GA SECURITY GETS AN AIRING
Aviation groups gave the House Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection an earful about the ways general aviation security could be enhanced without crippling the industry at a hearing on Wednesday. NBAA member Martha King and GAMA Chair Mark Van Tine both told the committee that applying airline-style security protocols to general aviation will cripple the industry and not enhance security. "What general aviation operators seek, and America needs, are measures that do not represent a needless sacrifice in liberty without benefit to society," King told the committee. Van Tine said the recently proposed Large Aircraft Security Program missed the mark on several fronts. "The general aviation community does not oppose enhancing security," said Van Tine. "However, we believe that the notice of proposed rule making (NPRM) was unnecessarily burdensome and did not reflect an adequate understanding of general aviation operations." More...

AIRSHOW ATTENDANCE SPIKES THIS SUMMER
The Arlington Fly-In held last weekend in Washington state reported a 14-percent jump in attendance over last year, and it is just the latest big show to report strong numbers. "What can I say, it was great -- a phenomenal turnout this year," said Barb Tolbert, executive director for the Arlington event. "We are still verifying the number of aircraft -- at times the registrations even overloaded our system -- but it looks to be well ahead of last year." Other shows around the country are showing similarly strong numbers, according to the International Council of Air Shows. Many are reporting all-time record attendance. "Every week, we hear from more shows who have been challenged to deal with overflowing crowds and also from performers who have never seen such large crowds at specific venues," said John Cudahy, ICAS president. "At this point, we're thinking we'll have an overall increase approaching 20 percent compared to last year." The recent Rhode Island Air National Guard airshow in North Kingstown, R.I., featuring the Blue Angels, Canada's Snowbirds, Sean Tucker and Mike Goulian, drew over 70,000 people. "This was our largest show in the 18-year history of the event," said Col. Larry Gallogly, one of the show organizers. "We used every parking spot available to us and put more spectators on the ramp than we ever have before." More...

SENATE'S FAA FUNDING BILL DRAWS SUPPORT, CONCERN
The Senate Commerce Committee this week introduced a bill that would provide funding for the FAA for the next two years without imposing user fees, and would enable the agency to move forward with plans for the NextGen air traffic control system. The Alliance for Aviation Across America, which represents a slew of GA advocacy groups, released a statement on Wednesday commending the effort. "We look forward to now working with the Senate to pass this legislation, which provides the necessary funding for [NextGen], while protecting the small towns and rural communities that rely on general aviation." AOPA President Craig Fuller also applauded the effort, but added that he is concerned about the short two-year time frame. "AOPA believes that a longer-term funding package based firmly on existing, proven funding mechanisms offers the best assurance of achieving modernization swiftly and efficiently," Fuller wrote in a "special message to members" posted on the AOPA Web site. "Because full modernization is unlikely to be completed within two years, the need to seek funding could delay or derail modernization efforts midstream, ultimately raising the price tag for completing needed improvements. At the same time, leaving open the possibility of creating and implementing new funding mechanisms, as proposed by budget officials within the Administration, could destabilize funding just when a steady source of revenue is needed most," Fuller said. More...

168 LOST IN IRANIAN TU-154 CRASH
The airliner that crashed and burned in Iran on Wednesday about 15 minutes after takeoff, killing all 168 on board, was a Russian-built Tupolev 154 operated by Caspian Airlines, based in Iran. An aviation official said a fire broke out in an engine, and the crew attempted an emergency landing. The cockpit voice recorder has not yet been recovered, and news reports said the crew had not discussed the emergency with air traffic control. At the crash site, near a farmer's field, the aircraft exploded and burned, leaving a 30-foot-deep hole in the ground. Sanctions enacted after the 1979 Islamic revolution prevent Iran from buying new aircraft or spare parts from the U.S., or from the European consortium Airbus if the aircraft contains U.S. parts. The country's airlines depend on an aging fleet of Boeing and Airbus jets along with the Tupolevs. The airplane that crashed was built in 1987. More...

