MINETA WARNS OF USER FEES, NATCA CONTRACT
On Tuesday, Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta made use of his speech at the annual luncheon of Washington's Aero Club to talk about the future of the FAA and how it will be funded. First there was the encrypted user-fee warning: "I cannot give you the details yet, but I expect that we are going to see a cost-based plan that creates a more direct relationship between revenue collected and services provided," he said. That new plan is in the "final stages," he added. Then, Mineta moved on to blast NATCA's contract proposal, now under negotiation. That proposal would cost the FAA more than $2 billion over the next five years, Mineta said, diverting funds needed for capacity improvements and modernization. "We cannot afford this," he said. NATCA, to no one's surprise, begs to differ. More...

FAA REPORTS RADICAL CHANGES AT N.Y. TRACON
Yesterday, the FAA reported that it has made progress with problems at the New York Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) six months after implementing new management controls at the facility. "Overtime has decreased by 76 percent," said Bruce Johnson, vice president of the FAA's Air Traffic Organization in charge of terminal operations. In fiscal year 2004, overtime cost $4.12 million, higher than any other large TRACON, Johnson said, and in fiscal year 2006, the cost is projected to be under $1 million. Time on position has increased by 38 percent, and operational errors have decreased significantly. Four separate studies assert that the facility only needs 190 controllers. Currently, 206 are on staff, plus 11 in training. NATCA says the facility should have 270 controllers. More...

BUSH AND FOOTBALL AND UAVS GET PROTECTION
The airspace over Washington, D.C., will be pretty much shut down to GA operations from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Jan. 31, during President Bush's State of the Union address to Congress. AOPA says the restriction covers 3,000 square miles, and notes that airlines are not affected, and neither are cars and trucks, "which can get very close to the Capitol with much greater payload than a Cessna 172." AOPA is also not happy about a restricted area along 300 nm of the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona and New Mexico. The "temporary" restriction is in place now through Dec. 31. More...

CANADA VS. U.S. ON AIRSPACE SECURITY
The FAA has also published an updated NOTAM for Super Bowl XL, to be held in Detroit on Feb. 5. This new version corrects an earlier one that said reservations would be required for nearby airports. There won't be a reservation program, but arrival and departure routes must be adhered to, ground delays may be implemented for traffic management, and a TFR will be in effect. But that TFR stops at the Canadian border. "Canada has maintained a commonsense approach on this and won't implement super-sized flight restrictions during a sporting event," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. "There's a lesson there." More...

PILOT ERROR BLAMED IN REGIONAL CRASH
The pilots' failure to follow established procedures was the probable cause of the fatal crash of a British Aerospace "Jetstream" BAE-J3201 twin turboprop in October 2004, the NTSB said on Tuesday. Fatigue was likely a contributing factor. The Jetstream, on a scheduled flight from St. Louis, crashed short of the runway at Kirksville (Missouri) Regional Airport during a night non-precision instrument approach in instrument meteorological conditions. The two pilots and 11 passengers died, and two passengers were seriously hurt. The NTSB said the pilots descended below the minimum descent altitude before required visual cues were available and failed to follow the established division of duties between the flying and non-flying pilot. The pilots had been on duty since 5:30 a.m. at the time of the crash, over 14 hours later, and were making their sixth landing of the day. More...

AERIAL WOLF HUNTING BANNED IN ALASKA -- FOR NOW
In Alaska, pilots have been banned from shooting at wolves while flying. The practice, which has been allowed since 2003, was protested by animal-rights groups. A Superior Court judge ruled last week that the state agency in charge had failed to meet its own rules for conducting the hunt. Wildlife advocates welcomed the decision, saying the hunt was not necessary for predator control, but was lobbied for by trophy hunters who compete with the wolves for moose. Gov. Frank Murkowski said the ban will not last. "I stand firmly behind the state's predator control programs, which are based upon sound science," he said in a statement. More...

BOMBARDIER'S CHALLENGER 605 FIRST FLIGHT A SUCCESS
Bombardier's Challenger 605 wide-body business jet completed its first flight on Sunday, meeting the schedule announced at the NBAA Convention last November. The airplane departed from Montreal-Trudeau International Airport under clear skies at 12:40 p.m. and flew for three hours and 23 minutes, reaching 41,000 feet and 420 knots. "It was a great flight ... the aircraft performed superbly," said pilot Frank Magnusson. Following several flights in Montreal, the aircraft is scheduled to relocate to Bombardier's Flight Test Center in Wichita, Kan., for a 200-hour flight test and certification program. Transport Canada certification is expected by the end of this year, and the aircraft is scheduled to enter service in the third quarter of 2007. More...

AERIAL GAS LEAK SCANNER FOR PIPELINES (AND CATTLE?)
As technology advances, new ways are found to make practical use of a small airborne platform in the sky. One of the latest we've heard of is inspecting underground pipes. A sensor developed by ITT Industries can detect leaking natural gas from the 2.3 million miles of pipeline in the U.S. The amount lost to leakage each year is considerable -- enough to fuel 4 million homes, The Associated Press reported Monday. The detector uses three lasers that pulse to the ground and back 1,000 times a second, with the airplane flying along at 750 feet and 135 mph, following a computer-laid course directly above the pipe. The detector can sniff out the errant fume of escaping gas ... although it does sometimes accidentally record instead the methane released by flatulent cows. More...

