November 15, 2010

By The AVweb Editorial Staff

JP Instruments Cash Rebate Offer: Don't Leave the Ground Without Us! JPI, the EDM & Fuel Flow leader, is running an incredible rebate offer, directly for AVweb readers. Outfitting your aircraft with our EDM monitor is like having a flight engineer aboard every flight. Back on earth, download your in-flight data with our no-cost EZTrends software to spot any future problems. From the classic EDM 700 to the bright-LCD EDM 830, nothing compares to the accuracy and quick response of JPI Systems. Click here for more info. AVflash! More Details on Qantas A380 Landing back to top  Qantas A380 Was Heavily Damaged The Qantas crew whose A380 suffered an uncontained engine failure earlier this month had their hands full in getting the super jumbo back to Singapore. Shrapnel from the engine disabled one of two main hydraulic systems, hampered the fuel transfer system, punched a hole in the forward wing spar and caused a major fuel leak. The cascading nature of such failures meant the pilots couldn't dump enough fuel to bring the aircraft down to its maximum landing weight and the fuel left in the airplane was unbalanced. Flaps, slats and spoilers couldn't be fully deployed and the gear had to be dropped manually. Once it was on the ground, the anti-lock brakes didn't work and, since the damaged engine was an inboard one, there was only one left for reverse thrust (the outboard engines of A380s don't have reversers because they often overhang the grass and might be FOD damaged). The heavy, significantly disabled aircraft needed virtually all of the 13,123 feet of available runway. The whole wing might have to be replaced and the aircraft is expected to be out of commission for months. Meanwhile, the cause of the engine problem has been determined and it's just adding to the PR problems facing manufacturer Rolls-Royce. According to the Courier Mail, newer versions of the Trent 900 engine installed in aircraft built after the Qantas jet in question had redesigned bearing boxes to prevent the oil leaks that resulted in the engine explosion. Airbus sales chief John Leahy told the paper he wasn't sure if the three airlines that chose the Trent for their A380s, Qantas, Singapore and Lufthansa, knew about the changes and which engines had been upgraded. Other A380 buyers chose the Engine Alliance GP7000. Is There Anything More Important than Protecting Your Family? Be certain you have the right life insurance coverage. Get the information you need to find the right policy for your family's protection at the Pilot Insurance Center. Call PIC at (800) 380-8376 or visit PICLife.com. Eye on the Future of Fuel back to top  Swift Fuel Progressing Swift Enterprises is close to having an approved fuel formulation for testing, in a major step toward certifying Swift Fuel, a potential leadless replacement for 100LL. In a podcast interview at AOPA Summit in Long Beach last week, Jon Ziulkowski, Swift's vice president for renewable fuels, said he expects unanimous approval for specifications for the test fuel at an ASTM panel convening in Jacksonville in December. With that approval, Ziulkowski said the company will have a standardized fuel it can supply to engine manufacturers so their findings are based on exactly the same product. Ziulkowski said the company recently got the results from its submission of 500 pages of data on the proposed fuel and all but one of 198 commenters accepted the data. Ziulkowski said the lone dissenter was given an outdated report. Swift has supplied the current data and Ziulkowski said that negative vote will be reversed before the Jacksonville meeting. Ziulkowski attended a meeting with officials from the EPA and engine manufacturers and said he's pleased to see heightened interest in the topic and the will by the OEMs to be involved in the process. Mogas Petition Online Aircraft owners who use automotive fuel in their planes are being asked to join an online petition urging the EPA to ensure the availability of ethanol-free fuel. The petition is directed at EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and cites the "unintended consequences" of provisions intended to increase production of fuel containing ethanol. The result has been that ethanol-free fuel is becoming rare in some areas and causing problems for those who have boats, snowmobiles, motorcycles and aircraft that can't use fuel with alcohol in it. The petition was initiated by Sam Hokin, who created Pure-Gas.org, a site that gives the location of gas stations that have ethanol-free fuel. In some states, there are only a handful of stations but some Canadian provinces have ready access to the fuel, particularly the premium grades available at Chevron and Shell stations. Sporty's SP-400: "Better Than Some Panel-Mounted Gear" That's what The Aviation Consumer said in their latest review of portable aviation radios. And: "Sporty's SP-400 shines ... . Its performance is clearly exceptional." It's the ultimate backup radio, with full ILS display, flip-flop COM, and much more. Call 1 (800) SPORTYS for more info or find out more (and watch