Professional Pilot December 2016

DECEMBER 2016
Amway, international distributor of home cleaning, health and beauty products, operates fleet of
14 aircraft including 6 Gulfstreams, 3 Citations, 2 Bombardier Challengers, a Boeing BBJ and 2
Sikorsky S76 helicopters to support its international business operations. At the companys
r
Yea
aviation headquarters on the ramp at GRR are (LR) VP of Aviation Rick Fiddler, Aviation
e
th
of
Maintenance Mgr Tom Meier, Safety Officer Hank Braunz, Chief Pilot and Operations
t
p
De
Mgr Jeff Dykstra and Company Cofounder Richard DeVos.
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Flig
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Vol 50 No 12
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December 2016 Vol 50 No 12
December 2016
Features
10
10
POSITION & HOLD

Thoughts on game-changers by Bob Rockwood
Use of on-target guidance, 3D printing, morphed wings and control surfaces,
propulsion advancements and pilotless planes discussed.
16
AUTOMATION VS LIVE COPILOTS

Solo a Boeing 747 by Peter Berendsen
Could technology already in development allow single pilot operation of
large commercial and corporate aircraft in the future?
34
FLIGHT DEPT OF THE YEAR

Amway lourishes with use of business aircraft by Mike Potts
Both bizjets and helos in this 50 year old av dept based at GRR serve
companys air transportation needs around the world.
44
INTERNATIONAL OPS
Flying executive aircraft to high season ports by Grant McLaren
Peak period challenges can lead to longer lights with higher costs, 2nd choice
destination airports, dificulties in parking and stretching crew duty limits.
54
EVENT COVERAGE
NBAA 2016 by Brent Bundy
Orlando meet brings more than 25,000 attendees and 1100 exhibitors.
62
POWERPLANT PRODUCT SUPPORT SURVEY

Operators evaluate turbine engine OEMs based on aftersale service
by Pro Pilot staff
78
SATCOM FOR HELOS

Being in contact anywhere, anytime by Glenn Connor
Satellite communications technology provides workhorse helicopters with new
high speed and broadband connectivity to improve EMS, law enforcement and
commercial operations.
84
WX BRIEF
Winter is coming by Karsten Shein
Preparing for the season of cold temps, icing, blizzards and windshear.
94
CFD
Computational Fluid Dynamics improve aircraft lying by Nihad Daidzic
Major aircraft companies use CFD to minimize drag and to make wings,
control surfaces, fuselages, nacelles and propulsion systems more eficient.
34
78
84
94
6
Vol 50 No 12
December 2016
Vol 50 No 12
Departments
22
SQUAWK IDENT
Pro Pilot readers relate the life-changing events
they have experienced.
28
TERMINAL CHECKLIST
Quiz on procedures when making the approach
to RIC (Richmond Intl, VA). Answers on page 30.
32
SID & STAR

Oscar Lugnut uses the Howler to sell a solar
irrigation system to Amish farmers.
50
ALEX REMEMBERS
Selling Beech and Learjet aircraft in SE Asia
during the 60s and 70s.
52
TRIBUTE TO BOB HOOVER

by Pro Pilot staff
The pilots pilot left us on Oct 25 at age of 94.
92
RAMP & HANGAR

Jobs, products and other reader opportunities.
You asked. We acted.

Duncan Aviation has full-service locations
and a nationwide network of avionics and
engine rapid response teams that provide
comprehensive business aircraft service and
help thousands of aircraft operators every year.
Customers asked for more services accessible in
the western United States.
In 2018, Duncan Aviation will expand its Provo
facility, adding nearly 275,000 square feet of
buildings with a 222,000-square-foot maintenance
and modiications center and a 53,000-square-foot
paint facility. We continue to listen to our customer
wishes and respond by developing and providing
experience, unlike any other.
www.DuncanAviation.aero/60
Experience. Unlike any other.
Cover
Amway, international distributor of home cleaning,
health and beauty products, operates fleet
of 14 aircraft including
6 Gulfstreams, 3 Citations,
2 Bombardier Challengers, a Boeing BBJ and 2
Sikorsky S76 helicopters
to support its international
business operations.
At the companys aviation headquarters on the
ramp at GRR are (LR) VP
of Aviation Rick Fiddler,
Aviation Maintenance Mgr
Tom Meier, Safety Officer
Hank Braunz, Chief Pilot
and Operations Mgr Jeff Dykstra and Company Cofounder
Richard DeVos. Photo by Mike Potts.
POSITION & HOLD
Thoughts on game-changers
Photo by Jos Vsquez
Always on-target guidance, 3D printing, morphed wings &

control surfaces, propulsion advancements, pilotless planes,
brain activated events.
(LR) GE Aviation GM of Business and General Aviation Service and Support Tom Hoferer, VP of Additive Integration Mohammad Ehteshami and VP of
Aviation Brad Mottier explain additive manufacturing (3D printing) to the audience at the 2016 NBAA conference. GE Aviation has already eliminated
845 parts from its Advanced Turboprop (ATP) engine and plans to use more 3D printed components in its future powerplants.
By Bob Rockwood
Managing Partner, Bristol Associates
ve been thinking a lot about the future lately. Sure,

there isnt as much of it left for me as there used to be,
but it is still out there and fascinating.
First, I thought I would try to predict the return to good
times for corporate aircraft sales by correlating bond yields
to GDP to bat guano futures to current VHS tape sales igures, and all sorts of other fancy stuff. So I started reading
about bonds and all kinds of inancial instruments, but I
got through the gobledy and couldnt understand it. I gave
up. Then I went back through some of my old notes. In the
1970s I had predicted that little computers would be but
a memory by 1980. Later, when that prediction had been
proven to be just slightly askew, I announced that IBM
and Commodore would drive out all their PC competitors
by 1990.
It turns out forecasting isnt my strong suit. But I thought
Id still run through a few things that are with us today in
their infancy and will develop dramatically in the future.
Reagans Star Wars Defense is upon us. Not quite the
way he envisioned it, because he wanted an umbrella, or
a risk curve, or some such (all I remember is drawings of
big curved lines over a map of the US). But a version of it
is here and will only get better.
NIFC-CA missile guidance

Naval Integrated Fire Control Counter Air (NIFC-CA)
has been in development to integrate data from a variety
10 PROFESSIONAL PILOT / December 2016
of sources to more accurately guide a missile to its target.

The new Lockheed Martin F35 was designed, in part, to
be a part of this system.
Recently, an F35B was sent out, spotted an airborne target, and sent data back to the ground base. This data was
combined with that from other sensors that were brought
on line by the 35s initial input. A missile was launched
from the ground station, and it took out the airborne adversary. In essence, the F35 took down an enemy without ever iring a shot. Think of the eficacy of these planes
patrolling in stealth mode and taking out bad guys without having to engage. Talk about productivity!
3D printing
Some of you know I used to own a prototyping machine
shop. I try to read up from time to time on whats going on
in manufacturing. To this end, I took a 3D printing class
a while back. Back in the day, on those rare occasions
when the real machinists would let me play with the CAD
softwareand maybe even make a partit would take
me a week just to see how badly I screwed it up. But the
other night, with minimal instruction, I went from nothing
to a inished part in under 3 hours!
This goes a long way to explain why GE just spent
$1.4 billion to buy 2 additional 3D printing companies.
Here is something that explains it more clearly: In using
3D printing or additive manufacturing, GE Aviation has
eliminated 845 parts from its Advanced Turboprop (ATP)
engine, which will power Textron Aviations forthcoming
Denali single-engine turboprop.
NOW
ARRIVING
AT HAYWARD.
MERIDIAN, ONE OF THE NATIONS HIGHEST-RANKED FBOs,
IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THE OPENING OF OUR NEWEST LOCATION
AT HAYWARD EXECUTIVE AIRPORT (HWD).
Were taking everything thats made our Teterboro operation so successful

and bringing it to the San Francisco Bay area. The same commitment to
customer satisfaction. The same dedication to safety. The same experience
gained from seventy years in business aviation.
We appreciate your trust in us, so now, whether youre heading East, or
flying West, you can count on Meridian to make a great flight even better.
www.meridian.aero
Image courtesy Lockheed Martin
Artist concept of Lockheed F35 Lightning II spotting and sending target

data back to the ground base. Naval Integrated Fire Control Counter
Air (NIFC-CA) aims to gather data from an array of sources in order to
guide missiles to their target more accurately.
Think about that for a moment. Theyve eliminated the

cost of 845 parts. Theyve eliminated the weight of 845
parts. Theyve eliminated the time it takes to make 845
parts. And additive manufacturing, despite having been
around for over 20 years, is just getting started. Imagine a
plane that is built as just 1 part... It could happen!
Cutting down on aircraft turbine engine pollution

Despite the fact that aviation only contributes 8% of
greenhouse gases (vs 61% for light cars and trucks), there
is drive towards making aircraft greener. To meet the
shared fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions
reductions targeted by the US and Europe (75% reduction
by 2050) there needs to be better than a 1% per year gain
within aviation. Given current technologies (geared turbofans, tube and wing airframe design) this will be hard
to meetif not impossible.
NASA research shows that well get to the 75% target
by using a combination of turbine-electric propulsion
coupled with hybrid wing-body, truss-braced wing, lexible wing, and designs with lifting fuselages, embedded
engines and boundary-layer ingestion for lower drag.
idea is that what is needed for takeoff or landing is not

eficient at cruise. Or on a commercial plane, the wing
length that is most eficient at cruise wont it within the
ground handling/gate environment. Methods of changing
these dimensions are being developed.
It is conceivable that 10 years from now you will pull
away from the gate in a Boeing 787 Dreamliner and as
you are heading out to the active, watch as the length of
the wings increases by 10 or 12 feet. Then, as you reach
altitude, you hear servos running, but know for a fact the
gear was pulled up ages ago. Thats the vertical tail being
retracted and shortened to reduce drag. After all, at cruise,
who needs a huge tail to keep us centered on the runway.
Electric propulsion
What about electric planes? Certainly there is a lot of
work being done to develop the technology. I have no
doubt that, as in cars today and trains years ago, some
hybrid of electric and carbon driven propulsion will make
Variable wings and control surface

There are designs that make the wing morph depending
on where a plane is within the light envelope. NASA has
been testing a set of lexible laps on a Gulfstream III (Pro
Pilot, Apr 2015, p 94). They are not only ininitely adjustable, but can vary their settings along their position on
the wing. They have the potential to make a wing quieter
and more eficient.
Also being studied are wings and vertical tails that can
morph from longer to shorter or from taller to shorter. The
NASA and USAF are experimenting with a wing warping system to

reduce the environmental impact of aircraft by aerodynamically improving efficiency and performance while reducing the noise signature.
Photo shows Gulfstream III with FlexSys FlexFoil wing morphing system.
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Image courtesy Aurora Flight Sciences
E-Fan technology demonstrator has helped Airbus Group to validate

hybrid propulsion technologies. From the experience gained, the company has made improvements such as increased voltage (400 V) and
the addition of an internal combustion engine to extend flight range.
its way to the commercial sector. This is certainly true for

the light airplane category. But I dont think large, purely
electric planes they will ever see the light of day, considering that 223,000 lbs of jet fuel (a full load for a large
commercial airliner) equals the energy of over 4 million
lbs of lithium-ion batteries. Charging stations at 37,000
feet are few and far between. And Id just as soon not be
a passenger on the airplane version of a Galaxy Note 7
phone.
Our green targets demand continued development. I
know the power and weight of todays batteries will be
laughable even 20 years from now, but I think the mountain is too high.
Anyway, if you ask 100 people involved in aviation,

99 will say no way to pilotless planes, and the person
who didnt say no suffers from laryngitis. Ive no doubt the
technology will be there within the next 10 years. But Im
skeptical of passengers accepting the idea of an empty
cockpit.
However, 35 years ago the idea of a computer smaller
than a pickup truck was radical, 25 years ago you needed a Radio Flyer wagon to haul around your portable
phone, and still 10 years ago you were spending 20
minutes at the airport bookstore picking out something
to read instead of carrying 100 books with you on your
reading device.
Pilotless planes
Brain communication
I cant write an article about future developments without at least bringing up the idea of pilotless planes. You
cant pick up Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, or
even the National Enquirer without seeing at least one article about Uber or Google or GM testing their driverless
cars. Why not planes? Of course in the National Enquirer the article will focus on why Uber is having Googles
baby out of wedlock, but still, theyll manage to work in
driverless cars somehow.
Today we are hearing about nanobots that can be inserted into the body, controlled by electrical impulses
from ones brain, and caused to distribute medicines
when needed and where needed. Elon Musk and others
will tell you that, once we solve the bandwidth issue, we
will be able to communicate directly between our brains
and the cloud. And these are not fanciful ideas. They
are being actively developed.
So it is possible that you or I might, in the not-too-distant
future, be able to access the entire Library of Congress
just by thinking about it. Will we be able stop the growth
of a cancerous tumor just by thinking about it? Given this,
how tough will it be to accept lying on a pilotless plane?
Now in my case none of this will happen because no
computer can ly a plane as good as me. But thats an
argument for another time.
My gosh. The possibilities.
Photo courtesy Dassault Aviation
LightningStrike by Aurora Flight Sciences in partnership with Rolls-Royce

and Honeywell is designed to demonstrate distributed hybrid-electric
propulsion ducted fans, tiltwing and canard for vertical takeoff and
landing, and high efficiency in hover and high speed forward flight.
Dassault exhibited the reliability of its nEUROn unmanned combat air

vehicle (UCAV) demonstrator by flying it in formation with a Rafale
fighter and a Falcon 8X this past June.
Bob Rockwood has been in the aircraft

brokerage business since 1978. During
his tenure at Omni Intl Jet Trading Floor
he began writing The Rockwood Report,
which discusses the corporate aircraft market. In 1986 he joined Bristol Associates as
a managing partner.
AUTOMATION VS LIVE PILOTS

an editorial opinion
Solo a 747?
Will future technology allow single
pilot operation of large commercial
and corporate aircraft?
By Peter Berendsen
ATP/CFII. Boeing 747, MD11
ome Fighting Falcons over Floridas skies are different. They look and act like our well-known and
trusted F16s. But if you had a chance to get closer,
you would notice that under the big glass canopy with its
unobstructed view there is nobody to enjoy it. Yes, your
read right: There is no pilot in the aircraft. Its a QF16, an
F16 Fighting Falcon sans pilot. These aircraft have been
recommissioned out of storage and converted to serve as
unmanned aerial targets. Just like the manned F16, the
unmanned QF16 lies supersonic and has 9g maneuverability. More than 15 are stationed at the 82nd Aerial Target Squadron at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida, and up
to 210 of these unmanned ighter aircraft will eventually
be based there.
So it is obviously possible to ly a very high performance and complex aircraft without a pilot on board. The
job description aerial target for these aircraft, however,
hints at the fact that a safe return to Earth is not always
required or necessary.
Anyone that has the followed the fantastic exploration
of the planet Mars by unmanned rovers will not need
convincing that unmanned operations, even over interplanetary distances, are a reality. And unmanned drones
killing terrorists in far away places have become part of
the daily news cycle and seemingly routine.
If these pilotless aircraft and space vehicles perform that
well, why do we still have pilots on civil jets? Wouldnt it
be any airline managers dream not to have to deal with
the pilots union anymore?
First off, when you look closer it becomes quickly clear
that all these pilotless vehicles are actually just remotely
piloted. Behind the QF16s lawless performance stands
a complex telemetry communications system and an operations center with actually experienced F16 test pilots
at the remote controls of the drone. Of course this is the
case with the Mars rovers and all drones as well. While
there may be phases of light like cruise, loitering or sleep
(in the case of a rover) when less attention is required by
the remote operators, someone is always actively steering
these vehicles remotely. This is why the correct term is remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs) and not unmanned aerial
vehicles (UAVs), which is the abbreviation that seems to
be found more and more in our aviation literature.
Secondly, in some cases remote control might actually be more expensive than having human operators on
board. This partly explains why in space (humans in space
are tremendously expensive) remote control is the norm
Note complexity of this Boeing 747 cockpit. Will the copilot eventually
fade away as shown in the photo? Lufthansa 747 Capt Peter Berendsen
reviews this possibility but gives us 8 detailed reasons why he doesnt
see a single pilot operation for airline aircraft in the foreseeable future.
now, while in the far simpler subway a train driver sits in

each trainexcept for airport terminal train systems that
operate more like horizontal elevators.
When we discuss the question of possible single pilot
operations of commercial or corporate passenger jets, we
have to keep these 2 important factors in mind.
Why are there not more single pilot light ops in

turbine-powered aircraft today?
Aircraft operated by a single pilot have been a big part
of aviation since the 1st light at Kitty Hawk. Beech Barons, Cessna Mustangs, Pilatus PC12s, Daher TBMs and
Phenom 100s are lown safely and eficiently by their
owners across the country every day. And while the Mustangs and Phenoms use the same airspace, altitudes and
almost similar speeds as airliners or Gulfstream jets, you
will not ind Boeing 747s or Gulfstream G650ERs operated by just 1 pilot in the National Airspace System, and
probably the world.
Why is that? There seems to be a threshold of complexity above which a 2nd pilot becomes a necessity. Probably not in routine cruise light, but as soon as things get
unusual or busy. A good example is the Embraer Phenom
100, which is marketed to owner/pilots. When I testlew
the aircraft at Embraers factory in So Jose dos Campos,
Brazil, engineers and marketeers where developing a plan
to offer a remote copilot to these owner/pilots while
enroute. Through a satellite broadband connection, aircraft navigational and system status would be continously transmitted to a ground operations center. Engineers
and pilots in the operations center would monitor light
progress and system performance and advise via voice or
Telex of any developing problems, just like a copilot or

light engineer would do. On request of the airborne pilot, they would also get weather and other dispatch data
and plan reroutings or other altitudes. And in case of a
technical malfunction or even an emergency, they would
assist and help the airborne pilot with his potentially life
threatening troubles from their nicely cushioned seat in
the cozy ops center.
While all of this was imagined by the good people at Embraer, it became clear that this would not be certiiable and
that the aircraft had to remain simple enough to be lown
by a single pilot in all situations. Ground assistance would
just be a nice additonal service to the self-lying owner.
The concept of extra crew members on the ground is
familiar from the Apollo space program and others (NASA
Houston Control). In aviation it is used as a standard while
conducting test lights. Around the airports used for test
lights, they install telemetry systems that have so much
bandwidth that the engineers in the operations center
and the pilots and engineers on board actually are on the
same intercom and talk with each other as if they were
all in the same room. This immediacy is usually only feasible within VHF range of the light test airport. Once you
need to go through satellite communications, suficient
bandwidth becomes very expensive very quickly and is
normally more of a military requirement.
But could a similar concept help to eliminate the 2nd
pilot in transport category aircraft? Would it be safer, better
or cheaper to get rid of the FO and have just a single pilot
or, if workload requires, a ground support center instead?
Embraer Phenom 100
Reasons why I think single pilot ops in large

turbine-powered aircraft will not happen in the
foreseeable future
1. Workload: The workload curve in a civil transport
jet increases in the hour or so before departure to a peak
during takeoff, and then slowly decreases to a routine
level as the aircraft climbs out and reaches cruise light.
As the top of descent approaches, the workload slowly increases again to high during the approach phase
and reaches a 2nd peak during landing. Additional factors such as thunderstroms, fog, gusty winds, technical
malfunctions, dificult radio communcations in a busy
environment, or passenger or crew health or behaviour
problems come on top and can increase the workload tremendously. Emergencies such as ires, engine problems
or major system failures can even increase the workload
to the limits of the crew. During certiication of an aircraft
it has to be shown that all malfunctions that may occur
within the certiication envelope can be handled with
an acceptable workload by the cockpit crew. The light
engineer was introduced into the lightdeck as systems
became too complex to handle for 2 pilots, and was left
Pilatus PC12
out again as new technology allowed the automation and

simpliication of the engineers tasks so that a 2-pilot crew
could do them as part of their work.
A single pilot 747 would have to have a cockpit layout that kept the workload for 1 pilot acceptable in all
phases of light. For the future, the possibility is the use
of more automationmaybe even artiicial intelligence.
Another possibility is a ground-based copilot assisting the
airborne pilot. There might be also a combination of both.
2. Bandwidth: For the ground-based copilot, full light
performance, navigational and system data would have to
be available on the ground, probably displayed in a 2nd
cockpit-like environment. As mentioned above, it is no
problem to transmit all these data and more within VHF
range of the ops center. Once the distance gets bigger
than 150 miles, remote transmitters and cables or satellite communications have to be used. Bandwidth will be
either very expensive or data rate very slow. If all aircraft
used such a system, it might even be impossible to provide enough bandwidth with todays technology.
3. Operations center: What do you gain by transferring
the work of the copilot to the ground? Maybe 1 or 2 copilots could assist several lights at the same time if the
high-workload phases are staggered nicely to coincide
with low-workload phases in other lights. But do we really know when high workload phases are to be expected?
Besides takeoff, climb, approach and landing, they tend to
also pop up unexpectedly during cruise. So backup ground
pilots have to be available and mentally in the loop at all
times. This means that the inancial case may not be so
easy to make, especially if you take the expensive technology and infrastructure on the ground into account that
one would need in addition to the aircraft itself. As with
all real estate and investments, the cost also depends on
location. Where would the location of the ground pilot ops
center be? And who would be the owner? Who would be
the operator, air trafic control or the aircraft manufacturer?
Would control be transferred to other ops centers when lying to another country? Who would have the inal say over
the aircraft, the commander in the airplane or the groundbased pilot from a government agency?
Daher TBM 930
Rockwell Collins was selected

by NASA to work on a longrange research effort to explore
concepts and technology for the
NASA Single Pilot Operation
(SPO) program. Rockwell Collins
and NASA experts are working
together on SPO. RC is also
conducting cognitive science
research with California State
University and the University
of Iowa as academic partners.
Simplification of the cockpit with
more automation is key to the
research with virtual reality (VR)
innovations being developed,
such as is shown in the imaginative artwork at left.
4. Responsibility: While a single owner/pilot of a Mustang or Phenom 100 is pretty much only responsible to
himself and his guests, this becomes quite different as
soon as you transport passengers in a corporate environment or for hire in a charter operation or for airline use.
The difference between a car or train and an airplane is
the fact that there is no emergency brake. You cant just
stop the whole thing and get out. As a passenger in an
aircraft you are stuck and have to entrust your life to the
pilots until a safe landing is made at your destination. This
is why the hurdles to become a lightdeck crewmember
of a transport category jet are so high, and why pilots are
constantly monitored with medicals and simulators. And
this is also why there are 2 pilots, because if the health or
mental status of 1 of them fails unexpectly, the other will
be there to take control.
5. Security: If there is no 2nd pilot to override the main
pilot if he starts to act outside of the ordinary, tragic things
may happen. Pilots with mental issues have even used
the new secure cockpit door to create exactly this situation: They alone can be at the controls with the 2nd pilot
locked out. It happened to an Ethiopian airliner from Addis Ababa to Rome (hijack and diversion to Geneva), possibly to Malaysia airlines (lost without a trace), and most
shockingly to Germanwings (mass murder and suicide).
Now some would say that a remote override to control
the aircarft in these situations would have saved all these
aircraft. But if you had a foolproof remote override where
the onboard pilots could do nothing to stop ground control from taking over, you would just transfer the problem
to the ground ops center and have to be very aware of
distressed and crazy people there. Because access would
also have to be controlled, a mentally sick ground operator could also ind a way to lock everyone else out. Alone,
that ground operator could then do with the aircraft whatever was desired. Nobody will approve of such a system.
Final control of the aircraft will remain on board.
6. Safety: Besides the obvious psychological reasons
that require the people onboard a vessel to be able to
control their own destiny, there is also a technical reason. Any system on board an aircraft can be shut down
or be made powerless. This is a necessity when ighting
onboard ires. The broadband satellite antenna that is
used on todays airliners and corporate jets to connect the
aircraft to the Internet always has a hard shutdown switch
to be used in case of ire, and it will even shut down automatically when certain ire procedures are started, as
the antenna needs quite a bit of cooling. That means the

