Volume 9, Number 45b November 6, 2003

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The Top Headlines From AVweb's Expanded, Illustrated News Coverage At AVweb's NewsWire.

WHAT'S "SILLY" IN WASHINGTON THIS WEEK
While the U.S. Senate mulls over how to deal with the contentious FAA reauthorization bill now in its lap, a House panel is ready to look at a way to avoid all this brouhaha over privatization in the future: take Air Traffic Control away from the FAA, and give it to the Department of Defense. Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee, is hosting a hearing today to explore the proposal. John Carr, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, called the whole idea "silly" and declined to waste his time testifying at Mica's meeting. "We would rather not meddle with the chairman's misguided military musings," Carr said in a news release Monday. More...

...VOTE ON FUNDING BILL EXPECTED ANY DAY...
The FAA reauthorization bill is expected to come up for a vote on the Senate floor sometime this week. For the most part, Republicans are supporting the bill, while Democrats oppose it. Republicans outnumber Democrats in the Senate by three votes. Senators opposed to the bill have been working to stall the showdown, and Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), a vocal opponent of ATC privatization, has threatened a filibuster to delay the vote even further. According to The Hill, an insider newspaper in Washington, Lautenberg plans to read aloud from transcripts of air traffic controllers landing planes in the wake of the terror attacks of 9/11/01, as well as reports of near misses and crashes in countries where towers are privatized. More...

...NBAA, GAMA, EAA HOPE FOR SWIFT PASSAGE
Not all aviation lobbyists are in alignment with NATCA's staunch opposition to the FAA bill now in the Senate. NBAA President Shelley Longmuir praised the House for passing the act, and called on the Senate to quickly get it approved. "This legislation provides for a strategic investment in an industry that feeds our national, regional and local economic engines," Longmuir said in a news release last Friday. "Passage of this bill will inject nearly $60 billion of critical and timely investment in the nation's aviation system." The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) also applauded the House vote. "This is a very important and much needed bill. We are glad to see it finally moving forward and we hope the Senate will quickly pass it," said GAMA President Ed Bolen. EAA has also come out in favor of the bill. More...

THE PERMANENCE OF TEMPORARY RESTRICTIONS
AOPA this week was heartened that two Congressional representatives from Washington State weighed in on GA's side in the fight to lift security-related "temporary" flight restrictions (TFRs) that have been in place for two years. Reps. Rick Larsen (D) and Jennifer Dunn (R) wrote to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, urging the Department of Defense to re-evaluate the need for four TFRs in the Puget Sound area. "These TFRs cause tremendous operational, access and efficiency problems for pilots," Dunn and Larsen wrote. "The restrictions negatively impact the arrivals and departures into four airports in the region, and have closed a seaplane base. This has also had an adverse economic impact on aviation businesses." More...

...AS FAA, AOPA OFFER TFR HELP
AOPA wrapped up its annual Expo over the weekend, reporting that about 9,400 visitors and 1,550 aircraft came to Philadelphia for the event. One ongoing highlight, AOPA said, was the unveiling of its new online flight-planning program with lots of user-friendly features, including access to current TFR and navaid information. The program, free to AOPA members, allows users to store a pilot profile, two aircraft profiles, and up to five routes. Meanwhile, the FAA has upgraded its own TFR site to be more user-friendly, offering real-time graphical depictions and a choice of views and formats. The site has a list of TFR locations, and clicking on each one will provide a map of the TFR drawn on a sectional chart, along with the text of the Notice to Airmen. As usual, the agency strongly urges pilots to call FAA Flight Service at 1-800-WX-BRIEF (992-7533) for a full briefing before taking off. More...

AIRPORTS VS. PARKS: FLORIDA WINS, CHICAGO KEEPS TRYING
Voters in St. Petersburg, Fla., made it clear on Tuesday that they like their little local airport, even preferring it to a proposed waterfront park. Three-quarters of those casting ballots voted to keep Albert Whitted Airport open, often citing fondness for the airport and respect for its historical value as their reasons, according to the St. Petersburg Times. But the vote also reflected a widespread fear that turning the airport into parkland was simply an intermediate step to building yet more condos on the site. Meanwhile, the never-say-die Friends of Meigs are floating a proposal to include -- guess what? -- an airport in the new park planned for Meigs Field. More...

ENOLA GAY EXHIBIT INCITES PROTEST
A coalition of activists is circulating a petition to protest (again) the exhibit of the Enola Gay bomber, on display at the Smithsonian's new Udvar-Hazy Center, which will open Dec. 15 at Washington Dulles International Airport. The petition protests the "celebratory exhibit," saying it "both legitimizes what happened in 1945 and helps build support for the Bush administration's dangerous new nuclear policies." Although a New York Times report widely published in the media this week said the exhibit text glorifies the airplane "without mentioning that it dropped the bomb on Hiroshima," the text in fact states: "On August 6, 1945, this Martin-built B-29-45-MO dropped the first atomic weapon used in combat on Hiroshima, Japan." More...

