Volume 11, Number 44b — November 3, 2005

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

TSA CLOSES D.C.-AREA AIRPORT...
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on Tuesday informed Potomac Airfield -- one of three small GA airports in the Washington area that operate under special post-9/11 security regulations -- that its security program has been suspended, effectively closing down operations. "The airport was told it is not in compliance with its approved security plan," TSA spokesman Darrin Kayser told AVweb yesterday. "We had told them they were not meeting certain criteria, and then did a spot check over the weekend, and found they are still not in compliance." Exactly what those measures are that were supposed to be followed, or what the transgressions were, the TSA will not discuss. More...

...AIRFIELD OWNER DEFIANT...
David Wartofsky, owner of Potomac Airfield, told AVweb yesterday that he is working to get the situation rectified. He says the security procedures he has put into place at Potomac are not exactly those prescribed by the TSA plan, but in fact are enhanced. "It's like if they told you to use 25-watt light bulbs and instead I put in 100 watts," he said. "It's not what is in the plan, but it meets and exceeds what is in the plan." He also said that he's been caught in a Catch-22 because the TSA says the only approved procedures are the ones they sign off on, but then the agency won't sign off on any of his requests for revisions to enhance the procedures. Wartofsky added that he is working through the White House and Congress to try to get clarification of whether the TSA has the authority to dictate to him what is acceptable for what he says is a "private security plan" that he has implemented in addition to the plan required by the TSA. More...

...AND 90 AIRPLANES GROUNDED
About 90 airplanes are on the ground at the airport and about 400 pilots have passed the necessary security procedures to operate there. A plan is in place to allow those airplanes to be flown off the field tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday. (Hopefully, nobody had other plans.) Wartofsky said he is hopeful that a mutually agreeable solution to the problem can be reached soon and the airport will be back in operation. "The agency will continue to work with the Potomac Airfield staff on the issues surrounding the suspension," the TSA said in its news release. Pilots in need of more information from the TSA regarding Potomac Airfield, including aircraft relocation plans, should contact TSA program manager Dirk Ahle at (571) 227-1898. More...

IT'S SHOW TIME -- AOPA EXPO STARTS TODAY...
With two GA shows in Florida coming up back-to-back, we can only hope that the hurricane season is really over. So far, the weather is looking great for Tampa, where the three-day AOPA Expo opens today. U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta will open the show, as guest speaker for this morning's general session. Sixteen Light Sport Aircraft are on display at Peter O. Knight Airport, with demo flights available. The show also includes over 500 exhibitors, 75 technology seminars, and lots more airplanes. AVweb's Russ Niles is there, and will bring you all the news live from Florida in your next issue of AVflash, on Monday. More...

...AVIDYNE AND RYAN ANNOUNCE MERGER...
Avidyne and Ryan International will today make a series of announcements including a merger agreement that translates to the coming addition of active traffic surveillance to Avidyne's product lines. The merger will transform Ryan's Ohio headquarters into Safety Systems Group, to be maintained by Avidyne. Paul Ryan, who invented the Stormscope weather system and collision avoidance systems in 1981 founded Ryan International, serving as it's CEO -- he now will serve the company as a consultant. "Our combined resources will accelerate the process of bringing innovative and affordable new products to the market," Ryan said through a press release. New product releases today include one for a multi-hazard avoidance system. More...

...NEW BIZJET TO BE REVEALED AT NBAA CONVENTION NEXT WEEK
NBAA's annual convention is coming up in Orlando next week, and a brand-new company will be there to unveil its plans for a brand-new bizjet. The Spectrum 33, a 10-seat, all-composite twin turbofan, is the latest contender to enter the growing small-jet market. The aircraft, about the size of a Cessna CJ2, will cruise at 415 knots, weigh 7,300 pounds and carry two Williams FJ33-4A engines. Renderings at the company's Web site show a cockpit with sidestick controls. The engines are mounted on the aft fuselage. FAA certification is projected for 2007 or 2008. The jet is under development by Spectrum Aeronautical, a new company based in Encinitas, Calif., under the leadership of Linden Blue. Blue is a former CEO of Beechcraft, who oversaw the Starship project there. More...

NTSB REPORT EXONERATES PILOT...
It's unusual for the NTSB to complete its investigation of a GA accident and find no fault with the pilot. But in its probable-cause report on a September 2002 crash in New Jersey, issued last week, the safety board found that a bad bolt caused the engine of a Piper Saratoga PA 32R-301T to stop without warning, and put none of the blame on the pilot's handling of the ensuing emergency. Mike Kirkley and his wife, Sandy, of London, Ontario, died when their airplane crashed and burned in a wooded residential neighborhood. Their two young sons were rescued by bystanders and survived. The Kirkleys were well-known in their home region, where she was a leading orthopedic surgeon and he was a former football star who had built a successful communications company. More...

...FAULTY PART, FAA BLAMED
The probable cause, says the NTSB, was improper manufacturing of a crankshaft bolt that was supplied by Champion Bolt Corp. About two weeks after the crash, Lycoming issued a Service Bulletin to replace bolts on certain 540-series engines, and in October 2002, the FAA issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive to also replace the bolts. An earlier AD had mandated replacement of the bolts in helicopters. The NTSB report also cited as a "causal" factor that Lycoming had failed to remove the bolts from all of its fixed-wing engines, although four years had passed since the bolts had first been identified as flawed. The FAA's inaction on the matter also was cited as a factor in the accident. More...

