Join in the relief efforts of Bahamas Habitat in the wake of Hurricane Irene.

The organization is coordinating pilots, volunteers, donors and others to mount a response to the remote islands of the Bahamas.

I assure you that if you support this group financially, your funds will be well used. You see I am the President and Chairman of the organization! Your donations are tax deductible.

Pilots with planes have the opportunity to fly missions delivering relief supplies. Signup on their website www.bahamashabitat.org now for updates and mission notifications.

John Fielding, a flying friend from Virginia called me on that Saturday and said, “Are you at home in Raleigh? If so, get in the closet!” Sure enough the dark red on the radar was coming our way. We watched as it grazed past our home to the East unfortunately causing some significant damage along its path. It made it’s way up the East side of Raleigh and on to Louisburg where my friend, Steve Merritt, manages the Triangle North Airport (KLHZ).

After the storm passed, the sky cleared to bright blue without a cloud in the sky. I took to the skies in a great Husky I just listed for sale and flew low and slow to take pictures of the path. Of course the Husky is the perfect plane for the mission! The airport faired well but a few hangar doors caused damage on one of my customer’s aircraft and a poor Tomahawk flew off its tie down and sailed into another plane. The weather is great now and we are looking forward to a great flying season putting all this behind us!  Check out my aerial pictures…

By now everyone has heard about the tornado that whipped through Sun N Fun 2011 on March 31st damaging over 40 aircraft, flooding the grounds and injuring 7 people. Most news outlets focused on the damage but what happened next that is the truly remarkable story. I went the next day expecting the worst and for the rest of the show to either be scrubbed or painfully slow and unattended. Boy, was I surprised. The Sun N Fun crew had done a fantastic job getting the place back into shape over night and the next several days were beautiful weather, crowds came out and it was very busy and successful event! Check out our video update from the next day, April 1st, 2011.

continue to see photos

From one of the pictures it appears the Diamond Booth may have slipped by unscathed.

GlassPilot suggests that if you are considering a high performance aircraft that you study all safety information available to determine the suitability of the aircraft for your mission and pilot qualifications. This notice was recently published by Cirrus with links to useful information.

Alert Created After Recent SR-2X Accidents

Cirrus Aircraft has sent the following letter to each of their owners, as well as a number of others in the GA community after a number of recent SR-2X accidents. The company has suggested a “Safety Stand Down” as well as continuing flight training as a means to seeking better flight safety…

Cirrus Statement

An important part of our relationship with you is meaningful communication, especially around issues that are important to the entire Cirrus community. Several recent accidents involving Cirrus aircraft highlight the need for us to focus our collective attention on safe flight practices, particularly during the landing and go-around phases. Both Cirrus Aircraft and COPA urge you to carefully review this safety alert as well as the following suggestions:

First, we are asking each of you to review the basic information on how to manage your aircraft in all phases of flight. Please re-read your Pilot’s Operating Handbook, Section 2, Limitations, Section 3 Emergency Procedures, and Section 4, Normal Procedures. Also, review Section 3, Standard Operating Procedures, of the Flight Operations Manual. Look for expanded guidance on normal operating procedures with special attention to approach stability, traffic patterns, landing procedures and go-around. Excerpts from the Cirrus Flight Operations Manual describe the procedures and the speeds for normal landings can be found here. Please take the time to review these procedures prior to your next Cirrus flight.

Copies of these books are available online at the COPA website and through the Cirrus Connection store.

Second, we are requesting each and every one of you to conduct a currency flight. All company pilots for Cirrus Aircraft follow a structured safety program (in sales, training, and flight operations) – and our safety record shows that it works. We are requesting that all Cirrus pilots conduct a currency flight with a qualified Cirrus Training Center (CTC) or Cirrus Standardized Instructor Pilot (CSIP), regardless of your total PIC time, time-in-type, or years of successful flight. This is the best way for all pilots to identify and correct bad habits that may have slipped into our routines over time.

A specific syllabus for this recurrent training has been given to every CTC and CSIP. The 1.0 to 1.5 flight hours that you commit to this training event should improve your airspeed control, touchdown accuracy, approach stability, and most importantly, the overall safety of every flight. The training will also help develop your proficiency and comfort level with go-around and power off landings.

The recent incidents that prompted this Safety Alert have been discussed in various forums, including COPA, and many of the comments have focused upon improper landing speeds. Airspeed control is an important element of establishing a stabilized approach to land, which in turn plays a key role in the safety and quality of any landing. Therefore it is critical that you understand the energy management of your aircraft to assure the proper speeds are used throughout the traffic pattern to achieve a safe and comfortable landing for you and your passengers.

