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analyses; maintenance and building tips and news; insurance.
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Sat, Aug 3 2002
WeatherTAP Introduces Several Upgrades To Service
Local weather, radar imagery enhancements top the list
By ANN Reporter Juan Jiménez
A few months ago ANN reviewed the new WeatherTAP weather reporting and
analysis service. We gave it high marks for fast response, richness of
content and good value for the money. During Airventure we met with the
WeatherTAP staff at the show and they told us about a number of upgrades
that have been done to the service since we published our review.
The local weather page now has an option to find observations and forecasts
by entering the city and state. This was done to simplify the previous
process, which required clicking on the state map and selecting a station,
or entering a zip code. Station observations times are now reported in local
time, rather than Eastern time. ZULU times are still shown in parenthesis,
to the right of the local time. The sunrise and sunset times are calculated
and have been made available in the observation pages.
Whenever you request a local weather report, the display now adds a quick
forecast feature that presents the forecast for the next five periods in
text and graphical format. High and low temps as well as precipitation
probabilities are included when appropriate. Zone forecast parsing has also
been improved.
In the radar imagery department, two new images have been added to local
radar pages. One and three hour surface rainfall accumulation images have
been added to some local radar sites. Local radar pages have also been
decluttered in order to increase efficiency. Instead of a link table used to
select which local radar product you want to see, you now see a drop-down
menu. A new "adjacent radar" feature has also been added -- with it a user
can quickly select an adjacent site for display.
RadarLab information for storms has also been upgraded to add attributes and
tracks. Current position of storms is indicated, as well as forecast
positions in 15, 30, 45 and 60 minutes, using a "tail" drawn from the center
of the storm. Additional attribute information now shows intensity data as
well as indications of whether or not the storm has developed the twisting
movement associated with tornado activity.
One other thing we noticed is the very strong activity in the discussion
forums that WeatherTAP includes for users to post messages either to the
WeatherTAP staff or to other users of the service. A quick glance shows that
there are over 2300 messages posted in the six available forums.
Special Trial For ANN Readers!!!
Finally, if you would like to try out the service at no cost, the WeatherTAP
folks have been kind enough to set up a trial login for ANN readers. For a
limited time, use "OSH02" (do not enter the quotes) as the login and
password. This will allow you to experiment with WeatherTAP for a few weeks
at no charge. Enjoy!
FMI: http://www.weathertap.com
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Fri, Aug 2 2002
Senate Recesses: No Hearing on Blakey Nomination
NTSB Chairman Marion Blakey will have to wait about a month before the
Senate decides whether or not to confirm her as the new FAA Administrator.
Senate leaders announced late yesterday that they were going to begin their
month-long August recess at the close of that day's business.
Outgoing Administrator Jane Garvey's last day is Sunday. Transportation
Secretary Norman Mineta asked Acting Deputy Administrator Monte Belger, who
had planned to retire at the end of July, to stay on through August. Belger
will serve as Acting Administrator until Blakey can be confirmed and sworn
in. Blakey is not expected to face any opposition during her confirmation
hearing.
FMI: www.faa.gov
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Fri, Aug 2 2002
Around the World in a CH-701
The Flying is the Easy Part
For better than a year now, we've been quietly following the plans, and now
the actuality, of Matevz Lenarcic's flight around the world. Starting in
Slovenia, this mountaineer/photographer/microlighter has been flying his
Zenair for two months now, and has logged some gorgeous photos.
Beyond that, his trip logs read like a how-to for those with the guts and
determination to try what he's doing. Paperwork is a lot more frustrating
than building, navigating, and flying airplanes; and doing it all alone
takes a special kind of man.
By way of illustration, a recent entry reads, in part, "At the moment Matevz
has a problem with Russian administration. Anadyr is the last stop where
Matevz can refuel and re-equip the aircraft with survival equipment for
trans ocean flight. This equipment will be positioned on co-pilots seat. And
by doing so there will be no place on board for the co-pilot. There is a
choice to be made: between co-pilot and a life raft. Good company is worth a
lot but it is hard to swim on one in case of forced water landing. So Matevz
decided for the raft. But his flight will be at first conducted over some
Russian territory and according to the agreement with Russian CAA navigator
is still needed. Russian authorities insist on two man crew all the way to
last Russian outpost Providenya.
The solution of this problem is a tricky one. We hope that common logic and
flight safety will prevail."
So do we. Have a look at this remarkable effort!
FMI: www.transsiberia.com
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Fri, Aug 2 2002
Rotorway: 35 Years, From Scorpion to Today's Exec
It's been 35 years since the first Rotorway, the Scorpion, first showed up
at the big EAA Fly-In. The result of several attempts at producing a
kit-able helicopter that dated back to 1961, the 1967 Scorpion, priced then
at $6000, was a grand beginning. "This single-seat model opened up the
posibility of helicopter ownership to a whole new audience," said Brent
Marshall, Rotorway's VP of Sales. "It was meant not for the commercial
market, but for the sport-flying public."
The two-place Scorpion Too debuted in 1972. As more Scorpions started flying
in the hands of builders, though, Rotorway started to understand that the
powerplant needed to become more-specialized. To that end, they started
building their own engines in 1974. That decision seemed to unlock the door
to much-larger success.
By 1980, Rotorway had set the world on its ear with the slick, enclosed
Executive. It was the first heli from the company to be enclosed; but more
importantly, it was also the first to feature the company's elastomeric
bearing system. The Executive spawned the Elite, of which three were built,
before the original company hit financial hard times, and was purchased by a
customer, John Netherwood.
