FUNDING PULLED FOR SPITFIRE DIG
The English farmer who claims there are more than 100 Spitfires buried in Burma vows to continue his search for the aircraft even though his financial backer has pulled out. David Cundall says the reason the six-week effort to find some of the Second World War aircraft has failed is that the government won't allow him to dig in the right place. He said it now seems the aircraft, which eyewitnesses have told him were packed in grease paper and enclosed in crates, may be near or even under a runway at Rangoon's international airport. The airport used to be RAF base Mingaladon. "The authorities will not give us permission to dig because of the risk of undermining the active runway," he said in an email to AVweb. He declined to be interviewed. Cundall says he has heard from eyewitnesses who said they saw large crates being buried at other locations and Cundall wants to dig there. "Getting permission will take months," he said. More...

LANGLEY AIR SHOW CUT FOR BUDGET CONCERNS
The Air Power Over Hampton Roads airshow and open house held at Langley Air Force Base, Va., has been cancelled due to "threat of operating under a continuing resolution and a potential sequestration," the Air Force announced Friday. The event was scheduled for May 3-5 and may be among numerous other military airshows cancelled. No future dates have been set for the Langley event. Sequestration in lieu of other U.S. government action on budgetary issues could remove substantial funding from the military and may halt future performances by military demonstration teams like the Blue Angels and Air Force Thunderbirds. More...

APP-MAKERS APPEAL TO PRESIDENT, FAA
Thirteen companies, claiming to be "part of the solution" to flight services, modernization and pilot training have signed a letter to President Obama, the FAA and Congress, arguing that the FAA's "cost recovery" pursuits threaten entrepreneurship. At issue is the FAA's stated intent to impose a per person user fee on digital products created by private companies and produced from content originated at the FAA. The FAA claims the new digital products have driven consumers away from its own products resulting in a $5.3 million shortfall it now seeks to recover. Among the letter's signatories are the founders of ForeFlight, FlightAware, WingX, and SkyVector as well as the chairman of RedBird Flight Simulations and the CEO of Avidyne. More...

AERION SUPERSONIC LAMINAR FLOW TESTING
Aerodynamic testing organized by Aerion Corporation in conjunction with NASA began Jan. 31, and may contribute to the design for the "world's first supersonic business jet," Aerion announced Thursday. Aerion is working with NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center on the project. It seeks "to measure the real-world robustness of supersonic natural laminar flow," which the company sees as "vital" to its design. Aerion has enlisted a NASA F-15B to carry its phase two test article at speeds up to Mach 2.0. The tests are expected to continue well into March. More...

OFF-AIRPORT LANDING VIDEO CAPTURES ATTENTION
The cellphone videographer who kept the camera rolling as he and four others, including his seven-month-old baby, made a rough off-airport landing in Utah Feb. 2 has defended the pilot's choice of a field covered in two feet of snow instead of a straight stretch of interstate highway. The video, which records what inevitably happens when the long main gear legs of a Cessna 175 dig into that much snow, has attracted more than 500,000 YouTube views and been featured on dozens of news channels. Happily, the videographer, Jonathan Fielding, his wife, child, mother-in-law and the pilot, a family friend, suffered only minor scrapes and a bit of whiplash in the incident. In a lengthy post with the video, Fielding said the Interstate, which can be clearly seen at various points in the video, was too busy and had too many power lines across it to risk a landing after suspected carburetor icing caused the engine to lose power. "Had he tried I'm confident that a collision would've occurred and this story could easily have ended in a fatality," Fielding wrote. "The pilot made the best landing given the circumstances." The nose gear sheared off and the plane flipped, coming to rest less than 100 feet from the point of impact. The occupants were picked up by a family that was snowmobiling nearby. While Fielding and his family have been most gracious in their reaction to the incident, the pilot's insurance company is less so, according to Fielding. More...

AIRBUS REJECTS LITHIUM ION BATTERIES
Airbus says it has abandoned lithium ion batteries for its new A350 airliner and it's because of all the problems rival Boeing is experiencing with its 787. "Airbus considers this to be the most appropriate way forward in the interest of program execution and A350 XWB reliability," spokeswoman Mary Anne Greczyn said. The flight test program will continue with lithium ion batteries but production models will all have the heavier, less energy-dense nickel cadmium batteries. More...

WORLD'S LARGEST AIRLINE, AMERICAN
When American Airlines and US Airways approved a merger deal it created the possibility of an airline with more than 1,500 aircraft in its fleet and 600 more on order, governed by a board that includes representatives from both airlines and American's creditors. The new carrier would serve 336 destinations in 56 countries through 6,700 flights. It would operate as the world's largest airline. The new entity would be valued at roughly $11 billion, according to Reuters, and would reportedly support 113,000 workers. It would leave the U.S. with a total of three full-service international airlines, according to Air Transport World. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: AIRLINE MERGERS -- WHY BOTHER?
If they had a history of offering customers more choices and more competition and even helping the airline companies themselves, we would say, "Why not?" But the coming merger between American Airlines and US Airways promises little of that, according to Purdue University's Airline Quality Rating project. On the AVweb Insider blog, Paul Bertorelli looks at some of AQR's numbers and agrees with the organization's view that this merger will be a fiasco, at best. Read more and join the conversation. More...

