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September 14, 2005

By The AVweb Editorial Staff

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User Fees And General Aviation…

FAA Asks For Industry Input

The FAA says its main funding source, the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, is going broke and now is the time to start fixing it -- and it appears at least part of the solution will be found in pilots' wallets. Earlier this week, various industry groups, from pilots associations to airlines, began receiving a package from FAA Administrator Marion Blakey that includes a survey of sorts into how they'd like to pay to operate the agency after the current trust fund's mandate runs out in 2007. And make no mistake, the question is not whether the payments will be made, it's how much and by whom. A summary of the package appeared in Tuesday's Federal Register and says that user fees are a main focus of the discussion. "One major component of this work is an ongoing study that would allocate FAA's air traffic control costs to users of the system," the Federal Register document reads. The document says the trust fund balance is low and dropping and stable funding must be restored to keep the agency operating and to pay for new technology needed to cope with increasing demand. Fundamental to the new funding structure will be a link between the cost of the services provided and those who use the services. The FAA has spent much of the last year improving its cost accounting systems to provide the data it needs to get a handle on who pays for what.

..."Grave Concern," Says AOPA...

AOPA spokesman Chris Dancy said the document is of "grave concern" to the pilot group and could result in a nationwide mobilization of its 400,000 members to protest. "We're working very hard on this issue. It is our number one issue," Dancy said. AOPA has been vocally opposing any talk of user fees since before the agency first started talking about them in 2004. Dancy said that as a stakeholder, AOPA is glad that it is being given the chance for input but he also noted that the questions in the survey appear loaded in the direction of user fees as the funding solution. AOPA staff will make a formal submission on the document but Dancy said there are some fundamental arguments against user fees. AOPA maintains that the trust fund is viable but that too much of the FAA's budget is dependent on it. "The entire U.S. population benefits from aviation," Dancy said. It follows that everyone should pay to keep planes in the air. He said AOPA's position is that at least 25 percent of FAA funding should come from general revenue. "The trust fund is only in trouble if you remove that funding," he said.

...FAA Says It's All Part Of The Process

FAA spokesman Greg Martin said the Federal Register document is a continuation of the process started with a forum held earlier this year in which stakeholder groups were asked to come up with alternative methods of funding the FAA. He said there's a genuine desire on the part of the FAA to design a funding structure that has the support of stakeholders and, at this stage, all options, including user fees, must be open. "You can't immediately start removing questions from the table," he said. Dancy said one of AOPA's concerns is that the process seems to be reaching an advanced stage quickly in a kind of political vacuum. Because the trust fund authorization doesn't run out until 2007, the current Congress has no jurisdiction. The Congress formed after next year's mid-term elections will have the responsibility. That means that groups like AOPA can't go over the FAA's head to Congress now to try and halt the process. "The fact that they're making such a strong push [for user fees] so early causes serious concern," Dancy said.

New Piper Picks New Head, Suffers Bomb Scare…

Reaction To Change At The Top?

Sometimes it takes a little while for a head-office personnel shuffle to sink in but apparently not at New Piper. The Vero Beach plant was evacuated Tuesday after receiving a bomb threat. The threat came a day after CEO Chuck Suma was shifted to the position of Vice Chairman to make way for James K. Bass. A Piper worker who spoke on condition of anonymity said the move shocked employees and the bomb scare was related to the announcement. The Vero Beach Sheriff's Office dispatch center received the threat at 8:42 a.m. Tuesday. A spokeswoman for the dispatch center told AVweb the call came from a security guard who received a phone call in which the threat was made. He also told police that fire alarms at the building were triggered at the same time the call was received. (Nice touch.) The building was searched but there was no report of a bomb being found.

...Mexican Connection?...

Bass, once a senior vice president at Sony Corp., is more recently the former head of Suntron, an electronics company. Bass moved Suntron's manufacturing operations to Mexico where the company is now expanding, according to TCPalm.com. A New Piper news release, which saw limited distribution, said Bass has been hired to "lead New Piper Aircraft into the future." Piper officials have not yet offered tremendous insight into the head-office shuffle and Suma has also reportedly declined comment. Suma will stay on as vice chairman of New Piper and will look after contact with regulatory agencies, dealers and customer organizations, according to the release issued by the company.

