SPORT PILOT RULE CHANGES COMING
The FAA will publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Tuesday that makes more than 20 revisions to the rules for Sport Pilot certificates. According to Paul Hamilton, the author and DVD producer of Sport Pilot materials for ASA, there are some significant changes being proposed but nothing that should upset most involved in the category. Among the highlights is a requirement for at least an hour of instrument training for anyone who wants to fly a Light Sport Aircraft that goes faster than 87 knots. The various ratings and endorsements available are now attached to the certificate rather than logbook entries and there are a lot of housekeeping details that clarify and, in some cases, alter the role and responsibility of an instructor. (Click through for video of Hamilton detailing the changes.) More...

NEW TURBOS FOR OLDER CIRRUS SR22S
Cirrus and Tornado Alley have enjoyed smashing success with the turbonormalized SR22. Now that Tornado Alley has caught its production up to Cirrus's impressive demand, it's doing what it set out to in the first place: making the turbonormalizing systems available to aftermarket SR22 owners. TAT's Tim Roehl told AVweb about these systems when we visited the TAT booth on Thursday afternoon. Roehl said the Cirrus aftermarket kits will be available for all but the earliest model SR22s and should begin shipping by late 2008 or early 2009. Turbonormalizing turns the already speedy SR22 into a 200-knot-plus airplane in the low flight levels. In a little more than a year, Cirrus has sold some 500 factory turbonormalized SR22 and demand continues to be strong. More...

ELECTRAFLYER FLIES TRIKE, MOTORGLIDER ON BATTERY POWER
For the sport flyer who enjoys local fun flights and $100 hamburgers, Electraflyer's new battery-powered airplane may be just right -- and with no fuel to burn, it can cut the cost of that hamburger down to about 60 cents. That's how much it costs to fully charge the lithium-polymer battery pack, says Randall Fishman, president of the Electraflyer Corp. The electric engine is mounted on an old Monnet motorglider that Fishman built from a kit, and the aircraft just this week earned its experimental airworthiness certificate. Fishman also is flying a battery-powered trike, which has about 55 hours on it. The battery pack has an endurance of about an hour and a half on the trike, and Fishman said he is still tweaking it on the airplane, but expects it will last about the same or a little longer. The charging unit weighs about five pounds, he said, so it's easy to take it with you and recharge anywhere. "It's so quiet when you're flying, you can hear the wind going by, and there's no vibration," he told AVweb at Sun 'n Fun on Saturday. He's selling copies of the trike, and engine kits for homebuilders, from his Web site; a complete trike system runs about $17,000. More...

INDUS DIESEL THORPEDO — 100 KNOTS AT THREE GPH
The WAM diesel-powered IndUs Thorpedo LSA arrived on schedule to a packed news conference at Sun 'n Fun on Saturday and there was a cluster of people around it most of the day. With the numbers IndUS is reporting, it's no wonder. The supercharged and turbocharged three-cylinder, two-cycle inverted cylinder diesel puts out 120 hp. Spokesman Scott Severin told AVweb it pulls the low-wing along at 100 knots on three gph. While the LSA flew for the first time with the diesel only a few days ago, company spokesman Scott Severin said the engine has been extensively tested by IndUS. The engine is undergoing Light Sport certification and initial TBO is 1,000 hours but is expected to go to 3,000 hours. (Click through for video of Severin showing us around the Thorpedo.) More...

NEW TRAINING VIDEOS AIM TO ENTERTAIN AND EDUCATE
Legendary pilot Dick Rutan stars in the first volume of the Aviator Series training videos, a new project by Fly Right Films. "Dick tells such great stories, and we use those as a starting point to teach the viewer about safe flying techniques," producer Chris Jules told AVweb at Sun 'n Fun on Saturday. In the first 40-minute video, called "Attitude Flying," Rutan talks about safe recovery from unusual attitudes, how to fly IFR with less fatigue, and more. Clips are showing on a widescreen at Forward Vision's booth. The film captures the feeling of going flying with Dick Rutan and picking up great tips from his extensive and unique flying experiences -- there is no sitting-in-a-classroom or crammming-for-a-test tedium, yet by the end, you'll be a smarter pilot. The trailer is online at the company's Web site. The full-length video will debut at EAA AirVenture at Oshkosh this summer, Jules said. The DVD then will go on sale for $59.95. More...

KEVLAR-BUILT FALCON LS DEBUTS AT SUN 'N FUN
The LSA world has busily populated itself with a wide variety of aircraft, but the Falcon LS, which is showing for the first time here at Sun 'n Fun this week, stands out with a sleek, muscular, sporty look. "It's the Kevlar," said T&T Aviation vice president Tom Pizzuti, who was minding the airplane under the hot morning sun. T&T plans to assemble the all-composite aircraft in Pennsylvania, with parts fabricated in Europe, Pizzuti said. The airplane is still in the certification process, but Pizzuti says he hopes that will be complete by mid-May. The show airplane has a Lycoming engine installed, which gives the airplane a useful load of 492 pounds. Other possible options offered by the company include Continental, Rotax, or Jabiru engines, all of which are lighter, for a useful load increase of up to 60 pounds. Intro price is $125,000, Pizzuti said. More...

