EAA AND AOPA MAKE THEIR COLLABORATION OFFICIAL
The leaders of EAA and AOPA -- Tom Poberezny and Craig Fuller -- met on Aeroshell Square at Oshkosh on Wednesday morning, under the nose of the huge A380, and signed a formal Memorandum of Understanding vowing to work together to advance the cause of general aviation. "We are extremely excited about this," said Poberezny. "Our members expect us to work together to address the issues of concern to them." Those issues, as spelled out in the MOU, are to protect GA, to promote safety, and to grow the GA community. As part of the agreement, AOPA will support EAA's Young Eagles program and EAA will support AOPA's GA Serves America project, and the two groups -- which are the two largest GA member groups in the world -- will collaborate on legislative and safety issues. "Tom and I enjoy working together," Fuller said. "I'm a long-term member of EAA. ... This is a very important coming-together." More...

FLY-BY-WIRE AUTOLAND BONANZA TESTED
Just when you might have thought that engineers were running out of wonder boxes to put in light aircraft comes word from Hawker Beechcraft and Rockwell Collins that they've flown a fly-by-wire Bonanza A36 with an autoland system. Rockwell Collins spokesman David Vos called it a "digital parachute." The Bonanza did a series of hands-off landings at Hawker Beech's Wichita headquarters. The system is based on Rockwell Collins' Athena system, which is used to maneuver unmanned aerial vehicles. Hawker Beechcraft came up with the fly-by-wire system and did the integration. More...

P-750 XSTOL, PAC IS BACK
The Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-powered PAC-750XL plane designed primarily to haul and dump 16 skydivers is now the P-750 XSTOL and it's being marketed by Pacific Aerospace Limited (PAL) as the "ultimate" air utility vehicle. The specifications behind that drive include the airplane's ability to operate at weights in excess of 1.5 tons in and out of 800-foot strips, its ability to be outfitted to carry a nearly 4,900-pound load (in ag-sprayer form) and climb at 1500 feet per minute at 7500 pounds gross weight, according to the company. One XSTOL (short for "extreme" short take off and landing) was fitted with a ferry tank and flown from Kona, Hawaii, to California landing "with enough fuel to make it to Denver," according to company representatives. It departed at 11,000 pounds (well over gross) and managed a climb of 400 fpm, according to PAL. At AirVenture, company representatives said the low-wing aircraft will stall at 40 knots, presumably when empty (the company's literature lists that number at 58 and cruise at 140). Panel packages can include Garmin 430/530 avionics, and aircraft configurations (application, aerial survey, jump operations) can set the cost anywhere from about $1.5 to $1.75 million. More...

HYBRID ENGINE CONCEPT FROM FLIGHT DESIGN
Flight Design, GmbH, is developing from a standard Rotax 914 engine, an electric augmented powerplant that will produce an extra 40 hp for short (less than three minute) bursts of power. The company has "specifically developed for this task" an electric motor that is coupled to the prop hub through a belt drive. The goal of the concept is to produce an engine capable of fulfilling the role of a 160- to 180-hp normally aspirated engine without the larger engine's emissions. Mated to the turbocharged Rotax, the Hybrid Concept Engine will not readily lose power at altitude, flying efficiently in cruise, while enjoying the electric motor's extra boost during takeoff and initial climb. Batteries for the unit are based on Lithium Iron Phosphate chemistry and are quick-chargeable. Operation of the engine is designed for one-lever control, with a controller module selecting thrust from the electric motor only when the reciprocating engine is operating at more than 90 percent above available power. Otherwise, the reciprocating engine works to recharge the motor's batteries in flight, which causes "negligible" resistance on the crankshaft, according to the company. More...

RED TAIL LANDS IN OSHKOSH
Arriving with a fully restored and flying P-51C at AeroShell Square, Oshkosh, five years after the May 2005 fatal crash that killed program leader Don Hinz and destroyed the aircraft, may be nothing less than fully consistent with the Red Tail Project's mission of rising above and affecting positive change. The monumental restoration project began with the 40 percent of parts salvageable from the wreckage. It was infused with donations from more than 25,000 contributors from all over the globe and reformed by volunteers. That Phase of the effort ended last Wednesday with first flight. The resulting P-51C, dubbed Tuskegee Airmen, makes manifest the "never quit, believe in yourself, use your brain and expect to win" motives the Red Tail Project promotes to youngsters and clearly lives by. In Phase 2, the Red Tail Project will be touring to educate, motivate and inspire at locations across the country. At AirVenture Wednesday, the aircraft was introduced by Steve Brown, president of the Commemorative Air Force who remembered his friend, Don Hinz, saying, "If he'd been there after the accident, he would have said, 'Get to work.'" Because Brown and so many others have done just that, the aircraft will eventually be doing the same, spreading the heritage and lessons of its near and distant history, maybe as soon as next year. More...

