ALASKA BILL: LOW INTEREST LOANS FOR AVIONICS
Low-interest loans would be offered to Alaskan pilots if a new comprehensive aviation safety initiative by that state's governor, Sarah Palin, is put in place. The loan program would act as part of a bill aiming to facilitate the purchase and cockpit installation of Capstone-compliant avionics aimed in part at improving safety by providing highly accurate physical terrain and weather information to pilots in all weather conditions. Under an FAA-sponsored test program (in which commercial operators got the gear for free) there was a significant and immediate drop in the number of accidents. More...

TERROR-FIGHTING FLIGHT INSTRUCTORS CUT OUT OF REWARD
Two former Pan Am International Flight Academy instructors who say they alerted the FBI to the strange demeanor of convicted 9/11 plotter Zacarias Moussaoui when he was a student at the school are upset that one of their colleagues was paid $5 million under the "Rewards for Justice" program and they received nothing. According to The Associated Press, Tim Nelson and Pat Sims both phoned the FBI independently when Moussaoui signed up for advanced jet training when he was clearly unfit for the course. Instead, the money went to Moussaoui's instructor Clarence Prevost, who said he was suspicious of his student but didn't actually make the call. More...

COMAIR PASSENGER BLAME CLAIM WITHDRAWN
The lawyer for the first officer and only survivor of Comair Flight 5191 says he has withdrawn a controversial defense strategy in which the passengers who died on the flight were held partly responsible for their deaths. They along with the pilot and a flight attendant died after the aircraft took off from the wrong runway at Lexington, Ky.'s airport in August of 2006. As part of first officer James Polehinke's defense against the numerous lawsuits against him, his lawyer William E. Johnson wrote in the statement of defense that the passengers should have known that taking a commercial flight from the airport was a perilous affair because of well-publicized construction on the runways. He also claimed they should have known that the air traffic control tower was understaffed, that other airports in the area were considered safer and that flying in the dark is dangerous. More...

CESSNA LARGE CABIN JET NO LONGER A "CONCEPT"
Cessna Aircraft Co. said on Thursday it will move ahead with its Large Cabin Concept jet aircraft. The aircraft will have intercontinental range and will be the largest ever in Cessna's fleet. "I'm ecstatic to announce we are extending the Citation line upward and grateful for the patience of the customers who have urged Cessna to add a large cabin Citation," said Cessna CEO Jack Pelton. The company has been showing a mock-up of the concept since late 2006 and customer feedback will be incorporated into the final design, Pelton said. "We have invested a great deal of time in evaluating this concept to determine a solid business case and involved customers very early in this program. We're confident our efforts will result in an aircraft that is right for the marketplace," he said. More...

SELL BIG, BUY SMALL
When he's not busy selling the world on the new 787 Dreamliner, Boeing Commercial Airplanes President Scott Carson will be flying his new Sport Cub S2. Carson took delivery of the light sport aircraft last week at CubCrafter's manufacturing facility in Yakima, Wash. N846SC is painted red and white in honor of Carson's alma mater, Washington State University. More...

POLISH CASA C-295M CRASH UPDATE
The Jan. 23 crash of a Polish air force air transport aircraft that killed all 20 aboard (including high-ranking officials) has led Polish officials to ground its fleet of nine EADS CASA C-295M aircraft pending the results of an investigation. The crash aircraft had fewer than 500 flight hours and its data recorder has been recovered. It clipped trees prior to crashing approximately 1 nm shy of the runway at Miroslawiec air base in northwest Poland. The crash occurred just after 7 p.m. local time. Weather at the time included cloud bases near 300 feet with heavy rain in the area. It was the aircraft's second approach. An instrument landing system had yet to be introduced at Miroslawiec, a spokesman for the Polish air forces, Lieutenant-Colonel Wies³aw Grzegorzewski, told the Polish Radio Information Agency. He added that the pilots knew that the ILS system was not operating at the base and were landing by means of a precision approach radar. More...

REPORT: 777 ENGINES WERE RUNNING AT IMPACT
Despite earlier reports that suggested both engines had quit on the Boeing 777 that crashed on final approach to Heathrow last week, the engines were still developing power at impact, the United Kingdom's Air Accident Investigation Board said on Thursday. The AAIB also said there was adequate fuel on board. The aircraft was on autopilot and stabilized on an ILS approach when the autothrust system commanded an increase in thrust from both engines. "The engines both initially responded but after about 3 seconds the thrust of the right engine reduced," according to the AAIB. "Some eight seconds later the thrust reduced on the left engine to a similar level. The engines did not shut down and both engines continued to produce thrust at an engine speed above flight idle, but less than the commanded thrust." Investigators now are working to complete a detailed analysis and examination of the complete fuel-flow path from the aircraft tanks to the engine fuel nozzles. More...

ERAU EXPANDS OPERATIONS SIM LAB
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University will open a new College of Business building this week at its Daytona Beach, Fla., campus. The $13 million, 54,000-square-foot facility will house ERAU's aviation operations simulations lab, formerly located in the flight simulator building. Researchers use the lab to test various operational scenarios, such as what it takes to unload and reload a jet on time, and then use this data to help operators maximize efficiency. Daniel Petree, dean of the business school, told AVweb that he is actively courting air taxi operators to the program. More...

