Bits and Pieces

Hi Readers: The current cost of 100LL aviation fuel is $4.52/gal and Jet A fuel is $4.27/gal.

FAA is now pushing pilots to upgrade their electronics to include ADS-B, Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast for the future. Although the target date for full operation is the year 2020, it will take a while and some dollars.

As if we didn't have enough advertising in our lives, I learned from AVWEB, an aviation information source, that the AD - AIR company in London is selling 5-acre inflatable ads that lay across the landscape to be seen from the air by passengers of Airlines in flight. Atlanta, Denver, and Los Angeles Intl airports are target possibilities. I wish them luck in finding a 5-acre lot near Los Ageles Intl. What will we think of next?

BRS, Ballistic Recovery Systems, Inc., manufacturers of whole aircraft parachute systems (such as installed on the Sirius airplane), seatbelts and airbags for automobiles, etc. is now advertising their products for the Cessna 172/182 airplanes, and Experimental and Sports airplanes. Cessna will have the equipment installed in the Skycatcher airplane. The product, a ballistic type charge, has been available for some time, with a deployment speed from 138 mph to over 200 mph, and at an estimated cost from $2,608 to $17,881. This could be a boon for GA safety if all goes well.

GA aircraft accidents show that even high-time Commercial and Air Transport pilots need knowledge and training in selecting and analyzing Weather Services reports in connection with their flight planning. The desired X-C flight level, or changes in flight level, direct flight and alternate routes, below clouds or over-the-top flight, cloud ceilings ahead, hazardous weather en route and at destination, and en route accounts of destination weather are some of the important needs revealed. Avoiding precipitation areas and icing levels are a must in the X-C flight planning. The leading contributing factor in GA accidents is the weather, and takeoff is really only the beginning of the flight plan.

Thanks for listening. R.S.