Volume 11, Number 43a — October 24, 2005

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

BOEING, LOCKHEED SUED BY UPSTART IN SPACE RACE...
Last week, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) accused Boeing and Lockheed Martin of conspiring to prevent new competitors -- such as SpaceX -- from getting government contracts for rocket launches. A lawsuit filed in federal court in California says a proposal by the two aerospace giants to form a joint venture to launch payloads into space would violate "antitrust, unfair competition and racketeering laws," Space.com reported on Friday. "Boeing and Lockheed Martin have engaged in an unlawful conspiracy to eliminate competition, and ultimately to monopolize the government space-launch business," the court documents read, according to Space.com. More...

...AS SPACEX PREPARES TO LAUNCH...
Meanwhile, the new space industry has been building the infrastructure it needs for the future it envisions, and inch by inch, it is moving forward. SpaceX, which plans to offer payload delivery into orbit for all kinds of customers, plans to launch its small Falcon I rocket on its maiden flight on Halloween -- next Monday -- from the Kwajalein Atoll in the South Pacific. The customer for this mission is DARPA and the Air Force. The payload will be a satellite built to measure space plasma phenomena, which can adversely affect GPS and other civil and military space-based communications. More...

...AS YOUR TRIP TO SPACE INCHES CLOSER
At the same time, infrastructure is growing in support of the nascent industry. Last week, the FAA held its second annual International Aviation Safety Forum in Washington, D.C., and commercial space flight was added to the other more traditional topics on the agenda. Speakers for the space forum included SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Virgin Galactic President William Whitehorn, as well as former astronaut Robert "Hoot" Gibson and space tourist Dennis Tito. Also last week, NASA announced two new Centennial Challenge prize competitions that it is offering for new space technology, in collaboration with the X Prize Foundation. The Suborbital Payload Challenge prize will go for a reusable suborbital rocket that reaches altitudes or speeds of interest to science researchers, and the Suborbital Lunar Lander Analog Challenge will reward the first team to build a vertical takeoff/vertical landing suborbital vehicle capable of reaching a speed consistent with the energy required to land and launch from the moon. More...

BODY OF WWII AIRMAN FOUND IN CALIFORNIA GLACIER...
A body found in a receding glacier last week on a remote California mountain may be that of a crew member from a military airplane that crashed nearly 60 years ago. The body, that of a blond-haired man in his 20s, was intact and still wearing a parachute when it was found by climbers. The airman is suspected to have been aboard an AT-7 navigational training plane that left a Sacramento airfield Nov. 18, 1942. The plan was for a routine training flight through the Central Valley, but the airplane vanished. Five years later, an engine, clothing, a dog tag and scattered remains were found far from the plane's course, and the four crew members were presumed dead. More...

...INVESTIGATORS SEEK CLUES
On Friday, the body was in the county coroner's office, being carefully thawed from the 400-pound block of ice in which it was encased. Investigators were searching for clues such as a military identification number that would positively identify the man. The body may be that of aviation Cadet Ernest Munn, who was blond, and part of the missing AT-7 crew out of Sacramento. "We'd given up all hope," Lois Shriver, 80, of Pittsburgh, his youngest sister, told The Associated Press. "Living without knowing whatever happened, that was hard." An investigation at the time the AT-7's engine was found offered no explanation as to why the airplane was 200 miles off course. More...

HURRICANE FORCES DELAY OF SEBRING SPORT PILOT EXPO
The second annual Sport Pilot Expo, scheduled for this week in Sebring, Fla., has been postponed due to the threatened imminent landfall of Hurricane Wilma in the region. Expo Board Chairman Bob Wood said Thursday this was the prudent thing to do. "We don't want to face a situation where the hurricane might render our locality without power and communication services and put exhibitors and visitors in a bad situation," he said. The event has been rescheduled for Jan. 12-15, 2006. The new dates were chosen to avoid conflicts with the holiday season and upcoming aviation events, including two EAA Sport Pilot Tour stops (McKinney, Texas, Nov. 12, and Camarillo, Calif., Dec. 3). More...

PARTS MANUFACTURER DISPUTES FAA'S PROPOSED AD
Engine Components Inc. , of San Antonio, Texas, said last week it is in "complete disagreement" with a proposed Airworthiness Directive published by the FAA earlier this month that would affect some ECi connecting rods used in GA aircraft engines. The FAA's concern began with an in-flight failure of the engine in a Cessna 172 in October 2003. ECi said it has been working with the FAA since then. "We strongly feel that no safety of flight concerns exist and in addition to all the testing performed, the fact is that outside of the initial accident, where oil starvation occurred, no single failure has been reported," ECi said. More...

EAA ADDS CRITIQUE TO FAA'S LATEST "FLIGHT PLAN"
EAA last week chimed in with its views on the FAA's Flight Plan 2006-2010, an annually revised blueprint that charts the agency's strategy. In a letter to FAA Administrator Marion Blakey, EAA President Tom Poberezny stressed that any hint of switching to a user-fee-based funding mechanism was unwelcome. "We are patently opposed to a replacement of the successful, simple and, to some degree, transparent fuel tax with user fees," Poberezny wrote. User fees would be "onerous to the pilot community and could discourage pilots from using the safety enhancements offered by the national airspace system." EAA also urged the FAA to stop using the Airway Trust Fund for FAA operations and use it only for capital improvements, as originally intended. More...

