FAA CITES SAFETY CONCERNS FOR CERTAIN HOMEBUILTS
Pilots who fly high-performance amateur-built aircraft need to be aware of their slow-flight and stall characteristics, the FAA said last week. In an "information for operators" bulletin (PDF), the FAA said Lancairs and other amateur-built aircraft with high wing loading and stall speeds higher than 61 knots have prompted concern due to a "large and disproportionate" number of accidents. Most of the accidents were due to inadvertent stall/spins while at slower airspeeds in home airport traffic patterns. Joseph Bartels, owner of Lancair Intl., based in Redmond, Ore., told the Bend Bulletin proper training is the key to improving the safety record. He said pilots who fly Lancairs should train with instructors who are familiar with the aircraft and practice how to "avoid any adverse flight characteristics ... no matter what the speed." The FAA suggested four steps that pilots should take to improve safety. More...

AFTERMATH OF THE BOEING 777 CRASH AT HEATHROW
Even though everyone had survived, for Peter Burkill, captain of the British Airways Boeing 777 that in 2008 crashed short of the runway at Heathrow, the drama was in many ways just beginning. The crash was, in Burkill's words, "unprecedented" as was, for Burkill, the personal impact it had on his life. The airliner had suffered a double-engine rollback on short final. With everyone alive, and the plane's voice and flight data recorders in the hands of investigators, answers should have been quick in coming. But they weren't. Burkill found that along with the absence of answers came speculation and he quickly found himself as a target at its center. Last week, AVweb's Glenn Pew spoke with Burkill in a podcast about the captain's experience of the crash itself. This Friday's podcast will cover the story of what happened next. More...

WOMEN PILOTS' RECORD: 310 FIRST FLIGHTS
Organizers of the Centennial of Women Pilots, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first pilot certificate awarded to a woman, set a record this month by introducing 310 girls and women around the world, ages 2 to 70, to their first flight in a general aviation aircraft. The flights took place in eight countries on three continents, in 20 different kinds of aircraft, including balloons, gliders, ultralights, airplanes and helicopters, during the week of March 6 to 12. The group now plans to extend the effort for the rest of this year, with the goal to introduce 2,010 girls and women to aviation in 2010. In the last 100 years, the percentage of women who are doctors and lawyers has increased significantly, noted Mireille Goyer, a Canadian pilot who is spearheading the challenge. "Our goal is to grow the women pilots' population to at least [a comparable] level within the next 100 years," she said. More...

JUDGE LEAVES EPIC AIR FUTURE UNRESOLVED
At a contentious hearing on Tuesday, an Oregon judge said he will decide on Friday who can take over the bankrupt Epic Aircraft company. After five hours of testimony, "there was a sense that any of the three contestants could still walk away with Epic's remains, either alone or in some combination," according to a report in The Oregonian. The Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) entered the highest bid for the company in last week's auction, $4.3 million in cash, but the final decision on the company's fate is up to the judge. The LT Builders Group, formed by seven owners of Epic airplanes, pressed their case, and though Judge Randall Dunn critiqued their business projections as "pathetic ... incompetent ... unacceptable ... useless," he said he found the testimony from group leader Daryl Ingalsbe "very credible." The third bidder, Harlow Aerostructures, based in Wichita, Kan., has been a supplier to the aerospace industry since 1954. On Friday, the three bidders will have another chance to present their arguments and to explore new ways to perhaps make deals among themselves or to split up various assets of the company. More...

