The ABC has reported that locals in Papua New Guinea believe they have solved one of the world's great aviation mysteries by locating the wreck belonging to revered aviatrix Amelia Earhart off the coast of Bougainville. While attempting to fly around the world in 1937 in a Lockheed Model 10 Electra, Earhart disappeared on July 2 over the central Pacific Ocean. She was declared legally dead 18 months later on January 5, 1939, but her body and plane wreck has never been found. Lae, in east PNG, was Earhart's last stop before she vanished, and a local businessman is funding divers to inspect the wreck after it was spotted by a local diving for fish. Adding a touch of Indiana Jones to the ordeal, the businessman says the divers found two skulls in the cockpit of the wreck and three boxes of gold bullion. This whole claim has been laughed off as “silly beyond description” by an American Earhart expert, and we’re not even going to buy into it ourselves, but be sure to click here to read more nonetheless.
Cessna has earmarked Tuesday March 29 at the Sun ’n Fun International Fly-In & Expo in Florida as the place and time for the official announcement of the next generation of its Corvalis high-performance single-engine piston aircraft. The current production Corvalis TT is the world’s fastest fixed-gear single-engine piston aircraft with a top speed of 235 knots and a service ceiling of 25,000 feet, but it is nonetheless being well outsold by the Cirrus SR22. We understand local Cessna rep Aeromil Pacific hopes to have a demonstrator model of the new Corvalis in the country later this year, so watch this space… .
In other Cessna news, the manufacturer is getting in on the action in the rapidly exapanding Chinese GA market, with the announcement earlier this week that it has sold 11 Grand Caravan utility turboprops to Hao Hai General Aviation Company Ltd. Good news no doubt, but here’s hoping Cessna doesn’t (as some have concluded it will) go the way of Cirrus and Teledyne Continental Motors and get bought out by Chinese state-owned interests. Interesting times for the GA industry indeed… .
A Perth website reports that for the first time in Western Australia a remote-controlled helicopter is being used to sell property. What, you ask? Well, 27-year-old Perth-based inventor Joshua Portlock is using what he calls his, “ultimate rapid response hovering urban aerial vehicle” to help local real estate agents with aerial photography (both stills and video) to showcase homes and their relationship to neighbourhoods and amenities. Looking like the bastard child of a flying saucer and a ceiling fan and costing between $25,000 and $40,000, Joshua’s Cyber Quad UAV is apparently also being sought after by international defence agencies. To read the fascinating story in full click here.
A US website reports that the National Transportation Safety Bureau (NTSB) has, following a study into the effectiveness of airbags in mitigating occupant injury in an otherwise survivable GA accident, concluded that airbags in GA aircraft would save lives. As a result, the NTSB is urging the FAA to require retrofits of shoulder harnesses on GA aircraft that are not currently equipped with such restraints. Apparently 30 GA aircraft manufacturers currently offer airbags as standard or optional equipment, but would a mandatory move to airbags create more problems than it’d solve?
The US AOPA has released the findings of its extensive study into why the vast majority of student pilots never become full-fledged pilots. Interestingly, the study found that the sizeable cost involved in learning to fly wasn’t the most important factor in student retention. Rather, the perceived value of the training, the sense of community offered, and the relationship between the student and the instructor were registered as more crucial in persuading students to stick it out. The US AOPA will use the results of the study to used to create a series of programs designed to provide flight schools real solutions to keeping students enrolled and flying, so it’ll be interesting to see what comes of it.
Now here’s some folks with extremely deep coffers and bold business plans: Ohio-headquartered fractional jet ownership group NetJets has just placed the largest aircraft order in the history of private aviation. At a whopping total cost of US$6.7 billion, NetJets has agreed to purchase 120 Bombardier Global business jets. The order includes a range of jets from the Canadian manufacturer, including the Global 5000, Global Express XRS Vision, and the recently launched Global 7000 and Global 8000 ultra-long-range jets. Talk about your 'haves' and 'have yachts'!
Applications are now open for up to $14 million in training grants as part of the Skilling Australia’s Defence Industry (SADI). The funding can be used to help pay for trade apprenticeships support, university courses, short technical courses, TAFE courses, and Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) training. Since 2005 the SADI program has funded more than 20,000 training places, including about 1900 apprentices, so if you’re that way inclined this might be your chance to get a leg up. More info can be found here.
Hawker Beechcraft Corporation has received type certification from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of New Zealand for its Beechcraft King Air 350i turboprop following first deliveries in January. Apparently the Kiwis love the King Air 350 due to its payload, speed, range and low operating costs. And the 350i sure did catch our eye at the Avalon Airshow last week… .
And Tecnam has delivered its first P2006T to a flying training organisation in New Zealand, with the light twin going to Tauranga Airport-based Bay Flight Aviation. Needless to say, Laurence Barnett, CEO of the commercial flight training organisation, is pretty happy with the new addition to his fleet.