IT'S OFFICIAL: PIPER WILL STAY IN FLORIDA
After more than a year of exploring various sites for its next stage of growth, Piper Aircraft announced on Wednesday that it has officially reached an agreement with the State of Florida and Indian River County to stay put. "We are pleased and honored to announce our decision to remain and expand our operations in Indian River County," said Piper President & CEO James Bass. "Our decision is not just a vote of confidence for our hometown, it is also a commitment by Piper to Indian River County and the State of Florida." A $32 million, three-year incentive package from the state and county requires Piper to hire more workers and invest in its physical plant. Bass said Piper will make a substantial capital investment in facilities, technology, equipment and tooling; undertake product development; and design, develop, produce and assemble the PiperJet and other aircraft projects in the state. More...

FLIGHT OPTIONS CUTS STAFF
Flight Options, a fractional operator based in Cleveland, Ohio, has laid off about 200 workers across the country, including about 75 pilots, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported on Wednesday. The company blamed high fuel prices and overall economic conditions for a reduction in demand over the last few months, and said in a statement that "we anticipate that prevailing economic conditions will continue." Pilots for the company joined the International Brotherhood of Teamsters two years ago, but no contract is yet in place, the Plain Dealer reported. Some pilots complained that the job cuts were not based on seniority. The company said "productivity" drove the decisions, but some pilots said union activists were targeted. Flight Options operates a fleet of over 130 aircraft, including the Hawker 400XP, Hawker 850XP, Citation X and Embraer Legacy. More...

GA MAKES STRONG SHOWING AT BERLIN AIR SHOW
The Berlin Air Show, officially known as Internationale Luftfahrt-Ausstellung (ILA), opened on Tuesday with its biggest show ever, which should provide some reassurance to those who tend to worry about the future of aviation in an uncertain economy. More than 300 aircraft are on display, and over 1,100 exhibitors from 37 countries expect to welcome record-setting crowds. Visitors will see the world's largest aircraft, including the Airbus A380, an Antonov An-124 and a C-5 Galaxy. GA has a home of its own along General Aviation Avenue, where exhibitors include Bombardier, Cessna, Cirrus, Diamond, Embraer, Extra, Grob, Hawker Beechcraft, Piper, Liberty Aircraft, Pilatus, Socata and Stemme. "The ILA is the most important meeting of the year on the European continent for the industry -- which, in Germany, has become one of the few sustainably expanding industries and has bucked the current trend by actually creating more jobs," said Dr. Thomas Enders, president of the German Aerospace Industries Association, which organized the event. More...

THE NEXT STEALTH BOMBER -- FROM MOJAVE?
Aerospace giant Northrop Grumman is secretly at work on a next-generation stealth bomber, with the prototype likely to be built by Scaled Composites, Defense Technology International reported this week. A recent financial report from Northrop Grumman shows $2 billion of new funding for "restricted programs," which DTI reports is "almost certainly" for the bomber. According to DTI, the prototype will use technology that already is under development for the Navy's X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstrator, with the aim of flying the new bomber by 2018. The bomber initially will be flown by an onboard pilot, but later extended-endurance versions are expected to be unmanned. The NGB will probably use newly developed materials and a blended-wing-body tailless design for the fuselage, DTI reported. More...

AN LSA FOR LESS
Plenty of recreational pilots who thought light sport aircraft might be the right thing for them have been dismayed by the price tags for most models, which start around $100,000 and quickly go up from there. But occasionally a new LSA surfaces that offers reasonable capabilities at a lower price point, and the latest of these is the X-Air LS -- you can fly it home for $46,900, if you don't mind flying at about 90 mph. "Yes, it has sewn Dacron wings," writes Dan Johnson, at his Sport Aircraft blog. "No, it isn't as sleek as the carbon-fiber jobs." But for the price, you'll get a ready-to-fly airplane, complete with a fuel-sipping 85-hp Jabiru 2200 engine, flaps, trim, Icom radio, Dynon engine monitor, and basic flight instruments. More...

WEEKEND COURSES HELP KEEP CIRRUS PILOTS CURRENT
It's one of those moments that just about every pilot has experienced -- the instant when you go from feeling confident and in control, to realizing that your skills are not as sharp as you'd like them to be. The cure for that sinking feeling is recurrent training, and for Cirrus pilots, it's time to sign up now for this year's series of Cirrus Pilot Proficiency Program workshops, held at various sites around the U.S., plus a couple in Europe. These intensive sessions offer nine hours of ground instruction and six hours of dual in the air, all in a single weekend, for $850. They fill up early, so sign up soon. You can also opt for a full 15 hours of ground instruction for $350. The sessions cover topics such as weather, single-pilot resource management, normal maneuvers, and emergency procedures. More...

AVIDYNE REACTS TO CIRRUS GARMIN AVIONICS LAUNCH
Cirrus got a lot of attention last week when it unveiled its new Garmin "Perspective" panel at the EBACE show in Geneva, and now Avidyne wants to remind future Cirrus buyers that its Entegra panel, long the standard, is still an option. "Among other benefits," the company said in a news release on Tuesday, "the easier-to-use Entegra-equipped Cirrus SR22 is $48,000 less expensive and provides an additional 42 pounds of useful load, both critical factors for many potential Cirrus customers." The company said it will continue to provide support and to continuously upgrade the Entegra system, and added that Avidyne remains in a strong position overall, with a growing aftermarket segment and international expansion. "Avidyne is very confident that pilots will continue to select their avionics packages based on core value propositions such as price, ease of use, interoperability, performance and future upgradeability," the statement said. More...

