RESTRUCTURED CESSNA STAYS COURSE
Cessna's new CEO is promising a "renewed focus on our propeller [aircraft] business" following a major restructuring of senior management. In his first public outing as CEO since taking over four months ago following the sudden retirement of Jack Pelton, Scott Ernest gave a generally upbeat overview of the company operations and future. In an exclusive podcast interview with AVweb, Ernest said the company will focus on its existing product line and gauge future investments according customer demand and feedback. "We're going to continue to invest in our product," Ernest said. Among the targets for that investment could be alternative fuels aircraft in the piston line. More...

PODCAST: CESSNA CEO SCOTT ERNEST MEETS THE PRESS
For the first time since taking over Cessna four months ago, CEO Scott Ernest started making the press rounds at NBAA in Las Vegas. AVweb's Russ Niles was among the first to interview him.

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VIDEO: CESSNA M2 UNVEILING
Cessna Aircraft Company unveiled a new business jet, the Cessna M2, at the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) convention in Las Vegas, October 9, 2011.

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BIG BIZJET MARKET BOOMS
Despite the general economic malaise, it's good to be Gulfstream these days. Speaking to reporters at the NBAA convention in Las Vegas on Sunday, the company's new President Larry Flynn said that the good times continue to roll in the big-cabin bizjet market and the future looks strong." Businesses that were once regional are now global," Flynn said. "And their leaders need long-range transportation. They recognize Gulfstream as the leader in technology, performance and product support; and that has translated into strong sales." He said the order book is at $18 billion, including $400 million added in the second quarter of this year and production backlog is in the "sweet spot" of 18-24 months for most models. The flagship G650 is nearing certification and will have a market niche virtually to itself for several years until Bombardier's new Global 7000 and 8000 models become available. Meanwhile, Honeywell has issued its 20th annual bizjet forecast and it's showing a little more optimism from its 2010 crystal balling. More...

PODCAST: NEW PRODUCTS, WEIGHTY DISCUSSIONS AT NBAA 2011
Contrasting the typically sunny skies of Las Vegas, the gloomy economic forecast continues to cloud business aviation's mood, but the atmosphere is upbeat in the desert this week as NBAA 2011 gets going. AVweb's Russ Niles spoke with NBAA president Ed Bolen on the eve of the big show.

This podcast is brought to you by Phillips 66 Aviation. More...

SUKHOI BIZJET LANDS LAUNCH CUSTOMER, COMLUX
SuperJet Worldwide announced Sunday at the NBAA convention in Las Vegas that Comlux will be the launch customer for the $50 million Sukhoi Business Jet (SBJ), a version of the 100-seat Sukhoi Superjet 100. Comlux has ordered two of the fly-by-wire jets to be delivered in 2014, with options for two more. The SBJ can be built as an eight-passenger VIP transport with a 4,250 nm range. It is powered two SaM146 engines produced by Powerjet, a joint venture between Snecma and Russia's NPO Saturn. Comlux believes the jet will fill a niche between the Boeing Business Jet and Embraer Lineage 1000, a variant of the Embraer 190 regional jet. Comlux is also projecting a bullish sales outlook for the jet. More...

VIDEO: QUEST KODIAK EXECUTIVE INTERIOR
Executive style and comfort come to the rugged Quest Kodiak. The tuboprop Kodiak can carry more than 3,500 pounds of useful load into and out of 1,200-foot unimproved airfields. (No paved runway or airport required.) The airplane can cruise at 170 knots over 1,000 nautical miles. And it can now do all that with air conditioning, weather radar, synthetic vision GPS, TKS flight into known icing protection, and leather-clad executive seating for six.

This video is brought to you by Phillips 66 Aviation. More...

BOEING SETTLES TOXIC CABIN AIR CASE
Former flight attendant Terry Williams has won a settlement of an undisclosed amount after suing Boeing, alleging that the manufacturer employs faulty engineering, which allows toxic fumes into the cabin that harm people inside. Williams' lawsuit claimed that fumes in engine bleed air pumped into aircraft cabins can cause tremors, severe headaches and memory loss. The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA believes that the bleed air can contain carbon monoxide, tricresyl phosphates and other contaminants. Settlement aside, Boeing contends that cabin air is safe and that independent research shows that it meets applicable health and safety standards. The FAA has also chimed in on the subject. More...

DRONE COMPUTERS HIT BY VIRUS
Wired is reporting that the computer systems used to control military drones have been infected by a key logging virus that has so far defied attempts to eliminate it. The tech website says it has heard from three independent but unidentified sources that the virus was first detected about two weeks ago in the computers at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada and the military has continued to operate drones in Afghanistan and other trouble spots even though it would appear that every keyboard operation involved in the missions is being logged. The military has not confirmed Wired's story. According to the Wired story, the people it talked to couldn't say whether the virus was deliberately targeted at their hardware or whether it is just part of the normal stream of malware that computers try to fend off every day. What is known, however, is this bug is persistent. "We keep wiping it off, and it keeps coming back," one of Wired's sources said. "We think it's benign. But we just don't know." More...

