Volume 10, Number 52b -- December 23, 2004

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

ATC, USER FEES, AND THE FAA'S PLAN...
During a conference call with reporters on Tuesday, John Carr, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), said he believed the FAA's 10-year air traffic controller staffing plan announced on Tuesday could lead to general aviation's being charged for services provided by the FAA. "This is the kind of report that opens the door to user fees," Carr said. Under the plan, the FAA hopes to hire a total of 12,500 new controllers over the 10 years to replace 11,700 who will likely retire. But user fees for GA are not part of the plan (at least not yet). FAA chief spokesman Greg Martin told AVweb Wednesday that any suggestion of user fees being implemented in the near future is wrong. "No, not at this time. Let me be emphatic about that," he said. More...

...THE NEW MATH: COST SAVINGS, EFFICIENCY REQUIRED...
Martin (of the FAA) told AVweb that to get the funding required for the hiring program from Congress, the agency -- and the union -- will have to sharpen their pencils. "These are times that present some very valid fiscal constraints and challenges," Martin said. "We cannot show an unwillingness to work smarter and control our costs. These times of expansive budgets are gone." Martin said the whole aviation industry is suffering financially and that that has a direct, bottom-line impact on the FAA: "We are not exempt from the same fiscal challenges." But Carr (of NATCA) suggested that much of the report was structured to soften up the union for the next round of contract negotiations, due to start next year. "That's patently false," said Martin. (Can't we all just get along?) More...

...NATCA TO BATTLE SERVICE CUTS...
Carr said the union will "trump" a component of the plan that will cut hours of operations at 34 yet-to-be-named towers. He said reducing service will inevitably lead to flight delays, and the report acknowledges that if the hiring goals are not met, safety considerations will take precedence over capacity. "We need to tell the flying public to take a good book to the airport because they're going to be there awhile," he said. He said he believes the impending staffing crisis will result in GA's being unwelcome at some airports. "I think you're going to see GA squeezed away from urban areas," he said. "I think that's dangerous." Carr also criticized plans to allow some controllers to work beyond the mandatory retirement age of 56. More...

...PATCO SAYS "I TOLD YOU SO"
Then there are some who say that there is no shortage of controllers -- just a shortage of will (and/or money) to hire them. Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization Inc. (PATCO) President Ron Taylor pointed out that when then-President Clinton lifted the ban against hiring controllers fired in 1981 by then-President Reagan (thus precipitating the current situation) more than 5,000 of the fired controllers applied to get their jobs back. Taylor said 846 were actually hired. Some PATCO members are trying to get the courts to force the FAA to rehire them. Taylor joined Carr in criticizing the FAA for dragging its feet in hiring new controllers. "This latest scramble to hire desperately needed controllers only shows that this agency has been out of control for 23 years," Taylor said. More...

GIFTS OF CHRISTMAS…
Call an easyJet pilot a good stick and you may get more than you bargained for. Those saucy British have been at it again, baring all for charity calendars, and this time around it's a bunch of jet jockeys, minus the jockeys. "It isn't every day you can wander around the airport naked without being arrested," said Capt. Tim Burns, who fleshed out the scheme with First Officer Gareth Blakely. The calendar proceeds, with carefully posed images of pilots on the tarmac, on the runway, and in the ... cockpit ... will go to the National Society for Epilepsy. Meanwhile, the theme appears widespread -- a popular aviation charity was also the benefactor of a no-secrets display, this one by some Australian women. More...

...PILOTS, AIRCRAFT HELP OUT
Of course you don't have to get down and dirty for a good cause. About 140 Michigan pilots took part in Operation Good Cheer this year to deliver a dozen truckloads of gifts throughout the state to foster children. This great excuse to fly began in 1980 (for pilots -- the charity itself has been around since '71) with a single pilot who went to 16 different airports. "We love to fly and there's nothing better than flying with a purpose," said West Line Cessna 210 pilot Mark Neal. Mother Nature wasn't as charitable, however. Some of the pilots bucked 50-knot headwinds to make the deliveries, which ultimately found their way to 4,800 young abuse and neglect victims. But the good cheer didn't end there. In yet another unrelated charitable event, the Candy Bomber has struck again, this time on North Carolina's Outer Banks. More...

TSA CERTIFICATE MAY MOVE GA CLOSER TO FREEDOM
The TSA appears to be opening restricted airspace and airports a crack for business aviation. According to the National Business Aviation Association's (NBAA's) Web site, Rear Adm. David Stone, the assistant secretary of Homeland Security, said the TSA Access Certificate (TSAAC -- used to grant waivers for some international operations) will likely be modified. The result would be a certificate that could be used to grant waivers for business aircraft flying into security-restricted airports and airspace in the U.S. NBAA President Ed Bolen said it's the first time the TSAAC has been publicly discussed as an option for domestic GA operations. Meanwhile, AOPA is lamenting the resignation of Adm. James Loy as the Department of Homeland Security's second-in-command. More...