According to TCPalm.com, Bass quit Suntron last May. The company had been losing money for four years and its sales had dropped by 50 percent, prompting closure of five plants. With Bass at the helm, Suntron moved its manufacturing operations to Tijuana and, in January, announced expansion of the plant there from 45,000 square feet to 110,000 square feet. In contrast, Piper seemed to be recovering from a terrible year in 2004 in which its plants were hit by three hurricanes. Sales were up, coinciding with the company's decision to offer glass panels in the full range of aircraft models.

...Cessna Builds Mexican Wiring Plant

Mexico is also a factor in the latest news from Cessna. The company announced last week that it's building a 62,000-square-foot plant in Chihuahua where wire harnesses and "small sheet metal parts" will be manufactured. The move eliminates 110 jobs in Wichita and Cessna wouldn't tell the Wichita Business Journal how much the new facility is costing. "We're doing it to not only improve our business processes, but to improve our costs," said Cessna spokesman Dick Ziegler. Ziegler told the Business Journal that the Mexico plant will help make the company more competitive. "And I don't know of any business, in any industry, that is engaged in manufacturing that doesn't look for ways to cut costs." The American employees losing their jobs will have the chance to apply for other openings. The new plant opens next March. Raytheon moved its wire harness work to Mexico in 2003 but it's having them built by a contractor there.

Sport Pilot A Year Later

It's come a long way in a year but there are still some details to be worked out before the Sport Pilot/Light Sport Aircraft rule spawns an industry that lives up to its full potential. That's EAA's take on the process, a year after implementation of the rule. "Some in the aviation community are amazed at how quickly airplanes and interest in sport pilot emerged after the rule became reality last September," said Earl Lawrence, who's been EAA's point man on the rule. Although it's now possible to buy any of more than a dozen flight-ready LSAs, there are some significant issues barring access to them for many people. Lawrence said training has to be ramped up to meet demand, the pilot medical certification process ironed out and some lingering certification issues, particularly with ultralights, need to be resolved. "These are challenges but this consensus effort among government, industry and consumers has shown that things can get done in a cooperative, timely manner," Lawrence said. Meanwhile, private enterprise continues to forge ahead with making the most of the LSA options available. Sportplanes.com was among the first out of the gate to open dealerships and flight schools and recently announced a partnership with South Lakeland Sport Aviation in the establishment of a sales, service and training outlet at South Lakeland Airport in Florida.

Chelton Digital Autopilot Broadens Market

Chelton Flight System's new AP-3C digital autopilot was recently given STC approval for Cherokee Six and Cessna 210 aircraft, bringing the number of light aircraft certified for its installation to more than a dozen. The company says new STCs are coming at the rate of about one a month and more are pending for a wide range of aircraft, from Grumman Cheetahs to Rockwell Commanders. Chelton says digital means less maintenance and a smoother ride. The AP-3C requires only three components while conventional autopilots may need up to six, some of which require regular maintenance. The company also says the $12,650 system dampens the effects of turbulence because the altitude-hold function is based on an attitude gyro instead of rate-based deviation or an averaging formula. It's also the first autopilot designed for GA to feature vertical nav steering when coupled with an electronic flight information system, WAAS GPS or flight management system.

NTSB: Runway Incursion System Inadequate

The NTSB says the system the FAA relies on in part to prevent runway incursions doesn't work and it wants the agency to speed up development of more effective devices. In a speech to the American Association of Airport Executives earlier this week, Acting NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker said the Airport Movement Area Safety System didn't help prevent close calls at JFK and Logan Airports in the past four months because it was turned off to prevent nuisance alerts caused by bad weather. In the JFK incident, a cargo aircraft was able to barely clear a passenger plane that mistakenly crossed the runway. The system did work at LAX on Aug. 19, 2004, but its warning came only about 10 seconds before an Asiana Airlines Boeing 747 would have landed on top of a Southwest 737 if the Asiana pilot hadn't gone around. "That is not good enough," Rosenker said. He noted the FAA is working on new systems and urged them to get them in operation as soon as possible.

