Search Results for: Citation X

Aircraft had been inactive and hangared for approximately six months. While trying to troubleshoot a fuel quantity indication problem, a fuel sample revealed contamination, which was sent for analysis. While awaiting results, tanks were drained and an anti-bacterial fuel additive was added before they were refilled.

Out flying about here in Idaho, its amazing the kind of useful cargo that gets thrown into a typical personal airplane. Personally, Ive flown white gas, propane, butane, isobutene, bear spray, flares, magnesium metal, petroleum jelly-soaked cotton, windproof matches, fire starter, resin wood, radioactive materials, guns and ammunition. And thats just my emergency kit. I also usually carry (mostly) full tanks of aviation fuel and an engine filled with oil. You probably do, also.

In August 2015, the pilot of a Cessna 310 on approach to Titusville, Florida, lost control of his aircraft during a missed approach from the Runway 36 ILS in heavy rain. The airport was at the time reporting VFR conditions. The radar controller initially responsible for vectoring the aircraft to the final approach, for some […]

Advancing age and retirement bring on a certain sense of freedom and may, in fact, inhibit one’s social filter. And though I have worried mightily about what the devil I would do with myself once unemployed, I can report from two months in, so far, so good. An older friend told me long ago that […]

After taking air samples at various altitudes, the airplane was returning to its base and overshot a turn to the Runway 36 localizer. Shortly thereafter, the pilot reported an on-board fire. The airplane, which was at 1700 feet, lost altitude rapidly and radar contact was lost. The accident site was consistent with the airplane striking the ground at a high velocity, low angle of impact in a left wing slightly low attitude. There was a ground fire after impact.

After years of lobbying by general-aviation advocates, the FAA issued new rules in January that aim to make it easier for many pilots to maintain their medical certification. SpaceX successfully launched a rocket in January that deployed 10 IridiumNext satellites, the first of 66 that will expand real-time global coverage for tracking airplanes in flight by mid-2018. The avionics industry will rise to the challenge of equipping the U.S. aircraft fleet with ADS-B Out by the Jan. 1, 2020, deadline, according to industry leader Ric Peri. The NTSB issued a rare urgent safety recommendation in January, warning pilots that Piper PA-31T-series aircraft may have unsafe wiring that could lead to arcing and fires.

Four aerospace projects and accomplishments are competing for the 2016 Robert J. Collier Trophy, awarded annually by the National Aeronautic Association “for the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America.” The 2016 nominees are Blue Origin New Shepard, Boeing’s 737 Max, Dassault Aviation’s FalconEye Combined Vision System and the U.S. Air Force 212th Rescue […]

The FAA December 16 released its long-awaited final rule making significant revisions to small aircraft certification standards. The new FAR Part 23 rule addresses how airplanes weighing up to 19,000 pounds can be certified and implements performance-based airworthiness requirements instead of the prescriptive design requirements it replaces. It apparently offers little regulatory relief to owners or operators of existing or aging aircraft. Given the scope of the rule changes, the FAA is delaying its implementation eight months, to August 30, 2017.

The Ocean Reef Vintage Weekend, which started in 1994, attracts dozens of vintage airplanes, cars and yachts. The collection continues to grow each year. For the first few years, only a handful of airplanes flew into the airstrip at the private Key Largo, Florida, community. For the most recent event, in early December, 2016, nearly […]

The National Transportation Safety Board last week published its preliminary report — essentially a list of the facts gathered to this point — about the December 29, 2016, crash into Lake Erie of a Cessna Citation CJ4. The Part 91-operated jet disappeared into the dark waters of the lake about a minute after departing Cleveland’s […]