FRANCIS GARY POWERS AWARDED SILVER STAR
Francis Gary Powers will be posthumously awarded the Silver Star on June 15, 50 years after his U-2 spy plane went down in Russia on May 1, 1960, during the height of Cold War tensions between the U.S. and Soviet Union. Although Powers received service medals and top recognition from the CIA, this is the first time he has been cited for "gallantry in action." The Silver Star is the third-ranked in this class for actions not warranting the Medal of Honor and Distinguished Service Cross. The Silver Star will be presented by Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz to Powers' grandson and granddaughter at a Pentagon ceremony on Friday. More...

PILOT INVESTIGATED AS PART OF CRASH PROBE
The FAA has opened another investigation concerning California pilot Dave Riggs as an offshoot of its probe of a fatal L-39 crash that happened in Nevada in May. Riggs lost his flight privileges for a year for a 2008 buzzing of the Santa Monica pier in an L-39 and he was in formation with Doug Gilliss in his L-39 when Gilliss's jet went down near Boulder City, killing Gilliss and his passenger Richard Winslow, of Palm Desert, Calif. The FAA is investigating whether Riggs, who also had a passenger in his L-39, violated the regulations restricting the selling of seats for this type of flight. More...

PC-12 WRECKAGE SUGGESTS IN-FLIGHT BREAKUP
Six people were killed in the crash of a 2006 Pilatus PC-12/47 that appears to have broken up in flight some 50 miles southwest of Orlando, Thursday. The crash took place at about 12:30 p.m. and early reports state that parts of the aircraft have been recovered more than two miles from the main wreckage. The aircraft was carrying four children ages 8, 11, 13, and 15, along with their two parents, flying at 25,000 feet from the Bahamas to Junction City, Kan. Five family members were found with in the aircraft. Friday, the body of one of the children was found nearly half a mile away. Witnesses say they saw the airplane tumbling out of the sky. More...

REGULATING WARBIRDS
According to the Collings Foundation, you can see their historic aircraft at airshows largely because of specific exemptions granted by the FAA, but that could soon change for them and similar organizations and your chance to comment ends June 18. In March of 2011, the FAA put a moratorium on issuing the exemptions and they are currently under review, so your voice matters. Hunter Chaney, director of marketing for Collings, told AVweb Thursday that it's now unclear whether the FAA will issue new exemptions for newly restored aircraft or even reissue current exemptions. That, says Chaney, could cripple the ability for organizations like Collings to bring their historic aircraft to airshows and share them with the public. Click here for more details and to hear our conversation with Chaney. More...

PODCAST: EXEMPTING HISTORY
How you experience historic aircraft may soon change. AVweb's Glenn Pew spoke with Collings Foundation director of marketing Hunter Chaney about an FAA exemption -- currently under review -- that Collings says it depends on to bring historic aircraft to the public. More...

NEW FLIGHT MOVIE FOR DENZEL WASHINGTON
A new fictional film, Flight, due for release this November, charts the complicated, mostly post-crash life of an airline pilot played by Denzel Washington, and it comes with a twist. The pilot is made a hero by his actions during a crash landing, but his blood tests positive for alcohol. The cast of the movie includes John Goodman and Don Cheadle, who plays Washington's lawyer. Quotes from the movie's trailer set the stage with, "The FAA placed 10 pilots in simulators, recreated the events ... every pilot killed everybody on board. You were the only one who could do it." And, "You had alcohol in your system; that could be life in prison." Fiction aside, the movie's trailer suggests it may touch on at least one real-life fatal airline crash. More...

AVIONICS ICON ED KING DIES AT 90
Avionics icon Ed King, who in the 1950s started King Radio in his basement, has died at age 90. Ed King once set the standard for which all general aviation avionics were judged. King eventually moved his King Radio business to a farmhouse in Lenexa, Kan., and then began an impressive run of innovative avionics products including the venerable KX170-series nav comm. More...

WANTED: AVIATION PUBLICATION ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Belvoir Media Group is looking for a capable, experienced associate editor to join our stable of print and online publications. The successful applicant will have a proven track record in writing and editing skills and broad knowledge of aviation technology. Facility with Adobe Creative Suite and video editing experience is a plus. The position is part-time and does not require relocation. Contact aviationeditorial@comcast.net with a cover note and resume. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: THE CASE FOR COMMERCIALIZED SPACE
Last month, upstart rocket company SpaceX did what, heretofore, only sovereign nations have done: They launched a spacecraft into orbit, docked it with the space station and recovered it. So why are both the first man and the last man to stand on the moon opposed to this? On the AVweb Insider blog, Paul Bertorelli gives you a chance to tell us why. Read more and join the conversation. More...

