AVWEB'S FRIDAY PODCAST:
PETER COHEN, THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN AT AMAZON'S MECHANICAL TURK
Last week a lot of us added a new term to our technological lexicon. Not many of us had heard of Amazon's Mechanical Turk, but by now tens of thousands of people all over the world, many of them AVweb readers, not only got familiar with it, they used it to help search for Steve Fossett. The Mechanical Turk uses the internet and computers to allow thousands of people to help perform a task that computers just aren't good at, like picking out airplane wreckage. Peter Cohen runs the Mechanical Turk for Amazon, and he spoke with AVweb's Russ Niles.

Click here to listen. (7.8 MB, 8:32)

CIVIL AIR PATROL MAJOR CYNTHIA RYAN ON THE SEARCH FOR FOSSETT
It's one of the most rugged and desolate parts of the world, and it's also one of the least populated, so the challenges of searching the mountains of western Nevada for Steve Fossett's tiny blue and white airplane are monumental. But there is still strong hope that Fossett will be found alive as the Civil Air Patrol, police, and even the federal government's satellite surveillance agencies throw everything they have at a search area that has grown to 10,000 square miles. As the search entered its fourth day, AVweb's Russ Niles spoke with Nevada Wing Civil Air Patrol Major Cynthia Ryan, who's in charge of the search.

Click here to listen. (7.3 MB, 7:57)

AVWEB'S MONDAY PODCAST:
MID-AIR SURVIVOR JOE SHARKEY WRESTLES WITH THE AFTERMATH OF THE EMBRAER LEGACY COLLISION
About a year ago, New York Times columnist Joe Sharkey had the life-changing experience of surviving a mid-air collision with an airliner over the Amazon jungle. Most of us are familiar with the story about the Embraer Legacy's brush with death and the tragedy that befell the 154 people on the Boeing 737 that crashed after the collision. But Sharkey, as a private journalist and not representing the Times, has naturally continued to chronicle the fallout from the crash. He brought AVweb's Russ Niles up to date on the legal quagmire that could result in the Legacy pilots, Joe Lepore, and Jan Paladino (both of Long Island) ending up international fugitives.

Click here to listen. (8.7 MB, 9:32)

SAYING GOODBYE TO BILL PIPER JR.
Aviation lost an icon when Bill Piper Jr. died at the age of 96 in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. Piper worked alongside his brothers Tony and Pug, under the guidance of founder Bill Piper Sr. to create not just a company, but help develop the entire general aviation industry. His nephew John was close to Bill Jr. and spoke to AVweb's Russ Niles about his uncle's accomplishments and on what it was like to grow up in the first family of general aviation.

Click here to listen. (10.5 MB, 11:33)