NATA Fights Environmental Rule

As if fuel prices weren't high enough, the Environmental Protection Agency is poised to enact a rule that's bound to increase them more. The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) says it's taking the fight against the EPA's Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasures (SPCC) to Congress after the agency didn't live up to promises to better explain the impact of the rules to aviation fuel providers. The new rule would require fuel suppliers to park their trucks in containment areas in case they leak when not in use. Not only are the containment areas difficult and expensive to build, say critics, they raise safety concerns. For the sake of efficiency, a fuel supplier would likely build a single containment area to house all its trucks. In the rare case that one leaked and ignited, it would probably result in a huge explosion and fire that would threaten anything nearby. NATA wants the rule stopped in its tracks and has written all 535 members of Congress.

Tomcats On Last Tour

The F-14 Tomcat is going down fighting. The last operational deployment of the big swing-wing fighter began earlier this week with the last remaining squadrons VF-31 Tomcatters and VF-213 (Blacklions) flying aboard the carrier Theodore Roosevelt for a tour to the Persian Gulf. "Epic, historic, I'm looking for words," said Cmdr. Rick "Twig" LaBranche as he led the pilots and crew aboard the Roosevelt. "They understand that being the last Tomcat squadron is a historic event." The F-14 first saw service in the early 1970s and has seen action in all major conflicts since. Described by LaBranche as the Harley Davidson of fighter aircraft, it is giving way to the leaner and more efficient FA/18 Super Hornet. For every flight hour, an F-14 needed up to 60 hours of maintenance. The Super Hornet gets by on 10 to 15 hours and takes up a lot less room, with wingspan a full 20 feet shorter than the Tomcat's.

Katrina Volunteers Still Needed

If you don't mind donating your time, your plane and your fuel to help Katrina victims, the need is still there. In fact, in contrast to the situation in the early days of the disaster when there was little for private pilots to do, there are tons of supplies waiting at various staging areas for someone to take them where they are needed. Texas pilots continue to help out the Lago Vista Mercy flights operating out of Rusty Allen Airport and anyone who wants to join them can call 512-267-0120 or 512-731-1553 or e-mail lvaviation@aol.com to register. Operation Brother's Keeper, out of Atlanta, also needs pilots. Numbers are 404-783-1836 or 404-783-1846. Angel Flight believes operations will continue until the end of the month and many pilots are returning to their jobs. Angel Flight can be reached at 877-621-7177. Private aircraft have carried hundreds of tons of relief supplies into the disaster zone in the past two weeks.

On The Fly...

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association says staffing shortages are behind the increase in errors at the country's busiest terminal radar approach control (TRACON). NATCA says there have been 18 reportable errors in the past year compared to seven in the previous year at the Southern California TRACON. In that time, the union says staffing levels have dropped 12 percent...

Mooney Airplane Co. has hired Richard Kravit as its new director of contracts and general counsel. Kravit comes to Mooney from M7 Aerospace LP, the company that bought the U.S. assets of Fairchild Dornier...

Colombian police arrested the pilot of a King Air loaded with 1.5 tons of cocaine at a remote island airport. The pilot landed there with mechanical problems and was left holding the bag(s) when two passengers jumped from the plane before police arrived...

Delta and Northwest both filed for bankruptcy yesterday, that puts the number at four of this country's big six carriers currently restructuring under Chapter 11 protection...

Viperjet announced yesterday that test pilot Len Fox flew the Viperjet MKII two-place, tandem seat, fully aerobatic kit jet aircraft to 300 knots at 25,000 feet (517 mph). The aircraft was pushed by 2850 lbs of thrust generated by a General Electric J-85/CJ-610. According to the company, the MKII is "a capable, cross-country aircraft".

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New Articles and Features on AVweb

COLUMNS
Say Again? #54: ATC 206 -- Holding
Nobody wants to wait. Pilots in a hold are bored and yet anxious to finish the flight. But if you're in a hold, you can bet the controller is not at all bored. AVweb's Don Brown suggests ways to make holding easier and safer in the next course in his 200-series of communication classes.

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AVweb's Question of the Week ...

*** PREVIOUS RESULTS ***

Last week, an AVweb reader wanted to know how the wide availability of global positioning technology has affected pilots' flying habits.  Naturally, we put the question to our readers — and got some not-too-surprising results:

A whopping 87% of those who responded told us GPS is their primary navigation aid.

