DOT: WASHINGTON GRIDLOCK THREATENS FAA, IMMEDIATELY
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood expressed his concerns Wednesday that disagreements between the House and Senate could halt FAA funded projects by Friday and the FAA warned that could lead to thousands of furloughs as early as Saturday. The problem is that a temporary measure to fund the FAA is set to expire Friday. And the extension passed Wednesday by the House includes new language that is unlikely to pass the Senate. Without the Senate's approval of that extension, some form of shutdown is expected to impact the FAA by Saturday. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood expressed his concerns Wednesday in a statement released by the DOT. "Congress needs to stop playing games, work out its differences, and pass a clean FAA bill immediately," LaHood said. FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt is already estimating the fallout if Congress fails to reach an agreement. More...

NEW FAA WEB SITE TARGETS MIDAIR COLLISIONS
A new web site hosted by the FAA in conjunction with the Department of Defense aims to provide general aviation pilots with information about operations in military airspace. "This portal will allow users to find and link to all existing military Mid-Air Collision Avoidance (MACA) programs in a single web site, while also enjoying new access to information from military bases that did not previously have web-based content," the FAA said on Wednesday. "Our goal is to eliminate mid-air collisions and reduce close calls through continuous flight safety and proper flight planning." The site, SeeAndAvoid.org, is designed for ease of use, with lots of Google maps and graphics. Data is included from the MACA programs of all DoD aviation installations in the continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, the Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico. More...

SCALED UNVEILS HYBRID "FLYING CAR"
Over the weekend, Scaled Composites unveiled to the press Burt Rutan's version of a "roadable aircraft," the last design he completed for the company he founded before he retired earlier this year. The two-seat hybrid-electric BiPod hasn't flown, but it has completed some "test hops" on the runway at Mojave, powered by its driving wheels. The aircraft is designed to have four propellers, two on the wings and two on the horizontal stabilizer, which haven't yet been installed. The wings come off and can be stowed between the pods. The left pod has driving controls and the right one has flight controls. More...

BOEING TO RE-ENGINE 737
Wednesday, Boeing announced plans to fit new more efficient CFM International Leap-X engines to members of its 737 family of aircraft, offering potential fuel savings of more than 10 percent on existing airframes. The new engines are not plug-and-play -- Boeing will have to re-engineer its planes to accept the engines and associated systems -- and Boeing's decision is not yet etched in stone. A final decision is expected by fall, but the option has reportedly been extended to American Airlines as part of the airline's massive order for at least 460 new aircraft split between Boeing and Airbus. The order is said to include 100 re-engined Boeings. And it may put pressure on certain other manufacturers' clean-sheet designs. More...

X2 RETIRES, HEADS FOR OSHKOSH
Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation's X2 technology demonstrator flew for the last time last week, and next week it will be on display at EAA AirVenture at Oshkosh. The innovative helicopter, winner of the 2010 Collier Prize, achieved a level flight speed of 253 knots, an unofficial speed record. The X2 is propelled by a unique system of counter-rotating rigid rotor blades powered by a turboshaft engine, plus a rear pusher prop. Sikorsky said the five-year research program achieved its objectives -- low single-pilot workload, low vibration, low acoustic signature, and high speed -- and will now evolve into an effort to design and fly the S-97 Raider, a light tactical helicopter for the U.S. military. Two prototypes will be built and evaluated. "These aircraft are designed to be capable of 10,000-foot hover out of ground effect on a 95-degree day," said Mark Miller, Sikorsky's vice president of research and engineering. "The future awaits this technology, and today we can say that we see it on the horizon." More...

AIRCRAFT BEAT CARMEGEDDON, BUT BIKES BEAT ALL
Jet Blue's 29-mile, $8 "microflights" between Burbank and Long Beach during last weekend's shutdown of the 405 freeway sold out within two hours, but a group of bicycle advocates proved they had an even better alternative -- they beat the airline's door-to-door travel time by more than a half hour. Dubbed the "Tour de Carmageddon," six members of the Wolfpack Hustle biking club started from a Burbank sidewalk as a passenger left for the airport, pedaled for 40 miles to  downtown Long Beach, and had a good time doing it. Other residents, however, found that chartering a helicopter was the best way to get around the crowded cityscape. "It's the only way to travel," Kevin Norris told the L.A. Times, after paying $150 to fly by helicopter from Van Nuys to LAX in 14 minutes, to catch a flight to France. More...