connection to the ground may be cut in certain scenarios.
It should also be noted that the safety record of remotely
piloted aircraft is fairly dismal, and not all of the UAV
crashes are due to enemy ire.
7. Certiication: Flightcrew members will be at their
stations except for physical needs is a standard wording
in operating manuals, so pilots will be in their seats unless
they have to take bathroom breaks. This means that, unless you were to install a toilet in the pilots seat, a single
pilot aircraft would have a very limited range or have to
be certiied for no-pilot operation as the single pilot will
occasionally have to leave his seat. This is a fairly high
hurdle, as malfunctions that require immediate action
such as a sudden loss of cabin pressure, autopilot disconnects, engine damage or even sudden turbulence have
to be handled completely autonomously by the aircraft
while the single pilot is away from his seat. But consider
this: If the pilot becomes unconscious or has other medical problems, the aircraft has to be able to either land by
itself at the nearest suitable runway, or a remote pilot has
to take over. Imagine the scene on board if passengers
know that their only pilot is unable to ly, and a remote
unknown control center is taking over not just the aircraft
but also their fates.
8. Immediacy: I irmly believe that human passengers
will want an accountable human with them to control
the aircraft, especially in emergencies. A ground-based
pilot may just not be as alert as those who are actually on
board. Many years ago, when I was a paratrooper, we got
prepacked parachutes to jump with. But the packers were
kept alert by knowing that at any moment an oficer could
step in and order them to jump with a randomly selected
parachute. Only being there gets your full attention. The
responsibility, ingenuity and lexibility of human professionals will not be replaced in aircraft for a long time.
And the complex decisions required on a lightdeck will
be better and safer if done by 2 well-trained pilots.
Peter Berendsen lies a Boeing 747

as a captain for Lufthansa Airlines. He
writes regularly for Pro Pilot on aviation-related subjects.
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was shot down in Laos while serving with Company C, 158th Aviation Battalion during the Vietnam
War. It was a life changing event
not knowing if I would be alive the
next day. We lost 40% of our aircraft and 2 crews during just 1 operation. The men I lew with would
risk their lives just to rescue me,
and some almost did!
David Cassalia
ATP. Gulfstream G650/G550
Exec Dir of Aviation
Allergan
Morristown CT
Lets look at game-changers. What

events, trips, visits, experiences
have had such a signiicance that
they changed your attitude, outlook or life in general?
ertigo! It was beautiful day to be

lying a T38 solo through high
cirrus clouds while in a 2 ship formation during USAF light school.
Unfortunately I missed leads radio
frequency change and didnt hear
the call to slide under during a
turn. So we kept turning and turning until we were going inverted.
When I was inally in a position to
glance at my instruments I found I
was straight and level even though
my body felt otherwise. My instruments were right. This lesson has
served me well in a 45 years of safe
lyingbelieve your instruments!
Larry Johnson
ATP. Challenger 604
Former Captain
Mutual of Omaha
Elkhorn NE
eing around my Navy father

while he worked on airplanes
at Quonset Point RI left such an indelible mark on me that I decided
to become a Naval Aviator. I was
always around aircraft growing up
so it seemed the natural thing to
do. While I was in training the Vietnam War was winding down, so the
Navy started scaling back. I was cut
though I had excellent marks, but
persevered as I was taught and was
able to continue my light training
as a Marine. I received my wings
of gold and lew transport helicopters in the Corps for a number of
years, followed by a successful civilian aviation career. The experience with my father was the game
changer and I would do it all over
again in a heartbeat.
Michael Cereno
ATP/Helo.
Citation XLS
Captain
Jet Linx Aviation
St Charles MO
y fathers military career and

his experiences as a Vietnam
veteran had such an impact on me
that I chose a career in the military,
learning valuable skillsets that have
served me to this day. The US Coast
Guard Academys cadet aviation
training program taught me discipline and lit a ire in me for a lifelong pursuit of lying. In Naval Aviation light training I learned how to
learn by teaching myself methods
to assimilate new light procedures
and maneuvers. This helped me
ly both ixed-wing and helos. My
dads inluence on me as a child set
me on a path to gain valuable skill
sets that have helped me across my
entire aviation career.
Michael OBrien
ATP/Helo. Leonardo AW139 &
Sikorsky S92
Captain
PHI
Cantonment FL
lying in the military made a big

change in both my perspective
and attitude. I truly discovered that
life is precious and life is short. I
also woke up to the fact that I had
an intense job to do where I had to
totally focus on lying. I needed to
leave my problems at the door as
soon as I left home. These realizations have served me well throughout my 58 year, accident free airline, corporate and light instruction
career of 33,000 hours.
Raymond Brown
ATP/CFII. Pilatus PC12
President & Chief Pilot
Circadian Knight Corp
Avon Lake OH
fraternity brother took me for

an airplane ride in June 1966. I
thought it was terriic and that if my
friend Bruce can do this so can I.
Then I decided to make aviation
my career and within a year had
completed my light instructor certiicate. Ive never looked back and
still enjoy lying as much now as
when I started. This is deinitely one
of the best things I have ever done.
Jim Ford
ATP/CFII. King Air 90
Aviation Safety Inspector
Federal Aviation Administration
Newbury Park CA
Squawk Ident
spent a year in Africa lying humanitarian missions to help reach
isolated communities. Living with
such wonderfully resilient people
and seeing 1st hand how much
good can come out of the use of airplanes has fundamentally changed
the way I view the world.
Chris Konop
ATP/A&P. Premier I & Bonanza
Pilot
Ali-Gator Air
Springboro OH
apt Sulley and I share a similar

experience. On a Tuesday before Thanksgiving in 2001 I struck 6
snow geese in a B727 while on inal
to MEM. One penetrated the cockpit covering me with goose guts
and blood. We made a safe landing
thanks to great assistance from my
crew and 2 jumpseaters.
Jeff Hanson
ATP. Airbus 310/A300
Captain
FedEx
Palmetto FL
6. Plan ahead for success so that the

trip is 90% planning and 10% execution. 7. Keep it simple and leave
nothing to chance. Be in control
and circumnavigate as many risk
factors as possible. 8. Have a clean,
well organized, sterile cockpit with
the proper plates and charts out at
the proper times and no extraneous
materials on the lightdeck. 9. Stellar radio communications to avoid
confusion and misunderstanding
and leave nothing to chance. 10.
Avoid complacency and ind ways

to continuously improve piloting
skills, enhance training and achieve
new ratings.
And, I might add, subscribe to
and read all available trade journals, especially Professional Pilot
magazine.
Jim Koch
ATP/CFII. Falcon 2000
Check Airman
Breeze Aero
Clarkson MI
hen I was a student pilot in

1971 a piston twin crashed
1/2 mile short of the runway at
my home airport. The aircraft was
destroyed, and from that moment
I knew this was a serious and unforgiving business. I also came to
realize that lying was to be more
than a hobby, so I quit my real job
to pursue a career in aviation. I retired 1 year ago from my last lying
job of 30 years where we operated
15 aircraft of several types with 25
or more pilots under Parts 91, 91K
and 135 without an accident.
From that disaster so long ago,
I helped develop a safety culture
where we believe accidents are
preventable. Our 10 main tenets:
1. Professionalism and pride in every aspect of the job from prelight
through postlight. 2. Use standard
operating procedures to conform
and be consistent. 3. Have situational awareness at all times with
a plan A and B with 1 pilot looking outside at all times. 4. A strong
work ethic where enough time is
allowed to do it right. 5. Communicate and use cockpit resource
management to adapt, prioritize
constantly, best use of all cockpit
resources and avoid tunnel vision.
Thank You for Your Business.

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23
he event that inally helped me

grasp how automation is having
a compromising effect on stick and
rudder skills was a trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. My career has gone
from Cessnas and Pipers to DC9s,
DC8s, B747s, WWII aircraft, Hawkers and the Citation X. In all these
years I always taught crews to be
able to hand ly the airplane, even
up to and down from around 12,000
to 18,000 ft. The new generation of
airplanes and the technology available makes it a challenge to grow

and maintain even basic aviation
skills. This happens to even the best
of pilots, which is what I realized on
this trip and is really the culmination
of years of lying experience.
Kent Olsen
ATP. Citation X
Captain
NetJets
McMinnville OR
edevac can be challenging

and rewarding at the same
time. But I would have to say there
was one mission that was a real
game changer for me when I was
lying in the Baltimore/Washington
DC area. Our schedule was to work
7 days on for 12-14 hours each day
followed by 7 days off. Once while
working the day shift from 0530 to
1800 we took a call at 1730 to pick
up a little boy and take him to Johns
Hopkins. Honestly, I was somewhat
upset because I was ready to go
home but knew I would not be back
until 2000. But when we picked up
the boy and his mother I completely changed my mind. The situation
was heartbreaking knowing the
pain that both of them were going
through. The boys life was on the
line that day and here I was complaining about a couple of hours of
extra work. I would be on my way
home and this boy would still be
ighting for his life. I was changed
that day when I realized how valuable life is.
Michael Zangara
ATP/Helo/CFII.
Sikorsky S76
Chief Pilot
Associated Aircraft Group
Highland NY
run-in with a thunderstorm in

an Army U8 Queen Air changed
my lying habits forever. It was April
1979 and I was lying from DFW to
FSI with inop radar. Unfortunately
we ran into a front moving much
faster than forecast, ending up in a
level 5 thunderstorm while on vectors for a PAR to Henry Post AAF.
We were struck by hail and lightening that damaged the aircraft so
badly it went to the boneyard. The
turbulence was so severe we could
barely keep it in the air while tornadoes hit nearby LAW and ICT. This
experience taught me to further respect the weather, always have an
out and dont take any equipment
(or ATC) for granted. I retired after
13,800 hours of safely lying jets
and helos.
Craig Randall
ATP/Helo.
Bell 206 JetRanger
Chairman
The Rexford Penn Group
Lyons OR
Squawk Ident
xperiencing an engine failure on
climb out in a C150 on my 1st
solo at age 16 deinitely got my attention. If that wasnt enough the
airport was in mountainous terrain
with a narrow valley for both arrival and departure. This gave me no
chance of a 180 especially at only
600 feet AGL. So I went for a gap
in the hills and turned downwind in
another valley which put a mountain between me and the runway. It
was beginning to look really hopeless so I planned to crash land on a
hillside. However my lightpath was
over a burning garbage heap which
gave enough lift to push me over
the hill to a safe landing. Sometimes
help comes from an unlike source,
so dont be afraid to use everything
at your disposal.
Rod Smith
ATP/Helo/CFII/A&P. Bell 206L4
& Grand Caravan
Dir of Transportation
Kinzer Drilling
Pikeville KY
student so I didnt expect any real

problems and so I was more relaxed
than I should have been. It was then
his turn. His entry, line up, lare and
collective use were perfect. But just
as we slid onto the ground with
about 5 knots forward speed he
slammed left full rudder. Fortunately, the grass was wet so we turned
30 degrees with the skids sliding
rather than catching and rolling us
over. I stopped the turn and after
we both stopped shaking I asked
the student what happened. We

igured out he reacted with training
for a different situation. I learned
to be very thorough when instructing, to stay really close to the controls, watch, and not become too
complacent, especially with the
better students.
Larry DOench
ATP. Cessna Chancellor
Dir of Ops
USAC Aviation
Montville NJ
atching Neil Armstrong step

foot on the moon changed
my life. I was only 8 yrs old but I
knew that I wanted to ly. Growing
up in a tiny town on Marylands
eastern shore didnt present many
aviation opportunities, so I didnt
take my 1st light until I was 18. After a stint in the Navy I realized I
could accomplish any goal if I applied myself. So a few years later I
got my 1st lying job ferrying checks
in wornout Centurions and Barons.
Now I ly Fedex feeders in a Caravan and have done this for over 15
years. Thanks Neil Armstrong for inspiring me!
Doug Haddaway
ATP. Caravan
Captain
Mountain Air Cargo
Orlando FL
n loan from the Coast Guard

to the Navy as a helicopter instructor at Pensacola, I had a harrowing event that changed the way
I instruct. The job of the day was to
teach a student how to do full helicopter autorotations. I had demonstrated one on a previous light.
We discussed the maneuver on the
ground and I had demonstrated the
full autorotation. He was a good
25
Squawk Ident
uring 2002 and 2003 I was part
of a US State Dept Trade Development Team teaching Chinese,
Vietnamese and Mongolian Aviation Safety Inspectors the FARs.
Many were former airline captains
recruited to develop their general
aviation and air carrier handbooks
and regulations. These experiences
really changed my negative perceptions about the people in these
countries. They were true professionals who only wanted to help
their nations advance and make
aviation safer for their people.
John Keller
ATP/CFI. Citation CJ2+
Owner & Chief Pilot
Keller Aviation Svcs Intl
Cave Creek AZ
ne event really cemented in

my mind the value of making the right safety call regardless
of crew position or possible loss
of employment. During one particular light I didnt assert myself
when the captain wanted me to set
the helicopter down at a particular
spot. I wasnt comfortable with it
but followed through. After landing
we discovered the tail rotor was
only 4 inches from a berm which
could have caused catastrophic
damage if I had landed any other
way. Right then and there I vowed
to always trust myself and never
worry about losing my job.
Marina Saettone (021)
ATP/Helo. Sikorsky S300
Contract Pilot
Meza AZ
n airline merger which caused

a clash of vastly dissimilar corporate cultures led me to an early retirement after just 25 years. I
then started my own business after
the subsequent loss of a pension.
I ended up being very successful
in the toughest job I ever loved! I
never would have expanded my
horizons or experienced so much
personal growth or satisfaction
without what I originally saw as a
negative but life-changing event.
Thomas Conard
ATP./CFII.
Learjet 35/31
Line Training Instructor
Skyward Aviation
Dover PA
Terminal Checklist 12/16

Answers on page 30
Not to be used for navigational purposes

8. Select the true statement(s) regarding the RNP values used on
the approach.
a The missed approach procedure requires RNP 1.0.
c An approximate descent rate of 637 ft/min will maintain a
b On the inal approach segment to a DA of 506 ft MSL, the
3.00 descent angle at a ground speed of 120 kts.
lateral TSE must be within 0.11 nm for at least 95%
d The lightcrew must set the local altimeter setting and both
of the time.
altimeters must agree within 100 ft prior to OPUKE.
c To ly the approach from DEEER to a DA of 606 ft MSL, the
GPS equipment must change from an RNP value of 0.75 to 10. Select all that apply. The missed approach procedure
0.30 before reaching OPUKE.
requires____
d All of the above are correct.
a 6 nm legs.
b a direct entry.
9. Select the true statement(s) regarding the inal approach segment.
c 1 minute legs.
a The DA for the RNP value of 0.30 is 100 ft higher than the
d a climb of at least 200 ft/nm to 2500 ft MSL.
DA for RNP 0.11.
e a climb of at least 500 ft/nm to 2500 ft MSL.
b If the runway environment is not in sight, a missed approach
f the aircraft to ly over HAGLI prior to turning to enter the
should be initiated at RW16.
holding pattern.
Reproduced with permission of Jeppesen Sanderson. Reduced for illustrative purposes.
7. Select all that apply. A mandatory altitude of 4000 ft MSL is

indicated at ______
a IFPIG
c AYDEE
e DEEER
b TIRTL
d DUCXS
6. A maximum speed of 210 KIAS applies to all IFs.

a True
b False
4. The aircrafts navigation system must be able to ly direct to

any ix on this approach procedure.
a True
b False
5. What items are required to ly from DUCXS IAF to OPUKE
FAF?
a AR
c GPS
e RNP 0.75
b RF
d Radar
f RNP 0.11
3. Select all that apply. A light may accept a vector to_____

a AAVVA
c SEZZZ
e SOOBY
b UDADE
d ZAXET
2. Select the true statement(s) regarding this approach.

a Baro-VNAV equipment may not be used to ly this
approach.
b RF legs are not required when lying from IFPIG or
DEEER ixes.
c Radar is required to ly the procedure from IFPIG,
TIRTL, and AYDEE.
d An operable TAWS is required to ly the approach
procedure from any IAF or IF.
e The aircraft must use the autopilot or a light
director driven by the RNAV system to ly the
procedure from AYDEE to a DA of 506 ft MSL.
1. Select the true statement(s) regarding approval to ly

this approach.
a A letter of authorization is required.
b Authorization is only required if RF legs are lown.
c The aircraft operator may have approval through
OpSpecs.
d An aircraft meeting RNP approach procedure equipment
requirements is automatically authorized to ly this
approach.
Refer to the 12-21 RNAV (RNP) Y Rwy 16 for KRIC/RIC (Richmond International, Richmond, VA) when necessary to answer
the following questions:
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Answers to TC 12/16 questions

1. c In addition to meeting speciic equipment requirements, operators must
apply for approval according to the guidelines in AC 90-101A, Approval
Guidance for RNP Procedures with AR. Installation of equipment by itself
does not guarantee inal approval for use. Operators may receive approval
to conduct RNP AR approaches through operations speciications
(OpSpecs), management speciications (MSpecs), or letters of authorization (LOA). Prior to application, operators and manufacturers should
review all performance requirements.
2. c, d, e According to balllag note 1 on the plan view, RF legs are required
to ly the procedure from all IAFs and IFs except IFPIG. A short RF leg
from ZAXET to OPUKE is required when arriving from DEEER. Balllag
note 2 indicates that radar is required from IFPIG, TIRTL and AYDEE.
AC 90-101A indicates that RNP AR procedures with RNP values less than
0.30, or with radius to ix (RF) legs, require the use of an autopilot or a
light director (FD) driven by the RNAV system in all cases. The AC also
states that an operable TAWS is required for all RNP AR procedures.
3. a, e According to AC 91-101A, pilots must not modify the lateral path of an
RNP approach procedure, with the exception of going direct to a ix, as
long as that ix is prior to the inal approach ix (FAF) and does not
immediately precede an RF leg. For example, a pilot could accept a vector
to AAVVA and SOOBY because these waypoints do not precede RF legs.
4. a According to AC 90-101A, to ly an RNP AR procedure, the aircrafts
navigation system must have a Direct-To function that the lightcrew
can activate at any time to any ix.
5. a, b c, e Procedural notes 1 and 2 in the Brieing Strip indicate the
requirements for the approach procedure regardless of the IAF or IF used:
authorization required (AR) and GPS. Balllag 1 on the plan view indicates
that a radius-to-ix (RF) leg is required and balllag 3 indicates that RNP
0.75 is required to ly from DUCXS.
6. b A maximum speed of 210 KIAS applies to the intermediate ixes (IFs)
of TIRTL, AYDEE, TONEO and SOOBY. However, the IF of IFPIG does not
show a maximum speed limit. The 210 knot restriction applies on this
route at AAVYA.
7. d, e DUCXS and DEEER are the only 2 ixes with mandatory altitudes.
AYDEE requires a minimum altitude of 4000 ft MSL and a minimum
altitude of 3000 ft MSL applies to IFPIG and TIRTL.
8. d RNP AR missed approaches are typically designed to require RNP 1.0.
If the missed approach requires an RNP value less than 1.0, the approach
chart will include the following note: Missed approach requires RNP less
than 1.0.According to AC 90-101A, changes to lower RNP values must
be complete by the ix deining the leg with the lower value. According to
AC 20-138D, Airworthiness Approval of Positioning and Navigation
Systems, the navigation system lateral total system error (TSE) must be
within the RNP value requirements (in this case .11 nm) for at least 95%
of the total light time.
9. a, c, d According to AC 90-101A, due to the reduced obstruction clearance
inherent in RNP AR instrument procedures, the lightcrew must verify that
the current local altimeter at the airport of intended landing is set not later
than the FAF, and if the altimeters do not agree within 100 ft the approach
should not be continued. This operational crosscheck is not necessary if the
aircraft automatically compares the altitudes to within 100 ft. According to
the descent/timing conversion table, a descent rate of 637 ft/min will
maintain a 3.00 descent angle. The missed approach should be initiated at
the DA of 506 ft MSL or 606 ft MSL for RNP 0.11 and RNP 0.30 respectively.
10. a, d, f According to the AIM 5-4-18, RNP AR approaches are developed
based on standard approach speeds and a 200 ft/nm climb gradient during
the missed approach. Any exceptions to these standards will be indicated
on the approach procedure, and the pilot should ensure compliance with any
published restrictions before conducting the operation. The aircraft is
expected to ly over HAGLI (a ly-over waypoint as depicted by the circle
enclosing the waypoint symbol). Missed approach waypoints and missed
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FLIGHT DEPT OF THE YEAR
Amways home care market flourishes

with use of business aircraft.
Members of the Amway

flight dept on the ramp
at GRR in front of
headquarters facility
with Gulfstream G550,
Bombardier Challenger
350 and Sikorsky S76.
Both business jets and helos in this 50 year

old flight dept based at GRR serve company air
transportation needs worldwide.
Senior Contributing Editor
ith a leet of 14 aircraft,

including 5 Gulfstream
G550s and a G450, 3 Citation CJ4s, 2 Bombardier Challenger 350s, a Boeing BBJ and 2 Sikorsky
S76 helicopters, the Amway light
depart, based at GRR (Grand Rapids
MI) with satellite operations at MCO
(Orlando FL), is one of the worlds
largest.
Based on its scope, its high degree
of professionalism and service to its
customers as well as its demonstrated
operational excellence over a span of
more than 50 years, including certiication to exacting IS-BAO Stage II
standards, the editorial board at Professional Pilot magazine has selected
the Amway light dept as its 2016
Flight Department of the Year.
Amway is an American company that uses a multilevel marketing
business model to sell a variety of

products, primarily in the health,
beauty and home care markets.
It had reported sales of $9.5 billion in
2015 and was ranked 29th that year
among the largest private companies
in the US by Forbes. Today Amway
does business in more than 100 countries and territories around the world.
Amway was started by Jay Van

Andel and Richard DeVos
The company was founded in
1959 by Jay Van Andel and Richard
DeVos, who began using aircraft as
a tool to grow their business less
than 5 years after launching the operation. The irst Amway corporate
aircraft was a single-engine Mooney.
Van Andel and DeVos had a legacy in aviation going back considerably before they founded Amway.
They were boyhood friends, and
after being discharged from the ser-
Piper J3 Cub hangs in atrium of Amways

flight department building. It replicates the
Piper Cubs that Van Andel and DeVos used
with Wolverine Air Service, their first aviation
business, years before Amway was created.
vice following WWII they teamed

up, bought a Piper Cub and started a business called Wolverine Air
Service. That company taught lying to returning WWII vets inanced
through the GI bill. Wolverine quickly grew to include a dozen aircraft
and 15 pilots and was the largest
light operation in Michigan when
Van Andel and DeVos sold it a few
years later to pursue other business
interests.
Photos by Mike Potts
By Mike Potts
Photos courtesy Amway
Amway started up in 1959 in Ada MI. Founders Jay Van Andel and Rich
DeVos coined Amway as an abbreviation for American Way.
Amway Founders Jay Van Andel (in cockpit) and Rich DeVos with Navion they operated as part of Wolverine Air Svc before founding Amway.
From a Mooney to jets

