PRIVATE BONDS COULD RAISE FUNDS FOR FAA
A proposal under discussion in the Bush White House would allow the FAA to issue bonds that it would pay back by charging user fees, The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend. Administration officials have been consulting Wall Street investment banks for advice on how to proceed with the bond sales, the WSJ said. Such bonds "would be well-received by the investment community and certainly a viable option for the FAA," Michael Lexton, a senior managing director at Bear Stearns Cos. and an adviser to the FAA, told the WSJ. It's expected that the administration will approach Congress with its proposal this spring. The proposal may be a hard sell in Congress, since it would diminish legislative control over finances. More...

PRIVATE ATC SUGGESTED
On Monday, The Wall Street Journal took another look at the aviation world, with an editorial supporting privatization of the air traffic control system. The editorial criticized the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) for its "excessive demands." FAA Administrator Marion Blakey's proposals are "modest" and "reasonable," the editorial says, while NATCA, funded with union dues from taxpayer-financed salaries, is lobbying Congress to take away the FAA's right to impose a contract if the talks stall. NATCA President John Carr was quick to respond, calling the editorial a "highly polished piece of pandering" in his blog on Tuesday. More...

ADAM FLIES FIRST CONFORMING A700
Adam Aircraft announced on Monday the first flight of its first FAA-conforming A700 AdamJet, Serial Number 002. The jet took off smoothly and stayed in the pattern for a 34-minute flight at Centennial Airport, Englewood, Colo. "The aircraft handled very well, stability was excellent, and the flight controls were very responsive and predictable," said test pilot Ken Sasine. "The throttle response was smooth and strong, and the climb performance was strong and steady. The airplane handled just as we expected." The jet's Williams FJ-33 engines are already FAA-certified, and CEO Rick Adam hopes that the 65-percent commonality with his FAA-certified piston twin A500 will significantly reduce time to certification. More...

SPECTRUM CONTINUES TWINJET FLIGHT TESTS
Meanwhile, at Spanish Fork, Utah, Spectrum Aeronautical's new Spectrum 33 light twinjet is moving right along. The jet made its second and third flight tests last Thursday. The flights tested out some improvements and adjustments that were made after the first flight on Jan. 7. Test pilot Bill Davies said the 33 felt solid in longitudinal control. "We were able to conduct shallow coordinated turns with rudder input alone, and saw excellent control in all axes," he said. He also said the 33 took off in less than 800 feet, and touchdown speeds were 85 knots with 15 degrees of flaps. Takeoff acceleration and climb performance "is well beyond anything I've seen in this class of aircraft," Davies said. The key may be materials and construction. More...

TRIP AIMS TO BREAK ALL-TIME DISTANCE RECORD
The Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer launched successfully at 7:22 Wednesday morning from Kennedy Space Center on a planned 80-hour, 26,000-mile jaunt around the world, plus. The aim is to fly the longest nonstop non-refueled distance ever in an aircraft. On takeoff, pilot Steve Fossett passed the 8,000-foot mark on the runway where he had hoped to rotate, and instead rotated sharply and lifted off at 11,500 feet, with about 4,000 feet of runway remaining. The aircraft ran into two birds about the size of pigeons as it climbed out, but no damage was reported. Fossett is expected to land at Kent International Airport in southern England on Saturday. More...

PREFLIGHT WORRIES OVER FUEL SYSTEM
The GlobalFlyer flew around the world last year and ran into trouble when fuel was vented overboard. The system was redesigned to prevent that problem this time, but the reworked system had not been tested with a full fuel load until this week. A planned takeoff on Tuesday morning was scratched when the new vents began leaking under the pressure of 18,000 pounds of fuel. "One of the new vent systems that has been added in the boom tank is where the problem occurred ... one of the vent lines that penetrate the tank has a leak and this was discovered when fuel started leaking out of the wheel well," said Jon Karkow of Scaled Composites. More...

PRESIDENT PROPOSES CUTS FOR AERONAUTICS FUNDING
On Monday, President Bush announced that his budget request to Congress for fiscal year 2007 would include $16.8 billion for NASA, a 3.2-percent increase over 2006. But the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate would see its budget cut by 22 percent. NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said the $724.4 million aeronautics allotment would be focused on "the mastery of our core competencies in subsonic, supersonic, and hypersonic flight." John Douglass, president of the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), said the cuts "would continue a debilitating decline in aeronautics research investment." The AIA said funding for aeronautics has been slashed repeatedly since 1994, when $1.5 billion was budgeted. More...

EPIC AIRCRAFT FACES LAWSUIT OVER INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Aircraft Investor Resources (AIR), the parent company of Epic Aircraft (six-place experimental propjet manufacturer), has been sued by British firm Farnborough Aircraft Corp. over a dispute that grew from a cooperative arrangement between the two companies, the Bend Bulletin reported last week. Farnborough says that Epic, based in Bend, Ore., was supposed to deliver a jointly developed prototype, called the F1, and has not done so. Epic says that Farnborough is trying to usurp its design. According to Aviation International News, the two companies had been cooperating in the joint development of their respective Epic LT and Farnborough F1 turboprop singles. The case is now in federal court in Eugene, Ore., and both sides have agreed to try to settle their dispute in arbitration. More...