the video demo) online. The 'Let's Go Flying' Award back to top  AOPA Hands Out Hardware A CFI who went to the ends of the earth to promote general aviation is the winner of this year's Let's Go Flying Award from AOPA. As we reported late last year, Marine Corps Capt. Gabriel Glinsky, a V-22 Osprey pilot, gathered materials and voluntarily taught ground school to more than a dozen fellow Marines deployed in Afghanistan. "We will do our best to keep GA strong, even halfway around the world," Glinsky said at the time. AOPA also handed out the hardware for awards honoring advocacy and service to GA at its Long Beach convention, which wrapped up Saturday. Jolie Lucas won the Joseph Crotti Award for service to aviation for her work in blocking a developer from putting houses where Oceano Airport (L52) now is in San Luis Obispo County in California. The Laurence P. Sharples Perpetual Award for service to GA went to Marjy Leggett for her work in convincing local officials in Kennewick, Wash., of the value of preserving the local airport. The Joseph B. "Doc" Hartranft Jr. Award for government officials who work on behalf of GA went to Victor Bird, director of the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission for his wide-ranging efforts to promote and facilitate GA in the state. Two Great Ways to Keep Your Engine Up to Speed Do you have a new engine core that's never been rebuilt or overhauled? Save up to $5,000 on a rebuilt engine. Do you have an original Lycoming factory engine that last left the factory as a new, rebuilt or overhauled engine? Save up to $1,900 on a new, rebuilt or ovehauled engine. For complete details, call (800) 258‑3279 to find an authorized Lycoming Distributor near you or visit Lycoming.com. There's Still Time to Save — On LSAs, Too back to top  Entry-Level Bonus Depreciation Although much of the attention on the benefits of bonus depreciation has focused on the high end of the market, there is a way for entry-level airplane customers to take advantage of the tax savings. As John Gilmour, national sales manager for Flight Design USA, explains in the accompanying video, a leaseback arrangement that has become popular with some owners of the light sport design opens the door to those savings. In order to qualify for bonus depreciation, purchasers of new aircraft must have taxable business income. The only way a light sport aircraft can be used for business is as a training aircraft. To qualify for the tax savings, the purchaser of the aircraft can lease it to a flying school, reporting lease money as business income and therefore qualifying for the big tax savings. Bonus depreciation, in most cases, applies only to aircraft delivered by the end of the year. CO Experts Low-Level Carbon Monoxide Detector! The FAA recently issued this Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin urging a carbon monoxide detector in the cockpit. The new CO Experts Model 2010 Low Level CO Monitor is the lowest reading level CO detector you can buy! There are others that start working at 35 PPM, but only the CO Experts starts reading CO at 7 PPM. Don't find out about CO poisoning when it is too late! Exclusively at AeroMedix.com. Special Limited-Time Offer: No charge on domestic ground shipping for AVwebFlash subscribers. Enter coupon code AVCO2010 during checkout. Opinion & Commentary back to top  AVweb Insider Blog: NOTAMs — At Least Pretend Like You Care Which is evidently more than Sen. James Inhofe could muster when he landed at an airport with a closed runway, scattering construction workers. The information is out there and easily accessible. On the AVweb Insider blog, Paul Bertorelli argues that ignoring and making a high-profile scene diminishes all of general aviation. Read more and join the conversation. 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. You're a part of our team ... often, the best part. TCM Factory Engines Qualify for Bonus Depreciation Popular models in stock; three weeks on others. Call (800) 326-0089 or click here for details. Photos from the AOPA Summit back to top  AOPA Summit 2010 Photo Gallery Click for more photos The AOPA Summit in Long Beach, California has wound down — and we're wrapping up on our online coverage with a few photos from the show. Click for photos. Piper Aircraft Seeks Regional Sales Director — Asia Piper Aircraft, Inc. is searching for an experienced aircraft sales leader to fill the position of Regional Sales Director — Asia. This position will be based in Brunei and responsible for driving sales growth for the full line of Piper's products in the region. The Regional Director will work with and establish a dealer/agent network as well as be involved in some direct sales. Visit Piper.com to apply or for more information. AVweb Audio — Are You Listening? back to top  Swift Fuel Jumping Through the Hoops File Size 5.1 MB / Running Time 5:35 Podcast Index | How to Listen | Subscribe Via RSS One of at least two proposed alternatives to 100LL is grinding through the approval process. Swift's Jon Ziulkowski updated AVweb's Russ Niles at AOPA Summit last Friday. Click here to listen. (5.1 