Training Aircraft To Be Built At Clark

The Philippines’ aviation sector received a lift after an Italian defense contractor and a Filipino aviation firm signed a deal for the manufacture of training aircraft at Clark Development Zone.

Alenia Aermacchi of Aerotech Industries Philippines Inc. signed the agreement to build 18 SF 260F aircraft trainer on April 24, and they will be used by the Philippine Air Force.
The aircraft, spare parts and services to be provided by Alenia will cost the government $13.8 million.

“The agreement will definitely boost the Philippines’ aviation industry,” said Teresa Parian, Aerotech Industries’ chief operating officer.
“The agreement is through 2015, which means that all orders that Alenia Aermacchi will receive worldwide up to that period will be assembled in and supplied out of the Aerotech Philippines facility.

“Considering that 27 armed forces use SF 260 trainer aircraft all over the world, with about 1,000 units in operation, Alenia Aermacchi estimates 100 new units of this aircraft type will be sold in the next five years,” Parian said.

In a statement, Alenia Aermacchi said it would start delivering the aircraft to the Air Force next April, and that and all planes would be supplied within 18 months.

Sky Diving Game

Here is a simple game for all you sky divers. Simple, but have fun trying to get your sky diving girlfriends lined up in formation.

Microsoft Flight Simulator X For Pilots Real World Training

Authors: Jeff Van West and Kevin Lane-Cummings

Publisher: Wiley (http://www.wiley.com/)

ISBN: 978-0-7645-8822-8

Price: $29.99(USD): $35.99 (CAN) : £19.99 (UK) Street price $16.99 USD

Self promotion text

“It’s the next best thing to being up there – Why use Microsoft Flight Simulator for real world training? Because it gives you the best possible head start and enables you to learn at your convenience. Flight Simulator provides scenario-based training that lets you practice handling in almost any situation. It offers advantages you don’t get in a real plane – the option to set up any kind of weather or equipment failures, stop midway and redo a procedure, or get the view from outside the airplane. FSX isn’t a game. It’s a training mission for virtual and real aviators alike.”

What you get

You get a hefty 725 page paperback book, downloadable flights to do in conjunction with your reading, along with the necessary charts in PDF format. Also available for download are two bonus chapters and the practical test standards for each of the license ratings discussed in the book.

First impressions

The book is huge. Just the amount of paper and ink makes it seem like good value. The book’s illustrations are all black and white. Color versions of the images used are available on the web site. The number of chapters and subjects is impressive taking 13 pages to list. Looking through the subjects covered is daunting, but the work is obviously comprehensive.

Starting out

You will want to download the 3 zipped files of missions / charts / details etc from the publisher’s web site. The books introduction tells you exactly where to get the files from and where they need to be installed. The first chapter deals with getting FSX set up properly for the purposes of the book. It discusses PC specs and how these affect the performance you can expect to achieve within FSX, the different types of controllers used for simulation flying and the best settings within FSX to use with the tutorial flights. The book also assumes that you will be using it in conjunction with lessons at a real world flying school and so also gives hints and tips on finding the best school and instructor for you. The authors do suggest that finding an instructor with FSX experience would be beneficial especially so if they can set up scenarios for you to go through that you will be dealing with on your next lesson. FSX now has support for multi-players within the same aircraft if rain stops play and your instructor is amenable you could go through your lesson virtually with you at home and them at the flying school.

First Flight

Chapter two discusses the principles of flight in sufficient detail and explains the basics without getting too technical. Then it introduces us to the default Piper Cub.
The authors explain that the main shortfall with using FSX as a training aid is the lack of peripheral vision which real world pilots rely on to inform them of the attitude of the aircraft in flight. Simulator pilots rely much more on the instruments because they lack the real world cues. The reason for using the Piper Cub is the distinct lack of instruments to look at and a more open uncluttered cockpit so you can focus more on the horizon and get used to relying on it as you would do in a real aircraft.

The first flight within FSX raises the initial bad point, unlike the missions included in FSX or Rod Machado’s training flights there are no in-flight instructions included. The good side is there are none of the patronizing verbal compliments permeating the FSX missions. You basically load the saved flight and then have to fly with the book in one hand and your joystick in the other. Concentrating on both at the same time is impossible so prepare to become acquainted with the pause key. On the plus side the authors do include saved video’s of many of the flights so you can get an idea of what you are expected to do and how to do it prior to undertaking the flight yourself.

As an undertaking the concept and its execution are remarkable. Intensely detailed down to specific FSX recommendations for best performance, it is an awesome undertaking. Given the limitation of simulated flight, you could easily learn to fly with this book. In my mind it would be especially suited to learn systems and procedures where actual flying is secondary to learning navigation, radio use, and cockpit procedures.

Philippine Airforce Buys 18 Planes

The Philippine Air Force will buy 18 trainer planes from Italian aircraft manufacturer Alenia Aermacchi for P625 million ($14.6 million), an air force spokesman said Saturday.

The contract for the 18 SF260 trainer planes includes pilot, technical, and maintenance training, spare parts support and other after sales services support said Lieutenant Jonelle Beltran.
The planes are scheduled to be delivered in batches starting June next year and will be used for pilot training.

Under the terms of the contract, Alenia Aermacchi will transfer some parts production technology and aircraft assembly to its local partner, distributor, and authorized service station Aerotech Industries Philippines Inc., Beltran added.

Airport Improvements Dumaguete

PresidentGloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered the Air Transportation Office (ATO) to take the lead in fast tracking the improvement of the Dumaguete airport situated in Sibulan town.