WHITEKNIGHTTWO RECALLS PAST CATAMARAN DESIGNS
When Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites unveiled the final version of their spacecraft last week, the impressive double-hulled design of the WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft stirred up memories of catamaran aircraft of the past. LiveScience turned up a photo of a Russian airplane model, apparently built in the late 1970s, that is eerily similar to the Scaled design. The model shows a twin-hulled aircraft, in Aeroflot regalia, with four jet engines and a center wing built to carry a space shuttle aloft. We found other pictures of the design, called a Myasishchev 3M2, that look a little more ungainly and less WhiteKnight-like, with up to eight jet engines, a single tail surface connecting the two empennages, and the shuttle mounted in the rear. According to LiveScience, the Myasishchev design was considered scalable for use to deliver ships into orbit. More...

ON THE FLY ...
Five men died after speeding a BMW down a private runway in Fla. ...
Advocates in Arizona say aviation brings in $40 billion a year ...
Airport delays expected in Phoenix before and after SuperBowl ...
A Russian man who killed a controller appointed to a government post ...
A Texas flight instructor won a Cessna Cardinal in AOPA sweepstakes. More...

Columns | Features | What's New | Calendar | Brainteasers

THE PILOT'S LOUNGE #122: WE WORRY ABOUT THE WRONG THINGS, AND IT'S KILLING US
AVweb's Rick Durden wants to change flight training: Let's emphasize the situations that actually kill people instead of the stuff that produce headlines but aren't common. More...

CESSNA 172 SNOW CRASH PHOTOS

photos: Oregon State Police
Two Hillsboro (Ore.) residents and visitor from Israel were unhurt after the pilot of a Cessna 172 failed to check the depth of snow on the Beaver Marsh landing strip near Chenult on Friday. The tracks in the snow tell the whole story.

More...

TELL US ABOUT YOUR INTERIOR SHOP
Our sister publication, Aviation Consumer, is preparing a report on interior shops. If you recently had an interior redone, the editors would like to hear from you, whether the experience was good or bad. To take part in the online survey, click here.

The results will appear in a future issue of Aviation Consumer. For subscription information, click here. 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...

FBO OF THE WEEK: EPIC AVIATION (KEVB, NEW SMYRNA BEACH, FL)

In a week filled with stellar FBO recommendations, our "FBO of the Week" ribbon goes to Epic Aviation at KEVB in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

According to AVweb reader Robert Edelson, Epic really stepped up to the plate on a recent visit, despite having their hands full with other pilots:

The self-service pump was inop, but they refueled me by truck at the same price. Furthermore, they changed by CHT probe and cleaned a partially-blocked injector plus moved and returned our plane to its tie-down by tug, all for a time charge of one and half hours. They operate a busy flight-training operation, maintaining 20 aircraft, yet they graciously took the time to help me ... all for a reasonable rate!

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!

AVWEB'S MONDAY PODCAST: MEET FLIGHTCRAFT'S PHILLIP CARRELL (IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY)
If you have bought or sold a high-performance single or private corporate aircraft anytime in the last, say, half century or so, you might have run across Phillip Carrell. Phil just celebrated 50 years on the job at Flightcraft Inc., one of the largest providers of private and business aircraft services in the Pacific Northwest. AVweb's Mike Blakeney wants you to meet Phil, as we pay tribute to his career and contribution to aviation in this AVweb audio feature. More...

VIDEO OF THE WEEK: ALASKAN BUSH PILOTS' AMAZING STOLS
"That runway's too short for anything to take off from!" — we've all heard the sentence, and maybe a few of us have even said it, but from now on, we'll have to make a slight revision. The next time you hear someone talking about a short take-off, feel free to add, "Except, of course, for those Alaskan bush pilots doing STOLs in that video I saw on AVweb." (Just be careful what tone you use if you're talking to the PIC, O.K.?) Thanks to AVweb reader Ronnie Hughan for sending us the original video clip and YouTube user dynmicpara for the YouTube link. (Click through to watch.) More...

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

SHORT FINAL

Overheard in IFR Magazine's "On the Air"

The following exchange took place en route to the opening day at Sun 'n Fun one April:

Me:
"Jacksonville Center, Bonanza Four Seven Two Zero Yankee. 11,000."

Center:
"Bonanza Four Seven Two Zero Yankee, roger. Jacksonville altimeter 30.12."

Me:
"Are you working a lot of traffic to Lakeland this afternoon?"

Center:
"I'll tell you what: If you fell out of your airplane right now, you'd never hit the ground."

Robert J. Miller
Tonawanda, New York

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

Click here to send a letter to the editor. (Please let us know if your letter is not intended for publication.)

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If you're having trouble reading this newsletter in its HTML-rich format (or if you'd prefer a lighter, simpler format for your PDA or handheld device), there's also a text-only version of AVwebFlash. For complete instructions on making the switch, click here.

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