhaul of pilot pay and perks Cathay Pacific Airways has rejected a plea by its cadet pilots to reverse a decision to shrink pay and terms for newly qualified aircrew. In a letter to the airline's management, 95 trainees asked to be given the terms they expected when they signed on for their 55-week training programme. They have been undergoing training in Adelaide, Australia, since November 2017 and expect to finish from December this year, after the new contract takes effect. Those who complete their training successfully will start as second officers, the lowest rank of pilot. In an overhaul of pilots' pay and benefits aimed at cutting costs and raising productivity, the loss-making airline announced in September that the package for new pilots would be trimmed, in the first major effort to rein in aircrew expenses. New second officers would continue to receive HK$538,000 (US$68,600) annually in their first year, but would get less in subsequent years than those on the old terms, according to cadets who have seen the different pay scales. The airline initially said cadets would have to pay half of the HK$1 million cost of their own training, but this was later dropped. Unhappy with the prospect of earning less, the trainees appealed, saying they had given up other jobs to pursue their passion for flying, and signed up based on the offer made by Cathay Pacific at the time. The Hong Kong carrier has been forced to restructure after facing tough competition. Photo: Bloomberg Some suggested the airline had misled them by showing them the 2008 pilot contract, referred to as COS08, stating the previous pay and terms for second officers. In their letter earlier this month to general manager of flying Peter Clemmow, who oversees cadet training, the trainees asked the company to consider keeping the COS08 terms for their batch of cadets. "This is due to the fact that all of us and our families based our career expectations and future plans around COS08 prior to applying for the Cadet Pilot Programme and taking up the training offer," the letter said. The trainees were told in September they could either accept the new terms in the airline's 2018 contract, COS18, or quit training. One cadet said: "It's OK to launch the new COS18 contract if Cathay sees it as necessary. But they shouldn't impose it on those already in Adelaide for training. That's just not right or ethical." He said the trainees made a "decision of a lifetime" and chose to join Cathay Pacific after considering the airline's offer of training, which came with a copy of the 2008 contracts, including pay scales stated in full. "The 2008 contract was said to be for reference. But the difference between the two contracts is just too drastic," the cadet said. In response to cadets in an email earlier this month, Clemmow acknowledged their "understandable request", but made clear there would be no change to their pay and terms when they start flying. A pilots' union survey earlier this year found that two-fifths of Cathay's pilots were considering leaving the carrier. Photo: Fung Chang He said Cathay would start hiring experienced pilots from December 2018 on new, lowered terms, and it would be "unmanageable" to keep the cadets on the old terms. By the time the trainees qualify, he added, Cathay would be well into implementing its restructured terms for pilots. He reminded them the airline had already taken "exceptional" action by dropping its earlier proposal to make the cadets pay half the cost of their training. A Cathay Pacific spokeswoman said in a statement: "We will continue to communicate with our cadets directly. [The new contract] has now been in the market for a little over a month and we are very encouraged by the response from both cadets and direct-entry pilots." The airline did not answer questions on the gulf in pay for pilots signed on contracts in 2018 versus 2008, nor on the estimated loss of earnings for cadets and potential savings for the company. It did not address cadets' suggestion that they were misled before signing on with the carrier. Cathay opens its lounges at three airports to all frequent flyers in pay-to-use trial Relations between the airline and its pilots have of late been strained, with both sides locked in a four-year dispute over pay and benefits. A pilots' union survey earlier this year found that two-fifths of Cathay pilots were considering leaving. Cathay has 3,300 pilots, most based in Hong Kong with hundreds more overseas. Several hundred others work for sister airline Cathay Dragon. The Hong Kong carrier has been forced to restructure after facing tough competition, and has been in the red for two years in a row. It hopes to cut HK$4 billion from its costs by 2019, with HK$1 billion cut from pilot costs. It announced in September it would introduce new terms for flying crew from December 1. Sources at the airline said changing from the 2008 contracts to the 2018 ones would cut about 30 per cent of pilot costs. From December 1, up to 30 per cent of a pilot's salary will be variable and tied to the number of hours flown. The current variable portion is only 10 per cent. First officers will continue to rake in HK$825,000 in annual basic pay. The annual basic pay for captains will be "aligned with market levels" to HK$1.8 million. There are wide differences in the allowances Cathay Pacific pilots receive, depending on when they joined. Most receive between HK$32,000 and HK$70,000 a month for housing, but a minority still get HK$100,000 every month. Those who joined after 2008 receive a lump sum of HK$10,000 a month on average. In the revamped package, new second officers will receive HK$14,000 a month for housing, and captains HK$30,000. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/2169680/cathay-pacifics-trainee-pilots-appeal-against-lower Back to Top UND forms partnership with Sun Country airlines UND is partnering with a national airliner to help students get on the fast-track to flying a Boeing 737 across the world. Sun Country Airlines, a Twin Cities-based airline, announced Monday a partnership with UND's John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences to offer commercial aviation students employment prior to graduation through a new program known as the Sun Country Bridge Program. The program gives students an opportunity to sign with Sun Country while they are still in school, Sun Country spokesperson Jessica Wheeler said. Going straight to a national carrier like Sun Country means students will have the chance to fly international routes shortly after graduation. Students in UND's aviation program can apply for the program their freshman year, Wheeler said. "Quality training is a top priority for us," Sun Country Airlines Chief Operating Officer John Spanjers said in a statement. "We're excited to work with a school that has long been known for its outstanding aviation program. Having the opportunity to meet and mentor students early on in their career sets the foundation for their long-term success." The school announced similar partnerships with Delta and United Airlines earlier this year, but this agreement is different because it offers students a direct plan to be able to fly a 737 shortly after graduation, Jeremy Roesler, chief flight instructor at UND, said. As part of the agreement, eligible students will be required to complete their flight hours at UND. These hours often are accrued when students become paid flight instructors for the school, which means UND's aviation department will benefit from more experienced flight instructors, Elizabeth Bjerke, UND Aerospace associate dean, said. She said the additional 500 or so hours that the instructors will be required to complete will take about a year, which is about twice as long as flight instructors typically stay with the program. "Staying here helps out our existing students because we're retaining more experienced flight instructors and then Sun Country will be getting an experienced person for themselves, so it's a double win," Roesler said. Sun Country also has a number of high-ranking individuals who are UND alumni, Bjerke said, which also makes the partnership special. The partnerships with Sun Country, United and Delta are a "testament" to the quality of UND's education, Bjerke said. Joseph Restifo, senior director of operations at Sun Country, said the company decided to partner with UND because of the school's "top-notch" curriculum and the high-quality pilots the school produces. "UND really does have a world-renowned program," he said. The agreement goes into effect immediately, according to a UND news release. Student interviews will take place on the UND campus through the career counseling offices when there are openings in the Sun Country Bridge Program. "This partnership is a big win for us," Paul Lindseth, dean of the Odegard School, said in a statement. "We're thrilled to be able to tell our students about this opportunity and help them secure employment with one of the nation's top airlines." http://www.grandforksherald.com/news/education/4517622-und-forms-partnership-sun-country-airlines Back to Top NASA Tests Astronaut Survival Systems for Orion Splashdowns In a previous drill, NASA astronaut Suni Williams tests an Orion crew module escape mechanism at the agency's Johnson Space Center, before the capsule was ready to be tested in open water. Credit: NASA NASA and the U.S. Air Force recently tested astronaut survival systems for the first time since the space shuttles stopped flying in 2011. Those tests were part of the agency's preparations for the first crewed flights of its Orion module, which is designed to carry astronauts out of our immediate neighborhood and toward more exotic destinations like the moon and Mars. NASA conducted tests specifically focusing on open water raft and survival equipment performanceThe entire team performed flawlessly when fighting challenging weather conditions and a very dynamic simulated sea state. The scenarios focused on systems that would protect astronauts landing in open water under harsh weather conditions. (As usual for spaceflight systems, the agency wants to make sure everything works safely in the most extreme conditions that might be experienced.) During the tests, NASA and the Air Force studied both the rafting equipment that lets crewmembers leave the capsule and the beacon systems that help rescue personnel track down the astronauts. The latter are leftover from the space shuttles' systems and haven't been checked since the vehicles stopped flying in 2011. Crew-safety measures are at the top of everyone's mind after the Oct. 11 Soyuz launch failure that sent two astronauts plummeting back to Earth just a few minutes after their rocket blasted off. The abort system that carried those astronauts away from the troubled rocket hadn't been used in 35 years. The Orion capsule is designed to fly on the Space Launch System, a powerful rocket that NASA has yet to complete. Crewed flights are scheduled to begin in the early 2020s, leaving the agency plenty of time to ensure all the safety systems can hold up under the harshest possible conditions. https://www.space.com/42211-nasa-orion-astronaut-survival-systems-test.html Back to Top GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY I am a grad