Volume 10, Number 32a -- August 2, 2004

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This issue of AVweb's AVflash is brought to you by ... Cessna Aircraft — Single Engine THE CESSNA SKYHAWK GOES GLASS The 2005 Cessna Skyhawk will be available with the cutting-edge Garmin G1000 glass cockpit. The G1000 is the most advanced flight deck package ever installed in this class of aircraft and features a primary and multi-function display, GPS with terrain mapping, satellite weather and radio, and many other exciting components. It's a Skyhawk so state-of-the-art, you'll have to see it to believe it. Stop by the Cessna AirVenture exhibit (booths #143-156), or, for more information, go to http://www.avweb.com/sponsors/cse/avflash.

The Top Headlines From AVweb's Expanded, Illustrated News Coverage At AVweb's NewsWire.

OSHKOSH TARGETED BY TERRORISTS?
Aw, it's probably nothing. But, then again, it must be something. Unarmed Civil Air Patrol (yes, CAP) sentries sprouted around the control tower at Wittman Regional Airport Sunday in response to some kind of increased security posture at EAA AirVenture. EAA media relations man, Dick Knapinski later told reporters a threat of some kind had specifically named Oshkosh. And so, the grassy compound that surrounds the tower and is a favorite vantage point for air show spectators Sunday was off limits. AVweb staff were also told of security dog patrols going through the hangars and exhibits and there were definitely more federal folks (TSA, Customs, FAA security) patrolling the grounds in ATVs and on foot (at least it sure looked that way to us). More...

CIRRUS BECOMES BESTSELLER
Alan Klapmeier is the first to admit it's probably a temporary thing (there are significant technicalities involved), but the CEO of Cirrus Design also doesn't mind enjoying the distinction of running the top selling GA aircraft company in the world. Cirrus knocked off Cessna for top spot in sales in the second quarter according to stats compiled by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. This week, Cirrus sold its 350th new plane of '04, pushing the company to an average of 40 planes produced per month. Those numbers are more than 200% better than the same period in 2003 and more than 100 aircraft over the company's year-to-date target. "We think the aviation world is looking pretty good," said Klapmeier, whose company sold 129 airplanes in the second quarter. More...

...DOWNTURN IS OVER, SAYS GAMA
Meanwhile, GAMA is calling the miserable slump the industry has experienced over the past two years, "over." Although piston sales dropped by about four percent overall (likely attributable to airframes awaiting certification of the Garmin G1000) GAMA President Ed Bolen said all segments should end the year on the plus side. "The recovery is well under way and should continue through the balance of the year," he said. A key factor in the recovery will go before Congress in the fall. Bonus depreciation on capital assets purchased by companies ends at the end of the year but a bill to extend the time limit for aircraft (because of their long build time) for a year has been passed by the Senate and House. More...

IT'S NOT AN AIR SHOW WITHOUT AN AIR SHOW
Speaking of different, awesome and amazing (choose your adjective), AirVenture 2004 visitors have been willing spectators to an airshow routine that can only be described as NASCAR on steroids with (intentional) explosions. In August of 2002, airshow veterans Jimmy Franklin, Jim LeRoy, Bobby Younkin and Les Shockley came up with a concept called the "X-Team Masters of Disaster." We do not know whether large quantities of beer were involved in this brainstorming session, but the Masters of Disaster seems like something dreamed up by good friends who also happen to be great sticks with a tremendous history of air show performances. The routine opens with the warning that 90% of the act is unchoreographed, and is followed with a recorded message talking of the time when "machines roamed the earth unencumbered... opposed only by the annihilation known as the FAA." What comes next is pure, unadulterated, stand-up-and-scream mayhem ... even for the normally been-there, seen-that Oshkosh crowd. More...

...LOOKING AHEAD TO RENO WITH RED BULL
If you think there is nothing new under the sun in air racing, time to think again. Red Bull (the energy drink) is putting some new fizz in the fun. The company has announced the debut of the new Red Bull Air Race -- a race combining low and fast racing with aerobatic manuevers -- during the Reno Air Races in September (apparently hundreds of miles per hour sixty feet off the ground wasn't interesting enough). Four American pilots, with aerobatic ace Kirby Chambliss taking the lead, will square off against four European champions with the goal of being the fastest to make it through a tight, pylon-marked course ... while completing a set of pre-determined aerobatic maneuvers such as vertical rolls, knife-edge passes, half rolls and a spot touch-and-go landings. More...

HOMEBUILTS IN SPACE
Aircraft designer Burt Rutan and his lead astronaut, Mike Melvill, arrived on the field Thursday in a Beech Starship, and drew an overflow crowd that night to AirVenture's Theater in the Woods, where they showed for the first time the cockpit video from Melvill's SpaceShipOne flight in June. The two told the story of their spectacular supersonic flight above the atmosphere, showing clips from a Discovery Channel documentary that will be released later this year. The 18-minute video featured shots from cameras attached to the tails of both the spaceship and the White Knight carrier aircraft, and inside the cockpit with Melvill. More...

...AND THE X PRIZE GOES TO...
Rutan said his plans are in place to win the $10 million Ansari X Prize in early October. He will launch on Septermber 29, and fly again five days later, allowing enough time to make three attempts if necessary within the required two-week time frame. The X Prize Foundation is selling tickets to the event for $20 each, at their Web site. "We expect 100,000 people at Mojave," X Prize director Peter Diamandis said at a Saturday press conference at Oshkosh. Diamandis said the launch will be broadcast live on the Internet, around the world. He also said that Rutan's team has left open the possibility of taking passengers on their second flight. There is a list of prospective passengers. More...

