SANDY CANCELS THOUSANDS OF FLIGHTS, CAUSES NBAA HEADACHES
Add some political winds to the perfect storm and it tallies up to a little extra homework for those trying to fly to NBAA's national convention in Orlando Sunday and Monday. President Barack Obama has a campaign event in Orlando on Monday, the day before the convention, and his original travel plans would have resulted in a relatively short disruption as he flew in and out of MCO on Air Force One. But with Hurricane Sandy wreaking havoc on the Eastern Seabord, Obama moved his departure to Orlando to Sunday evening and he will stay through early Monday afternoon, bringing a TFR with him. Many exhibitors fly in on Sunday and many attendees arrive on Monday so they need to be aware of the latest NOTAM outlining procedures at Orlando-area airports. The FAA information is subject to change (the NOTAM was revised four times by late Sunday) so pilots are advised to ensure they have the latest information before heading to Florida. Those inconveniences pale compared to the massive disruption of traffic along the East Coast. As of early Monday, more than 7,000 airline flights had been cancelled and all other aviation was grounded in a huge swath of the eastern part of the U.S. More...

CONGRESSMAN WANTS EXPANDED MOGAS AVAILABILITY
A California congressman is urging the FAA to encourage wider availability of mogas at airports to reduce the use of 100LL. In a (PDF) letter to Acting FAA Administrator Michael Huerta, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., says airplanes that can use unleaded automotive fuel should use automotive fuel until an unleaded replacement for avgas is available. He suggests the FAA become directly involved in helping airports ensure the availability of high-octane, ethanol-free unleaded gas. "It is essential for the FAA to develop and implement, in the near term, measures to facilitate the use of currently available unleaded fuel in general aviation," he wrote. More...

FATAL GA HELICOPTER CRASHES PROMPT CALL FOR ACTION
"Treacherous missions are not at the root of a stubbornly persistent helicopter accident rate and helicopter fatalities," the International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST) said Wednesday, after four flights in eight days resulted in seven fatalities.  Each of the four accident flights from Oct. 10 to Oct. 17 appear to have initiated as normal general aviation/private flights, according to IHST, "but each ended with fatal results." IHST is made up of industry representatives and the FAA. It is calling for greater vigilance from pilots flying even "ordinary, mundane flights," but the organization also has a larger agenda in mind. More...

ASTB GETS EARFUL ON NORFOLK ISLANDING DITCHING
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau got a grilling before the Australian Senate this week over its investigatory work into the 2009 ditching of a Westwind medical flight off Norfolk Island. The bureau and Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority were castigated by witnesses for taking too long to complete the report (more than 1000 days), with one witness terming the investigation flawed and incompetent. According to a web report by The Australian,, the Senate investigation was initiated following a report by ABC Four Corners that revealed some 57 regulatory breaches, deficiencies and oversights of the flight's operator, Pel Air, that CASA was aware of but did not address. The investigations also revealed that the ATSB made few if any safety recommendations as a result of the accident. More...

NTSB WANTS CHANGES AFTER GULFSTREAM CRASH
The NTSB is seeking response within 90 days to ten new safety recommendations (five for the FAA, three for the Flight Test Safety Committee, and two for Gulfstream) born from the April 2, 2011, fatal crash of an experimental Gulfstream GVI (G650). The test aircraft went down near Roswell, N.M,. during the final stages of certification flight testing, killing all four aboard. The NTSB's findings and recommendations were first released on Oct. 10, along with an associated NTSB press release that was critical of Gulfstream. NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman called the crash "as much an absence of leadership as it was of lift." The NTSB is now seeking, within 90 days, responses from the affected entities that detail actions taken to implement the recommendations. More...

AVANTI FLIES TWO LEGS MISSING CONTROL SURFACE
On July 28, a Piaggio Avanti operated by Avantair flew two legs (one with passengers) without a left elevator, and now the company has grounded its entire fleet as it works with the FAA through a safety review. Avantair is based out of St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport and operates almost 60 Piaggio Avanti turboprop pusher aircraft in fractional ownership programs. According to the NTSB, the incident aircraft departed Camarillo Airport in California, travelled to San Diego, where it picked up two passengers, and then flew to Henderson Executive Airport in Nevada. The missing elevator was discovered by airport personnel at Camarillo, three days later. The pilots did report some peculiarities.  More...

