TCM'S TURBO AND FUEL INITIATIVE
When Teledyne Continental said it wanted to prove that high-performance engines could operate on unleaded fuel a few months back, it generated some doubting glances. But at AirVenture on Sunday it proved it was serious by flying into Oshkosh a turbocharged Cirrus SR22 tankered with what will eventually become 94UL aviation fuel. Think of 94UL as just like regular avgas, minus the lead. It's not certified yet nor is the airplane approved to use it, so when Continental lead engineer Keith Chatten gave us a brief demo in the airplane Sunday, we got a look at a test ship. Because 94UL is still a boutique fuel and not available for distribution, our flight trial was on 100LL. The fuel does meet ASTM specs, however. More...

AND DON'T FORGET FADEC
Although its PowerLink FADEC hasn't met with much market acceptance, TCM says the project still has legs. As part of its certification of the TSIO-550, the company is moving forward with a FADEC-controlled turbocharged engine, according to Rhett Ross, TCM's president. Presumably, the system would the PowerLink's ability to control fuel pulse and ignition timing to build in detonation margin. Would it also have an electronic wastegate and prop control? "Not necessarily," said TCM engineer Keith Chatten. More...

OSHKOSH SITE IMPROVEMENTS
EAA AirVenture leaves an impression on everyone who attends and now attendees can leave a permanent record of their passion for Oshkosh. EAA is selling paving bricks around the newly redone "Brown Arch" that has been the prominent landmark entrance to the main aircraft parking area since just after the event moved to Oshkosh in 1970. In a dedication ceremony on Sunday, EAA President Tom Poberezny said the stone and wood arch, with its generous flower planters, embodies the spirit of camaraderie and community that sets AirVenture apart from other world-class shows like Paris, Farnborough and Dubai. More...

SHOWCASING THE PUBLIC BENEFIT OF AVIATION
The public benefit presence organized by EAA's Fly4Life program this year at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh showcases what for the people it serves is a critically important segment of general aviation -- some 63 organizations staffed by pilots who donate their time and aircraft to offer the benefit of flight to people who could not otherwise afford them. In most cases that means medical transport. These grass roots organizations have in the past sprouted locally and organically, which has sometimes led to locally efficient but nationally disconnected efforts. The organizations ,which include big names like Lifeline Pilots, Wings of Mercy, and the Air Care Alliance together contribute a rough estimate of about 15,000 charity (mostly medical transport) flights per year, according to Rol Morrow co-founder of Air Care Alliance and executive director of Wolf Aviation Fund. So, beyond collecting the groups, the Fly4Life program at AirVenture provides a focal point to help organize public benefit organizations in the collective goal of increasing mission efficiency. Transporting a needy passenger across the country is often an inter-organizational effort and logistics can always be improved. More...

AV8OR ACE: CHARTS AND PLATES IN A PORTABLE
If there's an established trend in portable navigators, it's buyers asking for—or at least manufacturers providing—approach plates and charts in electronic form. Bendix/King joined the club Sunday at AirVenture with the new AV8OR ACE portable, a follow-on to a product it introduced last year. The ACE has the same basic software platform as the previous AV8OR product, but the hardware is physically larger, with a 7 inch diagonal screen compared to the 4.5 inch used on the earlier navigator. More...

DIAMOND'S TWIN BACK ON DIESEL FOR OSH
Diamond is flying DA42 powered by twin Austro AE300 170 hp turbo-diesel engines from Austria to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, stock, with no ferry tanks. For long distance flyers, the DA42's seven legs of 3 to 4.5 hours over two and a half days from Austria to London, Ontario, may be less impressive than the fact that it's carrying a six foot seven inch pilot "comfortably." Diamond is using the flight in part to showcase the new Austro engine's performance of 155 KTAS at FL 140 and 65 percent power -- all at the cost of 5.6 gallons per hour, per side. ... and its new taller canopy and electrically adjustable rudder pedals. The aircraft, DA42 NG OE-FSP, is en route for display at EAA AirVenture from July 27 to August 2. More...