BOHANNON MISSES RECORD
Bruce Bohannon figures he missed setting an altitude record by about three feet on Saturday ... that's how much the tall Texan plans to add to the wingspan of his already highly modified RV-4 to take another crack at the absolute altitude record for piston aircraft, likely in October. Bohannon coaxed the Flyin' Tiger to 45,500 feet over EAA AirVenture, 4,500 feet of his goal of 50,000 feet and half a mile shy of the current record, held by an Air Force B-29. It was also more than 2,000 feet lower than Flyin' Tiger's own best performance and that had Bohannon perplexed. "I was more shocked than anyone," he said. "We had more power and a lighter airplane." More...

NARCO'S NEW ENTRY TAKES AIM AT KING
Narco is high on a new digital transponder that they say is better and cheaper than a popular manual unit sold by a major competitor named after royalty. Narco's new AT165 Transponder was TSOed by the FAA just last week. It all happened so fast that the company had no time to issue a press release or do the manufacturer dog-and-pony at AirVenture. But word is getting around and the new transponder is featured prominently on the company's Web site. The unit features a one-touch code entry knob, multiple timers with alarm output, and altitude display with visual and audible altitude hold warning. The new unit will be sold by both NARCO and its dealers and will retail for $1450-$1475. More...

MOONEY: NEW LOOK, NEW ATTITUDE, NEW OPTIONS
"We have already taken more orders this year than we sold last year," Mooney Airplane Company (MAC) Managing Director Tom Gray told the media. For those who don't make it to OSH but are still interested in a Mooney, the new Garmin G1000 panel and a list of comfort and performance upgrades will be available even after the show has ended. Anyone who buys a plane during the show will reap the reward of up to two years of free fuel. There are currently five Mooney models available, ranging from fast to faster -- the Ovation, Bravo DX and GX and the Ovation 2 DX and GX. A stock Ovation DX flew 978 nautical miles from Kerrville to Oshkosh non-stop at an average speed of 191.5 knots. A new Bravo DX was faster. More...

PIPER OFFERS ADDITIONAL PERKS
The Avidyne FlightMax Entegra Integrated Flight Deck, a system that comes chock full of workload-reducing items will be available to you and your new Piper. The new glass cockpit is an option in the entire PA-28 line, which includes the Warrior, Archer and Arrow, making cockpits in the smaller birds as advanced as those in the much pricier Saratogas and Piper 6X and 6XT. The FlightMax Entegra system contains two 10.4-inch displays, including an EXP5000 primary flight display (air data and altitude/heading reference) and an EX5000 multi-function display (moving map, flight plan info, terrain contours and engine indication system). More...

GIPPSLAND GETS PAPERWORK, LOOKS TO U.S. MARKET
Gippsland Aeronautics officials are seriously considering shifting some of the manufacturing on their Oz-built GA8 Airvan to the U.S. Right now the company is spending $20 -- $30 thousand dollars to ship the "virtually 100% American parts" to Australia where they are put together, then take the plane apart, containerize it and send it back to customers in the U.S. "Just doesn't make economic sense to do it that way," Gippsland CEO George Morgan told AVweb. Gippsland is pushing the plane as the intelligent (and FAA certified) alternative to a big Cessna, claiming double the useful load and space as the Cessna 182 and 206, but the same operational cost. More...

RTW IN A (SORT-OF) LIGHT SPORT AIRPLANE
The scariest moment -- so far -- for round-the-world flyer Matevz Lenarcic was when he looked out from the cockpit of his little Pipistrel Sinus motorglider to see a pair of Russian MiGs. "The communications are not so good in Russia," he told AVweb at Oshkosh on Saturday, in a bit of polite understatement. Despite two years of preparation, Lenarcic has been dealing with lots of paperwork hassles and various communication glitches as he travels around the globe from his home country of Slovenia. "But the world is very beautiful," he said, "and flying in a little airplane is the way to see it." The little motorglider, built in Slovenia, has been modified for the trip, but in its standard form would qualify as a Light Sport Aircraft. More...

AVWEB'S NEWSTIPS ADDRESS ...
Drop us a line. Heard something that 130,000 pilots might want to know about? If it caught your eye, it will probably interest someone else, too. Submit news tips via email to newstips@avweb.com. More...

BUSINESS AVFLASH
HAVE YOU SIGNED UP yet for AVweb’s NO-COST twice monthly Business AVflash? Reporting on breaking news, Business AVflash also focuses on the companies, the products and the industry leaders that make headlines in the Business of Aviation. Business AVflash is a must read. Watch for a Business AVflash regular feature, TSA WATCH: GA IN THE "SPOTLIGHT". Sign up today at http://www.avweb.com/profile/ More...

AVWEB'S AIRVENTURE OSHKOSH 2004 IMAGE GALLERIES
We hope you enjoyed the show and our 2004 image galleries. Don't fret. We'll be back to our usual offerings of Short Final, Picture Of The Week and Question Of The Week, this ... week. More...

AVflash is a twice-weekly summary of the latest aviation news, articles, products, features and events featured on AVweb, the Internet's Aviation Magazine and News Service. http://www.avweb.com

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