The Top Headlines From AVweb's Expanded, Illustrated News Coverage At AVweb's NewsWire.

WHAT WORKS AND WHAT DOESN'T: MOONEY RESTRUCTURES...
Last week, Mooney Airplane Company announced a new financial restructuring deal that may help balance the books. President Nelson Happy said the agreement gives Mooney "less debt and more cash," as investors recognized the company needed more working capital and less debt. Specifically, the company changed the holdings of convertible debentures, which are basically credit notes, into share holdings, therefore making the investors’ interest more of an ownership stake. More...

...A NEW STC FOR THE CESSNA 206H...
This week, Soloy Corporation announced FAA certification of the Soloy Turbine Pac-powered Cessna T206H/206H. The Washington-state aircraft modification company has already delivered more than 60 turbine 206G model conversions over the past few years. The company claims the new package offers a host of improvements over its last mods. More...

...AND RAYTHEON SCRAPS THE STARSHIP
While things seem to be looking up at Mooney and Soloy, Raytheon is preparing to eliminate the remains of a failed project. The company is planning to scrap the 40 remaining Starships in its fleet. The canard-design, twin-turboprop pushers were built from 1988 to 1995. It also owns the three planes built as prototypes. While the airplane's debut initially made for a lot of hoopla and head-turning, its sales were dismal. More...

TAKING THE PILOT OUT OF FLYING...
While unmanned aircraft, for obvious reasons, are an increasingly popular option for the military, drone builders are now expanding their horizons to the civilian market. This became apparent at last week's Paris Air Show, a venue traditionally known for exhibiting the best specimens of manned aircraft. With the success of drones -- like the Global Hawk -- in recent military conflicts, the recent buzz seems to concentrate on the use of this technology for commercial purposes. More...

...BUT HOW SAFE ARE THEY?
So, how safe would our skies be with a fleet of unmanned aircraft flying around? The U.S. government has asked NASA to research advanced collision-avoidance technology. You may remember AVweb's recent reporting on this program, which detailed this equipment and the role it may play in future development programs. More...

AOPA BATTLES STATE LEGISLATURES
State governments seem hell-bent on adding a hefty price to the cost of flying and AOPA has recently stepped up its fight against such measures. For starters, the Ohio House has inserted a previously deleted measure into its version of the state budget that would hike the registration fee for general aviation aircraft a whopping 800 percent. AOPA President Phil Boyer called on Ohio Gov. Bob Taft to exercise his line-item veto and eliminate the drastic jump. "That pilot has been paying about $12 to register his single-engine four-seat aircraft," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. "He's now going to have to pay $100; exactly the same as a major airline would for a 747 or an Airbus 340." More...

MORE SMALL AIRCRAFT JOIN WILDFIRE FIGHT
The wildfire season is upon us and small aircraft are playing a more prominent role in putting them out. Because of the rash of accidents involving heavier firefighting aircraft last year, this season will see more use of smaller, single-engine airplanes fighting the blazes. This is mainly due to the U.S. Forest Service's and the Bureau of Land Management's restrictions on several larger models of fire tankers, including the C130A. The Baltimore Sun reported the big iron will have to carry 15-percent lighter loads to reduce wing stress. A fleet of Single Engine Air Tankers (SEAT) will take up the firefighting slack. More...

SAN JOSE AIRPORT CURFEW CHALLENGED ... AGAIN
What do Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and the San Jose SaberCats have in common? They are combatants in the ongoing battle against San Jose's airport curfew. Ellison won his battle, but Horta LLC, which owns the Boeing 727 used to shuttle the arena football team, is just starting its fight. It has filed a lawsuit against the city of San Jose to allow the use of the jet during the restricted hours of 11:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. City Attorney Rick Doyle claims the plane is louder than any aircraft allowed to use the airport during the curfew but Horta's attorneys dispute that and want permission to use the jet during the season, which runs from February to June. More...

USAF CREW GUIDES CARGO PLANE TO SAFETY
A U.S. Air Force crew's quick action may have prevented a South Pacific ditching by the crew of a Canadian cargo aircraft. The Kelowna Flightcraft Convair 580 was on a delivery flight from the company's base in Kelowna, British Columbia, to Palmerston North, New Zealand, when the crew, two Canadians and a Kiwi, realized they were far off course. On the last leg of the flight, from Pago Pago in American Samoa, the crewmembers realized something was out of sync when their navigation gear said they were over New Zealand but there was nothing but deep blue sea under them. That's when the Air Force came to the rescue. More...