student at City University of London and am completing work on my Masters in Aviation Safety. In my thesis I am trying to determine what the competencies are for being an airline Captain. This is to complement the 9 competencies That ICAO identifies for training pilots. My ultimate goal is to identify the relevant competencies and determine if they are trainable from a flight education standpoint. The first step is to determine the state of Captain/Command training in the United States. The link provided for a survey via survey monkey that hopefully will help me establish a baseline of where we are at in the industry in the US. Thank you for your consideration. Regards, Captain Jeff Kilmer FDX 901-651-6070 https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/58SMR3B Back to Top AIRCRAFT PILOT Job in Forbes AFB, Kansas - Department of the Army The United States government is a massive employer, and is always looking for qualified candidates to fill a wide variety of open employment positions in locations across the country. Below you'll find a Qualification Summary for an active, open job listing from the Department of the Army. The opening is for an AIRCRAFT PILOT in Forbes AFB, Kansas Feel free to browse this and any other job listings and reach out to us with any questions! AIRCRAFT PILOT - Forbes AFB, Kansas Army National Guard Units, Department of the Army Job ID: 7248 Start Date: 10/04/2018 End Date: 10/18/2018 Qualification Summary Military Grades: CW2-CW4 OR O1-O3 Compatible Military Assignments: OBR1;15 OBR2; 67J WOBR1; 15 GENERAL EXPERIENCE: An applicant must have a competent understanding of the occupation's basic principles and concepts. Applicants should have a minimum of one year on-the-job experience in the grade (or a comparable military rank) immediately below the next higher level SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Experience that prepares the applicant to perform the Dual Status technician duties and responsibilities. To qualify, an applicant's educational-degree study program, military professional and technical training schools or academies, and aviation certifications may apply as substitutions for some specialized experience factors **MUST BE A UH60 BLACKHAWK QUALIFIED PILOT. Army National Guard Warrant Officer Positions: Applicants must demonstrate the following specialized experience competencies (skills, knowledge, and abilities) to qualify for entry appointments to GS-2181-12 Army National Guard Dual Status Warrant Officer positions. Qualification competencies are determined by three factors: The aircraft operated; the nature and purpose of assignments; and, the degree of hazard. For Army National Guard positions, must have working experiences in civilian aviation programs; or, in military service aviation programs (active duty or reserve components); or, in the Army National Guard Aviation Support facilities; or, in Air National Guard Wing/ Operations Groups. To qualify, the applicant must have at least two years specialized competencies in operating a specific main-frame military aircraft, mission planning, and mission preparation. Experienced in reviewing and analyzing mission tasking, intelligence, and weather information. Experienced in filing flight plans and conducting crew briefings. Experienced in aircraft preflight inspections, aircraft loading, and equipment assessments. Experienced in performing or supervising work procedures involved in navigation, in-flight refueling, search and rescue operations or surveillance and reconnaissance. Competent in conducting or supervising the training of crew members in simple to complex mission specific tasks. Experienced in developing plans and policies, monitoring operations, and advising commanders. Knowledge is required in flight theory, air navigation, meteorology, flying directives, mission tactics, and operating procedures. Experienced in the unit flying, explosive, and ground safety programs in accordance with Department of Defense, Department of the Army, National Guard Bureau, and/or Occupational Safety and Health Administration policies, regulations, and directives. Army National Guard Officer Positions: Applicants must demonstrate the following specialized experience competencies (skills, knowledge, and abilities) to qualify for appointments to GS-2181-12 Army National Guard Dual Status Officer positions. For Army National Guard positions, must have working experiences in civilian aviation programs; or, military service aviation programs (active duty or reserve components); or, in the Army National Guard Aviation Support facilities; or, in the Air National Guard Operations Groups. Qualification competencies are determined by three factors in combination: The aircraft operated; the nature and purpose of assignments; and, the degree of hazard. Experienced in piloting and instructing pilot skills in one or more of the following main-frame/military aircraft: Fixed-wing, rotary, or remotely piloted aircraft (RPA). Although a variety of piloting administrative tasks are performed in support of an Army National Guard aviation program, experiences include the abilities to train and instruct others in the piloting of a main-frame military aircraft. Experienced in mission tasking, intelligence reporting, and applying weather information. Experienced in supervising and/or filing of flight plans and conducting crew briefings. Experienced in aircraft preflight inspections, aircraft loading, equipment assessments, and mission manning. Experienced in operating aircraft controls and equipment. Experienced in performing or supervising the work procedures involved in navigation, in-flight