RV BUILDER NEW EDITOR AT 'KITPLANES'
The new Editor-in-Chief of AVweb's sister publication, Kitplanes magazine, says he intends to build on the magazine's long history of home-built know-how and adapt it to an evolving market. Paul Dye began tinkering with airplanes when he was 13 and has finished two RV projects, one of which he built with his wife, Louise. He also tracked down and restored the aircraft that Van's founder Dick VanGrunsven used as the proof of concept for the first RV kits. It's now in the EAA Museum in Oshkosh. "I want Kitplanes magazine to be the place where people go to for building advice and flying advice," Dye said in a podcast interview. "Both are equally important." He noted a large percentage of homebuilt owners did not build the planes they fly and many have never bucked a rivet. He said they need advice on care and maintenance of their aircraft. Dye took over from Mary Bernard on Feb. 15. He comes to Kitplanes after a long and distinguished career with NASA at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. More...

PODCAST: DOWN TO EARTH AT 'KITPLANES'
Paul Dye is the new editor-in-chief at Kitplanes magazine, AVweb's sister publication. Dye is an accomplished pilot and builder, and he comes to us from NASA, where the hardware he oversaw was a touch more complex. AVweb's Russ Niles spoke with him from his home near Houston.

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

FBO OF THE WEEK: SAUGEEN MUNICIPAL AIRPORT (CYHS, HANOVER, ON)

Our "FBO of the Week" ribbon goes to Saugeen Municipal Airport (CYHS) in Hanover, Ontario (Canada).

AVweb reader Philip Englishman's been treated well there and has high praise for the airport FBO:

Saugeen Municipal is a great gateway to Canada with customs available with your Canpass. The superb restaurant is open Thursday to Sunday and is famous for its breakfasts and lunches. The best part about this airport is the inhabitants on site, who will be more than happy to show you what they are constructing and flying. Over 400 pilots visit here for one day annualy to take part in the Rust Remover safety seminars to get ready for the flying season. So come north to enjoy the hospitality, great Bruce Peninsula scenery, and great flying adventures beyond the U.S. border.

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: AUDIO AUTHORITY'S FLEXIBLE POWER UNIT
More owners and pilots would probably invest in ground power units for starting and running avionics in the hangar if the things were just more flexible. One that is comes from Audio Authority, which, besides being a GPU, also doubles as a battery tender. In this video, Aviation Consumer's Larry Anglisano gives us the lowdown on this versatile unit. More...

VIDEO: YVES ROSSY'S JETMAN SCHOOL (WITHOUT THE JETS)
A video released Feb. 8, 2013, by Jetman Yves Rossy suggests the skydiving innovator may be on the verge of marketing an unpowered version of his strapped-on wing and opening a school to teach people how to fly it. Rossy has piloted another version of the wing with four micro-turbines attached to its underside delivering power. He has flown that version across the English Channel and a section of the Grand Canyon. Rossy describes the unpowered version by saying it can achieve a "glide angle" of 4.5. English is not Rossy's first language and a glide angle of 4.5 would translate to a glide ratio of roughly 13:1 -- substantially better than a Cessna 172. It's possible that Rossy's use of the term instead indicates the wing's glide ratio. Rossy says he's flown his gliding wing in excess of 150 mph, he has demonstrated aerobatics while flying it and believes there is much more potential for his unique brand of flight. Rossy is meticulous in his flight preparations, studying terrain, angles of flight and walking portions of the route when able. It is not yet known if his apparently proposed school will train the same pre-flight planning. 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...

AVWEB'S REFURBISHED AIRPLANE OF THE MONTH
New airplanes sales may be a little soft, but we're seeing plenty of refurb work -- everything from new panels to fresh paint to full-up interiors. We would like to feature some of these airplanes in the pages of AVweb and spotlight the owners and shops doing the work. If you have photos of your restored aircraft -- single, twin or turbine -- send them along to us, and if we select your airplane as refurb of the month, we'll contact you for more information. More...

SHORT FINAL

My neighbor spent most of his career as an airline pilot, but he also did one stint during a furlough in the early 1980s as a controller at Van Nuys. He swears the following is true.

One day, my friend, who we'll call Bob (since that's his name), was reading a clearance to an an aircraft as an MU-2 (high-wing twin) was landing.

The other controller prodded Bob and said, "Look at this." The MU-2 had landed but was having trouble taxiing, despite applying plenty of power.

"I think our brakes have locked up," radioed one of the crew. "Can you look us over and tell us if you see anything?"

"Do you want to tell them or should I?" asked the other controller.

"You tell them," replied Bob, grabbing a pair of binoculars. "I want to see their faces when you tell them that the gear is up."

Art Friedman
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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