USER FEES BACK ON TABLE
As the cash-strapped U.S. government searches under the sofa cushions for extra cash, general aviation user fees are back on the radar. All the major aviation groups have signed a letter (PDF) to House Speaker John Boehner opposing the user fee idea as inefficient and potentially damaging to GA. The idea was floated at meetings concerning the debt ceiling debate and the alphabets say the concept has been thoroughly debated in the past and rejected and it hasn't gotten any better with age. "User fees have absolutely devastated general aviation in other parts of the world, and in the United States, they would only serve to create a new federal collection bureaucracy of billing agents, auditors and collection officials to harass small businesses and others," the letter reads. More...

EUROPE FIGHTS LIGHTSQUARED
The European Commission has added its name to the long list of those opposed to LightSquared's plan to use satellite band frequencies for a ground network of broadband transmitters. The proposal, which is now before the Federal Communications Commission for comment, has been widely condemned by pro-GPS companies and organizations in the U.S. because it could disrupt GPS service. The European Commission is now officially worried the broadband signals will obliterate signals from its Galileo satellite-based navigation system, which will deploy in three years, and Heinz Zourek, the director general for enterprise and industry, says the signals may have an even greater impact on Galileo equipment than the interference being reported on GPS receivers. "Interference effects have been determined to occur in the range [of] 100 [meters] to almost 1,000 [kilometers]," Zourek said in a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. More...

AVWEBBIZ: AVWEB'S BUSINESS AVIATION NEWSLETTER

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QUESTION OF THE WEEK: USER FEES AGAIN?
This time, instead of incremental fees for flying the system, it looks like some of your elected representatives think a $25 "departure fee" is in order. What do you think?

Plus: Last week, we asked AVweb readers who's going to Oshkosh; click through to see the breakdown of answers. More...

SURVEY: HAVE YOU HAD YOUR AIRPLANE PAINTED RECENTLY?
If so, Aviation Consumer would like to hear about the results. Did the shop do a good job? Did it deliver on time? And what about the price? To take our survey, just click here, and it will take you right to our survey page. More...

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: THE POWER OF ENGAGEMENT
The crowds at Oshkosh are the best in the world, says Mary Grady. In a podcast last week, she asked air show pilot Mike Goulian why that is, and he offered up a simple explanation that got Mary thinking about the differences between an AirVenture crowd and the one you'll see at a typical air show. Read more and join the conversation. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: A TEXTBOOK BAIL-OUT?
That's what Rob Davies's exit from a damaged P-51 Mustang last week in the UK looked like, at least on video. On the AVweb Insider blog, Paul Bertorelli examines some of the risk factors in low-altitude bail-outs. Read more and join the conversation. More...

VIDEO: AVWEB'S RUSS NILES GOES WINGWALKING
Wingwalking is like having the world at your feet with your cheeks wrapped around your neck. Thanks to Breitling Chonometers, editor Russ Niles got to try it. More...

VIDEO: TRYING TO LEARN THE G1000? AVIATION CONSUMER REVIEWS TRAINING PROGRAMS
There are at least a half-dozen training programs that offer help. In this video, Aviation Consumer's Paul Bertorelli takes a brief look at some of the offerings. Each has plusses and minuses, but any of them can get you ready to fly the G1000, if not confident and proficient. More...

FBO OF THE WEEK: YELVINGTON JET AVIATION (KDAB, DAYTONA BEACH, FL)

AVweb's "FBO of the Week" ribbon goes to Yelvington Jet Aviation at Daytona Beach International Airport (KDAB) in Daytona Beach, Florida.

AVweb reader Ron Horton tells us how the Yelvington exceeded his every expectation last week:

Despite the "jet" in their name, Yelvington was extremely helpful as we flew our Cessna 182 from North Carolina to KDAB to watch the final space shuttle launch. We called all the FBOs at KDAB, and Yelvington alone answered with courtesy, efficiency, and a desire to help us make our trip easy. Their fuel prices were the lowest on the field; they handled us quickly on the ramp despite the bad weather; they shuttled us to the terminal to pick up our rental car; and the warm cookies inside were a bonus! When we were headed from the Cape to KDAB for departure, we called for them to get the plane out of the hangar — they got it out, but when the storm beat us to the airport, they put it back in the hangar for safety and rolled it back out after we arrived and the storm had passed. We will definitely take advantage of Yelvington's hospitality when we return to KDAB.

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: AVWEB'S FLYING PHOTOGRAPHY SHOWCASE
This week's winning photo comes from Brian Breighner of Cumberland, MD. Click here for the rest of this week's submissions. 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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