Hilton Software, developers of the WingX Pro aviation app, is advising its subscribers not to upgrade their iPads and iPhones to the new iOS 7 operating system because the new operating system has stability issues. The company says it believes its app is fully compatible with iOS 7 but the operating system itself has a variety of issues, including lock ups, random reboots and strange behavior of the user interface. Read More

The Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE) says the FAA should be looking in pilots' logbooks to help it curtail the GA accident rate. The organization told a recent meeting on the FAA's data collection process that the agency should "start collecting information on pilot recurrent safety training in addition to the data it already collects on airports, aircraft and aircraft activity," SAFE said in a news release. Read More

A new direct to final rule issued Sept. 16 by the FAA introduces a subtle but substantive change for CFI candidates, and according to NAFI chairman of the board Robert Meder, "This is a good thing." The new rule considers practical tests flown for the issuance of a flight instructor certificate, or renewal of a flight instructor certificate, or the addition of a rating to a flight instructor certificate, or reinstatement of the certificate, as meeting 24-calendar month flight review (BFR) requirements. Without specific conditions, they previously did not. The rule goes into effect November 15, and until then, practical test rides for flight instructor candidates will continue to be treated as different from other ratings. Read More

China is expecting to lead the region's demand for new commercial pilots as it takes delivery of more than 5,500 aircraft over the next two decades, and its current pilot population may already be stretching work hours to meet demand, so changes are likely coming. China's civil aviation had a shortfall of 10,000 pilots in 2012, Zou Jianjun, a professor at the Civil Aviation Management Institute of China, told ChinaDaily.com.cn. The largest gap, Zou said, is with wide-body qualified captains, and air traffic is expected to grow. One pilot told the news agency he's already flying more than 90 hours, monthly, "which is near the authority's upper limit of 100 hours." There are solutions in the works that may bode well for GA. Read More

Lufthansa and two leasing companies have placed orders at a combined total of roughly $19 billion (not including discounts) for large jets that don't yet exist in Boeing's line-up, the 787-10 and the 777-9X. The jets currently exist only as computer designs. Planned production of the 787-10, which will be the largest of the Dreamliner family and capable of carrying about 330 passengers, was announced this summer. The 777-9X is designed to carry 400 passengers and is expected to compete with Airbus' A350 series planes. Punctuating that point, Lufthansa split its order, requesting 34 777-9X jets from Boeing and 25 of Airbus' slightly smaller A350s. Airbus, however, has acquired more orders for the year, overall, which has become somewhat of a trend. Read More

The NTSB Thursday announced it has issued a Final Rule applicable to the aviation certificate enforcement appeals process and that it is also issuing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to extend one of that rule's benefits to pilots involved in emergency enforcement cases. The Final Rule allows pilots offers pilots specific protections. Among them, the FAA must disclose its enforcement investigative report to a pilot involved in an enforcement case. A separate proposed new rule would extend that specific right to pilots involved in emergency enforcement cases. Read More

The Air Force, through Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh, has publicized an account (perhaps the first) involving the engagement of an F-22 Raptor and Iranian F-4s flying within 16 miles of an MQ-1 Predator drone as the UAV flew over international waters off the coast of Iran. Welsh delivered the account Tuesday, saying the event took place in March. According to Welsh, Air Force Reservist Lt. Col. Kevin "Showtime" Sutterfield closed on the F-4s while flying the Raptor. Per the account, Sutterfield flew the jet to well within visual range, unnoticed. He then slipped the fighter under the wings of one of the Iranian jets. Read More

No surprise that Redbird is seeing overwhelming response to its plan to see avgas for $1 a gallon during the month of October. Just to keep things from turning too chaotic, the company announced some ground rules this week. Read More

John Laming writes: "The old saying of 'I can type at 80 words a minute but I can't fly' applies, in my opinion, to a high percentage of airline pilots around the world. Belatedly, in April of this year, the FAA issued a safety alert for operators, the purpose of which was to encourage operators to promote manual flight operations when appropriate. At least the FAA appears to be the first regulator to take action to tackle the world-wide pilot tendency for automation addiction. This addiction has seen many loss-of-control events that involved pilots being so wedded to the automatic pilot that [pilots] have lost basic instrument flying skills, if they had any in the first place." ... Click through to read the rest of this letter and other mail from AVweb readers. Read More

Periodically, we run a sampling of the letters received to our editorial inbox. One letter that's particularly relevant, informative, or otherwise compelling will headline this section as our "Letter of the Week," and we'll send the author an official AVweb baseball cap as a "thank you" for interacting with us (and the rest of our readership).

Send us your comments and questions using this form. Please include your mailing address in your e-mail (just in case your letter is our "Letter of the Week"); by the same token, please let us know if your message is not intended for publication.

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While flying IFR with a student in the Connecticut air space, we overheard a pilot with a Deep Southern accent ask the Bradley controller, "Will you let us go direct to 'HEY DO' today?" ... The controller replied, "We call that 'HADUX' up here." ... The pilot then answered, "We thought it sounded Cajun." ... Multiple laughter was heard on controller's mic as he announced, "Cleared direct, 'HEY DO.'" -- Rich Bertoli, via e-mail Read More

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.

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