CIRRUS ROLLS OUT A NEW TURBOCHARGED MODEL
Cirrus continues to be bullish on turbocharging and has announced a new model, the SR22T. Cirrus rolled out the new airplane at the Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association Migration in Dayton, Ohio. The model is a follow-on to the SR22TN, which has a turbonormalized version of the IO-550-N installed in the normally aspirated SR22. The SR22T has a ground-boosted TSIO-550-K with 315 HP, five more than the TN model. The SR22T's TSIO-550 has low compression pistons — 7.5 to 1 — so Cirrus sees this as a path to the use of lower octane fuels. (At least lower than 100 octane.) More...

MEGA-MERGER TRIGGERS CALL FOR RE-REGULATION
Congressmen James Oberstar and Jerry Costello said at a hearing, Wednesday, that if the proposed United and Continental merger is approved, they'll be pushing to restore financial regulation of the airline industry. Oberstar, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and Costello, chairman of the panel's aviation subcommittee, say that if the merger is approved, they'll put the issue before Congress. Federal regulation of airline pricing would re-establish the government in a position to set pricing for consumers and decide which companies would be fit to fly passengers. Deregulation of the airline industry came about in 1978 and has been cited by proponents for initiating a new era of competition and affordable air travel. Oberstar says that era is over and consumers are now suffering under a new fee-based system that would only get worse with the creation of a United/Continental mega-carrier. More...

NAFI TO SPLIT FROM EAA
EAA announced Friday that its affiliate, the National Association of Flight Instructors (NAFI), will become an independent organization no later than March 1, 2011. The move will create "a cleaner operating structure" for both organizations and the ability for each to focus on their core strengths, according to EAA Chairman and President Tom Poberezny. The two organizations have operated together since 1995, in which time NAFI has doubled its members. "We truly appreciate all that EAA has done for NAFI," Ken Hoffman, the association's board chairman, said. He pledged to work with EAA to serve each organization's common interests and said that going forward, NAFI will continue to work for the benefit of professional flight instructors "and other teachers of flight." According to EAA communications director Dick Knapinski, the transition to independence is already under way. More...

OWNERS GROUP PRESSES AOPA ON FUEL ISSUE
Leaders of owners groups for Cirrus, Malibu/Mirage, Bonanza, Mooney and Twin Cessna aircraft have banded together to form the Clean 100-Octane Coalition to make clear what they need from any replacement 100LL. Owners of these aircraft have the most to lose if the nation adopts 94UL (essentially 100LL without the lead) as a replacement fuel, because that fuel will mandate either expensive engine modifications, power de-ratings or both for their aircraft. It's likely this group's existence has already influenced AOPA's latest statement on a replacement for 100LL. At the annual Cirrus owner's migration in Dayton on Saturday, the coalition met with AOPA President Craig Fuller, as well as representatives from Cirrus, Piper, GAMA and Teledyne-Continental Motors (TCM), in what became a four-hour meeting to further press the point. More...

PIPISTREL CLAIMS LSA "FIRST" WITH TAURUS
Pipistrel has announced the Taurus LSA, claiming it's the "first ever high-performance two-seat self-launching glider," and the company is encouraging green-minded pilots to inquire about the company's electric version. The standard aircraft is heavy on advanced systems, including a flip-and-forget switch for retracting or extending the internally stowed powerplant and a mass trim system that drives "trim fluid" to different parts of the aircraft to properly balance it for single- or dual-occupant flight. The aircraft also carries a Kevlar-reinforced cockpit structure and a huge clear canopy, and can be fitted with an optional full-plane parachute system. Pipistrel claims a 41:1 glide ratio and says the aircraft can easily achieve a 78-knot cruise with its standard 50-hp Rotax that burns 3.1 gph when turned up for 90 knots. Those numbers hold firm for the aptly named Taurus Electro (the electric-powered version), according to the company, which offers more interesting technology in the Taurus package not usually seen in an LSA, or the Taurus' price range. More...

COURT CLEARS CONTROLLER IN SPORT-JET CRASH
The clash between a light jet's insurance company and air traffic controllers over the 2006 non-fatal crash of the prototype Sport-Jet has been decided in court, in favor of the on-duty controller. The defendant in this case was the United States of America (according to court documents) in the form of the FAA. The plaintiff was the Sport-Jet's insurer. Court papers dated June 17, 2010, show the Sport-Jet followed a Dash 8 as it departed. Once airborne the Sport-Jet's wing dipped and the aircraft cartwheeled. The plaintiff charged that proper separation was not provided per the FAA's regulatory guidance and a wake encounter had caused the accident. The court decided that the on-duty controller met the applicable regulations for separation in handling the departures and concluded that even if a breach of regulations had occurred, "a wake turbulence encounter did not cause the accident." The logic that lead to that conclusion was complicated. More...

PILOT HURT IN CURTISS REPLICA CRASH
Officials of the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport, N.Y., say their summer flying schedule is in doubt after the crash of one of its aircraft Friday seriously injured their chief pilot. Jim Poel, 67, is in critical but stable condition in an upstate New York hospital after the 1910 replica Curtiss Albany Flyer he was flying went down in a cornfield about a quarter of a mile from Penn Yan / Yates County Airport. "To rebuild it would take a couple of years, so it's ... changing our game plan for our flying programs for 2010 and 2011," Trafford Doherty, the museum's executive director, told the Elmira Star-Gazette. The aircraft was slated for some high-profile flights this summer. More...

