Tag Archives: Tecnam

699 Apple AirTag for Tracking Luggage

Using the Apple AirTag to track your checked baggage (and maybe a podcast host?), airlines drop flyers from no-fly lists, Bombardier headquarters in Wichita, aircraft leased to Russia, Cirrus fuel flow issues, a plane-swap stunt, the Tecnam 2-seat trainer, and air ambulance costs.

Aviation News

This man is trolling his airline with PowerPoint presentations to find his missing bag

This is the story of a couple who used an Apple AirTag to find and track their lost checked bags.

These airlines are letting passengers banned for mask violations back on planes

After a federal judge ruled that the CDC exceeded its authority to mandate masks for travel, airlines began to drop their mask requirement. But some airlines are also dropping the no-fly status for some passengers who refused to comply with the previous mask mandate.

Bombardier Designates Wichita Its U.S. Headquarters

The company says Bombardier Defense will bring 200 jobs to the area and also announced details about a partnership with the U.S. Air Force to modify business jets in Kansas as part of a potential $465 million order. Bombardier Defense offers versions of the Challenger 650 and Global 6500 and 7500.

Courtesy Bombardier Defense

Air Lease Claims $802.4 Million Write Off After 27 Leased Jets Stuck In Russia

Air Lease Corporation is writing off aircraft leased to Russia and is pursuing insurance claims to cover their loss. After the economic sanctions, leases for the planes were terminated but the planes remain in Russia. According to a report by Fitch Ratings, “insurers and reinsurers could face claims as high as $10 billion in a worst-case scenario due to the grounding of planes in Russia.”

Loss of Engine Power Due to Excessive Fuel Flow in Cirrus SR22T Aircraft

Following previous investigations of SR22T accidents, the NTSB is asking Cirrus Aircraft and the FAA to take action on some safety recommendations. In these accidents, engine power was lost when excessive fuel was introduced to the engine during takeoff climb.

The FAA revoked the pilot certificate of Trevor Jacob, a former Olympic snowboard competitor turned YouTuber, who posted a viral video of himself parachuting out of a 1940 Taylorcraft that he claimed had malfunctioned.

The man who claimed the engine failed on his 1940 Taylorcraft then jumped out and filmed the subsequent crash has received a letter from the FAA. His act of operating the aircraft in a “careless or reckless manner so as to endanger the life or property of another” has cost him his license.

FAA Investigating Failed Plane Swap

Red Bull and Hulu organized a stunt where two pilots jumped out of their respective Cessna 182s with the intent of maneuvering to the other’s plane and regaining control. The FAA denied approval for this plane swap, which was carried out and streamed anyway. One of the planes ended up crashing.

FAA apologizes for no advance warning before parachute jump, Capitol evacuation

The Army Golden Knights parachute team conducted a pre-game demonstration at the Nationals Park baseball stadium in Washington D.C., but the FAA failed to notify the U.S. Capitol Police. When the team plane approached, Capitol Police evacuated the Capitol and some nearby buildings.

Tecnam Unveils P-Mentor Certified Two-Seat Trainer

The Tecnam Aircraft P-Mentor is a new two-seat piston aircraft designed for student training. International deliveries are expected to begin in the next four months. 

P-Mentor, courtesy Tecnam Aircraft.

Facing rising costs, LifeFlight sets up in-house air operations

A non-profit Maine-based emergency air ambulance service outsourced its aviation operations. That service ultimately ended up being owned by a large venture capital firm and costs increase dramatically. So LifeFlight brought its aviation operations back in-house.

Mentioned

New England Air Museum

The Journey is the Reward

AirVenture Oshkosh 2022 to Celebrate Young Eagles 30th Anniversary

Someone just crashed into a Vision Jet!!!

Tesla Model Y Operator Appears To “Summon” Car Straight Into a Parked Jet

The Wheel Bearings Podcast

Hosts this Episode

Max Flight, Max Trescott, Rob Mark, and our Main(e) Man Micah.

692 ADSBexchange

Our guest is the president and founder of ADSBexchange, a flight data aggregation co-op. In the news, some lawmakers want civil action against Boeing over the 737 MAX, Nexflix releases a 737 MAX documentary, United Aviate Academy will use Cirrus aircraft for training, a GA electric/gas hybrid takes flight, technology export from Icon Aircraft is probed, the FAA Administrator announces he’ll leave the post early, and an autonomous Blackhawk helicopter.

Guest

ADSBexchange president and founder Dan Streufert.
Dan Streufert

Dan Streufert founded ADSBexchange in 2016 as a “hobby project.” Since then, it has grown to encompass 7500+ volunteer-run ADS-B receivers throughout the world, ingesting 500,000 – 900,000 ADS-B messages per second. Although ADSBexchange has grown from its initial small beginning, it remains focused on the aviation enthusiast. The service has none of the “paywalls” associated with some other flight tracking services and does not filter its traffic display.

Dan explains that ADSB signals are broadcast unencrypted over the air and anyone can receive them. ADSBexchange was mainly developed for hobbyists and others who want to know what’s flying, but commercial customers and some NGOs benefit from the information as well.

Some interests don’t want ADSB transmissions to be used to track their flights. They may be legitimate commercial companies that want to mask their activity for competitive reasons, governments, those engaged in criminal operations, or even military flights. Dan describes two FAA programs that seek to mitigate at least some of the privacy concerns:

With Limiting Aircraft Data Displayed (LADD), aircraft owners or designated representatives may request limiting aircraft data displayed (formally referred to as blocking) or unblocking of flight tracking data. Flight tracking services that draw the data from FAA agree to block the information.