FORTY-SEVEN YEARS IN AVIATION: A MEMOIR; CHAPTER 14: THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY AIRPORT
Richard Taylor's first full year at The Ohio State University included teaching aviation classes, flying 19 different kinds of airplanes (including a jet), and starting a flying club with a tail-dragger. Click here to read the 14th chapter. More...

AVMAIL: JUNE 11, 2012

Letter of the Week: It Adds Up to an Overrun

Regarding the story on the Jackson Hole overrun: With more than 15,000 hours in the B-757 I can state that it is not uncommon to have the reverse levers (one or both) tend to hang up while selecting reverse. Also, if the speed brake is not set all the way into the "armed" position, it will not activate properly on touchdown but will activate when reverse is selected. (In this case, they were unable to get it into reverse in a timely manner.) And last (a major pet peeve of mine) is the FAA's mandate that an aircraft (whether VFR or IFR) be "at or above the visual or electronic glide slope."

This has created a generation of pilots that have found "security" in being above the glide slope during approach, thus always touching down long of the touchdown mark. One only has to go to the observation deck of any major airport and count the number of jets that land on the mark. It will be less than one in 100.

These guys just got caught in a "triple whammy" of failures, one of which was pilot error.

Keith Weiland

Click through to read the rest of this week's letters.

AVWEB'S NEWSTIPS ADDRESS ...
Our best stories start with you. If you've heard something 255,000 pilots might want to know about, tell us. Submit news tips via email to newstips@avweb.com. What have you heard? More...

VIDEO: DIAMOND MULTI-PURPOSE PLATFORM DA42
Diamond has diversified its market to the military, law enforcement and even media realms with the DA42 Multi-Purpose Platform. Diamond Airborne Sensing's Markus Fischer took AVweb through the product at Diamond's factory in Wiener Neustad, Austria. More...

FBO OF THE WEEK: DESERT SKIES EXECUTIVE AIR TERMINAL (KHII, LAKE HAVASU, AZ)

Our latest "FBO of the Week" is one we spotlighted a couple of years ago — Desert Skies Executive Air Terminal at Lake Havasu City Airport (KHII) in Arizona. AVweb reader Scott Brooksby told us about the usual low prices and great services but noted that little "something special" that makes Desert Skies a must-revisit destination:

Desert Skies not only has great prices for fuel, some of the lowest in the region, but they also have Waldo's BBQ. The restaurant closes at 8:00 pm but has awesome food, and for dessert, you can have a small apple crisp or sweet potato pie among other choices for only 99 cents. The fueling is quick, and the manager was there helping to park the plane and make sure all was O.K.

Keep those nominations coming. For complete contest rules, click here.

AVweb is actively seeking out the best FBOs in the country and another one, submitted by you, will be spotlighted here next Monday!

SHORT FINAL

Listening to the radio in our hangar, we heard the following exchange. After landing at KSTS, a pilot requested to taxi to his hangar. He was given specific instructions and was cleared to his hangar. About 30 seconds later, we heard:

Mooney 432XX:
"Santa Rosa Ground, this is Mooney 432XX with a request."

Ground:
"Mooney 432XX, say request."

Mooney 432XX:
"I'd like to change my taxi destination to the shade hangars. I see someone over there who owes me money."

Ground:
"Change in destination approved. Good luck."

Ten seconds later, we heard:

Mooney 432XX:
"Santa Rosa Ground, this is Mooney 432XX with a second request."

Ground:
"Mooney 432XX, say request."

Mooney 432XX:
"If a Citabria requests permission to taxi, please deny request."

Ground:
"You're a Mooney; you should be able to outrun him."

Scott Peterson
via e-mail

HEARD ANYTHING FUNNY ON THE RADIO?
Heard anything funny, unusual, or downright shocking on the radio lately? If you've been flying any length of time, you're sure to have eavesdropped on a few memorable exchanges. The ones that gave you a chuckle may do the same for your fellow AVweb readers. Share your radio funny with us, and, if we use it in a future "Short Final," we'll send you a sharp-looking AVweb hat to sport around your local airport. No joke. Click here to submit your original, true, and previously unpublished story. More...

MEET THE AVWEBFLASH TEAM

AVwebFlash is a twice-weekly summary of the latest news, articles, products, features, and events featured on AVweb, the world's premier independent aviation news resource.

The AVwebFlash team is:

Publisher
Tom Bliss

Editorial Director, Aviation Publications
Paul Bertorelli

Editor-in-Chief
Russ Niles

Webmaster
Scott Simmons

Contributing Editors
Mary Grady
Glenn Pew

Contributors
Kevin Lane-Cummings
Jeff Van West

Ad Coordinator
Karen Lund

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