Further to this effort, we want to stress the importance of establishing a long-term commitment to maintaining safe flying habits. Both Cirrus Aircraft and COPA encourage a semi-annual program of recurrent training with a CTC or CSIP. We also encourage you to attend a Cirrus Pilot Proficiency Program (CPPP) weekend event, held both in the US and Europe, to learn a wealth of Cirrus-specific knowledge and fly with some of the most experienced Cirrus instructors in the world. These events are centered around this very concept of staying proficient and avoiding the traps of complacency. Several CPPP events for the balance of 2010 and new events for 2011 will appear shortly. Visit www.cirruspilots.org for more information.

If you know other Cirrus pilots in your area, we strongly encourage you to pass this important message on to them to participate in this important currency effort.

Safety is the highest priority at Cirrus and COPA, but safety is up to all of us. Let’s get out and enjoy flying while raising the safety bar even higher.

OLATHE, Kan./April 8, 2010/ Business Wire — Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), the global leader in satellite navigation, today announced that it will soon include synthetic vision in the G300 and G3X, the avionic platforms for Cessna’s Skycatcher and other experimental and light sport aircraft (LSA), respectively. The G300 and G3X’s synthetic vision, SVX, is specifically for experimental and light sport aircraft. SVX will be included with newly purchased G300 and G3X systems, and will be available for download for those who are already flying with the avionics.

“Synthetic vision is one of the most useful, safety enhancing features that we offer and it makes a world of difference in how you aviate,” said Gary Kelley, Garmin’s vice president of marketing. “G300 and G3X pilots will appreciate the added situational awareness in 3D as they fly.”

With SVX on the G300 or G3X, the primary flight display (PFD) illustrates a clear 3D depiction of terrain, obstacles, runway designations, airport sign-posts and more – all shown in relative proximity to the aircraft. Instead of a flat blue-over-brown flight display, pilots will see an in-depth perspective view of realistic terrain features rising into the sky. G300 or G3X systems with a single display will be able to view SVX in split screen mode with PFD information on the display’s top half and multi-function display (MFD) information on the display’s bottom half.

In addition, aircraft that are equipped with a Garmin GTX 330 transponder or other compatible traffic receiver will display traffic alerts that use standard traffic symbology represented in 3D.

The G300 is a glass cockpit exclusively for the Cessna 162 Skycatcher. The Skycatcher is a two-place, single-engine piston, high-wing aircraft in the LSA category. The G300 presents information as a split-screen PFD and MFD, or as two full-screen displays with an optional second screen.

The G3X, like the G300, is a customizable PFD and MFD combination and features one, two or three all-glass displays; magnetometer; ADAHRS (combined air data and AHRS unit) and engine monitoring. Thanks to its building block design, customers can create a high performance panel that is tailored to their experimental or light sport aircraft.

Garmin anticipates the availability of SVX during Sun ‘n Fun 2010 and customers will be able to download it from www.fly.Garmin.com. For additional information visit www.Garmin.com.

“We are delighted to be able to resume volume deliveries of the DA42, less than 11 months after the insolvency of TAE”, said Christian Dries, CEO of Diamond Aircraft Industries. “The DA42 NG is better in every respect with much improved performance, increased gross weight, even better fuel efficiency and the Garmin GFC 700 autopilot and is prepared for Garmin Synthetic Vision System. With over 40 airframes already in various stages of production, we will be delivering the first aircraft almost immediately. Most important to the existing customer base, we are focusing our efforts to achieve the certification of the optional upgrade of all delivered DA42s with the Austro Engine, such that all customers can benefit from these improvements along with comprehensive customer support for their engines. We will shortly be announcing the details of an all inclusive maintenance program that will ensure a superior level of support as we work to extend the TBO of the engine from 1000 to 2000 hours. In parallel we are pursuing validation of the certification in all other markets as quickly as possible.”

With over 500 delivered aircraft operating worldwide, the DA42 is the best selling light twin engine piston aircraft, popular with private pilots and commercial flight training organizations. With its all carbon airframe, known ice certification, Garmin G1000 and single lever jetfuel powered turbo-diesel engines, the DA42 is the undisputed technology leader in general aviation.

The DA42 MPP multi purpose special mission sensor platform version of the DA42 is gaining worldwide popularity in search and rescue, law enforcement, border patrol, security, maritime surveillance, high accuracy digital mapping, and ecological monitoring.

For more information call 877-258-8011 or visit http://www.flydominion.com/

February 2009 was a “Red Letter Month” for us all.

See what our friends in the aircraft sales business are saying about the Obama Stimulus Package as it relates to buying an airplane this year.

While average citizens are trying to figure out all the ways they are going to spend their $13 / week benefit from the bill, businessmen and smart fliers that can qualify for the various opportunities for business use may be swimming in cash flow positive heaven while enjoying their dream plane.

Glass Pilot says, if you want an airplane, you need to get with an experienced aircraft representative that knows the ropes on the new tax code and can help you get started with the right resources.  (Email GlassPilot to request a referral)

Click for News on 2009 Stimulus for Aircraft