SWIFT FUEL ENGINE TEST RESULTS GENERALLY POSITIVE
Swift Fuel's leadless alternative to 100LL appears to have come through a critical engine endurance test with flying colors at an FAA lab. In a report (PDF) released last week, researchers at the William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City said they found no problems with wear or engine deposits in a brand-new Lycoming 540 that was broken in and run on Swift Fuel for 150 hours. "There was no indication of excessive wear on any of the high-contact, high-stress parts of the engine, and the engine oil analyses showed minimal fuel dilution," the researchers concluded. "There was no evidence of excess fuel nozzle deposits or fuel maldistribution. Cylinder combustion deposits, including spark plugs, valves, and piston face deposits, were light. Varnish and sludge buildup were light." The fuel tested was made in a refinery, rather than from the biomass process Swift hopes to use. The researchers recommended that further tests be done using biomass-sourced fuel. Although the tests went well, the results weren't perfect. More...

FAA LOOKS AT SPACE REGS
The FAA has partnered with eight universities to figure out how space tourism fits into the airspace and, in some ways, into society itself. New Mexico State University at Las Cruces will lead the Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. There are, of course, mundane practical matters to be addressed. "If the plans of people like Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic are accurate, in the next three to five years there will be very frequent space tourism launches," Scott Hubbard, a professor of astronautics and aeronautics at Stanford University, told The Associated Press. "That means you've got to clear the airspace and if it's very frequent you've got to be sure to manage that together with airplanes going by," he said. But the advent of regular launches to the edge of space or beyond raises technical, regulatory and even medical issues that haven't been considered before and the FAA's Hank Price says the agency wants to try and keep everyone safe without unduly impeding development of the industry. "We try to be as flexible as we can, to be as safe as possible but also allow testing of (private spaceships and rockets)," Price said. More...

WHITEKNIGHTTWO SUFFERS GEAR COLLAPSE
Scaled Composites' WhiteKnightTwo (Eve) was involved in what the company is calling "a minor incident" early Thursday, when its left-side landing gear collapsed while the aircraft was on the runway at Mojave. According to Scaled, "no injuries were sustained and the incident did not involve the Spaceship, which was not attached to WhiteKnightTwo." The vehicle was involved in its 37th flight test at the time. WhiteKnightTwo is purpose-built to carry SpaceShipTwo (Enterprise) between its twin boom fuselages and deliver "space tourists" a temporary sub-orbital weightless experience for a ticket price, through Virgin Galactic, of $200,000 per person. More...

RARE HELLDIVER RECOVERED
A February 2009 underwater discovery evolved Thursday into the recovery effort of an extremely rare Navy SB2C-4 Helldiver lost near San Diego 65 years ago. The aircraft was successfully raised Friday. San Diego Air and Space Museum CEO Jim Kidrick told nbcSanDiego.com the aircraft may be one of "two or three others in the world today." (Other sources suggest there may be as many as five Helldivers in museums around the world, with one flying.) The aircraft was deposited in Lower Otay Reservoir by E.D. Frazar and his gunner Joseph Metz after it suffered engine failure during a low altitude target run on May 28, 1945. Too low to bail out, the two men survived the ditching and swam to safety. Frazar's son Richard and other family members were on hand with hundreds of other spectators to see the aircraft pulled from the reservoir. Hundreds of volunteers now stand at the ready to work the plane back to "new" condition, but that effort will still take years and hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations. The finished product is not expected to stay in San Diego. More...

MICROSOFT'S RETURN TO FLIGHT
Last year, layoffs at Microsoft put the future of Flight Simulator X (FSX), popular amongst both desk jockeys interested in flight and real pilots interested in maintaining their skills, in question; now, we're seeing clues of a new beginning. Microsoft has announced that a new game, "Flight," is in the works. And it will be the first flight simulation offering released by the company since 2006. The company says it's targeting flying enthusiasts interested in an emphasis on accuracy and realism, but hasn't offered many details. CNET.com recently noted that Microsoft has licensed some of its technology to Lockheed Martin for a forthcoming military training program called Prepar3D. The web page for that program says it can help train pilots "to fly the world's most advanced fighter jet." It's not known if Prepar3D shares anything with "Flight." For now, all we have is a vague announcement to expect "a new perspective" that welcomes everyone, and a vague video. More...

SPECIAL PERSONAL FLIGHT MAY SET RECORD
At 82 years of age, Arnold Ebneter has realized his dream of building his own aircraft and flying it solo and nonstop across the country, and he's possibly set a record along the way. Ebneter believes he may have set the new mark for distance in a small aircraft weighing less than 500 kilograms. Ebneter's E-1 weighs just 580 pounds, empty. With wet wings and its pilot aboard, the starting weight is about 1,100 pounds. The fuel load puts 2,327 miles (west to east) in easy reach and that's what Ebneter says he's flown. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale will now decide if he's met the standards and bested a 1984 record set by Frank Hertzler (and his VariEze) of nearly 2,214 miles. Ebneter began his 18 hour and 27 minute flight at Paine Field in Washington on July 25 and first landed the next day at Fredericksburg, Va. The aircraft was ten years in the making; the dream started earlier. More...