"TOTAL ECLIPSE" VLJS NOW FOR SALE
Less than a year after they took over the type design for the Eclipse very light jet, the owners of Eclipse Aerospace say they are ready to offer a limited number of fully functional copies to new owners. "The EA500 is a sophisticated, high-performance, economic twin jet with low operating costs, low environmental impact and uncompromised safety," said Mason Holland, president of Eclipse Aerospace. "In their rush to deliver the aircraft, the former manufacturer of the EA500 [Eclipse Aviation Corporation] delivered to owners an aircraft that was only about 85 percent complete. These aircraft were great performers, but still lacked several important features. We now have completed the design and engineering of the EA500." The "Total Eclipse" jet now includes FIKI (Flight Into Known Icing) and a GPS-coupled autopilot. The company had acquired unfinished jets during the bankruptcy, and bought some back from owners. It is offering the jets ready-to-fly, with a factory warranty, at $2.15 million. Owners who took delivery of the original Eclipse jets can trade theirs in for a credit of up to $1.7 million. More...

777, 182 CLOSE ENCOUNTER OVER SAN FRANCISCO (CORRECTED, UPDATED)
The NTSB is sending an investigator to San Francisco to figure out how a United Boeing 777 and an Cessna 182 came within 300 feet vertically and 1,500 feet laterally of one another over the city on Saturday. An earlier NTSB news release said the light aircraft was an Aeronca Chief and that it came "within 300 feet" of the 777. The NTSB has since issued a corrected release. The FAA is also involved and appears to be blaming the SFO tower controller for the loss of separation. In a comment to the Associated Press, FAA spokesman Ian Gregor told AP the controller should have noticed the potential conflict earlier and is taking "strong measures to make sure something similar does not occur in the future." More...

LISTEN TO THE ATC TAPES: TOWER, "WE NEED TO TALK"
On Saturday, the crew of United Flight 889, a Boeing 777 with 251 passengers and 17 crew, reported they came close to a Cessna 182 while on initial climbout from San Francisco International. As the airliner took off, the tower controller warned the pilot of the 182, who reported having the 777 in sight, to get behind the airliner. The encounter set off the TCAS in the 777, and the crew was clearly not amused. The exchange is in the same order, but we've edited out extraneous transmissions and gaps. More...

NTSB ISSUES GLASS-COCKPIT SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS
Pilots need more training in the use of glass cockpit technology, the NTSB said this week. The safety board issued six recommendations (PDF) to the FAA as a follow-up to a recent report that found advanced cockpits are not helping to prevent accidents in the general aviation fleet. "Advanced avionics and electronic displays can increase the safety potential of general aviation aircraft operations," the NTSB says, "...but more effort is needed to ensure that pilots are prepared to realize that potential." The safety board said the FAA can take several steps to help improve the impact of the technology. More...

NOW ONLINE: FINAL COLGAN AIR REPORT, CARIBBEAN UPDATE, SUN 'N FUN NOTAM
Several new items of interest to pilots are now available on the Internet. The NTSB has posted its complete probable-cause report (pdf) on last year's fatal Colgan Air crash. The 285-page document details the board's findings and analysis, as well as the conclusions and recommendations that were announced at a hearing a few weeks ago. A transcript of the cockpit voice recorder is included in the appendix. For pilots who fly into the Caribbean, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted an update of its policy regarding screening of passengers (PDF). And the FAA has issued a Notam (PDF) detailing a number of special procedures in place April 11 to 18 in the central Florida region during the Sun 'n Fun fly-in. More...

BOEING PUSHING 787 DELIVERY DEADLINE
Boeing insists the first 787 Dreamliner will be delivered to launch customer All Nippon Airways by the end of this year even though it hasn't started certification flight testing yet. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Jim Albaugh, head of Boeing's commercial airplane unit, said snags in pre-certification flight testing, one of which resulted in the shutdown of an engine, have caused delays but he said there was some cushion in the schedule. Four of the six test aircraft are flying and have accumulated about 400 hours, but Albaugh agreed there is much to do before Dec. 31. "Some people said that when the first plane actually flew we could breathe a sigh of relief because we had retired the technical risk," Albaugh told the Journal. "Nothing could be further from the truth." More...

