CS-AVC Trustful machine

In Portuguese AVC is the abbreviation to cerebral vascular accident in correct english cerebrovascular accident or a stroke although flying the Cessna 152 CS-AVC couldn't be farther of that kind of stuff.

Credits: Filipe Cardoso 

Right a few weeks since I started flying at the flight school the "AVC" had a landing accident that resulted a a considerable amount of damage a brought the aircraft to a long period of repairs in Aerotécnica Leávia's associated company specialized in aircraft maintenance.

Credits: Filipe Cardoso

After several months of repairs and then after passing an extensive period of inspections and test flights to guarantee the airworthiness certificate to the aircraft, I was already in a more advanced level of the ATPL and so I was now flying normally more complex aircraft and flying the Cessna 150 and 152 only in cross country solo missions so it even took longer time for me to fly this bird.

Credits: Filipe Cardoso

When finally I got the opportunity to fly the "AVC" I was great! The aircraft revealed very good comparing with all other Cessna aircraft that I have flown until then probably result of the intensive repairs post accident but the machine was in great shape and even the small details were quite good.

Credits: Filipe Cardoso

Credits: Filipe Cardoso

The Cessna  152 CS-ACV has the construction number 15279621 and a previous american registration N757BY.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

The Portuguese Navy 19th Helicopter Detachment Fénix Flight wishes you All a Merry Christmas ans a Happy 2013.

Credits: Filipe Cardoso, Nose Art and Patch Styling Miguel Garrana Amaral

CS-DAT Leávia's Ferrari of the 152s

If was one thing that was general opinion of all those who fly in Leávia's aircraft is about the CS-DAT, it was fast! No not a rocket plane or whatsoever but to a 152 it really was fast.

Credits: Ricardo Jorge Figueiredo - Jetphotos.net

The "DAT" had a propeller better developed to cruise flights so it wasn't the best climber but at cruise it passes all other Cessnas of the school, I founded that in a cross country flight to Portimão, LPPM in a mere 200nm flight the 10 minute difference between Me on the "DAT" and the Cessna 150 CS-APA, see: cs-apa-that-charismatic-noise transformed at Portimão in about 45 minutes. Not Bad!

Credits: Miguel Grilo - Jetphotos.net

It was on this particular aircraft that I made the first mission relative to abnormal attitudes, regaining control vrilles, stall turns, etc. always without problems at all, nice machine!
The "DAT" was also the last aircraft witch I have flew to finish my Integrated ATPL course in a checkride flight.

Credits: Carlos Moreira - Jetphotos.net and PortugalSpotters - my cousin Luis Almeida as Flight Instructor

This aircraft as all the other Cessna 150 and 152 suffered the treatment that student pilots imposed to them but always able to keep their posture and bringing the inexperienced pilots back to ground again.

Credtis: Ricardo Jorge Figueiredo - Jetphotos.net

The CS-DAT has the construction number 15283914 and a known previous american registration that is N6258B

CS-AUR First Solo Flight!

The Cessna 152 CS-AUR starts the presentation of all 152's that I have flown until now. This particular aircraft is very significant to Me as it was the one of my first Solo. After that I flew the "UR" for several times in cross country solo flights to be able to get the CPL.

 Credits: Filipe Cardoso 

On the CS-AUR I flew for about 10 hours total time and went on it to Évora, LPEV and Portimão, LPPM, it was also the aircraft of my 300nm plus cross country flight.

 Credits: Filipe Cardoso 

The "UR" was a regular Cessna 152 made by Cessna itself not Reims Company in France.

Unfortunately this aircraft is also remembered for the worst reasons. See: sad-day-for-portuguese-aviation post. In June the 26th this year during a night training flight in Cascais Airfield, LPCS the aircraft crashed in the surroundings of the field and took the life of the instructor Rogério Teles and the student João Leal who by coincidence is son of the Flight School owner. The accident is still under investigation to find causes for it and if possible state directives to prevent similar hapenings.

 Credits: Filipe Cardoso 

The "UR" had the construction number 15283659 and a previous american registration that was N4826B

CS-ADF Old School

The Cessna 150A CS-ADF was so different from the rest of the Cessna fleet in the flight school that the Leávia required that students should fly that particular aircraft with instructor before going solo with it. And wasn't for less than that. The so called "ADF" due to it's registration was built in a time that instrument arrange and cockpit organization was not important so the cockpit is a bit messy to nowadays standards.