More recently, the FAA initiated the Privacy ICAO Aircraft (PIA) program to improve the privacy of eligible aircraft by enabling aircraft owners to request an alternate, temporary ICAO aircraft address, which will not be assigned to the owner in the Civil Aviation Registry (CAR).

Both an “Airplane Geek” and a “Tech Geek” at heart, Dan is a commercially-rated, multi-engine pilot with instrument rating and currently flys a 1967 Piper Comanche 260B out of Falcon Field in Mesa, Arizona. Prior to devoting his full-time attention to ADSBexchange, Dan spent 12 years leading the IT department at Viant Medical, a $1 billion global medical manufacturing firm.

Aviation News

Lawmakers Demand Fresh Investigation into FAA Decision Not to Penalize Boeing for MAX Failures

The U.S. House Transportation chair and the aviation subcommittee chair want civil action taken against Boeing, and even individual employees for the 737 MAX crashes. Rep. DeFazio, D-Ore., and Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Everett sent a letter to DOT Inspector General Eric Soskin saying, “We respectfully request that you review FAA’s refusal to exercise proper oversight over Boeing’s apparent misconduct.”

Downfall: The Case Against Boeing

Netflix premiered the documentary film that details the 18-month investigation by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Peter DeFazio into the causes of the Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashes, which resulted in the deaths of 346 people.

Cirrus Aircraft Equips United Aviate Academy with a Fleet of TRAC SR20 for Ab-Initio Pilot Training

Cirrus Aircraft announced that the United Aviate Academy (UAA) has purchased a fleet of twenty-five TRAC SR20 aircraft for its program. The Academy is part of United’s pilot career development program offering pilots the most direct path to a United flight deck. They have option and purchase rights to fifty more TRAC SR20 aircraft.

First general aviation aircraft with hybrid power plant has been successfully flown

Rolls-Royce, Tecnam, and BRP-Rotax announced the December 2021 flight of the first general aviation aircraft powered by a parallel hybrid propulsion system. The modified Tecnam P2010 H3PS was powered by a 104 kW Rotax 915 IS internal combustion engine and a 30 kW Rolls-Royce electric power system for a total power output of 134 kW in a parallel hybrid configuration. H3PS stands for “High Power High Scalability Aircraft Hybrid Powertrain.”

Video: Tecnam P2010 H3PS Hybrid first flight

Chinese Stake in Icon Probed by Gov’t Panel

The Wall Street Journal reported that the FBI and a U.S. government panel are looking into accusations of illegal technology transfer to China. Shanghai Pudong Science & Technology Investment Co. holds a nearly 47% stake in Icon Aircraft and is Icon’s largest shareholder. Some Icon shareholders raised a red flag to the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment alleging that Shanghai Pudong sent its technology to China with the potential for military applications.

U.S. FAA administrator says he was not pressured to step down

FAA Administrator Steve Dickson announced he is leaving the FAA effective March 31, 2022. Dickson is a pilot and former Delta Air Lines executive appointed by President Donald Trump in 2019. He cited family reasons for his decision.

A Black Hawk helicopter flew for the first time without pilots

With the flick of a switch, the DARPA S-70 Blackhawk helicopter goes from piloted to unpiloted. In this first flight, the S-70 autonomously completed a pre-flight checklist, started its engines, spun up its rotors, and took off with no crew on board. The ALIAS system (Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System) on-board sensors provided real-time obstacle data as the helicopter navigated through a simulated cityscape.

Video: First Uninhabited Black Hawk Flight

Israeli News Desk

Piper AZTEC PA23-250F

Eyal Shay describes the emergency landing of a Piper AZTEC PA23-250F registration 4X-CCM. The airplane took off from Haifa airport (LLHA) with an instructor and student pilot. When they came back to the pattern, the right main gear failed to open. After some unsuccessful attempts to solve the problem, or to retract the landing gear, the plane was rerouted to Ben-Gurion airport (LLBG). The pilot made a perfect landing, managing to cutoff the right engine and bring the two-blade propeller to horizontal position when at short final. The plane successfully kept near the center line and just veered from the runway direction at his final stop. The pilot and passenger were unharmed.

Eyal and Hillel meet in Israel.
Eyal and Hillel

Mentioned

The Journey is the Reward

The Great Aero Recovery, a webinar with Richard Aboulafia from the National Aviation Hall of Fame. Registration.

The brains that launched GPS

Savvy Maintenance – Cold starts are a culprit in engine damage

Utah’s Gail Halvorsen, the ‘Berlin Candy Bomber,’ dies at 101

Gail Halvorsen, the Utah farm boy who became a hero in post-World War II Europe for fastening candy to handkerchiefs and dropping them from his U.S. Air Force cargo plane to the children of West Berlin, earning him the nickname the “Berlin Candy Bomber,” has died. He was 101.

Bagley Cartoon: Candy Bomber

American Helicopter Museum

Airplane Geeks listeners can enjoy a one-year individual membership at a 50% discount. For $25.00 (normally $50.00) you get:

  • Unlimited admission to the Museum for one year, including the March 4 event, “The Helicopter and the Presidency.”
  • Two One-Day Guest Passes.
  • Admission to FamilyFest and SantaFest.
  • Invitations to Member Receptions.
  • 10% discount on gift shop purchases.

The offer is good through May 31, 2022, at this link.

Hosts this Episode

Max Flight, David Vanderhoof, Max Trescott, and Rob Mark.  With contributions from Brian Coleman and Eyal Shay.