CARTER DEBUTS PAV PROTOTYPE
The folks at Carter Aviation Technologies have been talking about their personal air vehicle project for a couple of years now, and on Sunday at EAA AirVenture they debuted the prototype. The four-seat gyrocopter combines vertical takeoff and landing capabilities with efficient high-speed flight and a 600-mile nonstop range, the company said. President Jay Carter Jr. said the aircraft is "super simple to fly and super safe." If the engine quit in flight, the rotor would slow descent to 1,200 fpm and the the landing gear would absorb that impact, providing a level of safety that "grandfather and grandmother going to visit their grandkids" could be comfortable with, he said. "It's like having a parachute that's always deployed," he said. The aircraft's aerodynamic design prevents porpoising or "bump-over," which can occur with some gyrocopters, Carter said. He expects to start flight testing soon and to have five copies flying by the end of next year. More...

MAVERICK FLYING CAR DEBUTS AT OSHKOSH
If you live and work in remote parts of the world where roads are scarce, Steve Saint's Maverick design could be just what you need. It drives off-road, it can deploy a sort-of parachute wing with less than five minutes of tinkering, you can even take off the tires and replace them with pontoons for travel on water, and it all works fairly intuitively without any need for extensive pilot training. "This is a brand-new flying machine making its debut here," said Saint, when we caught up with him working to put the vehicle together for display on Sunday afternoon at EAA AirVenture. "Do you mind if I both hammer and talk?" He developed the aircraft as a nonprofit endeavor for use in frontier regions, mainly by the people who live in those places, he said. The controls are simple. The wing is similar to that used on a powered parachute, but it is not deployed by dragging it behind the vehicle. Instead, it is held aloft with a 24-foot mast and spars. With a takeoff roll of just 50 to 75 feet, the vehicle is in the air. It can carry up to four people when flying, and more on the ground, and it's designed to accommodate a stretcher for medical evacuation missions. More...

TERRAFUGIA 2.0
AVweb caught up with Carl Dietrich, CEO and Chief Technical Officer of Terrafugia Inc., Sunday, at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh to discuss the aerodynamic challenges revealed through testing and 28 flights of its roadable aircraft prototype, and where the company is headed now. In short, the prototype proved that the lift generated by the canard was compromised by its proximity to the vehicle's large front wheelpants. That, along with an unforeseen body-effect that complicated things by producing more than the expected lift farther aft on the fuselage than expected. Viewers of AVweb's video saw the result of these effects showcased as a large amount of up elevator and canard trim deflections necessary to keep the vehicle aloft. Now, after several rounds of funding (and with more ahead), the company is using practical experience earned from 28 flights of the prototype along with empirical data collected from ground runs and recently computational fluid dynamics modeling not previously available to the company to design its second vehicle. "Everything is changing a little," Dietrich told AVweb, "but the design heritage will follow through." Half of the ten-person team that is Terrafugia has remained home to work on the new design, which Dietrich hopes to show (in computer graphics form) in early 2010, with a physical prototype to follow later in the year, but almost certainly post-OSH 2010. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: WHAT NOW, TERRAFUGIA?
Sometimes even the brightest young minds aren't enough to sort out the many and varied challenges of designing aircraft, so Terrafugia's brain trust is going back to the drawing board and expects a much better roadable aircraft to result. In the latest installment of our AVweb Insider blog, Glenn Pew muses over the long, uncertain road the Terrafugia project is traveling. More...

FIRE BOSS AIR TANKER DOWN, PILOT HURT
An air tanker pilot escaped with minor injuries after his amphibious Fire Boss (a highly modified Air Tractor) crashed in Okanagan Lake in south central British Columbia Saturday. The unidentified pilot, who worked for Abbotsford-based Conair, was rescued by boaters. "The pilot was not injured to the extent that he was left incapacitated and was able to extricate himself," Yearwood said. The pilot was taken to hospital where he's being treated for minor injuries. The aircraft was one of six fighting the Terrace fire, which has grown to 45 square kilometers and forced the evacuation of 1,200 people, most of whom have returned home after rain dampened the fire overnight Friday. More...

HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT GLASS PANEL? TAKE AVIATION CONSUMER'S USER SURVEY
Virtually every new airplane these days has an electronic flight display system of some kind. Our sister publication Aviation Consumer would like to hear from users of these systems. Click here to take the survey.

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

EAA AIRVENTURE 2009 PODCAST SERIES: GARMIN PILOT MYCAST NOW FOR IPHONE
Garmin's Pilot MyCast has allowed pilots to gather flight planning information and even file flight plans from their cell phones for years, but it hasn't been available for iPhones until now. Garmin made the announcement at EAA AirVenture 2009 and AVweb's Paul Bertorelli spoke with Garmin's Jessica Myers about it.

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

EAA AIRVENTURE 2009 PODCAST SERIES: WINGX FOR IPHONE
WingX is one of the pioneers in flight planning for mobile applications, and it's adapting to the rapidly changing market. The company recently announced an iPhone application that brings in all the features that made it so popular for Blackberry and Windows Mobile users. AVweb's Paul Bertorelli spoke with Hilton Goldstein of WingX.

This podcast is brought to you by Lightspeed Aviation. More...

EAA AIRVENTURE 2009 VIDEO SERIES: OSHKOSH PRE-SHOW REPORT
Welcome to EAA AirVenture 2009! Our Oshkosh video coverage starts here ... .

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

EAA AIRVENTURE 2009 VIDEO SERIES: CONTINENTAL'S TURBOCHARGER AND 94UL EFFORT
Teledyne-Continental announced a new turbocharger system for the Cirrus SR22 at EAA AirVenture. The company says the engine will run happily on 94UL fuel.

This video is brought to you by Lightspeed Aviation. More...

EAA AIRVENTURE 2009 GALLERIES: DAY ONE

Click for more photos

EAA AirVenture is not yet open to the public, but we took advantage of the day to talk with vendors and attendees preparing for show. We also armed AVweb intern Adam Cutler with a camera and set him loose on an unsuspecting Oshkosh. More...

THIS WEEK, LIVE FROM OSHKOSH: THE AVWEBCAM (LIVE VIDEO FEED)
Watch for live video coverage of EAA AirVenture throughout the web, via our AVwebCam. We'll be broadcasting live from 9am to 6pm local (Oshkosh) time each day of the show. Look for the webcam player on our home page to enjoy the sights and sounds of the show — and maybe catch a glimpse of the AVweb team in action. Weather and technology permitting, we're planning to cover the arrival of WhiteKnightTwo at approximately 3:30-4:30pm today (Monday, July 27)! More...

FBO OF THE WEEK: TAC AIR (KTXK, TEXARKANA, AR)

AVweb's "FBO of the Week" ribbon goes to the TAC Air location at KTXK in Texarkana, Arkansas.

Whether you're one of those folks who consider Texarkana a Southern city or one of those who consider it part of the West, AVweb reader Craig Gill reminds us that the real issue is whether that famed hospitality extends to traveling pilots. As it turns out, it does.

Craig writes:

I have a Lancair IVPGarrett turbine. It requires some special handling for towing and fueling, [and] the line guys were awesome. There was fresh iced tea and cookies in the lounge. The facilities are really nice, and the flight planning area is very well-equipped.

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

Overheard in IFR Magazine's "On the Air"

I heard this at Hanscom Air Force Base (Bedford, Massachusetts):

Tower:
"Westwind Two Three Four, taxi into position and hold."

Westwind 234:
"Roger — assume the position."

Don Druga
Lexington, Massachusetts

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:

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Timothy Cole

Editorial Director, Aviation Publications
Paul Bertorelli

Editor-in-Chief
Russ Niles

Contributing Editors
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Glenn Pew

Features Editor
Kevin Lane-Cummings

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Scott Simmons

Contributors
Jeff van West
Mariano Rosales

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