THE BATTLE FOR BOEING'S BUSINESS
Now that Boeing has a name for its new jet -- the Dreamliner -- the race is on to build a manufacturing facility for the ambitious project. To date, about 24 states have submitted bids to host the new assembly plant. All kinds of incentives -- from tax breaks to favorable zoning -- are being offered with the hefty proposals. The deadline for submittal was Friday the 13th, but Boeing declined to say how many states had actually submitted proposals. "Now the hard work for us begins," Mike Bair, senior vice president of the 7E7 Dreamliner program, told the Associated Press. More...

AMERICAN PILOTED MISSING AFRICAN 727
As the mystery of a missing African airliner lingers, more details of its disappearance, and a U.S. connection, are surfacing. The missing plane has been the subject of an international search since it vanished after departing Angola on May 25. The last known flight of the Boeing 727 was recorded shortly after it had been repossessed from Angola Air, which failed to make payments on the jet, according to the South African news service News24. A Florida family now claims a relative of theirs was the pilot hired to retrieve the aircraft. According to them, 51-year-old Ben Padilla had been contracted by a Miami-based firm to repossess the jet. They discount suggestions the aging airliner was stolen for criminal purposes. The family fears the jet crashed somewhere in the African continent. Stay tuned...

ON THE FLY...
Friends of Meigs is asking for pledges to support future legal fees...
Eight pax were injured while evacuating a B-757 in Tampa...
Officials claim pirate radio is affecting ATC communications in Taipei...
A replaced SFAR will renew expired certificates for armed-forces personnel...
NASA is planning on reinstating shuttle launches in the 1Q of 2004. More...

AVWEB'S PICTURE OF THE WEEK...

*** PREVIOUS RESULTS ***

We received over 90 pictures last week. Congratulations to this week's winner, Jim Parker, of Lutz, Fla. His photo, titled "VW Convertible" is certainly one of the most unusual we've seen so far. If you're wondering what the structure is hanging from the aircraft's wing, just take a look in the background. You'll notice a "convertabalized" VW van sitting on the ramp. This is what happens when aircraft and automobiles hit. Great picture Jim! Your AVweb hat is on the way.

To check out the winning picture, or to enter next week's contest, go to http://www.avweb.com/potw.

**Due to privacy issues, AVweb does not publish e-mail addresses of readers who submit photos. More...

AVWEB'S QUESTION OF THE WEEK...

*** PREVIOUS RESULTS ***

We received over 300 responses to our question last week on the Paris Air Show. The largest group (39 percent) of those responding felt the American boycott of the event was necessary and it was time for the U.S. industry to show its collective power. Following behind, 30 percent thought the holdout did the U.S. more harm than good, while 4 percent felt the American aerospace industry's image was tainted in the process.

To check out the complete results, go to http://www.avweb.com/qotw.

*** THIS WEEK'S QUESTION ***

This week, we would like to know your thoughts on cellphone use in airplanes. Please go to http://www.avweb.com/qotw to respond.

Have an idea for a new QOTW? Send your suggestions to qotw@avweb.com. Note, this address is ONLY for suggested QOTW questions, and NOT for QOTW answers. More...

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AVweb's AVscoop Award...

Congratulations and an AVweb hat go out to Read Meban, this week's AVscoop winner. Submit news tips via email to newstips@avweb.com. Rules and information are at http://www.avweb.com/contact/newstips.html.

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New Articles and Features on AVweb

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COLUMNS
Say Again? #25: Beating the System
The more pilots try to beat the system, the more work controllers have to do to keep everybody safe. AVweb's Don Brown had a recent difficult week when Atlanta ARTCC was understaffed, under-radared, and overstressed. This kind of week will only become more common as both traffic levels and ATC retirements increase, unless everybody goes back to following the rules.

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THE SYSTEM
Set Up For Success
Sure you fly the gauges. The trick is to flow the entire panel with a procedure in mind. (This article originally appeared in the July 2002 issue of IFR Magazine and is reprinted here by permission.)

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AVflash is a twice-weekly summary of the latest aviation news, articles, products, features and events featured on AVweb, the Internet's Aviation Magazine and News Service. http://www.avweb.com

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Today's issue written by News Writer Arturo Weiss:
http://www.avweb.com/contact/authors.html#aweiss
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