VIRGIN GALACTIC UNVEILS SPACESHIPTWO DESIGN
Virgin Galactic unveiled the final designs of SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo at a press conference in New York on Wednesday. The construction of White Knight Two, the gangly mothership that carries the spaceship aloft before it ignites its rocket engine, is now very close to completion at Scaled Composites in Mojave, Calif., the company said, and flight testing should begin this summer. The ship is not just a larger version of the original aircraft, but is substantially different, with four Pratt & Whitney PW308A jet engines and dual fuselages. No promises were made, but since Virgin Galactic is calling 2008 "The Year of the Spaceship," we wouldn't be surprised to see WhiteKnightTwo fly into Oshkosh for a public intro at EAA AirVenture in July. The airplane is the world's largest all-carbon-composite aircraft, the company said. The spaceship itself features the original version's unique "shuttlecock" wing configuration, but is substantially larger, with room for eight. More...

ADAM NEEDS AN IMMEDIATE $25 MILLION
Adam Aircraft faces "liquidation" if it doesn't raise $25 million by the end of January. In a letter to shareholders, CEO John Wolf said that without the immediate cash injection, Adam will have to take action to meet the terms of agreements with "senior lenders," according to the Wichita Eagle. The lenders were not identified. Adam spokeswoman Shelly Simi told the Eagle the money crunch has to do with financial obligations coming due. "It's like every other loan or any other type of funding," said Simi. "There's always stipulations or requirements and that's what we're working through as every other company would." More...

ALPHA AVIATION CLOSES
Alpha Aviation, a Hamilton, N.Z.-based planemaker laid off most of its 70 staff and went into liquidation this week after a three-month search to find a buyer failed to turn up any prospects. In 2004, the company bought the rights to the French-made Robin two-place low-wing aircraft. The plan was to sell updated versions of sporty aircraft to the flight training market under the name the Alpha 2000. The aircraft was certified in the U.S. in 2007 and, a short time later, hired former Mooney CEO Gretchen Hahn as general manager. More...

CORONA MIDAIR VICTIMS IDENTIFIED
Investigators from the NTSB are trying to figure out why a Cessna 172 and a Cessna 150 collided in midair about a mile south of the Corona Municipal Airport in California on Sunday, killing the pilot and passenger of each aircraft plus one person on the ground. According to The Associated Press, the Riverside County Coroner's Office identified the dead as Scott Gayle Lawrence, 55, of Cerritos; Paul Luther Carlson, 73, also of Cerritos; Brandon William Johnson, 24, of Costa Mesa; Anthony Joel Guzman, 20, of Hesperia; and Earl Smiddy, 58, of Moreno Valley. Smiddy was reportedly crushed inside a car dealership when one of the aircraft pierced the building's roof. More...

SEABIRD'S SIGHT-SEER
Seabird Aviation Australia is looking into the feasibility of producing a three seat variant of its Seeker SB7L-360 to take advantage of the aircraft's helicopter-like forward sitting bubble cabin and target the sight-seeing industry. The Sight-Seer would take advantage of the aircraft's pusher configuration, with its cabin located ahead of the high wing and aft-facing engine to maximize visibility for passengers by placing them fore of the pilot. That would provide a nearly unobstructed view for the two passengers and locate the pilot and instrument panel in a center position, behind them. A proof of concept aircraft could fly by mid-2008, providing a platform far more operationally efficient than the helicopters it might replace. More...

AOPA: CONGESTION PRICING DISCRIMINATORY
AOPA will fight any attempt to impose peak-hour pricing (congestion pricing) under AOPA President Phil Boyer's charge that "all federally funded airports, by law, must be open to all classes of users without unjust discrimination." Boyer added that general aviation is not the problem causing airline delays and shouldn't pay a penalty for them. AOPA further charges that the FAA's airport rates and charges guidelines ultimately are ineffective and unfair. Additional runway capacity and modernized air traffic control are the solutions to crowded runways, according to Boyer, who is pushing for an FAA funding bill without user fees. In his comments, Boyer also announced frustration with the Bush administration, saying it ignored recommendations from a committee it had chartered that found congestion pricing "may not be effective in moving flights out of peak times," AOPA said in a release. Boyer added, "Why did they waste taxpayer money chartering an advisory committee if they weren't going to listen to the recommendations?" More...

"NEW" ULTRALIGHT UNVEILED
You haven't heard much about ultralights since the advent of the light sport category, but the Part 103 category still exists. But with advances in technology and materials, the latest ultralights are nothing like their irrigation-pipe-and Dacron ancestors. The Czech-built ZJ-Viera is a carbon-fiber and Ceconite low-wing aircraft that weighs only 160 pounds (100 pounds less than the maximum weight for an ultralight) but will carry 240 pounds at the Part 103 maximum speed of 55 knots and a stall speed of 24 knots. More...

