CHINA OPENS AIRSPACE FOR GA
China's low-altitude airspace will open up for civilian use over the next five years, the State Council and the Central Military Commission announced this week. "This is the beginning of a new chapter in China's general aviation development," Martin Lin, China president of Textron, told the Financial Times. The new rules will allow aircraft flying below 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) to take off and land without the hard-to-get prior approval that is required today. Aircraft flying from 1,000 to 4,000 meters (13,123 feet) will be required to file a flight plan but also do not have to seek prior approval from authorities. Within days of the announcement, a wealthy village had announced plans to buy 20 aircraft for training and tourism. "We've waited so long for the low-altitude airspace to be opened," said Zhou Li, manager of the Huaxi Village tourism company. The village already owns two helicopters, which will begin to offer tourist flights next month, Zhou Li told Xinhua.net. More...

AIRPORTS CAN OPT OUT OF TSA SCREENING? MAYBE NOT
Wednesday, news broke that Congressman John Mica had on Nov. 5 sent a letter to more than 150 airport managers suggesting they adopt private security -- but that would not remove the TSA from the equation. Mica appears headed to chair the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Thanks to an older law he helped write, airports can opt not to use the TSA for security screening, but, according to a report in the Orlando Sentinel, the airports would have to use the TSA to hire, oversee and pay the "private" screeners. This week, a San Diego man made national headlines when he refused both the pat-down or to subject himself to the TSA's full-body scanner. He was escorted to an exit and then told that if he left without submitting to the screening he would be sued. American Airlines pilots have heard a request from their union to opt out of full-body scans, and AVweb's Glenn Pew sat down for an interview with an ExpressJet Airlines pilot whose decision to opt out of the screening may cost him his job. Click here to listen. More...

FAA ADOPTS FATIGUE LIMITS FOR TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT
A new rule adopted by the FAA this week stops short of requiring "life limits" for transport-category aircraft, but in practice that may be the result. The rule requires manufacturers to set a "limit of validity," the number of flight cycles or hours that an airplane can operate before it must be subjected to additional inspections for fatigue damage. Once those limits are determined, the FAA must approve any extension of the limit. Operators may choose to retire older airplanes rather than submit to more time-consuming and costly approvals and maintenance schedules, according to the Dallas Morning News. Deadlines to set the limits vary from 18 months to five years away. "We've addressed the problem of aging aircraft with numerous targeted regulations and 100 airworthiness directives over the years," said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. "This rule is a comprehensive solution to ensure the structural safety of today's airliners and the airplanes of tomorrow." More...

LOST F-22 FOUND, "PILOT STILL MISSING"
The wreckage of an F-22 lost Tuesday may have been found 100 miles north of Anchorage, but as of Wednesday evening the Air Force could not account for its pilot. The missing aircraft was part of the 3rd Wing at the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. A report from the Wing's public affairs office Wednesday evening said the wreckage had been found but the pilot was "still missing" and "finding the missing pilot is our top priority." The mishap aircraft had been part of a two-ship of F-22s and had finished a training sortie. The pilot, whose name had not been released at the time AVweb went to press, had previously undergone Arctic survival training, according to the Air Force. Details about the events leading up to the mishap are few. More...

TECNAM TWIN NOW FAA-CERTIFIED
The FAA has issued a type certificate for Tecnam's P2006T light piston twin, the company announced this week. The four-seat aircraft, powered by two Rotax 912S 100-hp engines, is aimed mainly at the training market, as well as flying clubs, private owners, air taxi, and surveillance. The airplane was certified in Europe last year and already about 50 copies have been delivered. The company says it has another 100 orders in hand. "We have now accelerated production to meet this unprecedented demand and we are now delivering a Tecnam P2006T every five days," said Paolo Pascale, managing director for Tecnam. The company has eight dealers in place in the U.S., and plans to gain Canadian certification next. The Rotax engines can run on either avgas or auto fuel. More...

NANO-TECH TACKLES ICING
Researchers from Harvard University have developed and tested specific, patterned, nanostructured materials that reject supercooled water droplets before that water can freeze to a surface. When supercooled droplets hit smooth surfaces, the researchers found they spread out and freeze. That was not the case when the Harvard team applied the same tests to nanostructures created with patterns that reduced the surface area to which the water could adhere. Perhaps counterintuitively, that involved adding texture to the surface on a microscopic level. With their most successful tests, the researchers found a supercooled droplet would initially hit the surface, and spread out, but instead of freezing, the droplets that hit the nanostructured pattern would then retract back into a sphere and simply bounce off. More...

