8-27-10  An article that AOPA published a while ago talked about the airspace being complex and convoluted. This weekend the airspace from Portland to the cape just might fit this description. To protect the airshow at Pease we have a 10 mile by 15k ft TFR that has on and off hours associated with it. To our south we also have the presidential TFR's on the cape, not to mention the various types of airspace including B, C, D, E & G. A flight to Plymouth Mass. this weekend could be an interesting ride.

NASA Constellation Program Terminated ~ 8-25-10: In 2011 NASA will no longer be able to send humans into space on its own. Instead, it is turning to entrepreneurs to do the job. Back in 2004 President Bush announced that NASA would be phasing out the space shuttle program at the end of the decade. In that plan however, the next-generation rockets and space capsules (which is the now canceled Constellation program) would not be ready until 2015. For the first time in three decades, the United states will have no spacecraft that could move people and cargo into Earth orbit. Instead, we will be relying on Russian Soyuz spacecraft to fly Americans to the International Space Station. Wow! Who would of guessed...

~8-22-10 Here we go again! More controversy about the infamous "TFRrrrrr." The Portland Oregon Air National Guard apparently got orders from NORAD, who must of gotten orders from the SS, who were probably notified by someone sitting at a radar console at Seatle ATC who saw the Cessa 180 float plane inside the military boundary perimeter of what's know as the presidential TFR air space. Two F15, yes 1970's vintage F15's, were cleared to accelerate to supersonic speed from Longview, Wash. to the Puget Sound area and of course, everyone heard the sonic boom. One article said that when they were within the TFR airspace, the jets remained in a holding pattern waiting for orders from the Western Air Defense Sector and Seattle Air Traffic Control Center. By the time they got there the Cessna had already landed and the Secret Service was on the way to have a talk to the pilot. After moving their holding pattern overhead at Paine Field, Wash. they were eventually cleared back to Portland. (I wonder if the Cessna was squawking 1200 on his transponder?) In this case, the word "squawking" is appropriate from both sides of the fence... except for the two F15 pilots who flew supersonic over populated areas.

Boston New England Air Show  ~ 8-18-10 (12-23-09): The Blue Angels will be coming to Pease for an air show being called the "Boston New England Air Show." "It's been 20 years since the Blue Angels have thrilled crowds at Pease." The Boston New England Air Show is being brought to Pease by the Daniel Webster Council of the Boy Scouts of America and the Brain Injury Association of New Hampshire. The show has been about 10 years in the making and with its main focus being to bring a premier event for youths in the region. The show is scheduled to be at Pease on Aug. 28 and 29, 2010. "Adding a prestigious international team like the Brazilian Air Force Smoke Squadron along with the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and our strong civilian and military lineup rivals any show in the country." Organizers say international military demonstration team appearances are rare in the United States. CLICK on the Boston New England Air Show icon to see their webpage. CLICK on the Blue Angel icon to see the Fosters article.

TFR OVER BUZZARD'S BAY ON THURSDAY~  8-17-10  Here we go again. It appears we are having a presidential vacation TFR down on the cape. I wonder how well the "GATEWAY" system is working. Most pilots I talk to just stay away. However if you're a flight school the inconvenience comes with a price tag. AOPA is reporting a notam has issued that will restrict flight in the area during 
President Obama's planned visit.  ==> 30 nm radius TFR <== Location: MVY VOR's 029-degree radial at 16.3 nautical miles Surface to 17,999-ft-MSL  Times: 1:30 p.m. until 2:30 p.m. local Thursday, August 19 Requirements for flight and operations not authorized  ( http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/notams-special.html )  ==> 10 nm radius no-fly zone <== Location: MVY VOR's 029-degree radial at 16.3 nautical miles Surface to 17,999-ft-MSL Times: 1:30 p.m. until 2:30 p.m. local Thursday, August 19.

~ 8-17-10: Here's a notice I received from Larry Grenier about the Bowman Field Fly-In.  FREE OVERNIGHT CAMPING (under 18 must be accompanied by an adult) 50/50 RAFFLE HUGE LAWN SALE CONCESSION FOOD STAND ICE CREAM GAMES FOR KIDS CANDY DROP 3PM SATURDAY / 2PM SUNDAY PLANE RIDES T-SHIRTS AND HATS DOOR PRIZES ALL DAY! BOTH DAYS! MAINE ANTIQUE POWER ASSOCIATION SATURDAY NIGHT BAKED BEAN & SPAGHETTI SUPPER CAMPFIRE SATURDAY NIGHT RT. 133 RIVER ROAD IN EAST LIVERMORE, ME. (ID. B10) PILOTS USE 122.9 SEA PLANE ACCESSIBLE For Information Call Joe (207) 897-2476 or Ken (207) 897-5104 www.bowmanfieldflyingclub.com

