TSA AIRPORT SECURITY LIST MISLEADING
EAA says it's pressuring the Transportation Security Administration to lift the "shroud of mystery" on its implementation of new security requirements for GA pilots at commercial airports after an attempt at clarity misfired last week. On Wednesday, EAA published a list of 454 airports supplied by the TSA that have commercial service and would theoretically be subject to directive #1542-04-08G (SD-8G). AVweb wrote a story and carried a link to the list. However, representatives of some of the airports on that list were surprised (and annoyed) to see themselves on the list. EAA says some airports have been able to avoid implementation of the rule, because they've created their own security plan that meets TSA requirements. That's created inconsistent regulation and added to the frustration over the security plan, which EAA says the TSA is reluctant to provide details about. More...

VIDEO CAPTURES BEAVER CRASH, NO ONE HURT
Sometimes the difference between being in the right place at the right time and the opposite is a matter of a few feet and, miraculously, everyone involved came out of this one on the happy side of that equation. Dustin Koehler and his father were videotaping floatplanes taking off from Lake Spenard in Anchorage June 7 when something went wrong in the takeoff run of a de Havilland Beaver. Happily, Koehler, who kept the camera rolling throughout the sequence and the two adults, two children and two dogs on the Beaver were unhurt after the plane went over Koehler (he estimates the wing passed five feet over him) and hit rising ground less than 100 feet behind him. Ironically, the plane came to rest next to the the Alaska State Department of Transportation building. The unidentified pilot reportedly told the NTSB that a gust of wind knocked the aircraft off course and the video practically begs armchair analysts to dissect the sequence. There's even a strategically placed windsock. More...

US AIRWAYS 1549 — LESSONS AND NEXT STEPS
NTSB hearings that last week focussed on the Jan. 15 crash of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson have generated potential actions -- from developing on-aircraft anti-bird technology to rounding up and wiping out thousands of Canada Geese. At the hearings, Airbus test pilots supported Captain Sullenberger's decision to take the flight to the river instead of trying to make LaGuardia or Teterboro. Airbus' fly by wire system was praised for allowing Sullenberger to maintain the best airspeed for the ditching simply by holding the joystick fully aft and letting the computers do the work of not stalling the aircraft while he maintained wings level. The hearings also produced a rather compelling NTSB video that mates animation with ATC audio and CVR content (as text). A board member's call for more research into onboard bird-repellant or bird-deterrent technologies is supported by at least one study, which found that aircraft equipped with pulsed landing lights suffered fewer bird strikes. That study was conducted by Qantas and Precision Flight -- a vendor for a pulse light system. Tests conducted in 2004 by the U.S. Agriculture Department were less definitive, but further research (specifically, into flash frequency and light wavelengths) may be encouraged by the NTSB. That said, New York City in a statement Friday announced a more direct approach to "remove and dispose of" some 2,000 Canada geese residing in the LaGuardia area from mid-June to August. More...

AIR FRANCE WRECKAGE RECOVERY TECHNOLOGY
In searching vast stretches of ocean from the surface to its mountainous floor some 20,000 feet below, the technology that determines the area of the search may prove as important as that used to search it. A French nuclear submarine, the attack sub Emeraude, arrived off the coast of Brazil Wednesday to join the search for the remains of Air France Flight 447 and the aircraft's cockpit voice and flight data recorders. Meanwhile, U.S. Coast Guard search-and-rescue experts are applying technology in Portsmout, Va., to help identify those areas of ocean to which winds and currents may have delivered wreckage, based on the time of discovery and location of wreckage already found. The software also uses "reverse drift" technology to help determine where the items may have initially impacted the ocean. With those sets of information search areas are mapped based on their probability of containing debris. The submarine will be working with a mini-sub, the Nautile, which can descend to the ocean floor and was a key tool while searching for the Titanic. It will also be aided by U.S. underwater audio devices that authorities say can pick up signals generated from a depth of 20,000 feet. The Emeraude is expected to cover 13 square miles per day and investigators stipulate that due to complexities of the ocean floor in the search area, they're going to need a lot of luck. More...

