Week in brief November 26 2010

Following a two-year study, the US AOPA has found that the low numbers of women pilots may be attributable not only to the cost of learning to fly, but also to factors that are more gender specific. The study surveyed and/or interviewed a total of 296 respondents, including 157 female pilots, 54 female student pilots, and 85 flight instructors regarding their flight training experiences. The majority of women who participated in the study cited the cost of training as a barrier to success. But they also mentioned lack of female mentors, instructors who didn’t communicate effectively, and a lack of confidence in their ability to handle an airplane. They were more likely to cite a fear of flying if their instructor demonstrated a stall recovery too early in their training. Read the full report here.


After a 60-year history that has seen the company design the first single engine aircraft certified for flight into known icing and the first single-engine production aircraft to achieve 200 mph on 200 hp, Mooney Aviation Company this week began a company-wide staff reduction in the wake of recent financial struggles. Avweb reports that staff numbers will be cut from 53 positions to less than 10 by year’s end. Beginning in 2011, Mooney will be staffed by a skeleton crew that will maintain the company’s facilities, its type and production certificates, and parts inventory, and provide technical support to owners. While Mooney says it isn’t drawing stumps entirely just yet, 2011 looks like it’ll be a struggle for the manufacturer.


Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen, provider of navigation, operations, training and optimisation solutions, has joined the Bye Energy, Inc-led team developing an electric-powered Cessna C172 in the US. Jeppesen has announced it will co-market and collaborate with Bye Energy to design and develop an electric propulsion system for a C172 proof of concept aircraft as part its The Green Flight Project. Jeppesen President and CEO, Mark Van Tine, says Jeppesen’s involvement in the project is, “great news for the many pilots that rely on Jeppesen products for training and navigation”. Additionally, Van Tine will help formulate and guide the industry transition to alternative energy technologies as a member of Bye Energy’s Strategic Advisory Council.


Here’s a story with both a dramatic twist and a happy ending. The Associated Press reports that earlier this week in the UK, a privately owned Cessna carrying a liver for a transplant patient caught fire after making a hard landing at Birmingham Airport. Apparentlyt visibility in the area, 195 kilometers north of London, was “appalling” because of thick fog and the aircraft, flying from Belfast, clipped an antenna as it came in to land. Despite the chaos, rescuers managed to salvage the donor organ and rush it to a nearby hospital under police escort where it was successfully transplanted into the waiting patient. For the record, the 58-year-old pilot was airlifted to hospital in a serious but stable condition.


DAHER-SOCATA has appointed Christophe Robin as its new Vice President Engineering for its Airplane Division. Gaining his pilot licence at 17 and graduating from France’s ENSICA national college for aircraft manufacturing engineers, Robin has devoted his career to General Aviation. In 1992 at a mere 25 years of age, he formed Dyn’Aero, his own company that has designed and developed more than 17 light and ultra-light aircraft, including the CR 100 two-seat aerobatic trainer, the MCR 01 family of fast two-seater aircraft, and the four-seat MCR 4S. In his new position Robin’s responsibilities will include future development of the company’s TBM 850 very fast turboprop aircraft.


The Warrnambool Standard reports that a Coldstream pilot who landed his two-seater private helicopter near the Old Ocean Road at Sturgess Point, Port Campbell last Sunday could be fined more than $35,000 for landing in a section of the Port Campbell National Park without prior permission. And the best part? Apparently the pilot landed because he was after a cup of coffee and a snack. We understand CASA is investigating the incident.


Now here’s an unfortunate private pilot with egg on his face. The Daily Mail in the UK reports that 43-year-old David Remnant, flying a single engine Cessna, caused chaos to a Royal Air Force fly-past that was marking the Queen’s Birthday when he strayed into its flight path. The pilots of the 29 military aircraft – which included Tornado fighter bombers – were ordered to immediately dive 300ft to avoid Remnant, who himself was ordered by ATC to climb 300ft to avert a collision. Apparently at one point one of the Tornado pilots had seen the Cessna a mere 200ft away and heading straight for him. Word is the very near miss occurred after Remnant had taken off from Denham in Buckinghamshire on June 12 after misreading the times on an air restriction notice. He was fined £1400 and told to pay £673 costs.


And here’s a similar, and equally unfortunate, tale of woe involving a student pilot in the US. The Associated Press reports that a Cessna 182, flown solo by a student pilot, was intercepted by F-16 fighter jets after it crossed into restricted airspace in the Washington area on Monday. The F-16s, launched by the North American Aerospace Defense Command, escorted the Cessna to land at an airport in Manassas, Virginia, where the student was met by law enforcement personnel. Apparently air traffic controllers were unable to make contact with the plane before it crossed into restricted airspace.