MANUFACTURERS REVVED UP; SEAN TUCKER ROLLS COLUMBIA?
AVweb's special coverage of the Sun 'n Fun air show at Lakeland, Florida, begins today. Watch for special issues of AVwebFlash Wednesday and Friday this week.

In the mix of pre-Sun 'n Fun press releases that jams our inbox at this time of year, we haven't yet been able to detect any "brand new" airplane design announcements. April 1 produced some buzz that Mooney is stepping up to reclaim its former position as the "fastest" production single with a plane that will challenge the reigning speedster, the Columbia 400. But expect the Columbia 400SL to express some unusual attitude at the hands of air show performer extraordinaire, Sean D. Tucker. "All maneuvers demonstrated fall within the Columbia's higher G limit load for Utility Category aircraft," according to the press release. And Tucker adds, "The 400 recovers from spins more predictably than many aerobatic aircraft I've flown." Find the show at 30 locations across the country highlighting Tucker's Executive Pilot Awareness Training School -- first stop, Lakeland. On the lighter side, the Legend Cub Special is the latest copy Cub from American Legend. Have a look for it in the Cub Convoy that lands at Lakeland, today. And there will be engine news at this year's event. More...

SPORT PILOT EXTRAVAGANZA
As momentum picks up for the new Sport Pilot/Light Sport Aircraft category, so do the number of conforming models that are available. Four new fixed-wing models will be introduced at Sun 'n Fun, bringing the total number of approved S-LSA (factory-built) aircraft available to 30. There are three new weight-shift aircraft being unveiled and the total number of ready-to-fly models in that category will rise to 33. Look for lots of information booths on the new category as this is the year that the approved aircraft and certificated instructors will be available in numbers sufficient to address what industry officials hope will be a pent-up demand for the new category. More...

SUN 'N FUN EXPECTING RECORD ATTENDANCE
Organizers expect record attendance, both on the grounds and in the hundreds of commercial exhibits and booths that will sell everything from multimillion-dollar aircraft to nuts, bolts and rivets. For industry-leading Cirrus Design, Marketing Manager John Bingham says the show is a chance to "escape the tundra of Duluth" while launching the 2006 marketing plan. "To me, Sun 'n Fun means spring is at last here," Bingham told AVweb at the end of a completely unrelated interview last week. "We still have snow on the ground here," he said as he tidied up his desk for the annual migration sunward to Lakeland, where, it seems, the outlook is as bright as the Florida sunshine. More...

CONTROLLER CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS IN QUESTION
Nobody said it was going to be easy but a negotiated settlement between the FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association seems remote at best. Not only are the two sides far apart on the overriding issue of controller pay, they can't even agree on whether or not they're still talking. About all they can agree on is that there will be some kind of meeting on Tuesday. What is set to take place at that meeting is a matter of widely varying opinion. "We don't consider the talks to be broken down," FAA spokesman Greg Martin told AVweb on Saturday. Martin also hinted the purported end of negotiations on Friday was less than spontaneous. He noted that NATCA had issued a news release on the developments barely 20 minutes after the meeting broke up, saying it was "the fastest turnaround" for a press release he's ever seen. More...

FAA SAYS TALKS ARE ON, NATCA SAYS IT'S OVER
It's kind of hard to believe that these folks attended the same meeting on Friday. In a teleconference with reporters, FAA chief negotiator Joe Miniachi said his understanding was that both sides would work on the few outstanding articles over the weekend and meet Tuesday to exchange final offers. "We are now scheduled to talk Tuesday," Miniachi told the teleconference. NATCA President John Carr couldn't have had a more opposing view. "Final offers have been exchanged and rejected and negotiations are over -- the mediator knows it, NATCA knows it, and the FAA knows it," Carr said in a news release issued after the FAA's teleconference. Assuming Carr doesn't have some sort of revelation over the weekend and the talks really are over, the flying public -- pilots and passengers -- likely won't notice anything. More...

IN WASHINGTON: IT'S THE MONEY, STUPID
While issues like modernization, contracting out and working conditions have been discussed, these negotiations were (like most negotiations) about money, pure and simple, according to Blakey. "The differences between us are not minor," Blakey said. She said the agency is determined to bring controller salaries in line with other civil servants both for practical and philosophical reasons. She said controller salaries are a major factor in the FAA's spiraling costs and that controllers, in general, make far more money than other FAA employees. She said the FAA's offer won't result in any existing controllers losing any pay but it will start new hires at substantially less. The union says her math is wrong and cuts contained in the offer will send thousands of controllers into retirement, affecting safety. More...

NTSB URGES FAA ACTION ON CRJ FIRES
The NTSB says the FAA should immediately address a potentially catastrophic problem lurking in the avionics bays of Bombardier CRJ-200 regional jets. Board investigators found that on rainy or snowy days, water gets on the floor beside the open door and can seep into the avionics bay causing electrical contactors to catch fire. They've done so seven times so far (six in the last six months) and, although there have been no fatal accidents, the hazards are obvious. In some instances, the screens up front have gone blank, at least temporarily and, well, fire is just a bad thing all around to have in an airliner cabin. More...

BLAKEY GRILLED ON FEES, FIELDS, AND FAA FUNDING
FAA Administrator Marion Blakey says she can't tell the Senate whether user fees are planned for all or part of general aviation. Blakey told the Senate aviation subcommittee that because the funding package is currently under review by the administration, she couldn't talk about what, if any, user fees may be imposed (although we suspect that if they weren't being proposed she'd be able to say that). But she did say the current method of funding doesn't work. "At this point, our concern is that we are able to tie the costs of the system to the revenue and come up with a stable, cost-based system that is more equitable than the current system," she told the subcommittee. (Hear her own words in an AVweb audiocast that will be available for download April 7.) More...