HEATER CAUSE OF IN-FLIGHT AIRBUS A330 COCKPIT FIRE?
A loud bang and a bright flash of white flame greeted the pilots of a Jetstar Airbus A330-200 carrying 203 passengers and crew out of Osaka, Japan, for the Gold Coast, Australia, Thursday as it passed four hours en route 37,000 feet over the Pacific. The cockpit crew donned masks as fumes and smoke filled the flight deck and flames rose near the base of the co-pilot's windscreen. Aside from pilot and co-pilot, two trainees were in the cockpit, one of whom passed forward a fire extinguisher that the co-pilot used to douse the flames. After an estimated 50 seconds the fire appeared to be out and the aircraft was about 20 minutes from Guam, where the crew put down safely after a relatively normal descent. Jetstar cited an electrical connection in a windscreen heater element as the fire's apparent ignition point, according to The Australian, but the Australian Safety Bureau has yet to determine the cause. According to a spokesman for Jetstar, "This is quite a new aircraft, well maintained and the part was factory fitted." Captain Ray Banfield told passengers upon landing, "Never in all my years of flying commercial aircraft had I seen anything like it," according to The Daily Telegraph. More...

GAS TRIMMER TORCHES C-182

Click for more images

Although it happened almost a year ago, the photos are just making the rounds of the Internet now and the lesson they carry are timeless. This almost-new Cessna 182 was destroyed last September at Munising, Mich., after gasoline in a line trimmer being carried on board ignited. According to the NTSB report the pilot put the weed whacker on the back seat for a short and uneventful flight but that all changed on arrival at Munising. More...

RED BULL AIR RACE CRUISES THROUGH WINDSOR

Click for photos

The Red Bull Air Race's last stop in North America for 2009 took place last weekend on the Detroit River between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan. British pilot Paul Bonhomme narrowly took home the first-place trophy, narrowly beating out Austrian Hannes Arch by 1.15 seconds in the final round. The Red Bull Air Race World Series continues on with their next stop in Budapest, Hungary on August 19. More...

SUV, CHEROKEE COLLIDE, ALL SURVIVE
Well, we can imagine the paperwork on this one, but thankfully there won't be any obituaries. Amazingly, no one was killed when a sport utility vehicle and a Piper Cherokee collided head-on on a country road near Johannesburg, South Africa last Sunday. According to The Herald Sun (quoting the South African Times, whose site wasn't taking inquiries Thursday) the three people in the SUV weren't hurt but the pilot and passenger in the Cherokee were taken to hospital with serious injuries, although they're reportedly doing well now. The Cherokee had just taken off, ran into trouble and the pilot obviously looked for the best stretch of pavement. Unfortunately, the SUV driver had the same idea. More...

SPECTRUM AERONAUTICAL'S MANUFACTURING MILESTONE
Developer of the all-carbon-composite, GE Honda HF 120 fanjet powered, nine-passenger S.40 Freedom, Spectrum Aeronautical said last week that its "Fuselage Manufacturing Demonstrator" (FMD) means it can deliver a revolutionary 40% weight savings over similar aluminum aircraft. The FMD is a full-scale, one-piece part made of co-cured composites in a proprietary process that joins major structural components "at the molecular level," according to the company. The process significantly reduces the need for the adhesive bonding required by many other composite fabrication processes and, being composite, eliminates nearly all secondary fasteners from the fuselage structure. That, says Spectrum, saves manufacturing time and airframe weight and helps put the company's performance goals to "cut fuel consumption by as much as half that of comparably sized metal aircraft" within reach. Using the King Air and Cessna Citation XLS as benchmarks, the company has said its Freedom will burn half the fuel of the King Air while providing performance that closely matches the XLS. The Freedom is designed to carry a pilot and nine passengers in a six-foot cabin to cruise at altitudes up to 45,000 feet at speeds up to 442 knots and a range of 2,000 nautical miles. More...

