EAA NAMES NEW PRESIDENT
Since its founding in 1953, EAA has been led by a Poberezny -- the founder, Paul, and then his son, Tom -- but in September the organization will appoint a new president, Rod Hightower. Hightower and his family were introduced to the press in a brief news conference on Monday, Opening Day at AirVenture 2010. The effort to find a new leader was intensive. "We hired a professional search firm, and over 700 candidates were screened," Poberezny said. The field was narrowed down to six finalists, who were interviewed in March. Hightower, a longtime EAA member and aviation enthusiast, flies a Stearman biplane that he restored. In his 25-year business career, he has held high-level positions in various large international corporations, EAA said. More...

EAA'S ROD HIGHTOWER MEETS THE PRESS
Rod Hightower, who was named as the next EAA president at EAA AirVenture's opening day, met with the aviation press for the first time on Monday afternoon in an open question-and-answer session. The first question he faced was, what were you doing before? Hightower said he spent his career as a businessman, starting his first business with his brother at age 15. That generated funds to pay for his flight training, and he earned his private license at age 16. "Now I have commercial, multi-engine and instrument ratings," he said. Besides the restored Stearman biplane that he now flies, he previously flew a Cessna P210 in support of his business interests. "And that was such a productivity tool," he said, adding time to his schedule and providing a competitive edge. Tom Poberezny, the outgoing president, also attended the session and said he is confident that Hightower has the necessary skill set to carry EAA forward. More...

BOSE A20 HEADSET REPLACES BOSE X
It was way back in 1998 when Bose came out with the Bose Headset X. The headset has remained a strong seller even though it lacks Bluetooth connectivity and music input. As of today the company is retiring the Headset X and replacing it with the Bose A20 Headset. Bose claims the new headset is significantly quieter with redesigned microphones and speaker drivers. They also say it's more comfortable, with slightly wider, redesigned earcups. More...

DC-3S FLY OVER AIRVENTURE
Did The Last Time get the last word on a huge formation flight of DC-3s over AirVenture Oshkosh? About 20 DC-3s flew over the grounds, apparently above the 2,500-foot ceiling of the restricted airspace over Wittman Regional Airport Monday. The Last Time attracted more than 30 DC-3s to Rock Falls, Ill., about an hour south of Oshkosh. The original plan was for a mass arrival of the aircraft and display at AirVenture but the two groups couldn't agree on the form and structure of such an event. More...

TERRAFUGIA UNVEILS NEW PROTOTYPE DESIGN
A scale model of the next version of the Terrafugia Transition roadable aircraft was unveiled Monday morning at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, and it differs considerably from the current proof-of-concept vehicle. The canard is gone, giving the front view a cleaner aerodynamic profile, and the airfoil of the wing is changed. "Our team is back in Woburn, Mass., right now working on building this airplane," said CEO Carl Dietrich. The new version will start test flights early next year, Dietrich said. EAA President Tom Poberezny joined the news conference to announce that the airplane will fly at AirVenture 2011 for its public debut, first stopping at several cities along the way. More...

HARE, MEET TURTLE; TURTLE, MEET HARE
Not that you'd call a 250-knot airplane a turtle and they weren't exactly racing, but the Lycoming-powered Lancair Evolution turned in a remarkable performance against its turbine-powered stablemate on a flight into Oshkosh this week. In an AVweb podcast, Lancair chief operating officer Tom Bowen told AVweb that both airplanes left Redmond, Wash., within 10 minutes of each other, with the piston engine out front. More...

TSA EXPANDS GA INITIATIVES
The latest administrator of the Transportation Security Administration, John Pistole, visited EAA AirVenture on Monday along with Janet Napolitano, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. They said the nationwide "If You See Something, Say Something" DHS campaign will be expanded to general aviation, and the process for crossing the border in a GA aircraft will be simplified. Starting Sept. 1, pilots will be able to file a single manifest to meet both the TSA requirements and those of Customs and Border Protection. Officials from both AOPA and NBAA were quoted in a DHS news release as encouraged by the changes. More...

NEW BOSE A20 HEADSET
Has it been 20 years since Bose pioneered the first aviation noise cancelling headset at Oshkosh? Yes, it has — and at this year's EAA AirVenture, they've introduced the latest and greatest, the new A20, a follow-on product to the popular Headset X. Here's AVweb's quick look at the new headset.

This video is brought to you by WxWorx XM WX Satellite Weather. More...

THE NEW PRESIDENT AT EAA
EAA president Tom Poberezeny introduced Rod Hightower of St. Louis as EAA's next president at a news conference at Airventure Oshkosh on July 26, 2010.

This video is brought to you by Conoco-Phillips and Lightspeed Aviation. More...

GARMIN'S ESP: NOTHING PARANORMAL — BUT CLOSER TO IT THAN YOU MIGHT EXPECT
Garmin's Electronic Stability and Protection (Garmin ESP) system is designed to "gently nudge a pilot back to level flight." We pulled aside Garmin's Ben Kowalski to find out what the system really does and doesn't do.

This podcast is brought to you by WxWorx XM WX Satellite Weather. More...

EVOLUTIONS STRETCH THEIR LEGS
In a cross-country test of turbine and piston-powered Lancair Evolutions, each aircraft was a winner in its own way. Lancair's COO Tom Bowen explains to AVweb's Paul Bertorelli.

This podcast is brought to you by Bose Corporation and WxWorx XM WX Satellite Weather. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: AIRVENTURE 2010 — THE VISION THING
Long-time EAA President Tom Poberezny is skilled at conveying the passion that drives aviation innovation. Can his successor do the same? AVweb's Mary Grady thinks Rod Hightower may have stumbled a bit when asked to comment on his vision for EAA's future. Click here to read Mary's analysis and share your own thoughts (and visions). More...

PHOTOS FROM EAA AIRVENTURE 2010: THE JOURNEY TO OSHKOSH

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AVweb's AirVenture intern Adam Cutler was among the first folks to arrive at the show. Adam made the journey this year by Cirrus and spent his first day at the show ferrying our news team around the field and taking photos of exhibitors, attendees, and media gearing up for the big show amid some very wet conditions. More...

PHOTOS FROM EAA AIRVENTURE 2010: AIRPLANES!

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Our intrepid photographer Mariano Rosales is now on-site, and he and intern Adam Cutler wandered the field to get a look at some of the aircraft on display at this year's show. 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...

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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