Volume 11, Number 30c — July 29, 2005

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

ATC HEADS TOWARD STORMY SKIES...
FAA Administrator Marion Blakey says flight delays would increase dramatically and modernization efforts would slow to a crawl if the agency accepted the contract proposal presented by the National Air Traffic Controllers Union last week. In an exclusive interview with AVweb at EAA AirVenture on Thursday, Blakey said the union negotiating team is asking for a 5.6 percent annual wage increase that would result in the average pay package for a controller topping $200,000 within four years. She said the controllers are also seeking a seven-hour work day, minus an hour for lunch and time for other breaks. FAA officials say that would result in a 12 percent productivity reduction. NATCA officials were unavailable for comment in time for our deadline. More...

...BLAKEY PROPOSES TWO-TIER WAGE SYSTEM
Blakey also confirmed that the FAA is proposing a two-tiered wage system for controllers that would see newly-hired controllers paid substantially less than existing controllers. "We have [proposed] a very good system of compensation," she said. "It is a two-tiered system." Blakey also stressed that existing controllers' pay would not be rolled back under the proposal. "We are not cutting controller salaries," she said. But more than 10,000 controllers will have to be hired in coming years to make up for a glut of retirements caused by the mass firing of striking controllers 24 years ago and Blakey said the FAA wants their pay to be more in line with other FAA workers. More...

MANDATORY ADIZ EDUCATION (LEARN, OR ELSE)...
Several bills have been tabled in recent weeks calling for fines (ranging into six figures and certificate suspensions as long as seven years) for anyone busting the various restricted areas around D.C. FAA Administrator, Marion Blakey told AVweb she understands the concern of lawmakers who've been evacuated twice in recent months because pilots ignorant of the rules (or their location) have flown into the restricted areas. Blakey said even the majority of congressmen understand that all incursions to date have been errors. "Congress has taken a very reasonable approach," she said. However, the current situation can't go on and she said training is the answer. So ... the FAA intends to issue a new rule within 30 days that would require all pilots who fly within 100 miles of D.C. to pass an FAA training course about the restricted airspace. The uneducated should expect consequences. More...

...BLAKEY ON THE UP SIDE OF USER FEES...
The Administrator also began preparing the audience for coming changes in how FAA will get its funding, with broad hints that user fees may indeed be on the horizon. Money in the aviation trust fund is running dangerously low, she said. The problem is that there is no real link between the services that are provided and the money that comes in. "We need a stable funding system. And user pays also means user says," she said. That is, users who are paying in to support a system, also get a seat at the table in determining how that system is run. "This must be equitable to all stakeholders," she said. More...

...AND SPORT PILOT RULE CHANGES
Progress continues on implementing the complex Sport Pilot rules, Blakey said. Last week, consensus standards were released for powered parachutes and gyroplanes, and so far, 44 Sport Pilot certificates have been issued. The rule is still a work in progress and "we're prepared to make appropriate changes," she said. Those changes may include finding a way to accommodate some production airplanes that are within a hair's breadth of qualifying as Light Sport Aircraft, and working out a way to let Light-Sport amphibians switch from water to runway landing configuration in flight. But the fine-tuning is not likely to include changes to the contentious medical rules. "I don't see that changing dramatically," she said. More...

VLJ CESSNA MUSTANG: HALF WAY THERE
This week's press briefing on the status of the Cessna Mustang, might give you the impression that, yes, Cessna has certified a jet before -- and they're putting that experience to good use. The Mustang made its first public appearance at OSH this week and although decked out with a shiny production paint job, the interior is in rough-and-ready flight test configuration. Without naming names or pointing fingers, Cessna (accurately) pointed out that unlike other jet makers, it established a certification and production schedule when the airplane was announced (at NBAA in 2002) and by gum, it intends to deliver on time and on price. So far, it has, and Cessna elaborated on the details. More...

THE RETURN OF BIG NAME V-POWER (SORT OF)
Remember Bombardier's big-deal announcement of a pair of V-6 FADEC-controlled water-cooled aircraft engines back in 2003? In the interim, the company all but disappeared but now it's back with a new name, a polished product and what it says is a pending launch customer for the engines. Aircraft Engine Services (AES), the company that will act to market sell and service the engines, told AVweb, through spokesman Luc de Gaspe Beaubien, that an airframe manufacturer has committed to using one of the two V-6s (either the normally aspirated 220 hp model or the turbocharged 300 hp model). Beaubien declined to say "who," insisting that the OEM wants to make the announcement itself. More...

