ECLIPSE CLARIFIES SIKORSKY RELATIONSHIP
Sikorsky remains a key partner in Eclipse Aerospace's plan to resume production of the very light jet. In a podcast interview with AVweb, Eclipse CEO Mason Holland said comments attributed to Greg Hayes, the CFO of United Technologies Corp. (UTC), the parent company of Sikorsky, that there would be no further investment in Eclipse by UTC may have been misconstrued by some. "We haven't asked for any more money from UTC or Sikorsky," Holland said. "We do have a funded plan for production." He said Sikorsky continues to take an active role in that process, particularly in supply chain management and manufacturing. In fact, the airframe will be built at Sikorsky's PZL plant in Poland. Final assembly will be in Albuquerque. More...

PODCAST: ECLIPSE, SIKORSKY DEAL SOLID
Despite some provocative comments from a senior executive with Sikorsky's parent company UTC last week, the relaunch of the Eclipse very light jet is very much a joint operation between Eclipse and Sikorsky. Eclipse CEO Mason HollandAVweb's Russ Niles about how the two companies are working together to build the new Eclipse 550. More...

HANG GLIDER PILOT CHARGED WITH SWALLOWING CAMERA CARD THAT RECORDED FATAL FALL
A Vancouver-area hang glider pilot and business owner has been arrested and criminally charged in connection with the death of one of his clients in a weekend accident. William Jonathan Orders, 50, of the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby, was charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly swallowing a memory card from a camera that was mounted on the aircraft to record the tandem flight. As we reported Monday, the woman, since identified as Lenami Dafne Godinez, 27, fell about 1,000 feet just after she and Orders launched from a mountain about 80 miles east of Vancouver. More...

DELTA BUYS OIL REFINERY
Delta Air Lines has bought its own oil refinery in hopes of reducing its fuel costs. The airline took an already-closed refinery near Philadelphia off ConocoPhillips's hands for $150 million and plans to spend $100 million to make it crank out as much jet fuel as possible. It will also continue to make gasoline and other refinery products. The fuel will be sent by pipeline to Delta's hubs in the Northeast. Although the logic seems obvious, analysts say the move is nevertheless risky for Delta because it will be at the mercy of world oil prices when buying its feedstock. Most airlines try to cushion against big variations in oil prices by hedging their future fuel needs when prices are favorable. Although it seems like a big risk, the experiment has to be viewed in the context of Delta's staggering $11.8 billion annual fuel bill, and the potential $300 million saving will amount to only a few dollars per passenger flight. More...

CESSNA ADDS 150 JOBS IN WICHITA
Cessna Aircraft will bring back some laid-off workers and also hire some new ones to add 150 jobs to its workforce, The Wichita Eagle reported last week. The workers will help the company boost production in anticipation of increased demand. Cessna also recently hired more sales staff, according to the Eagle. Recent production numbers from the General Aviation Manufacturers Association showed that Cessna delivered more airplanes in 2011 than it did the year before. Since 2009, the company has cut more than 6,000 jobs in Wichita. More...

HAI RAISES ALARM OVER NATIONAL PARK RULES
New legislation now in the works would allow the National Park Service to regulate air tour operators in airspace above U.S. national parks, Helicopter Association International said this week. HAI said the proposal is "unacceptable, establishes a dangerous precedent, and would transfer the FAA's statutory role in overseeing air safety to third parties." The amendment (PDF) to the Senate version of the Highway Authorization bill would grant authority to the Park Service director to regulate commercial air tours above the parks and within a half mile of park borders. If it passes, the bill would enable the Park Service to unilaterally eliminate air tours above the parks, HAI said. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: POST-AERO COMMENTARY -- TIME FOR THE U.S. TO GET BUSY
There's a ton of U.S. capital on the sidelines looking for growth opportunities. In Europe, some of it goes into aircraft manufacturing. In special video post to the AVweb Insider blog, Paul Bertorelli asks, "Why not in the U.S.?" Read more and join the conversation. More...

SPENCE INTERIM IAOPA HEAD

Craig Spence

Craig Spence has taken over as interim secretary general of the International Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. John Sheehan, who held the role for 15 years, retired May 1.
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'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...

VIDEO: WILLIAM RANKIN, THE MAN WHO RODE THE THUNDER
The story of William Rankin's ejection at 47,000 feet and 500 knots is legendary, not only because the fall took him 40 minutes, but also because he lived to talk about it. There are other and more recent cases of people who have been drawn into thunderstorms under canopy and not every one ends in survival. 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

Editor-in-Chief
Russ Niles

Contributing Editors
Mary Grady
Glenn Pew

Webmaster
Scott Simmons

Contributors
Kevin Lane-Cummings
Jeff Van West

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