November 2009

Citation disappears in Carribean

By Curt Epstein

Cessna 501 Citation I, Las Americas, Dominican Republic, Aug. 18, 2008– The Citation I, registered as N223LC to Corus Hardware, vanished from radar shortly after takeoff while en route from the Dominican Republic to East La Grande, Puerto Rico. The pilot was the sole occupant. An intensive search was called off after five days with no trace of wreckage discovered. According to the Dominican Repu more

---

Icing eyed in fatal CJ crash

By Curt Epstein

Cessna 525, West Gardiner, Maine, Feb. 1, 2008–N102PT, registered to Symons Jeanette Trustee, was destroyed and the pilot and single passenger
were killed when the CJ crashed soon after takeoff from Augusta State Airport (AUG). IMC prevailed at the time of the accident and an IFR flight plan had been filed for the Part 91 flight to Lincoln Airport in Nebraska. Employees of the FBO s more

---

Pilot killed in final approach accident

By Curt Epstein

Socata TBM 700, Kennesaw, Ga., July 15, 2008–The turboprop single was destroyed and its pilot killed when it rolled inverted and collided with trees short of the runway at Cobb County-McCollum Field. The pilot was concluding a one-hour flight in VMC from Southwest Georgia Regional Airport in Albany, Ga.
Witnesses at the airport reported the aircraft on short final for Runway 9 whe more

---

DOT warns about lithium battery dangers

By Paul Lowe

The Department of Transportation released a safety advisory in the Federal Register last month warning of potential dangers posed by carrying lithium batteries on board commercial passenger and cargo more

---

In the works: Aerion – Supersonic Business Jet

Aerion chairman Robert Bass said that the company remains committed to its supersonic business jet program “as long as we see progress in our discussions with OEMs. We are seeing progress,” he told attendees at the NBAA Convention late last month. “In fact, we are quite encouraged by our discussions. There is no question that the economic impact on the industry has slowed their decision-maki more

---

In the works: Stratos Aircraft – Stratos 714

By Matt Thurber

The latest entry in the personal jet marketplace–Stratos Aircraft of Bend, Ore.–made its first appearance at the NBAA Convention last month with a full-scale cabin mockup. Stratos announced just before the show that Verson Pandian, owner of Bend-based Cascade Air Charter, placed the first deposit for a Stratos 714 under the company’s new Assurance more

---

In the works: Gulfstream Aerospace – G650 and G250

By Matt Thurber

Gulfstream rolled out two new jets recently, the large-cabin flagship G650 on September 29 in Savannah, Ga., and the super-midsize G250 in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 6. Both jets’ programs remain on schedule and t more

---

People in Aviation November 2009

By Curt Epstein

Scott Carson, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, will retire at the end of the year. He will be succeeded by Jim Albaugh, the former head of Boeing’s Integrated Defense Systems. Carey Bond has been promoted from v-p and chief marketing officer to president of Sikorsky Global Helicopters. He will continue his duties as chief marketing officer.
Be more

---

In the works: Spectrum-S40

By Matt Thurber

Spectrum Aeronautical is preparing to manufacture a second S.40 test fuselage as it continues to refine its processes and manufacturing technology since completing the first demo fuselage in June.
“This validated our tooling approach, and the first fuselage demo was used afterward for testing,” Spectrum president Austin Blue told AIN. “We’re now making minor adjustments to the fus more

---

Final Flights November 2009

By Curt Epstein

Richard Whitcomb, 88, the long-time NASA engineer des-cribed as the most significant aerodynamics contributor of the second half of the 20th century, died on October 13 in Newport News, Va. He was the recipient of the prestigious Collier Trophy for his discovery of the area rule fuselage, which gave fighter jets supersonic speed and greater range, and his supercritical wing and winglets are more

---