A DIFFERENT KIND OF SNOWFALL
If you don't think a wrecked Piper Aerostar could be worth $24 million you've probably never packed one with cocaine (and that's a good thing). Wheeling, W.Va., police are looking for the Aerostar's pilot after the plane crashed on airport property. It was carrying 520 pounds of the drug, some of it wrapped as Christmas gifts. The plane apparently crashed about 10 p.m. last Saturday but wasn't found until about 12 hours later. (The tower there is closed at night.) The alleged pilot, who police have identified but not yet found, apparently flagged down a passing motorist and paid him for a ride to a local motel with notes peeled from a wad of $100 bills. More...

SPORT PILOT RECORDS ONLINE
Those hoping to obtain a sport pilot certificate or instructor certificate in the coming year can now get their certified training records online from the EAA Web site ... provided they previously registered with EAA before the Sept. 1, 2004, deadline. The records must be presented before pilots can take the written and practical tests for the certificates. The written tests can be taken at authorized centers now but it will be a few weeks before the first flight tests are done. The FAA hopes to have the first crop of examiners certified in January. More...

ALIEN FLIGHT RULE IN EFFECT
The TSA alien flight-training rule is now in full effect but efforts continue in the background to make it "less intrusive," according to an AOPA spokesman. The organization's government specialist Andy Cebula said any non-U.S. citizen beginning training for a new rating or certificate must be registered with the TSA and undergo background checks. It's up to their flight instructors and/or flight schools to determine the citizenship of their students and make sure non-U.S. citizens go through the security mill. More...

NAVY PUSHES (AGAIN) FOR CAROLINA BASE
The U.S. Navy claims it has met all environmental and legal obligations to establish a 30,000-acre training base in North Carolina. It filed a 77-page document supporting its claim as part of an appeal in a tangled legal proceeding over the base. However, an environmental group and two county governments are accusing the Navy of massaging the data to make the base look like it fits better than it really does. There is major opposition to the base, which would include an 8,000-foot runway. It will be used for carrier training of F/A-18 Super Hornet pilots. Among the most contentious issues is the location of a nearby wildlife preserve. More...

TWICE THE LIFT, HALF THE DRAG?
A motorcycle-racer-turned-computer-engineer-turned-airplane-designer claims to have designed a wing with "twice the lift and half the drag of anything in the world." The wing is just one of the improvements Bill Montagne has made to the basic Super Cub design to create the Mountain Goat, which (hauling a 1,330 pound useful load off the ground in 300 feet) he touts as the ultimate bush plane. Montagne has tweaked engine performance and added safety features to the plane, which he says is now unmatched in performance. He claims a 10-knot reduction in stall speed over the Super Cub and a top end of almost 150 knots on 180 hp, in an interview with the Associated Press. More...

ON THE FLY...
Web site will follow Santa’s progress…
Couple died when plane hit tower wire near Fullerton, Ca.…
FAA amends compliance date for fractional operators…
Mike Busch to conduct piston seminar for PAMA delegates. 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...

NEW ARTICLES AND FEATURES ON AVWEB
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COLUMNS
The Savvy Aviator #13: Putting Compression In Context
The differential compression check is one of the quickest, easiest, and most useful tools we have for measuring the top-end health of a piston aircraft engine. Yet many owners, mechanics, and even the FAA seem confused about how to perform the test properly and how to interpret the results. It's not rocket science.

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SKYWRITINGS
The Night Before Christmas - Aviation Style
A retelling of the 19th-century story, especially for aviators. This has been floating around the Internet for years in various forms -- and probably was passed around as photocopies for years before that. More...

AVWEB'S 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 QUESTION OF THE WEEK ...
This week, AVweb looks at some numbers and posits a logical deduction: Air traffic controllers suffer mandatory retirement at 56 because scientific data suggests there's a sharp decline in sight, hearing, and other necessary skills as people hit their mid-50s; and science offers no evidence to justify relaxing the retirement age. "It's a function of physiology," according to National Air Traffic Controllers Association President John Carr. At the same time, airline pilots suffer mandatory retirement at 60 (and in many countries, 65). This may suggest that, in the eyes of regulators, pilots have the less physiologically demanding job. In very simple black-and-white terms, what do you think? PLUS: Results of last week's question on biometric identifiers for mechanics. More...

AVWEB'S PICTURE OF THE WEEK ...
Want to guess this week's theme? It's holiday pictures, of course — and, surprisingly, Middle America. One in five "POTW" submissions in this round came from Ohio, Indiana, or Illinois. Good work, folks — thanks for putting us in a festive mood! 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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Today's issue written by News Writer Russ Niles:
http://www.avweb.com/contact/authors.html#rniles
AVweb's editorial team: http://avweb.com/contact/authors.html.

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Fly it till every piece stops.

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