CALLS INTENSIFY FOR CLOSING OF HUDSON VFR CORRIDOR
The horrific midair accident above the Hudson River last Saturday that killed nine people in a Piper Saratoga and a Europcopter AS350 helicopter has prompted calls from officials across the Northeast to impose stricter restrictions on the VFR corridor through New York City's congested airspace. On Tuesday, 15 members of Congress sent a letter to FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt comparing the lack of regulation to the "Wild West" and saying "we should seriously consider banning all flights below 1,100 feet until radar systems are available to track them." The National Air Transportation Association said this week the media attention following the accident has been misplaced. "The characterization of the airspace as devoid of regulation is inaccurate," said NATA in a news release. "The airspace being referred to as 'uncontrolled' only indicates that there is no active radar-based control of flights. Operations in this airspace are still subject to numerous regulatory requirements."

NATA President James Coyne added: "Until the NTSB releases their findings, I believe it is imperative that we follow the advice of Mayor Bloomberg and avoid unnecessary speculation." The letter from Congress suggested that all aircraft in the corridor should be required to file flight plans, and "at a minimum, the FAA must require the installation of the Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS-II), and a Mode C Transponder, on all aircraft that seat less than 10 people." The group called for the FAA to act not only to regulate the Hudson River corridor, but "to provide greater oversight of small aircraft operations throughout the country." More...

NTSB URGES STRICTER MONITORING OF SLEEP APNEA IN PILOTS
The NTSB says the FAA should require aviation medical examiners to evaluate pilots for risk factors of obstructive sleep apnea and ask about any previous diagnosis of the disorder. The recommendation (click here for a PDF) followed the board's investigation of an incident in February 2008 in which both crew members on a go! airlines flight in Hawaii fell asleep in the cockpit during the cruise phase of an inter-island flight and overflew their destination. The NTSB investigation found the captain's undiagnosed obstructive sleep apnea was a contributing factor. In its safety recommendation, the NTSB said the FAA should implement a program to identify pilots at high risk for obstructive sleep apnea and require that those pilots provide evidence of having been appropriately evaluated and effectively treated, if treatment is deemed necessary, before being granted unrestricted medical certification. No injuries resulted from the go! airlines incident. Both pilots lost their jobs. More...

BOEING UAV MAY DELIVER CARGO FOR MARINES
Boeing announced this week that it has received a $500,000 contract from the U.S. Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory to demonstrate the capabilities of its A160T Hummingbird, an unmanned rotorcraft. The Marines are studying the possibility of using the vehicle as a replacement for trucks to deliver supplies. In flights that will take place by February, Boeing said it will demonstrate that the A160T can deliver at least 2,500 pounds of cargo from one simulated forward-operating base to another in fewer than six hours per day for three consecutive days. "Since 2007, when the A160T made its first flight, it has shown it has the ability to carry multiple payloads and perform at various altitudes and speeds," said John Groenenboom, A160T program manager for Boeing. "We are confident it will perform well for the Marines." Boeing recently created a new Unmanned Airborne Systems division. More...

CLARIFICATION: FAA AD APPLIES TO AFTERMARKET CYLINDERS
The FAA Airworthiness Directive that AVweb wrote about last week regarding Superior Air Parts cylinders involves exclusively cylinders sold by SAP and installed by third parties on already fielded engines. More...

ECLIPSE SALE EXPECTED NEXT WEEK
Any buyers interested in the assets of Eclipse Aviation must put in a bid with the federal bankruptcy court by the end of this week, or the sale will go to the current high bidder, Eclipse Aerospace, which has made an offer of $40 million, the Associated Press reported this week. If other qualified bidders appear, an auction will be held as early as next week. If no one else bids, Eclipse Aerospace would close the deal by the end of this month. The owners of Eclipse Aerospace, Mike Press and Mason Holland, have said they would keep the company in Albuquerque, provide service and upgrades for the current fleet, and eventually restart production. Both are owners of Eclipse jets. The Eclipse Owners Group, which at one time was also seeking control of the company assets, has abandoned its effort and now supports Eclipse Aerospace. More...

EPIC AIR CLOSED, SAY LOCAL NEWS REPORTS
The doors are closed at Epic Air, in Bend, Ore., and a notice on the door states that the building's landlord has "taken possession of the premises" because Epic is 20 days overdue on a lease payment, the Bend Bulletin has reported. About a month ago, Epic had scaled back to about 15 employees, but a company spokesman told AVweb at the time that the doors were still open and work on airplanes was continuing. The company sells several kit aircraft, including the Epic LT turboprop, which are assembled by customers with expert help at the company's build center in Bend. One customer, Rich Lucibella, of Florida, told the Bulletin that he and a group of other LT owners may try to take over control of the company. "Our first efforts are going to be to conserve the assets of this company because we believe the [Epic LT] is still a wonderful design, anyone in the general aviation community knows that, and after that, a way we can simultaneously keep this company going in Central Oregon and finish the planes," Lucibella said. More...

