Flight Training - May 2013 - 25

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NEWS

IMC Club launches ‘Brown Jacket’
mastery award

BY JAMES MOORE

Leather jacket and headset to be awarded
MASTERING AND MAINTAINING the art of instrument navigation could earn you a
custom brown leather flight jacket, along with a new headset from Sennheiser.
The IMC Club (http://imcclubs.org/brownj) announced recently the new Instrument Master award, and club members who meet various criteria—including at least
one approach per month (actual or simulated)—will have a chance to win the top prize
to be given each year at the Sun 'n Fun International Fly-In & Expo starting in 2014.
“We are creating an award that is going to allow instrument pilots to compete on the
basis of safety, common sense, and self-improvement, as well as participating in helping
other pilots,” said IMC Club President Radek Wyrzykowski in a news release. “It is my
sincere desire that this award will recognize the value and add to the prestige of those
who master instrument flying. The Brown Jacket Award will become an integral part of
what our IMC Club’s mission is all about.”
The club will choose one winner each year from the pool of eligible applicants,
evaluating various criteria including recent instrument flight experience, and subscription and adherence to the Aviators Model Code of Conduct. The special brown
leather flight jacket will come with a Sennheiser S1 digital aviation headset donated by
the company.

NEWS

BY ALTON K. MARSH

Diamond Aircraft lays off most of staff
Slow sales of piston-engine aircraft cited
DIAMOND AIRCRAFT ON February 25 announced that it had laid off most of its staff,
saying it needs several weeks to restructure. Work on the company’s costly prize
project, the D-Jet, has been suspended. Remaining is a support staff needed to fulfill
orders for spare parts, provide technical information to owners, and provide airworthiness support.
Diamond President and CEO Peter Maurer said he hopes to rehire the employees as
quickly as possible. “We want to hire back as many employees as possible, as quickly
as possible, but the exact number and timing will be determined as we develop our
restructuring plans in the coming weeks,” Maurer said.

"WE WANT TO HIRE BACK AS MANY EMPLOYEES AS POSSIBLE,
AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE." —PETER MAURER
Two years ago the London, Ontario, company acquired extra funding with a promise to finish the D-Jet development program when the Medrar Financial Group in
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, bought the company. “The funds we were to receive
never came and despite a protracted effort to conclude the transaction it didn’t,” Maurer said. “We made efforts to secure other investors and in the interim, funding was
provided by the shareholders.”
A newsletter from Great Lakes Diamond Aircraft Sales said that it was briefed
by the factory, and 161 of 212 employees were laid off. The remaining 51 will also do
production of new aircraft in addition to support of the existing fleet of 2,000 aircraft.
Operations at Diamond Aircraft Industries in Austria, still independently owned and
operated, are not affected by the layoffs in Canada.

MAY 2013 FLIGHT TRAINING

/ 25

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Flight Training - May 2013

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