Amways Mooney soon gave way to
a succession of increasingly capable
aircraft, including a Piper Aztec, a
Beechcraft Queen Air and then their
1st jet, a Rockwell Jet Commander.
Several Cessna Citations followed,
then the addition of an airliner-class
aircraft, a British Aerospace BAC111,
as the company developed the need
for a multiaircraft leet capable of
handling short, medium and longrange lightssometimes with dozens of passengers. At one point the
company had 2 BAC111s in the leet
before the BACs were traded in on a
Boeing BBJ. A series of Citations in
the 80s gave way to Falcons in the
90s followed by Gulfstreams in the
new century as the department adjusted its leet to meet changing mission requirements. Rotorcraft were
also acquired in the mid 1970s, with
Amway becoming an early operator
of the Sikorsky S76 series.
The Amway light department is
housed in a 125,000 sq ft facility
that features an 82,000 sq ft hangar
and 2 additional 21,000 sq ft hangars that collectively can house the
departments entire leet. The facility
also includes ofice and classroom
space, plus an extensive atrium and
terminal facility for processing passengers. Suspended in the lobby is a
Piper Cub, commemorating DeVos
and Van Andels initial venture into
aviation with Wolverine Air Service.
Today, 70 people work in the light
Originally started with household cleaning

solutions, today Amway offers a wide array
of health, beauty and nutrition products.
Amway Chairman Steve Van Andel (L) and President Doug DeVos (R), sons of the founders of
Amway, rely on the Amway Flight Department for transportation all over the globe in support of
their ever-growing business.
dept, including 35 pilots, 20 maintenance technicians and assistants,

plus schedulers, administrative and
security personnel.
VP of Aviation Rick Fiddler

Rick Fiddler is vp of aviation for
Amway and directs the light dept
assisted by Chief Pilot & Ops Mgr
Jeff Dykstra. Fiddler joined the department 34 years ago as an S76
and ixed-wing pilot. Dykstra came
aboard in 2004 as a jet FO.
When I took over the department

in 1998, Amway cofounder Van Andel told me there are just 2 things
you need to know: Dont ever skimp
on maintenance and dont ever
skimp on training. Ive lived by those
words ever since, and its worked out
very well for us, Fiddler declares.
Fiddler says he doesnt remember
his 1st airplane ride. His dad learned
to ly in the Army before WWII and
owned a Piper Cub when Rick was
growing up. The elder Fiddler bought
a Piper Tri-Pacer in 1967 when Rick
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Vice President of
Aviation Rick Fiddler
has led the Amway
Flight Department since
1998. His guiding
principles are never
skimp on maintenance
or training.
Chief Pilot and Ops

Manager Jeff Dykstra
oversees a team of 35
pilots. He also assists
Fiddler with day-to-day
operations of the dept.
On the flightdeck of Gulfstream G550 are Sr Capt Lance Miller (L) and Capt Dustin Fiddler. Miller
is also a captain on the Boeing 737 while Fiddler is active with the departments intern program.
was 14 and he began formally learning to ly in that aircraft. Bad weather

prevented Rick from soloing on his
16th birthday in Nov of 1969, but
by the following spring he was well
on the way to his private license and
planning on an aviation career.
However, Fiddlers graduation
from college coincided with the end
of the Vietnam war and both the
Navy and the Air Force were cutting
back, eliminating what he had considered his logical career path. By
this time, Fiddler had his commercial and instrument ratings and he
heard the Lansing Police Dept was
hiring helicopter pilots. Explaining
that he had a degree in pre-law but
no helicopter rating, Fiddler offered
to pay for his own transition training
but was told he would irst have to
attend a police academy before any
hiring consideration was possible.
With no money left after college,
Fiddler borrowed $4700 from his
dad to attend Michigan State Police
Academy. It amazes me even today
how it turned out. After the 21 week
course I was hired by the Lansing
police. I spent 6 months on the road
and then they sent me to helicopter school, remembers Fiddler. The
Lansing Police sent Fiddler to National Guard helicopter training in
Grand Ledge MI and then he began
lying the units Hughes 300s.
It was about 8 years later, toward
the end of 1982, when Fiddler, still
lying Hughes 300s, heard that Amway was seeking dual-rated pilots.
He had seen and been enormously
impressed with Amways S76. I was
on their doorstep the next morning
with a rsum, he says. It took a

while for Amway to make a decision
but Fiddler was persistent and in December of 1982 he was hired. In addition to the helicopter, which was
his primary duty, Fiddler was initially
a Citation pilot but soon moved to
the BAC111, which he lew for nearly a decade. After that, Fiddler lew
the Falcon 900, then the Gulfstream
IV, and today he is current in the
G550 as well as the S76.
Fiddler was promoted to chief
pilot in 1997 and became director
of aviation in 2002. He is justiiably proud of the highly professional operation he runs. Every aspect
of this operation relects Amways
high quality approach to everything
it does, he says. This is a service
business. We supply ultra-high-quality safe transportation to our key
executives.
Chief Pilot & Ops Mgr Jeff Dykstra

Dykstras path to leadership in Amways light department was quite
different from Fiddlers. He always
had a passion for aviation and was
aspiring to an aviation career when
an American Airlines captain speaking at a high school career day informed Dykstra that he couldnt
hope to have a career as a pilot if he
had prescription glasses. Adjusting
his aspirations and seeking a career
in inance, Dykstra pursued a degree
in inance from Upsala College in
New Jersey, and upon graduation
took a job with Midlantic National Bank there. His light aspirations
were not entirely dead, however,
and he earned a private license at

FWN (Sussex NJ) before a love interest inspired him to relocate to Grand
Rapids MI.
Now 24, Dykstra elected to continue with his light training at Northern
Air School of Aeronautics at GRR,
earning his commercial license even
as he was starting a family and becoming manager of the local First of
America bank branch. At the same
time his wife was working in the
mortgage business.
About 2 years later and seemingly
fully committed to a career in banking, Dykstra learned of a line tech
opening at Northern Air. It would
mean trading his comfortable banking career for a minimum wage job,
but Dykstra couldnt shake the idea
that the line tech job could be his
long-sought path to an aviation career. It was a dificult decision, but
with his wifes support he decided
to make the change. For the next 6
months he worked the line while also
working on his light instructor rating. And shortly after getting his CFI,
he got a big break. Northern Air, intrigued with his inance background,
hired Dykstra to be director of its
light school. He continued lying
students to build time, hoping eventually to land a corporate lying job.
In 1989, when Dykstra was 29
years old, AMR Combs bought
Northern Air and he began to get
time lying a Cessna 402 in the charter department. Soon he moved up
to a Cessna 441, then a King Air
A100 and a Lear 35. After about 5
years of charter, interspersed with a
short stint in a corporate light dept
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(LR) Amway Captain Pat Rollins has recently taken over duties as
safety officer. Captain Hank Braunz is the former safety officer while
Joe Iacco is the departments international training captain.
that came and went, Dykstra was

hired as a Lear 55 pilot at Gerber
Baby Foodsa job that would last
for nearly a decade. Dykstras gutsy
decision to leave banking for the line
tech job had paid off handsomely.
By 2004, however, a merger was
consolidating the Gerber light department and Dykstra had a choice
between relocating to New Jersey or
leaving. With a wife and 3 children,
Dykstra elected to stay in Grand Rapids where, fortunately, Amway was
looking for a pilot and hired him as
a jet FO. Today, as chief pilota position he assumed in 2015Dykstra
manages lightcrew schedules, processes expense reports, maintains
the light operations manual through
a standards committee, and handles human resource requirements
and personnel needs. He is also responsible for training, and assists the
vp of aviation with purchasing and
selling aircraft, and selecting which
aircraft will make speciic trips. Most
recurrent training at Amway is handled through a long-term agreement
with FlightSafety Intl.
While his administrative duties
keep him in the ofice most days,
Dykstra remains current in the G450
and G550 and typically lies 3 or 4
days a month. He no longer lies as a
captain, believing it is safer if he lies
as an FO. It helps me stay in touch
with the guys on the line and I can
see how things are going, he says.
Safety operations and

international training
Most Amway pilots have additional duties beyond lying. Hank Braunz
has been safety oficer for several
years and is about to pass that duty
Nancy Carlson (L) is sr travel coordinator for domestic trips, Tania Cook is
admin asst to Aviation VP Rick Fiddler, Erica Huntoon is sr travel coordinator
for Amways shuttle, and Mollie Ansbach coordinates international trips.
over to Pat Rollins. And Joe Iacco is

the international training oficer. The
3 of them, all G550 pilots, recently
discussed aspects of Amways light
operations.
Iacco noted that at one time Amway used an outside provider to periodically review international procedures, but the company now inds it
more effective to accomplish the task
in-house. Were able to home in on
speciic places we might be going,
which we ind suits our needs better.
There is no typical international
trip, Iacco explains. India, Russia,
China, South America, Africa, Europe, the Caribbean, Australia and
New Zealand are all common destinations. Even remote South Paciic
islands such as Tahiti and Fiji have
played host to Amways aircraft.
As incoming safety oficer, Rollins
noted that he wasnt expected to ly
blind. When Rick (Fiddler) asked if I
wanted to be safety oficer, they sent
me to Southern California Safety Institute, where I was in with a wide
range of students from different industries ranging from health care to
guys working oil rigs, studying all aspects of safety. Rick deinitely gave
me the tools I needed to do this job.
Braunz adds, The cool thing
about working here is that the company gives us the tools to do it right.
Amway does not hold back on safety and doesnt cut corners on training. We never lack for maintenance.
It hardly ever happens that we ly
with anything thats not working. We
dispatch with 100% functional airplanes almost all the time.
Each Amway aircraft is equipped
with a deibrillator and a tempus,
which provides real time information
to Medaire in Phoenix and allows a
doctor to assess and communicate

with a patient. Its there to help the
patient, as well as to help us decide
if we should divert. It also helps tell
us where we should divert if there is
a problem. Fortunately, we havent
needed that level of care, Dykstra
declares.
Amways aircraft always have
a lead captain on board, who is
responsible for its stocking, appearance and paperwork. The company has a lead captain for each aircraft type. On some international
lights, Amway brings a mechanic
to deal with any maintenance issues
that might arrive. The mechanics
are cross-trained to also serve as
light attendants. Duty and light
times of 14 and 10 hours, respectively, mirror the Flight Safety Foundation guidelines.
Mx Mgr Tom Meier

Tom Meier is aviation maintenance manager for Amway. He is
responsible for the facility as well as
the departments Part 145 repair station and all 14 aircraft.
Meier grew up in eastern Michigan near Flint. In high school he
had hoped to sign up for auto maintenance class but it was full. Diesel
mechanic class was similarly fully
subscribed so, Meier signed up for
the next option, which turned out to
be aviation maintenance. He earned
his A&P at Montcalm Community
College in Sidney MI and then went
to work for a Piper dealer near Lansing. Later he would work for the
Lansing Police Dept where he maintained the Hughes 300s that Rick
Fiddler was lying at the time. He
joined Amway in January of 1987.
Its not just a place to land.
Visit signatureflight.com or 1.888.367.0673
Operations at Amway are almost non-stop. On a typical day on the ramp at GRR, a Bombardier
Challenger 350 prepares to depart while a Gulfstream G550 waits for passengers and another
G550 enters the hangar after completing a trip.
Tom Meier is aviation
maintenance manager
with responsibility for the
departments 14 aircraft
and its Part 145 repair
station. He also manages
Amways 45,000-gallon
fuel farm.
A maintenance technician is available for every aircraft launch, and

post and prelight inspections are
conducted for every light. Weekend
maintenance work is on a rotation.
We try to be lexible to ensure our
people have a good family life,
Meier says.
Chief Inspector Kirk Bajdek

Krik Bajdek is chief
inspector for Amways
repair station and
safety leader for the
building and grounds.
In addition, Bajdek
serves as the departments official
tour guide.
Under Meiers direction, Amway

performs only line maintenance on
its aircraft, with all major inspections
being accomplished at OEM facilities.
The Gulfstream airframes (but not the
engines) have been on JSSIs maintenance program for the past 2 years,
which Meier says is working out well.
And 4 of Amways Gulfstream 550s
are still on warranty. The Challengers and Citation CJs are on tip-to-tail
maintenance programs. Generally,
aircraft are turned before engine overhauls or hot sections are necessary.
Some limited avionics work is also
performed in the Amways in-house repair station, including certiication of
all the aircraft to RVSM requirements.
Meiers responsibilities also include
Amways fuel farm, which has 3 large
15,000-gallon tanks. Last year the
company purchased 1.2 million gallons of jet fuel for its fuel farm.
Amways mx dept has 2 shifts. The
irst one goes from 7 am to 3:30 pm
and the next shift is from 2 to 11 pm.
Kirk Bajdek is chief inspector for

the Part 145 repair station as well
as safety leader for the department
with responsibility for safety in the
building and grounds. He learned
aviation maintenance in the Navy
where he was an aviation machinists
mate working on carrier-based A7E
Chance-Vought Corsairs. He earned
his A&P at Lansing Community College in 1985. He worked for a Part
135 night freight charter operator
before joining Amway in 1992 as a
maintenance technician.
In his role as safety leader Bajdek
is focused on fall protection, chemical handling, personal protection for
all employees, and mission and job
safety. He coordinates with Amways
safety personnel at the companys
headquarters in nearby Ada MI to
ensure that all OSHA regulations are
complied with.
Bajdek handles new employee
orientations for the light dept and
is also the departments oficial tour
guide for student groups and others
who visit the Amway facility.
Schedulers Mollie Ansbach,

Nancy Carlson and Erica
Huntoon
With 14 aircraft there is a signiicant requirement for scheduling, so
Amway employs 3 full time schedul-
ers. Mollie Ansbach, Nancy Carlson

and Erica Huntoon all carry the title
of senior travel coordinator and perform the scheduling function for the
department. All 3 women began their
careers in other segments of Amway
and moved into the light dept when
openings became available.
Ansbach is responsible for international trip planning and coordinates
with Universal Weather for handling.
She arranges transportation and
lodging for the lightcrews on the
road. Carlson has comparable duties
for domestic lights. Huntoon schedules Amways every-other-week
shuttle to the west coast and also
handles record keeping and inputs
crew training records. The group
uses PFM scheduling software.
The Amway light department
is very active in the community.
Fiddler is an original board member
of the West Michigan Aviation High
School and the Michigan Business
Aviation Association. Then Michigan Governor Rick Snyder appointed him to the Michigan Aeronautics
Commission, which oversees all
aviation activity in the state. Fiddler
is now chairman of the commission. In addition, the department
participates in Wings of Mercy and
Angel Flight, both organizations that
provide free transportation for medical patients needing to travel to distant locations.
The Amway light department relects excellence at every turn. The
ofices and hangars are spotless.
Passengers are processed smoothly
through the terminal to board waiting aircraft in a carefully coordinated ballet that appears seamless, but
in fact is the product of meticulous
planning and coordination by a
team of highly trained and dedicated
professionals who are committed to
providing an outstanding transportation experience to their customers.
Professional Pilot magazine is proud
to choose Amways light ops for its
2016 Flight Dept of the Year.
Mike Potts is senior

editorial contributor
for Professional Pilot.
He was in corporate
communications for
Beech and Raytheon
Aircraft between
1979 and 1997.
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INTERNATIONAL OPS
Flying your bizjet to high season ports

Peak period challenges can lead to longer flights with higher costs,
2nd choice destination airports, difficulties in aircraft parking,
problems securing accommodations and stretching crew duty limits.
By Grant McLaren
Editor-at-Large
ajor holidays, sporting

events, ilm festivals, airshows and economic forums routinely take place here and
there across the world, often saturating available GA infrastructure
and services. Operating to popular
destinations during either high season or special event periods often
involves additional planning and
occasional challenges on the day of
the operation. At congested airports,
overnight parking may or may not
be available and adequate crew accommodations may be non-existent.
Still, if you need to go to NCE (Nice
Intl, France) for the Cannes Film Festival, ZRH (Zrich, Switzerland) for
the Davos World Economic Forum
or perhaps SJD (Los Cabos, Mexico)
or SXM (St Maarten, Netherland Antilles) for a quick getaway over the
holidays there are ways to manage
looming and potential challenges.
Theres a lot to consider and plan

for when operating to popular high
season destinations or highly congested airports, says International Trip
Planning Services (ITPS) COO Phil
Linebaugh. There are places around
the world you can pretty well set your
watch to in terms of peak period challenges. For shorter notice operations
you may need to accept the fact that
youll need to reposition and, in some
cases, you may not even have the op-
Greek islands are among the most popular and alluring destinations that always seem to be busy
during peak season. Access to JMK (Mykonos, Greece), pictured above, can present GA access
issues during these periods and overnight parking may not be possible to secure.
tion to drop and go. This can lead to

additional cycles on the aircraft, higher trip costs, potential mismatches in
terms of conirmed parking and crew
accommodations, and can push limits
on crew duty days.
Airport slots and parking issues

Universal Sr Trip Owner Mark Hudson explains that airport slots, PPRs and
parking are often key issues during high
season periods. Many popular airports
around the world mandate airport slots
and PPRs. The later you get into the
game the harder it will be to obtain
what youre looking for. HKG (Hong
Kong) has become a real issue in terms
of slots and no longer approves parking
unless you have both arrival and departure slots conirmed, and Japan can
be another area of concern in terms of
obtaining slots that it your schedule.
Popular airports in Europe can present
additional challenges during busier operating periods, Hudson explains.
Peak season travel to popular destinations routinely involves parking
issues. Parking at popular Mediterranean destinations is often an issue
during the summerand it becomes
even more dificult at locations with
very few GA parking stands, notes

Avfuel Account Exec David Kang.
Operating to VCE (Venice, Italy) or
NAP (Naples, Italy) can be particularly challenging during the summer as
there are only a handful of GA parking stands available. BOB (Bora Bora,
French Polynesia), likewise, only has
3 GA parking spots for accommodating aircraft up to the size of a Dassault
Falcon 900, and it takes 15 to 30 days
notice to set up customs/immigration
clearance. Operators should always
have contingency plans in their back
pocket when lying to popular high
season destinations. They should also
communicate with passengers in terms
of expectation management. This is
particularly true for peak season locations where parking is limited and
slots/PPRs are mandated.
Keep in mind that it does not have to
be a major international event to overload available GA infrastructure, parking possibilities and support services.
During the MarApr cherry blossom
viewing season on Japans Hokkaido
Island the airports get saturated and
overnight GA parking may not be possible. Likewise, furniture trade shows
in Northern Italy and art exhibitions in
Switzerland can severely restrict local
COMMITMENT
You Can Count On
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A vote for Jet Aviation is a vote for all the knowledgeable and trained technicians who provide
maintenance and more on your aircraft. It also represents a vote for the outstanding level of
personal service at each of our FBO locations. Thats why our dedicated and PRASE-worthy
teams from the ramp to the reception area would appreciate your support.
Basel, Berlin, Boston/Bedford, Burbank, Chicago

Cologne, Dallas, Dubai, Dusseldorf, Geneva, Hong Kong
Houston, Jeddah, Los Angeles/Van Nuys, Macau, Medina
Moscow/Vnukovo, Munich, Nassau, Palm Beach, Riyadh
St. Louis, Singapore, Teterboro, Vienna, Zurich
www.jetaviation.com
GA operating lexibility and services

for those traveling to the region. As
events such as these impact operators
visiting those regions for other business purposes, its always important to
work closely with your international
service provider (ISP) to identify holidays and/or assorted events that may
coincide with your travel dates.
JMK (Mykonos, Greece) was a
very hot destination this season and
at times no slots were available even
to drop and go, says World Fuel/Colt
Account Exec Brad Crager. NAP limits GA parking to no more than 3 hours
during peak season. And for the art festival this year, even arranging a drop
and go at MLH (Basel, France) was
dificult. During winter months GCM
(Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands) often gets saturated and runs out of parking, as does LIR (Liberia, Costa Rica).
Even if you do secure parking at popular peak season destinations, there
are considerations to take into account, such as higher costs and timely
services,adds Crager. During the Rio
Olympics earlier this year, many operators repositioned to VCP (Campinas,
So Paulo, Brazil), where overnight
parking was available at 5 times the
normal cost. During peak periods at
popular destinations, arranging ontime services can also become a real
challenge. Your lightcrew may need to
be out at the aircraft a couple of hours
earlier than they normally would be
on the day of departure just to ensure
everything gets done right.
Contingency planning
Despite assorted challenges and high
season operating issues, there are options available to those who are well
prepared and willing to be somewhat
lexible. Frequently, there are ways to
get your passengers to Davos or G20
Summit meetings on short notice, even
(Left) Davos, Switzerland, is the site of the annual World Economic Forum and many operators
make parking and hotel arrangements a year prior to ensure access. When ZRH (Zrich) fills up,
another option to consider is ACH (St Gallen Altenrhein), 48 miles away. (Above) The Lithuanian
president and her delegation head back home from ACH.
to Olympic and World Cup soccer

event venues at the last minute, says
Jeppesen Vendor Relations Mgr Europe,
Middle East, Russia and Indian Ocean
Region Mark OCarroll. However, to
do so youll need to be more lexible
with your schedule, accept the prospect of a reposition and be aware that
youll not necessarily be arriving or departing at your preferred times.
Be aware that any change to an existing approval has potential to throw
everything off. At NCE its often possible to conirm parking up to 4 weeks
in advance. But if you make or even
request changes to parking approvals,
you may lose it all, cautions Hudson. If you have a 7-day parking stay
at NCE conirmed but decide to do a
short out and back trip on day 3, youll
likely lose all current parking conirmations. Just by making an application
to modify conirmed parking, or applying for a new airport slot to see what
will happen, can result in cancellation
of current parking approval. This will
cause you to have to depart and then
start the parking application process
all over again.
Operational delays
When operating to major international airports during peak periods,
fuel uplift delays can often be anticipated. During peak periods its often
recommended to fuel on arrival as fueling delays of up to 90 minutes are
possible at popular airports in Europe,
at HKG and elsewhere, says Kang.
Other services, including catering,
water and lavatory service, may also
show up late during peak operating periods. Its best to give caterers and fuel
providers additional lead time, which
involves additional prior coordination.
Service and support resources may be

busy on other parts of the airport and
your name may just go on a list. During
peak and congested periods, its best to
allow an extra hour for services to show
up, or you just may not get the services
you require, explains OCarroll.
Reposition options
When planning trips to popular
Greek or Caribbean islands during
high season, aircraft parking and lightcrew accommodations are usually 2 of
the most challenging considerations.
While you may secure parking at SXM,
for example, there may be no crew accommodations available. Or you may
have non-refundable $800/night rooms
booked only to lose your parking arrangements at the intended destination. In some cases you may be able to
source accommodations on nearby islands, reachable by boat or helicopter,
if hotels ill up at your destination.
In cases such as short notice trips to
the Davos Forum, youll likely have to
reposition some distance away, perhaps to LIN (Linate, Milan, Italy). In
other cases, including a G20 Summit
meeting earlier this year in Japan, drop
and go was prohibited at the primary airport for anyone who was not an
oficial participant. Operators had to
orchestrate parking, crew accommodations and passenger transport to the
venue from a satellite airport location.
In the event you must reposition to a
reliever airport in a different country,
perhaps popping over to HEL (Helsinki, Finland) after dropping passengers
off at LED (St Petersburg, Russia) for
the World Economic Forum, its critical to ensure you have all required visas as well as international overlight
and landing permits.
Jet Aviation at XSP (Seletar, Singapore) is an easier access and more GA-friendly destination than
SIN (Singapore Changi). In most cases youll enjoy better operational flexibility at XSP. At right is
the iconic Merlion at the entrance to the Singapore River in the central business district.
While you may begin the trip planning process for the St Petersburg International Economic Forum 3 to 6
months out, operators who dont have
the highest level connections may
need to reposition, explains MGAS Sr
Fuel Manager Chris Linebaugh. Typical reposition options include HEL
and TLL (Tallinn, Estonia), putting the
crew in a different country than their
passengers. In such cases its important
to have all appropriate visas, including
multientry visas for Russia, and to be
aware of CAA hours and permit options if you need to make short notice
schedule revisions.
Dual-airport locations
Areas served by 2 airports require
additional consideration, particularly
during peak travel periods. In Dubai,
access and operational lexibility is
usually better at DWC (Al Maktoum,
Dubai, UAE) than DXB (Intl, Dubai,
UAE). Likewise, there are operational
pros and cons to consider when traveling to Singapore, Milan, London, Istanbul and other locations served by 2
or more airports.
The industry is trending toward
preferred GA airports at many busy locations, says Kang. Singaporean authorities are directing most GA operations to SEL (Seletar, Singapore) rather
than SIN (Changi, Singapore), while
Malaysian authorities prefer GA to use
SZB (Subang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
instead of KUL (Intl, Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia).
Within a couple of years, a new airport with a complete general aviation
terminal featuring full support services will be opening at Beijing, and

this more distant airport may become
the de facto destination for most GA
needs.
DXB has become so congested
these days that operators can almost
assume theyll get redirected, comments Hudson. In fact, I had 2 aircraft
formerly based at DXB that have completely stopped operating there due to
increasingly dificult access and parking issues.
Holiday considerations
During prime North American holiday periods, such as Christmas, New
Years and Spring Break, peak congestion occurs at popular Caribbean and
Bahamas islands as well as top tier
Mexican resort destinations. The diligent international operator should be
aware of applicable international holidays throughout the world, as these
will impact parking, permit processing
lead times and timely service options
on the ground. Lunar New Year celebrations in Asia tend to cause operating congestion early into and toward
the end of the 2-week holiday period,
and CAA permit processing ofices may
shut down for days at a time. Likewise,
major Islamic holidays cause heavier than normal congestion at certain
Middle East airports, with permit processing taking longer due to restricted
CAA operating hours. During the Ramadan fasting period, Middle Eastern
airports remain open and operational,
although ramp services tend to slow
down, particularly later in the day be-
fore the evening break from fasting.