MOONEY TYPE S — THE FASTEST CERTIFIED
In an industry built on superlatives there can only be one fastest, and Mooney's recently certified Type S model now holds the crown as the fastest production single. It'll do 242 knots at 25,000 feet and it doesn't use extra power to get to those lofty numbers. "There have been a lot of subtle enhancements," Mooney Sales Director Rick Neely told AVweb at Sun 'n Fun 2008. Gap sealing, a composite front gear door and other improvements that have "slicked up the airplane" are responsible for the performance. (Click through for video of Neely and the Type S at the show.) More...

MOONEY PILOTS AIM TO BREAK RTW RECORD
Carol Ann Garratt has flown around the world in a Mooney before -- taking her time, on a seven-month trip that she wrote about in a book, "Upon Silver Wings." This time, she is taking a co-pilot and aiming to break the round-the-world record for single-engine aircraft, by making the flight start-to-finish in just seven days. The team will fly for 140 hours and make only nine stops. Garratt said it's not just flying time that counts, but total time. "We'll have ground crew to meet us at each stop, to help fill up with fuel, dump our trash, pick up our supplies, stretch, and get back in the air," she told AVweb at Sun 'n Fun this week. "We'll take turns sleeping in the airplane. We're installing a big extra fuel tank behind the seats, so we're hoping we will be able to recline at least a little." Garratt and teammate Carol Foy, a past winner of the Air Race Classic, plan to launch this December. They are paying all of their own expenses, but hope the world flight will raise $1 million for ALS research. More...

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO FROM SUN 'N FUN 2008:
AIR SHOW PERFORMERS!
AVweb is an aviation news service and magazine, but the annual Sun 'n Fun Fly-in isn't just about products — it's also about performers. So, without further ado, here are some of the best pilots in the world, doing what they're good at, courtesy of AVweb Video Editor Glenn Pew. (Click through to watch.)

This video brought to you by WxWorx XM WX Satellite Weather and Bose Corporation. More...

GRAND RAPIDS TECHNOLOGY INTRODUCES SYNTHETIC VISION FOR EXPERIMENTALS
(RECORDED LIVE AT SUN 'N FUN 2008)
Seeing through clouds is the coming technology, but it comes with a price. Grand Rapids' Todd Stehouwer talks about the technological challenges of implementing synthetic vision in an Experimental-class EFIS.

This podcast brought to you by Bose Corporation and WxWorx XM WX Satellite Weather. More...

TORNADO ALLEY TURBOS FOR OLDER CIRRUS SR22S
(RECORDED LIVE AT SUN 'N FUN 2008)
If your older SR22 isn't quite as fast as you'd like it to be, Tornado Alley has a solution: You can now buy aftermarket turbonormalizers for all but the earliest SR22 from Tornado Alley Turbo, which provides systems for factory turbo'd SR22s. TAT's Tim Roehl told AVweb about these systems when we visited the TAT booth on Thursday.

This podcast brought to you by Bose Corporation and WxWorx XM WX Satellite Weather. More...

AVWEB'S SUN 'N FUN 2008 GALLERIES #5 OF 7:
A LITTLE BREAK FROM NEWS, REVIEWS AND INTERVIEWS
As the weekend arrived down, we finally made time to see the Thunderbirds work their aerial magic and check out a few more vendor displays. More...

AVWEB'S BLOG BUZZING WITH ACTIVITY DURING SUN 'N FUN
AVweb's only official blog is packed with off-the-cuff reviews, personal experiences, and fun diversions from our contributors on the ground at Sun 'n Fun. Look for new posts from our own Paul Bertorelli and Kitplanes magazine contributors Rick Lindstrom, Marc Cook, and Amy Laboda — all of whom are enjoying the sights, sounds, and gadgets at Lakeland. More...

AVWEB'S NEWSTIPS ADDRESS ...
Our best stories start with you. If you've heard something 200,000 pilots might want to know about, tell us. Submit news tips via email to newstips@avweb.com. What have you heard? More...

GOT CYLINDERS? TELL US ABOUT YOUR SERVICE HISTORY
Our sister publication, Aviation Consumer, is conducting a survey on aircraft engine cylinder products. If you've done an overhaul during the past several years, the magazine's editors would like to hear from you on how the cylinders have performed. Just click on this link to take the survey.

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

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.)

Comments or questions about the news should be sent here.

Have a product or service to advertise on AVweb? A question on marketing? Send it to AVweb's sales team.

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.

Aviate. Navigate. Communicate.