CESSNA GETTING LOUD ABOUT BIG CHANGES
Cirrus Design's one airframe may be pressing production and design at Cessna. As Cirrus practically matches deliveries with Cessna, Cessna Aircraft CEO Jack Pelton confirmed last week what his company has been leaking -- Cessna is planning to not only produce a new design, but to revamp its line of single-engine aircraft, "to be competitive." "We're working real hard on it," Pelton told The Wichita Eagle. Cessna spokesman Dick Ziegler told AVweb Tuesday that changes are in the works but insists no further details are available just yet. "We're studying designs, materials, and technologies, we're analyzing available data, and we're getting customer feedback," he said. "We are committed to retaining our leadership in the single-engine market ..." and "We'll announce and go forward when the leadership is ready," he said. More...

EAA, MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, LOG IN ON ADIZ
The clock has run out on time allotted for comments regarding the FAA's proposal to create a permanent flight-restricted area over Washington, D.C., and in the final pushEAA weighed in with 39 pages of remarks. That was added to the more than 17,680 comments the site listed as logged. "EAA ... strenuously asserts that converting the current ADIZ into a permanently restricted area is a very bad idea and an even worse precedent," said EAA President Tom Poberezny, in a news release on Tuesday. "This proposal does nothing to enhance security while it eviscerates the general aviation infrastructure in that area." Also, the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, which has direct control over the FAA, has requested public meetings with Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security officials on the matter, and it has asked for an extended comment period, according to AOPA. More...

AOPA WARNS USER FEES COULD REDUCE OVERSIGHT OF FAA
The way the FAA now is funded, Congress has some control over the purse strings. But if the agency gets it way and user fees and privatization prevail, that important oversight function could be wrested from the hands of elected officials, AOPA warns. AOPA made its comments last week in response to an FAA document on funding ATC and other critical components of the nation's aviation system. "Instead of imposing user fees to fill perceived shortfalls, the FAA should work with the aviation community to find cost savings by eliminating FAA services that are no longer needed and to identify creative ways to fund the capital improvements needed to modernize the air traffic control system," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. More...

GLOBAL EXPANSION FOR BOMBARDIER
It's a small world, and the aviation industry is globalizing and outsourcing -- Mexico has attracted Raytheon for wire harness work and Cessna has announced plans to follow. Last week, Bombardier Aerospace announced it will open a manufacturing plant in Queretaro, Mexico, in an effort to cut operating costs and boost profits. The company will invest about $200 million there over the next seven years. The new facility will manufacture and assemble wire harnesses for Bombardier aircraft. Will the change mean jobs lost in the company's current workforce? Bombardier said it is "in the process of evaluating the impact of the transfer of these activities." More...

INTERNATIONAL AIR RALLY DRAWS 38 AIRCRAFT
A diverse group of GA pilots from North America and Europe, flying Cessna 172s, a turbo Maule on floats, a Piper TriPacer, a Pilatus PC-12, and more, gathered in Canada in August for a week of competitive flying. The fliers covered 2,200 nautical miles, visiting Hudson Bay, Maine, New Brunswick, and Quebec. The rally has been held every summer since 2001. This year's rally was unique, organizers said, for its North Canadian experience, hospitality from the Cree Communities, and the successful cross-border experience into Maine. The 2006 rally, to be held Aug. 3-12, will launch in Minnesota and will take pilots to remote territories of Ontario, Quebec and Labrador. More...

AVIATION CONSUMER WANTS YOUR INPUT ON VORTEX GENERATORS
Does your airplane have vortex generators? If so, our sister publication, Aviation Consumer, would like to hear from you for a report the magazine is doing on these clever little modifications. Drop us an e-mail and we'll contact you. More...

ON THE FLY...
A P-51 Mustang allegedly buzzed Washington-Grizzly Stadium...
Luxury hot-air balloon tour of Europe, just $81,000...
USAF performing icing tests for Airbus A380 engines...
NTSB raise questions about crew actions in Teterboro bizjet crash...
UltraFlight Radio Show now available online as a podcast. 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
___________
BRAINTEASERS
Quiz #100 -- New Stuff, Old Stuff
In this -- the 100th Brainteaser quiz -- we cast a net across the vast sea of aviation knowledge to snag what's old, new, and even a little blue while challenging your crosswind technique.

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...

AVWEB'S QUESTION OF THE WEEK ...
This week, AVweb wants to hear your reactions to the closing of Potomac Airfield, one of a handful of small GA airports operating in the vicinity of Washington, D.C. PLUS: Results of last week's question on falling jet prices and just what constitutes the "magic number" for AVweb readers. More...

AVWEB'S PICTURE OF THE WEEK ...
In a nutshell: You send us pictures. We're flabbergasted and amazed by your talent. We argue a bit and eventually decide to send just one of our contributors a spiffy new AVweb baseball cap as a "thank you." Then we run as many photos as the bean-counters and our tight production schedule will allow right here (on this very page!) so you can be flabbergasted and amazed, too. If that sounds like your cup of tea, welcome to AVweb's "Picture of the Week"! 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#mgrrady
AVweb's editorial team: http://avweb.com/contact/authors.html.

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