LAST-MINUTE UPSET TURNS THE TIDE IN NEW YORK

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Britian's Paul Bonhomme literally inched his way into a victory at the New York stop of this year's Red Bull Air Race World Series. Race favorite Hannes Arch from Austria posted the best race times during the practice sessions and Saturday's qualifying runs. But his lead slipped away from him when he hit a pylon with his wing tip in his very last run giving him a six-second penalty added on to his total time. With less than three seconds separating the times of the top three contenders all of Arch's hopes of winning, or even placing in the top three, had all but vanished. "Yes, it's been a great day," commented Bonhomme after the races. "I concentrated on me, my aeroplane, and the track today. Now I think we can celebrate, though." More...

RED BULL AIR RACES NEW YORK: BONUS GALLERY

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As it turns out, we had two AVweb contributors on the ground at the New York leg of the Red Bull Air Race World Series. Dr. Brent Blue shares his shots from the event in a special bonus gallery. More...

AVMAIL: JUNE 21, 2010

Letter of the Week: Bill Threatens California Aviation

California has the most airports, the most air traffic, the most pilots, and the most flight instructors by FAA region or state. As of December 31, 2009, there were 61,709 active pilots residing in California, [and] 17 percent (or approximately 9,316) were listed as flight instructors. Flight instructors are the essence of aviation in an ever more complicated and extensive aeronautical environment.

Flight instructors are needed to maintain and increase aviation safety levels and to facilitate growth in general and commercial aviation for the state of California. Adding statutory financial burdens to flight instructors and flight schools, especially in this economy, will reduce the availability of the much-needed human resources now providing initial, advanced, currency, and proficiency training. Fewer flight instructors will reduce the safety and growth ratios. Flying in California will become more expensive and [more] dangerous.

The FAA is anticipating domestic flight operations in the U.S. to double by 2025, and California is not exempt. AB 48 will reduce the number of flight instructors and flight schools in California that provide the needed safety training to maintain the state's growth and its direct connection to aviation safety and accident prevention. It is irresponsible to implement AB 48 and not to evaluate its safety impact. Repeal AB 48, California's Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009.

Rafael Sierra
CFI, CFII
AOPA Member
EAA Member
SAFE member
FAASteam Lead Rep.

Click through to read the rest of this week's letters.

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...

FAA LOGJAM A LABOR ISSUE
The issue holding up passage of the FAA reauthorization bill has little to do with aviation per se. A controversial amendment would change the way labor laws apply to FedEx, and the company is fighting tooth and nail to prevent that. AVweb's Russ Niles spoke with FedEx spokesman Maury Lane. More...

CIRRUS SR22T FLIGHT DEMO
Cirrus is out with a new version of the SR22, the SR22T, with a TSIO-550-K groundboosted turbo system. AVweb's Paul Bertorelli took a demo flight in the new airplane with Cirrus's Matt Bergwall. More...

SUPERSONIC FLIGHT & TRANSONIC PHENOMENA
AVweb's Glenn Pew finds some of the web's most popular footage and takes a look behind the visual and auditory phenomena created when machines "break" the speed of sound. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: INSTEAD OF OLD FUEL, HOW ABOUT NEW ENGINES?
It's a fair question, says Paul Bertorelli in the latest installment of the AVweb Insider blog. If Lycoming and Continental would simply adopt advanced automotive technology, we wouldn't need 100-octane gas. After all, how hard could it be? Click to read more and comment. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: PILOT EXPERIENCE? WHAT PILOT EXPERIENCE?
Pilot training has been at the fore of AVweb editor-in-chief Russ Niles's brain lately — and not just because the NTSB has been looking into it. A recent experience on one of the regional airlines has led Russ to wonder why it's such a novel idea to have pilots first train on new aircraft without the passengers. Click here to read Russ's blog and add your comments. More...

FBO OF THE WEEK: REDTAIL AVIATION (CANYONLANDS FIELD AIRPORT, KCNY, MOAB, UT)

AVweb's latest "FBO of the Week" award goes to Redtail Aviation at Canyonlands Field Airport (KCNY) in Moab, Utah.

AVweb reader Joseph Barber discovered the FBO "near Arches and Canyonlands National Parks" and found the service outstanding. "We had a mechanical while spending the week hiking and were pleasantly surprised to find their mechanics quick and able," writes Joseph — adding that the rates were pretty reasonable, to boot!

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!

15 YEARS AND NOW 15 GRAND GIVEAWAYS ... IT'S YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A ZAON PCAS XRX

Win a Zaon PCAS XRX as we celebrate our 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 Friday, July 16, 2010.

Click here to read the contest rules and enter.

SHORT FINAL

Overheard in IFR Magazine's "On the Air"

At some now-forgotten backwoods class G airport, I was in the run-up area trying to unfoul a plug by leaning the crap out of my worn-out Lycoming 180hp engine, and, despite my anxiety over an impending $25K overhaul, I managed to catch the following on CTAF:

Cherokee 1234:
"Cherokee 1234, [unintelligible] ... . Please advise ..." [becomes completely unintelligible]

[pause]

Another Aircraft in the Area:
"Cherokee 1234, what do you need advice on — how to fly your airplane? a career choice? tips on your love life? What?"

Cherokee 1234:
"Ah — ah — how about advise your position?"

Unknown Kibitzer:
"Man, if you have to ask, you need to learn to look out the window."

I wanted to ask if any of them could advise how to keep my spark plugs from fooling.

Ralph Lund
Mal Paso Creek, 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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