MB, 5:35) See What You've Been Missing! Active-Surveillance Traffic Now Available Starting at $8,490 Avidyne announces new full-featured TAS605 and TAS615 models, along with the lowest price available for dual-antenna, active traffic with our TAS600. All TAS600 Series systems provide timely audible and visual alerts with the precise location of conflicting traffic. Patented Top & Bottom directional antennas detect other aircraft sooner and more accurately. Avidyne's TAS600 Series are the smallest, lightest, best performing, and most affordable active TAS systems available. Click here to learn more about the TAS600 Traffic Systems. AVweb Media: Look, Listen, Laugh and Learn back to top  Video: Learning to Fly with Flyvie & Jeppesen Original, Exclusive Videos from AVweb | Reader-Submitted & Viral Videos Jeppesen and Flyvie may revolutionize the way student pilots learn to fly (and the way flight instructors approach flight training) by making actual flight lessons recordable, portable, and reviewable on the ground at the flight school, at home, and almost anywhere. Learn more at Flyvie.com. Don't see a video screen? Try disabling ad blockers and refreshing this page. If that doesn't work, click here to download the video directly. Video: Bonus Depreciation for LSA Original, Exclusive Videos from AVweb | Reader-Submitted & Viral Videos Flight Design's John Gilmore tells you to take advantage of tax laws to lower the initial cost of a new light sport aircraft (LSA) purchase before the end of the year. Don't see a video screen? Try disabling ad blockers and refreshing this page. If that doesn't work, click here to download the video directly. WingX Pro7 Moving Map for iPad! The $99 Moving Map — WingX Pro7 Moving Map for iPad is now available for your iPad. See your location on the approach chart; Approach Charts and Airport Diagrams are now geo-referenced*, and all are stored right on the iPad! WingX Pro7's interactive moving map displays Class B, C, and D airspaces; animated weather images; A/FD; AOPA Directory with Yelp integration; route planning, FARs, METARS, TAFS, winds, and temperatures aloft; TFRs' text and graphics; an E6B; and more. WingX is also available for Windows Mobile, Blackberry, and Android. Click here for more information. Your Favorite FBOs back to top  FBO of the Week: Flying W Airport (N14, Lumberton, NJ) Nominate an FBO | Rules | Tips | Questions | Winning FBOs AVweb reader Tim Stevens has a great destination FBO (and airport) to tell us about this week — Flying W Ranch Restaurant and Golf Course at Flying W Airport (N14) in Lumberton, New Jersey: The Northeast Raider formation team is based there, and they provide the locals an air show every weekend all summer. ... [You can also expect a] car show annually and a cool bar overlooking a airplane-shaped pool. Fly in and get a lift to the adjoining golf course, [and] the hotel and catering facility are second to none. Worth a visit. 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! Cheap Thrills Join the fastest-growing segment in GA today! With a subscription to Kitplanes, you're where the action is — at a price that won't break the bank! Strap in now. Help Us Celebrate AVweb's 15th Anniversary back to top  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. Traditional Tactics Need a Fresh Approach Doing the same thing and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. Isn't it time to initiate a digital marketing program with AVweb that will deliver traffic and orders directly to your web site? Discover several new and highly successful marketing options to use in lieu of static print or banner campaigns. Click now for details. The Lighter Side of Flight back to top  Short Final Overheard in IFR Magazine's "On the Air" I heard this one over California: Los Angeles Center: "Beech 633, cleared for the approach to San Luis Obispo." Beech 633: "Cleared for the approach." Los Angeles Center: "Beech 633, how will this approach terminate?" Beech 633: "Successfully, we hope." Emery Stephens White Plains, NY Fantastic Pricing and Tax Incentives make 2010 an ideal time to buy or upgrade an aircraft. We've compiled special offers on new or used planes, avionics, engines and more on the resource page. The pricing, rebates or incentives are available to everyone. Consult your tax advisor regarding the potential bonus depreciation benefits, and check our resources page for stories, podcasts, and videos related to bonus depreciation. Names Behind the News back to top  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 Click here to send a letter to the editor. (Please let us know if your letter is not intended for publication.) Comments or questions about the news should be sent here. Have a product or service to advertise on AVweb? A question on marketing? Send it to AVweb's sales team. If you're having trouble reading this newsletter in its HTML-rich format (or if you'd prefer a lighter, simpler format for your PDA or handheld device), there's also a text-only version of AVwebFlash. For complete instructions on making the switch, click here. Aviate. Navigate. Communicate.