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Golf Hotel Whiskey: for pilots and aviation enthusiasts

Will general aviation in the UK go the way of fox hunting?

Flight Global recently had an extensive article about how general aviation is also taking a big hit in Europe and in the UK in particular. Moreover, general aviation has been declining in both Europe and the UK for some time now with the UK being hit particularly hard.

In fact and as the following chart shows, the total of new private and commercial pilots licenses that have been issued by the Civil Aviation Authority has steadily fallen since 2003 with the decline being particularly rapid for the past four years. And while the UK did introduce a more localized plus less rigorous and much cheaper license in 2002 and this did attract new pilots, the total number of new pilots has still continued to decline since 2003.

UK Pilot Licenses Graphic

Martin Robinson, the chief executive of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) UK and regional vice-president of IAOPA Europe, was quoted as saying that the financial meltdown has hit general aviation particularly hard. In fact, Martin estimates that since 2007, the total number of pilot training recruits in the UK has fallen by 30% as would-be pilots spend their money on other leisure activities or more important commitments. Moreover, Martin noted that it will typically cost about £8,000 (or US$12,900) for a would-be pilot to obtain a private pilot’s license and roughly £65,000 to obtain a commercial pilot’s license.

Martin also pointed out that flying is just simply not a young person’s activity. In fact, the 40 to 60 year old age bracket sees the most licenses issued as this demographic group will typically have more disposable income to spend on flying.

Finally, Martin observed that general aviation itself faces some hostility at the local and national level in the UK thanks to the image that light aircraft is noisy, intrusive and environmentally unfriendly. Hence, general aviation is not seen as a politically correct leisure activity.

Hence, we want to ask you our readers what you think of the state of general aviation in the UK. In other words, will general aviation in the UK slowly go the way of fox hunting?

Cessna develops a new high-tech aircraft skin

On an aviation technology note, Scott Spangler, the blogger behind the Jetwhine blog, has just written an interesting post about Cessna’s efforts to develop a new type of advanced aircraft “skin.” Apparently, Cessna had worked as a team with GE and the Georgia Institute of Technology on a NASA study last year and this led them to develop a new composite skin called STAR-C2 which stands for: “Smoothing, Thermal, Absorbing, Reflective, Conductive, Cosmetic.”

However, Wired has called the Cessna skin innovation a “self-healing ‘magic skin’ condom for future aircraft.” Moreover, the skin weighs less than half of what current composite skin or coatings would weigh and it comes with a layer of energy absorbing foam that is more damage tolerant. In addition and above this foam layer, there is a conductive layer that will protect the aircraft from the effects of lightening plus it holds the possibility of alerting pilots or mechanics where there is a problem.

Hence, Cessna as a contract from NASA to further develop it. Nevertheless, there is no shortage of challenges surrounding the skin’s development and it may take some time before its used on an actual aircraft.  

Scott ended his post by saying that just a decade ago, STAR-C2 would have been considered science fiction – just like finding a renewable energy source to power flight is still largely in the realm of science fiction. However and perhaps just a decade from now, that will change as well.

A vintage Yak has a fatal accident in Essex

If you live in Essex, Sylvia, the blogger behind the Fear of Landing blog, has mentioned a fatal accident that occurred last week involving a vintage Yak aircraft that flew out of an airport she is very familiar with. Specifically, the incident report (Incident No: 7930) noted:

Incident No: 7930

Date: 28-04-2011

Time: 12:54

Details: Crashed light aircraft

Address: Ulting Lane, Langford Village

Attendance: 2 x Maldon, 1 x Colchester, 1 x Leigh Water Rescue, 2 x Orsett

Apparently, the aircraft was last seen flying in formation with two other aerobatic planes and all three aircraft had taken off from North Weald airfield. The lead aircraft in the formation then called in a mayday while a fisherman on the lake had contacted emergency services.

Sadly, the pilot and the passenger were later pulled out of the wreckage at the bottom of he lake and as of last week, no other details have been released about the incident.

It sounds to me like the aircraft may have stalled during acrobatic practice maneuvers. However and if any of our readers in Essex has more information about what happened, feel free to write a comment in the comments section. 

Essex Lake

The “JetMan” plans a Grand Canyon flight on a jet pack

The Web Aviation blog has recently noted that Yves Rossy, a Swiss engineer and aviator who has been nicknamed the “JetMan,” will (on May 6) fly across the Grand Canyon on a jet pack. Rossy is the first human to achieve sustained human flight using the power of a jet pack that he controls with his body. Already he has used his jet pack to fly across the Geneva river, the Alps, the English Channel and partially across the Strait of Gibraltar where he was forced to ditch (unharmed) into the ocean due to poor weather.

The jet pack itself was designed by him and straps onto his body just like a normal backpack. Its powered by 4 jet engines that were modified from model aircraft engines that were then attached to the undersides of semi-rigid carbon fibre wings. However, the engines are not powerful enough to allow him to take off from the ground on his own and hence, he must takeoff from onboard a plane.

For steering, Rossy uses his body to act as a rudder and during past flights, he has managed to reach speeds of up to 304 km/h (189 mph). In other words, Rossy has plenty of courage to just strap a jet pack on and then fly across rivers, mountains and open water. Hence, we wish the JetMan the best of luck for his Friday jet pack flight across the Grand Canyon.

Lessons from a fatal Cirrus crash

If you own or regularly fly a Cirrus or any aircraft for that matter, Rick Beach has written a lengthy and must read post for the Cirrus Owners & Pilots Association (COPA) about a fatal Cirrus crash in North Carolina. Rick began his post by noting excerpts from the NTSB report about the crash:

Witnesses observed the airplane overfly the runway and enter a left traffic pattern. The airplane appeared to be faster than they were accustomed to seeing small airplanes operating. The airplane touched down hard on the runway surface and bounced several times before departing off the left side into the grass. The engine was described by the witnesses as operating at full power and the airplane appeared to by flying about 60 to 70 mph. The nose of the airplane was observed in a 45-degree nose up attitude and then leveled out back onto the ground.

The aircraft’s left wing then hit a tree while the rest of the aircraft hit the airport’s perimeter fence. The NTSB ruled that the cause of the accident was the pilot’s improper recovery from a bounced landing and then an improper go-around procedure.

However, Rick then pointed out that the pilot had never flown to the Chapel Airport before and from satellite pictures of the airport, he noticed that trees seem much closer to the runway and this could impact exposure to winds and crosswinds in particular. Hence, he discussed at length what procedures a pilot should take when landing on a runway at an unfamiliar airport.

In addition, Rick wrote about what he termed as “lazy right foot syndrome” as he pointed out that Cirrus runway excursion incidents usually seem to be on the left side of the runway. Hence, he is under the suspicion that Cirrus pilots are failing to apply sufficient right rudder in order to compensate for the left-turning tendency when full power is applied.

Finally, Rick also covered the topics of landing speeds, landing too fast resulting in runway bounces, the go around decision/procedure and flying with other pilots (In the incident, there was another pilot in the aircraft who had had zero time in a Cirrus but 12,500 hours in other types of aircraft).

Rick’s entire lengthy article is well worth reading plus you can read more about the crash on the following COPA forum thread: Cirrus fatal #65 in SR20 N527MJ near Chapel Hill (was Sr 20 Down Chapel Hill).

Cirrus Crash