| Volume 11,
Number 36b — September 8, 2005 |
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The Top Headlines From AVweb's Expanded,
Illustrated News Coverage At AVweb's
NewsWire.
VOLUNTEER
PILOTS FLYING FOR KATRINA VICTIMS...
"People just don't realize the magnitude of this," Angel Flight
America (AFA) spokesman Steve Patterson told AVweb on
Tuesday. "This is not just about New Orleans -- this involves the
whole south-central Gulf Coast." AFA is working to coordinate the
efforts of hundreds of volunteer pilots across the country who are
helping transport relief workers and reunite families separated by the
storm. "So far we've been operating in and out of the larger airports,
but the next step, starting this week, is to start sending volunteer
pilots into the smaller fields, near the more remote towns and
villages," Patterson said. Working around the clock, AFA has been
flying as many as 100 missions per day, working with hundreds of
pilots and aircraft. More...
...AS
GRASS-ROOTS EFFORTS CONTINUE...
"The impetus for this was, we were watching the storm coverage on TV,
and we saw the need, and we knew we could help." The ad hoc group "Operation Brother's Keeper," based in Atlanta,
grew from an effort to provide empty vacation rentals as free
temporary shelter to evacuees along with free air transportation. Now
they are coordinating the work of volunteer pilots and medical
personnel to get into the devastated regions and transport victims
out. "We organized on Tuesday and began operations on Thursday [last
week]," spokesman Milo Pinckney told AVweb yesterday. They're
staging out of Baton Rouge, where they are taking people from shelters
and flying them to Atlanta, then on to safe housing donated by
vacation-home owners. "So far we've flown 184 sorties in two and a
half days, and transported at least a couple hundred people out of a
deplorable situation, and reunited families who'd been separated,"
Pinckney said. Click through for the rest of the story on this effort
and More...
...AND
INDIVIDUALS DO WHAT THEY CAN
When it's your own 79-year-old grandmother who's in need, then neither
floods nor bureaucrats nor even a TFR can stop you from trying to
help. So it was for Derek Lott, a CFI living in Crestview, Fla., when
he heard that his grandmother in Picayune, Miss., was weakening every
day without her heart medication. He rented a 172 and loaded it up
with $1,000 worth of food, The Associated Press reported Tuesday. "I told my
dad I'd trade him some food for Grandma," said Lott. When he heard
President Bush was flying into the area, bringing a 30-nm no-fly zone,
he knew he had to get in and out fast. "I decided to give it a shot
because I knew my family needed me," he said. More...
ANOTHER
AIRLINER CRASH KILLS 150...
A Boeing 737-200 flown by Mandala Airlines crashed shortly after
takeoff Monday on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, killing at least
150 people, including 47 on the ground. Fifteen people seated in the
rear of the airplane escaped through a hole in the fuselage and
survived. "The plane had actually taken off, but it started to shake
heavily and swerved to the left, and then -- wham, a ball of fire came
from the front of the plane toward the back," survivor Rohadi Sitepu
told local TV reporters from his hospital bed. A preliminary report
found a problem with one of the engine's fan blades, the BBC reported
yesterday. More...
...HOW
SAFE ARE AIRLINES...
With six crashes in the last six weeks killing close to 500 people,
the loss of life in airliners worldwide this year already is greater
than it was for all of 2004 (which was the safest in recent record). But of those six accidents, only
one -- the Air France Airbus A340 that skidded off a runway in Toronto
on August 2 -- involved a major carrier, and everyone on that flight
survived. "The chances of crashing when you fly with airlines coming
from outside of western Europe, North America and Australasia are an
order of magnitude greater," says David Learmount, an editor at Flight
International. "All modern airplanes are safe, but they may not be if
they don't get maintained properly and the crews don't get trained
properly," he told The Independent. More...
...RICH
COUNTRIES NOT IMMUNE
But over the weekend, a former airline pilot in Europe expressed
concern about threats to that first-world safety record. "The
commercial pressures on the shoulders of pilots have increased
enormously," Filip van Rossum wrote in the Belgian newspaper Het
Nieuwsblad. New rules passed in the European Union this year require
airlines to compensate passengers for late or cancelled flights, and
with profit margins already thin and competition intense, the airlines
are fighting to keep airplanes flying. "In a never-ending quest to
save money, maintenance is being squeezed to the limit," Robert Alway,
a spokesman for the Association of Licensed Aircraft Engineers in the
U.K., told ITP. In the U.S., safety practices at Northwest
Airlines are under scrutiny after questions were raised by an FAA
safety inspector. More...