LAMA ANNOUNCES LEADERSHIP CHANGE
The Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association (LAMA), based in Pleasanton, Calif., yesterday announced the appointment of new leadership. Larry Burke, who founded the group in 1984 and has served as its president since, has appointed Dan Johnson as chairman and Tom Gunnarson as president. Burke said he is ready to step back and let fresh energy into the organization to take LAMA to "a new level of supporting and serving the needs of the light-sport aircraft community." Burke said Johnson will provide overall guidance to LAMA's efforts, while Gunnarson will handle day-to-day activities, manage the budget and provide representation in Washington, D.C. More...

HELICOPTER RESCUE RISK VS. REWARD
The NTSB yesterday asked the FAA to impose stricter requirements on all emergency medical services (EMS) flights, based on a study of 55 EMS accidents between January 2002 and January 2005. "The very essence of the EMS mission is saving lives. Operating an EMS flight in an unsafe environment just makes no sense," said NTSB Acting Chairman Mark Rosenker. The NTSB's study found that most accidents occur during flights with no patients on board, which operate under Part 91. To improve safety, all EMS flights should adhere to Part 135 rules, the NTSB said. Also this week, a study by a group of medical researchers found that for helicopter EMS operations, darkness more than triples the risk of fatalities, and bad weather increases the risk eight-fold. More...

TWO TRIKES ARE FIRST TO BE CERTIFIED AS S-LSAS
Two trikes are now certified as Special Light Sport Aircraft, just weeks after the FAA accepted the industry's weight-shift-control consensus standards. The Air Creation Tanarg and GTE 912 were awarded their certificates on Jan. 20. The aircraft can be flown with any one of four wings: the iXess, iXess Training, KISS 450, and FUN 450. Air Creation has delivered more trike aircraft than any other builder, according to Dan Johnson's Sport Pilot Log. It is a French company partially owned by John Kemmeries, of Arizona. The two-seat Tanarg, the product of four years of research and development, was designed for comfortable cross-country travel. It was also the first trike built with a stainless-steel welded airframe. More...

WHO NEEDS A SPACESHIP? RIDE A ROCKETPLANE INTO SPACE
NASA said on Tuesday it will loan an RS-88 rocket engine to Rocketplane Limited, of Oklahoma City, to be tested in the company's Rocketplane XP vehicle for three years. The company will provide NASA with design, test and operational information. The Rocketplane XP is a four-seat, modified Lear executive jet aiming to reach about 300,000 feet, NASA said. "We hope to develop a safe, affordable and reusable spaceplane by integrating established technologies, such as the RS-88 engine," said Bob Seto, Rocketplane vice president of engineering systems and analysis. According to Seto, the spacecraft completed a preliminary design review in March 2005, and it is in the detail design phase. More...

ON THE FLY...
Four killed in Citation crash at McClellan-Palomar Airport in Tuesday...
A Cape Air pilot is off the government's "no-fly" list and can go back to work...
Las Vegas Airport says "no thanks" to A380, accommodations would be too expensive...
A passenger in a Centurion hurt when a turkey buzzard crashed through the windscreen above Orlando...
CubCrafters has partnered with Andover (N.J.) Flight Academy for sales and training in the Northeast...
Icing not suspected in a fatal Caravan crash last week in Canada...
Ken Mead, Inspector General for DOT, has resigned...
Don't forget to properly register your aircraft by February 1. More...

AVWEB'S NEWSTIPS ADDRESS ...
What have you heard? There might be something to it. If you've heard something that 130,000 pilots might want to know about, don't be shy. Submit news tips via email to newstips@avweb.com. Our best stories start with you. More...

NEW ARTICLES AND FEATURES ON AVWEB
BRAINTEASERS
Quiz #103: More Power To Ya
If power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, then many pilots strive for the ultimate in degradation by strapping on bigger engines to reach beyond our grasp of powerplant knowledge. Let's see how power-hungry you absolutely are.

__________
AUDIO CLIP
Paul Berge makes sure we're all speaking the same language when it comes to critical airport operations and runway procedures. Click through to make sure you've got it right.

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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...

AVWEB'S QUESTION OF THE WEEK ...
Wolf hunting from the air.  No one's asking your opinion — except us.  Should hunters be allowed to shoot wolves from aircraft? PLUS: Answers to last week's question — what's the single most important factor limiting the amount of flying you're able to do? More...

AVWEB'S PICTURE OF THE WEEK ...
As we browse through each week's submissions to our "POTW" contest, we can't help looking for themes and connections. This week's batch, for example, had an exceptionally high percentage of shots taken on the ground at the airport. That's nothing unusual, but a quick count shows that nearly 3/4 of this week's submissions were taken at airports and hangars. Not that we're complaining — quite the opposite, in fact. This week's entries were so high-quality that it took us longer than usual to sort through them and pick a winner. (The winner in question is Chris Starnes of Gate City, Virginia.) More...

AVwebFlash is a twice-weekly summary of the latest news, articles, products, features, and events featured on AVweb, the internet's aviation magazine and news service.

Today's issue was written by news writer Mary Grady (bio).

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