Other holiday considerations to be
mindful of around the world include
Japans Golden Week and the several
dozen annual national holidays in India. DGAC in India recognizes all of
these national holidays, says Jeppesen
International Trip Planning Specialist
Jodi Tanner-Perkins. CAA will close
down from time to time and permits
become more dificult to secure. In
some cases, CAA and local airport authorities may only process air ambulance permit requests.
Conclusion
One of the key beneits of business aviation is the ability to travel
anywhere in the world on your own
schedule. Maintaining this lexibility of movement during high demand
peak operating periods, however, often involves additional trip planning
and Plan B contingency options. Before heading out on any international
trip its important to be aware of holidays, major events or peak season
conditions that may be occurring at
your destinations.
Reach out and talk with your ISP
and local ground handlers early in the
planning process to understand the best
options in terms of airport slots and
overnight parking possibilities, recommends Hudson. Peak season challenges vary around the world, depending on
the particular airport, and there will be
times when even with early planning
and reconirmation things will still have
the potential to go sideways.
Editor-at-Large
Grant McLaren has
written for Pro Pilot
for over 20 years
and specializes
in corporate
light department
coverage.
Value without compromise.

CLAY LACY FBOs.
Competitive fuel price. Superior service

and safety. Part 145 repairs and the most
experienced team in the industry. No one
delivers greater value.
2017 Pro Pilot PRASE Survey

Thank you for your vote!
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LOS ANGELES
SEATTLE
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818.989.2900
claylacy.com/kvny
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206.762.6000
claylacy.com/kbfi
W O R L D S M O S T E X P E R I E N C E D O P E R AT O R O F P R I VAT E J E T S
2016 Clay Lacy Aviation All rights reserved.
ALEX REMEMBERS
a personal memoir
Selling Beech and Learjet airplanes

in SE Asia during the 60s and 70s
Burma (now Myanmar) is dotted with many
Buddhist temples throughout the country, including several hundred in the city of Pagan.
By Alex Kvassay
Former Beech and Learjet Sales Executive
Singapore
Airlines has long
been rated highly
for its service
to passengers
by well-trained
hostesses such as
these.
hile I was working as a salesman for Beech,

business or private aviation in Burmaor in
all Southeast Asiadid not exist. But there was
a limited military market. At that time during my Beech
employment, the production of the current model of the
famed Beech 18, the D18S, was discontinued. Customers wanted the new and improved Super 18 model. Back
then the Super 18 was the prime cabin size executive
twin-engine aircraft. But Beech still had parts on hand for
at least 6 more of the earlier D18S models.
By some luck, I dont remember how, we heard that the
Burma Air Force (today Myanmar) was looking for light
transports. One of our sales representatives went there

and received an order for 6 D18S airplanes. Of course
they were sold at a ire-sale price.
Dale Norton, then a Beech technician, father of the future US Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton, was sent to
Sale of the last 6 Beechcraft D18S models produced by the company

were sold at a discounted price to the Burmese Air Force, where they
served as light transports.
In the 1950s about the only hotel available to travelers in Rangoon,

Burma, was the Strand, known for the birds flying in the interior.
Robert Loh, a Singapore real estate

developer, led Alex
Kvassay on an extensive odyssey from
London to Hong Kong
before finally signing
a contract for a new
Learjet 35 in 1974.
In the 1980s Singapore Airlines bought 4 Learjet 45s for pilot training,
replacing 4 Learjet 31s they previously operated.
Rangoon (today Yangon) to help in starting the operations

of the new Beechcraft leet. After his arrival in Rangoon,
Dale Norton stayed at the only available hotel, the Strand.
This hotel was known for having birds lying around in
the lobby, and they followed you to your room if you
were not quick in closing your door. Shortly after his arrival, Norton cabled the Beech factory saying, Large rats
are chewing on the control cables. What do you recommend? His boss, the service manager, sent him a short
reply, Recommend large cats.
The Myanmar Air Force currently operates s great number of airplanes including 40 MiG29s from Russia and a
variety of Chinese-built ighter aircraft. Along with some
Chinese transport planes, they have F27s, Pilatus Turbo
Porters and Beech 1900s. And in addition to many Russian and Polish helicopters, they also have 14 Bell 205s.
A recent report on the Myanmar Air Force inventory listed
more than 200 aircraft and 13 air basesmuch too large
an air force for a small and poor country. But it provides
jobs for a number of generals and a sizable military cadre.
On a later visit in Burma, during the delivery of a Beech
Queen Air to Australia, both Bob Oestreicher and I were
interviewed on Burmese television. Flying a small aircraft
for such a distance was apparently of interest, although I
question whether the majority of the Burmese people had
tv sets or if they even had any concept of aviation.
At that time I did some lying around Burma as a tourist
and lew to Mandalay on Burma Airways Fokker 27 airplanes. Subsequently I heard that the airline had ceased to
operate. I questioned a Burmese why this happened and
his answer was because all 4 of their aircraft had crashed.
A good way to exit the aviation business. I understand
they now have other airlines with modern equipment
such as Airbus 320s.
Myanmar Air Force operates a significant number of Russian MiG29s.
Beech technician Dale Norton faced a perplexing dilemma when he was sent to Burma
to assist the countrys air force in launching
operations of their new D18S fleet.
In other parts of Southeast Asia, Singapore Airlines used

Learjets for airline pilot training. They replaced their 4
Learjet 31s with 4 Learjet 45s. This sale was made after I
left Learjet in 1976. It was an important break into a new
segment of the market, but from what I heard, the Learjet
sales team failed to follow up on this opportunity and to
my knowledge no other Learjet was sold to any of the
major airlines as a trainer.
Unknown to us as a prospect, prominent Indonesian
Robert Loh, a Singapore real estate developer, came to
Wichita in 1974 during a routine trip to the US to evaluate the Learjet 35. A rare walk-in customer for a jet. He
was impressed but made no commitment at that time.
Soon after, I received a phone call from Mr Lohs ofice in
London telling me that he wanted to talk to me and would
be expecting me in London. I hastened to his London ofice only to be told that he had left for his Singapore ofice
and wanted to see me there. I went back to the airport
and on to Singapore. Same story again. Mr Loh had to
leave for Hong Kong and was expecting me there. So I
had to go back again to the airport and on to Hong Kong.
Finally I met up with Mr Loh and he placed his order for
a Learjet 35. Then I lew home via Los Angeles. A quick
trip around the world in 3 tiring days, but the conclusion
justiied the expense and the effort.
I am sure that by today there are a number of business
jets of all sizes based in Southeast Asia.
Alex Kvassay spent 30 years in

international business aviation sales,
working for both Beech and Learjet,
concluding with Management Jets Worldwide, of which he was CEO, based in
Paris. His book, Alex in Wonderland,
outlines his life and career. Now 89, his
300 scrapbooks assembled after each of
his milestone trips abroad, serve as basis for this series.
51
Bob Hoover, ...the greatest

stick-and-rudder man who
ever lived. Jimmy Doolittle
he lying world lost a true aviT
ation legend and pioneer, indeed a founding father in many ways,
when Mr Robert Bob Hoover left us on October 25 in

Los Angeles at the age of 94.
Born in Nashville in 1922, Bob started lying at the
age of 16 at Berry Field, rebuilding a Taylor E2 for barnstorming across Tennessee. Prone to airsickness, he still
remained dedicated to lying and joined the Tennessee
Air Guard as a gunner and then the Army Air Corp when
WWII started. This led him to test pilot duty at a repair
depot in Morocco, where he lew a broad range of aircraftbut Lt Hoover always wanted to get in the ight, so
the Army sent him to the 52nd Fighter Group on Corsica.
He completed 58 missions before being shot down in
1944 by Lt Siegfried Lemke in a Fw190 when he had
problems with his Spitire Mark V. In a daring escape after
16 months as a prisoner of war at Stalag Luft I, he stole a
Fw190 from an unguarded ield and lew to freedom in
the Netherlands.
After WWII he was transferred to the Flight Evaluation
Group at Wright Field in Ohio, where he evaluated Japanese and German aircraft. Leaving the military in 1948,
Bob joined General Motors Allison Division as a test
pilot, backing up Chuck Yeager on the Bell X1, piloting
the P80 Shooting Star chase plane during the epic Mach
1 light. He then shifted over North American in 1950
to continue his work as a test pilot, lying the Navys
FJ2 Fury, T28 and the F86D and F100, which he demonstrated all over the world, including to combat squadrons
in Korea.
In the 1950s he started delighting airshow crowds in a
P51 Mustang he named Ole Yeller (now at the Legacy
Flight Museum). He eventually incorporated the Shrike
Commander 500S (in the National Air & Space Museums
Udvar-Hazy Center) where his core performance was
pouring tea into a glass on the glareshield while doing
a 1-G roll.
Bob Hoover with first T28B.
Any one of Bobs achievements would be a lifelong

source of pride for most of us. Military awards include
the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, Soldiers Medal, Purple Heart, and the French Croix de Guerre. He was
honorary member of the Blue Angels, the Thunderbirds,
the RCAF Snowbirds, and the American Fighter Aces Association who gave him the Award of Merit. He was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame, the Aerospace Walk of Honor and the International Air & Space
Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum. Other honors include the Living Legends of Aviation Freedom
of Flight Award (to become the Bob Hoover Freedom of
Flight Award), the National Air and Space Museum Trophy, an honorary doctorate from the US Air Force Test
Pilot School, and the National Aeronautic Associations
Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy. His aviation experience spanned more than 2500 airshows and 300 aircraft,
associating with names such as Wright, Lindbergh, Doolittle, Rickenbacker, Armstrong and Gagarin.
Mr Hoover was widely known for his gentlemanly style
of encouragement and instruction, especially with the
younger generations. His education efforts after an accident where his Aero Commander was mistakenly illed
with jet fuel prompted the development of the Hoover
Nozzle which is now required on fuel hoses to prevent
cross-servicing of jet fuel and avgas.
Bob is survived by his son, daughter and grandchildren.
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NBAA 2016
Bizav big boys continue to dominate

Deep pocket stars at Orlando show are Gulfstream G500 & G600,
Bombardier Global 7000, Cessna Lat-Long & Hemisphere, Dassault
8X, 5X & 900LX, Embraer Phenoms & Legacy 650E, Pilatus PC24.
By Brent Bundy
Phoenix Police Officer-Pilot

FW Comm-Inst/Helo
AS350, AW119, Cessna 182/172
rend of long range business jets

continues. Gulfstream displays
new G500, hawks soon-to-ly
G600, while G650ER leads market.
Dassault promotes 8X, 900LX w/
FalconEye, 5X for 2020. Bombardier
grows support assets and promotes
Global 7000. Cessna brings Longitude and says long-range Hemisphere will be ready in 2019. Pilatus
deputs PC24 jet. Cirrus gets FAA cert
for Vision SF50.
For its 69th annual Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition
(BACE), NBAA returned to Orlando
from Nov 13. The show attracted
over 25,000 attendees, 1100 exhibitors and 129 aircraft at a sold out
ORL (Orlando Exec, FL).
More advancement than

announcement
As business aviation continues
to recover, the theme was more advancement than announcement.
With aircraft manufacturers either
mid-way through testing and certiication of new products or nearing delivery of inalized projects, most news
was progress updates or services like

satellite connectivity, avionics and
Enhanced Vision Systems (EVS).
NBAA Pres & CEO Ed Bolen
opened the general session with a
tribute for recently-lost legend and
aviation ambassador Arnold Palmer, followed by Congressman Sam
Graves (R-MO), US Customs and
Border Patrol Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske, and Pulitzer Prize winning
author David McCullough.
Day 2 had a salute to recently departed aviation hero Bob Hoover,
and Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL)
received the Meritorious Service
Award. Program updates from manufacturers focused on larger, longer-range aircraft with Honeywell
supporting this trend in its annual
Business Aviation Outlook.
Gulfstream displayed the production-ready G500, which features a
new wide cabin, with a soon-to-ly
update on the G600. Even with G150
and G450 production ending, they
saw their strongest 3Q order intake in
5 years with the G650/G650ER.
Dassault showed its Falcon 8X, 1st
delivery having just occurred. The
900LX has been modernized, the 5X
now has a 2020 delivery after Snecma Silvercrest engine delays, and the
FalconEye Combined Vision System
(just certiied for the 2000S/LXS) will
soon be approved for the 8X.

Bombardier talked support by adding more tech personnel and mobile
response vehicles with new service
centers in London and China. The
long-range Global 7000s maiden
light was on Nov 4, which was 1
day after the convention.
Cessnas Longitude was on display
after its 1st light and with range and
payload increases. There were also
updates on the larger Hemisphere
with an initial light slated for 2019.
Embraer reported cabin, EVS and
avionics improvements on various models with a light on the 1st
USA-assembled Legacy 450.
Pilatus debuted its twinjet PC24
prototype #2 for North America and
is on track for Q3 2017 delivery.
Daher sold the 800th TBM and detailed their new charter operations.
Piper debuted the M600 single engine TP, and Piaggio secured orders
for 5 Avanti EVOs.
Cirrus was big news with full FAA
certiication of their small single engine SF50 Vision.
In addition to educational courses, safety seminars, job fairs and interactive networking opportunities,
NBAA kicked off the #BizAvWorks
social media campaign.
Next years NBAA conference will
return to Las Vegas Oct 1012.
Photos by Brent Bundy, Mike Potts & Jos Vsquez
Gulfstream G500, newly-certificated Cirrus Vision SF50 jet and Pilatus PC24 twinjet stood wingtip-to-wingtip with a 100 year old SPAD XIII, the 1st
biplane fighter designed by Dassault, at the static display at ORL. Aircraft lovers had 114 cockpits and cabins to explore on the ramp. On the trade
show floor attendees found a wide variety of products and services for their aircraft cockpit and cabin.
VOTE AMERICAN AERO FTW NUMBER 1 IN THE PROFESSIONAL PILOT PRASE SURVEY
DANIEL GONZALEZ
PURPOSE
American Aero F T W was the first FBO in the countr y
to achieve IS -BAH Certification. As proud as we
are of that milestone, being a truly safe FBO is a lot
more than a plaque on a wall. To me, its about
conducting yourself professionally and acting with
purpose each day. Its why I work here. Its who I
am.
Hello. My name is American Aero F T W.
AMERICAN AERO FTW | 2 51 A M E R IC A N CONCOU R SE | FT WORTH, TX | 7610 6 | WWW.AMERICANAEROFTW.COM

8 8 8 .973 . 5 8 67
Gulfstream showed its new G500. This is the 5th aircraft

in the test program. Certification is expected in early 2017
with 1st deliveries to begin shortly after.
Williams International Prod Supp VP

Steve Shettler with the FJ44 turbofan,
which will power the Pilatus PC24.
Pilatus flew in the PC24 twinjet for its North American

show debut. CEO Markus Bucher provided updates on
the test program, which recently completed avionics
and hot weather work in Phoenix AZ. Initial performance figures have been exceeded and everything is
on track for certification and deliveries in 2017.
Embraer Demo Pilot Thad Hoshall proudly shows

that operators rated Embraer #1 in after-sale svc in
Pro Pilots 2016 Product Support Survey.
Vision Flightdeck of the Bombardier Global 5000

shows the latest in technology. Synthetic vision,
head-up display (HUD) and MultiScan weather
radar reduce pilot workload for safer flight ops.
Having taken its 1st flight less than 1 month

earlier, Cessna brought the Citation Longitude. It
was announced that both range and fuel load
have been increased as the super-midsize jet
closes in on 1st delivery, expected late 2017.
10 years after announcing plans to build a jet, Cirrus

obtained FAA certification of the SF50 Vision Jet on
Oct 31, 2016. With nearly 600 orders for the $1.96
million single-engine jet, the company is anxious to
begin deliveries in Dec 2016.
Aviation Personnel Intl Pres & CEO Sheryl Barden

stands ready to greet her av dept mgrs and guests
at APIs 45th Anniv Shrimp & Champagne Party.
Quantum Insurance Group Pres Victor Quijano won

a prize pkg at World Fuel Services booth. Shown
here with Dir of Bus & GA Mktg Stephanie Jordan.
Pratt & Whitney Canada GA Gen Mgr Nicholas

Kanellias answers questions about the new ESP
maintenance program for PT6A engines during the
annual media luncheon.
Garmin Aviation Media Relations rep Jessica Koss

shows G5000 touchscreen avionics suite. Garmin
also promoted its new voice-activated avionics.
Dassault recently delivered the 1st Falcon

8X, their flagship ultra-long range trijet. This
mockup shows just a sampling of the myriad
of available interior configurations.
GE Aviation Communications Dir for Business

and GA Integrated Systems Gautham Appaya
and Customer Program Manager for Business
and GA John Ledbetter pose with the companys Passport Integrated Propulsion System.
VOTE AMERICAN AERO FTW NUMBER 1 IN THE PROFESSIONAL PILOT PRASE SURVEY
JAC K I E GAT E S
PA T I E N C E
Can you hear that? I can. At American Aero F T W,
weve learned ser vice begins with the ability to
listen for what isnt being said, and to predict a
need before being asked. And, while all of us share
a common passion for ser ving others, we also
practice a lost ar t. Patience. So come get to know
us, were listening.
Hello. My name is American Aero F T W.
AMERICAN AERO FTW | 2 51 A M E R IC A N CONCOU R SE | FT WORTH, TX | 7610 6 | WWW.AMERICANAEROFTW.COM

8 8 8 .973 . 5 8 67
Jet Aviation will celebrate

50 yrs in business in 2017.
Hosting visitors for the
company was Sr VP
Group Mktg and
Commun Heinz Aebi.
With the recent delivery of the 800th TBM,

Daher continues to promote the TBM900 and
930 with new quick-change interiors, including a lavatory option. During the show they
announced a new program that will connect
owners with charter companies.
Blackhawk is moving forward with testing of

its latest upgrade offering for King Air 350, the
installation of P&WC PT6A-67A engines adding
150 SHP. STC is expected May 2017. (L-R) VP
Lynnette Allmon, Sr VP Bob Kromer, and Sales
Coordinator Linda Hill.
Banyan Pres Don

Campion and wife
SueAnne are both
involved in the
introduction of
new programs
and services at FXE.
You Dont Need Anti-Skid Braking...
Until You Do.

Nearly a year after the 1st production aircraft
was handed over to a customer, 16 HondaJet
HA420s have been delivered. Company expects to
reach full capacity of 80 aircraft a year by 2019.
At the GlobalParts booth

Sr VP & COO Malissa
Nesmith showcases the
variety of parts available
on demand as well as the
cos component design
and manufacturing
capability.
At the Clay Lacy Aviation
booth CEO Clay Lacy and
CSR Supervisor Shannon
DeCoudres greeted customers and guests during the
1st day of the show.
Effective, Affordable Anti-Skid Braking for Your Aircraft
CERTIFIED | LIGHTWEIGHT | EASY TO INSTALL

Eclipse 500/550 | King Air B200/B300 | Pilatus PC-12/12NG
Contact tom.grunbeck@aircraftsystems.aero | 918.388.5940 | or see aircraftsystems.aero
Rockwell Collins released

a new version of its
ARINCDirect Flight
Operations System
mobile app with a more
intuitive interface. Principal Mktg Mgr Robert
Myhlhousen demoed the
new application.
VO
T
N EK
U E
M N
BE M
R OR
1 E
IN A
PR ERO
AS B
E FI
PIKE PLACE MARKET IN SEATTLE WAS FOUNDED IN 1907.

