Week in brief July 1 2011

The Narromine Mosquito Restoration Project, which has been collecting parts for almost two decades with the aim of restoring a de Havilland Mosquito to airworthiness and flying it as a living memorial, has set up two displays at the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) in the hope of attracting a benefactor. The displays feature the engine test stand, main undercarriage, Rolls Royce Merlin 25 aero engine and cockpit. Should you be the benefactor to supply the project with the approximately $6 million it needs, your name will be prominently displayed on the aircraft once it’s completed. We’re sure many of us can’t claim to be millionaires ourselves, but perhaps you know of such a person and can convince them that this is where they should be putting their bucks…


The Western Advocate reports that Bathurst police constable David Wells has won the $13,000 Bathurst Aero Club and Smartair General Aviation flying scholarship. Wells beat out 63 other applicants over two months of flight and theory testing and interviewing. He plans to put the scholarship towards completing his CPL so he can move into the Police Air Wing as a pilot. The winner of the scholarship last year, John Downey, recently completed his training and is seeking a career in the RAAF. We offer our congratulations to Wells and encourage all ambitious pilots to keep an eye out for this scholarship next year. For more info flying training at Smartair click here.


Diamond Aircraft representative Hawker Pacific is hosting a free Diamond open day at Bankstown Airport's passenger terminal next week and is encouraging anyone and everyone interested in the Austrian manufacturer’s various models to get along. At the event there’ll be a Diamond DA20, DA40 and DA42 on display, product presentations, aircraft walkarounds, an Austrian sausage sizzle, and a lucky door prize, and those who come along will be able to speak with Diamond owners and Hawker Pacific reps. It all goes down on Friday July 8 and Saturday July 9; for more info email aircraftsales@hawkerpacific.com or phone (02) 9708 8597. To read our previously published DA40 flight test click here.


This is a situation none of us pilots want to be in. The BBC reports that Canadian Transportation Safety Board investigators looking into a C185 that crashed and killed its pilot and three passengers in Canada last year have concluded that the accident was most likely caused by the pax being drunk. Yeah, you heard right. The story goes that three British Columbia residents (two women and a man, all in theirs 20s) who had charted the C185 for a six-minute flight, rocked up wasted and arguing and after haggling over the fare boarded the aicraft with several bottles of the hard stuff and a carton of beer. The C185 was cruising at 500ft AMSL and evidence (broken right wrist on pilot, broken ankles on backseat passenger) suggests the passenger could’ve kicked the pilot’s seatback forward and held it there, pushing the controls fully forward and inducing a dive that ended with the aircraft ditching heavily into the Millar Channel. Investigators said the pax’s level of drunkenness possibly left them incapable of recognising the gravity of the situation and of halting the interference in time for the pilot to regain control. We can hardly believe this stupidity either. All we can do is shake our heads and mutter into our (ironically, as it were) beers.


Here’s another fatal crash report from overseas, but this one’s more bizarre than merely stupid. Early last month in Alaska a helicopter pilot died after using his aircraft in a battle with a bull on a cattle ranch. According to the NTSB report, the bull was tangled in plastic wrapping material and the pilot was determined to get it untangled by landing on the trailing plastic so his colleagues could tackle the bull. Apparently, after unsuccessfully trying to knock the bull down with the helicopter, the pilot hooked the helicopter’s right landing gear skid under the plastic and tried to pick the bull up to snap the plastic, but as the helicopter lifted the bull off the ground it was moved forward and to the right by the weight of the bull and impacted the ground. Can we get a collective, “What the?”.


We hear the DA36 E-Star, a joint-development between Siemens, Diamond Aircraft and EADS that claims to be the world’s first-ever serial hybrid electric airplane, wooed crowds at the recent Paris Airshow. The aircraft is powered by a 70 kilowatt electric motor and relies on a battery to provide extra power for take-off and climb, with the battery recharging during cruise. The companies developing the DA36 E-Star say, with its low engine output, the aircraft decreases fuel consumption and carbon emissions by 25 per cent compared to conventionally powered aircraft.


While debate amongst pilots still rages about the virtues of BRS whole-airplane recovery parachute systems, such as those featured as standard on Cirrus aircraft, at least one pilot in the US is thanking his lucky stars he had one when his Cessna 182 suffered an engine failure at around 350ft AMSL in Mississippi. US Flying reports that the aircraft owner and pilot had only two days earlier had the system installed when his engine kicked the bucket. While below the recommended minimum altitude for deployment of the parachute system, the pilot deployed the system before crashing in tall trees - he was listed in a critical condition but was able to extricate himself from the wreckage to await help. Apparently this pilot was one of the first to have the BRS installed in a Cessna when he had one installed in another Cessna, a C172, a number of years ago.


Private pilots in France are celebrating this week after the country’s Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGCA), at the request of AOPA France and the French Federation of Aero Clubs, agreed to introduce a private instrument rating similar to what’s in place in the US and Australia. AOPA France and AOPA US reports that up until now, to fly IFR private pilots in France had to enroll in a professional flight training school at a cost of more than 20,000 euros and complete study topics such as the hydraulic systems of airliners and calculations of Mach number, which obviously isn’t necessary for most GA pilots. The new rating is designed specifically for the needs and operations of private pilots. “Today’s practical test standards in Europe are complex, expensive, and geared toward pilots flying air carrier aircraft,” AOPA Vice President of Operations and International Affairs Craig Spence said. “The new French rating puts instrument flying within reach of many private pilots.” AOPA France said the first candidates could be taking knowledge and practical tests for the private instrument rating by September.


How’d you like to rub shoulders at your flying school with one of the top current Formula 1 drivers in the world? Well, here’s how it could happen: Queanbeyan’s finest, Mark Webber – who drives for Red Bull Racing-Renault, was pipped at the line for last season’s F1 driver’s championship and currently sits in second place this season – became a Qantas Ambassador in February, and now wants to get his pilot licence. As if racing the most technologically advanced road vehicles in the world wasn’t thrilling enough, Webber was apparently bitten by the aviation bug after flying over Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit in a Qantas B737 simulator. As part of the mentoring support they’ll provide him with, Qantas will recommend an approved pilot training organisation for Webber to attend, so cross your fingers that they recommend yours. This raises an interesting discussion: is flying, say, a Cirrus SR22 or something else extra nippy, or driving an F1 car more thrilling? Guess Webber will find out shortly...