The Dumaguete airport forms part of the infrastructure projects under the "Super Regions."

Dumaguete airport Manager Veronica Chuang said there are currently three projects done at the airport and these are asphalt overlay, rehabilitation of runway lights, and the renovation of the airport terminal building.

The asphalt overlay and renovation of the terminal building is done under the auspices of the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) while the rehabilitation of runway lights is under the Land Transportation Office.

The runway lights project, Chuang explained, has been allocated with about P74 million from the P22.6 billion allotted last year.

The installation of the runway lights, begun on December 26, 2007, is nearly finished and is seen to end this month.

The work on the asphalt overlay is jointly undertaken by the Uy-Condev Construction and Vesa Construction.

President Arroyo said in her letter to top ATO officials that the airport, which is part of her administration's "super regions," will eventually help sustain growth that has been weighing heavily on two of the economy's key drivers -- exports and remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

Arroyo has asked the budget department to coordinate with the implementing agencies for the prompt release of funds for the "super regions" projects.

Currently, the Pro-Performance System and the Procurement Transparency group formed in September 2007 have started monitoring, releasing advisories, and remedial action for projects that encounter problems.

Malacañang has allotted P156.6 billion for infrastructure spending this year, or more than P22.6 billion allotted last year.

The country posted a 7.5 percent economic growth in the last quarter of 2007, though both local and foreign analysts have warned against over dependence on OFW remittances, which make the country even more vulnerable to the fortunes of host economies.

Piper Super Cub landing on Sandbar

This has absolutely no connection to the Philippines but I had to post this short clip. If you think your good try this. Landing was in Alaska. Nothing standard about this approach. turning until touch down, swerving to miss debri and logs, Something to inspire the bush pilot in all of us.

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Wings of Power for FS 2004

Wings of Power Heavy Bombers and Jets for FS 2004

Microsoft flight sim 2004 is a very powerful program which allows for a wide variety of entertainment, and even serious flight simulation for aspiring pilots. It has a decided bias towards commercial and civil aviation as purchased. Not everyone wants to fly airliners carrying 200 passengers on long flights, nor do some enjoy flying sailplanes, or single engine light aircraft.
Enter Wings of Power Heavy bombers and jets add on pack for FS 2004 and adaptable to FSX. For those interested in flying World War II aircraft with unmatched realism, I highly recommend this addition to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004. Wings of power is the product of Shockwave Productions.

Features

Unsurpassed attention to detail
153-page manual including rare data and the real operation of these amazing aircraft.
Gorgeously constructed aircraft, inside and out, down to the last rivet.
Fully clickable cockpits with authentic working gauges.
3D cockpits so real, they look just like their 2D rendered counterparts.
The latest wind-tunnel technology helps to create for the most authentic,fluid flying qualities, including complex spins and stalls.
Enhanced visual effects and lighting.

Aircraft
B17F and B17G "Flying Fortress"
B29a "Super Fortress"
B24D and B24J "Liberator"
PB4Y-2 "Privateer"
Lancaster BIII and "Grand Slam"
Ar234 "Blitz Bomber"
Ta183 "Huckebein"
He162 "Salamander"

The aircraft are meticulously modeled with attention to artistic historical detail, and more importantly, dynamic flight performance exactly matching the original aircraft. Extreme pains were taken to make these aircraft perform exactly like the prototypical real examples. This means that at 20,000 feet at 46 in manifold pressure, with the throttle at 85%, the B-17G will fly and behave like the real one. You can over drive the engines over boost the supercharges, and see the effects on performance. The staff actually flew real surviving examples of the aircraft to get it right. In theory you can take the original flight manual and fly the aircraft using these as guides.

This add on is for flight sim enthusiasts who enjoy realism and historical accuracy. Set to the proper degree of difficulty as recommended, the aircraft are not easy to fly. Do something wrong and it will come to haunt you.

For those wishing to experience the world of historical war planes, this add on is a must.

Clark Aviation Flight Training

Clark Aviation is the premier flight training center in the Philippines. Located at Clark Ecomomic Zone on the site of the old Cark airforce base, it offers state of the art pilot instruction for the commercial pilot.

Opened in 2006, Clark Aviation has quickly become recognized as one of the leaders in Philippine based flight training.

Clark Aviation is a member of Alpha Aviation Group's global network of International Aviation Training Centres. Alpha Aviation Group is a UK based company with extensive experience in training and management within the aviation industry. The sister company, Alpha Aviation Academy Europe operates advanced training on various systems and modern fleet aircraft.

Clark Aviation is one of the pioneers of the new ICAO Multi-Crew Pilot Licence (MPL), which has been developed specifically to train ab-initio airline pilots. Following an integrated 12 month residential training programme, successful cadets will graduate with a commercial pilot licence that allows them to fly as co-pilots, already fully qualified on the Airbus A320.
Some features of the training curriculum follow:

• Progress is dependent on competency - not hours
• Flight instruction hours increased over current requirements (240 vs. 200)
• Utilization of modern training methodologies as practised by airlines
• Emphasis on modern jet aircraft techniques rather than light aircraft techniques
• Continuous assessment process throughout training
• Modern simulation technology allowing weather and environmental effects
• Comprehensive and integrated training syllabus

Clark Aviation also offers Airbus A-320 training for commercial pilots, and through it's sister company Bond Aviation, training in a number of other current fleet aircraft. you may email Clark Aviation for more information: mailto:pilot@alphagroupclark.aero

Or you may visit their link at the right to access their web site.