JUDGE FINDS NO PATENTS INFRINGED IN TAWS CASE
A federal court ruled last week that Sandel Avionics does not infringe on any of Honeywell's Terrain Awareness and Warning System (TAWS) patents, according to a news release from Sandel. Honeywell had alleged that Sandel Avionics Inc. and several other companies infringed Honeywell's patents relating to its Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS), Honeywell's version of TAWS. Honeywell filed the case in May 2002. The FAA had earlier issued a mandate requiring most turbine aircraft to install an FAA-certified TAWS by March 29, 2005. More...

CHICAGO-BASED FLIGHT SCHOOL UNDER SCRUTINY
The FAA is conducting a review of the American Flyers flight school at DuPage Airport, and allegedly has found numerous violations, according to a story in Sunday's Chicago Tribune. The Tribune said the FAA has alleged that the school provided incomplete training to clients, manipulated records and allowed ill-prepared students to pass flight exams at its sites in Illinois, Texas, New Jersey, and New York. Don Harrington, owner of the school, told the Tribune that an "overzealous, rogue FAA inspector" was responsible for the allegations. A local TV station, NBC5, later reported that the FAA said it is conducting a review of the school, but no findings have been reported and no action has been taken. More...

GLOBAL HAWK GERMAN TEST FLIGHTS SUCCESSFUL
Test flights in Germany of the USAF Global Hawk high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle wrapped up successfully last week, Northrop Grumman said in a news release. The Global Hawk UAV made several flights over the North Sea, each lasting several hours. Global Hawk was able to detect and identify electromagnetic signals from a variety of sources, including air defense radars. The remotely piloted Global Hawk can range 12,000 nautical miles at up to 65,000 feet, flying for as long as 35 hours. Global Hawk can survey large geographic areas with pinpoint accuracy, to give military decision-makers the most current information about enemy location, resources and personnel, according to the USAF. More...

AIRPORT PAYS FOR FISH MALAISE
No, it's not a fancy new appetizer or sushi selection. Workers at London's Gatwick Airport recently sudsed down the runways with some harsh cleaning chemicals, and then rinsed it all off with lots of running water. Unfortunately, that toxic water drained into a nearby creek, which flowed into the River Mole, and there set about killing more than 5,200 innocent fish of 14 different species. Apparently that was about three-quarters of the entire fish population in the area. The U.K. Environment Agency brought charges, and then decided that since the highest fine it can levy -- 20,000 pounds -- would be inadequate, bumped the matter upstairs for sentencing in a federal court. More...

ON THE FLY...
A 1953 T-33 Silver Star jet crashed and burned in Calif. Sunday, killing the pilot...
Carter Aviation Technologies won DARPA funding for next-generation propeller and rotor...
2004 Asian Aerospace show, coming up in Singapore in February, expects bigger-than-ever crowds...
Embry-Riddle's Wings and Waves air show this week in Daytona Beach, Fla....
Boeing 7E7 jetliner to be 50% composites, and only 15% aluminum. More...

AVWEB'S AVSCOOP AWARD...
Congratulations and an AVweb hat go out to Josh Timms, this week's AVscoop winner. Submit news tips via email to newstips@avweb.com. Rules and information are at http://www.avweb.com/contact/newstips.html.

More...

NEW ARTICLES AND FEATURES ON AVWEB
BRAINTEASERS
Quiz #74 -- Hold, Circle, and Yield Right-of-Way
Flight opens the entire world to your imagination, so imagine yourself in the IFR-meets-VFR real world where you have to know what the other pilots are up to.

More...

AVWEB'S PICTURE OF THE WEEK...
We received over 100 pictures last week. Congratulations to this week's winner, Bruce Cooke, of Cambridge, New Zealand. His picture titled "Recreational RV" captures a RV4 as it prepares to taxi at the Waihi Beach airstrip in beautiful New Zealand. Bruce tells us this photo was taken during a NZ Sport Aircraft Association Fly-In. As you can see, sport aviation is alive and well down under. Great picture, Bruce! Your AVweb hat is on the way.

To check out the winning picture, or to enter next week's contest, go to http://www.avweb.com/potw More...

AVWEB'S QUESTION OF THE WEEK...
We received over 300 responses to our question last week on panel-mounted GPS units. The vast majority (72 percent) of respondents welcome a higher level of standardization between brands, especially of the basic GPS functions needed for VFR and IFR navigation. About 10 percent of those responding normally use only the Direct To mode, while 9 percent felt transitioning from one GPS to another has always been easy for them, regardless of brand.

To check out the complete results or respond to this week's question, go to http://www.avweb.com/qotw
This week, we would like to know your thoughts on the aircraft AVweb readers fly. More...

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AVflash is a twice-weekly summary of the latest aviation news, articles, products, features and events featured on AVweb, the Internet's Aviation Magazine and News Service. http://www.avweb.com

Letters to the editor intended for publication in AVmail should be sent to mailto:editor@avweb.com.com. Have a comment or question? Send it to mailto:newsteam@avweb.com.

Today's issue written by News Writer Mary Grady:
http://www.avweb.com/contact/authors.html#mgrady
AVweb's editorial team: http://avweb.com/contact/authors.html.

Have a product or service to advertise on AVweb? A question on marketing? Send it to AVweb's sales team: mailto:sales@avweb.com.

Let's all be careful out there, okay?

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