RYAN RALLY INVITATION 'NOT AN ENDORSEMENT': SUN 'N FUN
A Republican Party rally featuring vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan at the Sun 'n Fun facilities on Monday is not an endorsement for the GOP, according to Sun 'n Fun. Director of Communications Sandy Bridges said the "Victory Rally," which is expected to draw 2,000 people to Hangar A, one of the commercial exhibit hangars at Lakeland Linder Airport, is a private event. "We're not hosting this. They (the Republican Party) rented it." Bridges said Sun 'n Fun rents facilities to a wide variety of groups to raise money and create awareness of the various non-fly-in activities at the airport. "If President Obama had asked to rent it we would have rented it to him." However, SNF is now rethinking an e-mail it sent to its distribution list inviting everyone on the list to attend the rally. More...

BAUMGARTNER'S BOOM HEARD?
Experts analyzing the timing and signature of a sound captured along with video footage shot from the ground during Felix Baumgartner's record-setting Oct. 14 freefall from 128,000 feet believe it is a sonic boom, Red Bull said Friday. "The wave form of the sonic boom has been isolated and is consistent with existing 'sonic boom characteristics' data," the company said. Four different groups of observers that were present in different areas local to the jump heard the sound as Baumgartner accelerated beyond 833 mph in supersonic freefall, according to Red Bull. "Everyone all at once said, 'did you just hear that?' We knew exactly what it was." The team is analyzing data in hopes of removing all doubt. Click through to listen for yourself. More...

AEA SOUNDS ALARM ON PART 145 REVISIONS
The Aircraft Electronics Association is warning FAA-certified repair stations that they may be blindsided by a major revision of Part 145. In a podcast interview with AVweb, AEA spokesman Ric Peri said there seems to be widespread belief that the proposed rule (PDF) affects only repair stations that work on Part 121 air carrier aircraft. In fact, the rule applies to all Part 145 repair stations and would impose some major changes and expenses on the more than 4,000 shops it covers. "This proposal applies to all repair stations regardless of its customer bases," Peri said. AEA staff will man a booth at NBAA in Orlando starting Tuesday to try to correct the apparent misconception that is so prevalent that some FAA inspectors also have the wrong impression of the rule's breadth. Public comments on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) close Nov. 19. More...

PODCAST: CALL TO ACTION FOR REPAIR STATIONS
The Aircraft Electronics Association says some repair stations may be unaware of sweeping changes proposed by the FAA that will affect them. AVweb's Russ Niles spoke with AEA's Ric Peri about what the proposed rulemaking will mean to all shops regardless of the aircraft they work on.

This podcast is brought to you by Bose Corporation. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: SAVED BY AN IPAD
So let's get this straight: The airlines stuff us to turn off cellphone and tablet computers, yet the pilots up in the pointy end are using them as plate readers? That's not all. We know of at least two incidents in which iPads have bailed out crews after complete avionics failures in modern jets. Paul Bertorelli digs into the contradictions on the AVweb Insider blog. Read more and join the conversation. More...

VIDEO: REDBIRD'S UNIQUE SIM-BASED FLIGHT TRAINING
Last week, we covered Redbird's industry training conference and learned more about the company's unique approach to simulator-centric flight training, including primary and instrument. In this new video, Redbird's Roger Sharp tells AVweb what the company has learned in about a year of intensive research and experimentation in their sophisticated sim lab. More...

FBO OF THE WEEK: COULTER FIELD (KCFD, BRYAN, TEXAS)

Makings lemons out of lemonade is the sign of a great FBO, and this week, reader David Townsend tells us how the FBO at Coulter Field (KCFD) in Bryan, Texas took the sting out of an unplanned detour a couple of weeks ago:

On October 19, I was en route to pick up my son from Texas A&M University when a bomb threat (a hoax) forced the evacuation of that campus, including closure of the on-campus airport. Coulter Field is ten miles away, so everyone inbound that afternoon, including many arriving for the football game the next day, diverted to Coulter. I've been to Coulter before, and it has a fine runway with excellent approaches, a generous ramp, and a clean, well-equipped FBO. This day, the staff really rose to the occasion. It was SRO in the lounge. Everyone needed information, transportation, and a cookie. We all got what we needed with a smile, even the LSU fans.

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!

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...

SHORT FINAL

Overheard during a very, very rough ride out of Newark last week:

Center:
"Airliner 123, how is your ride?"

Airliner 123:
"The rides are crap."

[momentary pause]

Airliner 123:
"I'm sorry. That was unprofessional of me. The rides are unsatisfactory."

Center:
"Your first description was acceptable."

Rob Nabieszko
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.

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