NAFI'S BLAIR RESIGNS
The executive director of the National Association of Flight Instructors has resigned and it appears financial issues are behind the decision. Jason Blair, who has held that post since 2008, resigned Sunday, saying the organization apparently couldn't afford him. "I fully support the mission of NAFI and hope the association and its members can find a way to continue the growth of the association and eventually return to a point where the position of an executive director is financially sustainable," Blair said. He also said the group needs more financial support or "difficult decisions have to be made." Former NAFI Chairman Ken Hoffman said the news came as a surprise to him and deferred comment to new chairman Robert Meder who was unavailable at our deadline. More...

CAP REORGANIZES LEADERSHIP
The Civil Air Patrol has completed a reorganization of its command structure and its top officer says that means CAP will be even better equipped to complete its increasingly diverse missions. In a podcast interview, Brig. Gen. Rich Anderson, chairman of the board of governors, said the more streamlined structure in which areas of responsibility are more clearly defined and responsive to the needs of staff and volunteers will help CAP meet the double-edged sword of tight budgets and increasing expectations. In general, the new structure puts the responsibility for policy decisions with the board of governors while operational decisions will rest with the professional and volunteer forces doing the work. "With the wing commanders focused on day-to-day missions, making decisions that are important to the membership, that's where there will be considerable benefit to be realized," Anderson said in a statement. More...

PODCAST: EXPANDING ROLES, DIMINISHING BUDGETS
The Civil Air Patrol has adopted a new governance structure that will help it cope with the challenges that lie ahead. AVweb's Russ Niles spoke with Brig. Gen. Richard L. Anderson about how CAP will continue to serve the military and the public. More...

PLANE CRASHES INTO FLORIDA HOME, THREE DEAD
A Beechcraft BE35 flying Friday afternoon en route to Knoxville, Tenn., diverted to Flagler County Airport, Fla., and crashed into a house in Palm Coast, Fla., killing all three onboard the aircraft. The home was roughly one mile from the airport and caught fire after the crash. Early reports state that the homeowner escaped the house through a bedroom window and was taken to a local hospital for treatment. According to the Flagler County Sheriff's Office, the pilot had reported trouble before the crash and offered a few details about the Beechcraft Bonanza's condition. More...

HADFIELD EXPANDS TWITTERVERSE
Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) has taken Twitter to a new level and in doing so has entered a time warp. Hadfield, who arrived at the International Space Station just before Christmas, began tweeting about life in space 140 characters at a time and sending stunning photos of Earth via the social media site. All this unaccustomed orbital chitchat tweaked the long-dormant sensors aboard the Starship Enterprise and none other than Capt. James T. Kirk joined the conversation. "Are you tweeting from space?" William Shatner, the Canadian actor who played Kirk on the iconic 1960s TV series, asked. Without missing a beat, Hadfield replied: "Yes, Standard Orbit, Captain. And we're detecting signs of life on the surface." Shatner was soon joined by other space luminaries (real and imagined). More...

NORTH AMERICAN DATES SET FOR MOSQUITO
The only flying De Havilland Mosquito will have a busy schedule in North America this summer, according to its owner Jerry Yagen of the Fighter Factory. As we reported earlier, the reconstructed Mosquito, which flew for the first time in September, has made several public appearances in New Zealand where AVspecs, the company that did the restoration, is based. Sometime this spring the aircraft, which was originally built in Canada, will be shipped to North America, and Yagen said it will be at a lot of airshows this coming season, including his own Warbirds Over the Beach in Virginia Beach May 17-19. It will also make an appearance not far from the factory where it was built. More...

2013'S PARADE OF INTOXICATED PEOPLE ON PLANES
The first week of 2013 has left multiple reports involving drunken, violently disruptive passengers on airliners, plus one non-violent but legally drunk American Eagle pilot. In American Eagle's case, witnesses reportedly smelled alcohol on the pilot's breath prior to the 6:10 a.m. flight. Police arrived and, according to an airport spokesman, the pilot failed a breath test. American Eagle has removed the pilot from line work while it investigates. Several alcohol-related events involving passengers led to diverted flights. They included two women who reportedly demanded to meet their flight's captain and a man who was ultimately duct-taped to his seat by other passengers. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: SHOULD WE HAVE PUBLISHED THE DORNIER SKYDIVE VIDEO?
At AVweb, we publish all kinds of videos and stories about aviation events that might be outside the norm. Sometimes way outside the norm. Says Paul Bertorelli on the AVweb Insider blog, the one of the hair-on-fire descent in the skydiving Dornier twin deserved reproach, not awe. But that doesn't mean AVweb viewers shouldn't see it. Read more and join the conversation. More...

BRAINTEASERS QUIZ #179: A LITTLE THIS, A LITTLE THAT
FAROS, RWSL, RAIM, GNSS, NOTAM -- these words are not in Hobbit language or some weird FAA anagram that, when unscrambled, portends the end of over-priced avgas. Instead, they are samplings of what well-traveled pilots encounter daily and what -- now -- you must identify. (Includes results of last month's reader survey about the dumbest things in aviation.)

Take the quiz. More...

AVMAIL: JANUARY 7, 2013

Letter of the Week: The Angle on Safety

I very much enjoyed your article on angle of attack indicators. It has always been amazing to me that GA continues to fly using airspeed as the primary reference.

In military aviation, one of the basic tenets was that aircraft wings perform aerodynamically based on angle of attack. Airspeed was calculated as a crosscheck to ensure that no system had an error. On each aircraft I flew (F-4, F-111, F-101, and EA-6B), we had AOA targets for critical phases of flight, landing, max efficiency cruise, dogfighting, etc.

In some aircraft, such as the Phantom, our control inputs had to change as we reached higher AOA levels. That was why most fighter-type aircraft had aural tones as well as indicators.

I was very pleased to learn that newer technologies had produced reliable systems at very affordable costs. Widespread adoption could significantly affect landing accident statistics and make a really positive contribution to GA safety!

J. C. "Squid" Hall
CDR (USN R9, Ret.)

Click here 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...

FBO OF THE WEEK: GALAXY AVIATION (KSGJ, ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA)

AVweb's "FBO of the Week" ribbon goes to Galaxy Aviation at Northeast Florida Regional Airport (KSGJ) St. Augustine, Florida.

AVweb reader David Singleton recently had a great experience at Galaxy, which he shared with us:

The Beech Aero Club held a three-day event on December 7, 8, and 9, 2012. Galaxy Aviation was very helpful to all our members. The staff were professional, courteous, and very friendly. They were a major reason we will return next year.

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: MEET MID-CONTINENT'S SAM
As much as we love them, iron gyros are on their way to the scrap heap of history. They're even losing their value as backup instruments to glass panels now that glass itself has become more reliable and affordable enough to replace even analog backup devices. In this new video from AVweb, Aviation Consumer's Larry Anglisano examines a new product from Mid-Continent Instruments and Avonics called the SAM. It fits into a small space on the panel and can be backed up with its own lithium-ion battery. Installation considerations are mimimal, but here's a close look at how the instrument looks and performs. 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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