DRONE SAFETY RECORD QUESTIONED
A Washington Post report says that just as the FAA is under pressure to integrate unmanned aircraft into the National Airspace System, the Air Force's drone safety record has taken a tumble. The Post says there have been at least seven Reaper and Predator crashes at or near civilian airports overseas in the last two years and while they're haven't been any casualties there have been some close calls. For instance a Predator drone carrying a Hellfire missile missed the airport in Djibouti City in eastern Africa by almost three miles in May of 2011 and crashed in a residential area. The weapon did not detonate and there were no injuries. More...

DA42 FLY BY WIRE PROGRESS
In Austria, a Diamond Aircraft DA42 twin has been flown with digital fly-by-wire systems to demonstrate active electronic control that the company hopes will one day be widely applied in light aircraft, changing how people fly. In the test aircraft, most functions are manipulated by the digital system, including both the flight and engine controls. The system can control basic flight safety by limiting flight parameters like pitch, bank and airspeed, but can also react to environmental disturbances like turbulence. Researchers and Diamond hope it will evolve to eventually provide automated takeoff and landing, and Diamond imagines similar systems could ultimately reduce the skill level required by the pilot, making flying more accessible to more people. More...

CONCORDE MANSLAUGHTER RULINGS OVERTURNED
A French appellate court has overturned involuntary manslaughter convictions issued in 2010 by a French trial court against Continental and one of its mechanics for their role in the July 2000 crash of Air France Flight 4590, a Concorde, that killed 113 people. The trial court had found that a metal strip, which had fallen off of a Continental DC-10 prior to the Concorde's takeoff run, was later struck by one of the Concorde's tires. The tire burst and threw fragments into a wing tank, causing a fuel leak and fire that brought the airplane down. The appellate court ruled that mistakes made by Continental or its employees did not make them guilty of criminal wrongdoing. More...

A&P ACCUSED OF ATTEMPTED AIRCRAFT SALE TO IRAN
A U.S. airframe and powerplant mechanic has been accused of trying to broker a deal that would deliver seven jetliners out of China to Iran. Federal court papers state that 52-year-old mechanic Diocenyr Ribamar Barbosa-Santos planned to secure aircraft at $19.5 million each from a Chinese source, with intent to sell them to Iran Air for a profit. The Iranian airline has suffered due to sanctions by the United States that some say challenge the carrier's safe operation. The U.S. has offered to help the airline complete repairs outside of Iran, an offer Iran has so far declined. Barbosa-Santos allegedly met with an undercover federal agent in February after government officials received a tip that he was working on a deal with China and Iran, but so far the rest of the details are few. More...

QANTAS LAUNCHES AIRBUS IPAD EFB
In July, Airbus announced it was the first manufacturer to provide its Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) performance-calculating applications for pilots on iPad and Qantas has now become the launch customer. iPad FlySmart with Airbus EFB allows Airbus pilots to access Airbus operational manuals and compute aircraft performance via iPad. Rollout with Qantas pilots will follow over the next few months as the airline adopts the computer tablet to reduce in-cockpit paperwork and facilitate access to information. Soon after, Airbus expects more pilots worldwide to begin using the app. More...

A DAY AT LINDBERGH FIELD COMPRESSED
Digital photo and video tinkerers continue to find new ways to create art with pixels and a San Diego film and photography professor challenged himself with a unique representation of short final at San Diego's Lindbergh Field. Cy Kuckenbaker compressed five hours of arrivals at the airport on Black Friday into a 26-second clip that turns the routine traffic into waves of aircraft visually stacked on each other. Watch it all the way to the end for a nice touch. More...

PILOT FLIES ON 100TH BIRTHDAY
For most of us, simply waking up on our 100th birthday might be enough for the day but Thomas Guy Reynolds, of Martinsburg, W. Va., had a tradition to uphold when he hit the centennial mark on Friday. He's taken his Evektor SportStar for a few loops around the patch on his birthday for the past few years and he hopes this flight wasn't his last. "I hope to fly on my 101st birthday," Reynolds told the Martinsburg Journal. More...

BRAINTEASERS QUIZ #178: KNOW BEFORE YOU GO
What is the dumbest thing you've encountered in aviation?

Take the quiz. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: POWERBALL AIRPLANE FANTASIES
Resident blogger Paul Bertorelli admits that he's such an unimaginative laggard — not to mention cheap — that he struggled for days to decide what would be in his hangar when the Powerball numbers hit. Read his surprise answer on the AVweb Insider blog. Read more and join the conversation. More...

A GIFT WITH WINGS

What compelled 45 women from Anchorage to Chesterfield, N.H., to trek to Vernon, Texas, a tiny north-Texas town where there are more trucks than cars? All had heard about a unique program called Girls in Flight Training (GIFT) Academy that provides free ground and flight instruction for women in all stages of flight training. The second annual event was held Nov. 3-10 at the Wilbarger County Airport.

According to Patti Shannon, the promise of free flight training was certainly a big draw, but she and many others were in pursuit of something that can't be logged.

"I needed a serious boost of confidence," said Shannon, who soloed at GIFT and plans to finish her Private Pilot's Certificate by yearend. "Flying is something I've always dreamed of doing. I just needed an environment where everything seemed possible. Being among such a supportive, encouraging group of women was truly priceless."

Click here to read the full article.

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...

FBO OF THE WEEK: GUNTERSVILLE MUNICIPAL AIRPORT (8A1, ALABAMA)

AVweb's latest "FBO of the Week" can be found at Guntersville Municipal Airport (8A1) in Guntersville, Alabama. Reader Alberto Silva shared all the details of his unscheduled stop in a compelling testimonial. Click through to read what he had to say.

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!

VIDEO: FLYING THE B-17 FLYING FORTRESS
The Collings Foundation's Derek "Otter" Ward sometimes serves as co-pilot aboard the organization's WWII B-17 Boeing Flying Fortress bomber Nine-O-Nine. He describes some of the aircraft's ground and flight characteristics. More...

PICTURE OF THE WEEK: AVWEB'S FLYING PHOTOGRAPHY SHOWCASE
Our latest winning photo comes from Brad Bellamy of Austin, TX. Click here for the rest of this week's submissions. More...

SHORT FINAL

Several years ago, while passing through Caracas air space, I heard this on the radio:

Piper 1234:
"Caracas Control, Piper 1234 inbound for full stop."

Caracas:
"Piper 1234, turn right five degrees to intercept the ILS."

Piper 1234:
"Caracas, five degrees is too little a turn for me."

Caracas:
"Piper 1234, can you make a 90-degree turn?"

Piper 1234:
"Affirmative. I can do 90 degrees."

Caracas:
"Roger. Piper 1234, make a 95-degree turn to the right, then make a 90-degree turn to the left to intercept the ILS."

Tom McEntire
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

Ad Coordinator
Karen Lund

Avionics Editor
Larry Anglisano

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