JETMAN YVES ROSSY LOOPS
Friday, Yves Rossy, 51, strapped his latest custom-made microturbine-powered wings to his back, threw himself off a platform attached to a hot air balloon's gondola, powered up, and performed at least one roll and a looping maneuver before landing safely, as planned, under parachute. Rossy flew the loop on new smaller wings that span only two meters -- that's about one half-meter shorter than his last set. The wing is still powered by four microturbine jet engines. Rossy left the gondola at about 7,875 feet over Lake Geneva for the flight, some four years since his first public flight with personal wings. His past adventures include a September 2008 trip across the English Channel, and his future goals include a flight through the Grand Canyon (if granted permission). Rossy's flights have so far met with good outcomes, though they haven't always gone as planned. More...

ELECTION RESULTS AND GENERAL AVIATION
The Nov. 2 elections will usher in a change in leadership at the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee next year, and raises questions for the future of aviation legislation and funding. James Oberstar, D-Minn., a 36-year veteran of the House of Representatives, had chaired the transportation committee since 2007. He opposed user fees on general aviation and worked to pass the reauthorization bill that funds the FAA. The FAA has been attempting to plan its future for the past three years while operating under 16 temporary reauthorization extensions. The latest extension is due to expire at year-end. Oberstar's seat was lost this election to Chip Cravaack, a former Northwest Airlines pilot. The shift in representation of 60-plus House seats was driven in part by voters concerned with fiscal responsibility in government. It has also altered the Congressional General Aviation Caucus, which is something AOPA had sought to avoid. More...

QANTAS A380s STILL GROUNDED
Qantas says its A380 fleet will be grounded "for a matter of days, not weeks" as it probes anomalies discovered in Rolls Royce Trent engines similar to one that suffered an uncontained failure over Indonesia last week. Qantas CEO Alan Joyce told reporters inspections of three engines discovered oil "where oil shouldn't be" as Qantas and Rolls Royce engineers bear down on the possible cause of the failure. "These are new engines on new aircraft, they shouldn't have these issues at this stage so it's given us an indication of an area for us to focus into," Joyce said. "It's too early for us to say what components or parts of the engine we think could have been the issue." Meanwhile the Australian Transportation Safety Board has residents of an Indonesian island on a high stakes scavenger hunt. More...

CURTISS PUSHER MARKS 100 YEARS OF NAVAL AVIATION
The Navy will mark 100 years of naval aviation with an air of authenticity next week thanks to a former naval aviator's handiwork. Bob Coolbaugh, who is now an airline pilot, spent two-and-a-half years building a replica of the Ely-Curtiss Pusher that Eugene Ely took off from a ship on Nov. 14, 1910. Coolbaugh first flew the replica aircraft in early October and took turns with friend Andrew Davis flying it 150 miles over two days from his home in New Market, Va. to Norfolk, where the celebrations will be held. The delicate-looking aircraft had to climb to 4,800 feet to clear the Blue Ridge Mountains but Coolbaugh said the flight went well. "Aside from the fact that I was freezing to death, it was wonderful," he told the Virginian-Pilot. More...

NATCA, FAA COOPERATING
Yes, that's what we said. After a fractious few years, the union representing air traffic controllers and the agency are working together on some major projects. AVweb's Russ Niles spoke with NATCA President Paul Rinaldi on how the new relationship is benefiting aviation in general. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: ASPEN — DRIVING A STAKE THROUGH IRON GYROS
With its clever EFD1000 series, Aspen Avionics has quietly figured out a way to eliminate the need for all but a single backup instrument, an iron attitude indicator. But even that is on the verge of being eliminated, says Paul Bertorelli in the latest installment of our AVweb Insider blog. Read more and join the conversation. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: FEDEX AND UPS — NEW TERRORISM TARGETS?
Could be, but it seems to AVweb's Paul Bertorelli that the first step to keep their airplanes from being blown up is to have a peek inside packages coming from Yemen, the world capital of terrorist bomb-making. On the day explosives were recovered last week, the two companies shipped a total of thirteen packages out the country. Hard to imagine the clerks were too busy to wonder why a printer was being shipped from Yemen to the U.S. when you could buy a new one for less than the shipping cost. Of such stuff is knuckleheaded airline security made. Read more and join the conversation on the AVweb Insider blog. More...

AVMAIL: NOVEMBER 8, 2010

Letter of the Week: Where Is the Outrage?

My question regarding Sen. Inhofe's closed-runway landing is: Where are the angst and diatribe normally associated with an apparently errant airman? We are exhorted and cajoled by all manner of alphabet groups and agencies to put forth our best, most compliant behavior at all times. We are encouraged to be aviation ambassadors and show that we are not Wild West cowboys and, more importantly, not a threat to national security.

The senator's actions and subsequent public statements are eroding the public trust we have built up.

I remember a fable about an emperor and his clothes, or lack thereof. Maybe it is time to call a spade a spade. If the senator is truly in error, I would think it best for the aviation press to call him on it rather than waiting for the Nervous Nelly public to do it for us.

Louis C. Ridley Jr.

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

VIDEO: YVES ROSSY DOES LOOPS IN HIS JETMAN RIG
The man you're watching is 51-year-old Yves Rossy — also called Jetman, for reasons that should be obvious. In 2006, he became the first person to fly with custom-made composite wings on his back powered by four small jet engines. This footage (shot Friday, November 5, 2010) is proof that he's now the first man to perform aerobatics and loop in the rig. More...

15 YEARS AND NOW 15 GRAND GIVEAWAYS ... IT'S YOUR CHANCE TO WIN AN IFLY 700 GPS FROM ADVENTURE PILOT

Win an iFly 700 GPS from Adventure Pilot 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 Sunday, November 28, 2010. (That's a couple of days later than our usual Friday deadline, because of the Thanksgiving holiday.)

Click here to read the contest rules and enter.

FBO OF THE WEEK: NORTHERN AROOSTOOK REGIONAL AIRPORT (KFVE, FRENCHVILLE, ME)

The AVweb staff has been pulling some late nights gearing up for the AOPA Summit in Long Beach this week, so we can identify with the manager of our latest "FBO of the Week."

AVweb reader Joel Cutler told us how Dave Fernald, the manager of Northern Aroostook Regional Airport (KFVE) in Frenchville, Maine "waited for me until midnight and was there at 04:45 when I returned to depart. He didn't even go home to sleep!" writes Joel. "Pumped my fuel, put my plane in the hangar, and couldn't have been nicer or more helpful. I'll go back just to visit!"

Now that's how you get to be named an AVweb "FBO of the Week"!

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!

PICTURE OF THE WEEK WILL RETURN ...
We know we teased a new installment of "Picture of the Week" for today, but the barrage of news and preparations for the AOPA Summit have us stretched a little thin this weekend. Thanks for bearing with us as the rest of the world distracts us from our favorite pasttime, and rest assured that "POTW" will indeed return and that we'll catch up on all the great submissions without missing any photos. (We'll be scheming on a way to manage that part during the Summit.) More...

SHORT FINAL

While flying my Archer from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to Lancaster (PA), I heard this exchange. (Lancaster has a well-known pilot shop located on the field.)

Cessna 12345:
"Lancaster Tower, Cessna 12345 right base for runway 31, three miles out."

Lancaster Tower:
"Cessna 12345: Cleared to land, runway 31."

Cessna 12345:
"Cleared to land, runway 31."

[10-second pause]

Cessna 12345:
"We're heading to the pilot shop."

Lancaster Tower:
"I think it would be a good idea to land first."

Dr. Russell Owens
Wilkes-Barre, PA

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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