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GA REACTS TO FAA'S PROPOSED CHANGES IN PILOT TRAINING
The time to respond to the FAA's latest proposed changes to flight-training rules closed on Monday, and nearly 400 comments were logged. The National Association of Flight Instructors said that while overall the 16 proposals are on the right track, they still had issues. "Some of [the proposed changes] lack the detail needed to fully allow their implementation," said NAFI Executive Director Jason Blair. "Others, instead of enhancing safety, actually decrease the level of flight proficiency and experience students will gain through their training activities. We also believe that further research on a number of these proposals is needed before final rules can be finalized." AOPA also commented on the changes, and said they would like to see some of the proposals go even further. For example, while the proposal would tweak some requirements for the commercial pilot certificate, AOPA said it would like to see a thorough review of those requirements. EAA said it was OK with most of the proposals, but raised a red flag regarding certain changes aimed at operators of jet aircraft. The changes were clearly intended to address operators of VLJs, EAA said, but would potentially impact the operation of warbirds and other vintage and homebuilt jets operated under Experimental rules. More...

WWII HELLCAT RECOVERED FROM LAKE MICHIGAN
A Navy Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat fighter plane that sank more than 60 years ago was lifted from the muddy waters of Lake Michigan on Monday. "Relatively speaking, having been down there since 1945, it's in pretty darn good shape," Mark Kish, a worker for the marine retrieval company, told The Navy Times. The lettering on the side could still be read and gauges in the cockpit were intact, Kish said. The airplane was found in water about 260 feet deep, where it sank after a mishap during a training flight for carrier landings. The pilot of the airplane, Lt. Walter Elcock, survived the crash and is now 89 years old and living in Atlanta. His grandson, Hunter Brawley, was present for the event and was the first to sit in the cockpit. "He told me to look for a pack of Lucky Strikes he left [behind]," Brawley told the Lake County News-Sun. "That's his sense of humor." The airplane will be moved to the National Naval Aviation Museum in Florida, where it will be restored for display. Click here for a video of the recovered airplane on a local news site. More...

FLIGHT DESIGN LSAs APPROVED IN CHINA
Flight Design is the first LSA manufacturer to obtain type design approval and a production certificate from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the company said this week. The approval for the CT design will make it easier for the company to deliver airplanes in the growing GA market there. "Up to now, LSA airplanes [sold in China] have been brought into service on the basis of a manufacturer's self-declaration alone, without any kind of certification," said Matthias Betsch, CEO of Flight Design, which is based in Germany. "This is a completely new level of qualification the CTLS has obtained with this step." Flight Design has sold more than 1,500 airplanes in 39 countries, and the CT has led the U.S. LSA market for five years. "We congratulate Flight Design Germany on this success," said Tom Peghiny, president of Flight Design USA. He added that sales are picking up in the U.S., with better sales numbers in September and October 2009 than in those months of 2008. "A market recovery can be seen," he said. More...

PIPER OFFERS G1000 FOR MIRAGE AND MATRIX
Piper's Mirage and Matrix single-engine aircraft can now be ordered with Garmin G1000 glass cockpits, the company announced this week. "The G1000 takes our premier aircraft to a new level of performance," said Dennis Olcott, Piper's VP of engineering. "The G1000 deployed in the Meridian -- and now the Mirage and Matrix, as well -- [provides] sophisticated avionics that give pilots the feel and capabilities experienced in larger, business-class aircraft." The G1000 flight deck comes with three large-format, high-resolution displays as well as synthetic vision, the company said. The Meridian, Mirage and Matrix currently feature Avidyne's FlightMax Entegra Integrated glass avionics as standard equipment. That option will continue to be offered. More...

OPERATION MIGRATION'S WISCONSIN HANGAR VANDALIZED
While the staff of Operation Migration was working at a wildlife refuge in Florida last month, helping to establish a migrating flock of endangered whooping cranes, their hangar in Necedah, Wisc., was broken into by vandals who stole and destroyed thousands of dollars worth of gear and slashed the fabric wings of four ultralights. "A few minutes of senseless destruction means we're looking at a bill for $20,000 to replace the wings," Joe Duff, CEO of the nonprofit group, wrote in the group's blog last week. There was no insurance on the hangar contents. A vintage ultralight that was used in the filming of Fly Away Home was damaged, artwork created by one of the staffers was destroyed, and tires were slashed on two cars stored in the hangar. "All of us lost something in that willful destruction of property, but mostly we lost faith," wrote Duff. "Who knows what motivates such unrepressed anger. ... Instead of lashing out, we will redirect our anger at this cowardly act of destruction into more resolve." Supporters of the group have started a fundraising drive to try to replace some of the damaged goods. More...