WITNESS: JET HIT WATER, FLEW AWAY, BEFORE CRASHING
An Albatros L-39 jet that crashed in Alaska last month may have hit the water two miles from its target airport three times after descending under low clouds in poor visibility, according to a preliminary report by the NTSB. The ATP-rated pilot was trying to execute an instrument approach at the Ketchikan International Airport, shortly after noon local time, and had reported to a Flight Service Station that he had the airfield in sight although one witness (a pilot) estimated visibility at three-quarters of a mile. The NTSB says the "pilot-rated witness" saw the airplane descend from the clouds about 200 feet above the waters of the Tongass Narrows, about two miles from the crash site. The witness said the Albatros, with landing gear down, descended at a high rate at about a 20- to 25-degree angle to the surface of the water, about 200 yards from shore. The airplane struck the surface twice, each time gaining about 10 feet, before skipping on the surface for a third time and flying out of sight. More...

THE NEW SPACE RACE UPDATE
Virgin Galactic is on track for taking passengers into space by the end of 2008, Richard Branson said on Monday. "It is going very well, we have 100 engineers working on it and we have had about 50,000 people who have put their names down to fly," he was quoted by UTV online. Branson was in Florida this week for the launch of the GlobalFlyer, and said that NASA has offered Virgin Galactic a base at the Kennedy Space Center. The offer is interesting, he said, but discussions are still preliminary. "I think we would find that it would bring a lot of people to the area who would watch the flight as well as those who were flying," he said. More...

NTSB: CREW TO BLAME FOR FATAL HENDRICK CRASH
On Tuesday, the NTSB said it has determined that the probable cause of the crash of a Beech King Air operated by Hendrick Motorsports was the flight crew's failure to properly execute the published instrument approach procedure. A contributing cause was the crew's failure to use all navigational aids to confirm and monitor their position during the approach. The King Air collided with mountainous terrain in October 2004 during a missed approach to Martinsville/Blue Ridge Airport, in Virginia. All eight passengers, some of them Hendrick employees, and both flight crewmembers died. More...

FAA TO REVISIT AGING AIRCRAFT CONCERNS
By the year 2020, the average general aviation airplane will be almost 50 years old, says the FAA. The FAA will address the safety of the aging fleet in a public meeting to be held next month in Kansas City, Mo. The FAA held a similar meeting in 2000, but since then, fatal GA accidents and primary component failures blamed on aging have raised further concerns. Issues to be discussed at the meeting include service difficulties, modification and inspection programs, and continued field support from type certificate holders. The meeting will be held March 22-23, and those who can't attend are invited to submit written comments. More...

ON THE FLY...
Two small aircraft collided yesterday over El Cajon, CA. ...
A record 21,380 comments on FAA's DC-ADIZ NPRM...
400 skydivers achieved a world-record formation drop above Thailand...
A UPS DC-8 with a fire on board landed safely at PHL yesterday...
A DA-20 was hot-wired, taxied, and abandoned by a thief in Utah...
Two Shorts 360s that collided in mid-air in Alaska were taking pix...
EAA's Sport Pilot Tour stops at Mesa, Ariz., on Saturday, Feb. 18... 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
COLUMNS
As the Beacon Turns #98: Just Another Winter Day In Colorado
Some days you take off when it's beautiful and it's all gone sour in time for you to land. It's best to prepare for these times with relaxation, a soft touch on the controls ... and a few alternate plans, as Michael Maya Charles discusses in this month's As The Beacon Turns.

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AUDIO CLIP
Paul Berge takes VFR pilots IFR and explains how visual flight rules pilots can take advantage of instrument flight rules procedures without breaking federal regulations. An inside look at the not-so-common knowledge that pilots can use to expand their skills and fly smarter. Click through to learn.

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
Mid-airs — they've multiplied over the past few days. How concerned are you that you'll be struck from the sky by another aircraft? PLUS: Results of last week's question on lightning strikes. More...

AVWEB'S PICTURE OF THE WEEK
Strap yourselves in, because this latest installment of "Picture of the Week" is action-packed! Submission numbers dipped slightly this week (to around 75 pictures), but the quality was as high any week in recent memory. What's more, we received a larger number of "aircraft in action" shots than we normally do. Spinning props, swooping wings, and contrails dominated this week's contest, so we thought it only appropriate that the top spot go to Erwin Stam's dizzying helicopter photo. As soon as we recover from the vertigo, we'll be sending Erwin an Official AVweb baseball cap for his efforts. Remember: We only award one cap each week — but we squeeze in as many runners-up as we can. So what are you waiting for? Send us your best photos! Even if you don't win some coveted AVweb gear, you'll make our day and may brighten some pilot's dreary Thursday morning. 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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