BOEING FIELD WAS DEDICATED IN 1928.
KENMORE AIR WAS FOUNDED IN 1946.
And Were Just Getting Started.
VOTE
JEREMIAH THORN
BEST LST
VOTE
BRANDIE THOMPSON
BEST CSR
Enjoy the most compeiive fuel prices at

Boeing Field (KBFI) with an unexpected level
of care. Unchain your experience, with
Kenmore Aero Services.
K E N M O R E
A E R O
S E R V I C E S
8 5 5 5
P E R I M E T E R
R D
B O E I N G
F I E L D
U n c h a i n Yo u r E x p e r i e n c e
S E A T T L E
W A
9 8 1 0 8
8 6 6 . 4 1 0 . 6 3 7 6
W W W . K E N M O R E F B O . C O M
Staffing the Stevens Aviation booth at NBAA

were Andy Wilson, Ward Brooks, Randy Smith,
and Jim Williams.
Universal Avionics Pres and Chairman Ted Naimer. Company is in final testing for upgrades to its
CPDLC sets. They are also releasing new FANS
desktop training software.
West Star Avs Jim Swehla, Debi Cunningham, Michael Durst and Samuel Haycraft
are excited about the $20 million expansion at CHA (Chattanooga TN). It will include a new paint facility.
Signature VP Mktg Patrick Sniffen and VP

Industry & Govt Affairs Mary Miller stand
ready to talk about the cos new loyalty app.
Vector celebrated the 1st anniversary of its VMAX pay-per-hour

mx plan for the P&WC JT15D turbofan. At the show were (LR)
VMAX Prog Mgr Courtnay Woods, Reg Sales Mgr East Canada
Paul Hagen and VP Bus Intelligence Alex Youngs.
American Aero FTW GM Riggs Brown presents a donation of

$21,000 to Navy SEAL Foundation Rep Rory OConnor. This is
the 4th yr American Aero has run Red, White & Blue program
where customers contribute 10 cents per gal of fuel to the cause.
ForeFlight continues
to be a top choice
for GA as it allows
pilots to plan, file
and brief flights
from a variety of
portable devices.
NTSB member
& Pro Pilot contributor Robert
Sumwalt, FAA
Dir of Standards
Les Smith &
Nationwide Ins
Av Dept Mgr
Dan Wolfe meet
on the show
floor at Pro Pilot
display.
ViaSat global broadband provider showed their

new Global Aero Terminal 5510 high-speed connectivity system combined with very competitive
pricing. Demoing the product with a link to the main
office in Carlsbad, CA were (L-R) Ralph Fisch, Leo
Conboy, (onscreen) Heather Campbell, Dean Jordan
and James Person.
Jay Ammar Hussary, Evolution Man and Ryan

Frankhouser launch flightevolution. Its the 1st
flight planning, wx and mapping tool designed
from the start for use on mobile devices.
Flight Display Systems is now FDS Av. Reed

Macdonald, Bill Cathcart & Dave Dodson announce 1 inch HD cabin displays called Edge
to complement its doCAPSULE media platform.
Chair James Raisbeck, Mng Partner of Acorn Growth

Rick Nagel which recently acquired Raisbeck Engineering, and CEO/CFO Tony Armstrong look forward to intriguing new projects in 2017.
flightevolution
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61
2016 TURBINE POWERPLANT PRODUCT SUPPORT SURVEY
Fixed-wing & helo combined: 1 Williams, 2 GE,

3 P&WC, 4 R-R, 5 Honeywell, 6 Safran-Turbomeca
Helo only: 1 Rolls-Royce, 2 Safran-Turbomeca, 3 P&WC.
Pro Pilot staff report
Data compiled by Conklin & de Decker
hanges dominate the winners

list for 2016. Last year the ranking was 1 GE, 2 Williams, 3 R-R,
4 P&WC, 5 Turbomeca, 6 Honeywell.
Moving up this year are Williams (1),
P&WC (3), Honeywell (5).
Williams regains the 1st place this
OEM had for 17 years, a spot lost to
GE in 2015. Overall 2016 score for
Williams of 8.75 is 0.45 higher than
the 8.30 tallied in 2015. Williams increases in all categories. They are 1st
in Response to problems, Spares availability, Speed in AOG service, Tech
reps and Service satisfaction.
GE dips a step to 2nd in 2016 after
ranking 1st in 2015. No disputing GE
did great for 2016 garnering 8.69 that
shows a betterment of 0.36 over the
companys 2015 tally of 8.33. But it is
not enough to keep the crown from the
Williams 2016 score of 8.75. However,
GE is 1st in the category of Cost of parts
with 7.75 in 2016, a huge increase of
0.61 as compared to the GE parts price
score of 7.14 for 2015. Also GE ranks
1st in Tech manuals and is 2nd in all the
rest of the categories.
year, a leap of 0.30 as compared with

their score of 7.77 in 2015. The Phoenix-based OEM was 6th in 2015 and
4th in 2014. Looking at categories
Honeywell does better for 2016 than
in 2015 for Speed in AOG service with
8.24 for 2016, a betterment of 0.40
as compared with the 7.84 tallied for
AOG response in 2015.
Pratt & Whitney Canada moves up

to 3rd for 2016 after being 4th in 2015.
P&WC has an overall score of 8.20 for
2016 that is an increase of 0.05 compared with their 2015 tally. Best category increase for P&WC is in Speed
in AOG service with 8.27 in 2016, a
betterment of 0.12 as compared with
the companys score in this category of
8.15 in 2015.
Safran Helicopter Engines (formerly

TurbomecaMay 2016) earns 6th for
2016 with a score of 7.72 as compared
with 7.82 for 2015. Best category
for this powerplant company is in
Response to problems where for
2016 the score was 8.18, an increase
of 0.06 compared to the 8.12 tallied
in 2015.
Rolls-Royce slips 1 place to 4th for

2016 with a score of 8.18 after placing
3rd in 2015 with 8.20. By categories
the best increase for R-R is in Cost of
parts with 6.75 in 2016 as compared
with 6.69 in 2015.
Honeywell gains a notch, going to
5th from 6th with a tally of 8.07 this
Powerplant OEM score

Manufacturers
Responses
Responses to
problems
Spares
availability
Cost
of parts
2016
2015
Dif
2016
2015
Dif
2016
2015
Dif
Williams
83
8.95
8.41
0.54
9.01
8.81
0.20
7.47
7.32
0.15
General Electric
72
8.90
8.55
0.35
8.75
8.38
0.37
7.75
7.14
0.61
P&WC
404
8.47
8.42
0.05
8.41
8.30
0.11
6.86
6.86
0.00
Rolls-Royce
238
8.55
8.63
-0.08
8.26
8.25
0.01
6.75
6.69
0.06
Honeywell
238
8.27
7.94
0.33
8.28
7.94
0.34
6.85
6.60
0.25
Safran-Turbomeca***
51
8.18
8.12
0.06
7.67
7.81
-0.14
6.45
6.73
-0.28
24 years of surveys
7.70
7.57
8.02
7.67
7.11
7.62
7.86
7.62
7.43
7.33
7.50
7.28
7.39
7.31
7.67
7.98
8.09
8.31
7.75
8.05
8.26
8.25
8.33
8.69
7.60
7.87
8.14
8.12
7.71
7.77
7.66
7.69
7.66
7.81
7.89
7.76
7.96
7.86
7.84
8.03
8.16
7.93
8.03
8.03
8.07
8.11
8.15
8.20
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
8.37
8.22
8.28
8.53
7.99
7.90
8.12
8.34
8.47
8.44
8.48
8.40
8.41
8.38
8.41
8.61
8.41
8.30
8.75
10
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
1993 through 1997
Comparison of overall average scores
2016 Pro Pilot Turbine
Williams
No ratings for years indicated
General Electric
Pratt & Whitney Canada
2016 Pro Pilot Turbine Powerplant Product Support Survey
Manufacturers rated by 50 or more users
Overall ranking
Williams
83
General Electric
72
Helicopter engines only
8.75
8.69
404
Rolls-Royce
238
Honeywell
238
8.20
8.18
8.07
51
7.72
Operator responses
SafranRolls-Royce Turbomeca P&WC

58
51
36
Response to problems
8.07
8.18
7.93
Spares availability
7.96
7.67
7.45
Cost of parts
6.70
6.45
6.97
Speed in AOG service
7.55
7.62
7.39
Tech manuals
8.38
7.82
8.14
Tech reps
8.33
8.36
8.00
Service satisfaction
7.98
7.96
8.11
Overall
7.85
7.72
7.71
30 responses needed for ranking
P&WC
Safran-Turbomeca
Helicopter division
Responses
10
Overall ranking
Pro Pilot used 163 helo engine support evaluations for the 2016
helicopter breakdown. Rolls-Royce earns 1st place with an overall
score of 7.85 compared to 7.89 in 2015. Safran-Turbomeca takes
2nd spot with an overall score of 7.72 this year compared to 7.82
in 2015. And P&WC ranks 3rd place with 7.71 in 2016 compared
to 7.85 in 2015. GE received 10 evaluations and Honeywell 8. They
didnt make the minimum requirement for inclusion in this division.
comparisons 2016 vs 2015

Speed in
AOG service
Manufacturers
Tech
manuals
Tech
reps
Service
satisfaction
Overall
scores
2016
2015
Dif
2016
2015
Dif
2016
2015
Dif
2016
2015
Dif
2016
2015
Dif
Williams
8.89
8.47
0.42
8.76
8.46
0.30
9.17
8.15
1.02
9.01
8.49
0.52
8.75
8.30
0.45
General Electric
8.73
8.51
0.22
8.79
8.36
0.43
8.99
8.71
0.28
8.94
8.65
0.29
8.69
8.33
0.36
P&WC
8.27
8.15
0.12
8.41
8.38
0.03
8.55
8.50
0.05
8.45
8.41
0.04
8.20
8.15
0.05
Rolls-Royce
8.23
8.29
-0.06
8.28
8.30
-0.02
8.68
8.75
-0.07
8.49
8.48
0.01
8.18
8.20
-0.02
Honeywell
8.24
7.84
0.40
8.25
7.92
0.33
8.28
8.08
0.20
8.30
8.04
0.26
8.07
7.77
0.30
Safran-Turbomeca***
7.62
7.90
-0.28
7.82
7.83
-0.01
8.36
8.44
-0.08
7.96
7.92
0.04
7.72
7.82
-0.10
Powerplant Product Support Survey
* Includes Rolls-Royce Allison, BMW-RR and Rolls-Royce Canada
Honeywell**
**
Includes AlliedSignal, Garrett and Lycoming
6.23
6.35
6.64
6.39
6.66
7.00
6.62
6.68
6.68
6.37
6.80
7.12
7.26
7.35
7.23
7.77
7.67
7.82
7.72
1993 through 1997
7.20
7.40
7.43
6.89
7.01
7.09
7.30
7.17
7.30
7.43
7.64
7.52
7.69
7.65
7.75
7.84
7.99
8.01
8.08
7.87
7.95
7.94
7.77
8.07
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Rolls-Royce*
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
7.90
8.02
8.08
7.88
8.07
7.72
7.79
7.41
7.44
7.18
7.70
7.60
7.79
7.38
7.90
7.99
7.91
7.90
8.16
8.19
8.03
7.88
8.20
8.18
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Powerplants rated 19932016
Safran-Turbomeca***
***
Safran Helicopter Engines
63
> THE FUTURE
P&WC continues to evolve these programs as it looks for new ways to

deliver value. For example, the company recently launched the ESPecially
for Your PT6 initiative, which provides up to the first 400 hours of coverage
under the maintenance plan free to customers of new PT6A engines. The
new offering represents up to $50,000 of coverage toward future engine
maintenance events.
OF ENGINE SUPPORT
THE CHANGING
FACE OF PREDICTIVE
AND PREVENTIVE
AIRCRAFT ENGINE
MAINTENANCE
> HOW P&WCS AFTERMARKET
INNOVATION is helping to reduce
maintenance costs, enhance service
to customers and increase aircraft
availability.
Pratt & Whitney Canadas engines cover the spectrum,

from the hugely popular PT6A turboprop and
turboshafts for helicopters to larger turboprops for
regional airliners and turbofans for business jets. The
worldwide fleet of engines has achieved 700 million
flight hours and clocks over 30 million more annually.
Cost reduction and maximizing aircraft availability for customers

lie at the heart of all of P&WCs service and support initiatives.
The companys heavy investment in data-driven turnkey diagnostic/
prognostic systems, such as its FAST (Flight, Acquisition, Storage and
Transmission) solution, which delivers full-flight engine and aircraft
data analysis to customers in near real time, and its new Oil Analysis
Technology (currently in customer trials), increase engine on-wing
time and performance, reduce life-cycle costs and maximize the
overall asset value to the customer.
Having never retired a product line, and with its revolutionary PT6A
engine continuing to push the boundaries of innovation, P&WC is
proud to fully support operators with older engines and offers solutions
under which they can enjoy the benefits of newer maintenance
initiatives, such as the P&WCSMART program. Wherever possible,
technology and servicing advancements that have been devised for
the latest engines are cascaded back to the older products.
In 2018 the PurePower PW800 turbofan engine enters service

on the Gulfstream G500 business jet, and with it P&WC is now
enrolling customers in its most advanced and all-encompassing
service plan yet, ESP PurePower PW800. Based on an evolution
of current ESP plan offerings, the program plan provides a white
glove approach to engine support that brings a step change in
the large-bizjet market.
> OIL ANALYSIS REDEFINED
> POWERFUL ONLINE SERVICE
A key technology in the diagnosis and prognosis of engine issues

is the analysis of engine oil. P&WC is investing heavily in this area,
whichin conjunction with other initiatives such as the FAST
solutionis advancing the capabilities of engine diagnostic/
prognostic health management (DPHM).
P&WCs main focus is on driving further proactive maintenance

through the growing use of sophisticated prognostics, as
exemplified by the FAST solution, and investment in its oil
analysis technology currently in the final development stages.
These innovations are delivering deep insight into the engine and
aircraft, enabling proactive and predictive maintenanceleading
to greater aircraft availability, reduced costs and ultimately
increased customer satisfaction.
P&WCs new oil analysis technology, in the final stages of

development, has demonstrated in tests its potential to be
hundreds of times more precise than oil analysis methods
currently in use. Operators are being invited to participate in a
trial to calibrate the technology across all P&WC engine models.
The technology detects minute metal traces within the oil enabling
P&WC to identify deterioration of specific components well before
a potential event occurs.
MyP&WC Power is Pratt & Whitney Canadas new customer portal,

which recently finished a progressive rollout to all customers.
With full e-commerce capability on desktop, mobile and tablet
devices, MyP&WC Power aims to improve the customer experience
by reducing the touch-point, but not the touch-time and
bringing the customer closer to the product, services and support.
Additionally, the company will be rolling out a new virtual field

collaboration solution that enables aircraft technicians to connect
with remote specialists via a live, interactive video link to further
enable rapid diagnosis and resolution of issues on location with
the customer.
> THE CONNECTED ENGINE
> PLANNING SMART
P&WCs leadership position in engine diagnostics and prognostics

technologies goes back more than 15 years to when it introduced its
first advanced technical diagnostics systems. With the launch of its
turnkey FAST solution in 2011, P&WC continues to enhance engine
and aircraft connectivity through its ability to provide near-realtime situational awareness about engine health, usage and trends.
P&WC has introduced more than 30 P&WCSMART maintenance solutions

across its product lines, aimed primarily at operators with older engine
models. Initially launched for the PT6A and subsequently the PW100 series
and turboshaft engines, P&WCSMART solutions provide a competitive,
guaranteed fixed cost for major engine maintenance, helping to eliminate
price variables and uncertainty.
The system automates the capture and analysis of hundreds of

full-flight engine and aircraft performance parameters including
speed, temperature, fuel burn, diagnostics and more, and can
provide wireless access to encrypted and secure FDR data.
> PAY-PER-HOUR PLANS

P&WCs pay-per-hour maintenance plans include its Eagle Service Plan
(ESP) and Fleet Management Program (FMP), which cover all planned
and unplanned maintenance/repair events through a simple per-flyinghour cost. Increasingly, operators and airlines are turning to this form of
service plan, and P&WC already has close to 10,000 engines enrolled in
its pay-per-hour programs.
The benefits to the operator are many: guaranteed service and parts;
carefully managed and planned schedules that minimize downtime;
life-cycle cost reductions; rapid access to maintenance; and, above all,
predictable maintenance costs. Moreover, enrolling in an ESP or FMP
maintenance plan significantly enhances the residual value of the asset,
and the plan is transferrable if the aircraft is sold.
The data captured in the FAST solution is automatically transmitted

via cellular technology to a ground station moments after engine
shutdown. The data is analyzed and the results are sent electronically
to the customer within 15 minutes, allowing rapid and informed
decisions, the ability to identify potential issues early and a means to
optimize performance, maintenance planning and operations.
The FAST technology not only represents a large step in engine
health monitoring and proactive and preventive maintenance,
but also enables its use with other technologies and hardware
to provide additional functionality, such as automatic propeller
balancing for turboprop aircraft.
More than 600 FAST units are already in use; they have been
selected for the Dassault Falcon 7X and 8X, and nearly half of
the Bombardier Q400 fleet has been fitted with the solution. Other
types include the ATR regional airliners and AW139 helicopters,
with further STCs being planned. New aircraft are generally wired
for its inclusion.
Through the portal, customers can buy parts, access trade

publications and pay-per-hour maintenance coverage entitlements,
request a rental engine, register a warranty, and much more. Every
aspect of its design is about creating a seamless online customer
experience.
Under the P&WCSMART program, customers pay a flat rate and either
receive another freshly overhauled engine or get their original engine back
after its 40- to 45-day refurbishment. There is no additional charge for any
remedial work resulting from the use of non-OEM parts, or from the effects
of erosion, corrosion and sulphidation.
> LARGEST GLOBAL NETWORK

Pratt & Whitney Canada has built a worldwide support network with
30 P&WC-owned and designated service facilities and the network is
expanding to meet market growth and emerging requirements.
At the heart of the customer support network are the two Customer
Firstor CFirstcall centers in Montreal and Singapore. To back up
the call centers, which offer detailed assistance in a growing number
of languages, P&WC has over 100 field service representatives and 100
mobile repair teams stationed at strategic locations around the world.
The company also holds a stock of approximately 850 rental engines
that can replace a customers engine while it is away for scheduled or
unscheduled work.
Already attracting repeat business from customers, P&WCSMART offerings

include engine exchanges, upgrade programs, flat-rate overhauls,
extended warranties and more.
KEY CONTACTS
P&WC Customer First Center
USA & CANADA: 1 (800) 268-8000
INTERNATIONAL: +8000-268-8000
WEB: pwc.ca EMAIL: CFirst@pwc.ca
MyP&WC POWER: https://customer.pwc.ca
Jet and turboprop divisions

or the 6th year Pro Pilot has separated
overall scores for jet and turboprop
Fengine
manufacturers in addition to the
helo division. The minimum number of
evaluations required for each of these
divisions is 30 for jet, TP and helo.
Some respondents rated 1 engine

manufacturer with 2 types of aircraft
(eg, P&WC for a Citation Sovereign
and for a King Air 350).
Because of this, there is a small difference between total responses for the
2016 Pro Pilot Turbine Powerplant

Product Support Survey
Jet
engines only
Operator responses
overall rankings and the rankings by

type of aircraft. For overall rankings this
was counted as 1 response (Pratt &
Whitney). For rankings by type of aircraft it was counted as 2 responses
(jets and turboprops).
Williams
GE
Rolls-Royce
P&WC
Honeywell
83
60
176
228
213
Turboprop
engines only
P&WC
Operator responses
156
8.95
8.93
8.72
8.58
8.44
8.49
Spares availability
9.01
8.72
8.42
8.50
8.45
Spares availability
8.55
Cost of parts
7.47
7.75
6.78
6.90
6.94
Cost of parts
6.82
8.89
8.67
8.49
8.38
8.40
8.37
Tech manuals
8.76
8.75
8.26
8.44
8.32
Tech manuals
8.42
Tech reps
9.17
8.98
8.80
8.68
8.43
Tech reps
8.53
9.01
8.93
8.67
8.50
8.39
8.50
Overall
8.75
8.68
8.31
8.28
8.19
Overall
8.24
A total of 789 evaluations have been used in the 2016 jet engine support
division. Those engine OEMs that didnt receive the minimum requirement
of 30 evaluations were CFE with 19 evaluations and CFM with 10.
Methodology
or the 24th year Pro Pilot has used questionnaires to ask aircraft operators to rate
turbine powerplant manufacturers on the quality of their product support. The survey form lists 7 categoriesresponse to problems, spares availability, cost of parts,
speed in AOG service, tech manuals, tech reps and service satisfaction.
During Aug 2016 a target mailing of 8634 survey forms was sent out to a random
selection of turbine operators from the Pro Pilot subscription list. A total of 1400
survey forms, representing a 16.2% return, came back to Pro Pilot by the Nov 14,
2016 cutoff date. A total of 907 survey forms were properly illed out and therefore
accepted. These forms provided 1115 line evaluations to be used in the survey. There
were 493 disqualiied forms due to lack of information, inconsistencies, signiicant
errors, or duplication.
Pro Pilot survey rules required a minimum of 50 evaluations to rank in the overall ranking. A total of 6 manufacturers met the criteria and therefore were rated
in the surveyGE, Honeywell, Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC), Rolls-Royce,
Safran-Turbomeca and Williams. There were other turbine engine manufacturers that
didnt receive enough evaluations for rankingCFE (19 evaluations) and CFM (10).
AlliedSignal, Garrett and Lycoming were rated under Honeywell. Allison and BMWRR were scored under Rolls-Royce.
For the 6th year Pro Pilot has had separate scores for jet, turboprop and helicopter
engine manufacturers. The minimum requirement for these divisions was 30 evaluations for inclusion.
In the jet division 5 OEMs made the cutGE, Honeywell, P&WC, Rolls-Royce and
Williams. CFE (19) and CFM (10) didnt make it. In the TP division P&WC received
enough evaluations for inclusion. Honeywell had 17 evaluations, GE 2 and RollsRoyce 4 and consequently were not included. In the helo division P&WC, RollsRoyce and Safran-Turbomeca met the minimum requirement for inclusion. GE (10
evaluations) and Honeywell (8) didnt receive enough evaluations for ranking.
Survey respondents were asked to rate engine manufacturers on a scale of 1 (poor)
to 10 (excellent) within each of the 7 categories. Conklin & de Decker of Arlington TX
acted as research agent and performed the independent data analysis.
64
A total of 179 TP aircraft engine support evaluations were received for the 2016 TP breakdown.
Minimum required for scoring in this division is 30
evaluations. GE has 2, Honeywell 17 and R-R 4, not
enough to be included in the survey.
2016 Pro Pilot Turbine Powerplant

Product Support Survey
Job titles of survey

respondents
55
92
425
335
Aviation Dept Mgr, Chief Pilot, Dir of Aviation,

Flight Ops Mgr or VP Ops
Captain, Line Captain, First Officer or other pilot
Owner, Chief Executive, President, VP,
Gen Mgr or other corporate officer
Maintenance Chief, Maintenance Mgr,
Mechanic, Technician or Engineer
Williams
ur #1 engine did an uncommanded shut down while we were on

the ground at home. Gearbox failed
and the tower shaft sheared protecting the engine. Williams sent a crew
the next day for repair or replacement
and told us it would take 2 days to replace and ix the gearbox or 3 days if
engine replacement was needed. Fortunately it was the gearbox and it was
replaced in 2 days as they said. Im a
big fan of Williams.
Jim Cauthen
ATP. Premier I
Chief Pilot
Puckett Machinery
Madison MS
Williams Intl VP
Product Support
Steve Shettler can
be contacted at
248-960-2569 or by
e-mail at sshettler@
williams-int.com.
The Williams team
is always ready to
support your needs.
They can be contacted on the web at
www.williams-int.com or e-mail
WIproductsupport@williams-int.com.
e recently had HSIs completed on our pair of FJ44s and it

was a pleasant experience. Williams
provides the absolute best communication during the progression of the
maintenance. I highly recommend
the Williams Total Assurance Program
(TAP) Blue. We are very satisied with
product support from Williams.
Eddie Yell
ATP/CFII. Citation CJ3
Aviation Mgr
Boyd Bros Transportation
Springville AL
ery satisied with Williams FJ443A engines. Theyre eficient and

reliable powerplants. And I feel they
are the right turbines for our CJ3.
Elizabeth Singer
Captain
Solairus Aviation
Stratham NH
lthough Williams engines are very

good weve experienced some
dificulties. Over time we had irst an
oil leak on one engine and then on
the other. We were fortunate it didnt
happen with both engines at the same
time. Williams responded to our complaint and was able to ix the part that
was causing the problem. The issue was
resolved to our complete satisfaction.
Great power and no more oil leaks.
Alberto Quadreny
ATP/CFII. Citation M2
Owner
Alarm & Control System
San Juan PR
ur company operates a Citation

CJ4 powered by Williams FJ444A engines. And we couldnt be more
pleased with the power on the aircraft
and their company support. We subscribe to their TAP Elite program and
were satisied operators.
Carl Grifiths
Flt Dept Mgr & Chief Pilot
GW Aviation
Mount Pocono PA
or about 4 years weve operated a