BALLOON LEAVES SKYDIVER BEHIND
French adventurer Michel Fournier watched his dreams of a record-setting skydive drift away on Tuesday as the helium balloon that was to carry him to the edge of space slipped its moorings and disappeared into the Canadian prairie sky. At a news conference Tuesday, Fournier speculated that static electricity caused the explosive charges that would release the balloon from the pressurized gondola to go off, allowing the partially filled envelope to fly away solo. Television coverage shows the main part of the envelope suddenly rising from the ground at North Battleford, Sask., Airport and then the whole thing taking to the air, minus Fournier and the pressurized capsule that would have taken him to 130,000 feet. More...

EAA AIRVENTURE, COMING UP SOON
With the Memorial Day weekend now past, the summer season is launched, and before we know it, EAA AirVenture will be under way in Oshkosh, Wisc. Already our AVweb inbox is filling up with advance notices about new aircraft that we'll be seeing there. Doug Rodante, founder of Green Flight International, said this week he's working with the FAA to get the OK to fly his L-29 BioJet to the show from Reno, Nev., on 100 percent biodiesel fuel. Cirrus test pilots are working to launch Cirrus's The-Jet prototype soon, and workers there are hopeful it will be ready to fly to the show, but the test regime and crew safety always come first. Jon Sharp will be at Oshkosh flying the NemesisNXT in an attempt to break a speed record. AirVenture will debut a new exhibit, the Affordable Flight Center, to share creative ways for sport flyers to pursue their dream of flight even on a limited budget. More...

CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH A MODEL ROCKET?
Investigations are currently underway concerning a report of a possible model rocket flying notably close to a Continental Airlines 737 mid-morning on Memorial Day. Shortly after departure from George Bush Intercontinental Airport, the pilot of Continental flight 1544 reported to controllers what appeared to be a model rocket with a flaming tail and trailing smoke just in front of the aircraft. More...

ON THE FLY ...
A documentary is in the works about a 1978 midair crash in Calif....
Moffett Field dirigible hangar is named an endangered historic site...
Operational deviations at Indianapolis Center are up...
Director and pilot Sidney Pollack has died at 73. More...

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

A PILOT'S HISTORY: CHAP. 9 -- STARTING A NEW AIRLINE
A few trips north was all the experience Carl Moesly had when he was asked to fly people and freight up to the DEW line in northern Canada. More...

PROBABLE CAUSE #59: FAILURE TO IDENTIFY
An engine failure in the clouds becomes even more challenging if the pilot misdiagnoses the problem. More...

AROUND THE WORLD IN 70 DAYS, WEEK 2: ON TO PARIS
Last week, we left our intrepid band of GA pilots in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, where they all had landed safely in VFR conditions, after a few changes of flight plans to accommodate the weather. The group spent the night there and by 5:30 the next morning they were up checking the weather in hopes of launching for Reykjavik, Iceland. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: THIELERT SHOWS US HOW TO KILL A COMPANY (OR TWO)
"If Thielert thinks it will dig itself out from bankruptcy with its stratospheric new parts prices and no warranties, it's likely in for a rude shock" — so says Paul Bertorelli in the latest installment of our aviation blog, the AVweb Insider. Think we're crazy? Click on over and join the conversation. More...

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: SUMMER FLYING PLANS
This week, we want to know how you're spending your summer vacation (flying-wise). Plus: What did AVweb readers say about economic uncertainty and their personal flying habits in response to last week's Question? 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...

FBO OF THE WEEK: MIDWEST NATIONAL AIR CENTER (KGPH, MOSBY, MO)

AVweb's "FBO of the Week" ribbon goes to Midwest National Air Center at KGPH in Mosby, Missouri.

AVweb reader Robert Parker recommended the FBO, citing the owner's eerie prescience:

John somehow knew before we landed that we'd been fighting fierce headwinds the previous four hours. He met us at the plane,then towed the plane to the SS fuel pump, fueled it with my card (at prices quite below the national average), parked it back in front of the FBO, then drove out to buy batteries for our headsets so my wife and I could relax before flying the final four-hour leg home!

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!

PICTURE OF THE WEEK: AVWEB'S FLYING PHOTOGRAPHY SHOWCASE
"Absence makes the heart grow fonder" — there seems to be some truth in that adage, at least where "Picture of the Week" is concerned. Submissions swelled while we were away in Geneva covering EBACE, leaving with two mighty large stacks of photos to get through. No worries, though — Steve J. Cunningham of Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada) claimed the top spot on a very competitive week, and he sets the bar high for a terrific installment of "POTW." Let's barrel through the top five right now, and you can check our home page for more when we're done! 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

Contributing Editors
Mary Grady
Glenn Pew

Features Editor
Kevin Lane-Cummings

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