Model Airplanes

I wanted to focus this month’s column on how with small moves, we can connect and inspire through our love for General Aviation. I would like you to meet Tom Sullivan a soft spoken and self-effacing pilot, volunteer and business owner. Through history, an unexpected medical emergency, and dedication, Tom gave some Wisconsin kids the thrill of a lifetime.

I will begin with a little history. Tom received his private pilot license in 1994 then went on to his IFR rating in 1996. He purchased his first Mooney in 1996 an F-model that he flew for 1300 hours. In 2001, he moved into the Mooney Rocket. Tom now has about 3500 total hours. He is based at Ford Airport [Iron Mountain, KIMT] Michigan, which was built by Henry Ford. Tom is also the President of Northwoods Air Lifeline. Northwoods Air Lifeline is a non-profit organization of volunteer pilots from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Northeast Wisconsin who donate their time and aircraft to help patients and their families with urgent medical needs for services not found locally. They have flown 2000 flights since 1999 and fly 100-150 trips per year [http://www.northwoodsairlifeline.org/]

If that weren’t enough, he is the local chapter President of EAA 439, Iron Mountain. They are currently planning their 16th annual Ford Airport Day, September 16th, 2017. This year will feature rides in the Ford Tri-Motor. The Friday before airport day, they join forces with a local a POW/MIA ceremony. They have music and all veterans come to have a

Article source: https://blog.aopa.org/aopa/2017/05/19/sharing-ga-with-people-reminds-us-how-fortunate-we-are/

Duncan Aviation marked the turn of the century by opening a new hangar facility at its massive Lincoln, Nebraska, service location. As part of the ceremony, the privately-owned business aviation maintenance, repair, and overhaul company sealed a time capsule to be opened in 50 years’ time.

In it, future Duncan Aviation team members may find any number of curiosities of the company’s longstanding history in aviation. Perhaps they’ll find a toy model of a tractor, like the one founder Donald Duncan traded for an airplane back in 1942 so he could learn to fly. They could find a 1956 advertisement announcing the newly opened Duncan Beechcraft, Inc., a distributor “located a short distance from anywhere.” Or maybe a model turbine engine, a nod to 1963, when Duncan led the charge to help fund Bill Lear’s promising Learjet project in exchange for distribution rights — a fateful and savvy business move.

Anything is possible, but what they likely won’t find is a helicopter, model or otherwise.

If the capsule was sealed in 2016, however, they surely would have included one. That was the year Duncan Aviation debuted as an exhibitor at HAI Heli-Expo and quickly made a splash as rookie participants who happen to be one of the oldest, most established avionics and accessory service companies in the world.

Although they’ve been servicing helicopter avionics, and accessories, such as Northern Airborne Technology (NAT) avionics since the mid-1980s, it’s not a market that Duncan Aviation is known for in the

Article source: https://www.verticalmag.com/soaring-new-heights/

The Citation M2 is positioned to take over the Cessna Citation Mustang’s light jet role.

According to Textron Aviation, they have just built the final production model of their Cessna Citation Mustang, which will be delivered in the coming weeks. According to company reps, more than 470 Mustangs were delivered to customers worldwide during its twelve-year production run.

Rob Scholl, the Senior VP of Sales and Marketing for Textron Aviation, said that the Mustang was an incredible success for both the company and customers and they were thrilled to celebrate the “the ingenuity and pride that went into creating the world’s most popular entry-level light jet.” He added that the company remained committed to developing new products and providing solutions to their customer, noting that the Citation M2 “is a great example of this and we believe it will carry on the legacy as the entry-level jet that pilots want and need.” Kriya Shortt, Textron Aviation’s Senior VP of Customer Service, added that their Mustang customers could continue to expect “the highest level of service through maintenance, parts and support solutions from our Customer Service organization.“

More Details on the Cessna Citation M2

The company says they’re well positioned for a “seamless transition within the light jet segment,” with the Cessna Citation M2, powered

Article source: https://disciplesofflight.com/final-cessna-citation-mustang/

Ken Chase is just waiting to go 1,300 mph.

It’s a rainy Thursday evening, and, like most nights, Ken Chase is in his garage, tinkering with one of his vehicles.

Except his garage is a sprawling, 50-foot-by-60-foot hangar in one of the areas of Rochester International Airport—just northwest of the main terminal—that you never see.

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And his vehicle is a 50-foot long, MiG-21 F-13 supersonic jet (think Top Gun, more or less).

“People ask me if this is a hobby, but it’s not,” says Chase. “It’s a sickness.”

A sickness that can fly at 1,300 mph.

A sickness that gets 1 mpg. (And that’s if you feather the throttle. With the afterburners blazing, the jet burns nearly four gallons per second.)

A sickness that costs, according to Chase, “more than a small house, not as much as

Article source: http://www.postbulletin.com/magazines/rochester/features/the-man-with-the-mig/article_bea52794-399f-11e7-a3a8-fbca14777de0.html