TRUCKS, AIRPLANES COLLIDE
An airplane was landing, an airport worker was driving a pickup truck, and somehow the two collided ... not much else is clear yet in the incident that took place at Cable Airport in Upland, Calif., on Wednesday morning. The airplane hit the driver's side of the truck. The pilot was not hurt, but the driver suffered serious injuries. Michael Stewart, vice president of Cable Airport, told The Daily Bulletin that the airplane skidded off the runway and hit the truck. The NTSB is investigating. Meanwhile, nearly halfway around the world, a Piper Cub ran into a truck in Japan. Pilot href="http://www.kirkflyingvet.com/aviationhome.aspx" target="_blank">Maurice Kirk suffered minor injuries after the engine quit above mountainous terrain and he made an emergency landing on a highway construction site, about 150 miles north of Tokyo. More...

DIAMOND, COLUMBIA OFFER BUYER INCENTIVES
If you need an extra enticement to go ahead and buy yourself a shiny new airplane before the year's out, some of the GA manufacturers are ready to give you that excuse. Diamond Aircraft is offering free fuel and free maintenance for up to two years on new and demonstrator DA40 Diamond Stars bought before Dec. 31. New and current DA40 owners also can now indulge in the newly certified Garmin GDL-69A, which receives XM satellite signals with near-real-time weather information plus over 130 radio channels. Or if it's a Columbia 350 that you long for, you can now buy one for $20,000 less. More...

POLICE ALLEGE "CHICKEN" A FACTOR IN FATAL ACCIDENT
Pilot William Buchmann and skydiver Albert Wing were known to indulge in games of "chicken," local police have told the FAA. Wing was killed in April when Buchmann, who was flying the jump plane, collided with him near the Deland, Fla., airport. Buchmann's certificate was revoked by the FAA in August. The FAA said he flew in a "grossly careless or reckless manner," knowingly flying beneath the open parachutes of skydivers. "Such conduct reflects an airman who is either unwilling or unable to comply with basic regulatory requirements governing flight operations," said the FAA. Buchmann has appealed the revocation, and local skydivers and pilots have told reporters that Buchmann was not reckless and that Wing's death was an accident. Buchmann's lawyer says Buchmann has received hundreds of letters of support. More...

ELECTRIC MATS PROTECT RUNWAYS FROM WILDLIFE
A full-grown moose can weigh up to 1,000 pounds, so if one wanders across a runway while you are landing your Cessna 172, that's not a good thing. The Wasilla Airport, about 40 miles north of Anchorage, has found a solution -- an electric anti-moose mat. The Electro-Mat, which was first tested against deer in Arizona, emits both a shock and noise when the animal steps on it. The shocks are not harmful and the method is humane, according to Gary Olson of the Alaska Moose Federation. "The animals remember after they are shocked a couple times not to go near it anymore," he said. More...

ON THE FLY...
A Nigerian 737 with 116 people aboard crashed Saturday, no survivors...
Chalmers "Slick" Goodlin, former X-1 test pilot, died at age 82...
Due to concerns about avian flu, aviators advised to be cautious...
A new, free Web site from Control Vision offers info on fuel prices...
Pilot Rob Dubin flew to 48 states in a gyroplane this summer...
New FAA rule will mandate 16G seats on airliners for crashworthiness...
World's first "Hello Kitty" Airbus launched in Taiwan...
2005 AirVenture now available on DVD from EAA for $24.99. 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
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COLUMNS
CEO of the Cockpit #50: On Their Shoulders
There aren't many from the Greatest Generation left -- people and planes -- to remind young folks what flying was like back then ... and what it was like to leave home at a young age to fight halfway around the world. AVweb's CEO of the Cockpit sees parallels to his generation of airline captains.

COLUMNS
As the Beacon Turns #94: Anybody Can Learn To Fly!
Does anyone still believe the old cliche (perhaps touted by airplane manufacturers) that anyone can learn to fly? Maybe not, but until we take a hard line and help unsuccessful pilots get out of flying and into something they can succeed at, Michael Maya Charles says we're only hurting ourselves.

AEROMEDICAL
Every Breath You Take: Danger Lurks at High-Altitude
Training and new technology are helping to reduce the danger of hypoxia. But understanding why your body reacts the way it does can ensure you catch the symptoms before you are incapacitated.

More...

READER FEEDBACK ON AVWEB'S NEWS COVERAGE AND FEATURE ARTICLES:
AVmail: October 24, 2005
Reader mail this week about how old (or young) pilots should be, how much flying costs and much more.

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...

SHORT FINAL...
Winds 300 at 26...

On a particularly windy day, I was in a skyhawk on right base for 35.

Me: Wind check.

Controller: Winds 300 at 26 ...
(pause)
... We've got the trucks on standby. More...