HONDAJET ARRIVES FOR UNIQUE WORLD DEBUT
The HondaJet made an impressive arrival in Oshkosh after its fly-by yesterday morning, as ground crew cleared a big circle on Aeroshell Square so the jet could taxi into position (most aircraft roll in modestly behind a tug). But the HondaJet kept its GE Honda Aero engines running, turned itself around, and stopped right in the spot where it would spend the day (close to it, anyway). Michimasa Fujino, chief engineer of the one-of-a-kind jet, introduced it to the crowd. He said it has a standard Garmin G1000 panel (though the media weren't offered any looks inside). However, representatives told AVweb the jet exists to showcase its engines -- not the other way around. More...

GLOBALFLYER -- AROUND THE WORLD, AND BEYOND
Adventurer Steve Fossett flew in to Oshkosh Wednesday afternoon in GlobalFlyer, the long lanky Williams jet-powered Scaled Composites design that he flew around the world last winter. The airplane is surprisingly gorgeous, looking more like a work of art than a practical traveling machine. The long narrow wings, the bright red Williams engine pod, and the tiny cockpit module create an other-worldly effect. "It's been a great-flying airplane, from the very first flight," Fossett said at a press conference Thursday morning. "And I don't think it's been flown to its limit yet." (Which would make sense since a design error discovered during the round-the-world flight allowed fuel to vent overboard.) So he announced a new plan to take the aircraft around the world again, and then keep going. More...

THE NAME IS COLUMBIA
Lancair Certified aircraft has officially changed its name to Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation (CAM) and appeared at Oshkosh with a new logo, new features on its aircraft (click the "more") and its biggest presence to date. Randy Bollinger, V.P. of Marketing and Sales told AVweb, "We knew there was confusion [in distinguishing Lancair certified from Lancair kit aircraft]," he said. But Lancair grew concerned when research showed that the confusion ranged "...from the consumer all the way up to the NTSB." It seems when the NTSB reported a crash, "they would just identify the airplane as a Lancair -- but we have never had a crash in a certified [Columbia series] airplane." Regardless, the change didn't confuse buyers. This week began with six new Columbia 400s in front of CAM's tent. By Wednesday all had sold -- each for roughly $475,000. More...

THERMA-WING (DE-ICE FOR YOUR 172)
Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation (CAM) is extending its features beyond the breed. Because CAM is certifying for the Columbia 350 and 400 Northcoast technologies' electric deice system (announced a few years ago), Northcoast is now pursing STCs for the Baron, Bonnaza, 172 and 182. The system would not be certified for flight into known icing, but should a pilot accidentally encounter icing conditions, the wings, tail and prop would be protected. The complete system should be around $25,000 installed and should be available late next year. More...

TICKET TO SPACE WINNER VISITS OSHKOSH
For the first few years of space tourism, suborbital flights will be mainly for the rich, Sir Richard Branson, of Virgin Galactic, told the Oshkosh crowds this week. But that won't last. "We've got to start somewhere," he said, and today's plan to sell seats for $200,000 is just the beginning. But while the rest of us have to wait for those prices to fall, one lucky passenger already has his ticket in hand. Doug Ramsburg, 42, of Northglenn, Colo., won an online sweepstakes that ran during the SuperBowl last February. Now, he's ready to become a space traveler. This is Ramsburg's first trip to Oshkosh and though he's has had no real experience with aviation before, "As a kid I always dreamed about going to space," he said, "and now it's going to happen." More...

LSA CO-OPS AIM IS FLYING AFFORDABLE
LetsFly, a company that has already established more than 100 flying co-operatives around the country, has partnered with EAA to promote extending the concept to LSA ownership. The co-ops are not quite the same as a fractional or flying club, according to LetsFly President Eldon Corry, but a unique concept. It's a bit complex in its options and operations, but in brief, it makes available a quarter-share in a small aircraft for a $2,900 initial investment. The share owner then pays a monthly fee plus an hourly rate, which vary according to the aircraft type. "For a brand-new ready-to-fly Light Sport Aircraft, the monthly fee would be $195 and the hourly rate about $24 to $28," Corry said. That includes maintenance, fuel, and all other costs. The pilot just shows up to fly. More...

ON THE FLY...
More images from Oshkosh AirVenture 2005:

A unique formation flight (or maybe they're models), some unbelievable paint jobs, and a few other things you don't see every day.
The Honda/GE HF118 turbofan (jet not included) and Innodyn 200 hp turbine ... maybe you can tell them apart.
A walk around GlobalFlyer
A walk through AeroShell Square -- plus a Cirrus Avidyne panel in action. More...

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