Flight Review of WestJet Encore: On Board Their Newest Q400
This was going to be a great day for AirlineReporter.com's Canadian "Senior Contributor." That would be me! I was flying with a new Canadian airline in a brand new Canadian-built plane, traveling from a major Canadian airport over some stunning Canadian landscape, and visiting the headquarters of one of "Canada's 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures," which happens to be a major Canadian airline.
Bombardier CSeries Completes First Flight
Bombardier’s CSeries aircraft successfully completed its first flight on Monday, September 16, 2013, landing at Montreal’s Mirabel Airport at 12:22 PM Eastern Time. The landing capped a 2 1/2 hour flight that began at 9:55 AM ET, with the jet taking off effortlessly from Runway 06. Bombardier Chief Test Pilot, Chuck Ellis and First Officer Andy Litavniks were at the controls, assisted by flight engineer Andreas Hartono. The CS100 Flight Test Vehicle 1 (FTV1) was shadowed by Bombardier’s Global 5000 chase plane. It was a cool, fall morning at the airport 25 miles north of Montreal, Quebec, with scattered clouds and brisk winds.
Air Canada: New Planes, New Seats, New Rules, and More…
It's looking pretty busy at Air Canada (AC) and not just because they've launched their new "leisure airline," rouge. This summer, AC took delivery of the first two 777-300ERs from their latest five-plane order. When this order is completed, AC will have 17 -300ERs and 6 -200LRs in their international fleet. While AC's new 777s look standard on the outside, they are very different inside.
YVR – Vancouver’s Award-Winning Airport, Art Gallery & Aquarium
I’m really lucky to have Vancouver International Airport (YVR) as my “home base”. YVR has great plane-watching, which is a necessity for AvGeeks, of course, but also has fabulous architecture and design, and is a wonderful place to spend some time. But don’t take just my word for it.
Inside The World’s Highest ATC Tower: Vancouver YHC
Name an airport that’s located in a major North American city, and has scheduled airline service. Easy? Sure. How about one that doesn’t have any runways? And has the world’s highest control tower, uses something other than radar to keep an eye on traffic, and even has instrument approaches that aircraft use when the weather is down. Not possible? Think again - I’ve just described Vancouver Harbour Tower and Water Airport. (CYHC)
Rock ‘n’ Roll: More Options for an Electric Ground Taxi System
Gibraltar-based WheelTug decided to figure out a way to power the nose gear in their E-Taxi solution, and not the main gear. Their reasons? Easier and quicker installation; no interference with braking and anti-skid systems; shorter cable runs to the equipment bay under the cockpit; and it’s lighter, on the single nose gear rather than two main gear.