Volume 11, Number 40a — October 3, 2005

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

LOCKHEED TAKES OVER FLIGHT SERVICE...
Lockheed Martin officially takes over operation of the nation's flight service stations as of tomorrow ... presuming that last-ditch efforts by a workers' union prove futile. The National Association of Air Traffic Specialists (NAATS), which represents the FSS staffers, last week sent out a letter to all members of Congress seeking support for stopping the takeover. The letter asks FAA Administrator Marion Blakey to delay the takeover until Congress has a chance to complete its 2006 budget process. "If the FAA proceeds on October 3 and is subsequently directed by Congress to suspend or reverse implementation, it could mean significant additional expenses to the FAA," the letter says. More...

...AOPA SEES A BETTER FUTURE...
AOPA is in favor of the change, expecting that Lockheed's version of flight service will be better for pilots than what we've been getting from the FAA. During the transition period, Lockheed and the FAA will operate a 24-hour operations center that will act as a point of contact to ensure continuity of services, AOPA said last week. Lockheed also has assured AOPA that extensive contingency plans are in place should any last-minute issues arise. Phone numbers and frequencies will remain the same, says AOPA, and so will (many of) your local FSS specialists, at least for a while. "We are in regular communication with the FAA and Lockheed, and they understand the importance of maintaining service to pilots throughout the transition period," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. More...

...WITH ENHANCED SERVICE PROMISED
By April 2006, AOPA says, Lockheed is expected to launch the Flight Service 21 (FS21) Web portal for pilots to obtain preflight briefings, file flight plans, store user profiles, and get graphical flight planning and weather products. The first FSS hub, in Leesburg, Va., also is scheduled to open in April, with two other hub facilities -- Fort Worth, Texas, and Prescott, Ariz. -- to open by next October. The other 17 facilities that will remain after consolidation -- down from 58 today -- should be upgraded with FS21 technology by July 2007. After the 18-month transition is complete, pilots' telephone calls must be answered within 20 seconds and radio calls within 15 seconds. More...

THE ANTI-ADIZ EFFORT INTENSIFIES...
Pilots need to speak up -- and loudly -- and the FAA needs to listen, AOPA says, regarding the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) now eating up the airspace around Washington, D.C. The FAA wants to make the ADIZ a permanent fixture, and AOPA has asked for several public meetings to be held before any decisions are made. "The opportunity to provide oral comments in a public forum will allow FAA and Homeland Security officials to hear directly from members of the general aviation community about the practical difficulties and economic hardships the ADIZ causes to pilots operating in the National Capital area," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. More...

...WITH PR PUSH ON THE HILL...
Kathleen Roy, a media and public-affairs specialist for AOPA, gave a demo flight in a Piper Archer to a reporter from The Hill, a local D.C. newspaper widely read by legislators and politicos. "Although Roy had filed a flight plan before takeoff, as required, she was denied access initially because air traffic control could not identify her plane," Hill reporter Jackie Kucinich wrote. "She circled outside the area [for 15 minutes, according to AOPA] while calling in her second attempt. Finally, she was given a four-digit transponder code that identified her aircraft as clear to enter the airspace." Landmarks that identify the ADIZ boundaries were difficult to identify in the haze, Kucinich wrote. More...

...HOW TO SPEAK UP (OR YOU COULD BE NEXT)
That's AOPA's warning to pilots across the country. "In the Washington ADIZ, the operational horror stories come in to AOPA daily," Boyer says. "The FAA has tracked more than 1,900 ADIZ violations since 2003. None of the incidents has been determined to be terrorist-related and all but one violation have been inadvertent." Changing the D.C. area Class B airspace into a permanent new designation only sets the precedent for this to be duplicated elsewhere, he said. You have until Nov. 2 to express your opinion to the powers that be. Go to the docket for a copy of the proposed rule. The list of comments, already over 600 strong, can be reviewed at this link. Click on "Comment/Submissions" to add your own thoughtfully composed input. More...

CONTENDERS PUSH A NEW SUPERSONIC AGE
We have lived to see a day without commercial supersonic flight. But it's an idea that won't go away, despite the demise of the Concorde. The French and Japanese are working to launch a test model of a supersonic aircraft in the Australian desert this Friday -- presuming they have fixed an "anomaly" with the aircraft's signal processor that cropped up during ground testing in August. Meanwhile, Airbus is developing a design for a 250-seat plane that could fly close to 1,500 mph with a 6,000-mile range, London's Sunday Times reported last week. During a recent conference at Cambridge University, researchers said that new supersonic passenger jets could by flying by 2015, and by 2050 supersonic travel could account for 20 percent of all flights. Aircraft makers Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Dassault, Gulfstream and Sukhoi have all announced plans for such airplanes, the Times said. More...

JAVELIN JET FIRST FLIGHT
With two Williams Int'l FJ33-4-17M Turbofan Engines, ATG's little Javelin Jet expects to climb at 10,000 feet per minute and top out at .9 Mach. Two-hundred-twenty gallons of fuel would carry the jet 1220 nm with reserves. The two-seater prototype flew for the first time on Friday. Test pilot Robert Fuschino took off at 7:50 a.m. from Runway 17L at Centennial Airport in Englewood, Colo., and climbed out at 3,000 fpm. Flying with 10 degrees of flaps and the gear down, the airplane reached 180 knots and 12,000 feet. After 30 minutes of testing, it made a smooth straight-in landing. "ATG has achieved a great milestone today," said ATG Chairman George Bye. "We will now begin the process of correlating the Javelin prototype's performance against predicted engineering values." More...

