ATLANTA — During this year’s National Business Aviation Association convention, Wilson Air Center announced it wants to take some of the mathmetics out of the refueling process. The mini-chain of fixed base operations is converting its refuelers to display fuel upload in pounds as well as gallons. Here’s a quick recap of that initiative and other line service briefs from the show ...
Wilson Air Center operates FBOs in Memphis, Charlotte, and Houston. Refuelers are being retrofitted at its Memphis location as a test bed.
Explains president Robert A. Wilson, “Most pilots have to do a calculation to convert to gallons before giving his order to the line technician in order to accomplish the fueling.” He sees the move as one that can help eliminate miscommunication between pilot and line tech.
Plans call for retrofitting all Wilson Air Center refuelers. Determan Brownie, the fuel truck supplier, is providing the retrofit, which consists of a special computer board being installed on the truck. The output signal from the board has been set for a fixed density value that is equal to 6.7, according to the company. “It wasn’t a difficult thing to do,” says a Determan Brownie spokesperson.
Says Wilson, “It’s such a simple, simple idea,” one that he calls a safety feature and which he encourages other FBOs to incorporate.
Other fuel news ...
- LineShak.com is a new resource that provides a forum for line service personnel to share ideas, training, and resources. Says its website, “There are so many pilot resources out there, but what about line crews? The creators of lineshak.com felt that there needed to be a resource for flight line professionals too, the real ambassadors behind airports worldwide.” For information, contact co-founder Rick Yerby at the Auburn-Opelika Airport: (334) 844-4597 or [email protected].
- Elliott Aviation announces Air BP as its new fuel and support services provider at its four Midwest FBO locations in Moline, Des Moines, Minneapolis/Flying Cloud, and Omaha.
- Universal Aviation is the new name of the ground support division for Universal Weather and Aviation, Inc., replacing the UVglobal Network® brand. Universal’s network of independent ground handling service encompasses 60 locations in 51 countries.
Universal also reports it can now provide clients with runway analysis services as an integrated feature of its flight planning services, through an agreement with Internet-based Aircraft Performance Group (APG); www.univ-wea.com. - Avfuel announces the latest recipient of its annual AVTRIP Scholarship, a component of its refueling incentive awards program for pilots. The winner of the 2007 Award, Timothy Ritter of Toledo, OH, receives $2,000 to further his aviation education as well as 50,000 bonus AVTRIP Points. Ritter plans to use the scholarship to earn his seaplane rating and to get his tailwheel endorsement; www.avfuel.com.
