AIRBORNE LASER VIDEO RELEASED
Boeing announced that it had successfully shot a stationary truck on the ground with a laser onboard a C-130 flying overhead. Last week video of what happens when airborne laser meets truck was released showing metal sizzling from an area outlined in duct tape on the truck's hood. Boeing earlier said the test had "defeated the vehicle" although it's not clear in the accompanying video what, if any, damage was done besides some melted sheet metal. Still, it represents a milestone in weapons technology which will have the result of making war just a little safer for those caught in the crossfire. More...

JAPAN'S FIRST PASSENGER JET, A GEARED TURBOFAN, WINS FOREIGN ORDER
The Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ), Japan's state-backed stab at earning a foothold in the commercial passenger jet market, has won a 100-plane order with a street value of $40 billion from a U.S. regional carrier. Trans State Holdings, based in Missouri, operates GoJet and Trans States Airlines, along with feeder services for United and US Airways. Said Trans States President Richard Leach, "Making a decision of this size in this economic situation was difficult." But Mitsubishi says the aircraft's Pratt & Whitney PW-1000G geared turbofan engines (shared by Bombardier C Series aircraft) can bring fuel burn savings of up to 30 percent per hour over other similar but differently engined designs. A report by the AFT notes that Mitsubishi was "advised by US Aircraft maker Boeing" and switched "to aluminum for the wings, from carbon-fibre." Boeing has suffered significant delays in the late stage development of its larger next generation all-composite 787 Dreamliner, due most recently to a redesign of the composite wing root. More...

TCM ANNOUNCES TEMPORARY PLANT CLOSURES, MORE
Teledyne Continental Motors Inc. announced Friday that it will close for one week, Monday Oct. 5 through Monday Oct. 12, and will put other cost-cutting measures into effect "in response to reduced demand" for the aircraft engines and parts it produces. Salaried staff will go to four-day workweeks as of Oct. 12 and vacations for Thanksgiving and Christmas will last one week each. Beyond that, TCM has a shutdown planned for Jan. 4 to Jan. 9, 2010. The company says its goal is "to protect as much of our valuable employee base as possible," and rebuild its backlog while it endures this period of reduced demand. Customers will not be left entirely in the dark during the closures. Sales will be open, TCM will make customer service available for emergency support calls, and shipping/receiving will continue to manage delivery of incoming and outgoing orders. According to TCM, the cost cutting is only part of the company's slow-market strategy. More...

FISTICUFFS, MOLESTATION AND AIR INDIA?
Air India has some trouble to sort out following reports Sunday that the crew of one of its commercial flights was involved in pilot/purser fisticuffs and pilot(s)/flight attendant sexual harassment all while en route over Pakistan with 106 passengers aboard. The flight was out of UAE for Delhi, and the whole mess may have begun with confrontational verbal exchanges during the pre-flight briefing. According to The Times Of India, it escalated in flight when the pilots' allegedly attempted to molest a female flight attendant in the cockpit. The flight attendant resisted the alleged harassment and the altercation then spilled into the galley where, according to the BBC, punches were thrown. The event has ended (so far) with two crew members suspended, and two pilots grounded with a molestation charge filed against them. It also seems that the pilots have since lodged their own complaint of misconduct against a male flight attendant, claiming the sexual harassment (or molestation) charge is a false diversion from that real issue. More...

AVIDYNE OFFERS PRICE CUTS THROUGH FLYSAFE PROMOTION
Avidyne is, from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2009, offering "instant rebates" via its FlySafe promotion that will save single-unit buyers $500 and could save multiple-unit buyers up to $5,000. The deal is applicable to Avidyne's Entegra, Entegra MFD, Wx, and Traffic series units, with one small catch. To save the money, customers must "register for the rebate" on Avidyne's Web site prior to purchase. To save $5,000, you (or you representing four people) will have to buy four units. Purchasing just two through the program will knock $1,500 off of the price and buying three will save you $3,000. Company COO Patrick Herguth says the initiative "is designed to provide substantial savings that make all of our safety-enhancing products -- including our full suite of displays and safety sensors -- available to an even wider number of aircraft owners." More...

PILOT LOST IN LAKE
Witnesses saw a man appear to escape the single-engine float-equipped experimental Avid Catalina registered to 61-year-old Jim Eachus that sank Wednesday into Inks Lake near Burnet, Texas, but then saw him disappear into the water. It took until Saturday morning for searchers to find the body of the pilot. Witnesses say one of the aircraft's pontoons appeared to run low in the water, sinking until a wing touched the surface and the aircraft flipped over. The pilot, according to the witnesses, emerged from the plane's window but then disappeared into the water. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department deployed search parties in boats and employed SONAR to try to locate the missing pilot. The lake is about 40 feet deep in the area of the crash site and wind, noted in the FAA's preliminary report out of the south gusting to 15 knots, pushed some of the aircraft's wreckage to shore, expanding the search area. A dive team that searched Wednesday and Thursday failed to find the pilot, who was remembered by his instructor as a passionate, hard-working and excellent pilot who flew regularly. More...