NASA TOLD TO FLY COACH
You wouldn't think all those Ph.D.s at NASA would need a study by the Government Accountability Office to tell them it's cheaper to fly coach than to operate their own fleet of aircraft, but nothing is so convincing as hard numbers -- in this case, $20 million worth of numbers. That's how much NASA could have saved, the GAO said, if its staff had traveled by airline in 2003 and 2004, instead of using its own aircraft and charter services. Granted, those services can save time, are more flexible for staff scheduling and "provide other less tangible and quantifiable benefits," the GAO admits. But the GAO doubts those benefits justify an added $10 million a year in taxpayer money, not to mention an additional $77 million that NASA is planning to spend to upgrade and expand its fleet. More...

NEXT-GENERATION GPS SATELLITE LAUNCHED
A new GPS satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral last week, adding new technology to the current system that will provide greater accuracy, enhanced resistance to interference from the earth's ionosphere, and other improvements to performance. The two-ton satellite will replace an aging unit that was launched in 1993. What does it mean for GA users? "The latest launch represents a firm commitment to satellite navigation and demonstrates that there will be plenty of assets in space to ensure that the GPS signal is always available," said Randy Kenagy, AOPA's senior director of advanced technology. "That's especially important for general aviation as more GPS-based wide area augmentation system (WAAS) approaches are created." More...

AIRPLANE EMISSIONS CAUSE CONCERN IN EUROPE
In Europe, where worry over climate change due to industrial pollution is widespread, the emissions emanating from aircraft have again attracted attention. A recent study found that with the amount of air travel in the United Kingdom expected to double over the next 25 years, it will be impossible for the country to meet its goal of cutting carbon emissions 60 percent by 2050. "The failure of all governments to think about [emissions from] international aviation and shipping has led to a serious underestimation of the actions necessary," says researcher Simon Shackley, of Manchester University. All other sources in the country would have to reduce carbon emissions to zero in order to meet the goal while allowing aviation to expand, researchers said. More...

HURRICANE-DAMAGED AIRPORTS GET CASH INFUSION
Four airports in Texas and Louisiana damaged by the recent hurricanes will get at least $16 million in federal help to make repairs, Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta said last Friday, a day after he visited the region. Mineta said he would also try to change some of the rules for the use of Airport Improvement Funds so money can be used for repairs to terminals and hangars. Mineta saw firsthand the hurricane damage at the Southeast Texas Regional Airport in Beaumont and Louisiana's Lake Charles Regional Airport. "Regional airports and the general aviation flights they support are absolutely vital to the economy of this area," Mineta said. More...

JETBLUE A320 NOSEGEAR, THE PHOTOS
In case there was any doubt that the damage to JetBlue's A320 was slight, despite all the media attention and melodrama surrounding its live-televised landing with a twisted nosegear last month, we have pix of the aftermath. So for your own edification, feel free to click through for a look. You also might enjoy the take offered by Salon Magazine's Patrick Smith, who deconstructs the events in his "Ask The Pilot" column. As for the poor passengers, some of whom were terrified and feared the worst, "JetBlue's seatback TV screens deserve much of the blame," says Smith, for "beaming in reckless live reportage from several large networks." More...

ON THE FLY...
J. Roy Shoffner, who helped recover Glacier Girl P-38, has died...
Questions raised about jackscrews at Alaska Air, FAA is checking...
A fired worker says A380 is unsafe, the builders disagree...
FAA OK'd $7.5 billion expansion at O'Hare, but work already blocked...
Machinists ended a month-long strike against Boeing...
A T-65 owned by U.S. govt. shot down in Colombia, the pilot died...
Garmin got an STC for the GFC 700 autopilot in Bonanza G36...
WMU will retire its 172s and switch to a fleet of leased Cirri...
No more jumpseat rides for most FedEx workers, security cited...
100th anniversary of Wrights' Huffman Prairie flight is Wednesday...
SpaceShipOne to take its place at NASM with a ceremony Wednesday. 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...

NEW ARTICLES AND FEATURES ON AVWEB
COLUMNS
The Pilot's Lounge #92: Hey, FEMA! GA Is An Asset ... Use Us
So many pilots want to help in the hurricane relief -- but the national agency charged with coordinating relief doesn't seem to realize the power of volunteer pilots. AVweb's Rick Durden has some tough words for political appointees and some suggestions for frontline organizers.

More...

READER FEEDBACK ON AVWEB'S NEWS COVERAGE AND FEATURE ARTICLES:
AVmail: October 3, 2005
Reader mail this week about fuel prices, FSS closures, SIC type ratings and more.

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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...

SHORT FINAL...
While waiting to enter the taxiway in ONT, (California) an Airbus working for a major parcel carrier came face to face with our corporate 727 and the following conversation ensued:

ONT Twr: Airbus 1234, where are you going today, sir?

Airbus 1234: Right where that 727 is, and, uh, be advised our tail might be a little bit over your runway.

Boeing NABC: Don't worry. A little tail never hurt anybody.

(awkward silence)

Airbus 1234: ... Wish I could say that. 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 Mary Grady:
http://www.avweb.com/contact/authors.html#mgrady
AVweb's editorial team: http://avweb.com/contact/authors.html.

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