LSA INDUSTRY HOLDING ITS OWN
The last year has been a tough one for GA, but Dan Johnson, president of the Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association, said at AirVenture Oshkosh on Wednesday that most of the LSA manufacturers have been weathering the storm. "Our sales numbers are down about 25 percent compared to a year ago, but the GAMA numbers [reported by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association] were down about 50 percent," he said. There are now 99 different LSA designs that have met ASTM certification standards, and Johnson said he expects Number 100 soon. "But people are asking, where's the shakeout?" he said -- are 100 models too many for the market to support? "The fact is, the top 10 manufacturers account for about 75 percent of sales, and the top 20 are about 90 percent, and many of the others are smaller, niche companies," Johnson said. In effect, the shakeout has already taken place. More...

WHERE'S SEAN TUCKER? HE'S ON HIS WAY
The afternoon airshows at AirVenture Oshkosh are one of the event's annual highlights, with the world's greatest aerial performers -- but Sean Tucker, whose red Oracle biplane is an annual highlight of that show, has so far been missing. "I will be there on Thursday," he told AVweb on the phone from Milwaukee, where he has been busy for a few days working on his airplane. "I had a new engine FedExed out from California, and the FedEx airplane broke down," he said. But as of Wednesday, the engine had arrived and it was installed, and Tucker was test flying it.

Meanwhile, the Monday afternoon airshow was canceled due to rain, but on Tuesday, huge crowds filled the Oshkosh grounds to see fly-bys by WhiteKnightTwo and the Airbus A380, which were followed by acts as varied as the Red Bull helicopter, Matt Younkin's Twin Beech, and Bill Stein's aerobatic Edge. 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. More...

EAA AIRVENTURE 2009 GALLERIES: DAY FOUR

Click for more photos

We were wondered where AVweb intern Adam Cutler disappeared to yesterday. Apparently he got some time aboard the A380 and worked his way down to the seaplane base. Meanwhile, contributing photographer Mariano Rosales has been snapping photos like crazy and creating some amazing panoramic photos we'll be sharing with you in upcoming galleries. (Click through to see the first.) More...

EAA AIRVENTURE 2009 PODCAST SERIES: GARMIN'S NEW GAD43
Owners who equip their aircraft with Garmin's G600 glass panel have been sometimes surprised to learn they still need to retain their old iron gyros to give the autopilot attitude pickoff information. Garmin has addressed this with a new product called the GAD43, which allows the G600's digital attitude information to talk directly to autopilots. In this podcast, Garmin's Jim Alpiser explains how it works.

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

EAA AIRVENTURE 2009 PODCAST SERIES: SATELLITE TRACKING GOES (PRETTY MUCH) REAL-TIME WITH SPIDERTRACKS
GPS technology has improved life for pilots and their friends on the ground over the last decade. Now New Zealand company Spidertracks (booth 3062 at AirVenture) is leveraging the power of the Iridium satellite network to service pilots and their ground-bound friends in all sorts of interesting ways — by logging their flight paths and allowing anyone to check their location and progress online. Engineering director James McCarthy gave us the lowdown at Oshkosh.

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

EAA AIRVENTURE 2009 VIDEO SERIES: BENDIX/KING'S NEW AV8OR ACE
Bendix/King has introduced a new follow-up product to its AV8OR touchscreen navigator. It's called the ACE and can display geo-referenced charts and plates. AVweb took the new product for a spin at AirVenture this week.

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

EAA AIRVENTURE 2009 VIDEO SERIES: IN THE PATTERN OVER OSHKOSH
Sitting in front of your computer thinking how awesome it would be if you could at least get up in the air for a few minutes and fly around the patch at Oshkosh? We feel ya — and that's why we strapped on some cameras for this bonus video, which gives you an aerial tour of the EAA AirVenture grounds. 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...

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...

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!

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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