100th anniversary of U.S. Air Mail Service
The U.S. Postal Service will release two stamps this year to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first regularly scheduled airmail service. Both stamps will feature a Curtiss JN–4H biplane, the type of aircraft typically used in the early days of airmail. The first stamp was released in May to commemorate the anniversary of the route that Army pilots established in 1918 linking Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and New York City. In August a second stamp will be released commemorating the U.S. Post Office Department taking charge of airmail from August 12, 1918, to September 1, 1927.
INDUSTRY NEWS
Another bump in the road
Cessna halts Skyhawk JT–A; STC available through Continental
By Jill W. Tallman and Jim Moore
Cessna Aircraft has quietly discontinued the sale of its diesel engine-equipped Skyhawk, less than a year after the aircraft was certified. A Textron Aviation spokesperson confirmed that the aircraft was removed from the Textron website.
“The Turbo Skyhawk JT–A option will no longer be offered through Textron Aviation,” she said. “The Continental CD-155 engine is now offered directly through Continental as a supplemental type certificate installation for the Cessna Skyhawk 172.”
Continental Motors Group President and CEO Rhett Ross told AOPA that Continental was as shocked as the industry, given growing interest in the product. He said buyers who wish to purchase a new Skyhawk for conversion should notify both Cessna and Continental of their intent, and that details of whom to contact, specifically, will be forthcoming. CD-155 installations will be done at the factory service center in Fairhope, Alabama.
The Continental CD-155 retrofit will require flying a new Skyhawk to Alabama, removing the avgas engine, and replacing the engine and related components. The CD-155 retrofit kit for Cessna 172 R/S models costs $77,980 for the engine and required parts including a new throttle quadrant and STC, excluding labor. Subsequent CD-155 replacement engines will cost, based on current list prices, $47,515. Ross said a credit would be provided for the avgas engine.
This development marks another bump in the road for Cessna as the manufacturer grapples with the diesel engine market. The company had been moving toward production of diesel-powered aircraft since at least 2007, when it hoped to start delivering Skyhawks powered by Thielert diesel engines. Thielert went into bankruptcy, and Continental Motors Group purchased the company in 2013.
In 2012 Cessna introduced a prototype of a turbodiesel 182 powered by an SMA engine, and halted production of the gasoline-powered Skylane. Certification delays caused the company to stop taking orders for the diesel 182 in 2015.
Making history
Electric helicopter flies
By David Tulis
The SureFly electrically powered eight-rotor, two-person helicopter made its maiden manned voyage May 3 in Cincinnati, proving the concept of a short-haul, people-moving aircraft that may open the door to a George Jetson-like future. The $200,000 rotorcraft looks like a scaled-up multicopter sporting twice as many blades as a typical drone and triple power redundancy.
Workhorse Group CEO Steve Burns observed the liftoff and hover and proclaimed the test flight, with test pilot John Graber at the controls, a “perfect takeoff.” He praised the flight as “a huge milestone for our company.”
The test vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) vehicle is categorized by the FAA in the Experimental category, Burns explained. Each propeller is attached to an electric motor at the end of an X-braced arm above a wide, square passenger cabin with a sloped nose. Four of the motors spin on top, and four more spin upside down. The four propeller arms fold down for storage.
In theory, if a motor quits working the others will take up the slack and allow for a safe touchdown, said Burns. A gasoline engine in the hybrid power system drives dual generators for the motors, which provide additional backup.
Graber said the craft’s operating system was “completely different from any traditional helicopter,” and added, “the pilot in this aircraft is going to tell a computer through a fly-by-wire system, ‘Take me over there,’ and the computer is going to figure out how to do that.” He compared it to self-driving cars under development that are “making the highways safer” and predicted the concept would bring additional safety to aviation. Plans call for additional low-altitude hover tests before the test vehicle is cut loose over longer distances.
Alan Arkus, an engineer for Workhouse, said initial versions of the helicopter will be manned, but future versions could one day serve as autonomous air taxis. The company was also working on an autonomous drone package delivery system, he added. “We’re going to bring aviation to people who’ve never thought about aviation before. We are about to make history,” said Burns.
