ECLIPSE CEO VERN RABURN MAKES HIS OWN PREDICTIONS
AT THE FAA FORECAST CONFERENCE
Earlier this week, AVweb's Meredith Saini spoke with Eclipse Aviation president Vern Raburn, who was in Washington, D.C. for the FAA's 33rd annual aviation forecast conference. The company's much-touted Eclipse 500 very light jet features advanced avionics poised to take advantage of ADS-B technology, which is a key component of next-generation air traffic control systems. Listen to today's audio feature to hear what Raburn says about next-gen flying.

Click here to listen. (4.9 MB, 5:22)

AIRCRAFT ELECTRONICS ASSOCIATION'S RIC PERI GETS REAL ABOUT ADS-B
ADS-B has been in the news a lot lately, with the comment period for the FAA's requirements for the system passing last week and the National Aeronautic Association picking the technology as the winner of the prestigious Collier Trophy. Naturally, the Aircraft Electronics Association has had plenty to say about the way the FAA is going about implementing ADS-B. Ric Peri, AEA's government affairs expert, told AVweb's Russ Niles that while ADS-B is excellent technology, it's not being handled as well as it could by the FAA.

Click here to listen. (9.1 MB, 9:57)

T-34 MENTOR HOMECOMING
In conjunction with this year's 35th Anniversary of the Beechcraft Heritage Museum at the Tullahoma Regional Airport (THA) in Tennessee, one of America's premier warbirds, the T-34 Mentor, will come home. AVweb's Mike Blakeney spoke with Brad Hood of the T-34 Association about this first major gathering of legendary Beechcraft T-34 Mentors in many years, scheduled for October 15-19, 2008.

Click here to listen. (6.7 MB, 7:18)

BAILING OUT: IFR REFRESHER TALKS WITH BALLISTIC RECOVERY SYSTEMS (BRS)
Based in South St. Paul, Minnesota, BRS produces the parachute systems installed as standard equipment on all Cirrus Design aircraft and available as an after-market installation on several other makes and models (including the Cessna 172 and 182 and various light sport aircraft). BRS claims to have saved more than 200 lives with the system. To get more insight into the decision-making process involved in deploying an aircraft parachute system, Meredith Saini caught up with Larry Williams, CEO of Ballistic Recovery Systems (BRS), and John Gilmore, BRS technical and sales representative.

Click here to listen. (10.1 MB, 11:04)