Saturday, 15 August 2009
Hudson mid-air
The Teterboro controller was engaged in a 'non-business related' telephone call at the time of the accident. That call is widely reported to have been to his girlfriend. Both the controller, and the ATC supervisor who was not present at the time, have been suspended by the FAA. Although the FAA has stated that there is currently no reason to believe that the controllers' behavior led to the accident, they are both likely to be dismissed.
The area is covered by TIS, traffic data that is uplinked via a Mode S transponder and displayed in the cockpit if suitable equipment is fitted (typically a GNS430/530 in older aircraft). If the traffic is seen by radar (as it was in this case) then it too would be uplinked. The equipment fit of each aeroplane has not been released.
There's a YouTube video of the collision, reportedly made by friends of the five Italian tourists who were in the Liberty Tours Squirrel.
Tough times continue for business jet employees

Hawker Beechcraft last week sent out letters to employees warning of further significant job cuts.
I hear that Wichita is the world's biggest parking lot for unsold jets right now. A year or two ago people were prepared to pay a premium for positions near the head of the delivery queue, and sales people wouldn't negotiate, now all you need is a pocket full of dollars to do some spectacular deals at your local Business Jet store.
NetJets, the world's leading fractional ownership company, is restructuring after Chairman and CEO of 25 years Richard T Santulli resigned with immediate effect. The company lost $350m in the first half of 2009 following an 81% drop in aircraft sales and a 22% drop in revenue hours.
Friday, 14 August 2009
UK Cape challenge postponed until 2010

The extra time will also give Steve the chance to raise some extra sponsorship and to put another 30 or 40 hours on the aeroplane before setting off for South Africa.
Good AFPEx news
The next release will also make the software fully compliant with the latest version of Java.
Thursday, 13 August 2009
Oshkosh video
Enjoy
Oops, can't get this to fit properly, click on the video to watch the original
Wednesday, 12 August 2009
A guide to VFR flight plan addressing for France
The way it was...
When you filled in a flight plan online using AFPEx, the system auto-filled the addresses for the departure, destination and alternate airfields. You then right-clicked in an address box, clicked through to 'Add VFR Addresses' and added the collective* address for each of the FIRs through which you would be flying. For France, the pop-up box also told you to manually add the ICAO codes for the destination and alternate with the suffix ZPZX for each.
*A collective address is something created by the AFPEx people at NATS, so rather than having to know the addresses of each FIR in France for example, they have all been 'collected' under one, AFPEx-supplied address.
You will need to download or open this file
The way it is (for now)...
AFPEx will still auto-fill the departure, destination and alternate fields for you. As above, you will need to follow the 'Add VFR Addresses' for the FIRs that you will fly through, including France.
Open the document from the French AIP (linked to above) and go to the VFR addressing bit that starts on page 12 of the document.

At the top of the page you will see that they want the following
- Departure ICAO code + ZPZX
- Attaching BRIA code + ZFZX
- Destination ICAO + ZTZX
- Attaching BRIA + ZFZX
- FIR (In France) crossed + ZFZX
- SIV concerned + ZTZX
- Any additional addresses specified

...it's fairly simple to go through the table and dig out the correct addresses.
However, from the list above, AFPEx will auto-fill the departure or destination fields adding the suffix ZTZX. The sharp-eyed will notice that the French now have different addresses for the same airfield depending on if it's being used as a departure or destination! To be foolproof, the AFPEx team is suggesting that you manually add ZPZX to all departure, destination and alternate fields in France. You also will have entered the AFPEx-generated collective address when you used the pop-up 'Add VFR Addresses' to put in VFR France. This collective address now contains...
- Every FIR in France
- Every BRIA in France
Given the amount of addresses that could be required for some destinations, it's worth using the 'Store' function in order to create saved, correctly-addressed flight plans for your favourite destinations.
Glossary
BRIA Bureau Regional d'Information Aeronautique - think FBUs of old
SIV Service Information Vols - think Flight Information Area
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
French flight plans and AFPEx
With IFR plans there's an almost instant ACK message that gets sent to your AFPEx mailbox indicating that all is well. There's no acknowledgment with VFR flight plans, but I've never had a problem with them going missing, until yesterday that is.
My flight had started in Quiberon, but I planned a stop in Cherbourg to complete Customs formalities, i.e. walking through the empty Customs corridor. I'd logged on to AFPEx in the morning and filed a flight plan from Cherbourg back to the strip in the UK. On my way from Quiberon to Cherbourg, I called Jersey to get a crossing through the south-east corner of their zone and to get an early idea on the status of D036. Jersey mentioned my flight plan; when I first called, they'd looked it up on their system. Imagine my surprise when Cherbourg said they hadn't seen it, and neither had Nantes, the BRIA (French Flight Brieifing Unit) for that region.
Despite knowing that it was in the system somewhere, I ended up having to call Nantes and file over the telephone. I called AFPEx this morning to find out if I’d done anything wrong and found out about a recent change that the French have introduced.
When using AFPEx to file a flight plan you are offered a degree of help with the VFR addressing. This is accessed by right clicking in one of the address boxes at the top of an AFPEx flight plan form and clicking through ‘VFR addresses’ and ‘Add VFR addresses’. You’ll then be presented with a box in which there is a list of addresses which are pretty much all collective addresses. By collective addresses I mean that the people at NATS behind AFPEx have grouped the appropriate addresses together under one single address, making life simpler for the user and reducing the possibility of errors.

