November 2016

STRAP IN FOR SAVINGS WITH ABI


Feeling a little less restrained than you’d like to be? That’s restrained as in securely strapped into your Twin Commander seat for takeoff and landing, and turbulence encounters. If the seatbelts in your aircraft are on the worn side, or in need of an aesthetic makeover, talk to Aircraft Belts, Incorporated—ABI—a sister company to Twin Commander Aircraft.

ABI can provide complete crew restraint systems (buckles, webbing, connectors, and attachments for two-, three- or four-point restraint systems), passenger restraints, medical restraints, rewebbing of your existing restraint belts, replating of your existing restraint hardware, and 24/7 AOG service. Twin Commander owners will receive a 15 percent discount on ABI products if you contact ABI Customer Service Manager Brian Harbaugh directly at [email protected] or 919-956-4385.

TWIN COMMANDER UNIVERSITY POSTPONED


We’ve been asking you in a series of polls where the next Twin Commander University should be held. The results pointed to one of several Texas cities as the favored venue.

For a variety of reasons, we’ve had to make the decision to postpone the University, to spring 2018. A rebounding economy means that more companies, associations, and groups are having conferences. That has made it difficult to find an appropriate venue that can accommodate the University in our preferred time frame.

Also, we’ve been very busy at Twin Commander Aircraft with various projects, and we want to make sure we can devote the time needed to plan and stage the kind of University experience you’ve come to expect.

So, please adjust your calendar for a spring 2018 University. We’ll be talking more about it in future issues of Flight Levels.

CK203 FOR RUDDER AND ELEVATOR TRIM POTENTIOMETER


Twin Commander Aircraft has released Custom Kit (CK) 203 pertaining to the elevator and rudder trim potentiometer. The kit applies to all JetProp models (690C, 690D, 695, 695A and 695B). The elevator and rudder trim potentiometer detects position and movement of pitch and yaw trim control surfaces, and sends a signal to the cockpit trim indicators.

CK203 provides approval, instructions and piece parts for the elevator and rudder trim potentiometer replacement (part numbers 85026-503 and 850633-503). Those parts no longer were available, and service centers repairing potentiometers were having to buy alternative parts that required trimming and FAA 337 field approval. No trimming or field approval is required when installing CK203.

Estimated time to remove old parts and replace them with CK203 is 1 hour for the rudder and 1.5 hours for the elevator.

For more information, contact an authorized Twin Commander service center.

SPECIAL TWIN COMMANDER HYPOXIA TRAINING COURSE


Dr. Paul Buza’s Southern AeroMedical Institute—SAMI—is offering to conduct its DeSat slow-onset hypoxia training course exclusively for Twin Commander pilots.

SAMI’s DeSat program teaches the importance of recognizing the dangers of slow-onset hypoxia. The SAMI program was developed as an evolution of the standard FAA model, which focuses on rapid/explosive decompression.

The training is conducted in SAMI’s high-altitude chamber while flying a Garmin G1000 and utilizing a Zodiac Aerospace Mask System. Each pilot is provided a video recording of the chamber experience, which begins at 10,000 feet and climbs up to 22,000 feet. The pilot is in communication with ATC while flying the Garmin G1000 simulator panel. In addition to ATC communication, Dr. Buza supervises the pilot’s oxygen saturation levels and pulse to help them safely recognize a minimum of three lifesaving sensations.

The FAA and international high-altitude training standards involve large groups in altitude chambers where the time of useful consciousness is three minutes or less. In SAMI’s program, pilots are able to feel the effects of slow-onset hypoxia over significantly longer periods of time in a safe training environment. The video provided to the pilots is an excellent tool to use through the years as recurrent training.

The DeSat course, conducted at SAMI’s facility in Melbourne, Florida, includes four hours of ground school (three hours on hypoxia, and one hour on fatigue), a chamber training flight, catered lunch, a hypoxia training video, a hypoxia fingerprint card, a review with Dr. Buza of a video of your chamber session, and an altitude chamber certificate.

The special Twin Commander course would begin at 1:00 p.m. on a Friday and conclude the next afternoon. The price will be deeply discounted for the group.

The course is limited to 12 people. For more information about SAMI’s slow-onset hypoxia training, visit http://sami-aeromedical.com/hypoxia-training-programs/advanced-chamber-program/ or contact Jenelle Buza, SAMI’s Project Director, at [email protected], telephone 321-676-3200.

TWIN COMMANDER OWNERS: TELL US YOUR STORY


Where are you headed for the holidays? Will it be snow-covered mountains or a warm, sandy beach? How about a vibrant, colorfully lit city, or to Grandma’s house for family time? We’d like to know how Twin Commander owners and operators use their aircraft to take full advantage of the holiday season.

Even if you are staying put for the holidays, we’d like to know more about you. What model Twin Commander do you fly? How do you use it? What were the factors that led to the decision to go with a Twin Commander rather than another make and model? What have you done to the aircraft to upgrade it and keep it contemporary?

We’d like to hear your answers to those questions, and more. Tell us your Twin Commander story, and be sure to include some high-resolution photographs of the airplane, and yourself. Email Sarah Love at [email protected].

Thanks, and enjoy the holidays!