 Credits: Filipe Cardoso

My first flight in this piece of history was a small vfr flight of about 1 hour from Cascais, LPCS to Cascais, LPCS and after that was always solo. Besides its exterior aspect the "ADF" had quite differences inside to, such as the flaps lever that remember the lever of  a Beechraft with that "Handbrake" style. The position of the pilot in flight was also different but I didn't found it to be uncomfortable.

Credits Filipe Cardoso

Unfortunately the "ADF" suffered a crash landing in November 2011 and was considered as unrecoverable due to the extension of the damage fortunately however was the fact that none got injured badly.

Credits: Filipe Cardoso

The Number of the CS-ADF was 15059232 and the only previous registration that I know about is an American one N7132X.

Credits: Filipe Cardoso

Here is the link to the preliminary report of the accident (in Portuguese) http://www.gpiaa.gov.pt/ look for previous years reports and go to 2011 reports.

CS-APA That charismatic noise

When I first flew the Reims/Cessna F150L CS-APA it was just a few flight hours since a complete overhaul that consisted in all normal procedures regarding the inspections to mechanical parts and structural parts. But the major difference was... the new interior all in white and blue with a small red line as contour as the very own Leávia Flight School colors. Oh and I almost forgot that this was in leather imitation. Nice!

Credtis: Filipe Cardoso

But the most distinctive thing in this particular aircraft wasn't the interior it as the way it sounded when passing by. This four cylinder Lycoming engine had installed two exhausts one on each side of the engine to a pair of cylinders, this configuration made the exhaust to be so small that it was as if there was no exhaust at all. Great sound, I liked it!

Credits: Filipe Cardoso

Since the first day of its life CS-APA passed through several owners and registrations and its manufacturer number is 1068. I could not confirm the first registration but if someone has more information is completely free to leave a comment for me to correct if necessary. Before coming to Portugal CS-APA had two registrations in France witch were F-BVBD and F-BSGQ.

Credits: Paulo Santos

CS-AYJ "Old Donkey"

The Reims/Cessna F150L CS-AYJ was the aircraft of my first instruction flight. Even to a 150 the YJ was slow and not a great fan of flying to high the Achilles´heel of it was it's low rate of climb and during summer with student and flight instructor aboard was very very slow indeed. The nickname "Old Donkey" was named by a college of the ATPL class regarding it's slow rate of... moving but always fit to the job of leading the inexperienced student pilots back to ground again.

Credits: Filipe Cardoso

As far as I could find the CS-AYJ has the manufacturer number 0916 and a previous registration in Germany as D-ECWL.

Credits: José Jorge - Jetphotos.net

The fabulous 20

Today when I was looking at my logbook I thought that not being a pilot with thousands of flying hours I've already flew a considerable number of aircraft. After counting I've reached to the beautiful number 20 witch is a considerable number counting that I'm still under 300h total flying time.

Some of these aircraft are more relevant to my as a pilot for several reasons than others but at the end all of them brought back to the ground safely.

The next posts I will try to present them to You and I might have a good story to share related to some of them.

FAA orders Boeing 787 inspections, cites fuel leak risk

US FAA has issued an airworthiness directive ordering Boeing 787 operators to inspect the aircraft for “improperly assembled” engine fuel feed manifold couplings.

There are currently 38 787s in service. In a notice published this week in the US government’s federal register, FAA said it has “received reports of fuel leaks on two different in-service [787s] and the subsequent discovery of several improperly assembled engine fuel feed manifold couplings on in-service and production airplanes.”

FAA did not mention which operators reported the fuel leaks, but Ethiopian Airlines has told ATW that it experienced a fuel leak on a 787 during initial operations, adding that the problem is now “resolved.”

FAA said the improper coupling installations “occurred during production” and include “couplings with missing or improperly installed lockwire, parts within the couplings installed in the wrong locations, incorrect parts installed in the couplings, and couplings that have extra parts installed.”

The agency added, “These conditions, if not corrected, could result in fuel leaks, which could lead to fuel exhaustion, engine power loss or shutdown, or leaks on hot engine parts that could lead to a fire … An unsafe condition exists that requires the immediate adoption of this AD. The FAA has found that the risk to the flying public justifies waiving notice and comment prior to adoption of this rule.”

