SWIFT FUEL: A TILT TOWARD NATURAL GAS
Although it was introduced three years ago as primarily a renewable biofuel based on cellulosic technology, Swift's 100SF avgas replacement will also be competitive if made from more conventional petroleum sources, according to the company's David Perme. In a podcast interview, Perme said that Swift's best numbers at the moment suggest a retail price between $5 and $6 per gallon and if the fuel is made from petroleum sources -- most likely natural gas -- little or no capital will be required. He believes at least some refiners will be able to reconfigure minimally to make the fuel using accepted refining processes.

Related Content:

• Podcast interview with Swift's David Perme on 100SF.
• Podcast update on GAMI's G100UL with George Braly.

AOPA WARNS: RE-REGISTRATION COMING, FEE POSSIBLE
A rule proposed in 2008 to remove invalid listings from the aircraft registry would require chronic aircraft re-registration with a proposed chronic fee of $5, yet to be confirmed in the final rule expected this fall. The FAA estimates that about 104,000 of the 343,000 aircraft currently on its aircraft registry are invalid. The rule would address that problem by transitioning the registry from its current non-expiring registrations to registrations that would expire every three years. Owners would have to take action within a three-month window to re-register their aircraft, according to AOPA. The costs associated with the FAA's measure won't be known until the rule is published in the Federal Register this fall, but the FAA has proposed application of the current $5 registration fee to re-registrations and all subsequent renewals. AOPA supports the FAA's intent to improve the registry's accuracy, but proposed an alternative method. More...

FAULTY PART DELAYS SOLAR IMPULSE NIGHT FLIGHT
The test flight was planned for July 1, but the aircraft that aims to fly around the world, flying day and night on solar (and stored solar) power, hit a snag when a telemetric transmitter failed. The failure would have kept engineers on the ground in the dark, literally and figuratively, when it came to viewing key performance parameters. The July 1 flight would have been the first to test the aircraft and its pilot through a complete 24-hour cycle from daytime and through the night. The team has not formally announced a date for the next attempt, but daylight hours set a deadline in early August. After that, relatively shorter days at Payerne, Switzerland, where the team is based, will prevent a full solar charging of the aircraft's batteries from powering the aircraft through longer nights. More...

SOVIET DESIGN OFFERED AS NEW TANKER
A California company says it has teamed up with Ukrainian aircraft builder Antonov to launch a bid for the multibillion-dollar contract to supply 179 tanker aircraft to the U.S. Air Force. In a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission, U.S. Aerospace says it can provide a better tanker for a lower price than either Airbus or Boeing, who've been waging a politically charged battle for the deal for years. "We believe that we will be able to offer a superior aircaft at a significantly lower price than other potential bidders," the company said in its filing. More...

STRANDED ILYUSHIN IL-78 SEEKS PILOTS
July 17, 2009, an Ilyushin IL-78 tanker jet stopped at Sawyer International Airport, Mich., while en route out of Texas for Europe, beginning a complicated web of legal wranglings that have left the big jet sitting there ever since. The crew that flew the jet to Michigan was, shortly after their arrival, deported by the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, because they held recently expired visas, according to a local Michigan newspaper. Since then, a maintenance company, Air-1, out of Texas, has claimed in court that it went unpaid for goods and services the aircraft consumed while under its care. And the court has ruled that Air-1 "is authorized to take possession of said aircraft and may move it," if they can find and hire certified pilots to fly the Russian-instrumented jet. As the jet's one-year anniversary of sitting at Sawyer approaches, inquiries are beginning to flow in from around the world that may tempt Air-1 to exercise other options. More...

TWO CHANCES TO FLY WITH THE THUNDERBIRDS
The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds have been offering flights to special individuals through their Hometown Hero program and time is running out for a chance to fly with the team at McConnell Air Force Base's (Kansas), or Salinas (California). The special individual who'll fly as passenger at McConnell will be chosen from nominations that are being accepted through midnight, Sunday, July 11, for a flight that will take place during the week of Sept. 20-24. The California International Airshow held at Salinas will be marking its 30th anniversary Oct. 2-3 when another hometown hero will get a prime passenger seat. Nominees for that flight must be received by July 16. Nominees can be anyone who has given of themselves to better their community, but they should expect to fill out a confidential questionnaire that will include certain medical questions. As you might expect, there are more specific rules and requirements. More...

LYCOMING'S IE2 PROJECT TECH REVIEW
If Lycoming's electronically controlled IE2 engine seemed like it was over the horizon, it is in fact just around the corner. Lycoming and Lancair are in full-swing flight test in the launch aircraft, the Lancair Evolution, and certified versions are expected by the end of this year or a little later. In this video, Lycoming's Jim Morris provides an update on the project. More...

MYSKY MSONE LSA
There are a handful of high-wing LSAs offering tandem seating but only a couple of low-wing designs offering the same feature, giving that fighter-like view from the cockpit for both pilot and passenger. The MySky MSOne is one of those, and in this brief video, AVweb gets a look at the MSOne. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: FUEL FIGHT — IT'S ABOUT TIME
Plowing through the minutes of the Coordinating Research Council on avgas research, Paul Bertorelli suddenly realized little has come of this quest because we just haven't had the loud discussion that's required. Well, we're having it now. And every owner who's sidled up to the Exxon nozzle has a dog in the fight. Click to read why Paul is excited about the fray — and why you should be, too. More...

AVMAIL: JULY 5, 2010

Letter of the Week: What the World Needs ...

Besides all the other threats to GA that you have been discussing, there is another one that bothers me: the lack of an affordable, WAAS-enabled IFR GPS receiver for older, low-cost aircraft.

Consider my friend who has an IFR-capable Piper Tomahawk that is worth less than $20,000. Should she spend $12,000 installing a [current model GPS]? That would be more than half the value of the airframe. If she doesn't, she will be increasingly locked out of IFR flying.

The [available GPS units] are great devices but are a lot more complex than necessary to meet the TSO. If [the industry] cared about the welfare of the GA community, it would develop bare-bones models for older, inexpensive aircraft.

Carl Hensler

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...

FBO OF THE WEEK: MILLION AIR (KMFR, MEDFORD, OREGON)

AVweb reader Robin Herrman discovered our latest "FBO of the Week" — the Medford, Oregon location of Million Air, at Rogue Valley International - Medford Airport:

I was planning a trip ... and called the different available FBOs for details on their services. I selected Million Air due to their 24-hour availablilty. I fly a C-182, nothing fancy, but I was treated like a millionaire (pardon the pun) with excellent ramp service and a wonderful pilot lounge with friendly staff during both my arrival and departure three days later. The little details were appreciated, like meeting us on the ramp upon arrival, tying down the aircraft, helping us with our bags, cleaning our windscreen before depature, and making sure we had bottled water. ... How nice to have customer service exceed your expectations for once!

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.

Congratulations to Richard Kemp of Canton, Georgia, who won an AV8OR handheld GPS in our last drawing! (click here to get your own from Bendix/King by Honeywell)

SHORT FINAL

My home airport is KAVP, which has an active flight school. I heard the following communication between ATC and a student pilot.

Student:
"Ground, Cherokee 1234. Request staying in the pattern for practice touch-and-goes."

ATC:
"Report mid-field and intentions on each pass. Taxi to runway 4."

After the second touch-and-go, the following was heard:

Student:
"Cherokee 1234. Left-field downwind request touch-and-go, runway 4."

ATC:
"Left-field is baseball; mid-field is flying."

Dr. Russell Owens
via e-mail

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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