However, scroll down to France and then extend the box and you’ll see a note that suggests you consult the French AIP, specifically ENR 1.11. This is a document that sets out some new addresses for French airfields, addresses that right now AFPEx does not take into account. As an example, any flight departing from or arriving at Cherbourg will need the following list of addresses.
LFRCZPZX LFRSZPZX LFRRZFZX LFRGZTZX LFRGZPZX
if you are departing from Cherbourg, or
LFRCZTZX LFRSZPZX LFRRZFZX LFRGZTZX LFRGZPZX
if you are arriving at Cherbourg
Right now, AFPEx does not seem to differentiate between departing or arriving, using LFRCZPZX for both. The collective address for VFR in France, EGZYVFLF is an AFPEx collective and may or may not contain some or all of the required addresses. I suspect my ‘lost’ flight plan was due to it not being properly addressed as per the new instructions
To say this is a bit of a mess would be an understatement. The AFPEx team are well aware of this issue and are discussing it with the French with a view to finding a nice simple solution. In the meantime (and I’ll update this as and when I get news) the only way to be squeaky clean is to print a copy of the French AIP ENR 1.11 and follow the instructions there.
Monday, 10 August 2009
HMEC-25 Headsets

Have you used these before? If so, I'd like to know how you found them. Please drop me an email or leave a comment.
Thanks
Ian
CAA issues LSA clarification
Dear Sir,
Light Sport Aircraft (LSA)
With the increasing interest in Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) it is important that operators and potential purchasers are aware of the current situation regarding the European Aviation Safety Agency’s (EASA) plans for the aircraft.
At present, EASA will provide ‘Flight Conditions’ for these aircraft. This potentially allows these aircraft to qualify for an EASA Permit to Fly (PtF), which will be issued by the State of Registry, e.g. the UK CAA. The aircraft are being delivered from the manufacturer, accompanied by an EASA Form 52. This attests to the build status of the aircraft but, at present, these documents have no legal validity as the production process currently sits outside of the established EASA Implementing Rules for certification under Part 21. This means that aircraft which have had a PtF issued, have not been designed or manufactured to a certificated standard and will be restricted in their use. For example, ab initio flying training or its use for hire and reward will not be permitted.
EASA has recently agreed to formalise the requirements for certification and manufacture of these LSA types. We believe that EASA intends that they will be designed to a code, Certification Specification (CS) -LSA, based on the US ASTM specification. It will also be a requirement that the production organisation be approved, in accordance with Part 21. In the absence of the Part 21 approval, the aircraft will not be eligible for anything other than a PtF and thus will be restricted in use.
Aircraft manufactured and delivered when the Part 21 production approval is in place will initially be issued with a PtF but once the aircraft has been evaluated against the design code, may be eligible for the issue of a CofA. EASA is considering further the likely operating rules that will apply to LSA aircraft with a CofA and it is hoped that this will include flying training.
There are three further points worth noting. Firstly, kit-built versions of these LSA aircraft will only be eligible for a National PtF, e.g. a UK National PtF issued by the CAA and administered through the Light Aircraft Association. Secondly, an aircraft with an EASA PtF is not necessarily eligible for flight in the airspace of another country, even the EU Member States, as EASA has yet to take on the legal competence for airspace use and access. Thirdly, LSA aircraft on a PtF cannot be hired out, this constitutes hire and reward, but can be operated by a group in accordance with the current group rules defined in the UK Air Navigation order (max 20 members sharing the costs).
In the meantime, prospective purchasers of these aircraft should be aware that the EASA requirements are not yet in place.
Jim McKenna
Head of Strategy, Policy and Standards
Airworthiness Division
Safety Regulation Group
Civil Aviation Authority
50lph and only 120kt
When I compare that lot with the space and weight restrictions 'enjoyed' by some smaller aircraft, I realise that the C182 offers compromises that suit my flying - from short strip stuff to IFR touring. The 50lph still hurts though.
Air/Ground radio
