Week in brief December 16 2011

The ATSB has investigated the operational reliability of Piper PA-31-350 aircraft engine turbocharger units following a number of accidents and serious incidents where a failure of one of the engine turbochargers had been central to the occurrence events. The Bureau's investigation found that specific maintenance attention to the turbocharger lubrication system is important to ensure preservation and reliable operation of the turbocharger bearings. The ATSB draws attention to a US Federal Aviation Administration, Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) CE-09-11, which provides information for air crew on what to do in the event of a turbocharger malfunction or failure. Read the ATSB report by clicking here.


US Flying reports that veteran airshow pilot Rick Volker of Rick Volker Air Shows has been successfully testing an unleaded biofuel gasoline in his Sukhoi Su-26M to much success. Volker says the leaded Avgas alternative is providing power similar to conventional 100LL aviation fuel while greatly boosting his range.


GippsAero, whose GA8 Airvan VH-BYI graces the cover of our soon-to-be-published January/February 2012 print issue, has just launched its very own Facebook page. If you want to keep up to date with everything happening at GippsAero, including progress on the upcoming GA10 and GA18 variants as well as developments for the GA8 Airvan and have access to the latest GippsAero press releases, newsletters, photos, news feeds and more, be sure to ‘like’ GippsAero’s Facebook page. Visit GippsAero on Facebook.


Brisbane-based Australian Aerospace delivered the 15th MRH90 (Multi-Role Helicopter), tail number 014, to the Australian Defence Force (ADF) earlier this week, marking the
second such hand-over in two weeks. The MRH90 is being ordered as a replacement for Army and Navy Black Hawk and Sea King helicopters, with 46 aircraft currently on order. Capable of carrying two pilots, two loadmasters and 18 combat troops up to 900km at speeds in excess of 300km/h, the MRH90 is a fly-by-wire, all-composite construction, medium-lift helicopter with the highest crash-worthiness standards.


The ATSB has released its Aviation Short Investigation Bulletin: Third Quarter, Issue 7, which covers 24 reports compiled from information the ATSB has gathered on the circumstances surrounding the occurrences in the period and what safety action may have been taken or identified as a result. Read the bulletin by clicking here.


Airservices Australia has introduced a single data warehousing solution to bring together a vast range of aviation-related information and improve data capture, reporting and analysis. The air navigation service provider has been working with IBM to install its Infosphere software and build an executive dashboard in the first release of Airservices Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW). The EDW brings together information from previously separate operational systems within Airservices covering 85 data sources. Airservices Manager Business Systems Integration Steve Caldicott said the solution had been introduced to better synthesise and analyse a range of operational data and in so doing provide a better service to customers through greater operational efficiencies.


For the first time ever, electric motors have been installed on the main landing gear of a commercial aircraft, taking over all necessary movements of an aircraft on ground. L-3 Communications, Fraport, Lufthansa Airlines and Lufthansa Technik, with Airbus support, teamed up to jointly test the technology demonstrator which might lead to a new way for aircraft to taxi. The system integrates electric wheel drives into the main landing gear to propel the aircraft during ground operations.


Former Head of Government and Commercial Partnerships at Jetstar Airways, Unni Menon, has joined Airservices Australia as General Manager, Corporate and International Affairs. He has almost 30 years’ management experience in the aviation industry from operational, commercial and government advisory perspectives. In his Canberra-based Airservices role, Menon will address a range of issues facing the national air navigation services provider.