Volume 9, Number 36b September 4, 2003

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CIRRUS HEADING TO COURT
Cirrus Design says it will vigorously defend itself against a lawsuit that claims its SR22 aircraft has "dangerous stability, handling, stall and spin characteristics" and that the onboard parachute system failed when the pilot tried to activate it. "We're going to court," Cirrus CEO Alan Klapmeier told AVweb. "We're very confident we have the facts on our side." The suit stems from a crash near Parish, N.Y., on April 24, 2002. The two co-owners of the aircraft, Joseph C. Fisher and Thomas P. Sedgewick, died when the plane entered a spin from more than 5,000 feet and did not recover. The Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS), manufactured by Ballistic Recovery Systems (BRS), did not deploy. BRS is also named in the suit as is Wings Aloft, author of the Cirrus Training Manual. The suit was launched by Fisher's wife, Kathleen. More...

...FLIGHT CHARACTERISTICS, PARACHUTE SYSTEM BLAMED
The suit alleges that the aircraft went into the spin because of its flight-handling characteristics and maintains that the pilots tried, and failed, to deploy the parachute. Klapmeier flatly denies the claim, saying the allegation about flight-handling characteristics is a direct challenge to the FAA's certification of the aircraft. He said Cirrus wings are designed to prevent stall/spin conditions. As for the parachute, he said Cirrus' view is the rocket motor cooked off after the crash, not as a result of a last-second attempt to deploy it. "There is no evidence the parachute rocket deployed before the airplane hit the ground," he said. More...

CELEBRATING THE PAST
The innovations of the Wright brothers are not the only aviation milestones being celebrated this year. The re-enactment of a nationwide air event during aviation's golden era is also being remembered with a special series of events. The National Air Tours were conceived in 1925 and held annually through 1931 to demonstrate the reliability of air travel, to encourage the development of safe and reliable aircraft, and to promote the building of suitable airports and ground facilities. More...

...WITH PLANES OF YESTERYEAR, PILOTS OF TODAY...
Many of the pilots who pioneered aviation flew in the original tours, including Walter Beech, Eddie Stinson, and Anthony H.G. Fokker. This year, our very own AVweb contributor Brent Blue will be participating in the tour, as one of a group of "rotating pilots." Brent and company will be flying many of the airplanes seen in the 1931 event. More...

...AND COMING TO A TOWN NEAR YOU!
The 2003 event retraces the historic 4,000-mile route of the uncompleted 1932 tour with stops in more than two dozen cities. The National Air Tour will start at the Yankee Air Museum at Willow Run Airport, near Detroit, Sept. 8. The official program will begin at 8:30 a.m. with departures beginning at 9 a.m. (See our video interview with Greg Herrick, founder and president of The Aviation Foundation of America Inc.) More...

PISTON SINGLES PUSHING 500 MILES PER HOUR
The faithful will make their annual pilgrimage to Reno Stead airport next week to pay homage to horsepower and high speed as some of the gutsiest pilots compete for air racing's most coveted title. Hyped by organizers as the "world's fastest motor sport," and officially called the National Championship Air Races and Air Show 2003, air racing is the main draw to the Reno event, which runs from Sept. 11 to Sept. 14. Several big-name teams are vying for the championship, including 500-plus mph Dago Red Air Racing and the 4000 hp Rare Bear Air Race Team. More...

ENDURING DREAMS: CRUISE SHIP AIRPORTS AND FLYING CARS
There's no shortage of imagination when it comes to new ways to make aviation more convenient and accessible, even if the result of these musings can be a little out of the ordinary. Take, for example, the Freedom Ship, which is touted as "the future city on the sea." With a design length of 4,500 feet, a width of 750 feet, and a height of 350 feet, Freedom Ship would be more than four times longer than the Queen Mary and carry its own airport. The airport on the ship's top deck would serve GA and small commercial aircraft, including its large fleet of commuter aircraft that would ferry residents and visitors to and from shore. Those residents who want to fly to their floating residence in style may prefer to do so in their very own kit-built flying car, like the one being developed by Aerospectives. More...

TO BOLDLY GO WHERE NONE HAVE GONE (WITHOUT A ROCKET)
A helium leak halted an attempt by two British men to set an altitude record in a balloon. Colin Prescot, 53, and Andy Elson, 48, hoped to set a world record by piloting their 387-meters-tall helium balloon to 39,600 meters (132,000 feet). The QinetiQ 1, as it is called, was supposed to loiter for an hour and conduct experiments on the stratosphere before returning to terra firma. Unfortunately, the aircraft never left the ground, as a helium leak occurred during the balloon's inflation process. The current altitude record for a manned balloon is 34,667 meters, set in 1961 by United States Navy pilots Malcolm Ross and Vic Prather. More...

AERIAL FIREFIGHTERS CHANGE BATTLE TACTICS
Canada's British Columbia has been under assault from wildfires throughout the summer and aerial firefighting pilots are fighting back with new tactics to tackle the massive blazes. The tanker group has resorted to "mass launches by multiple aircraft" during a fire's early stages to try and prevent the sort of disaster that befell Kelowna, B.C., two weeks ago. The Okanagan Mountain Fire has grown to 200 square kilometers and burned more than 250 homes, despite aggressive firefighting on the ground and in the air. In addition to the massed attacks, the air tankers are using a more highly concentrated retardant and much higher coverage levels than normal. The fires, the result of the driest summer on record, are answering back with towering columns of exploding trees and airborne debris, the likes of which the pilots have never seen before. More...

BLIND PILOT MAKES HISTORY
Flying blind isn't just a cliché for Miles Hilton-Barber. Hilton-Barber, 54, became the first blind person to fly across the English Channel in a microlight aircraft last weekend. Hilton-Barber was among about 80 pilots to take off from Headcorn Airfield in Kent (U.K.). He flew with a "speech output technology," according to BBC news, and a sighted pilot for safety and legal reasons. Hilton-Barber plans to fly 12,600 miles to Sydney, Australia, in the same aircraft. It's his way of honoring 100 years of powered flight and raising money for Royal National Institute of the Blind. More...

ON THE FLY...
An ultralight airfield in N.H. is causing a town-wide ruckus over noise...
On Monday, tax plans that would raise airfares in Britain were proposed...
A computer glitch caused the delay in processing pax nationwide...
Wichita State University wants to be a "lead" center of FAA research. More...

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AVweb's AVscoop Award...

Congratulations and an AVweb hat go out to Char Ryan, 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.

ATTENTION 1968 THROUGH 2003 172 SKYHAWK OWNERS! SEMINAR OPENINGS The Cessna Pilots Association (CPA) will conduct Lycoming Powered 172 Skyhawk Systems and Procedures Seminar at CPA headquarters in Santa Maria, October 11-12. This program will not be offered again on the West Coast until 2005. Anyone interested should make an effort to attend this October seminar. More information and on-line sign up are available at http://www.avweb.com/sponsors/cpa

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New Articles and Features on AVweb

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BIZAV
BIZAV, September 4, 2003
AVweb's expanded coverage of business/corporate aviation continues with NBAA's convention preparation, big steps in Cessna's Citation fleet, complaints about Europe's new biz av regulations and more.

Sponsor News and Special Offers Access to AVweb and AVflash is provided by the support of our fine sponsors. We appreciate your patronage.

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SHOPPING DEALS

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SPONSOR NEWS

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BEEN TO A GOOD AVIATION WEB SITE LATELY? SEE WHAT YOU'VE BEEN MISSING athttp://www.avweb.com/

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
AVweb's editorial team: http://avweb.com/contact/authors.html.

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Let's all be careful out there, okay?

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