Reborn as Rotorway International, the Elite was abandoned in favor of a
point-by-point upgrade of the Executive design. After changing nearly two
dozen separate things about the proven Executive, the drivetrain, the power,
the reliability of the engine, and the aerodynamics had been improved. The
new model was called the Exec 90. With an advertised 300-hour build time,
they sold a bunch of the improved little choppers.
By 1994, though, it was time for another major upgrade. The engine got the
brunt of the engineers' attention, and the fuel-injected,
computer-controlled, electronic-ignition engine pumped the Exec 90 to a
whole new level; and the Exec 162F was born. With all the improvements, it's
current price is $64,350.
As the 90s rolle don, Netherwood decided to retire, and his employees bought
the shop. Susie Bell, Rotorway's marketing director, said, "So here we are,
35 years old, and working every day to earn the good reputation we have
achieved. Having just recently gone over the 600th-sold mark for the Exec
162F, and counting, the next 35 years promise to be even better..."
FMI: www.rotorway.com
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Fri, Aug 2 2002
Sensenich Goes on AA-5 and AA-5A
Little Grummans Get Upgrade
Sensenich Propeller Manufacturing Company (the Pennsylvania Sensenich) is
working with Fletchair, in Houston; and the pairing has resulted in new
STC'd options for owners of AA-5 and AA-5A airplanes.
This new STC allows the installation of the Sensenich 74DM7S10 propeller on
the Grumman American AA-5 or AA-5A aircraft powered by the Lycoming O-320
Engine.
Lucky Grumman owners may use either the 74DM7S10-1-57B or the
74DM7S10-1.5-61B for cruise. The props' diameters are "not over 73 inches,
nor under under 72 inches." (They're just right.)
FMI: http://www.sensenich.com
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Fri, Aug 2 2002
Hartzell Propels Malibu
The latest of Hartzell's Top Prop STCs, this one for the Piper PA-46-310P
(Malibu), was granted recently.
This STC allows Maliby owners the chance to mount the same type of prop that
Piper has been using on the Mirage since 1988. The 80-inch, 3-paddle design
increases takeoff and climb performance; and, according to the company, also
"significantly reduces noise and vibration compared to the standard
two-bladed metal propeller."
The "extra" blade, and an advance airfoil design are credited with the
performance improvements. Cruise speed is unaffected by the new prop.
Hartzell says its new prop is the most-durable prop currently available for
the Malibu, owing to its Kevlar-epoxy blades. That composite blade material
was originally developed for regional carriers, who fly through all kinds of
weather
There's a 2400-hr TBO on the prop; and the newest Top Prop is also covered
by the "Hartzell Plus Three" warranty -- three years/1000 hours. The STC
includes the prop, spinner, prop-specific de-ice equipment (except the
airframe wiring), and all the STC documentation.
It sells for $21,900.
FMI: www.hartzellprop.com
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Fri, Aug 2 2002
Go Tell It On The Mountain: EFIS Developer Has High Hopes
By ANN Correspondent Pete Combs
One of the hottest exhibitor booths at Oshkosh this year was the Blue
Mountain Avionics tent. The reason? Blue Mountain offers pilots a way to rid
themselves of the bane of IFR flying: the "six-pack."
Blue Mountain makes a couple of EFIS panels that monitor terrain, heading,
altitude, attitude, engine functions and more. In most cases, they're only
valid as experimental IFR instrumentation , but founder Greg Richter has
high hopes.
It's been a good show for the long-haired, easygoing Richter. Blue Mountain
came to Oshkosh with a three-week backlog of factory orders. On the second
to last day, the backlog was up to eight weeks. Inside the tent, aircraft
owners lined up, asking for demos, talking to reps.
"Last year, Oshkosh was our first major show," says one rep. "We looked a
little rough around the edges, but we were successful beyond our wildest
expectations. This year, we came with a mature avionics product, with a
proven software and hardware package."
And some of the aircraft manufacturers are starting to sit up and notice,
says Richter: Velocity, the long-time maker of four-seat composite pushers,
has selected Blue Mountain as part of its standard avionics suite, he says.
CarterCopter, which suffered an MFD failure during Friday's flight
demonstration here at Oshkosh, confirms it's talking to Richter.
"CarterCopter says they need something built especially for the gyro-plane.
They need a special application. They also need a high-resolution sensor
package and autopilot. We're talking to them now."
The demo is impressive. Holding the panel-mounted unit in her hand, a
demonstration artist twists and turns the magnetic sensor this way and that,
simulating changes in attitude and heading. The EFIS appears to be dead-on,
with no precession. Sure, you can force the unit into reset mode; but
clearing the error and restarting the system takes less than five seconds.
EFIS/One is a full instrument panel fit inside a ten-inch display. It's
clear and bright at almost any angle you might imagine inside a cockpit.
There's an attitude indicator with flight director, a full 360-degree HIS
and remote magnetic indicator, true airspeed indicator, turn coordinator,
encoding altimeter (it'll even drive your transponder), solid state
slip/skid ball and even an option angle of attack sensor. It will monitor
all engine functions digitally. But the star of this panel is the moving map
display which gives you a real-world view of terrain from the cockpit. With
300-foot resolution, you can fly just about as low as you dare and still get
a clear picture of what's around you.
"By September 1st, we'll have an international database available. We
already have customers in Germany and South Africa," says Richter. What
about incorporating weather information into the real-world display? We're
set to interface with the Merlin system, butS there is no Merlin system
yet." Richter says he's checking around with other real-time weather
information providers to see if a more immediate deal is out there.
"What we need is between 50 and 100 flying examples of what this system can
do," says Richter. "Then I think it'll take off."