A mere 7% prefer navs and ADF to GPS, while even fewer readers (6% of those polled) rely primarily on paper charts.

Two readers admitted that GPS is too complex for them — or perhaps too much of a hassle to learn — but they weren't enough to make up a full 1% of the sampling.  (Sorry, guys.)

*** THIS WEEK'S QUESTION ***

It seems there are those who feel the services pilots receive — from air traffic control to other weather and flight services — do not come with a direct cost. With user fees on the tip of everyone's tongues, AVweb wants to know how much you'd be willing to pay for these services.

Click here to tell us.

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Have an idea for a new QOTW? Send your suggestions to qotw@avweb.com.

NOTE:
This address is only for suggested QOTW questions, and not for QOTW answers or comments.
Use this form to send QOTW comments to our AVmail Editor.

AVweb's Picture of the Week ...

Submit a Photo | Rules | Tips | Questions

Current POTW Winner | Past POTW Winners

We're sorely tempted to put on our stern face and wag our collective finger at you guys.  For the third week in a row, the number of pictures submitted to our "POTW" contest is lagging well below the average for this time of year.  But, frankly, the photos that are coming in are uniformly spectacular.  With only 48 pictures submitted this week, we had 27 in our final round of selections.  The odd result is that we're getting fewer submissions but working harder to decide which ones make the final cut.

We'd like to have more pictures, of course — but as long as the quality is this high, we really can't complain.

(Instead, we'll beg:  Please send us pictures!)

A note about formatting:  As most of you have noticed, we've been tinkering with the format of pop-ups on this page for the past two weeks.  Despite our best attempts at testing, some of you had trouble with photos from our September 1 and September 8 editions.  We believe we've solved most of the compatibility issues (with invaluable and much-appreciated assistance from a handful of readers), but if you experience problems this week, let us know.  Please tell us what browser (and version) you're using and what specific problems you encounter.  We may not be able to answer everyone directly (particularly if we can solve your problem from here), but we are reading and tracking each problem with an eye toward solving it.

Due to privacy issues, AVweb does not publish e-mail addresses of readers who submit photos.

AVweb continues to receive a large number of excellent images for our POTW contest. Here are some of the runners-up. Click on the links below to view larger versions.

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Bonus Pictures

Man, you guys are getting good
at this "POTW" thing.  See for yourselves:

Used with permission of Ryan Pemberton

"All That in a Cub?"
Speaking of Piper Cubs,
Ryan Pembeton of Spokane, Washington
spent the week at AirVenture camping under
the wing of his girlfriend's Cub.  "With two tents
and 10+ chairs, we ... had a few people ask,
'How did you fit it all in?'  The answer?
'It's got the big C-65 in it!'"
Riiiight.
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Large

Used with permission of Kent Cook

"Look Out, Snoopy!"
Kent Cook of East Peoria, Illinois
sends us this photo of a low-level pass made
by Frank Ryder in the late '80s in his 3/4-scale
Fokker triplane.  According to Kent, Ryder
had close to a hundred aircraft on display
in his WWI equipment museum, but (sadly) the
museum disappeared when Ryder passed away.
Large

Used with permission of Ed Georges

"Open for Business"
Ed Georges of Long Beach, California has
been volunteering along the hurricane-devastated
Gulf Coast.  He was kind enough to share some
airplane photos this week and included this one
of the Gulfport-Biloxi FBO in Mississippi.  We're
glad to see these folks open for business in spite
of enormous difficulties — thanks in large part to
the many generous aviation personnel who are
volunteering their skills, services, and aircraft
to the relief effort every day.

|||  Ways You Can Help  |||

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Large

Used with permission of Kevin Korterud

"Watching Airplanes Take Off — 40 Years Later"
Kevin Korterud of Norcross, Georgia writes:
"I'm with the CAF Dixie Wing in Atlanta.  While stopping
with the CAF P-51 in my old home town of Columbus, Ohio,
my sister and her family came out.  We took a few pictures around
the P-51, but this one of my nephew struck me as being unique.
He is looking out of the old North American aviation hangars where
they used to build A-5 Vigilantes.  I was in the same spot
40 years ago looking at planes taking off with my dad."
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