TFR ALERT OVER MARTHA'S VINEYARD~  8-16-10  FAA TO ESTABLISH TFR OVER MARTHA'S VINEYARD TO BEGIN THURSDAY
A notam has been issued that will restrict flight in the area during President Obama's planned visit.  ==> 30 nm radius TFR <== Location: Centered over the MVY VOR/DME Surface to 17,999-ft-MSL Times: 2:30 p.m. local Thursday, August 19 until 2:30 p.m. local Sunday, August 29. ==> 10 nm radius no-fly zone <== Location: Centered over the MVY VOR/DME Surface to 17,999-ft-MSL  Times: 2:30 p.m. local Thursday, August 19 until 2:30 p.m. local Sunday, August 29See the Flight Advisory. The new twist on TFR's in the new procedure called "GATEWAY AIRPORT" that provides a means of entering the TFR with special permissions and approvals. Click on the following link for more info:  ( http://download.aopa.org/epilot/2010/MVY100811_final_advisory.pdf )

Monster On The Ramp ~ 8-12-10: That's monster as in muscle and power, not as in Godzilla. The long nose is a give-away that this machine is packing a turboprop. A little reasearch reveals it has a 750 hp Walter turboprop. The aircraft appears to be a kit plane that's sold by "Aircraft Designs" in Monterey California. The website [click here] shows a nice 300 hp IO-550 engine version and describes the aircraft as a 6 seat powerhouse with a 200 knot speed of a 2 place Glassair. Somebody obviously took this kit plane to the next level. I suspect the cruise of the turboprop is over 300 knots. Click on the aircraft icon to see the pics I got on the ramp. I have to say, my still favorite version of the Walter turboprop is the Lancair [click here]

Light Sport Aircraft for under $60,000 by X-Air ~ 8-9-10: One of the complaints I've heard about LSA's is that most of them are over $100k. You can buy a very nice Skyhawk or Cherokee for a lot less money. Well, it sounds like people have been complaining and somebody has been listening. Enter the "X-Air" light sport. Avweb just put out a video they made at Oshkosh when they took one for a ride. If you're wondering how they got the price down so far you'll know the answer after you watch the video. The video refers the reader to an Oregon distributor's website[click here].However, I couldn't find anything about where this thing is built until I went to... "Google" of course, which revealed another X-Air website in India [click here] and [HERE] claiming to be the builder of this unique very fabric airplane. From Wiki: Bangalore is home to many of the most well-recognized colleges and research institutions in India with numerous public sector heavy industries, software companies, aerospace, telecommunications, and defense organizations and the fastest growing major metropolis in India.

Garmin ESP Certification Expected ~ 8-5-10: Emails and articles are popping up with news about Garmin's new ESP system. I tried to find out what this system looks like and I came up short. At first glance, I thought it might be another gadget for LSA's. Not quite... Unless you own a Cirrus or a King Air that's equipped with a Garmin G1000 glass panel ($50k) with a Garmin’s GFC™ 700 ($20k)  automatic flight control system (AFCS) you're probably not interested. Oh, and don't forget to add $18k for the ESP system. Click on the G1000 icon to see the AOPA article.

DRAGONFLY Tip-Jet Helicopter ~ 7-28-10: Avweb sent out an email talking about the single-seat Dragonfly helicopter. The pilot pushes a few times on a fuel-pump crank handle, the fuel climbs up to the rotor hub and travels out to a tiny combustion chamber in the rotor tips, then it's vaporized and ejected, creating thrust. The Dragonfly weighs around 250 pounds and can fly 100 knots. The hydrogen peroxide fuel burns at the rate of 11 gallons per hour. The aircraft is FAA certified and sells for $120,000 although they were offering a show special of $84,000 to the first five takers. An electronic flight instrument system is included as standard equipment. Not surprising, Google reveals a YouTube video that's also embeded along with an article from Popular Science that did an article on the Dragonfly Tip-Jet back in March of 2010. 

