NEW CEO AT HAWKER BEECHCRAFT
Hawker Beechcraft's board of directors has named high-profile corporate fix-it man Steve Miller as new CEO of Hawker Beechcraft Inc., shifting former CEO Bill Boisture to the role of chairman of the company's operating subsidiary Hawker Beechcraft Corp. Miller was tapped to take over as chairman of American International Group (AIG) 18 months ago to help it continue its return to profitability and pay back more than $130 billion bailout money to the U.S. government. Known as "The Turnaround Kid" on Wall Street (he's 70), Miller has headed up companies like Bethlehem Steel and Delphi Corp. as they emerged from bankruptcy. Hawker Beech is still solvent but it has asked creditors for concessions on the terms of its operating line of credit. More...

CONGRESS OKs LONG-TERM FAA FUNDING
The Senate on Monday voted to pass a four-year FAA funding bill that just last week was agreed on by a joint committee and then passed in the House on Friday. The bill now goes to President Obama. General aviation advocacy groups were united in applauding the bill. AOPA President Craig Fuller said the $63 billion in funding provides a "vital step" toward modernizing our air traffic system and improving our airports. Pete Bunce, president of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, said, "The policies contained in this bill are critical to the health of general aviation manufacturing." For about five years, the FAA has operated on short-term funding appropriations from Congress while waiting for a full reauthorization bill to be hashed out in Congress. More...

CESSNA MATCHES EMBRAER WITH LATITUDE RANGE INCREASE
Cessna has increased the range of its new Latitude midsize business jet, leaving little doubt the new aircraft is a direct response to Embraer's entry to that market. When it was introduced at NBAA last October the 2,000-nm range raised eyebrows as it was the shortest of any in that segment. In a news release last week, Cessna said the new number is 2,300 nm, matching the Embraer Legacy 450 and a little better than others in that slot. More...

NOMINEES ANNOUNCED FOR COLLIER TROPHY
Four nominees were named last week by the National Aeronautic Association for the 2011 Robert J. Collier Trophy, which honors the "greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America." The nominees are: Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, the Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy, the Gamera human-powered helicopter, and Pipistrel's Taurus G4 electric-powered airplane. "We are very proud of the nominations we received for the 2011 Collier Trophy," said NAA Chairman Walter J. Boyne.  "Each of them -- in their own way -- mark significant progress in the advancement of aviation and aerospace on the planet, and we certainly welcome them to the Collier selection process." More...

PILOT SUES FOR LACK OF IPAD
A Virgin Australia pilot is suing the airline for almost $1 million, claiming he hurt his back hoisting a flight bag stuffed with 40 pounds of charts and manuals. David Kloster, 57, says it never would have happened if the airline had given him an iPad instead. In a filing with the Queensland Supreme Court, Kloster said the airline had an obligation to provide him (and presumably other pilots) with an alternative to lugging around the information he needed to do his job. "The defendant (Virgin Australia) exposed the plaintiff (Mr. Kloster) to a risk of injury which could have been avoided by the exercise of reasonable care," court documents said. "(Virgin Australia) failed to have in place a system of work whereby charts and rules could have been left on board its aircraft or kept electronically on an iPad." More...

PROMOTIONS AT AOPA

Heidi Williams	Craig Spence

Heidi Williams is the new Vice President of Air Traffic Services and Modernization. Craig Spence is Vice President of Operations and International Affairs.
More...

MUNZENMAYER CHANGES ROLES

Bernd Munzenmayer

Bernd "Munzie" Munzenmayer, a founder of ProStar Aviation, has sold his shares and is now an employee of the company. He's the new Senior Sales Advisor.
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: GIPPSLAND'S AIRVAN -- WHAT "NICE FLYING" REALLY MEANS
Experienced airplane people say FAR 23 is a good guideline to build safe, flyable airplanes. If the Gippsland GA8 is an example of that, they're right. On the AVweb Insider blog, Paul Bertorelli offers some thoughts on why the Airvan is such a nice flying airplane. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: THREE WISHES -- WHICH AVIATION HISTORICAL EVENTS WOULD YOU ELECT TO SEE?
If the genie popped out the bottle and granted you three wishes to witness three events in aviation history, which three would you pick? On the AVweb Insider blog, Paul Bertorelli offers his choices. Plus, there's a link to a cool 3-D video. Read more and join the conversation. More...

VIDEO: WHERE'S MY FLYING CAR?
A practical flying car with everyman usability has so far eluded the public, but we may have already been introduced to a design that could lead to a breakthrough. Some of the major challenges of producing a point-to-point simple and safe to operate vehicle are technological in nature. Autonomous navigation (enter the destination, press a button, and allow the vehicle to navigate, communicate with, and autonomously avoid other aircraft) may be one key to safely organizing masses of flying vehicles in the same airspace. And as society progresses, the gap between the dream and reality may be shrinking. 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...

MEET THE AVWEBBIZ TEAM

AVwebBiz is a weekly summary of the latest business aviation news, articles, products, features, and events featured on AVweb, the world's premier independent aviation news resource.

The AVwebBiz team is:

Publisher
Tom Bliss

Editorial Director, Aviation Publications
Paul Bertorelli

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Russ Niles

Contributing Editors
Mary Grady
Glenn Pew

Webmaster
Scott Simmons

Contributors
Kevin Lane-Cummings
Jeff Van West

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