NTSB
WANTS BETTER WEATHER TRAINING FOR GA PILOTS
The NTSB yesterday asked the FAA to help improve the GA safety record
for weather-related accidents by requiring that all pilots who don't
receive weather-related recurrent training address weather issues
during the biennial flight review. The BFR should check that pilots
can recognize critical weather situations, procure and use
aeronautical weather reports and forecasts, determine fuel
requirements, and plan for alternatives, the NTSB said.
Non-instrument-rated pilots also should demonstrate that they can
control the airplane solely by reference to instruments. The safety
board also asked the FAA to identify and provide additional support
for pilots whose performance indicates increased risk, and to improve
its pre-flight weather services. More...
ECLIPSE
500 FILGHT-TEST AIRCRAFT DAMAGED IN GEAR-UP LANDING
Eclipse
Aviation said on Tuesday its fourth FAA-conforming flight-test
aircraft, N505EA, landed gear-up on Runway 3 at the Albuquerque
International Sunport last Saturday. The two pilots on board the
six-seater jet were not hurt. The aircraft was towed back to the
hangar, and after a thorough investigation, Eclipse said no mechanical
or electrical problems were found, and attributed the cause to pilot
error. "We are evaluating the damage to the aircraft, but are
confident that we will demonstrate how easily a friction-stir-welded
structure can be fixed," said CEO Vern Raburn. More...
|
PUT YOUR AIRPLANE ON TELEVISION!
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to Adventure, the exciting new weekly television series on
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area, or maybe you have a plane you'd like to see featured in
high-definition video. Doesn't matter if your plane is the latest
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of a trainer. Offer your suggestions for the hottest aviation
programming on television by visiting Wings to Adventure's
forum area at http://www.avweb.com/sponsors/outdoor/forums/avflash. |
AERIAL
PHOTOS HELPING IN HURRICANE RELIEF
While satellite images are easily available online these says -- Google Earth is
one easy way to access them -- low-level aerial photos are still in
demand. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has
been shooting pictures of the Katrina aftermath from a Citation
jet, and thanks to the Internet, those images are already available to
anyone who needs them -- including displaced homeowners who want to
check how things look on their street. The NOAA images are also being
used by the Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency
Management Agency for damage assessment. More...
CESSNA
CRASHES INTO POST OFFICE
The airport at Teterboro, N.J., has had a run of trouble lately, and
Friday night a Cessna 177 crashed into the Hackensack Post Office,
about a half-mile from the field. The pilot, Karen Hunter, 53, of
Brooklyn, died, and passenger Sharon Osborne, 42, of Denver, was
critically hurt. Hunter was headed for a landing at nearby Essex
County Airport when she reported engine trouble about 9:30 p.m. and
diverted to Teterboro. The accident was the fourth since
February, when a Challenger bizjet ran off the runway. Another jet
ran off a snowy runway in March and in May a twin-engine turbroprop
crashed on final. Twenty-two people were hurt in those accidents, but
there were no other fatalities. More...
SECURITY
RULES MAY GROUND AUSSIE AIR-TOUR OPERATORS
If you've visited those exhibits for Australian air safaris at Oshkosh
or Sun 'n Fun in recent years and thought that would sure be fun to
try some day, your chances of ever having that opportunity are about
to grow slimmer. Tour operator GOANA announced last week that they will be
shutting down at the end of this year, after 12 years of operation,
thanks to new security rules that have made it impossible for them to
continue. "It comes as a bitter pill to be forced out of business by
legislation," said business owner Mal Shipton. The "Enhanced Aviation
Security Package" that was adopted by the Australian government in
March will have a negative impact on the very people it is supposed to
be protecting, he said. More...
YOUNKIN
AND FRANKLIN, TOGETHER
When Jimmy
Franklin and Bobby Younkin died in a crash during their Masters
of Disaster air show on July 10, it was clear that the two not only
had enjoyed working together, but their families also had been
involved in the show and were close. That closeness was cemented last
month when Kyle Franklin, Jimmy's only son and his wingwalker, flew
his Cub to the airstrip at the Younkin house in Fayetteville, Ark.,
got down on one knee, and asked Amanda Younkin to marry him. The
wedding is set for October in New Mexico. Next year, Kyle plans to
return to the air show circuit flying the original Waco Mysteryship.
More...
THE COLUMBIA 350 & COLUMBIA 400 HAVE A NEW CORPORATE
NAME
The Lancair Company has re-branded itself as
Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation. The manufacturers
of the Columbia 350 and Columbia 400, the world's fastest certified
piston aircraft, made the change as part of an ongoing campaign to
develop a unique identity for these premium aircraft. The Fly
Columbia Tour, an interactive Columbia experence, will be at the
Reno Air Races. If you miss them in Reno, check the web site for a
complete schedule at http://www.avweb.com/sponsors/columbia/avflash. |
ON
THE FLY...
Documentary on Flight 93 premieres Sunday on Discovery
Channel...