PRIVATE ROCKET TO 121,000 FEET (PLUS VIDEO)
A team self-identified as Qu8k (spoken "quake") claims to, on Sept. 30, have launched an unmanned 26-foot rocket at 2,185 mph to more than 100,000 feet over Black Rock Desert, Nev., and possibly earned a monetary prize for the effort. The team's effort addressed the Carmack Challenge, which, among other things, required the rocket to record a GPS altitude of over 100,000 feet to win a prize of $5,000. Qu8k says that none of four independent GPS systems onboard its vehicle maintained positional lock through the trip and suspects some simple reasons for that. According to Qu8k, that launch included a roughly 15G acceleration and pushed the rocket through 17,000 feet in less than 11 seconds. GPS notwithstanding, the team's rocket returned intact and Qu8k believes it has data that confirms they bested the goal. They also have video. More...

FAA WARNS TURKEY DROP PILOTS
Thanks to the FAA, there might be a little less hooting and hollering at Yellville, Arkansas's annual Turkey Trot celebrations on the long weekend. The FAA confirmed to The Associated Press that it was sending agents to the Ozark community of 1,300 to sanction any pilots who take part in the annual Turkey Drop. The event involves live wild turkeys being dropped from aircraft onto the town square and, contrary to the horror expressed by animal-rights groups, local officials insist the birds are perfectly capable of gliding to a safe landing on the square. The FAA is staying out of that aspect of the controversy and focusing on the FAR that prohibits dropping anything, winged or not, from an airplane that might harm something or someone below. Turkeys, gliding or not, apparently don't make the grade for that approval so the guys in the sunglasses and polo shirts on the town square are there to try to make sure no one is hurt. "Our concern is always with public safety," FAA spokesman Lynn Lunford told the AP. "We could be talking about turkeys or boxes of paper. It doesn't matter. If you throw something out of an aircraft it can cause damage to people or property on the ground." As for the turkeys, the greatest peril unquestionably awaits them after the drop. More...

FORTY-SEVEN YEARS IN AVIATION: A MEMOIR; CHAPTER 6: BASIC FLIGHT TRAINING, PART 2
Jumping straight from the T-6 to the B-25, Richard Taylor gets to experience not only a huge airplane but one that requires two crew (giving new meaning to the term "solo"), and also experiences the joys of winter in Oklahoma. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: WHY GARMIN'S NEW AERA 796 ISN'T AN IPAD KILLER -- AND VICE VERSA
Garmin's new mega GPS, the aera 796, is a tour de force. But an iPad killer? Not quite. On the AVweb Insider blog, Paul Bertorelli analyzes why there's likely to be a market for both of these devices (or ones like them) for a long time. Read more and join the conversation. More...

FBO OF THE WEEK: HENRIKSEN JET CENTER (KEDC, PFLUGERVILLE, TX)

AVweb's "FBO of the Week" ribbon goes to Henriksen Jet Center at Austin Executive Airport (KEDC) in Pflugerville, Texas.

AVweb reader William Mills visited KEDC on a trip with his his daughter this summer and had a great experience:

Austin Executive Airport ... was nearly as conveniently located to where we needed to go as any other airport, and the brand-new facilities looked very nice and offered the services we would need. When we arrived (on a day that was already quite warm and promised to get much hotter), we were met on the taxiway by a "follow me" cart and led to parking underneath their large covered awning, just like the big boys. We were marshalled in by several linemen, and when we shut down and got out, our rental car was beside the airplane, running and air conditioning fired up. [Their] facilities are amazing, with a genuine Rolls Royce Olympus turbojet engine (from a Concorde) in the lobby. When we arrived back for departure, they took an air-conditioning cart out to the airplane and had it cooling down the inside -- definitely much appreciated. [The] entire staff was extremely friendly and couldn't do enough to make our stay as pleasant and comfortable as they could. Definitely will revisit [when] going back to Austin.

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!

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...

WHO'S WHERE? YOU TELL US
Get a promotion or a new job? Your colleagues want to know about it, and AVwebBiz can get the word out. Drop us a line about the staff appointment, with a nice recent photo, and we'll do our best to include it in our new section, "Who's Where." The items will be permanently archived on AVweb for future reference, too. More...

SHORT FINAL

Last fall, while I was in the circuit to land at Toronto Buttonville (CYKZ) airport, I was listening to the tower controller who was giving a running commentary and warning to pilots on final to watch for Canada geese that were flying back and forth over the threshold of the active runway, creating a very nasty bird strike hazard. After the controller had made the warning for the fourth time in a very short period of time, she again repeated it to me as I was short final -- in a very frustrated tone. I decided to try and lighten the frustration to her day.

Cessna Amphibian 1234:
"Can't you just give those geese a transponder code?"

Buttonville Tower:
"They won't comply!"

Paul Armstrong
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 AVWEBBIZ TEAM

AVwebBiz is a weekly summary of the latest business aviation news, articles, products, features, and events featured on AVweb, the internet's aviation magazine and news service.

The AVwebBiz 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

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