ANOTHER TEEN TRANSCONTINENTAL FLIGHT
Call it the Rinker Buck effect, but as one teenager finishes an epic flight in a J3 Cub, another is getting set for his own "flight of passage." As we reported in a recent podcast, 18-year-old commercial pilot Samuel Daigle set out from Whitehorse, Yukon, Aug. 6 on a ferry flight in a Cub to Montreal. He finished the 4,000-mile trip Friday. On Monday, Nate Foster, 17, of Reiserstown Md., plans to leave Ocean City, Md., bound for Monterey, Calif. (about 3,000 miles) in a Cub he and his father restored. Foster got his private pilot certificate on Friday. Both teens cite Buck's 1966 memoir Flight of Passage, which recounts Buck and his brother's flight from New Jersey to California, as inspiration for their flights. "It sounded like they had the absolute time of their lives," Foster told the Baltimore Sun. "When else am I going to get a chance to fly to California? More...

AVMAIL: AUGUST 23, 2010

Letter of the Week: Third Class Medical Outdated?

After a couple of years flying without an FAA medical, I would like to join the growing crowd who support expanding this freedom beyond Sport Pilot privileges. History has shown that the third class medical certificate does little or nothing to promote flight safety. I think this is because pilots self-certify their own health for each flight with better judgment than the bureaucracy provides in the medical certification process.

...

Paul Mulwitz

Click through to read the rest of Paul's letter — and other reader mail we've received over the last few days..

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...

30,000 HOURS ON GRAVEL
Yute Air Alaska serves dozens of remote Alaskan villages with a fleet of 12 Cessna 207s and a single Cessna 172, and every trip involves at least one gravel strip landing. Three of the 207s will reach 30,000 hours in the next few months. AVweb's Russ Niles spoke with Matt Sullivan, the airline's assistant director of flight operations, about tough airplanes and the tough people who keep them going.

This podcast is brought to you by Bose Corporation. More...

VIDEO: 'BEYOND THIS HISTORIC BROWN GATE' — SLICK HUTTO'S AIRVENTURE 2010 VIDEO MONTAGE
We introduced you to 19-year-old James Wesley Perkins, who's gone by the nickname Slick since he can remember, just after the 2009 AirVenture Oshkosh via a video he put together of all the stuff we didn't get to see, or saw out of the corners of our eyes as we rushed from one assignment to another. Another AirVenture has come and gone and the routine was pretty much the same for AVweb staffers. Thankfully Slick had his video camera and talented eye at the show and recently posted his assembly of the highlights of AirVenture 2010. The young future naval aviator has also had a few highlights of his own in the past year. More...

AIRCRAFT DITCHING TRAINING WITH THE EDITORS OF AVIATION CONSUMER
Aviation Consumer's Jeff Van West got water up his nose as he practiced exiting an aircraft that has sunk and flipped over. It was quite a ride. More...

AVIATION CONSUMER REVIEWS AVIDYNE'S DFC 90 DIGITAL AUTOPILOT
Avidyne has a slide-in replacement for the STEC-55X autopilots common to Cirrus SR20s and SR22s. Aviation Consumer's Jeff Van West took it up for a flight to the claims of improved performance and new safety features. More...

FBO OF THE WEEK: LANDMARK AVIATION (KAVL, ASHEVILLE, NC)

AVweb's "FBO of the Week" ribbon goes to Landmark Aviation at Asheville Regional Airport (KAVL) in Asheville, North Carolina.

AVweb reader Tahj Kraus told us about this Landmark location:

I spent three weeks coming and going out of KAVL. Initially I was hesitant to stay there, but thought I'd try out Landmark. Rebecca and Paul made my stay so enjoyable and comfortable that I ended up feeling like part of the family — a home away from home. Even though I'm just an avgas burner, they still made me feel like royalty!

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 ... WE'RE GIVING YOU ANOTHER CHANCE TO WIN A BOSE AVIATION HEADSET X

Our 15th anniversary celebration continues, with a second chance to win a Bose Aviation Headset X! All you have to do is click here to enter your name and email 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, September 3, 2010.

Click here to read the contest rules and enter.

Congratulations to Roger Newcomb of Austin, TX, who won our last drawing, for a Spidertrack Aviator! (click here to get your own from Spidertracks)

SHORT FINAL

Inbound to ATL area, the following exchange took place with Memphis Center:

Memphis:
"Lear 905RL, you're cleared direct Bunni for the Dumbb Bunni2 arrival."

N905RL:
"Roger. Cleared direct Bunni for the Dumbb Bunni arrival.

"Question: who codes these things anyway?"

Memphis Center:
"Special controllers for all the really special pilots."

Steve Shattuck
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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