SOUTHWEST HOLE UNDER INVESTIGATION
The crew of a Southwest Airlines 737-300 made a safe emergency landing after a hole opened in the fuselage at about 34,000 feet during a flight from Nashville to Baltimore on Monday evening. It was not immediately clear what caused the hole, about one foot square, in the upper fuselage near the vertical stabilizer. Pictures of a squared-off hole posted online suggest a panel of some sort that came loose, or perhaps a rupture in the skin that was contained by reinforcing strips. Passenger Michael Cunningham told NBC's "Today" show on Tuesday morning there was no panic. "Everybody just calmly ... figured out what was going on," he said, and donned their oxygen masks as the cabin depressurized. "After we landed in Charleston [W. Va.], the pilot came out and looked up through the hole, and everybody applauded, shook his hand, a couple of people gave him hugs," Cunningham said. No injuries were reported. The airplane was about 15 years old. The NTSB is investigating. More...

CIRRUS AIRCRAFT AND API SIGN EXCLUSIVE LOGISTICS SERVICES AGREEMENT
Cirrus Aircraft said on Tuesday that it will team up with Aerospace Products International to provide spare parts to owners of its SR-series piston airplanes. "Cirrus customers will benefit from API's 24-hour-per-day service [and] one-stop shopping for all aircraft parts needs," Cirrus said in a statement. The new preferred services agreement marks a key milestone in Cirrus's initiative to offer customer service and support through the complete life cycle of the aircraft, the company said. The program will operate under the brand "Cirrus Parts by API." API will provide parts for Cirrus authorized service centers and will also handle customer returns and warranty claims. Brent Wouters, president and CEO of Cirrus, said it's all about building customer loyalty and satisfaction. "We explored all the available technology in the aerospace aftermarket and support industry and chose what we believe to be the most innovative solution to servicing our aircraft," Wouters said. "This program goes beyond anything previously provided to aircraft operators and we are very pleased to be partnering with API." More...

GOODBYE, COLUMBUS -- CESSNA CANCELS EXTRA-LARGE JET PROGRAM
When Cessna put the Columbus program on hold in April, hope remained that the jet, which would have been Cessna's biggest ever, would reappear sometime in the future. "Don't write the Columbus off your radar screen," said Lewis Campbell, CEO of Textron, Cessna's parent company, at the time. But last week, Textron said the Columbus project is over. "Upon additional analysis of the business jet market related to this product offering, we decided to formally cancel further development of the Citation Columbus," the company said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Textron will take a $43 million write-off. The SEC statement says Cessna has spent about $50 million on tooling, facilities and other costs for the Columbus, most of which cannot be recovered or used for other projects. The 10-passenger, $27 million jet was expected to start deliveries in 2014. More...

FIRST FLIGHT FOR BELITE ULTRALIGHT
The single-place Belite ultralight, which evolved from an earlier Kitfox design, flew for the first time on July 4, the company said this week. Although the company had announced a "first flight" a couple of weeks ago, that initial effort was described as only a "test hop" down the runway, with more extensive flight testing to come soon. Now the airplane has been through a real 90-minute test flight, with a tryout of the aircraft's handling characteristics, and several touch-and-goes. James Wiebe, who designed the airplane and launched the Wichita-based Belite Aircraft Co. to develop and market it, was the pilot. "Flying the Belite for the first time was, for me, an extremely memorable event," he said. "I have never flown in an airplane I built or on which I have designed critical structures before, so this definitely ranks among my most thrilling flying experiences." He said the airplane cruised at about 54 mph. "Once it was airborne, the airplane handled well. ... It practically hovers before touchdown and can be stopped within a very short distance," he said. More...

ICON ANNOUNCES MORE FINANCING FOR LSA PROJECT
Icon Aircraft announced last week that it has successfully closed another round of equity financing to support the development of the Icon A5 amphibious LSA. The new cash will take the project through the rest of its flight-test program and will also finance engineering and manufacturing studies, the company said. Icon CEO Kirk Hawkins said the company already has orders for more than 400 copies of the airplane, totaling more than $40 million in sales. Icon also announced that it is pushing out its production start date by nine months, with first customer deliveries now scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2011. This change was due to the crisis in the global capital markets beginning last fall, the company said. "While the changes in the capital markets did affect our production start date, the current economic climate has minimal impact on Icon overall," Hawkins said, noting that the backlog of sales should carry the company forward into a new economic cycle. The prototype has been flying since last summer, but its first public demo flight is scheduled for EAA AirVenture later this month. More...