ATW has requested a comment from Boeing. The manufacturer told The Seattle Times that about 19 in-service 787s have already been inspected and the company is making the necessary changes in its 787 production process.

IN: http://atwonline.com/aircraft-engine...leak-risk-1205

Portugal Airshow might come back!

The biannual most popular Portuguese airshow might return in 2013. According to a local newspaper the Mayor of Évora is looking for supporters and partnerships to be able to make the event in it's traditional location the Évora Airdrome, LPEV. Évora airfield seen in this last year the best and the worst happenings in Portuguese aviation.

On the worst side the death of a student pilot in a solo flight in the surroundings of the field with an investigation undergoing at this time. Also the shutdown of CAE-AAE flight academy due to a reorganization of the CAE group after a fusion with the Oxford Aviation Group.

On the bright side Embraer's facilities started to labor witch contributed to the creation of aviation jobs and lead to the creation of an aviation cluster idealized by the Mayor of this small town. When Embraer factories reach it's top in production it's expected to create plus 400 direct jobs and about 1500 jobs indirectly. Let's hope for the best to Embraer and wish them a happy and pleasant stay in Portugal for many years as possible.

Credits: http://acincotons.blogspot.pt/2012/09/fabricas-da-embraer-em-evora-vao-ser.html

AVweb's iPad Mini Flight Trial

I think that it starts to convince me by it's size but I don't know how much the size also affects readability of the information, let's wait for more tests to see that.

Chinese Airlines contract in Spain

According with Presstur magazine some Chinese Airlines are looking for pilots in Spain. Just about a month later Spanair ceased operations the director of Spring Airlines came to Spain to hire some experienced pilots to it's airline. According to the same source Spring Airlines offered jobs to 30 captains after interviewed them and stated that the airline as a predicted growth for the time being  and new aircraft will come to reinforce the fleet and experienced pilots are a plus.

One question: When will low time pilots have their chance? Waiting to see...

China lands high-tech J-15 jet on new carrier

China made the first carrier landing with the J-15 fighter, the Liaoning is a ex-Russian refurbished aircraft carrier delivered to the People's Liberation Army and it's the first aircraft carrier operated by China. Here is a footage courtesy of Russia Today television.

20th Airline Black List review in Europe

As you all might know the European Union created a Black List of Airlines that for the most different reasons are forbidden to fly to/in/out of Europe, basically all reasons are related with safety issues as bad maintenance practices lack of procedures or training, aircraft models banned from the European airspace, politics, security problems in the operation airports outside EU and so on.

Some companies continue to have permission to fly to Europe but under specific conditions like TAAG that is still allowed to fly to Lisboa and Porto, Portugal but under restrict rules. In order to achieve that TAAG invested several million dollars in new aircraft all Boeing 777 models 200 and 300 and started a rigorous training program to flying and non flying staff that operate in Luanda do achieve acceptable quality levels to satisfy EASA.

For now the list complies in 287 Airlines from about 20 nations worldwide.

Here is the link to the list. http://ec.europa.eu/transport/modes/air/safety/air-ban/doc/list_en.pdf

Top Gear Style!

As the BBC's Top Gear chaps usually say: «Let's do the News»

After 11 years in Évora AAE closes operations in Portugal

After 11 years operating in the skies of Évora the Aeronautical Academy of Europe operations come to an end. The Academy was part of the CAE group that now has joined the Oxford Aviation group and the shut down of Évora facility is the result of the new strategy to the new formed group.

Earlier this year AAE already reduced the number of employees to the minimum and since last November that the AFIS of the airfield ceased operation due to the reduction of the AAE workers and this service was provided by the flight academy this service was a very good aid to pilots in an airfield that had a considerable amount of traffic specially student pilots. One thing I am sure is that CAE/Oxford won't get in Brussels Oxford or Amsterdam the same meteorological conditions to fly all year.

Airbus A350 MSN 001 rolled out of the Main Assembly Hall

That's right the Airbus XWB projetc rolled out of the Main Assembly Hall yesterday and will continue it's assembly and production tests and certifications in the next months. For now the newly aircraft went to Station 30 - indoor ground test facility.

Is it of my eyes or the A350 isn't quite pretty?

Photographs cortesy of Airbus

What a great flying day!

Past Sunday the meteorology finally gave some space to fly after several days of intense rains and even a tornado in Algarve that created a considerable amount of damage.

