Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Happy New Year -2015

From all of us at Whiteplains, We wish everyone a Happy New Year!

Around Whiteplains Plantation - December 2014






Photo by: Don Cook

All of the speed limit signs have been replaced with new ones..

This completes the sign work at Whiteplains. Street signs, and the two large signs coming into Whiteplains have all been cleaned up and repainted. Still have one light at Phase II entrance to install.


Wednesday, December 24, 2014

From Flying


I Learned About Flying From That: A Freight Dog's Christmas

By Laennec Ratard / Published: Dec 23, 2010
Flying Magazine | The World’s Most Widely Read Aviation Magazine
Photo: Illustrated by Barry Ross
Christmas Eve 2002 should have been a happy time. It was my first Christmas with my new wife in our new home in Miami. I was a commercial pilot for a small, domestic freight airline. Pilots who do this type of flying are referred to as "freight dogs" because sometimes a day for us can seem like seven years. My normal duty day was 14 hours long, but this being Christmas Eve, I had a short day — just a quick trip to Tampa and back from Opa-locka Airport in Miami. Five hours' total duty — nothing — piece of cake. I kissed my wife goodbye, told her not to peek at her presents, and off to the airport I went.
When I got there, what I saw on the weather radar dampened my Christmas cheer. Yet another cold front was making landfall across Florida. This one was slicing the state in half at a 45-degree angle from east to west, directly blocking my path to Tampa. The line of thunderstorms ahead of the front was so big that there was no way around; the cold front stretched out about 100 miles offshore into the Gulf of Mexico and all the way up to Canada. There was no way I was going to take the single-engine Cessna 210 I flew that far over the ocean at night. That left me with two options: I could cancel the flight and go home, or I could push on through and hope it wasn't as bad as it looked.
I called my company dispatcher to discuss my options, and of course he didn't like option one. The company never does. He told me that it probably wasn't as bad as it looked — they always say that. In my mind I wanted to politely remind him that he couldn't possibly know how bad it was from the safety of his armchair, in his nice warm office, looking at the death and destruction on TV. I advised him that I was going to delay departure for about one hour to let the weather clear Tampa and see if the line broke up somewhat. Maybe in that time I could find a hole, 10 to 20 miles wide, to go through. My Cessna 210 didn't have airborne radar, and relying on air traffic control for guidance through a squall line isn't very smart. It's not that the controllers don't want to help; it's that their equipment wasn't designed for that and they aren't responsible for keeping airplanes out of nasty weather — that's the pilot in command's job.
My hour was up and there was no change. The line was still solid and intense. However, dispatch had some news for me: One of our guys, Suicide Steve, had made it through the line and said that it wasn't that bad, so perhaps I should give it a try. I really didn't want to, but I relented. … Big mistake. For those of you who don't realize the subtleness of this pressure, it's like Chinese water torture. Every five or 10 minutes the company asks if you can go yet, or if you can give an estimated time of departure. It takes a strong personality to stand up to that pressure, and unfortunately, for a rookie like myself, facing the weather seemed better than risking my job. So, like an idiot, I caved in and said I was going. I had just blown my first chance at a merry Christmas.
For the first 30 minutes of the flight, all was well. However, I could see the huge storm clouds looming up in the distance, lit up thanks to the continuous flashes of lightning. For those of you who have never seen a massive wall of clouds at night constantly lit up by lightning flashes, it is beautiful. It's the most beautiful light show on earth. There was no moon, and on my side of the front it was clear, so I would see nothing but the darkness of the Everglades ahead of me then — flash — the sky would light up and I'd see these gigantic cottony mountains of clouds far up and down either side of the horizon. As I approached the cold front, a great feeling of dread was welling up inside my gut as well as a feeling of amazement and curiosity. What was it like in there? How bad could it really be? I was mesmerized and terrified at the same time. I knew I should turn back, but for some reason I was drawn toward it. I approached the storms like a surfer approaches massive waves: 10 percent awe, 10 percent fear and 80 percent ignorance.
I called Flight Service on the radio to see if there was any change in the radar picture. I was looking for a hole to pass through, but there was nothing. The woman on the radio almost flat-out told me that I was a moron for continuing; she implied it but didn't come out and say it — not that I would have disagreed with her. Chance two missed.
I called the Miami Center controller who was monitoring my flight. I let her know that I didn't have radar and was wondering if she could perhaps provide me with some vectors around the strongest precipitation echoes on her radarscope. Then, I held my breath waiting for her reply.
"I'm sorry," she said. "It's everywhere, and there is nowhere to vector you except back to Miami. I'm sorry."
In a feeble attempt at bravado, I replied, "That's OK. You could feel worse; you could be up here with me."
Ha, ha, ha; third chance not taken.
I continued on, finally entering the clouds. I could no longer see the gigantic cumulonimbus buildups that surrounded me but only dull flashes of light that lit up the surrounding white clouds. It soon began to rain, and along with that came some light turbulence. Not so bad at first, and I thought that perhaps dispatch was right — it wasn't as bad as it looked. Then — pow — lightning exploded across the sky in every direction.
VIDEOS YOU MAY LIKE