FAA Safety Seminars ~7-26-10: Another Light Sport get together is coming up at Parlin Field Airport in Newport NH. This time it's going to be in conjunction with an FAA Safety Seminar. Title: The World of Light Sport! .Topic: Introduction to Light Sport Aircraft. "Dave Pepple of the FAA leads an informative and wide ranging discussion about the new world of Light Sport Aircraft. This seminar is being held in conjunction with a Light Sport Aircraft Exposition that includes several Light Sport Aircraft provided by various manufacturers.  See the airplanes, talk with manufacturers, ask questions, and learn more about Light Sport!" They are to have Exhibits and demonstrations from Flight Design, Tecnam, Legend Cub, Remos, and Jabiru, and Garmin reps.

Small UAV's Get Hi-Tech Custom Engines ~7-24-10: --Manufacturer's of small UAVs have been using off-the-shelf engines to deploy the aircraft more quickly. The way they are talking, using off the shelf commercial engines for lawnmowers and weed wackers isn't good enough for sophisticated hi-tech scientific and military equipment. The solution was decided to make a custom engine from scratch. That’s where Ricardo, Inc. (ricardo.com), company comes in. Engineers developed a family of purpose-built engines for small UAVs that's an air-cooled, 88-cc, three horsepower, two-cylinder, two-stroke hybrid, runs on the military’s JP-8 heavy fuel, and ignited by spark plugs. It also carries 500 watts of onboard power from an integrated starter-generator. CLICK HERE for more information.

LSA's At Skyhaven ~7-18-10: Are LSA's the coming thing? Well more and more people are asking questions about them and there's certainly a lot of makes and models to choose from. Yesterday here at Skyhaven, through arrangements of the Skyhaven Flying Club, some LSA dealers flew in with their LSA aircraft to maybe temp the club into adding one to their current fleet of two Skyhawks. For some reason, all the LSA's I've seen are manufactured outside of the U.S. Countries like Poland, Yugoslavia, Russia, even Thailand and Australia are getting into the "sold in America" act. Finding an LSA that is made in the United States is kind of tricky. Even the Piper Sport is made in Yugoslavia. CLICK HERE to see some of the planes in front of the Skyhaven Flying Club hangar.

TFR ALERT FOR BAR HARBOR MAINE   ~ 7-14-10 FAA TO ESTABLISH TFR OVER BAR HARBOR, ME ON JULY 16-18. A notam has been issued that will restrict flight in the area during President Obama's planned visit. 30 nm radius TFR Location:
BGR VOR's 156-degree radial at 35.2 nautical miles Surface to 17,999-ft-MSL Times:11:00 a.m. local Friday, July 16 until 11:30 a.m. local Sunday, July 18.  12 nm radius no-fly zone Location: BGR VOR's 156-degree radial at 35.2 nautical miles Surface to 17,999-ft-MSL Times: 11:00 a.m. local Friday, July 16 until 11:30 a.m. local Sunday, July 18. A GATEWAY AIRPORT HAS BEEN CREATED AT BANGOR INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (KBGR).

TANDEM LSA Called  MySky MSOne ~7-10-10: There's a few high-wing LSAs that offer tandem seating but only a couple of low-wing designs offering the same feature. It sounds like the idea is to give that fighter-like view from the cockpit for both pilot and passenger. According to their website, the fabrication of parts is done in Thailand and the parts are shipped to Daytona Beach, FL, where they intend to do the final assembly and flight testing. There are so many LSA's out there it's hard to keep track of the latest offerings.

FAA Safety Seminars ~ 7-6-10: Looks like two interesting safety seminars coming up this month being held at the Yankee Ultralight Fly-In, 682 Old Post, Road, Greenland, NH 03840. The one on July 10 is titled, "Be A Sport!" Randy Autrey of the FAA Safety Team will discuss the latest changes to the sport pilot regulations, the automated WINGs Program, and the safety-critical concept of personal minimums. The other seminar is on Tuesday July 13th is called, "Building Your Own Aircraft!" These seminars appear to be part of the Yankee Ultralight Flyers FLY-IN  July 09 Through 17, 2010 at Sanderson's Field Greenland, NH. Click on the above meeting dates for more information.

NASA Encourages Supersonic Aircraft  7-4-10:More articles are showing up about supersonic aircraft. This time it sounds like NASA is working with Boeing and Lockheed Martin to submit ideas for a NASA research mission, "Looking into new airplanes that could take the boom out of supersonic flight." From what I've seen on some of this research, it seems like the key to quieting the sonic boom lies in the shape of the nose taking on the appearance of a needle that will pierce the air with a very sharp shallow angled point. The Lockheed model of this aircraft looks like they borrowed the engines from the SR-71. Maybe they had a warehouse full of unused SR-71 engines and have found a place to put them. However, it appears that articles about these secret projects imply this green trim aircraft has been around for a while. Check out this article from Aviation Week.