Mooney VP set a world record while flying -- oops -- in
a Beechcraft...
National Museum of Commercial Aviation in the works
for Atlanta...
JetBlue airline installs cabin cameras for cockpit
monitoring...
Canada's Snowbirds back in the air after being
grounded last month. 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. You're a part
of our team ... often, the best part. More...
|
DON'T WISH YOUR AIRPLANE HAD ALL THE BELLS AND
WHISTLES
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purchases used avionics equipment and will work out an exchange for
newer electronics. Bennett Avionics is your one-stop used avionics
specialist. Call the Bennett Avionics specialists at (860)
653-7295 (PCT), or go online at http://www.avweb.com/sponsors/bennett/avflash. |
NEW
ARTICLES AND FEATURES ON AVWEB
BRAINTEASERS
Quiz #98: Foggy Nights and
Pretty Approach Lights
Nighttime on an airport is a wondrous
time splashed with sparkling lights, beckoning stars, and more than a
few regulations and silly ways to embarrass yourself, unless you know
the answers to the following questions. 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...
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ISN'T IT ABOUT TIME YOU CHOOSE SOMETHING
EXTRA?
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6-seat turboprop EA-500 is in a class all by itself. The only
new technology cabin class airplane, the EA-500 averages 220 kts, gets
11 mpg, and costs less than $200/hr to operate. Find out more about
both aircraft at http://www.avweb.com/sponsors/extra/avflash. |
AVWEB'S
QUESTION OF THE WEEK ...
This week, an AVweb reader wants to know just how deeply GPS has
transformed the flying habits of pilots. Do you use GPS religiously,
or are you strictly devoted to your paper charts? PLUS: Results of
last week's question about Hurricane Katrina and our readers'
participation in the relief efforts. More...
|
SEE CLEARLY METHOD IMPROVES & STRENGTHENS VISION
NATURALLY
The See Clearly Method does this without
the risk or expense of laser surgery. Developed by award-winning
optometrists and research scientists, the See Clearly Method is based
on the same principles and techniques used by thousands of pilots in
WWII. As one pilot states, "I never thought it was possible to
actually improve your vision, but it worked. I tell other pilots that
this is an effective way to improve your vision, naturally."
Call (800) 881-7934 for a no-cost informational video, or visit http://www.avweb.com/sponsors/seeclear/avflash. |
AVWEB'S
PICTURE OF THE WEEK ...
If you love amateur aviation photography and cities with
fun-to-pronounce names, our latest installment of "Picture of the
Week" is your cup of tea! Kick back and enjoy great photos from exotic
locales like Kootenai, Idaho; Cooloola Cove, Australia; and
Mississauga, Ontario, where this week's winner hails from.
Congratulations to Jerry Milek and Ed Binko, who captured the winning
photo in Eastern Europe, brought it across the Atlantic to Canada, and
deposited it on our servers in the U.S. to win two nifty AVweb
baseball caps. Your new job, fellas, is to wear those hats out into
the four corners of the globe and spread the joy and excitement of
AVweb's "Picture of the Week." (Let us know if you make it to Cooloola
Cove.) More...
| Sponsor News and
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FLYING RENTED OR BORROWED AIRCRAFT?
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EXPERIENCE FAST, EFFECTIVE AIRCRAFT SOURCING WITH
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SEE WHAT ATC SEES AND THEN SEE WHAT THEY DO WITH THE
INFORMATION
The AVweb Edition of Flight Explorer is
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IFR MAGAZINE IS FOR THE ACCOMPLISHED PILOT;
SUBSCRIBE NOW AND SAVE!
Each issue of IFR magazine
is loaded with insightful articles to help you get the most from the
system, your aircraft, and your know-how. Order today for guaranteed
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FLYING MAGAZINE FLYS THE (LANCAIR) COLUMBIA 400
— THE FASTEST PISTON AROUND
In the September issue,
Flying also takes you up in the Grumman G-73 Mallard for
some amphibious twin-engine time; travels to Alaska for some bush
flying; gives you the third installment in their IFR series; and has
all the columns you love to read. Get your personal subscription and
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| SPONSOR NEWS |
IFR REFRESHER ARCS TO THE RUNWAY, GOES NORTH OF
THE BORDER, AND MORE ...
IFR Refresher's
October issue includes: "No Pulling Over" — some pilots push the
limits; "Arcing to the Runway" — try a DME arc, it's not as hard
as it seems; "Holding with GPS" — interaction and set-up are key;
"IFR North of the Border" — familiarize yourself with Canadian
rules and procedures before taking off; and "Minimum Equipment" —
what will and won't ground your airplane. Don't miss this and upcoming
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MICHAEL MAYA CHARLES RELEASES NEW BOOK, ARTFUL
FLYING
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_____________________________________
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