Read more at http://www.flyingmag.com/technique/i-learned-about-flying/i-learned-about-flying-freight-dogs-christmas#Ofo8CRA9miKzoLFu.99

Monday, December 22, 2014

Photo by: Steve Sanderson  12/22/2014

Our neighbors gathered for our regular Monday morning K-Club breakfast, and we honored the dear ladies who take such good care of us all year long.  Here is our leader, Tony Scribner, presenting a neighborhood calendar to Tricia and Theresa.

Friday, December 19, 2014

ADS-B Not approved for everyone. Really?

Can You Install ADS-B Now? Maybe Not

So you’re ready to take the plunge and install equipment that meets FAR 91.225 and 91.227 requiring ADS-B “out” for flight in regulated airspace after the end of 2019. Can you do that? Is there a certified option available for your airplane? Maybe. But maybe not.
If you built your own airplane, or bought an E-AB that someone else built, the answer is no. If you own an LSA the answer is also almost certainly no. And if you own a pretty new standard production airplane with a factory installed flat glass avionics system the answer is also probably no.
Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? The FAA and the avionics industry are urging all airplane owners to act now and get certified ADS-B equipment installed and approved because there won’t be enough radio shop capacity to handle the crush of installs at the last moment.
But the FAA has tied itself into such regulator knots that many airplane owners simply don’t have a certified path to ADS-B compliance.
When the FAA was finalizing the ADS-B rules more than six years ago it was, and remains, extremely concerned that all approved equipment meet a very high standard for precision and reliability. After all, when we make it to an all-ADS-B world an airplane will be invisible if its system doesn’t function. Worse yet, if an ADS-B broadcasts inaccurate position, altitude, velocity and so on it could create a collision threat rather than resolve it.
So the FAA made the ADS-B certification rules extremely strict. For example, initially every specific piece of equipment must be approved in each type of airplane. There would be no multi-model (AML) STCs granted. That idea lasted for a couple years until it became unworkable so now there are AMLs covering installation of specific ADS-B equipment in hundreds of standard category airplanes. But so far the FAA is clinging to its individual model approval for helicopters.
Under its number one priority to keep ADS-B rules strict the FAA apparently forgot about homebuilts and other experimental airplanes. The rules require an STC (supplemental TYPE certificate) or TC (TYPE certificate). I capitalized type because that’s what is missing in an experimental. By its very existence an experimental aircraft has no type certificate. It’s a one-off, no matter if homebuilt, prototype, exhibition or developmental.
Maybe ADS-B in a homebuilt could be certified by an FAA field approval where an FAA office approves modification of a specific airplane. But that doesn’t seem to work for homebuilts. It is the builder who is the “approved” modifier and equipment installer. A field approval normally is granted to an individual based on work performed on other airplanes of the same type. There’s that word again.
Some builders are installing ADS-B equipment that is potentially certifiable and believe they have met the rule. But they haven’t. The rule requires flight manual supplements, operating restrictions, a performance test and other approved paperwork and there is no way for a builder to get there.
Under the ASTM rules that govern factory built LSA only the manufacturer can approve any change in the airplane, including installation of avionics. So there can be no STC for an LSA because there is no FAA type certificate for the airplane. No radio shop can ask for a field approval because only the manufacturer, not the FAA, can approve any change. How will this be resolved for LSA owners who want and need ADS-B capability? The situation is particularly worrisome for owners of LSA whose manufacture has exited the business. Who will spend the money to get an ASTM approval for those airplanes and how would the process work?
And the airplane left out of a path to ADS-B so far that is most surprising is a newer airplane with glass cockpit. When a complete avionics system is installed by the airframe manufacturer it is usually part of the type certificate, just like the ailerons or wing structure. The only way to add ADS-B capability to such systems is for the manufacturer to amend the TC, which can be cumbersome, and expensive and so far none have complied that I know of.
In some other airplanes a manufacturer delivers a new airplane with a complete integrated avionics system under an STC. But the complication there is that the airframe manufacturer may own the STC, or almost certainly controls the STC. That means that even though the maker of the avionics has ADS-B equipment designed and ready for certification it can’t get approval on its own because it doesn’t control the STC.
I’m sure there are other situations that I’m not thinking of where an airplane owner ready to invest in ADS-B out equipment simply has no path to certification. And changing FAA regulations never happens quickly so I don’t know how these conundrums will be resolved.
If you have a homebuilt or LSA what can you do? The only sensible answer is to wait on the FAA. If you buy and install equipment that you think can be approved in the future you may guess wrong. If you have an airplane delivered from the factory with a fully integrated avionics system you’re stuck waiting, too. So the mixed message from the FAA is the standard hurry up and wait.
This entry was posted in Mac Clellan's Left Seat Blog. Bookmark the permalink.