CJ3 with FJ44s and over that time
have had only 2 signiicant issues.
Williams responded quickly to ix
our problems. For our larger scheduled maintenance we use a Cessna
Citation Service Center. And this facility combined with the outstanding
support that Williams provides makes
engine maintenance a non-issue. Weve
been very pleased with all aspects of
operating a Williams equipped aircraft
including their TAP Blue program.
Steve Boelman
ATP/CFI. Citation CJ3
& King Air 200/90
Owner
SMBS Aviation
Missoula MT
ot a single problem in 1800 hrs

with the pair of FJ44s on our CJ1.
Williams engines are great and support from the company and their tech
reps is outstanding.
Willy Carroll
ATP. Citation CJ1
Chief Pilot
LDB Corp
Kerrville TX
eing on the TAP Elite program for

the FJ44-3A turbines on our CJ3 is
a good thing. With their support program the cost of parts is covered. We
have the power we need and the support we want. Im very pleased that replacement parts are never a problem
with Williams.
Eric Brown
ATP. Citation CJ3
Chief Pilot
Will Air
Airdrie AB, Canada
Spares availability
Williams
8.95
General Electric
8.90
Rolls-Royce
8.55
P&WC
8.47
Honeywell
8.27
Safran-Turbomeca
8.18
0
10
Williams
9.01
General Electric
8.75
P&WC
8.41
Honeywell
8.28
Rolls-Royce
8.26
Safran-Turbomeca
7.67
0
10
65
General Electric
GE Aviation Gen Mgr,
Commercial, Service
& Support Business
and General Aviation
Tom Hoferer can be
contacted at 513-5526454, 513-470-3765
(mobile) or by e-mail
at tom.hoferer@
ge.com. For 24/7
support, contact the GE Aviation Business Jets
Operations Center at 513-552-JETS (5387)
or toll free at 877-456-JETS (5387) or
e-mail bizjetops@ge.com.
or Solairus I ly a Challenger 605

powered with GE CF34 engines.
We log a lot of hours and I can report
were very satisied with the reliability
of these ine powerplants as well as the
excellent backup we receive from GE.
Greg Dyer
ATP/CFII. Challenger 605
Captain
Solairus Aviation
Tracy CA
e operate Black Hawk UH60s

with each of these strong
Sikorsky helicopters powered by a pair
of GE T701s. Fine engines. And whenever I encounter any issues with these
turbines where I need expert advice or
hands-on care from the OEM, I deal
and work with their knowledgeable
tech reps. Im very satisied with the
service they provide.
David West
Comm-Multi-Inst/Helo.
Sikorsky UH60L/M
Maintenance Supervisor
ASF Knox/6-52 Aviation Regiment
Laconia IN
ts certainly a pleasure to operate GE

CF34 engines. Strong and smooth
power is what we want and what we
get with our CF34s. And we havent
had any issues with them. They just
keep on running. Im also very happy
with GEs aftersale support and thats
why I gave top scores to GE in all survey categories across the board.
Mitchel Olbrys
ATP/CFII. Challenger 605
Lead Captain
Jet Aviation
Victor NY
ery satisied with GE backup service since 1986 when I irst lew
aircraft powered by GE engines. The
GE powerplants are very reliable and
GE tech reps provide prompt and thorough service at all times. The company
and their service people are committed to every one of their customers. I
also believe the GE OnPoint mx program is great its well set up and its
lexible with adjustments to it each
engine operators particular needs.
K Kenzel
A&P. Challenger 604
Dir of Maintenance
Santa Barbara Executive Jet
Goleta CA
s an operator of GE engines with

a pair of trouble-free CF34s powering our Challenger 605, I have
high praise for the reliability of these
turbines. But I must report Ive spent
some dificult time with the GE OnPoint program. Trying to comply with
the requirements of inputting hours
and cycles caused me dificulties. But I
worked with my GE account manager
and I must say things have now gotten
better. Whereas initial response was
slow the system has improved with

more promptness. But I still want to
see more progress in the GE OnPoint
program.
Jonathan Atherton
ATP/Helo. Challenger 605
& Airbus AS355
Chief Pilot
IAS Services
Ladera Ranch CA
et me heap some praise on GEs

great CT7-8. The Sikorsky 92s we ly
are each powered by a pair of them.
Were lying our helos over ocean all
the time in trips to rigs and back. And
I can vouch for the outstanding performance as well as the great aftersale
service we receive from GE as operators of these engines.
Danny Platt
ATP/Helo. Sikorsky S92/S76
& Leonardo AW139
Line Captain
Bristow Group
Centerville TX
odays GE product support is so

much better as compared to what
we as customers received 25 to 30 yrs
ago that its like night and day. Back
then you had to know someone at
Strother to get your engine squawks resolved. But now GE has really prompt
and thorough customer care. Theres
a new web portal for service, the GE
OnPoint maintenance program. And
GE Customer Service Team members
bring outstanding support to operators
of their superb engines.
Gib Harris
A&P. Challenger 605
Chief of Maintenance
Nationwide Insurance
Columbus OH
Cost of parts
General Electric
7.75
Williams
7.47
P&WC
6.86
Honeywell
6.85
Rolls-Royce
6.75
Safran-Turbomeca
6.45
0
10
Williams
8.89
General Electric
8.73
P&WC
8.27
Honeywell
8.24
Rolls-Royce
8.23
Safran-Turbomeca
7.62
0
10
Pratt & Whitney Canada

P&WC VP Customer
Programs & Customer
Service Tim Swail
can be contacted
at 450-647-2901
or by e-mail at
tim.swail@pwc.ca.
For 24/7
support, please
contact the
P&WC Customer First Centre at 1-800-2688000 or by e-mail at cfirst@pwc.ca.
rom a pilots perspective with 40

yrs of industry and military light
ops I can state were very pleased with
the pair of P&WC PW206B engines
powering our Airbus H135. This helicopter serves us well. Its dependable,
powerful and economical and those
PW206Bs are the perfect powerplants
for our ambulance service needs.
I think Pratt makes the best engines
for our helicopter missions and they
give us great product support when we
need it.
James Holbert
ATP/Helo. Airbus H135
Pilot
PHI Air Medical
London KY
ouldnt be happier with our 3

Eclipse jets and the 6 P&WC
PW610F engines that power them.
These are very reliable jet engines. We
have around 2000 hrs on each of them
and weve never had a serious problem. Product support from Pratt is terriic although the cost of parts can be
a little high.
James Dahlquist
ATP. Eclipse 500
Chief Pilot
National American University
Rapid City SD
ur P&WC tech rep Flavio Gomes

is superb. He always gives us
great attention and outstanding support. He promptly answers our inquiries and solves any engine issues we
might have. Also the P&WC facility in
Soracaba SP Brazil provides us with
all parts and needed tech support with
their friendly and helpful staff. I also
want to give special thanks to P&WC
Customer Support Rep Osvaldo Marcaondes for all his efforts in keeping
our Pratt-powered aircraft lying.
Fernando Barreiro
Operator. Learjet 60/55, Bell 430,
Airbus EC120B & Caravan
SMS Manager
Sociedade de Taxi Aereo Weston
Recife PE, Brazil
ast year we had an unscheduled engine removal and we were happy

with Pratts support. Were subscribers
to the PW&C ESP Gold program and
the whole process of troubleshooting,
removal of the problematic turbine,
supply of a rental engine, installation
of the rental powerplant, repair of our
original engine and its reinstallation
were all as painless as they could possibly have been.
Bernie Friesen
A&P. Falcon 2000LX
Chief Aircraft Mx Engineer
Enbridge
Calgary AB, Canada
ur experience with power from
the PT6C-67C engines powering
our AW139s and the product support
from Pratt is outstanding. We really
appreciate the way they stand behind
their engines and pay attention to
operator needs. Were happy with
our AW139s and are also very
pleased with the Pratt powerplants
and the support received from the
manufacturer.
Mark Cousins
ATP/Helo. Leonardo AW139
Pilot in Command
Maryland State Police
Baltimore MD
hile lying our Gulfstream G200

we had a bird strike on 1 of our
PW306As. After landing we found
there were 3 bent fan blades. Pratt replaced the fan and did the repair work
in our hangar in 5 days. What great
service we have received from Pratt &
Whitney Canada!
Wayne Cartwright
ATP/CFI. Gulfstream G200
& Beechjet 400
President
Cartwright Flight Resource
Salem OR
ased on my experience Pratt engines are the best! Ive had light
duty assignments with Pratt power
for various airplanes and helicopters.
Reliability is what you want in a powerplant and Pratt makes sure you get
it. Ive never had problems lying with
Pratt engines and I know the company
is behind their products and never forgets their customers.
Jesus Guerrero Hernandez
ATP/Helo. Leonardo AW139,
Airbus EC135, Bell 212
& Pilatus PC7
Pilot
Aeroservicios Dinamicos
San Luis Potos SLP, Mexico
P&WC Director of
Turbofan engine
program Denis
Marchand can be
contacted at
450-647-3845
or by email at
Denis.Marchand@
pwc.ca.
resently we have 2600 hrs on both

the airframe and engines of our Falcon 2000EX EASy. The powerplants
are a pair of PW308Cs. We havent
had any problems since new. And we
know that if we ever have any issues
they will be corrected immediately by
P&WC. Reliability is the key and I feel
very conident lying our Falcon with
these Pratt engines on long distance
overwater lights.
Robert Bordes
ATP. Falcon 2000EX EASy
Aviation Mgr
Tidewater
New Orleans LA
n my opinion the P&WC PT6A-67B

engine is the main reason why the
Pilatus PC12 is such a success. As
PC12 operators we know its a great
engine. From short local hops in the
heat of the southwest to frigid long
hauls to the northeast that single Pratt
PT6 powering our PC12 has never
let us down. Its eficient, economical and reliable with great customer
support from Pratt. What else could a
PC12 pilot ask for?
Tommy Jernejcic
ATP/CFII.
Pilatus PC12/47
Chief Pilot
Triple G Air
Goodyear AZ
he dual PW535Es on our Embraer

Phenom 300 are so good they are
the proverbial 99.9% trouble-free.
This means that I am extremely satisied in all categories of the PP survey
with these engines. I can honestly say
that P&WCs tech support as backed
up by their ield network is truly outstanding. This is really only itting for
such a great supplier like Embraer
who also, by the way, takes great care
of their customers.
Jim McIrvin
ATP/CFII.
Phenom 300/100
Chief Pilot
McIrvin Aviation
Warrenton VA
rolls-royce.com
Nobody does it
like CorporateCare
Bringing you the most comprehensive and sought after
business jet engine maintenance program in the world,
with industry leading service and expertise provided by
the original manufacturer. Regardless of where you
travel, CorporateCare will be there to support you. To
help maximize your assets availability, value and
liquidity, Rolls-Royce is proud to ofer CorporateCare.
To ind out more contact Steve Friedrich, Vice President
Sales and Marketing, at +1 (703) 834-1700, or email
corporate.care@rolls-royce.com.
Trusted to deliver excellence.
issions lying our Phenom 300

powered by PW535E engines
have been great. And I feel very satisied knowing that with the capable
P&WC service team stands behind
our engines and can and does provide superb customer care for light
departments like ours using their
products.
Savio Zamboni
ATP. Phenom 300
Captain
Aeromil Air Taxi
Guaratingueta SP, Brazil
Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce Head of
Customer Support
Business Aviation
Todd Chambers.
Operators can
call him at
919-342-6824
or cell
919-740-5663.
They can also e-mail
him at todd.chambers@rolls-royce.com.
uring my recent experience with

the Rolls-Royce AOG Support System I was favorably impressed with the
companys dedication to solving my
problem and the level of involvement
from my FSR Kevin Mulhern to ensure
the BR710 engine we had undergoing
service was repaired quickly and eficiently. The R-R tech team is knowledgeable and attentive when it comes
to taking care of the customer.
Frank Mattioli
A&P. Global Express
Dir of Maintenance
Route 66 Ventures
Dulles VA
aving lown all 3 CitationsExcel, XLS, XLS+I can report that

the PW545C engines for the XLS+ are
perfect for the latest Excel aircraft.
Also these powerplants have been
combined with FADEC and we also
have Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21
avionics. What a great match. Runway performance, enroute MMO and
fuel eficiency are superb. Add on
P&WC fabulous customer care.
Stephen Stilling
ATP. Citation XLS+
Chief Pilot
TRMSI
Abington PA
s operators of both a Gulfstream

G650 and a GV we appreciate
the outstanding performance of these
ine aircraft powered by reliable RollsRoyce BR725 and BR710 engines. Response to our service issues is amazingly good with Rolls-Royce. The R-R
tech reps promptly answer our questions or give hands-on service when
required.
Michael Meloche
ATP. Gulfstream G650 & GV
Dir of Flight Ops
Air Lease Corp
Alpine CA
lying here in Australia were a long

way from the Pratt factory in Canada. But as customers were not forgotten. Im very impressed with the
rugged reliability of the pair of P&WC
PT6As that power our King Air. These
engines just keep on going and the
support from Pratt is the best.
Chris Robey
ATP/CFII. King Air B200 &
Learjet 35A
Captain
Air Affairs
Birchgrove, Sydney, Australia
ere at US Navy VR-1 Executive Lift

we ly a Gulfstream G550 with a
pair of BR710 engines. The G550 is a
great plane powered by reliable R-R
powerplants. With ine tech reps, R-R
makes sure were well taken care of
whenever engine service is needed.
Andre Catalano
ATP. Gulfstream G550/GIII
Dir Ops & Chief Pilot
US Navy VR1
Riva MD
f you are buying a new aircraft with

Rolls-Royce power, take my advice
and spend the money to enroll those
engines under the R-R CorporateCare
program. You will be pleased with the
service and it will make a positive difference on resale value.
Patrick Wiens
ATP/CFII/A&P.
Gulfstream G650/G550
Asst Chief Pilot
Occidental Petroleum
Houston TX
es, the name Rolls-Royce has a

great reputation. And its well deserved. We ly 2 lagship airframes
powered by BR710A2 engines and
are very pleased with the performance
of our aircraft. R-R engines are engineered to be perfectly suited to vastly
different installations with the same
results: fast, eficient, safe operations
to any point in the world. What a pleasure to deal with either R-R corporate
or local reps. With Rolls-Royce you do
get what you pay for and more.
Brent Coleman
ATP. Gulfstream V &
Global Express
Chief Pilot
Horizon Aerospace
Port Orange FL
Tech manuals
Tech reps
General Electric
8.79
Williams
8.76
P&WC
8.41
Rolls-Royce
8.28
Honeywell
8.25
Safran-Turbomeca
7.82
0
10
Williams
9.17
General Electric
8.99
Rolls-Royce
8.68
P&WC
8.55
Safran-Turbomeca
8.36
Honeywell
8.28
0
10
pecial thanks to Kathleen Goncalves who works at R-R as a team

member with their corporate engine
support group. The entire team has
been great but Kathleen has really
been outstanding, giving us excellent
service as our R-R tech rep. She is always available to meet the needs of
our pair of AE3007A1E engines.
David Regan
ATP. Legacy 600
Dir of Aviation
Q3 Capital Services
Palm City FL
Rolls-Royce Helicopters Service Executive

Jerry Sheldon.
Operators can call
him at 317-2303331 or email him
at gerald.sheldon@
rolls-royce.com.
or the past 12 years weve been wellpleased operators of aircraft powered

by Rolls-Royce engines. Our current bizjet is a Gulfstream G650. Our satisfaction with Rolls-Royce turbines and the
R-R backup service runs high. Whenever we might have an issue, which is
rare, support provided by Rolls-Royce
is always thorough and complete.
Darren Paul
ATP/CFII/A&P. Gulfstream G650
Captain
Executive Jet Management
Granada Hills CA
olls-Royce has made great strides

in customer service since establishing their Operational Service Desk
and implementing very aggressive
AOG response goals. R-R also has a
really top-notch technical representative network.
James Bradshaw
A&P. Gulfstream V/G280
Asst Maintenance Mgr
Cox Enterprises
Atlanta GA
ur Rolls-Royce tech rep for Brazil is Julio Martins and were very
happy with him. Hes attentive, knows
our engines and provides us with ine
support. Here in South America you
learn quickly to appreciate good service people. Throughout Brazil there
are very few Citation X business jets
with R-R AE3007C1 engines. Therefore we dont always ind the parts we
need readily available.
Flavio Estiphan
ATP. Citation X
Chief Pilot
SB Estiphan ME
Sao Paulo SP, Brazil
he R-R AE3007C engines that

power our Citation X are bulletproof. Weve trusted these turbines
for years and will do so into the foreseeable future. In addition to building
great powerplants R-R takes extremely good care of their customers.
Samuel Senter
ATP. Citation X & Learjet 45
Pilot
Advance Auto Parts
Elkin NC
W
Pro Pilot forms for this survey were designed with 2 parts numerical scores in 7 categories at the
top and narrative comments at the bottom. Capt Michael OBrien is an ATP/Helo/CFII pilot with
9500 hrs. As a pilot for PHI he lies both a Sikorsky S92 with GE CT7-8 turbines and a Leonardo
AW139 powered by P&WC PT6C-67C engines. He gives high scores to both companies and his
comment praises aftersale service from both GE and Pratt. His form was one of 1400 received
to rank OEMs in the 2016 Pro Pilot Turbine Powerplant Manufacturers Product Support Survey.
ith the introduction of their

Corporate Customer Council
(C3) in 2012, R-R made a strong commitment to listen to the voices of their
customers. And theyve done just
that. In the last 4 years R-R has greatly
improved their aftersale service.
Mike Magnani
A&P. Gulfstream G650
Dir of Maintenance
Central Management Services
Van Nuys CA
Our Total Assurance Program (TAP Blue) covers all engine maintenance costs both scheduled and
unscheduled for a fixed cost per flight hour, lowering your cost and spreading it evenly over time.
It is the only engine maintenance program that covers foreign object damage (FOD) including bird strikes,
lightning strikes, and all service bulletins. Saving money, preserving the value of your plane, simplifying
ownership, and eliminating risk thats TAP Blue.
Do you fly carefree with total assurance?
TAP Blue
To sign up now for the highest levels of maintenance coverage ever offered,
contact us at www.williams-int.com, or by email at WIproductsupport@williams-int.com,
or by phone at 1-800-859-3544 (continental US) / 1-248-960-2929 (other).
Honeywell
Honeywell Aerospace
B&GA Dir Customer
and Product Support
Paco Perez can be
reached by phone
at 480-280-8667.
He can also be
reached by e-mail
at jose.perez5@
honeywell.com.
Alternatively, contact Honeywells
Complete Customer Care team 24/7 at
800-601-3099. For Technical Support
24/7 at 855-808-6500/602-365-6500
or AeroTechSupport@honeywell.com.
Honeywell Mobile App http://aerospace.
honeywell.com/MobileApp.
ven though weve had some problems over the years Honeywell
has always stood up and got us going
with no delays to our schedule. Their
tech reps have been the best and they
have always cared for their customers.
Since we are on the MSP program we
have not had any parts issues. The
improvements to MyAerospace.com
website makes working easier and
navigation simple.
Mark Jones
ATP/A&P. Hawker 800XP
Dir of Aviation
Neurosurgery & Endovascular Assn
Milwaukee WI
urbine Engine Specialist (TES) at

FTW (Meacham, Ft Worth TX) takes
care of all our Honeywell AS907 engine needs. Weve never had any issues
with TES and we can always count on
our Regional Engine Mgr Pat Etie.
Richard Sanchez
A&P. Challenger 350/300
Aircraft Maintenance Mgr
HEB Grocery Stores
San Antonio TX
enerally were pleased with Honeywells support for our HTF7000

engines. They were quick in responding to a recent event involving FADEC
failures. Although the failures resulted
in missed trips the Honeywell tech
team displayed a sense of urgency and
a willingness to do whatever it took to
get us back in the air.
Vincent Colangeli
A&P. Challenger 300
Aircraft Maintenance Engineer
Sunwest Aviation
Calgary AB, Canada
ome years ago Honeywell cut out

their ield service rep network for
end users. Since then their customer
service level has been almost non-existent. Its hard to get anyone on the
phone to answer a question because
the calls always go to voicemail. Also
responses are via e-mail and when
there is confusion with the response
there is no way to solve the issue immediately. Therefore you have to go
through the whole call process again.
Paul Bradham
ATP/CFI. Gulfstream G150
& King Air 200
Av Dept Mgr & Chief Pilot
Perdue Farms
Salisbury MD
xcellent support from Honeywell

on the pair of TFE731s that power our Hawker 800. In fact Ive given
Honeywell top scores across the board
in every category of the PP aftersale
survey form.
David Kobus
ATP. Hawker 800
Chief Pilot
CP Air
Kensington CT
Williams
9.01
General Electric
8.94
Rolls-Royce
8.49
P&WC
8.45
Honeywell
8.30
Safran-Turbomeca
7.96
0
10
ever had a single problem with

our Honeywell engines. We have
smooth and dependable power when
we ly our Challengers. Service has
been lawless. I give Honeywell high
marks in all categories.
Marc Miller
ATP. Challenger 350/300
Aviation Manager
HEB Grocery Stores
San Antonio TX
hile were pleased with the performance and reliability of our

Honeywell HTF7000s, I miss the support I received from the local tech reps
that are no longer around.
Scott Ullerick
A&P. Challenger 300 & Falcon 2000
Dir of Maintenance
Flatirons Aviation Management
Broomield CO
or the Honeywell HTF7000 engines

powering our Challenger 300 weve
been using Turbine Engine Specialists.
Were very pleased with the service
delivered by Pres Moe Hatami, Dir
of Ops William Hennington and their
talented and knowledgeable team of
technicians. Weve worked together
for 11 years now and were still going
strong. Im also happy with our Honeywell FSR Mark Paquette who takes
care of our engine service needs in the
Tucson AZ area. Hes awesome!
Ross Andrew
A&P. Challenger 300
Dir of Maintenance
Transwest Air Service
Salt Lake City UT
o maintain both the TFE731s engines powering our Falcon 900 and
the avionics on the lightdeck we subscribe to Honeywells Maintenance
Service Plan (MSP) and Honeywells
Avionics Protection Plan (HAPP).
But dificulties in ordering parts have
made it necessary for us to shop with
3rd party suppliers.
Jeff Hansen
ATP/A&P. Falcon 900
Chief Pilot
Aircraft Services
Salt Lake City UT
e have had good experience

with Honeywell engine service.
We dont have to ight with them. They
ix issues on our HTF7000s because
its the right thing to do.
Chuck Henze
ATP. Challenger 300
Chief Pilot
Kum and Go
Waukee IA
Accommodating the Next Generation of

Large Cabin Class Business Jets
Secure your hangar position today! - Limited Availability

Republic Airport KFRG Fall 2017
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Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport KFXE Spring 2018
Orlando Executive Airport KORL Spring 2017
Pompano Beach Air Park KPMP Winter 2017
Lakeland Linder Regional Airport KLAL Spring 2018
Ocala International Airport KOCF Spring 2018
Tampa International Airport KTPA Fall 2017
Savannah-Hiltonhead International Airport KSAV Fall 2016
Bill McShane
Vice President of Business Development & Special Projects
wmcshane@sheltairaviation.com 631-244-1200
sheltairaviation.com
lthough our Learjet 35A is an out

of production aircraft, it lies so
well and we have such good service
from Honeywell on its TFE731s that
were not shopping for a newer aircraft. Parts availability has been excellent and service attention on these
turbines has been outstanding.
R McQueen
Comm-Multi-Inst/Helo. Learjet 35A
President & CEO
McQueen Land & Cattle
Blanco TX
oneywell TPE331s in our Conquest II have been bulletproof.

