777, AERONCA CHIEF JUST MISS OVER SAN FRANCISCO
The NTSB is sending an investigator to San Francisco to figure out how a United Boeing 777 and an Aeronca Chief came within 300 feet of one another over the city on Saturday. According to an NTSB news release, the crew of the 777, operating as Flight 889 to Beijing, took evasive action at about 1,100 feet just after retracting the gear. "Both crew members reported seeing only the underside of the Aeronca as it passed to within an estimated 200-300 feet of the 777," the news release says. A tower controller issued a warning of traffic at one o'clock just before the 777's TCAS issued an audible warning. The incident happened about 11:15 a.m. local time. More...

LISTEN TO THE ATC TAPES: TOWER, "WE NEED TO TALK"
On Saturday, the crew of United Flight 889, a Boeing 777 with 251 passengers and 17 crew, reported they came within 300 feet of an Aeronca Chief while on initial climbout from San Francisco International. As the airliner took off, the tower controller warned the pilot of the Chief, who reported having the 777 in sight, to get behind the airliner. The encounter set off the TCAS in the 777, and the crew was clearly not amused. The exchange is in the same order, but we've edited out extraneous transmissions and gaps. More...

"TOTAL ECLIPSE" VLJS NOW FOR SALE
Less than a year after they took over the type design for the Eclipse very light jet, the owners of Eclipse Aerospace say they are ready to offer a limited number of fully functional copies to new owners. "The EA500 is a sophisticated, high-performance, economic twin jet with low operating costs, low environmental impact and uncompromised safety," said Mason Holland, president of Eclipse Aerospace. "In their rush to deliver the aircraft, the former manufacturer of the EA500 [Eclipse Aviation Corporation] delivered to owners an aircraft that was only about 85 percent complete. These aircraft were great performers, but still lacked several important features. We now have completed the design and engineering of the EA500." The "Total Eclipse" jet now includes FIKI (Flight Into Known Icing) and a GPS-coupled autopilot. The company had acquired unfinished jets during the bankruptcy, and bought some back from owners. It is offering the jets ready-to-fly, with a factory warranty, at $2.15 million. Owners who took delivery of the original Eclipse jets can trade theirs in for a credit of up to $1.7 million. More...

BOEING PUSHING 787 DELIVERY DEADLINE
Boeing insists the first 787 Dreamliner will be delivered to launch customer All Nippon Airways by the end of this year even though it hasn't started certification flight testing yet. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Jim Albaugh, head of Boeing's commercial airplane unit, said snags in pre-certification flight testing, one of which resulted in the shutdown of an engine, have caused delays but he said there was some cushion in the schedule. Four of the six test aircraft are flying and have accumulated about 400 hours, but Albaugh agreed there is much to do before Dec. 31. "Some people said that when the first plane actually flew we could breathe a sigh of relief because we had retired the technical risk," Albaugh told the Journal. "Nothing could be further from the truth." More...

BOMBARDIER MAKES $3.9 BILLION DEAL WITH CHINESE BANK
Bombardier has reached a $3.9 billion deal with China Development Bank Corporation's (CDBC) leasing department that could give it an important edge in selling aircraft in China. The bank has agreed to make the money available to airlines interested in buying aircraft from Bombardier. Although the financing will be available to overseas carriers, the funding will make it easier for domestic carriers to finance purchases from Bombardier, which is developing the 100-to-130-seat CSeries airliners. The fuselage for the aircraft will be built by Shenyang Aircraft Corp., which broke ground on the new factory last week. More...

NTSB ISSUES GLASS-COCKPIT SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS
Pilots need more training in the use of glass cockpit technology, the NTSB said this week. The safety board issued six recommendations (PDF) to the FAA as a follow-up to a recent report that found advanced cockpits are not helping to prevent accidents in the general aviation fleet. "Advanced avionics and electronic displays can increase the safety potential of general aviation aircraft operations," the NTSB says, "...but more effort is needed to ensure that pilots are prepared to realize that potential." The safety board said the FAA can take several steps to help improve the impact of the technology. More...