This was time to take the Ferreira family to the sky. All of them have already flew and Daniela has been already my passenger and photo reporter in 2 other flights but her parents were going to fly for the first time in a proper aircraft. Not that Airbus or Boeing aircraft aren't proper but they can take you from A to B without almost looking throughout the window to enjoy the views. The Cessna 172 is so different in that and that's why people o usually don't fly in general aviation aircraft always get amazed with the view and want more.

Here is a small footage of that flight that took us from Cascais, LPCS, to the south through Setubal, Alcacer do Sal and Grandola and the return via shore line to admire the beaches almost unknown and desert that extend from Troia all the way south until Sines.

Photographs were taken by Daniela Ferreira and if you're curious about her work check her Photoblog: http://life-in-technicolor-pics.tumblr.com/

About flight safety and accident investigation in Portugal

To me one of the most important part in aviation is the incident and accident investigation and report. Since I started my ATPL lessons that I started to read the reports of the Portuguese Aircraft Accident Prevention and Investigation Group (GPIAA) to learn with others mistakes. It's general knowledge that most of the incidents or accidents with aircraft result from human error or at least the human factor is a very important contributory factor to maintain the chain of events witch lead to the accident.

If all this is so important then it really is necessary that the bureau of investigation works the best way possible and with the least outside interference in order to conduct the investigations fast and accurate.

In order to keep this interests in flight safety and obtaining the truth about the events it's very important that investigators have at first a academical formation about the investigated subject. Normally in aviation are pilots engineers technicians manufacturers operators and others. Here in the Southwest corner of Europe the most skillful persons to the job are by far Air Force officers in active or retired whom normally get invited when retired to work as Lead Investigators in the GPIAA. These men have the field experience due to their past in the Air Force Nato EU, etc. and can with this continue to justify the costs of their formation when they were Air Force operatives problem is that now they receive the payment of their retire monthly and the new rules for public employees forbid the accumulation of retire payments and payments as a public worker. Soon as this law was approved the entire GPIAA collapsed. The composition  of the Group was in total made by retired Air Force Officers and so since then the investigations are stopped this stop affects about 11 investigations of 2011 events and all events of 2012. The Director of GPIAA stated that there are no conditions to continue with investigations but no actions were taken by the Government to find a solution and the Director itself requested to leave maintaining functions until a new board of directors take place.

Last year the number of accidents with fatal victims increased and other accidents an incidents increased as well so there is a need to investigate those events and find causes in order to propose solutions to prevent new happenings like those.

Lisboa-Vila Real-Bragança regional flights come to an end

Last Tuesday was the day of the last regional flight connecting Bragança and Vila Real do Lisboa here in mainland Portugal. This route was the only regional route apart the conncetions between Lisboa Porto anda Faro in Portugal mainland and was operated since 2009 by AeroVip with a couple of Dornier 228.

This particular connection between the east-northern most region and the capital was due to the lack of access-abilities to those who live in Bragança and Vila Real and need to come to Lisbon. To "fight " against the distance and the lack of highways or a decent and fast train connection  the flights started in 1997 and always with the support of Portuguese Government as an essential service to the community. The Government support was in money nowadays at a maximum value of 2.5 Million Euros per year and varying with the number of passengers. The rest of the profits were taken from the ticket sales.

T contract with AeroVip ended on last January and since then the company has been flying 6 days a week as normal without the State compensation rather the aircraft is full or empty. This represented a debt of the State to AeroVip of eight hundred thousand Euros. AeroVip continued the flights after agreeing that with the Portuguese Government until a process to select the company who would held this connection for the upcoming years. Now the decision has been made by the Government and the Lisboa-Bragança regional flights will come to an abrupt end.

This represents to the people of Bragança region a set back in time and proximity with the rest of the country and a increase of hours and money spent to come to Lisboa.

To AeroVip the year isn't going as good as they wanted to and this represents the end of it's only regular route witch will lead to end contracts of some employees.

Now as my personal opinion probably Bragança will receive it's so waited highway soon or later and the construction costs will be astronomical probably in a "coffee table" business delivered to a "friend" of someone. At the end people to come to Lisbon and use the new highway will pay tolls at values that almost touch stupidity and continue to feed the disbelieve in politicians and public defense of interests in Portugal.

New err... Old format

Somehow I got a bit tired of that format all flashy and almost reminding me the new Microsoft Windows 8. So let's get back to the old format and let's also try to write a little more ok?