And the OEM does an adequate job of
making sure spares are available.
Arthur Tobey
ATP/Helo/CFII/A&P. Conquest II
Av Dept Mgr & Chief Pilot
Liberty Steel Products
Hubbard OH
ur experience has been that at

Honeywell the tech staff is eager
to help you solve any problem and
make sure you operate safely. About 2
years ago tech reps looking at our Astras TFE731-3C engines spotted something abnormal and after some checks
were performed they found discrepancies on both accessory gearboxes. The
Honeywell team overhauled both engines in less than 2 weeks. I dont want
to speculate on what might have happened in light if they had not found
and ixed the problems.
William Rodriguez
ATP/CFII. Astra
Astra Mgr
Constructora Sambil
Opa Locka FL
Safran Helicopter Engines

(Formerly Turbomeca)
sing multiple helicopters for the

variety of missions we ly to serve
the City of Los Angeles, its evident
there are differences in construction,
light characteristics, reliability and aftersale service from the helicopter manufacturers and their powerplant providers. While all are good I side with
Safran-Turbomeca because I believe
they go a step beyond the rest to build
great engines, and they are constantly
working to improve turbines and care
of their customers.
Tony Pircey
A&P/Helo. Airbus AS350B2, Bell 412/
B206B/L & Leonardo AW139
Chief of Maintenance
City of Los Angeles
Van Nuys CA
Safran Helicopter
Engines Executive VP
Support & Services
Franck Saudo
manages the
companys global
support and services
organization to
ensure proximity
service for every
current Safran Helicopter Engines operator
worldwide. He can be contacted
by phone at 3355-990-9624. Fax is
3355-990-9610 and e-mail address is
franck.saudo@safrangroup.com. Info is
also available on the companys website,
www.safran-helicopter-engines.com.
or our company here in Greece

we enjoy lying an Airbus AS355N
TwinStar with a pair of powerful Arrius
1A turbines. These strong and very reliable engines it well with our environment, since during our hot summers
surface temps can rise to as much as
112 F and you need to the extra capability our Safran Arrius 1As provide.
Konstantinos Tsigkas
ATP/Helo.
Airbus AS355N/BO105
Captain & Consultant
Antenna TV
Vrilissia Athens, Greece
iving good scores to Safran is easy.

Weve had relatively trouble-free
operation of our 2 Airbus helicopters
an AS350B2 and an H125 both
powered by Arriels. I can say Im very
happy with both the reliability of the
engines and the product support provided for us as a customer. Also Turbomeca tech reps are knowledgeable
and show great dedication.
Aaron Boulais
A&P. Airbus AS350B2 & H125
Helicopter Mechanic
Ontario Police Dept
Ontario CA
n evaluating various helicopter engines, I believe Safran builds the best.

Based on my lying experiences I ind
these engines to be solidly reliable
for our missions. Ive logged a lot of
hours in the Airbus EC130B4 and my
conidence factor is very high when
operating this helicopter powered by
the Arriel 2B1. Im also convinced Safran has the best backup with the best
tech reps.
Carmine Berardino
Comm-Multi-Inst/Helo/CFII.
Airbus EC130B4/AS350B2
Pilot
Aviation Consultant
Coral Springs FL
onsidering all aspects of helicopter

engines, I have only great things to
say about Safran. This includes the reliability of the turbines themselves, the
tech reps, product support and company-furnished training.
Michael Lammlein
A&P. Airbus AS350
Dir of Maintenance
Northstar Trekking
Juneau AK
s a small operator in Holland we

log a lot of hours on a pair of Airbus
EC135 helicopters. Power and dependability of the Safran Arrius 2B2 engines
are great. While these powerplants have
always been rugged and reliable, the
company has deinitely improved in customer service.
Timon Kruisman
A&P/Helo. Airbus EC135T2
Maintenance Dir
ANWB Medical Air Assistance
Lelystad, The Netherlands
eing a helicopter operator in a remote

location in Brazil, I dont want to be
forgotten by the companies building
the products we use. We ly a Sikorsky
S76C++ powered by a pair of Arriel
2S2 engines that are very reliable. But I
would like to have Safran give us more
attentive support.
Henrique Lopes
ATP/Helo/CFII. Sikorsky S76C++/S92
Captain
BHS Helicopters
Curitiba PR, Brazil
ver the past 5 years Safran engines

have greatly improved in attention
to their customers. While the engines
produced by the company have always
been good the product support in the
past has not been the best. But now Safran product support has improved.
David Guy
Operator. Airbus AS350BA
Associate Engineer
Raytheon Australia
Nowra NSW, Australia
e service Sikorsky S76 helicopters. In regard to the Safran Arriel

2S1s, I can say these are very strong dependable turbines. We are very pleased
with all aspects of these engines. We
have good cooperation when working
with the Safran tech reps and we receive
excellent product support from the
company.
John Thieling
A&P. Sikorsky S76
Maintenance Tech
Hartford Helicopters
Tolland CT
Plus it up with GE
You ranked us No. 1 in both the 2016 AIN and
the 2015 Pro Pilot Product Support Surveys
and were humbled. Were just getting warmed
up and would love to show you what the
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SATCOM FOR HELOS
Being in contact anywhere, anytime

Honeywell Sky Connect Tracker III and Aspire 200 provide mission
management and highly effective satellite communications.
Satcom technology now provides workhorse

helos with new high speed and broadband
connectivity to improve EMS, law enforcement
and commercial operations.
Glenn Connor
ATP. Cessna 425
President, Discover Technology Intl
aps in communications in a
typical helicopters operating environment may occur
in a valley, mountainous terrain, out
at sea, or just out of line of sight. And
trying to operate without a connection of either voice or data, or being
disconnected from the customers
ofice essentially limits the value of
a helicopter. Think how annoying
it is when you are driving and you
go through a dip in the terrain and
drop a call. Now imagine the call
had real consequences like a life
in the balance. For many helicopter operators there is a premium on
staying connected, and the solution
to staying connected anywhere with
high-speed data, voice and video is
provided via satellite.
One solution is the new Honeywell satellite communications (satcom) product line of advanced antennas and transceiver technology.
This new product is designed for helicopter operations to provide crew
and passengers with voice, data and

video communications capability.
The selection of the kind of satcom
for helicopters is, of course, based
on mission requirements and includes sorting out the need for highspeed data, voice, tracking or ofice
in the sky functions. The system you
choose also has to ill the need for the
looming FAA mandates for equipage
for certain types of operators. Size,
weight and power are also signiicant
issues for a helicopter in terms of the
tradeoff value in range and lift performance. But whatever the equipment
you put on a helicopter, it has to be
small in its demand for space, weight
and power. The adoption of satcom
technology to the helicopter environment does have its own unique set of
challenges, mainly rotor disc interference. Fortunately, times are changing
for communication technology for
helicopters, and some new choices
are already here.
Among the various new offerings
of helo satcom are Honeywells Aspire 200 and Sky Connect Tracker III.
These products are the latest in satellite communications systems that can
cope with environmental problems of

helicopter installations and provide a
range of connectivity speeds globally. The goal of these new helicopter
communications products is to provide reliable and constant contact
no matter the mission type. The other
aspect of these new products is the
range of price and function, providing essentials such as light tracking
and Flight Data Monitoring (FDM) to
meet the FAA mandated equipage.
Sky Connect Tracker III is a system
designed to support light operations
and mission management capabilities to enhance global light operations. This system can be integrated
with a Health Usage and Monitoring
Systems (HUMS), and its FDM capabilities address the basic mandates
of the FAA coming in 2018 for helicopter air ambulance operations.
A typical HUMS unit connects to
critical systems in the helicopter for
monitoring health and maintenance
needs of critical components, and
most feature diagnostic software to
alert both the crew and dispatchers
even during light. Honeywell offers
the option to integrate Sky Connect
Tracker III with HUMs to send this
data in real time.
Aspire 200 is a satellite communications system that can be scaled
based on your operational requirements with a selection of antenna
types and additional features to support the cabins ofice-in-the-sky type
functions for laptops, cell phones, iPads and other devices. Honeywell has
stated that the Aspire 200 system also
offers high data rates (HDR)thats
double the bandwidth of the current
helo communications market. The
Aspire 200 HDR system is designed
to get around the problem of rotor
hub interference, staying connected
to Inmarsat satellites during all light
operations.
Honeywell has also taken an aggressive approach to developing its
own STCs to show the market their
commitment to this product line, a
Committed
to customer
support
Finmeccanica is now Leonardo - inspired by the vision,

curiosity and creativity of the great master inventor designing the technology of tomorrow.
Leonardo Helicopter Division are experts in helicopter
eet maintenance management, product support and
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Responding to customer demand, the company has
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We are committed to continuous improvement;
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Helicopters | Aeronautics | Electronics, Defence & Security Systems | Space
Aspire 200 LG system diagram
shift in previous company thinking.

In the past, the major avionics companies developed their products with
eyes on the OEMs and new programs
to solve installation and FAA approvals challenges, but the size of the
aftermarket was too hard to resist.
So Honeywell started developing
partnerships for helo satcom STCs,
proving the product to operators and
regulators. Now Honeywell certiications are underway on 10 rotary-wing
platforms. The 1st STC for the Aspire
200 IG System with HDR was done
for the Leonardo AW139 in 2015,
and more STCs are under planning
to ill the stable with options for helicopter operators in every ield.
The tech of helo satcom and

messaging
Both the Sky Connect Tracker III
and the Aspire 200 satellite communications Systems are designed
to enable modern communication
capabilities with the helicopter, the
lightdeck and dispatch. Sky Connect
Tracker III is designed for simultaneous voice, tracking and messaging,
and can also be integrated with Honeywells HUMS for real time aircraft
health and maintenance alerting.
Aspire 200 provides high bandwidth
and real time diagnostics, weather,
maintenance and more.
Aspire 200 aimed for use in wide

range of rotary-wing aircraft
The Aspire 200 product line has
been aimed at corporate aircraft as
well as air ambulance, law enforcement, ireighting, and search and
rescue (SAR). The Aspire 200 is the
system for high-speed data rates and

provides the connectivity for both the
lightdeck and the cabin. This product
has several different data rate options
depending on the type of antenna
used, with data transfer rates ranging
from 200 kbps to 650 kbps.
Even when operating over water
or outside of VHF coverage, Aspire
200 enables the lightcrew to use a
high-speed data network, and stay in
contact with a dispatch operator. The
high-speed data network connection
offers the corporate ofice in the sky
equivalent, but also for other applications where connectivity with consumer electronics and data is needed. These fast data transfer rates and
instant connectivity provide medical
services with the critical information
needed when transporting patients
during the golden hour of survivability. For law enforcement and SAR,
the ability to stay connected with the
outside world from the lightdeck
with simultaneous voice, data video such as Forward Looking Infrared
(FLIR) matches up with the expanding
use of broadband technology.
Honeywells Aspire 200 uses
ground-breaking capabilities to operate on helicopters, allowing pilots to
stay connectedespecially at crucial
times during a mission, states Tim
Sky Connect Tracker III
Roberts, senior manager technical

sales for Honeywell satcom products.
So affordable satcom products for
helicopters is part of the bigger company strategy for aircraft connectivity,
streaming data from aircraft for applications and services, and extending
the value of the aircraft.
The Aspire 200 standard components include a high-speed data unit,
an antenna and what Honeywell
calls the Cabin Gatewaythe aircrafts router and connection point
for laptops, cellphones, etc, to the
transceiver and satellite. This unit
makes it seamless for aft cabin passengers and other users to operate
and stay connectedwired or wirelesslyto the onboard high-speed
data network. The Cabin Gateway is
the part of the Honeywell Aspire 200
system that provides the Internet,
Virtual Private Network (VPN), video
conferencing, Voice Over IP (VOIP)
telephone and large ile transfers between the user and the ofice.
Expanding the Aspire 200s capabilities is the Communications Convergence Unit (CCU200) which is
a full-service multiport router. This
Honeywell router provides the cabin with Wi-Fi and supports VOIP,
phone directory, call forwarding and
3-way calling.
Youve got a business aircraft.

Weve got your ADS-B solution. Done and done.
As an FAA-approved pairing, our GTX 3000 and GDL 88 each install in a remote location,
out of sight and out of the way, to provide a fully certified ADS-B solution that works seamlessly
with your existing avionics system with or without a WAAS-capable FMS. Plus, with built-in
Garmin Connext you can wirelessly access ADS-B weather and traffic on a tablet running
Garmin Pilot and ForeFlight Mobile. Approved STC installations are currently available for
Gulfstream G150 and G200, Learjet 60, and 2002 and newer Hawker 750, 800XP, 850XP
and 900XP aircraft. Certifications are expected soon for additional Hawker, Beechjet and
Beechcraft Premier series jets.
Learn more at Garmin.com/ADS-B.
Or contact our ADS-B HelpLine at 1-844-GET-ADSB or aviation.sales@garmin.com.
2016 Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries
Image courtesy Honeywell
Sky Connect Tracker III

Sky Connect Tracker III supports
voice, data and light tracking, enabling mission management, messaging, maintenance data reporting, and
even engine shutdown. The system
can be operated in a dual voice mode
with 2 separate voice telephone
channels for the cabin and lightcrew,
and in dual modes for data tracking
and voice operation. The messaging
controls also support fast text messages that each operator can deine
and program into the system. Another capability that Honeywell has
introduced is what they call the last
position vector that sends inal position reports after the pilot powers
down the aircraft or if any incident
interrupts aircraft power. The MMUII panel-mounted controller has a lot
of utility within it, including storage
for up to 200 phone numbers with
names, and up to 200 text message
templates deined by the operator.
So far the Sky Connect Tracker III
has been certiied on numerous aircraft including the Leonardo AW139,
Airbus AS350 and Sikorsky S76 helicopters. Honeywell also reports
that STCs have been obtained for the
Leonardo AW119. STCs are currently

in development for several other helicopters including the A109, AS332,
BK117, EC145, EC135, Bell 206 series and 407, and S92.
Sky Connect Tracker III meets FDM
compliance for FAA rule 135.607 for
helicopter air ambulance operators,
and records aircraft data such as
heading, altitude, attitude and condition (rotor blades, transmission,
engine parameters and light controls). With the option of the HUMS
paired with the Sky Connect Tracker
III, an alert is transmitted whenever
any monitored parameter such as vibration exceeds a limit.
Sky Connect Tracker III position reports, alerts, and 2-way text messaging functions are presented on the
web-based Sky Connect Tracker map
system, which can only be accessed
by users authorized and managed
by the aircraft operator. Smartphone
and iPad versions of this map are
also available.
Helo satcom and the New FAA

mandates
After the FAA created additional
equipage and training requirements
for helicopter air ambulance, commercial and Part 91 operations,

the operator issue became more of
inding solutions and suppliers that
would back their products. Honeywells strong corporate culture for
helicopter operations has long been
a part of the companys fabric, starting with the CEO, and driving down
into the expansion of data products
and data services for all things that
ly. The aggressive move to capture
STCs for Sky Connect Tracker III and
Aspire 200 HDR is one of conidence
and opportunity, playing to the
strengths of these products that push
helicopter communications and operations into the modern era. Today
passengers and cabin crews alike
expect to be connected and remain
connected, and the new Honeywell
products are a timely solution.
Glenn Connor is
president of Discover Technology
Intl. He is a pilot
and a researcher
specializing in the
development of
enhanced vision
systems and advanced avionics.
YOU ORDER.
WE DELIVER.
Delivering spare parts when and where you need them is the highest priority for Chauncey Mitchell
and the Customer Support team at Airbus Helicopters Inc.
In recent years we have invested a lot of time, effort, and money to improve our service, and it shows.
Were delivering parts you order at a 97 percent on-time rate. For an AOG, the needed part ships
within four hours 98 percent of the time. Our spare parts inventory exceeds $115 million, and more
than 60,000 unique part numbers are in stock.
Our mission is to keep your aircraft flying. Our commitment is to meet and exceed your expectations.
WithYouOnEveryFlight.com
WX BRIEF
Winter is coming
Photo courtesy Dassault Falcon
Preparing for the season of cold temps, icing, turbulence,

blizzards and windshear.
By Karsten Shein
Comm-Inst, Climate Scientist
n the popular HBO drama Game

of Thrones, the motto of one of
the northern families is Winter
is Coming. The meaning is that the
coming of winter is inevitable and
one should be prepared when it arrives. While winters in that imaginary world may last many years, this
is an equally good a motto for pilots.
Winter comes every year, but every
year we hear of aviation accidents in
which winter weather was a contributing factor.
For many who ly solely in tropical climes, winter is often identiied
only as a transition to wetter or drier,
windier or calmer. But for the rest of
us who must operate in higher latitudes, winter can be a season of extreme weather challenges to be met
with consummate professionalism.
Even the most seasoned aviators can
ind themselves overwhelmed by
ice buildup or faced with a sudden
loss of visibility in blowing snow just
Flight and ground crew prep a Falcon 7X for departure in the midst of a blizzard at YFB (Iqaluit,
NU, Canada). At many airports, winter means frequent harsh weather systems, icing, low visibility and subfreezing preflights.
as they are gauging whether theyll

clear the trees at the end of the
runway.
Winter is normally deined as the
coldest of the seasons in regions
where seasons are associated with
temperature, as opposed to monsoonal climates where seasons are
deined by rainfall or lack thereof. In
the northern hemisphere, this aligns
winter with the calendar months of
December, January and February.
Southern hemisphere residents, conversely, experience winter between
June and August.
The cold is nothing more than
the product of the tilt of the earth
relative to the sun. During the winter months, the earths axis in the
affected hemisphere is tilted away
from the sun, meaning longer nights,
shorter days, and the noon sun being lower in the sky. As a result, the
incoming solar radiation is dispersed
over more of the earths surface, es-
pecially at higher latitudes. This geometric relationship allows more heat

to escape to space than is received
by the sun, cooling the atmosphere
and expanding the pool of cold air
that normally rests around the poles.
That air is bounded on all sides by
the warmer air of the tropics and
subtropics, and the boundary between the 2 is what we call the polar front. The polar front is the same
boundary along which lows develop
and warm and cold fronts break out,
giving us many of our middle latitude weather patterns.
Above the polar front there is a
strong density discontinuity resulting
from the acute difference in temperature. This discontinuity is manifested as a ribbon of rapidly moving
air meteorologists call the polar vortex, but we call it the jet stream.
In the winter months, the cooling
air over the pole becomes denser
and gains the strength to push the
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2117 South Air Service Rd. Garden City, KS 67846
Bombardier Challenger 350 is deiced at OK3 Air of 36U (Muni, Heber City UT). Whenever an aircraft has been parked overnight or subjected to liquid
moisture in subfreezing conditions, deicing should be considered. Even a thin film of frost can spoil airflow and add significant weight and drag.
polar front and polar vortex equatorward by as much as 20 to 30 degrees

of latitude. The movement is much
more pronounced over land than
over ocean because water can retain
and move heat, releasing it into the
polar air to ameliorate temperatures.
Additionally, the temperature difference between polar and subtropical
air increases, which increases the
density gradient across the front, energizing it. This is a key reason why
winds aloft are often much stronger
in winter than in other times of year.
Key threats
Many of the adverse weather challenges that pilots face from winter
are the same as what they may face
in any seasonturbulence, icing,
windshear, etc. But winter tends to
amplify many of these factors and increase their frequency and coverage.
Among the more signiicant issues
with winter are low and extensive
ceilings. Cold air is less capable
of holding moisture than warm air.
This means that it takes much less
of a drop in temperature to saturate
cold air than warm. Air naturally
cools as it rises, and while it may
take several thousand feet of rising
for air to cool to its dew point temperature in summer, in winter that
may only take a few hundred feet. As
a result, gradual lifting of cool winter
air by rising terrain or a nearby front
can quickly produce a large region
of fog or low cloud.
The problem with cold clouds is
that they can become areas of icing
potential. The 2 things needed for ice

accretion are temperatures below
freezing and water in liquid form.
With winter freezing levels well below where they are in the summer
(often below the surface) and with
liquid water capable of existing in
air as cold as -40 C/F, it can be very
easy to pick up ice.
However, with the inability of
cold air to hold much moisture, accretion of large thicknesses of ice
are less likely in winter than in
warmer seasons. Most rainfall in
winter will appear as drizzle from
nimbostratus decks associated with
warm fronts that are drawing warmer, humid air aloft over a surface layer of cooler air.
A dificulty with icing in winter
warm fronts is that neither a climb
nor a descent will necessarily place
you in warmer air to melt the ice.
But because nimbostratus tend to be
at most a few thousand feet thick, a
climb will most likely provide the
fastest exit from the accretion zone.
Ice deposition is also a factor in
winter lying. Like dew that forms
as the air cools overnight, frost frequently occurs with nocturnal cooling in winter. In very cold air, small
amounts of ice may transition directly from water vapor and attach
to exposed surfaces. Such deposition is normally very thin and may
even be imperceptible to the eye.
Thicker frosts occur as temperatures
cool more gradually and water has a
chance to condense into liquid and
be deposited on aircraft surfaces before eventually freezing.
Cold soak
Aircraft that have just landed may
also be at risk of frost accumulation
in the form of cold soaking. The aircrafts fuel will be much colder than
the outside air and will chill the adjacent aircraft skin. The skin in turn
cools the surrounding air, causing
condensation or deposition of water
vapor, which freezes to the skin. If
the air temperature is above freezing, cold soak icing will melt as fuel
temperatures acclimate, but in subfreezing air, or when there is a quick
turnaround, the ice may remain.
Another cause of airframe icing
that is often overlooked in the winter
is that caused by pulling your aircraft
from a heated hanger out into snowfall. If ambient temperatures on the
ramp are below freezing, your warm
aircraft will steadily melt the snow,
wetting the skin. The process cools
the aircraft and eventually allows the
melted snow to freeze into a glaze
over the entire aircraft.
Lastly, vast amounts of deicing
luid and melting salts are used on
tarmacs throughout the higher latitudes every winter. After heavy
snowfalls, these products often leave
a slushy mess on runways, taxiways
and parking areas. Jet exhausts and
aircraft movement can kick this partially melted water and coat areas of
the aircraft that may not be covered
by anti or deicing systems. The spray
can freeze over pitot-static ports,
lap actuators, and even engine
fans. Pilots operating on a wet surface should be cautious about using
Photo courtesy Dassault Falcon
Blizzards
Is the runway really clear and dry? Falcon 7X approaches to land at LSGK (Saanen, Switzerland).
Runways that appear to be clear from the air may hide slick spots where meltwater has refrozen.
thrust reversers or following other

aircraft too closely.
In any scenario where ice accumulation is suspected, the aircraft should
be evaluated by sight and touch. Use
an ungloved inger to test for any otherwise imperceptible coating, and assume that if temperatures are below
freezing and there is liquid moisture
about that a trip through the deicing
line is warranted. All ice should be
removed before light is attempted, as
even a few millimeters of accumulation can substantially degrade aircraft
performance.
Pilots should further be aware that
not all icing danger comes in the
form of aircraft icing. While airports
do their best to keep runways and
taxiways clear, snow plowing often
ills in the grooves in larger runways
and leaves a slick coat of compressed
snow on smooth paved surfaces. This
issue is partially resolved by laying
down salt, brine or other ice melting substances. Unfortunately, these
measures are generally limited to
temperatures within 10 or so degrees
of freezing. Below that, any standing
meltwater may begin to refreeze
into a very thin and clear coating of
glaze ice. Every winter, a handful of
aircraft accidents are attributed to
the aircraft encountering ice on the
runway during landing, or sliding off

