BOEING SEES DOUBLING OF COMMERCIAL FLEET
Boeing has declared the world economic recession all but over and issued its rosiest commercial aircraft forecast in years. The company's pre-Paris Air Show analysis predicts a doubling of the world fleet of commercial aircraft over the next 20 years, with 33,500 aircraft selling for a total of $4 trillion. "The world market has recovered and is now expanding at a significant rate," Randy Tinseth, Boeing's VP of marketing for commercial aircraft, told reporters. "Not only is there a strong demand for air travel and new airplanes today, but the fundamental drivers of air travel – including economic growth, world trade and liberalization – all point to a healthy long-term demand." Much of the growth will come from emerging markets in China, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America, while traditional markets in Europe and North America will be buying planes for fleet modernization. More...

LIGHTSQUARED UPDATE
Recent tests have shown that LightSquared's proposed grid of 40,000 wireless network ground stations could interfere with GPS signals, and now the FCC has granted LightSquared a two-week extension to file a report on its position. LightSquared's report was originally due Wednesday, the same day the FCC granted the extension. LightSquared spokesman Jim Carlisle said Tuesday that the company underestimated the number of tests that would be necessary to show the network should be allowed. In a letter to the FCC, Carlisle wrote that additional testing "was necessary to permit a proper evaluation of various mitigation options for addressing the GPS receiver overload issue." And that producing a report is really hard.  More...

ONE MILE PER SECOND SCRAMJET FALLS SHORT
An X-51A Waverider scramjet powered test vehicle flew in the program's second flight test, June 13, but failed to transition to full power burning JP-7 after the scramjet engine was lit. Air Force Flight Test Center officials say the vehicle was dropped at approximately 50,000 feet from a B-52H Stratofortress flying in the Point Mugu Naval Air Test Range over the Pacific Ocean. It accelerated with the help of a solid rocket booster to beyond Mach 5, at which point the vehicle's air-breathing scramjet engine was lit on ethylene. According to the Air Force, then "the vehicle experienced an inlet un-start" as it attempted to transition to JP-7. Click through to watch the latest test (video). More...

WSJ: BIZJETS USED FOR PERSONAL TRAVEL
The Wall Street Journal has published data regarding the movements of corporate jets between the years of 2007 and 2010 and Thursday the Journal suggested that personal use of corporate aircraft is greatly underreported. According to the Journal, "Dozens of jets operated by publicly traded corporations made 30% or more of their trips to or from resort destinations, sometimes more than 50%." The Securities and Exchange Commission requires that all personal travel on company aircraft be reported if it exceeds $25,000 annually or consists of more than 10 percent of executive benefits. According to estimates made by the Journal, one company underreported by more than $600,000. And in another case the Journal estimated the underreporting at roughly $2.5 million. That kind of math involves supposition and in some cases may disregard other factors. More...

BLAKEY TO GET TOP AVIATION AWARD
The sometimes-controversial former head of the FAA is getting one of aviation's most prestigious awards for her "significant and lasting contribution to the promotion and advancement of aviation and aerospace in the United States." Marion Blakey, who was FAA administrator from 2002 to 2007, will get the National Aeronautic Association's Cliff Henderson Trophy at NAA's final luncheon series meeting in Washington. The award is given annually to a living person whose "vision, leadership or skill" has promoted aviation. More...

A JUMBO RECYCLING PROJECT
When Francie Rehwald decided to add a couple of wings to her house, she didn't fool around. As we reported in 2006, her decision to repurpose an old Boeing 747-200 into a house and outbuildings on her mountainside acreage in Malibu, Calif., raised some concerns at the time and the first phase of the finished result has had its public debut, The jumbo-sized wings form the roof of the home and based on photos released last week it looks like control surfaces are also used. The rest of the house appears to be floor-to-ceiling windows and the result, according to inhabitat.com, is a "curvilinear" home. Now that the main house is done, architect David Hertz and his imaginative client can turn their attention to using up the rest of the plane. More...

SURVEY: AIRCRAFT BATTERIES
How's that aircraft battery holding up for you? Aviation Consumer wants to hear how well your battery has served you season after season. Please take a moment to rave -- or rant -- about it in Aviation Consumer's battery survey. The results will be part of an upcoming article in the magazine that might be just what you need to know before your next battery purchase. Click here to take the survey. More...

