All those who look forward to The Last Minute Hitch coming out every Friday like clockwork will be a bit confused right now. Last week there wasn't one at all and this week it's here on a Thursday! Last week I had to send it on sabbatical to deal with a sudden family crisis, which has since abated, and tomorrow, of course, is a public holiday. So we're still going like clockwork, but the last couple more like a two-bob watch than a Rolex.
Nominations for the Wings Awards have opened for 2015. Let me tell you what they're about: people. In short, if you think general aviation is all about aeroplanes, you're correct in the smallest part only. General aviation is 10% about aeroplanes and 90% about people. Those people are the ones who keep the wings flying in this world; they've got dedication, passion and commitment. They also give more to aviation than it's possible to take out and so often you never hear much about it from them. The Wings Awards are designed largely to tell the world that this person, this aero club or this airport, product or aeroplane is important to general aviation in Australia. Many deserve a Wings Award, but they've got no chance of getting one unless someone nominates them. That's your side of the deal. If you've got an ideal, deserving candidate in mind, check out the criteria on the Australian Flying website and get your nomination in.
An 18-engined Tecnam! NASA is going to use the fuselage of a P2006T to test its concept of electric power for general aviation. A new wing sporting 18 engines will be bolted onto the Tecnam. According to reports, NASA's aim is to have working electrical power for general aviation inside of 10 years. That is going to require a leap in technology in terms of power output and weight. No wonder they've called the program LEAPTech. Getting real, an 18-engine plane isn't going to impress the market, but the research may point the way the industry needs to go if electricity is to power GA aircraft in the future. I mean, who wants to turn over 18 props before the first flight of the day?!
Viking Air has launched an all-out marketing assault in the Pacific region for their Series 400 Twin Otter. This new version of De Havilland Canada's legendary twin turbo-prop has been around for some time now, but there's been no real effort to push it in this region, almost ensuring that very few people knew that the "Twotter" was back in production. The capabilities of this aeroplane do make you wonder why DHC ever stopped production, or why they sold the type certificate. This is all bad news for Mahindra as they contemplate the reality of producing the Airvan 18, known once as the GAF Nomad. The market is only so big and the Twotter has a head start.
It makes a lot of sense that Missionary Aviation Fellowship has abandoned their traditional home in Victoria for Mareeba in Queensland: most of their missions will be to Australia's north anyway. For years MAF trained pilots first at Ballarat and then Coldstream. The partnership with Aviation Australia transforms their capability into a bona fide flying academy, and means many prospective commercial students will gain from many years experience flying in the toughest environments in the world. That's got to be good for aviation.
We're soon to get an answer to a question that aviation worldwide has been musing over for about five years: how much market can the HondaJet grab? Honda is a new player in this game, and they are facing down some formidable opposition in Cessna and Embraer. With the provisional type certificate awarded, the full cert is virtually guaranteed within a couple of months. The HA420 is a strange beast with a unique engine mount, but Honda is not known for turning out duds. Can they translate that into success in the private jet market where so many others have struggled? We have to wait only a little bit longer now.
May your gauges always be in the green,
Hitch