LIBERTY TESTS ROTAX TURBO
Liberty Aerospace is gathering opinions from prospective customers about a version of the XL2 powered by an 115-hp turbocharged Rotax 914 engine. Marketing Director Randy Burnley said there is demand in Europe for the quiet, mogas-powered aircraft and it was decided to try the configuration out. He stressed that no decisions have been made on whether to go ahead with the aircraft, which would be fully certified in the standard category, an expensive and time-consuming process. "We just want to see what people think of the idea," he told AVweb at the US Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring, Fla. He said the turbo Rotax offers some important advantages over the conventionally powered version. More...

CANADIAN OPERATOR SUES TRANSPORT CANADA OFFICIALS
The manager of a small airline that had a fatal crash on Vancouver Island two years ago is suing Transport Canada and three of its senior employees for defamation. Nikolas Todd Chapman claims the officials unjustly lifted his authority to act as the operations manager for International Express Aircharter the day after one of its aircraft, a Cessna Grand Caravan, crash landed in a logging clearing, killing the pilot and two of seven passengers. At the time, Transport Canada said Chapman "failed to fulfil his responsibility as operations manager to control the operations and operational standards of all aircraft operated by IAE." Canada's Transportation Safety Board later determined the crash was caused by an engine failure and Chapman claims in the suit that there's no way he could have predicted or prevented it. More...

ON THE FLY ...
Japanese inventors say their paper airplane could fly from space to Earth ...
Ski planes will fly in to Pioneer Airport in Oshkosh this weekend. More...

AVWEB'S NEWSTIPS ADDRESS ...
Our best stories start with you. If you've heard something that 130,000 pilots might want to know about, tell us. Submit news tips via email to newstips@avweb.com. What have you heard? More...

BRAINTEASERS QUIZ #129: WINTER SPORT FLYING
"Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but ski-flying is so delightful. So long as you fly in Minnesota, let it snow, let it snow ..." Who're we kiddin'? Winter sucks. So hasten spring's arrival by smoking this quiz.

Take the quiz.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: YOUR FIRST LSA
Having just covered the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring, Florida, we can't help but notice that interest in these little airplanes is still on the rise. This week, we want to know: When do you plan to buy your first LSA?
Plus: What did AVweb readers tell us about their upgrade and add-on plans for 2008? More...

FBO OF THE WEEK: DIXIE AVIATION (KCTY, CROSS CITY, FL)

AVweb's "FBO of the Week" ribbon goes to Dixie Aviation Services at KCTY in Cross City, Florida.

AVweb reader Alec Thigpen brought Dixie to our attention:

I stopped in twice last month on a trip to the Keys and got a very low price for full service ... . On the way back, I stopped in again for a topoff, and even though it was after the time cutoff for the Saturday 25¢ discount, they gave it to me anyway, without me asking ... and the manager couldn't have been more hospitable. It is a small FBO but very nice, and they have snacks, sandwiches, and ice cream.

Keep those nominations coming. For complete contest rules, click here.

AVweb is actively seeking out the best FBOs in the country and another one, submitted by you, will be spotlighted here next Monday!

Original, Exclusive Videos from AVweb | Reader-Submitted & Viral Videos

On November 2, 2007, an F-15C with the 110th Fighter Squadron (of the 131st Fighter Wing) broke up while conducting an air-to-air training mission. This video, produced by Glenn Pew for AVweb, covers the military investigative board's findings.

Don't see a video screen? Try disabling ad blockers and refreshing this page. If that doesn't work, click here to download the video directly.

Related Content:
F-15s Grounded, Structural Failure Suspected

PICTURE OF THE WEEK: AVWEB'S FLYING PHOTOGRAPHY SHOWCASE
Our fingers and toes are feeling the winter chill, but a torrent of new photos from readers around the globe warmed our heart this week. Before we dive in, special thanks to everyone who took time to type out detailed descriptions of their photos. We only have time to run a few of them here each week, and we realize that it must seem like you're typing into a vacuum sometimes when you're submitting those forms. Believe us, we read all your comments, and if we came anywhere close to having the time, we'd try to respond to them. That said, we do appreciate all you have to say. (And we learned a PhotoShop trick or two!)

Rob Neil of Amberley, New Zealand gets things off this ground with this awesome helicopter pic. As the editor of Pacific Wings magazine, Rob is no stranger to photos of aircraft — and if he's anything like the editors of our sister magazines, he'll appreciate someone sending him hat in the mail. ('Cause he probably doesn't have time to run to the mall, folks!) More...

AVWEBBIZ: AVWEB'S BUSINESS AVIATION NEWSLETTER
HAVE YOU SIGNED UP yet for AVweb's NO-COST weekly business aviation newsletter, AVwebBiz? Reporting on breaking news, Business AVflash focuses on the companies, the products and the industry leaders that make headlines in the business aviation industry. Business AVflash is a must read. Sign up today at http://www.avweb.com/profile/. More...

MEET THE AVWEBFLASH TEAM

AVwebFlash is a weekly summary of the latest news, articles, products, features, and events featured on AVweb, the internet's aviation magazine and news service.

The AVwebFlash team is:

Publisher
Timothy Cole

Editorial Director, Aviation Publications
Paul Bertorelli

Editor-in-Chief
Russ Niles

Managing Editor
Meredith Saini

Contributing Editors
Mary Grady
Glenn Pew

Features Editor
Kevin Lane-Cummings

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