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: REGULATING THE HUDSON VFR CORRIDOR
Saturday's deadly midair collision over the Hudson River has spurred calls for closing the VFR corridor or at least tightening up on regulations. We'd like to hear what you think.

Plus: Last week, GAMA released some sobering numbers about aircraft orders (and cancellations) for the current year. In response, we asked AVweb readers to predict when we might see the bottom of the current downturn for aviation. Click through to see how they answered last week's Question. 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...

CANADA LENDS SAS MONEY TO BUY BOMBARDIER PLANES
The Canadian government has come up with a creative way of ensuring the orders keep flowing into Montreal-based Bombardier. It's helping to finance the purchases for Bombardier's customers. Last week, International Trade Minister Stockwell Day announced the government was writing a check to Scandinavian Airlines SAS for $173 million CAD toward the cost (up to $350 million total) of eight aircraft from Bombardier. If SAS defaults on the loan, Canadian taxpayers will be on the hook. "[Export Development Canada] is providing repayable loans to ensure the aircraft production sector remains strong during this economic downturn," he said in a news release. More...

FALCON 7X APPROVED FOR STEEP APPROACHES
Dassault says its Falcon 7X is the first intercontinental bizjet to be certified for steep approaches into some of the trickiest -- but most convenient -- executive airports. Dropping into London City Airport and Lugano, Switzerland, for instance, requires up to a 6 degree approach angle and a similarly aggressive takeoff. London City is particularly challenging in that there's only 4327 feet of runway available for landing and 3,944 feet for takeoff. It must accomplish both within strict noise limits. The certification means that a business person taking off from New York or Los Angeles can be in downtown London a few minutes after landing rather than having to drive an hour or more from one of the other London-area airports. "Business aviation is all about the need for efficiency and access to hard to reach places and an airport like London City combines the two," said Dassault Falcon CEO John Rosanvallon. "Direct access to this important financial center is sure to benefit our U.S. based Falcon 7X customers, allowing them to be in meetings moments after landing." More...

DA42-BASED UAV TESTED
Israeli Aeronautics Defense Systems has tested a new unmanned aerial vehicle based on the Diamond DA42 light twin. The aircraft is named the Dominator II and flew for the first time in late July. According to Defence Professionals, the pilotless platform builds on the notoriously long legs of the diesel-powered DA42. The publication says the twin can stay airborne for up to 28 hours with a 900-pound payload. It will operate at speeds ranging from 75 to 190 knots and has a maximum operating altitude of 30,000 feet. More...

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

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: HUDSON MIDAIR — LET THE HOWLING BEGIN
Plenty of voices are calling immediate action of some sort in the wake of last week's midair collision over the Hudson River. In the latest installment of our AVweb Insider blog, Editorial Director Paul Bertorelli says New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been a welcome voice on reason amid the clamor. More...

VIDEO: THE FUN SIDE OF OSHKOSH
The common lament among AVweb staff at EAA AirVenture is that we spend a full week at the show but it seems like we see hardly anything. Sure, we cover the news, interview lots of interesting people and make sure there's a wide variety of video, podcasts, photos and written information to give our readers a good picture of what's going on. But few of us have ever gone to AirVenture for the pure joy of it, and that's been an unintentional gap in our coverage. Kitplanes Editor Marc Cook came across this video on YouTube by James Perkins, of Georgetown, Texas, who has elevated getting the most out of Oshkosh to high art. James, who's been going by the nickname Slick since before he can remember, is a carded aerobatic pilot who competes in his Pitts S-1C. He's also an Eagle Scout and will soon be a freshman at Texas A&M where he has a full ride ROTC scholarship as a future naval aviator. He'll turn 19 next month. More...

FBO OF THE WEEK: CARLSON AVIATION (CHAN GURNEY MUNICIPAL AIRPORT, YANKTON, SD)

AVweb's "FBO of the Week" ribbon goes to Carlson Aviation at Chan Gurney Municipal Airport (KYKN) in Yankton, South Dakota.

AVweb reader Steve Wolf stopped there on his way to EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh and made it a planned stop on his way back:

Not ony did they have the cheapest fuel around ($3.50/gal), but they fed all the transient crews for free — Sloppy Joes on the way out and hot dogs on the way back! (They ran out of their 100 lbs. of Sloppy Joe meat.) I think YKN was the second busiest airport in the world last week. I need more thumbs — "two thumbs up" falls way short.

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
Yeah, yeah: "Awesome photos!," "Wow!," etc., etc. — you hear it from us every week, and we imagine you've alread written it off as hyperbole from a bunch of guys trapped in a tiny room with a computer getting way too excited over some airplane pictures. But — this week's batch of photos is awesome. So awesome, in fact, that you dare not miss this week's slideshow (about 1/3 of the way down the home page in the blue bar). After much fretting and careful deliberation, we finally decided on a "POTW" winner — and it's Paul T. Gernhardt of Ashburn, Washington. This gorgeous photo was taken early in the morning at the Seaplane Base during AirVenture. 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.

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Paul Bertorelli

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Glenn Pew

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Scott Simmons

Contributors
Jeff van West
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