SEEKING TEACHERS TO GO WEIGHTLESS FOR EDUCATION
Northrop Grumman is accepting applications from educators who can earn a 2009 Weightless Flight of Discovery to depart from three remaining cities on this year's tour. This is the fourth consecutive year that Northrop Grumman has partnered with Zero-G Corporation to offer the weightless flights. The annual program for professional development provides teachers with an opportunity "to prepare for and participate in micro- and zero-gravity flights to test Newton's Laws of Motion," according to a Northrop Grumman press release. Selected teachers are meant to work with their classes in advance of the flight to devise experiments that the teacher will perform while aloft. It's then expected that the teacher will return to the classroom with their experiences where they will translate those experiences into increased enthusiasm among their middle-school students -- specifically in subjects like science and math. The United States is experiencing a shortage of college graduates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, according to program supporters who hope the results of such flights will help turn the tide. At the time AVweb went to press, Northrop Grumman had openings for flights from three cities, details after the jump. More...

ON THE FLY ...
Paris Air Show opens today...
Snowbirds grounded by ejection seat fault...
172 shot in West Virginia. More...

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

AVMAIL: JUNE 15, 2009

Letter of the Week: National Security

Has anyone suggested that transient pilots be offered a national pass so they may use all of the airports listed to alleviate this bottleneck to pilots and airport officials? By "national pass," I mean the individual pilot would be submitted to a background check, including fingerprinting, and if the pilot passed, he or she would be issued a document to come and go at will. I am a corporate pilot who has to go to many different airports, and to be required to get the ID badges they mention seems ridiculous.

I did the procedure to gain access to the "DC 3" airports, and it seems like the right idea to solve this act.

James Galbraith

Click through to read the rest of this week's letters.

SPECTRUM WEIGHS IN WITH PROMISING DEVELOPMENT ON THE S.40 FREEDOM
Spectrum Aeronautical's S.40 Freedom is one step closer making the leap from on-paper concept jet to lightweight composite reality. Spectrum chairman Linden Blue sat down with us to explain how the company's Fuselage Manufacturing Demonstrator (FMD) proves the concept and sets the stage for a projected 40% weight savings over similar aircraft designs. 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...

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: TV NEWS COPTERS MADE AFFORDABLE
Thanks to seismic shifts in the news business, many local television outlets can no longer afford their own turbine-powered eye-in-the-sky. As a result, Robinson is doing a brisk business selling its R44-based ENG camera ship. AVweb visited Robinson in Torrance, California for a closer look. More...

FBO OF THE WEEK: LANE AVIATION (CMH, COLUMBUS, OHIO)

AVweb's "FBO of the Week" ribbon goes to Lane Aviation at CMH in Columbus, Ohio.

Apparently AVweb reader Josh Johnson didn't get much exercise on his visit to Lane, but he seemed pretty happy with that:

We were in town for two days of business meetings in a nearby hotel. Immediately after landing, we were met at the door of our airplane by a friendly line guy ... . We were planning to take the hotel bus to our hotel; however, the line guy insisted on taking us there himself! He also said that they would gladly pick us up after our meeting and drop us off at the plane. We arrived for departure and found our airplane a decent walk across the ramp, [but once again] the line guy dropped us off at the door to the FBO to use the restrooms and file our flight plans. When we walked out to go back to the plane, he motioned us to get back in the van for a ride back to our plane! Excellent!

By the way, we arrived in a Cessna 172, and they were taking care of a large jet for a celebrity at the time we arrived. We certainly felt special getting such excellent treatment!

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!

SHORT FINAL

On a recent trip departing Oakland while taxiing to over to 29 in my Eclipse Jet:

Ground Control:
What is your true airspeed at altitude?

Me:
370 knots.

Ground Control:
What kind of engines?

Me:
Pratt and Whitney 610 fan jet.

Ground Control:
How much thrust?

Me:
900 lbs. per side.

Ground Control:
[Silence.]

Me:
We're part of their hair dryer division.

John Wright
via e-mail

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

Webmaster
Scott Simmons

Contributors
Jeff van West
Mariano Rosales

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.