FAA MANDATES: DON'T BUFF FROST, REMOVE IT
The FAA this week published a final rule prohibiting takeoffs with "polished frost," which it defines as "frost buffed to make it smooth," on the wings, stabilizers and control surfaces of aircraft operated under fractional or charter rules. The rule requires operators to remove any frost adhering to critical surfaces prior to takeoff. Since most such operators already were prevented from using the procedure under FAA operating specs, the change mainly affects operators in Alaska, FAA's Les Dorr told AVweb on Tuesday. Out of 188 aircraft affected by the new rule, 177 are in Alaska. FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said the FAA has advised pilots not to take off with frost or ice contaminating their wings for years, "because it made good sense. Now, it's the law." The change, however, does not apply to non-fractional operators flying under Part 91, although of the 12 frost-related accidents the FAA identified, 9 involved such operations. Those accidents, the FAA says, would not have been prevented by this new rule. "Nevertheless," the FAA said, "these accidents illustrate the risk involved in flying with polished frost." More...

FAA FATIGUE RULES DELAYED TILL NEXT YEAR
The FAA is behind schedule on its proposal for new rules addressing pilot fatigue, and they won't be out until sometime early next year, Peggy Gilligan, the FAA's associate administrator for aviation safety, told a Senate panel on Tuesday. Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., chairman of the Senate aviation subcommittee, said lawmakers were running out of patience with the FAA, which had said earlier this year the NPRM would be out by this fall and then extended that to the end of the year. Gilligan also told the aviation subcommittee the new rules will not allow pilots to take naps in the cockpit as a fatigue-fighting strategy, as some other countries allow. "The crew has to come to work prepared for the schedule they are undertaking," she said. "We can manage and mitigate their fatigue through the regulations sufficiently that they should be alert throughout that flight." John Prater, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, raised the issue of long commute times for pilots. "The regional carriers, especially, they lose a contract and all of a sudden, people who lived in Cincinnati for 20 years, flying out of their home base, now have to commute overnight," said Prater. But Gilligan said that issue may be addressed by FAA guidance to operators rather than in the new rules. "How to do it is hard," she said. "But we know we do need to address it." More...

AVWEBBIZ: AVWEB'S BUSINESS AVIATION NEWSLETTER

Have you signed up yet for AVweb's no-cost weekly business aviation newsletter, AVwebBiz?

Delivered every Wednesday morning, AVwebBiz focuses on the companies, the products and the industry leaders that make headlines in the business aviation industry, making it a must-read.

Add AVwebBiz to your AVweb subscriptions today by clicking here and choosing "Update E-mail Subscriptions."

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: YOUR 2009 LOG BOOK
2009 is winding down, and that's our cue to get nosy about our readers and their flying habits. We'd like to know how much air time you've logged this year.

Plus: Last week, we asked AVweb readers about the hefty fines levied against three airlines involved in a notorious ramp delay last year; click through to see what your fellow readers had to say on the subject. 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...

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

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: ED STIMPSON A MODEST GIANT IN GA
Guest blogger Drew Steketee remembers Ed Stimpson in the latest installment of AVweb Insider. Read and add your own comments. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: LET THE CAPTAIN TAKE CHARGE ON THE RAMP
If the Captain could make the call — he's the PIC, right? — then we might not need passengers' rights groups to protect the pax from unreasonable treatment and epic delays. That's the argument put forth by AVweb editor-in-chief Russ Niles on the AVweb Insider blog. Stop by to see what he has to say and add your own comments. More...

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: IFR CHECKS OUT THE GARMIN G600 FOR INSTRUMENT APPROACHES
IFR Magazine's Jeff Van West flew Garmin's corporate Mooney to see how the G500/600 retrofit glass cockpit performs for instrument approaches. He also looks at how the unit stacks up against fully-integrated systems like the G1000. More...

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: PRODUCT MINUTES — NEW PRODUCTS AT AOPA SUMMIT
Our cup did runneth over AOPA Summit last week, but we managed some time to shoot another brief video on cool products we saw, including a Cirrus engine modification from Next Dimension, Flightline Systems' new AuRACLE Engine Monitor for legacy twins, a nifty flashlight that's really a glove, and a new Cessna 210 inspection guide from the Cessna Pilots Association. More...

FBO OF THE WEEK: LEBANON AVIATION SERVICES (FLOYD W. JONES AIRPORT, LEBANON, MO)

AVweb's "FBO of the Week" ribbon goes to Lebanon Aviation Services at Floyd W. Jones Airport (KLBO) in Lebanon, Missouri.

AVweb reader Bill Lanman stopped in over the holiday and tells us how LAS rolled out the Thanksgiving welcome for a weary traveler:

A full course buffet of homemade food and freshly baked pie made my stop at LBO a real treat — all for a small donation! Last year I stayed overnight, and they paid for my cab to and from the hotel. The pilot is truly king here! Great people and service. I stop here whenever in the area, and I recommend any pilot flying through do the same.

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
As you might expect, reader submissions to our weekly photo cornucopia dropped a little bit over the week of Thanksgiving — but don't panic. We've still got plenty of terrific shots to make your eyes bug out of your head today. William Derrickson of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania proves our point with this simply amazing shot that fairly begged to be this week's top photo. 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.

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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