Post by Major Destruction on Mar 3, 2006 8:53:41 GMT -5
DEAF PILOT PASSES INSTRUMENT CHECKRIDE
Stephen Hopson, AOPA 3553985, on February 24 became the first instrument-rated deaf pilot. Hopson, 45, has logged more than 700 hours and already holds a commercial certificate with the standard restriction for deaf pilots: no flight operations where two-way radio communications are required. As many instrument students would attest, half the challenge of IFR flight centers around understanding air traffic control clearances. But Hopson, with American Winds Flight Academy instructor Jason Edwards, worked out a white-board system (using shorthand) allowing Edwards to relay ATC instructions to Hopson while they navigate the airways. Following negotiation and cooperation with the FAA, Hopson took his checkride with a designated examiner and now has an instrument rating that allows him to fly with a hearing pilot using the white-board system. Hopson hopes to pave the way for other deaf pilots to log pilot-in-command time in the IFR environment, and perhaps someday, if controller-pilot communications datalink (CPCDL) matures, a deaf pilot could solo in the clouds.
'GOD IS MY CO-PILOT' AUTHOR DIES AT 97
Brigadier Gen. Robert L. Scott, who in 1943 hurriedly dictated his combat flying adventures in the China-Burma-India theater that became the book God Is My Co-Pilot, has died at Warner Robins, Georgia, home to Robins Air Force Base. The missions covered in the book and in a movie—something he felt was over-glamorized—included evacuating soldiers and civilians from Burma in a Douglas C-47 and, on the side, conducting single-aircraft attacks on Japanese troop movements along the Burma Road in a Curtiss P-40 given to him by Gen. Claire L. Chennault of the famous Flying Tigers, according to a report in The New York Times. He commanded the 23rd Fighter Group in Chennault's China Air Task Force and shot down 13 Japanese aircraft. He received two Silver Stars, three Distinguished Flying Crosses, and three Air Medals. He was brought home to the United States to boost morale at defense plants, but returned to China to attack trains with experimental rockets and was later based in Okinawa where he attacked enemy ships. He was honorary chairman of the Museum of Aviation at Robins Air Force Base.
A DREAM THAT FLOATS
Two Ohio men have a dream of building a helium-aided 990-foot-long lifting vehicle that can hoist 200 tons or more of supplies in a 150-foot-long cargo bay. While their ultimate goal is the larger vehicle, they also plan to offer intermediate-size hybrid aircraft. Robert Rist, originator of the idea, and co-president Brian Martin, now have interest from the military and aerospace industry in their project. They have raised about $500,000, mostly from friends, but will need $100 million to develop the largest vehicle. The smallest could cost less than $500,000 to purchase and is claimed to operate for $250 an hour, while the largest will cost less than $87 million. The vehicle is called a Dynalifter and is built by their firm, Ohio Airships. But first the one-eighth-scale model must fly, and it is ready and waiting in its hangar at Barber Airport in Alliance, Ohio. Forrest Barber, owner of the airport, will step into an ultralight thingypit slung beneath the shark-like 110-foot-long body and power up two Rotax engines for the first flight this spring. The ground at the grass-runway airport must firm up enough for the flight test. Half the weight of the present 2,600-pound vehicle is lifted by helium contained in 30 cells. Photo courtesy Aerial Aspect Photography
COMPANY TO OFFER SPACEFLIGHT TRAINING
So you want to be a civilian astronaut, but your local flight school doesn't offer training in a microgravity environment? Environmental Tectonics Corp. (ETC) has a solution. In January 2007, the company will be opening the National Aerospace Training and Research Center near Philadelphia in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. ETC is known for its high-G centrifuge system and worldwide flight training centers. The new facility will be available to aerospace companies, the military, universities, and space voyagers for preflight training.
Stephen Hopson, AOPA 3553985, on February 24 became the first instrument-rated deaf pilot. Hopson, 45, has logged more than 700 hours and already holds a commercial certificate with the standard restriction for deaf pilots: no flight operations where two-way radio communications are required. As many instrument students would attest, half the challenge of IFR flight centers around understanding air traffic control clearances. But Hopson, with American Winds Flight Academy instructor Jason Edwards, worked out a white-board system (using shorthand) allowing Edwards to relay ATC instructions to Hopson while they navigate the airways. Following negotiation and cooperation with the FAA, Hopson took his checkride with a designated examiner and now has an instrument rating that allows him to fly with a hearing pilot using the white-board system. Hopson hopes to pave the way for other deaf pilots to log pilot-in-command time in the IFR environment, and perhaps someday, if controller-pilot communications datalink (CPCDL) matures, a deaf pilot could solo in the clouds.
'GOD IS MY CO-PILOT' AUTHOR DIES AT 97
Brigadier Gen. Robert L. Scott, who in 1943 hurriedly dictated his combat flying adventures in the China-Burma-India theater that became the book God Is My Co-Pilot, has died at Warner Robins, Georgia, home to Robins Air Force Base. The missions covered in the book and in a movie—something he felt was over-glamorized—included evacuating soldiers and civilians from Burma in a Douglas C-47 and, on the side, conducting single-aircraft attacks on Japanese troop movements along the Burma Road in a Curtiss P-40 given to him by Gen. Claire L. Chennault of the famous Flying Tigers, according to a report in The New York Times. He commanded the 23rd Fighter Group in Chennault's China Air Task Force and shot down 13 Japanese aircraft. He received two Silver Stars, three Distinguished Flying Crosses, and three Air Medals. He was brought home to the United States to boost morale at defense plants, but returned to China to attack trains with experimental rockets and was later based in Okinawa where he attacked enemy ships. He was honorary chairman of the Museum of Aviation at Robins Air Force Base.
A DREAM THAT FLOATS
Two Ohio men have a dream of building a helium-aided 990-foot-long lifting vehicle that can hoist 200 tons or more of supplies in a 150-foot-long cargo bay. While their ultimate goal is the larger vehicle, they also plan to offer intermediate-size hybrid aircraft. Robert Rist, originator of the idea, and co-president Brian Martin, now have interest from the military and aerospace industry in their project. They have raised about $500,000, mostly from friends, but will need $100 million to develop the largest vehicle. The smallest could cost less than $500,000 to purchase and is claimed to operate for $250 an hour, while the largest will cost less than $87 million. The vehicle is called a Dynalifter and is built by their firm, Ohio Airships. But first the one-eighth-scale model must fly, and it is ready and waiting in its hangar at Barber Airport in Alliance, Ohio. Forrest Barber, owner of the airport, will step into an ultralight thingypit slung beneath the shark-like 110-foot-long body and power up two Rotax engines for the first flight this spring. The ground at the grass-runway airport must firm up enough for the flight test. Half the weight of the present 2,600-pound vehicle is lifted by helium contained in 30 cells. Photo courtesy Aerial Aspect Photography
COMPANY TO OFFER SPACEFLIGHT TRAINING
So you want to be a civilian astronaut, but your local flight school doesn't offer training in a microgravity environment? Environmental Tectonics Corp. (ETC) has a solution. In January 2007, the company will be opening the National Aerospace Training and Research Center near Philadelphia in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. ETC is known for its high-G centrifuge system and worldwide flight training centers. The new facility will be available to aerospace companies, the military, universities, and space voyagers for preflight training.