1905 WRIGHT FLYER III REPLICA CRASHES, PILOT SERIOUSLY INJURED
Mark Dusenberry, vintage aircraft builder and pilot, was seriously injured Thursday when he crashed a replica of the 1905 Wright Flyer III at Huffman Prairie Flying Field. The airfield is cited by some as the world's first airport. Dusenberry was practicing for the 104th Anniversary of Practical Flight ceremony planned for the week of Oct. 4. Huffman Prairie Field sits just south of the main runway at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, in Dayton, Ohio. Dusenberry has flown the aircraft successfully at reenactments, but did suffer a minor crash at the same airfield on Oct. 5, 2007. This year, he was just seconds into his second early morning flight when witnesses saw the aircraft begin to oscillate vertically before pitching down from about 20 feet and impacting the ground. Dusenberry was conscious and talking with paramedics as he was airlifted by a CareFlight helicopter from the airfield to a local hospital. The flight ceremony, an event that includes educational outreach programs for local students, has been canceled. Click through for local news video. More...

PLANESPOTTER CAPTURES BIRDSTRIKE
Some days just don't go as planned and the crew of this Germania Airlines Boeing 737 was having one of those days on Wednesday. The Daily Mail says 200 starlings were ingested by the right engine of the aircraft as it took off from Dusseldorf bound to Kosovo. There were 80 people on board. Planespotter Juergen Kienast said the engine pitch immediately changed as the crew continued the takeoff. More...

ALL FUELED UP
It's not only the aircraft that needs fuel on a long cross country so the crew of a Canadian Forces CH-146 Griffon helicopter satisfied man and machine with two stops in Kenora, Ont. last week. The crew was on its way from the garrison at Canadian Forces Base Edmonton to Thunder Bay, Ont. (about 900 nm). According to the Canadian Press, the crew of the medium-sized twin-engine single rotor utility helicopter, based on the Bell 412 EP, landed at Kenora, two-thirds of the way to their destination, for fuel. There was no food available at the airport but there was a vacant ball diamond across the street from an A&W in the nearby town. More...

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

A MALE PILOT IN UNKNOWN TERRITORY — THE STORY OF THE WOMEN'S WORLD FORMATION FREEFALL RECORD BY A HOPELESS MALE PILOT

Click to read the full story and see more pics

Jump For The Cause (JFTC) just set a record on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009, for the largest female-only formation parachute jump of 181 women. Not being female and not being a skydiver, Dr. Brent Blue decided to tag along anyway. Good thing, too, since Brent learned quite a bit logging air time with several dozen parachuting women and one talking lamb. More...

JUMPING FOR THE CAUSE
Really big events tend to raise really big amounts for charitable causes, and the Jump for the Cause was no exception, gathering almost $1 million for breast cancer research and setting a new world record for women skydivers. Bambi Knight was one of 181 women who linked in so many ways in the searing heat of California last week, and she spoke with AVweb's Russ Niles about the jump. More...

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: ON "NON-GOD-FEARING AIRCRAFT"
Stability is a good thing ... except when it isn't. Nearly all general aviation aircraft are inherently stable, which makes them, in the words of military experimental test pilot Desmond "Deuce" Brophy, "God-fearing aircraft." But the fighter jets Brophy flies and tests are a little different. During our visit to the flight test center at Edwards Air Force Base, Brophy explained the fundamental aerodynamic differences between the aircraft we fly and what he calls "non-God-fearing aircraft." More...

BRAINTEASERS QUIZ #146: OBSCURE REGULATIONS
Seemingly insignificant regulations can bite. So bite back and defang the FAA's oft-overlooked regs by testing your grasp of the Code of Federal Regulations. (Think old-school FARs, if you like. We do.)

Take the quiz.

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: EFIS AS LIFESAVERS?
Aviation Consumer's survey of EFIS owners and users revealed widespread satisfaction with the technology. Some readers even described glass panels as having saved their lives. Consumer editor Paul Bertorelli chuckled a bit at the thought, gave the pilot a little more credit that he did himself, and started thinking about how much the definition of "flying" has changed in a short time. Read his latest musings on the AVweb Insider blog. More...

FBO OF THE WEEK: FIVE STAR JET CENTER (KBAF, WESTFIELD, MASS.)

AVweb's "FBO of the Week" ribbon goes to Five Star Jet Center at Barne Municipal Airport (KBAF) in Westfield, Massachusetts.

AVweb reader Tim Stevens told us how 5SJ keeps 'em coming back for more with great prices and that old pilot favorite, free food — "burgers and hot dogs on the patio while we overlook the fueling on the ramp." Tim says "great hospitality and superior facilites" make this a must-stop destination when you're in the area.

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!

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...

SHORT FINAL

Overheard in IFR Magazine's "On the Air"

CTAF offers a smorgasbord of irritating communications techniques. Somewhere in California's Central Valley, I heard a pilot repeatedly report, "Turning left, final, runway 20."

After what must have been the tenth "left final," a pilot who'd obviously had it replied:

"There is no left final; there is no right final — just final. It's a straight line!"

Ralph Lund
Malpaso, California

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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