AVMAIL: JUNE 20, 2011

Letter of the Week: Egos Shot Down

Regarding the story about the Pakistani F-16s beating the Typhoons in air-to-air combat: I used to run an Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation and Electronic Warfare Range. We had many instances of older airframes with crews that had prepared meeting with the latest fashion airframes with crews that showed up expecting a cake walk and didn't prepare [only to have] their hats handed to them.

I remember one exercise where a group of ANG F-16 Air Defense Fighters from Duluth, Minnesota cleaned up a group of active-duty F-15Cs, much to their dismay and distress. The 15s were escorting a strike package of mixed aircraft. They never made it to the range on day one. The F-16 ADF guys had been to the ACMI/EW range practicing employment every day for a month. When the starting bell rang, they employed flawlessly. The AD Eagle drivers showed up expecting to walk all over them, and they hadn't practiced. If it was for real, they would have died on day one, with no chance for improvement. As it was, they got a second chance, then a third and midweek started to turn things around. By the end of the week, they were winning, bombs on target, getting home alive.

Training makes all the difference. If you're an ego driver, not an efficient fighter pilot, you may not notice that until the ego has taken a few shots.

Thor
Lt. Col., Ret.

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

AVWEB'S NEWSTIPS ADDRESS ...
Our best stories start with you. If you've heard something 255,000 pilots might want to know about, tell us. Submit news tips via email to newstips@avweb.com. What have you heard? More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: RISK AT SEA — WOULD YOU DO THIS?
Dramatic footage put together by PBS shows what it's like to recover aircraft in challenging sea conditions — at night, no less. Operations like this ratchet up the risk, raising the basic judgement question: Is the gain worth the potential pain? If you're a Navy pilot, you don't get a vote. In his latest installment to the AVweb Insider blog, Paul Bertorelli examines how risk judgements in military flying are far different than in the civil world. Read more and join the conversation. More...

VIDEO: IFR MAGAZINE DEALS WITH EMERGENCY DESCENTS ON INSTRUMENTS
Emergencies don't have the decency to happen only on clear days. IFR magazine's Jeff Van West takes a brief look at how you might get an airplane down as fast as possible — or precisely lined up with a runway, even when you can't see much past the propeller. More...

EXTREME LOW PASS VIDEO
Video of an extremely low, low pass is making the rounds on the internet and we thought we'd share. The aircraft appears to be an Argentinean FMA IA 63 Pampa or something similar. It also appears to be flying about three feet off the ground. The picture at right is a screen capture from in-cockpit footage that shows people running out of the way ahead of the jet. More...

FBO OF THE WEEK: SILVERWING FLIGHT SERVICES (SANDPOINT, IDAHO)

A nice courtesy car can often put an FBO on our list of favorites — but sometimes it's a little something extra that impresses an AVweb reader and moves him to nominate a facility. Joseph Barber explains how SilverWing Flight Services at Sandpoint Airport (KSZT) in Sandpoint, Idaho became our latest "FBO of the Week":

We've always found the folks at SilverWing to be friendly and helpful. This is not, itself, exceptional in Idaho — but in addition to a courtesy car (a massive, late-model SUV, not the usual '80s vintage monster sedan), [they have] bicycles. A great alternative for the short distance to town.

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!

SHORT FINAL

My sister-in-law and I were working together across the production bench a few years back as the local ATC scanner played in the background. The controller cleared an aircraft to take off, ending the transmission with, "Wind calm."

Instead, my sister-in-law heard, "... when calm."

She was quite alarmed that ATC would clear a pilot to take off but gave them time to calm down before pushing the throttle forward.

Mary Ann Lebold
via e-mail

HEARD ANYTHING FUNNY ON THE RADIO?
Heard anything funny, unusual, or downright shocking on the radio lately? If you've been flying any length of time, you're sure to have eavesdropped on a few memorable exchanges. The ones that gave you a chuckle may do the same for your fellow AVweb readers. Share your radio funny with us, and, if we use it in a future "Short Final," we'll send you a sharp-looking AVweb hat to sport around your local airport. No joke. Click here to submit your original, true, and previously unpublished story. 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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