BOMBARDIER MAKES $3.9 BILLION DEAL WITH CHINESE BANK
Bombardier has reached a $3.9 billion deal with China Development Bank Corporation's (CDBC) leasing department that could give it an important edge in selling aircraft in China. The bank has agreed to make the money available to airlines interested in buying aircraft from Bombardier. Although the financing will be available to overseas carriers, the funding will make it easier for domestic carriers to finance purchases from Bombardier, which is developing the 100-to-130-seat CSeries airliners. The fuselage for the aircraft will be built by Shenyang Aircraft Corp., which broke ground on the new factory last week. More...

AVWEBBIZ: AVWEB'S BUSINESS AVIATION NEWSLETTER

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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: AIR SHOW SEASON PLANS
Where are you headed and what will take you there? Air show season begins in earnest in two weeks with Sun 'n Fun going from April 13-18. We'd like to hear your aviation event travel plans for 2010.

Plus: Last week, we asked if the time has come for an overhaul of the flight training system; click through to see how AVweb readers answered. 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

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: A HUMOROUS BUT-NOT-THAT-GENTLE LOOK AT FLYING TRAFFIC PATTERNS
If you like your aviation information to come straight out of the AIM, umm — this is not that. In this week's video, Paul Bertorelli takes a somewhat biting look into the heads of CFIs who teach their students to fly traffic patterns that would be too large for a Triple Seven. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: SETTING THE STANDARD IN WASHINGTON
There's a certain amount of discomfort that comes from discovering the top two picks, the cream of the crop, the best-of-the-best candidates for the leader of the Transportation Security Administration are a couple of guys you wouldn't want dating your sister. At least it's given AVweb editor-in-chief Russ Niles a moment's pause. In the latest installment of our AVweb Insider blog, Russ explains why President Obama needs to go back to the drawing board in seeking a new chief for the TSA. Click here to read more and share your own thoughts. More...

15 YEARS AND NOW 15 GRAND GIVEAWAYS ... IT'S YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A WXWORX XM WX SATELLITE WEATHER RECEIVER

Win an XM WX Satellite Weather receiver from WxWorx as we continue the celebration of AVweb's 15th Anniversary! All you have to do is click here to enter your name and e-mail address. (You only have to enter once, and you'll be entered in our prize drawings for the entire year — so if you've already entered, you're all set.)

And no, we're not going to rent or sell your name, ever. Tell your friends, and invite them to sign up for AVweb so they can qualify for our 15 Grand Giveaways prize drawings, too. (We won't spam them, either — but we hope they will sign up for our newsletters.)

Deadline for entries is 11:59pm Zulu time April 9, 2010.

Click here to read the contest rules and enter.

Congratulations to Colleen Keller of San Diego, California, who won a Garmin 510 aera handheld GPS in our last drawing! (click here to get your own Garmin aera)

FBO OF THE WEEK: PAI AERO (BATON ROUGE METROPOLITAN AIRPORT, KBTR, LA)

AVweb's latest "FBO of the Week" is one we're adding to our own charts — PAI Aero at Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport (KBTR) in (where else?) Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

AVweb reader Dave Beckwith calls PAI simply "the best" FBO in the area. Sure, they have great customer service and good prices, but what made Dave take a moment to nominate them as an FBO of the week was something we don't normally hear about FBOs: "There's so much to see! Especially the FW190 restoration project."

A World War II warbird restoration to check out and gab about while refueling? It's true — learn more and watch video here — and probably quite the attraction at KBTR.

Have you visited an FBO that was first class all the way? Click here to nominate it as an "FBO of the Week." 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
This week's edition of "Picture of the Week" goes live on April Fools' Day — but we're not foolin' about the quality of our latest batch of photos! Keith Wilson of Ramsey, Cambridgeshire (England) got our blood pumping with this shot — and another, which you can find in this week's slideshow on the AVweb home page. 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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If you're having trouble reading this newsletter in its HTML-rich format (or if you'd prefer a lighter, simpler format for your PDA or handheld device), there's also a text-only version of AVwebFlash. For complete instructions on making the switch, click here.

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