SKYCATCHER SALES ON HOLD IN EUROPE
Cessna has run into delays certifying its Skycatcher light sport aircraft in Europe, according to the Wichita Business Journal, and has returned deposits to some of its European customers. A Cessna spokesman said no new orders will be taken in Europe until it has worked out a plan for securing certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency. As an LSA, the Skycatcher doesn't require an FAA type certificate or production certificate for U.S. sales, but the closest EASA equivalent would require the aircraft to have both, according to the Business Journal. Cessna said it is working with EASA to find an "economical solution." More...

FIGHT BREWING OVER FAA FATIGUE RULES
A bill filed in the House last week aims to extend the FAA's new airline fatigue rules to cover cargo pilots, but the effort is already drawing opposition from the cargo industry. The new FAA rules, scheduled to take effect in January 2014, stipulate that pilots must get at least 10 hours of off-duty time between flights, and can't fly more than five consecutive night shifts. The bill to change that, called the Safe Skies Act (PDF), was filed by U.S. Reps. Chip Cravaack, R-Minn., and Tim Bishop, D-N.Y. FedEx told The Hill that it would be a bad idea to impose the rules on cargo carriers. More...

INSURANCE DISCOUNTS FOR SAFETY DEVICES
Aggressive Aviation Insurance has announced it will offer up to a total of 15 percent off light aircraft insurance for aircraft equipped with certain kinds of modern safety equipment. The company says enhanced vision systems, seatbelt airbags and whole-airframe parachutes reduce risk factors in aviation and that should be recognized on the bottom line. "We believe that the aircraft owners who invest in certain proven safety equipment deserve credit, much like automobile insurers provide," said Aggressive's President, Richard Asprey. More...

AERION PREPARES FOR MORE SUPERSONIC TESTS
Aerion Corp., which has been working to bring a supersonic business jet to market, is preparing to launch another series of supersonic flight tests this summer, the company said last week. Designers are fabricating a device representative of the Aerion wing, with a 40-inch vertical span and an 80-inch chord, which will fly in the centerline position beneath NASA's F-15B research aircraft. The flights will launch from Dryden Flight Research Center in California in June or July. The tests will measure the design's supersonic boundary layer transition properties, the company said. More...

NO KICKSTART FOR SYNERGY
The team working to build a prototype of the Synergy aircraft design announced recently they would seek support via the crowd-funding source Kickstarter, but this week, designer John McGinnis said that effort has stalled. "For reasons that do not make any sense to us, Kickstarter has declined our project," his team posted on Facebook this week. Kickstarter allowed them to appeal the decision, but responded that the project "is not the best fit for Kickstarter, as it does not fit our creative arts focus." The attempt to raise funds via Kickstarter, "like the [Synergy] technology itself, may not fit comfortably into some peoples' pre-labeled boxes of status quo thinking," McGinnis told AVweb in an email on Tuesday. However, he added, "Above all, this is not going to go away." More...

MORE LAYOFFS AT HAWKER BEECHCRAFT
Hawker Beechcraft has issued layoff notices to 350 employees, the Wichita Eagle reported on Tuesday. The company, which has been struggling with more than $2 billion in debt, said in a letter to employees (PDF) that "market conditions are requiring us to adjust our overall production cadence to help ensure the company will compete effectively in the future." The notices provide a 60-day warning to workers before they are out of a job. "We are in the process of synchronizing our production line by making changes to previously planned schedules and resizing our work force," according to the letter. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: AERONAV SMACKDOWN
On the AVweb Insider blog, Paul Bertorelli lauds the Senate for tapping the brakes on the FAA's plans to charge for navigation data and wonders why it doesn't focus the same oversight on the FAA's long-delayed unleaded fuel transition committee. Read more and join the conversation. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: AERO 2012 -- SMALLER, BUT PLENTY OF NEW STUFF
This year, for the first time, Aero Friedrichshafen became an annual show, and as a result, it was a bit smaller than usual, according to veteran exhibitors. But on the AVweb Insider blog, Paul Bertorelli's summary reports on plenty of new stuff, including the Cirrus jet announcement, the stunning Pipistrel Panthera and more LSAs, ultralights and autogyros than we could even count. Attendance at Aero hovers around the 33,000 mark, but it's a potent audience of people who are seriously interested in aviation. More...

STAFF ADDITIONS AT YINGLING

Keri Jenkins	Ron Williams

Yingling Aviation has added two senior staff. Keri Jenkins is the new aviation records and document administrator. She was formerly at CAMP Systems. Ron Williams is a new customer and administrative specialist. He was an aviation lawyer at Stinson Morrison Hecker, LLP and is the chairman of the board of the Kansas Aviation Museum.
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...

VIDEO: FLIGHT DESIGN NEWS AT AERO 2012
Flight Design announced EASA certification of two aircraft and unveiled the full-scale mockup of the interior of its C4 four-place at Aero 2012 last week. More...

VIDEO: AVWEB'S AERO ENGINE TOUR
At Aero 2012 in Friedrichshafen, the German Fliegermagazin has sponsored an engaging display of aircraft powerplants ranging from tiny electric engines to a new turbofan from a French company called Price Induction. AVweb video contributor and Fliegermagazin editor Thomas Borchert shows us three of the most interesting engines in the collecton. More...

VIDEO: MESSERSCHMIDT BF 109 SIMULATOR
If you could fly a Messerschmitt Bf 109, how cool would that be? A simulator is the next best thing. In this AVweb video from Aero 2012 in Friedrichshafen, Germany, we get a sim tour from Hans Schmid. 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.

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Tom Bliss

Editorial Director, Aviation Publications
Paul Bertorelli

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Russ Niles

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Glenn Pew

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Scott Simmons

Contributors
Kevin Lane-Cummings
Jeff Van West

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