SENATORS URGE FCC TO DROP 121.5 ELT RULE
Comments have closed on the FCC's proposal to phase out 121.5 MHz ELTs but a group of senators has made it a political issue. Five members of the Senate GA Caucus, led by Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., have written the head of the FCC, Julius Genachowski, urging him to drop the plan. The senators argue that ELTs will be redundant when the NextGen air traffic system is fully implemented, and effectively making new 406 MHz ELTs mandatory for the big majority of GA pilots who still have 121.5 units is a waste of time and money. "Should the FCC move forward with its proposed rule to ban the use or manufacture of 121.5 MHZ ELTs, the general aviation industry will be required to install $500 million of technology which could soon become obsolete once the FAA fully implements that satellite based navigation system authorized under the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012," said the letter. But a 406 MHz ELT manufacturer says the 406 MHz units are vastly superior and not as costly to pilots as opponents are saying it will be. More...

FAA: TOWERS STAY OPEN UNTIL NOVEMBER
The 149 federal contract air traffic control towers previously targeted for closure beginning June 15 will remain open through Sept. 30 the FAA said Friday, as other programs also found funding. The Department of Transportation said Friday it would fund air traffic technology and maintenance programs with $21 million by moving funds within its budget. The FAA was required by sequestration to cut $637 million from its budget. As drafted, the agency was granted little latitude in how it applied the cuts. That changed when controller furloughs correlated with commercial flight delays, and more changes soon followed.  More...

MAVERICK 'FLYING CAR' CRASHES IN CANADA
Two men suffered minor injuries Friday when the Maverick "flying car" they were in crashed in an elementary schoolyard in Vernon, British Columbia, Canada. Children had just started classes for the day and no one on the ground was hurt. Ray Seibring, the pilot, and passenger Ed Haaskyk were on a demonstration flight of the aircraft, which is essentially a large powered parachute whose chassis is street legal. AVweb's Russ Niles was scheduled to fly next in the Maverick and witnessed the crash sequence, but not the actual impact. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: DODGING A BULLET
The saying goes that when your number's up, it's up. But most people don't get to witness the quirk of fate that spares them an unscheduled departure from this world. On the AVweb Insider blog, Russ Niles describes what it was like to be left behind on the taxiway as a Maverick Flying Car made its last flight last Friday. Read more and join the conversation. More...

FORMER AIR FORCE TWO DC-9 AUCTION
A DC-9-32 owned by the U.S. Department of State is up for auction May 15, with a starting bid of $50,000 and, according to the seller, the aircraft was "part of Air Force Two" and "may have acted as Air Force One." According to auction documents provided by the government, "In the thirty years this aircraft was assigned to the 89th Airlift Wing (Feb 1975-Sep 2005) it flew Presidential missions." The document (PDF) does not specifically name individuals flown, but does list the positions those individuals held. More...

MUSEUM PLANS CONSTELLATION FLIGHT RE-ENACTMENT
The countdown has begun for the ambitious re-enactment of a record-setting flight that helped usher in the modern age of air travel. The National Airline History Museum hopes to re-create the inaugural coast-to-coast flight of a Lockheed Constellation flown by Howard Hughes and Jack Frye in its own Connie. Right after the first Constellation was rolled out on April 17, 1944, Hughes and Frye jumped in the cockpit and flew across the country in less than seven hours. Orville Wright was onboard and it was his last flight. The museum hopes to have its Connie fully restored and ready for the flight on the 70th anniversary in 2014. "There are so many great stories and great people associated with this effort," said John Roper, VP of Operations for the museum. There is a huge fundraising task ahead of the volunteer-run effort, however. More...

GAMA: GA SHIPMENTS ARE UP
A relative surge in shipments of multi-engine turboprops led a positive first quarter for all GA shipments as billings improved by 31.7 percent over last year's number, GAMA announced Thursday. Improvements to piston aircraft and jet shipment numbers were modest, posting positive changes of 3.8 percent and 4.0 percent, respectively. Diamond's DA40 led all models in the piston single group with 27 sold. Cirrus and Flight Design were close behind. And Beechcraft Corporation, which emerged from bankruptcy in February, managed deliveries of multiple models. More...

FBO OF THE WEEK: SONOMA JET CENTER (SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA)

AVweb's "FBO of the Week" ribbon goes to Sonoma Jet Center at Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport (KSTS) in Santa Rosa, California.

AVweb reader Austin Kalb told us about the FBO:

Wow. Either I'm really a VIP, or the people at the Sonoma Jet Center in Santa Rosa, California just made me feel that way. When I arrived in my Mooney, I was immediately swarmed by staff unpacking my luggage, loading the rental car (that was brought to the airplane), hooking up a tow, [and] handing us some cold waters. Then Josh said hello. He owns the place — and when I found out he was a Mooney driver, I stepped out of the airplane to chat. A couple of minutes later, I was offered hangar space with the big guys. Nice! That night, my rental car experienced a flat tire. [The rental company] was less than helpful — they left me pretty much on my own. I called the FBO. They simply took care of the issue. I left my car at the B&B in the morning, and when I returned later that day, a new rental was sitting where the old one was. When we left Santa Rosa, Josh showed up again to see us off. Last time I visited Santa Rosa, Joyce at the front desk was exceptional. Now I get why — it starts at the top. Great job, guys!

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: ROTAX 912IS EFFICIENCY -- BETTER THAN CLAIMED
When Rotax introduced its high-tech 912iS a year ago, it claimed that the engine would be about 20 percent more fuel efficient than previous 100hp models. But new testing done by the company last year reveals that those claims fell short of the engine's actual efficiency. In this video shot at Aero in Friedrichshafen, Germany last week, Paul Bertorelli reports that the 912iS may improve fuel efficiency by up to 30 percent. 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...

SHORT FINAL

I was flying just northeast of Dallas on Monday, April 22. This was the first day of sequester-induced cutbacks of controllers.

Fort Worth Center:
"King Air 12345, cleared direct FINGR for the FINGR3 arrival."

King Air 12345:
"Cleared direct FINGR."

Fort Worth Center:
"They told us not to give any shortcuts today, but I don't see any way to do it except to give you the finger."

I was laughing too hard to hear the King Air's reply.

Steve Beckerdite
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

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Russ Niles

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Scott Simmons

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Glenn Pew

Contributors
Kevin Lane-Cummings

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Karen Lund

Avionics Editor
Larry Anglisano

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