RARE AIRPLANE FOUND OFF MIDWAY ISLAND
Divers cleaning up garbage in the shallow waters off Midway Atoll in the Pacific discovered wreckage from a World War II Brewster Buffalo last summer, the New York Times reported recently. Only one intact copy from the original fleet still exists, and it's on exhibit in Finland, the Times said. The Buffalo is "a very rare aircraft and to find even the wreckage of one is an exciting discovery," said Hill Goodspeed, historian at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Fla. The Buffalo, however, was not a great favorite with pilots, says the Times. "It is my belief that any commander that orders pilots out for combat in a F2A-3 should consider the pilot as lost before leaving the ground," wrote Marine Capt. P. R. White in a 1942 report. More...

NEW ROTARY ENGINE FROM AUSTRO
Diamond Aircraft's Austro Engines has bench tested a new dual FADEC-controlled rotary aircraft engine, the AE80R, that aims to match a weight of 60 pounds with a power output of 80 hp. The engine has been in development for more than two years and builds on Austro's experience with the AE50R 55-hp rotary engine but has differences in its internal design that incorporates a "no loss lubrication system." The new engine is targeting the LSA and ultralight aircraft markets, and may also see use in unmanned aircraft. Austro Christian Dries, chairman and owner of Diamond Aircraft, which owns Austro, says the new engine "has no vibration" and is a good fit for weight-sensitive small aircraft. More...

NEW DESIGN OFFERED FOR KING AIR PROPS
Raisbeck and Hartzell have debuted a new four-blade "swept" propeller for the King Air 200 line. The design's 96-inch diameter is 3 inches greater than the B200 factory props, and 2 inches greater than Raisbeck's previous offerings. The increased diameter boosts low-speed performance and shaves 1,150 feet off takeoff, the companies said. They also said the swept-back blade design provides better high-speed performance and less noise in the cockpit and cabin. A pair of the new props costs $83,400; deliveries start in March. More...

NASA ADVANCES GREEN AVIATION RESEARCH
NASA said this week it has made a lot of progress with its Environmentally Responsible Aviation project for reducing the industry's noise, emissions and fuel burn, and announced plans to take its work from the laboratory into flight testing. "The real challenge is to integrate ideas and pieces together," said Fay Collier, ERA project manager for NASA. "Our next steps will help us work towards that goal." NASA announced eight projects that will run through 2015, including more research on its hybrid blended-wing-body design, which could reduce fuel consumption by more than 50 percent while also reducing noise on the ground. More...

U2 FLIGHT DOCUMENTARY AND DECLASSIFIED HANDBOOK
Gary Sinise plans to donate to charity all proceeds from his new DVD, "High Flight," a newly released documentary that follows his flight in a Lockheed U2 Dragon Lady and comes fresh on the heels of the CIA's release of that aircraft's "Utility Flight Handbook." The CIA last week declassified the Lockheed's 1959 flight handbook, a 259-page booklet adorned with cartoons of an anthropomorphized aircraft dealing with the loss of its vertical tail, complex camera operations and more. Sinise was able to wrangle a flight in the aircraft, making him one of perhaps fewer than 1,000 people to have accomplished that. The High Flight Trailer is available online, and AVweb is hosting a copy of the flight handbook. Links after the jump.  More...

EAA FIRM ON AIRCRAFT APPEARANCE FEES
EAA Chairman and Acting President Jack Pelton says the organization will not change a fundamental policy and pay appearance fees for certain aircraft to attend AirVenture Oshkosh. Pelton was commenting on a decision by Fighter Factory President Jerry Yagen to have his exceptionally rare Second World War demonstration aircraft steer clear of the big show this year. Yagen is now lining up dates for his recently completed Mosquito fighter bomber and a new-build version of an Me. 262 jet fighter but he says he won't bring them to Oshkosh unless EAA pays him to do so. Yagen told AVweb he believes other warbird owners feel the same as he does and some will also boycott the show. "Sorry to say that the days of bringing such expensive airplanes all across the countryside for free will most likely not happen again," Yagen said. He said he thinks there has already been a perceptible decrease in the number of warbirds at AirVenture and that it will escalate. He also said he doesn't think AirVenture should pay for all warbirds to attend but that there should be compensation for aircraft like the Mosquito and Me. 262 that will be major drawing cards to the event. Pelton said Yagen's request is not only financially impractical, it would require EAA staff to perform the impossible task of determining which aircraft warrant funding. More...

ECLIPSE HOPES TO BUILD USAF TRAINERS
The U.S. Air Force may be looking for a fleet of new very-light jets to replace its current fleet of basic training aircraft, and Eclipse Aerospace said this week it wants to build them. The jets would be used by about 700 students per year in the USAF Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training Multi-place Training Track. "Our solution would save the Air Force over a billion dollars over the next 10 years, in fuel, maintenance and training costs," Eclipse CEO Mason Holland told AVweb on Monday. Holland said he has met with senior Air Force leaders and the company's proposal is "fully responsive to the Air Force's request." More...

HAWKER BEECH REACHES PENSION AGREEMENT
Hawker Beechcraft has reached an agreement with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. to take over two underfunded pension plans covering existing non-union and already-retired employees. Under the deal, the company, which hopes to exit bankruptcy protection in the next few months, will continue to fund the pension plan for its current and former unionized employees. As part of the deal, the International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers agreed to allow the company to freeze the pension plan but details of the freeze were not immediately released. The deal will have to be approved by the bankruptcy court and is scheduled to be considered Jan. 17. More...

AVWEBBIZ: AVWEB'S BUSINESS AVIATION NEWSLETTER

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Delivered every Wednesday morning, AVwebBiz focuses on the companies, the products and the industry leaders that make headlines in the business aviation industry, making it a must-read.

Add AVwebBiz to your AVweb subscriptions today by clicking here and choosing "Update E-mail Subscriptions."

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: THE DREAMLINER'S TROUBLING BATTERY FIRE
Forget the wiring faults, the fuel leaks and the odd loose fastener, what's most worrisome about this week's Dreamliner news is that the lithium-ion battery fire in Boston could represent a difficult challenge for Boeing. Critics of this technology have said that it's not quite ready for regular service in airplanes, and Cessna's recent loss of a Citation to a battery fire underlines the point. On the AVweb Insider blog, we take a look at how potentially serious this problem is if the solution doesn't turn out to be a simple one. 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...

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: PRIVATE FLIGHT SCHOOLS
Training seems to get a lot of the attention when pilot attrition is discussed, and private schools seem to get most of the heat. If you learned at a local airport school, how did it work out?

Plus: Last week, we asked AVweb readers what FAA Administrator Michael Huerta's top priority should be; click through to see the breakdown of responses. More...

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...

PICTURE OF THE WEEK: AVWEB'S FLYING PHOTOGRAPHY SHOWCASE
Our latest winning photo comes from Philip Conn of Robins, IA. Click here for the rest of this week's submissions. More...

MEET THE AVWEBFLASH TEAM

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