NASA RELEASES APOLLO 11 COCKPIT TAPES TO MARK ANNIVERSARY
Pilots are generally curious about what it's like to fly other aircraft -- airline pilots dream about aerobatics, military aviators wonder about Boeing cockpits, and piston drivers might imagine trying out gliders or DC-3s or jetpacks. But there was one cockpit that only one crew ever got to experience -- the Apollo 11 Lunar Module Eagle. This week, in honor of the 40th anniversary of that first trip to the moon, NASA is releasing online the cockpit tapes of the conversations between Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin as they descended to the lunar surface on July 20, 1969. All of the Apollo spacecraft included onboard voice recorders, and transcripts of those recordings were publicly released years ago. But only recently were the recordings from Apollo 11 digitized so they could be posted on the NASA Web site. Some of the clips, such as the lunar landing and lunar takeoff, are mainly noise, and the voices can be hard to understand, but it's still interesting to hear conversations that were recorded 40 years ago on the moon. More...

ON THE FLY ...
Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue is guest speaker at today's Atlanta Aero Club meeting...
Need a place to stay in Oshkosh? Dorm rooms have opened up...
FAA is accepting ATC applications through July 17...
Aircraft designer Homer Kolb died on Sunday...
Arizona Aircraft Expo will host three events for GA buyers...
A House proposal would increase subsidies for rural air service. More...

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: YOUR TRADE SHOW PLANS FOR 2009
Last week, we asked which air shows were on your schedule for 2009. This week, we want to shift away from the just-for-fun trips and look at the business and trade shows on your calendar.

Plus: See which air shows were most popular with your fellow AVweb readers in last week's poll. 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...

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

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: UNITED BREAKS POLICY AND FAITH WITH EMPLOYEES
By now, most everyone has seen Dave Carroll's video for "United Breaks Guitars" and empathized with the plight of the passenger who can't get any satisfaction from the major airlines. Now may be a good time to extend some of that empathy to "kind Ms. Irlweg" and the rest of United's policy-enforcing employees, Russ Niles says in the latest installment of our AVweb Insider blog. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: AIRPLANES AND GLOBAL WARMING
You knew we would have to talk about this sooner or later. Like most of us, Paul Bertorelli concedes he hasn't the first clue about rationalizing airplane ownership with climate change — but that didn't stop him from sharing his thought on the AVweb Insider blog. Log in and add your own opinion to the mix. More...

AVWEB AND BENDIX/KING BY HONEYWELL ARE GIVING AWAY AN AV8OR TO CELEBRATE AIRVENTURE!

Bendix/King by Honeywell is helping us give away another AV8OR handheld MFD unit to celebrate EAA AirVenture Oshkosh! All you have to do is click the image at right to enter your name and e-mail address. And no, we're not going to rent or sell your name, but Bendix/King by Honeywell may send you information on the AV8OR. You may also forward this newsletter to friends and invite them to sign-up for AVweb's EAA AirVenture 2009 coverage and qualify for the AV8OR prize drawing, too. (We won't spam them, either, but we will send them our e-mail news Flashes.)

Deadline for entries is midnight EST on Sunday, August 2, 2009.

Click here to read the contest rules and enter.

(There's nothing to buy. All you need to do is be registered with AVweb.)

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: ASPEN EFIS IN THE DIAMOND DA20
The DA20 is a terrific instrument and basic trainer, and now it has the option of a glass panel with the Aspen EFIS system. AVweb's Paul Bertorelli recently checked out the system with test pilot Rob Johnson. More...

FBO OF THE WEEK: DUFFY'S AIRCRAFT (MARSHFIELD, WI)

AVweb reader Marcelaine Lewis has this week's top FBO, Duffy's Aircraft at Marshfield (Wis.) Municipal Airport (KMFI). Marcelaine writes:

If you're well enough to fly, yet sick enough to need to go to the Marshfield Clinic, Duffy and Jeff Gaier will greet you on the ramp with a smile, homemade chocolate chip cookies, and "hometown hospitality." If your clinic appointment is short, they will even let you use the courtesy car. (And if you have to spend the night, within a short walking distance is the Clearwaters Hotel, owned by another aviation enthusiast.)

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
Les Smith of Mukilteo, Washington took a warm glow from the Arlington Fly-In, captured it on film, and turned it into a warm glow in our hearts this week. How could we not name this shot our "Picture of the Week" and send Les a gorgeous new AVweb cap? 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

Webmaster
Scott Simmons

Contributors
Jeff van West
Mariano Rosales

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