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Happenings around Whiteplains

Work day yesterday...Rob, Beth, Tony 1 & Tony 3 did a "bang job" of cleaning up Lee's Gazebo...NICE. Causey stopped by, offered moral support & watched for a bit.  Nice Team effort...photo attached. Tony 3.




Don Cook installed the first of the new  "Speed Limit"  signs.   Two more to go.


Thursday, December 11, 2014

New Electric Plane in the works

Daher-Socata To Build and Certify E-Fan for Airbus

By Stephen Pope / Published: Dec 11, 2014
E-Fan 2.0
E-Fan 2.0
Daher-Socata today announced it has signed on as a major partner with Airbus Group's VoltAir subsidiary for the design, development and certification of a new electric airplane unveiled earlier this year called the E-Fan 2.0.
 
The all-electric two-seater is the first product in what is being billed as a full-scale electric aircraft development program, launched by Airbus Group with great fanfare earlier in the year. The E-Fan 2.0 is intended to be a general aviation trainer, and the first full-rate production electric aircraft in the world. One of the stated goals of the program is eventually to usher in an era of electrical applications for future Airbus airliners.
 
Under the agreement with Airbus, Daher-Socata will be responsible for the E-Fan 2.0's entire development, including its electric engine and batteries, flight test and certification by EASA in Europe. The French manufacturer will also be responsible for helping define the operational framework and regulations for ab-initio pilot training with the French DGAC civil aviation airworthiness authority.
 
The contract, said officials, was the result of an initial 18-month phase of work studies conducted with Airbus Group, and comes at the perfect time for Daher-Socata, which introduced the TBM 900 single-engine turboprop a few months ago, freeing its engineering team to focus on the new project. It is predicted the E-Fan 2.0 eventually will be sold in the United States, although no potential pricing information has been revealed.
 
Daher-Socata has produced more than 700 TBMs as well as thousands more piston GA airplanes under the Rallye and TB lines. 

Read more at http://www.flyingmag.com/news/daher-socata-build-and-certify-e-fan-airbus#fS6H503RXR5OSiGf.99

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Supersonic Jets


VIDEO: SUPERSONIC JETS ARE BACK! Twice The Speed of Sound!!!


SUPERSONIC JETS ARE BACK!

Breakfast in New York, lunch in London, once again becomes a reality.

238BD9B200000578-2851561-image-54_1417084616936

Traveling twice the speed of sound, these high-speed beauties can cross the
Atlantic ocean in only three hours.


It’s been more than ten years since British Airways retired the last Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde airliner, which travelled at more than twice the speed of sound.
concorde
Since then we have been limited to traditional commercial long-haul jets with a cruise speed of 500 to 600 mph.
1411639404306_wps_1_ProEXR_File_Description_ABut There’s a new generation of supersonic passenger aircraft beginning to emerge
boasting speeds at least twice as fast as current commercial planes.
 In Europe jets are allowed to fly at supersonic speeds over land, but the US prohibits civilian planes from breaking the sound barrier, about 750 mph, while flying over land to avoid noisy sonic booms. The new breed of supersonic transports will fly at subsonic speeds until they reach the ocean when they will speed up to over 1,200 mph.
1411634820073_wps_5_Aerion_Still_EyeLevel_Pri‘To achieve unprecedented reductions in supersonic transportation airport noise, a completely new kind of propulsion system is being developed,” said Michael Buonanno, Lockheed Martin manager of the NASA N+2 program. “We are also exploring new techniques for low-noise jet exhaust, integrated fan noise suppression, airframe noise suppression and computer customized airport noise abatement.”
1411632894220_wps_1_CREATOR_gd_jpeg_v1_0_usinThe jets, which are designed for trans-continental flight will be made mostly from carbon fibre composite material. Design features include wings which reduce overall drag by 20 per cent providing lower fuel consumption and longer range for passengers.
1411632915665_wps_3_Aerion_Still_Interior_PriWhile these planes will first appear in the private and business jet market, catering only to the super rich. With price tags of over $100 million, few of us are running to the jet store, but it won’t be long until you see the new breed of planes taxiing down a runway headed for your gate.
WATCH VIDEO OF AMAZING DIGITAL WINDOW TECHNOLOGY