SECURITY GOES DOWN UNDER
Private aviation is looking better all the time, especially for those who like to travel in comfortable clothes. Separate reports from different parts of the country suggest the TSA is ready to get down and dirty in the name of security and is conducting full-contact pat-downs of passengers' genitals and buttocks. Owen JJ Stone, a radio personality known as Ohdoctah, appeared on the Alex Jones talk show in Austin, Texas, Tuesday and said a TSA airport screener put his hand inside his sweat pants and ran it around the full circumference of his body, pausing at everything along the way. Meanwhile, in Orlando, a Missouri man wearing shorts had a similar experience. Stone said he was told it was a new rule that applied to those wearing baggy clothing. At many airports, the alternative is a full body scan, which is supposed to take a "for their eyes only" peek under the clothing of those who get the extra security treatment. Well, apparently some of those machines have hard drives that will save at least 35,000 images, as recent visitors to the federal courthouse in Orlando are discovering. More...

AIRLINE PILOTS RESIST NEW TSA PROCEDURES
Leaders of two unions representing pilots at US Airways and American Airlines have advised their members to decline to be screened by new advanced-imaging-technology full-body scanners and request a pat-down instead. "No pilot at American Airlines should subject themselves to the needless privacy invasion and potential health risks caused by the AIT body scanners," wrote Dave Bates, president of the Allied Pilots Association, which represents 11,000 pilots at American, in a letter to members. The new scanners produce ionizing radiation, which can be harmful to health, especially when added to the high doses of radiation that pilots already are exposed to on the job, Bates said. Mike Cleary, president of the US Airways pilot group, said the TSA procedures are "blatantly unacceptable," and the alternative pat-down procedure also has problems. Cleary said the pat-down process "has already produced a sexual molestation in alarmingly short order." More...

Related Content:

• Podcast interview with ExpressJet pilot Michael Robert, who refused TSA screening.
• Paul Bertorelli runs down the groups fighting TSA zeal on the AVweb Insider blog.

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: TSA TO AIR TRAVELERS — DROP DEAD
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says if you don't like being x-rayed or groped in an airport security line, take the bus. On the AVweb Insider blog, Paul Bertorelli tells you how to take part in pushing back against TSA excesses or, if you happen to like them, where to send the love letter. Read more and join the conversation. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: EPA LEAVES GA HANGING ON AVGAS
AVweb editor-in-chief Russ Niles was on hand for the EPA's statements at the AOPA Summit about the future of avgas — and while he managed to stay awake, the EPA's stance was disappointing, to say the least. On the AVweb Insider blog, Russ explains how the EPA should be leading the discussion, not hiding in the shadows. Read more and join the conversation. More...

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: SECURITY VS. PRIVACY
There are plenty of people who think the TSA is way out of line with its new security procedures. Are you one of them?

Plus: Back before the AOPA Summit, we asked AVweb readers how studiously they check NOTAMs; click through to see how they answered. 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...

AOPA SUMMIT 2010: NEWS COVERAGE ROUND-UP

Looking for podcasts, videos, and news coverage from the 2010 AOPA Summit in Long Beach, California? Start here, with our special issue of AVwebAudio that rounds up all the podcasts and videos from the show. Then visit our AOPA news page, where you'll find all stories from this (and previous) years relating to AOPA Summit meetings.

VIDEO: LEARNING TO FLY WITH FLYVIE & JEPPESEN
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. More...

FBO OF THE WEEK: FLYING W AIRPORT (N14, LUMBERTON, NJ)

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!

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.

PICTURE OF THE WEEK: AVWEB'S FLYING PHOTOGRAPHY SHOWCASE
With the craziness of back-to-back shows in Atlanta (NBAA) and Long Beach (the AOPA Summit) behind us, it's time to delve into our bag of user submissions and play catch-up. We've got lots of great photos to share with you over the next couple of weeks, so buckle up as we plow full steam ahead into cache of reader-submitted pictures. And to kick things off, Zane Jacobson of Portland, Oregon has a simple yet evocative image that immediately caught our eye and landed this week's top honor. 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

Click here to send a letter to the editor. (Please let us know if your letter is not intended for publication.)

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