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News
Give Leidos a call
Contractor wants to hear your upgrade ideas
By Thomas B. Haines
Missing some features from DUATS as you transition to 1800WXbrief, the flight service online system? If so, Leidos, the government contractor providing telephone-based and online weather and flight planning services for the FAA, wants to hear about it.
Roger Krone, chairman and CEO of Leidos, an active pilot and a DUATS user making the transition to 1800WXbrief.com, says his company makes quarterly software updates to the weather and flight planning site and that most requests they get for new features can be easily incorporated. “Speak up, we want to hear your ideas,” Krone said.
DUATS users need to transition to 1800WXbrief.com to continue accessing online briefings and filing flight plans because the FAA canceled the contracts for DUATS effective May 16. The FAA issued the first Direct User Access Terminal System contracts in 1989 as a way for pilots to access approved weather information online. With the advances of alternative online weather sources, including 1800WXbrief.com, provided by the Automated Flight Service Station contractor Leidos, the FAA decided not to renew the DUATS contract.
In addition to the traditional telephone-based flight service information, Leidos provides an online flight planning system, including the ability to file flight plans and get approved weather briefings for a planned route. Leidos sends the same weather data to numerous flight planning sites and electronic flight bag apps. To use 1800WXbrief.com, pilots need to create a free account with their address. The AOPA Online Flight Planner and the AOPA GO app are configured to connect to the FSS site for weather and flight plan filing.
Among the features of Leidos provides is the EasyActivate/EasyClose capability, which lets a pilot activate or close a VFR flight plan simply by responding to a text sent to them 30 minutes before departure and arrival. These actions are recorded and included in the pilot’s history. Reminders are also sent if a VFR flight plan is not closed within 20 minutes of the expected arrival time. Pilots using EasyActivate/EasyClose can use text messaging to activate or close a VFR flight plan, and to receive acknowledgement of the action. The telephone-based services for flight service remain unchanged and briefers can be reached at 1-800-wxbrief.
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Headlines that affect you
Recent news from the aviation world
Virgin Galactic spaceship flies after four-year hiatus
Richard Branson says his space tourism venture is “back on track” after a 2014 fatal crash of SpaceShipOne.—Flying magazine
Michael Goulian leads Red Bull Air Races
Michael Goulian is the lead racer with 24 points in the Red Bull Air Races as the event moves to Budapest, Hungary, June 23 and 24. —AOPA Online
AOPA’s Wings ’n Wheels attendance jumps
The third annual AOPA Wings ’n Wheels at Frederick Municipal Airport in Maryland was the biggest yet, drawing an estimated 6,500 people, an increase of more than 50 percent compared to the previous year.—AOPA Online
Doors-off helicopter flights may resume
The FAA has established a procedure for commercial helicopter operators to secure permission to resume doors-off flights. The FAA had issued an emergency order prohibiting helicopters for hire to remove doors after a March 11 helicopter crash in New York City's East River.—AOPA Online
SFRA, Leesburg airspace deviations mount
Spring is here, flying is enjoying a seasonal uptick—and so are pilot violations of the Washington, D.C., Special Flight Rules Area and Flight Restricted Zone, and failures to follow correct operating procedures for arriving and departing at Leesburg Exeutive Airport in Virginia via the Leesburg Maneuvering Area, located just inside the northwestern sector of the SFRA, the FAA said.—AOPA Online
Embraer unveils electric air taxi concept
Embraer unveiled its concept for an electric air taxi capable of rooftop service at the Uber Elevate Summit. —AOPA Online
AVIATION HISTORY
Tuskegee Experience
July 19, 1941
The first class of Tuskegee Airmen pilots begin training in Alabama. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the “Tuskegee Experience” in which more than 15,000 African-Americans were trained as pilots, navigators, bombardiers, instructors, and aircraft mechanics to support the war effort. The Tuskegee Airmen were responsible for successful sorties in Europe and North Africa, and the airmen were awarded 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses. This led to the eventual integration of the U.S. Armed Forces.
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