AVWEB'S FRIDAY PODCAST:
DAVID BILLINGS AND THE ENDURING MYSTERY OF AMELIA EARHART
Every year about this time, we hear about the mysterious disappearance of Amelia Earhart. Was she taken prisoner by the Japanese only to die or be executed in captivity? Or did she, her navigator Fred Noonan, and their specially-outfitted Lockheed Electra simply vanish into the vastness of the South Pacific?

David Billings, an aircraft engineer in Brisbane, Australia, says he has hard evidence that strongly suggests that Electra, and the 70-year-old mystery it contains, is under a mat of jungle on New Britain Island, off New Guinea. AVweb's Russ Niles asked Billings about the evidence, why it's important that we put the Earhart story to rest, and the relatively modest effort that would achieve that goal.

Click here to listen. (11.7 MB, 12:47)

BUSINESSJETSEATS ENTERS THE AIR-TAXI MARKET
Another per-seat, on-demand air-taxi firm emerged this week, charged and ready to start service immediately. It's called BusinessJetSEATS and is headed by former Avantair investor Alfred Rapetti. His new company is licensing the enabling technologies and back office systems from startup air-taxi firm Earthjet, in addition to partnering with CharterX for access to an available business jet fleet. AVweb Editor-in-Chief Chad Trautvetter spoke with Earthjet President and CEO Dean Rotchin and BusinessJetSEATS CEO Rapetti to uncover the details of this new service.

Click here to listen. (12.0 MB, 13:11)

AIRVENTURE PREVIEW WITH EAA'S DICK KNAPINSKI
The countown toward each EAA AirVenture begins when the show closes each year, but it's now a little more than two weeks before the big event and the anticipation is starting to build. The 2007 event kicks off in Oshkosh, Wisconsin on July 23, and it will be a week of memorable performances, announcements, and enough hangar talk to last most of us the rest of the year. AVweb's Russ Niles spoke with EAA's communications director Dick Knapinski about what's new and what we can expect to see at this year's AirVenture.

Click here to listen. (7.5 MB, 8:13)