an icy taxiway.
If temperatures are near or below
freezing and the pavement appears
wet, icy patches should be anticipated. Land at as low a speed as possible, avoid heavy braking, and dont
accept high-speed taxi or turns.
These precautions should help reduce the chances of losing control
on an icy surface.
What thunderstorms and hurricanes are to the warm seasons, blizzards are to winter. The term blizzard
is popularly taken to mean any intense snow storm. Meteorologically,
however, a blizzard is deined as a
snow storm in which high winds produce blowing snow that reduces visibility. A blizzard must have sustained
winds exceeding 30 kts (35 mph, 16
m/s) and falling or blowing snow that
reduces visibility to less than 1/4 mile
(400 m) for 3 hours or more. Temperature is not normally a condition
for a blizzard, but a blizzard is considered severe if winds exceed 39 kts
(45 mph, 20 m/s) and the temperature
is below -12 C (10 F).
Most blizzards are part of a larger low-pressure storm system. In a
typical mid-latitude cyclone, the
central low deforms the polar front
into a warm front out ahead and
cold front behind. As they rotate
around the low, warm and humid air
glides over the cooler air ahead of
the low. In doing so, it cools, forms
nimbostratus clouds and drops precipitation beneath the front. Simultaneously, the circulation draws cold
air around the base of the low, more
rapidly displacing the warm sector
air. If this displacement is vigorous,
it may even create a snow squall in
which there is thunder and lightning.
These thundersnows are a relatively
rare occurrence, but pilots should be
aware that they are thunderstorms
Passengers evacuate a McDonnell-Douglas MD88 after it skidded off Rwy 13 at LGA (LaGuardia,
NY) while landing in snow on March 5, 2015. The runway had been plowed 20 minutes earlier
and aircraft that landed just prior reported good braking action. But pilots noted that the runway
appeared to be covered with snow as they broke out of the overcast on final.
Mannys welcome
your praise in
2017 PRASE by voting us
Best Handler of
MEXICO
Thanks for being our customers. Hope your Christmas and New Year celebrations are great!
And here at Mannys we look forward to continuing to support you in 2017 and years to come.
Blizzard zone
Surface weather map depicting an exceptionally strong midlatitude cyclone that produced the
Armistice Day Blizzard of 1940, which brought much of the upper Midwest US to a standstill for
days. Note the strong pressure gradient all around the low. This produced winds in excess of 30
knots from the Carolinas to the Dakotas.
and contain the same dangers as

their summertime cousins. In fact,
small-scale blizzards often occur in
the gust front and outlow of these
thundersnows.
The greatest danger of encountering a blizzard, however, is in the
upper rear quadrant of the storm
system. This is the area that lies
between the storms central low and
a trailing high pressure. In winter, the
cold, dense air can produce a very
strong pressure difference between
the 2. This difference translates
into a gradient along which the air
lows. The steeper the gradient, the
faster the wind. In a winter cyclone,
this pressure gradient can easily generate winds in excess of 40 kts (46
mph, 21 m/s) at the surface, and
stronger aloft.
Recall that warm and humid air
had been gliding over the leading
warm front. This now saturated and
precipitating cloud deck begins
to wrap around into that region of
strong pressure gradient, and dropping snow into those high winds.
Furthermore, this region often passes
over real estate that has already seen

some snowfall from the warm front
itself, meaning there is snow on the
ground to blow around. The end result is that all the conditions are in
place to produce a blizzard.
Fortunately, while the actual
amounts of snowfall are often dificult to predict, forecasting blizzard
and snow storm development and
movement is more accurate, especially 1 day or 2 out. When faced
with departing or landing in a blizzard the best option is to wait it out.
Most blizzards last less than a day,
and once the high pressure builds in
and the runways have been cleared,
operations become far easier.
High pressure
The colder the air becomes, the
denser it becomes and the greater
the pressure it can exert. In some
cases, strong high-pressure centers
can cover an area with barometric
pressure that exceeds anything that
can be set into a Kollsman window.
In such cases, pilots must follow the
guidance set forth by the country in

which they are operating, which may
include ceasing operation. In the US,
AIM 7.2.2 directs pilots to set their
pressure altimeters to 31.00 inches
of mercury (1050 hPa) until inal approach (if landing), and 1500 ft AGL
or any mandatory/crossing altitude
(if departing). IFR lights must add
to ceiling and visibility requirements
by 100 ft and 0.25 sm, respectively, for every 0.1 inch above 31.00.
Pilots are advised to exercise extra
diligence to avoid collisions with
terrain, obstacles or other aircraft. Of
course, in situations where the barometric pressure is higher than what
is set in the altimeter, the aircraft will
actually be at a higher altitude than
indicated, and it is likely that VMC
will prevail.
Winter in colder climates can also
present pilots with some of the most
glorious lying conditions available.
All that cold, dense air presents an
inviting meal into which your airfoils
can really bite. Enhanced high-pressure systems beneath ridges in the
polar vortex will often result in clear
skies and calm winds across half a
continent for days at a time. The net
result is a much smoother and high
performance ride than you otherwise might experience under different conditions in other seasons.
Naturally, as with most seasons,
winter weather conditions can be
dynamic and can change dramatically over the course of a few hours.
Pilots should not let their weather
guard down, and they must ensure
they have the latest weather information before they depart. As always,
forecasts and light safety are only
as good as the information at hand,
so be sure to ile at least 1 pirep per
light, or whenever conditions arent
as expected.
Karsten Shein is a
climatologist with
NOAA in Asheville
NC. He formerly
served as an
assistant professor
at Shippensburg
University. Shein
holds a commercial
license with instrument rating.
Ramp and Hangar Talk 12/16

time sensitive
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93
CFD
Computational Fluid Dynamics

is key to better flying aircraft
CFD uses numerical mathematics to solve systems of

Partial Differential Equations describing fluid flow,
transport of heat and mass, combustion dynamics, and other physical phenomena. This rendering
shows airflow around the trijet Dassault Falcon 8X.
By Nihad E Daidzic, PhD, ScD

ATP/CFII, MEI, CFIG, AGI/IGI
Pres, AAR Aerospace Consulting
Professor, Minnesota State Univ
omputational Fluid Dynamics

(CFD) is an integral part in aircraft design and optimization. It
is used for detailed external low calculations delivering pressure, shear
stress, and velocity distributions over
the structure, ultimately resulting
in aerodynamic and stability coeficients. As a design tool, CFD is mostly used during initial analysis where
various conigurations can be tested,
thus lowering the design cost.
Modern CFD methods treat both
external aerodynamics (subsonic,
transonic, supersonic and hypersonic) and internal aerodynamics
to include turbomachinery design
such as fan, compressor and turbine
blades. Rotorcraft aerodynamics is
especially dificult and, while CFD
is making progress, many problems
still remain. Combustion processes
are also simulated using CFD, which
then must additionally account for
thermochemistry, droplet and evaporation dynamics, lame propagation,
etc. CFD is often called a numerical
experiment or virtual wind tunnel.
CFD uses numerical math to solve

Partial Differential Equations
Serious CFD progress would have
been impossible without development of powerful supercomputers.
Increase in computational power
over the past 60 years has been phenomenal. Just some 20 years ago,
the GFLOPS or 109 FLOPS (billion
FLoating-point Operations Per Second) and the TFLOPS (TeraFLOPS
or 1012 or trillion FLOPS ) capability
was considered mind boggling. The
fastest supercomputers today are already reaching 100 PFLOPS or 100
x 1015 FLOPS (PetaFLOPS or quadrillion FLOPS). Chinese Sunway TaihuLight (93+ PFLOPS) and NUDTs
$400 million Tianhe-2 are leading
the pack. It is not quite certain when
EFLOPS (ExaFLOPS or 1018 or quintillion FLOPS) will be available. A
slowdown in Moores-Law (order
of magnitude or tenfold FLOPS increase every 8 years or so) has been
noted in computing performance as
the technologies are reaching their
physical (quantum) limits (about 5
to 10 nm for CMOS technology).
Whether quantum computers (Pro
Pilot, Jun 2016, p 78) will be able
Image courtesy Dassault Falcon
Major aircraft companies use CFD seeking to minimize drag

and to make wings, control surfaces, fuselages, nacelles
and propulsion systems more efficient.
to take over and accelerate CFD by
several orders of magnitude is still
an open question. CFD needs large
computing power to solve Partial
Differential Equations (PDEs) employing the brute force of numerical mathematics.
Despite immense progress in CFD,
no aircraft or engine will be certiied
without experimental veriication
and light tests. But CFD is especially valuable in the early design and
analysis phases. Once the initial
design has been frozen, the wind
tunnel (WT) testing becomes much
cheaper and faster where hundreds
of light conigurations (for various
AOAs, yaw angles and sideslips, etc)
can be rapidly tested delivering respective drag polars. However, WT
experiments are not perfect, and
the problems with the tunnels wall
effects, aeroelastic phenomena limitations, Reynolds (Re) number similarity, etc, remain. The Re number
is important to CFD because it represents the ratio of the inertial and
the viscous forces in a luid.
Although very sophisticated and
powerful, CFD is based on many approximations and modeling of physical realities. It is still not able to reliably simulate unsteady lows such as
during the lare maneuver in ground
effect (Pro Pilot, May 2011, p 110).
As Drs Spalart and Venkatakrishnan from Boeing wrote recently
in a technical review article, the
aerospace industry is very conservative and too much reliance on
CFD may result in costly design
mistakes with severe consequences
and considerable disruption with delayed certiication and entry into service.Thus the CFD implementations
in aerospace designs are necessarily
evolutionary.
An extensive and potential for CFD
use in current Boeing airplane designs (B787) is illustrated in Figure 1.
Continuum hypothesis of luid is

in the essence of classical CFD
So what is CFD and what does
it do? To answer that, we must irst
understand what luid is. Water and
air are the most important technical
luids and also the simplest luids
known. Air consists of huge number-per-volume of elementary particles (atoms and molecules) which
are independently moving at high
speeds and colliding and bouncing
off each other elastically. However,
to make the luid problem mathematically tractable, a continuum
hypothesis/concept is introduced
where each of the parcels of small
imaginary luid particles consist of
huge numbers of molecules so that
their physical properties are statistically averaged. All molecular individuality in luid continuum is lost.
Molecules travel between virtual and
continuously shape-deformable luid
particles, which leads to exchange
of molecular momentum and a phenomenon called viscosity. Viscosity
is basically the internal resistance to
low due to molecular motion.
Since air is a gaseous luid, it is
easily compressible. However, at low
Mach numbers (< 0.3) it practically
behaves as an incompressible luid
(liquid). Air is a linear or Newtonian luid for which simple phenomenological linear relationship
between the shear stress and the velocity gradient (rate of strain) occurs.
Wall shear stress (no-slip condition)
is the luids response to aircrafts motion resulting in skin friction drag. On
the other hand, the normal pressure
distribution will result in the form
drag and in the transonic or supersonic low also shock-induced (pressure)
wave drag. Separated lows (wakes)
are large pressure drag producers.
Navier, Stokes, Reynolds, Euler,

Laplace and their equations
In the case of linear luids, the general luid linear momentum equation
of luid continuum becomes the vector Navier-Stokes (N-S) equation (or
3 scalar or value N-S equations for
each velocity component). N-S equations are named after Claude Louis
Marie Henri Navier (17851836) and
George Gabriel Stokes (18191903)
and are concerned with the relationship between velocity, gravity, pressure and shear stresses in a moving
luid. The Clay Mathematics Institute
CFD contributions to aircraft design
Key enablers include high performance computing and physics-based design/analysis/optimization

Figure 1. An overview of CFD applications and capabilities in current T-category aircraft designs
is shown in this illustration of a Boeing 787.
has designated N-S equations as one

of the 7 most important open problems in mathematics and is offering
$1 million for a solution. Being quite
familiar with N-S equations, I believe
that this award will remain unclaimed
for many centuries to come. The formidable N-S equations are nonlinear 2nd-order PDEs, which describe
low dynamics in the time-space domain. No exact mathematical solution of N-S equations exists, except
in some very special cases of laminar low in very simple geometries.
Unique solutions of every PDE also
require the knowledge of the relevant
boundary conditions and the initial
conditions. But often when solving
turbulent lows we are interested only
in average low properties. Thus, the
Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes or
RANS equation (Osborne Reynolds,
18421912) is derived from the N-S
equation, causing unknown Reynolds
or turbulent stresses to appear.
Unfortunately, the N-S or the RANS
equations alone are not suficient
to describe low problems. The so
called continuity (mass balance) PDE
must also be considered. Equationof-state is also needed which in the
case of air relates its density, pressure
and temperature algebraically (ideal gas or calorically perfect gas). In
hypersonic low, the real gas effects
dominate due to air dissociation and
ionization. It is often also necessary
to add the energy equation (1st Law
of Thermodynamics, conservation
of energy) and the entropy equation (2nd Law of Thermodynamics),
which has to do with the amount

of molecular chaos and energy that
cannot be used for mechanical work.
Sometimes even the conservation
equation for angular momentum is
needed. Ultimately, we end up with
several tough simultaneous nonlinear PDEs which must be solved numerically in realistic geometries for
steady and unsteady lows.
However, the luid not in immediate vicinity of the aircraft can be
approximately regarded as inviscid
(zero viscosity), and in that case the
N-S equation becomes the nonlinear Euler equation (Leonhard Euler,
17071783). Since Euler equations
cannot account for luid friction,
usually Integral Boundary Layer (IBL)
methods are used in a thin luid layer
in immediate vicinity of the structure
where most of the viscous/friction effects occur. Indeed, Boundary Layer
(BL) theory implies that at large Re
numbers, viscous forces are contained in a thin luid layer for which
no-slip conditions are assumed,
while the low outside of BL can be
often treated as inviscid. BL theory
was developed by the father of modern luid dynamics, Ludwig Prandtl
(18751953). If the luid outside the
BL is assumed irrotational (absence
of vorticity/eddies or rotational luid motion) we obtain the physically
unrealistic but practically very useful inviscid and vorticity-free potential low. If the low is additionally
incompressible, the solution of the
linear Laplace equation (Pierre-Simon Laplace, 17491827) is sought.
95
Figure 2. CFD and

turbulence modeling
(according to Deck,
Gand, Brunet
and Ben Khelil).
Panel methods use the boundary

property of the Laplace equation and
solve for the pressure distribution
over many discrete lat panels. In
order to calculate lift, the Kutta-Zhukovsky theorem with the Kutta condition (no velocity discontinuity at
the trailing edge leading to correct
circulation) must be applied since
inviscid luid cannot create lift or
drag. In order to calculate drag, IBL
equations are solved. Even the shocks
(transonic low) can be modeled using the full 3D potential codes, but
the Euler codes are superior there.
To solve N-S or Euler equations
numerically they irst must be discretized (ie, converted from ininitesimal to inite differences). As a
result of spatial and temporal discretization, one can end up with
tens or hundreds of thousands of
linear or nonlinear algebraic equations, depending on the problem.
Such set of equations must be consistent, converge to physical solution, and be numerically stable.
Numerical error propagation and
control is an integral part of CFD
efforts. A sophisticated numerical
sparse-matrix solvers are then used
to ind the solutions for pressure and
shear stress distribution, 3D velocity
components, temperature and other
important variables in each computational node.
To solve N-S or Euler equations at
discrete points, one needs to generate a grid or mesh. Sophisticated
algorithms exist today for design of
structured, unstructured and adaptive
grids. A lot of computer time may be
saved by having good gridding. Grids
and grid generation for given geometry is science in itself.
Turbulence and turbulence

models
Since practically all external and
internal lows in aerospace applications are turbulent, it is obvious that
turbulence must be accounted for.
Turbulence is a random, nonlinear,
3D, highly unsteady, vorticity-illed,
luid phenomena for which no adequate theory exists. Many hypotheses on the origin of turbulence exist and typically statistical methods
are used to describe it. Existence of
many eddy scales and vortex stretching dynamics and the inertial transport of energy from the largest (energy producing) eddies to the smallest
dissipative/viscous ranges is a typical
characteristic of turbulence.
As mentioned, the transition to turbulence from laminar low can be
characterized and measured through
the Re number. As this number increases beyond a critical for a given
low geometry, the inertial forces become too powerful, rendering laminar low unstable and transitioning
into more or less fully-developed
turbulent lows. The main problem
with the turbulent low is that all
scales must be accurately accounted
for or otherwise aerodynamic characteristics will be in large error.
Since N-S equations are known,
why not just solve them directly numerically? Well, we can try! Let us
take a large FAR/CS 25 T-category
airplane in cruise and create discretization grid/mesh around it. The prob-
lem would require us to have at least

a computational cube around the airplane with sides of about 100 m (330
ft) and with the spatial grid elements
as small as 10 to 100 micrometers to
capture the smallest turbulent eddies.
To account for turbulent temporal
luctuations we need computational
time scales of 10 to 100 microseconds, plus we need to account for
internal iterative node computations.
In the realistic caseand to meet
convergence and accuracy criteriawe may end up with about 1028
required loating-point operations.
Even if we take the fastest supercomputer of today (almost 100 PFLOPS)
and devote 100% of its resources to
this single task, it will take more than
1011 seconds or about 3200 years
just for 1 coniguration. Use of such
supercomputing facility may cost
$10 for each second of CPU time
and thus incur a bill of $1 trillion!
And even such epic effort will not
be able to capture large-scale and
very slowly dissipating wake vortex
dynamics that extends many miles
behind the airplane. The spatial grid
required for Direct N-S Numerical
Simulation (DNS) is approximately
proportional to Re3. Since it is currently not possible to use DNS for
high Re numbers (1 to 100 million)
in reasonable time we have to resort
to turbulence modeling.
Turbulence modeling has been
around for more than 50 years. Eddy
viscosity models have resulted in
many practical engineering turbulence models. More complicated
models are dealing with Reynolds
stresses directly. RANS models or
2nd-order closure models have been
around for many decades as well.
However, RANS and Unsteady
RANS are largely phenomenological
and based on turbulence modeling
ingenuity and do not work uniformly well for every type of low. Large
Eddy Simulation (LES) is a compromise method in which large-scale
(integral scale) turbulent energy producing and transporting eddies/vortices are directly simulated (DNS type),
while smaller eddies use RANS turbulence modeling. LES uses low-pass
iltered N-S equations admitting only
large turbulent scales. In fact, many
hybrid LES-RANS codes exist and one
of those, the so called Detached Eddy
Simulation, shows promise for calculating massively separated lows.
A state-of-the-art of the current CFD
Serves the informational needs of professional pilots
Dan Wolfe
I learned one thing early as a pilot: never accept mediocrity in aviation. In order to be a professional
you need to align with professionals. I did, Professional Pilot magazine. It is truly a magazine that has
supported the growth and development of business and corporate aviation for over 50 years.
Professional Pilot magazine
For more information contact Earlene Chandler, planner
earlene@propilotmag.com
5290ShawneeRd,Suite201AlexandriaVA22312
Tel703-370-0606Fax703-370-7082
methods and capabilities is illustrated

in Figure 2.
Some CFD applications and

challenges
CFD has been used in aircraft design with more or less success since
the dawn of electronic computers.
The 1st numerical simulations employed the classical method of characteristics and continued with the
development of the potential low
models. Panel methods were used extensively in the 60s and 70s by aerospace companies (Douglas, Boeing).
Classical panel methods solve inviscid irrotational linearized potential
low problems around realistic airfoils, inite wings and fuselages. Panel methods are classiied as Boundary
Integral Methods rather than CFD as
no spatial grid is required. Incompressible and compressible aerodynamic panel methods are still in use
today (eg, PANAIR/A502). Following
panel codes, full-potential 3D codes
were developed that could deal even
with the transonic low and shocks
and use IBL for drag calculations and
which still see heavy use in the industry (eg, A488/TRANAIR/VSAERO).
Starting in the 90s, the Euler-solvers
were routinely used for subsonic and
transonic (shock capturing) lows.
Hugoinot-Rankine relations are used
for shock wave computations which
can be regarded as discontinuity in
luid low. For example, Cessna Aircraft Company used 3D Euler solvers
in the mid 90s to characterize low at
various Mach numbers for business
jet designs. Aerodynamic and stability coeficients are extracted from
CFD calculations during post processing mode.
More recently at the Honda Aircraft Co, 3D panel-code with the IBL
method was employed to design fuselage-nose contours and maximize
laminar low length by maintaining
favorable pressure gradients for the
design of the HA420 HondaJet. Additionally, 3D Euler-solver was used
for transonic low computations to
evaluate the interference between the
wing and the nacelle in the HondaJet
design. A so called multigrid method with an equally-spaced Cartesian mesh structure was used. The
HondaJets transonic wave drag was
obtained by integration of the entropy production downstream of shocks.
CFD results were compared to exper-
Figure 3. Computer-generated image of fluid going through turbomachinery.
imental data obtained in Boeings

transonic wind tunnel. More recently
near-wall compressible RANS turbulent models were used on several
super critical airfoils for characterization of transonic low.
CFD is not only used for external aerodynamics, but also internal
lows, such as in cabin air distribution, optimizing outlow valve locations, etc. Rotorcraft low simulations
in hover create spaghetti strings of
vortex tubes off the blades which
stretch and an interaction with the
trailing edge blade BL wake shear
layer occurs. CFD computations in
low through turbomachinery is illustrated in Figure 3.
Very recently, Dr Drikakis from the
University of Strathclyde in Glasgow,
UK, with Drs Kwak and Kiris from
NASA Ames have formulated Grand
Challenge (GC) problems for future
CFD applications. GC#1: Accurate
simulation of a full aircraft coniguration; GC#2: Rotorcraft low simulation; GS#3: Complex geometry
simulations; GC#4: Unsteady low
simulations; GC#5: Effects of turbulence models on simulation accuracy; and GC#6: Computational issues
in aeroacoustics.
Several assertions were recently
made that future 6DOF full-motion
light simulators will be able to ly
Navier-Stokes Equations. Such an
effort would imply that the best existing supercomputing performance
would have to increase by about 15
orders-of-magnitude (1015).
Even with the future quantum
computers being 100 million times
faster than Tianhe-2 (34 PFLOPS)
today or having YFLOPS capability
(YottaFLOPS or 1024 FLOPS), a single DNS calculation would still take
few hours for an entire airplane or

6 orders-of-magnitude too slow for
real-time simulation.
Conclusions
While CFD has accelerated and
improved development and optimization of many aerospace vehicles,
systems and devices, it would be naive to think that it can and will solve
all the low/aerodynamic problems.
CFD capabilities are intimately tied
to the idelity of the mathematical
models, grid quality, numerical stability and convergence, and computational speeds.
Powerful Lattice-Boltzmann Methods are also emerging which use an
entirely different approach to low
modeling and in many respects will
become strong challenger to classical continuum-based CFD. Yet, 2
other computational methods called
Direct Molecular Computations/Simulations and Monte Carlo Computations actually do calculate molecular
dynamics directly and require even
more powerful supercomputers and
future quantum computers. To conclude, CFD provides a powerful tool
for engineers and scientists making
aerospace designs evolutionary better, safer and more eficient.
Nihad Daidzic is
president of AAR
Aerospace Consulting, L.L.C., located
in Saint Peter, MN
and has worked for
many years on the
US and European
space programs. He is also tenured
full Professor of Aviation and of
Mechanical Engineering.
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ve been thinking a lot about the future lately. Sure,

NIFC-CA missile guidance

10 PROFESSIONAL PILOT / December 2016

of sources to more accurately guide a missile to its target.

Were taking everything thats made our Teterboro operation so successful

Image courtesy Lockheed Martin