A couple of interesting aviation news items this week …
The Challenger 604 bizjet that was upset by A380 wake turbulence on Jan. 7 appears to have been totalled.
Challenger 604 Bizjet Similar to Damaged One
The Real Story – 1000′ RVSM is Unsafe
Even more important, the 1000′ Reduced Vertical Separation Minimums (RVSM) rule may have to be updated because of this incident. Since this was obviously going to happen when heavy jets (747 or A380) overfly business jets, we need to look into how 1000′ RVSM was implemented in the first place.
For safe flight, the Challenger needed to fly above the A380, or 15 miles laterally if below.
Just because you can (maintain vertical separation with advanced navigation like GPS) doesn’t mean you should (allow an A380 to overwhelm smaller jets.)
And pilots need a reminder that during turbulence, just maintain attitude, not altitude or roll excursions. Likely it will turn out that the Challenger was damaged trying to over-control it, though high-altitude operations are not comparable to low-and-slow.
Also, Appareo’s Stratus Power USB-A Dual Charging Port is TSO-C71-certified for aviation use and only $349 plus installation, letting you charge all those shiny portable electronics from the panel.
Total output power is 1.9 Amps with a max of 2.1 Amps at 5 volts, enough for 1 iPad or 2 iPhones. Check with Appareo if you need to charge an iPad plus another device at the same time.
Stratus Power TSO-certified USB-A Dual Charging Port
avweb.com: Wake Turbulence Writes Off Challenger Bizjet
avherald.com: Accident: Emirates A388 over Arabian Sea on Jan 7th 2017, wake turbulence sends business jet in uncontrolled descent
W: RVSM