NOW ONLINE: FINAL COLGAN AIR REPORT, CARIBBEAN UPDATE, SUN 'N FUN NOTAM
Several new items of interest to pilots are now available on the Internet. The NTSB has posted its complete probable-cause report (pdf) on last year's fatal Colgan Air crash. The 285-page document details the board's findings and analysis, as well as the conclusions and recommendations that were announced at a hearing a few weeks ago. A transcript of the cockpit voice recorder is included in the appendix. For pilots who fly into the Caribbean, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted an update of its policy regarding screening of passengers (PDF). And the FAA has issued a Notam (PDF) detailing a number of special procedures in place April 11 to 18 in the central Florida region during the Sun 'n Fun fly-in. More...

ROBERTS JOINS BELL HELICOPTER

Larry D. Roberts

Larry D. Roberts has been appointed Bell Helicopter's senior vice president of commercial business. He was previously at American Eurocopter as VP of sales, marketing and customer support.
More...

WHO'S WHERE? YOU TELL US
Get a promotion or a new job? Your colleagues want to know about it, and AVwebBiz can get the word out. Drop us a line about the staff appointment, with a nice recent photo, and we'll do our best to include it in our new section, "Who's Where." The items will be permanently archived on AVweb for future reference, too. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: SETTING THE STANDARD IN WASHINGTON
There's a certain amount of discomfort that comes from discovering the top two picks, the cream of the crop, the best-of-the-best candidates for the leader of the Transportation Security Administration are a couple of guys you wouldn't want dating your sister. At least it's given AVweb editor-in-chief Russ Niles a moment's pause. In the latest installment of our AVweb Insider blog, Russ explains why President Obama needs to go back to the drawing board in seeking a new chief for the TSA. Click here to read more and share your own thoughts. More...

AVWEB'S NEWSTIPS ADDRESS ...
Our best stories start with you. If you've heard something 200,000 pilots might want to know about, tell us. Submit news tips via email to newstips@avweb.com. What have you heard? More...

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: GARMIN 430 TRICKS AND SECRETS REVEALED
If you have a Garmin GNS430, you probably know the basics — but in this video, IFR magazine's Jeff Van West reveals some ninja-level operating tricks that are practical and easy to master. More...

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: FINESSING THE RUDDER (AN EXERCISE FROM AVIATION SAFETY MAGAZINE)
Aviation Safety is continuing its series on basic flying technique. We've looked at the aerodynamics of coordinated turns. In this video, Paul Bertorelli follows up with a simple rudder exercise that he can't seem to master — but you'll have no trouble with it. More...

15 YEARS AND NOW 15 GRAND GIVEAWAYS ... IT'S YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A WXWORX XM WX SATELLITE WEATHER RECEIVER

Win an XM WX Satellite Weather receiver from WxWorx as we continue the celebration of AVweb's 15th Anniversary! All you have to do is click here to enter your name and e-mail address. (You only have to enter once, and you'll be entered in our prize drawings for the entire year — so if you've already entered, you're all set.)

And no, we're not going to rent or sell your name, ever. Tell your friends, and invite them to sign up for AVweb so they can qualify for our 15 Grand Giveaways prize drawings, too. (We won't spam them, either — but we hope they will sign up for our newsletters.)

Deadline for entries is 11:59pm Zulu time April 9, 2010.

Click here to read the contest rules and enter.

Congratulations to Colleen Keller of San Diego, California, who won a Garmin 510 aera handheld GPS in our last drawing! (click here to get your own Garmin aera)

MEET THE AVWEBBIZ TEAM

AVwebBiz is a weekly summary of the latest business aviation news, articles, products, features, and events featured on AVweb, the internet's aviation magazine and news service.

The AVwebBiz team is:

Publisher
Timothy Cole

Editorial Director, Aviation Publications
Paul Bertorelli

Editor-in-Chief
Russ Niles

Contributing Editors
Mary Grady
Glenn Pew

Features Editor
Kevin Lane-Cummings

Webmaster
Scott Simmons

Contributors
Jeff van West

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