refueling; search and rescue operations; or surveillance and reconnaissance. Ability to conduct or supervise the training of crew members in simple to complex mission specific tasks. Experienced in developing plans and policies, monitoring operations, and advising commanders. Experienced in flight theory, air navigation, meteorology, flying directives, aircraft operating procedures, and mission tactics. Must have at least two years experiences in instructing others in a specific air-frame/military aircraft. Competent to complete various piloting administrative tasks performed in support of Army National Guard aviation programs. Experienced in the aviation unit quality control management programs; plus, skilled in the unit flying, explosive, and ground safety programs in accordance with Department of the Army, National Guard Bureau, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration directives. Experienced in following directives, regulations, accident reports, safety data, and local operating conditions to determine unit safety program requirements. Experienced in coordinating with appropriate agencies to ensure compliance with all applicable safety regulations and programs. Experienced in one or more missions such as, air-to-air; air-to- ground; mortar-to-arm escort; surveillance; reconnaissance; surface attack; killer-scout; target illumination; or laser targeting. Experienced in piloting manned or unmanned aircraft. Experiences may include the traditional "stick and rudder" type controls for piloting aircraft direction, altitude, and speed. Experienced in on-board aircraft instrumentation and aircraft mounted video cameras. Experienced in visual flight-rule type flying and aircraft instrument flying. Experienced in flying simulated "real world" combat and non-combat missions and terrain. Experienced in planning, scheduling, and conducting flights through Federal Aviation Administration controlled national airspace. Experienced in applying operational directives, training directives, instructions, standard operating procedures, and special instructions of National Guard Bureau, United States Army, and gaining commands. Experienced in working independently to plan and perform work assignments. Experienced in completing safe and efficient missions through the use of Operational Risk Management. Experienced in cancelling flying activities, diverting aircraft, dictating mission requirements, approving specific activities, coordinating for airport or airspace utilization with FAA, and/or, directing emergency actions involving unit support agencies. Experienced in using applicable Army aviation regulations, policies, requirements and standards, skills and practices; and, the applying instructional techniques to the training of other pilots in the Army National Guard flying facilities. Experienced in conducting particular combat tactics, missions, or specific main-frame aircraft; or, flying in mountainous terrain, performing tactical remote site evaluation, performing landings on remote sites, providing ground and flight training, and conducting night-vision operations and instruction. Experienced in standardization and evaluation programs, written ground examinations, emergency procedures, and aircrew performance standards in accordance with applicable directives and Federal Aviation Administration certification requirements. Experienced in reviewing and complying with applicable service flight publications and directives for accuracy and currency; and knowledgeable of weapons and tactics for applicable military aircraft. If you'd like to submit a resume or apply for this position, please contact Premier Veterans at abjobs@premierveterans.com. All are free to apply! APPLY HERE Back to Top Back to Top Upcoming USC Aviation Safety Courses Safety Management Systems for Remotely Piloted Aircraft Current Operational Conditions for Remotely Piloted Aircraft, Including Live Flight Exercises October 29 - November 2, 2018 5.0 Days Human machine interface theory and problems Unique characteristics of RPA operational environments SMS requirements and guidance Organizational risk management for RPA Special consideration for RPA accident investigation Using RPA for accident investigation FARs and Legislation International Organization Standards & Participation Tuition: $2500 Safety Management Systems for Managers Providing Priciples and Vision for Managers in an SMS November 29 - 30, 2018 1.5 Days Management Roles, Responsibilities, and Accountability Change Process Management Audits and Safety Reviews Motivating Safe Behavior Safety Culture and Climates Just Reporting System Accident/Incident Costs Obstacles to SMS Tuition: $1000 Threat and Error Management Development Integrating Threat and Error Management into a Safety Management System December 17 - 19, 2018 2.5 Days Introduction to threats and errors Performance and loss of situation awareness Threat recognition and error avoidance Building barriers to error Distraction and interruption management SOPs role in threat and error management Tuition: $1250 Earn Points Towards NBAA CAM Program Students taking the following USC courses will earn two points towards completing the application for the National Business Aviation Association Certified Aviation Manager exam. Aviation Safety Management Systems Accident/Incident Response Preparedness Human Factors in Aviation Safety Safety Management for Aviation Maintenance Aircraft Accident Investigation SeMS Aviation Security Management Systems For further details, please visit our website or use the contact information below. Email: aviation@usc.edu Telephone: +1 (310) 342-1345 Curt Lewis