NASA Award For Performance  7-2-10:A company in Yugoslavia that was known for making gliders has branched off into the LSA market. The company called Pipistrel, is known for producing planes that are both fuel-efficient and high performance. To do this, the company uses a high tech computer program called "CATIA." It has the ability to model composite materials into complex shapes. Their goal is to, "Produce an airplane that has the most possible lift while producing a minimal amount of drag.” Its Virus SW (Short Wing) cruise aircraft won the NASA Challenge, winning accolades for their fuel efficiency and performance." Check out these specs: Maneuvering speed 95 kts, turbulence penetration speed (green arc) 135 kts and the VNE at 163 kts.  The aircraft can be equipped by either the Rotax 912 UL2 (80 hp) or 912 ULS (100 hp) powerplants and a large variety of avionics options. The new 80 HP S-Wing cruises at 133 kts, burning less than 3.6 gph. At 75% cruise-power-setting the 100 HP version speeds over the skies at 147 kts! That's a cruise speed of 169 mph with a 100 hp Rotax engine. 

UAV's In Space !  6-23-10: With all the talk about the proliferation of UAV's it comes to no surprise that the Air Force has decided to put them in space and,  "Use the X-37 to develop space-based UAVs capable of firing weapons at satellites or sites on Earth. Some believe the X-37 will test cameras and new tracking capabilities, and possibly serve as a reusable space-based spy platform that can be quickly deployed and recovered." I wonder if they will use high speed cameras to scan the borders? "The 11,000-lb spacecraft measures 27.5-ft long with a wingspan of 15 ft. Propulsion comes from a Rocketdyne AR-2/3 rocket engine. The spaceplane can remain in orbits ranging from 125 to 575 miles above Earth for a maximum of 270 days."

FCC BANS 121.5 ELTS ~  6-23-10: "The Federal Communications Commission said it will prohibit the sale or use of 121.5 MHz emergency locator transmitters, effective in August. However, the 121.5 ELTs are allowed under FAA rules. The FCC says that if the 121.5 units are no longer available, aircraft owners and operators will "migrate" to the newer 406.0-406.1 MHz ELTs, which are monitored by satellite, while the 121.5 frequency is not. "Were we to permit continued marketing and use of 121.5 MHz ELTs ... it would engender the risk that aircraft owners and operators would mistakenly rely on those ELTs for the relay of distress alerts," the FCC says. AOPA said today it is opposed to the rule change." The committee that's in charge of coordinating efforts between the FAA and the FCC must be on vacation.

A Replacement For 100LL ~6-23-10: More controversy about 100LL continues with no apparent solution in site. Announcements continue about terminating 100LL but there appears to be no equivalent substitutions. With all the advances in business planning techniques and talk about "Due Diligence," you would think that 100LL wouldn't be taken off the market until a viable alternative has been established. AOPA says, "The association is actively working to build consensus and evaluating potential solutions, although no definitive avgas replacement has yet been found. 

Scooter On The Loose... 6-16-1 If you're looking for Jim's white truck to see if he's on duty at the office you may not see it but he's still there. That's because he's been getting around on his littler red scooter. I don't think he'll be riding to Laconia for motorcycle weekend, but it looks like he gets around town just fine... and the gas mileage can't be beat. Hangar 5 will be a busy place this Friday June 18th with the public meeting being hosted by the Skyhaven Airport Advisory Council. Stop in and meet the new tenants and the SAAC members to find out what's going on and what kind of plans and services that are being worked on.
 

6-8-1:  "FAASTeam Representative and Portland Air Traffic Controller Cheryl Readio will discuss ATC procedures, communication techniques, and surface safety." Also, a Garmin representative Mike Kerrigan will speak about using Garmin navigation products effectively and efficiently to reduce pilot workload. Did you get your postcard invitation from Maine Aviation? Don't forget to get you Garmin Seminar bucks. Looking at Google maps, the Embassy should be within walking distance of the ramp. Don't forget the Seaplane Flyin at Naples!

Activity In Hangar 5! 6-8-1 Hangar 5 is a busy spot lately.With the arrival of Aeroworks LLC and Kelby Ferwerda it's not unusual to see a bunch of cars parked by the hanger. Stop in and say hello and see what kind of services that will help you out in your aviation needs. And if you're new to aviation, that's ok too. Ask for Kelby and get some information on learning how to fly a Cessna 150 for a cost that's designed to meet the tightest budget. While you're there, stop in at the main office and check out the bulletin board to see who's selling their plane. Maybe yours is sitting on the ramp someplace...