JAVELIN BACK ON THE BENCH
Those of you who hoped the flying prototype of ATG's Javelin jet would make an appearance at Sun 'n Fun will be disappointed: The company says the plane will not take a break from its testing regimen. Currently, the aircraft is back in the hangar to get ready for more advanced flight tests. The prototype has made several flights, all of them deemed successful. The latest was the first with the gear retracted. Now it's being fitted with equipment to better analyze and record in-flight data as part of the test program. "Once completed, these enhancements will allow tests pilots to further expand the flight envelope with higher speeds and altitudes and actuate the flaps through their full range," says ATG. "Further flight tests will verify the prototype's predicted field and climb performance data." More...

FIGHTER CREW HELPS KING AIR
There are times when having an Air Force fighter track you down and form up on your wing is a good thing. The crew of a King Air lost all of its instruments except the altimeter on approach to Glasgow last week. Unfortunately, the British weather was living up to its reputation and finding an airport, let alone landing there, was out of the question. A nearby Royal Air Force Tornado crew heard the chatter and was summoned to help. The aerial ballet that followed took almost two hours before its happy ending. The fighter formed up on the King Air and used hand signals (the unspecified failure also knocked out the radios). More...

SPECIAL ISSUANCE MEDICAL CERTIFICATES EXPEDITED
The FAA has agreed to take some steps that should reduce the backlog and wait times many pilots experience when they need a special issuance medical certificate. With help (and pressure) from a special committee of EAA representatives, the agency has increased the number of doctors able to review special issuance applications and also expanded the list of conditions that don't require the file being sent to the FAA for review. "Eventually, nearly every pilot may face a choice between giving up flying or requesting a special issuance medical certification," EAA said in a press release. "That's why EAA has committed to finding a solution to the long, costly and sometimes exasperating process to an issue that affects or will affect many of its members." More...

GREAT ESCAPE PILOT DIES
A former RAF pilot who cheated death much more than most of us ever will finally passed away at the ripe old age of 102. Sqn. Leader Eric Foster died peacefully at his home in England, outliving Steve McQueen, the actor that played him in The Great Escape, by more than 50 years. McQueen died of lung cancer in 1980 at the age of 50. Foster's never-say-die attitude when it came to his distaste for German prisoner of war camps prompted his legendary status and was an influence in the creation of the movie. After surviving the crash of his Wellington bomber in Germany in 1940, Foster escaped from various enemy prison camps a total of seven times. More...

ON THE FLY...
Russians join the space tourism race...
New VP, Greg Pecoraro, joins AOPA...
Kit helps homebuilders certify aircraft...
Tri-Motor going on Eastern tour. More...

AVWEB AUDIO
AVweb's latest audio newscast is available today. Click here to listen.

Hear FAA spokesman Greg Martin in his own words as air traffic control contract negotiations reach new levels of dissonance. Listen to an update on the possibility of user fees for general aviation as Jane Garvey talks to Senators, hear Columbia's plan to stir up the air show this week at Sun 'n Fun; NTSB's call for action as CRJ's show a potential for fire; the passing of The Great Escape pilot, and more.

If you missed AVweb's Friday interview with Diamond Aircraft's Peter Mauer, find it online, here.

Subscribe to AVweb audiocasts and receive them automatically, or check this spot each Monday and Friday to download them individually for listening on your iPod, while sitting at your computer, or traveling with any MP3 player. More...

READER FEEDBACK ON AVWEB'S NEWS COVERAGE AND FEATURE ARTICLES ...
http://www.avweb.com/avmail/

Reader mail this week about anti-missile systems, aging aircraft, ATC staffing and more.

More...

NEW ARTICLES AND FEATURES ON AVWEB
PROBABLE CAUSE
Probable Cause #3: Trapped On Top
There are some among us who like to tempt fate by skirting the rules. But a Bonanza pilot who did that got more than he bargained for, as this report of Probable Cause explains. This report first appeared in AVweb's sister publication, IFR Refresher.

_____________
WHAT'S NEW
What's New for April
This month AVweb's survey of the latest products and services for pilots, mechanics and aircraft owners brings you a water-repellant glass treatment, window locks, an IFR communications DVD 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...

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...

FBO OF THE WEEK: BANYAN AIR SERVICE, FORT LAUDERDALE
AVweb's "FBO of the Week" contest is sponsored by Aviation Safety magazine, the monthly journal of risk management and accident prevention.

Thanks to all the pilots and AVweb readers who took time to nominate their favorite FBOs in our "FBO of the Week" contest. Today's ribbon finds its target in Florida.

AVweb's "FBO of the Week" ribbon goes to BANYAN AIR SERVICE at FXE in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Jim Alkire wrote us to say, "WE FLY OUR CESSNA 180 INTO FXE FOR OUR ANNUAL CRUISE VACATION AND HAVE REPEATEDLY RECIEVED OUTSTANDING SERVICE AND PROFESSIONALISM FROM BANYAN. OUR RENTAL CAR IS PULLED UP TO THE PLANE AS THE PROP STOPS. THEIR LINEMEN SEEM GENUINELY HAPPY THAT WE ARE THERE..."

Keep those nominations coming.

Click here to nominate your favorite FBO and here for complete contest rules

SHORT FINAL...
Overheard while being vectored to the ILS 10 at KMSY the other day:

Approach: Jet 123, maintain 9,000.

Jet 123: Um, ok, we're gonna go through it.

Approach: That's ok, climb and maintain 10,000.

Jet 123: Uh, we're on our way back down to 9,000, now.

Approach: Well, 10 is available, you're welcome to climb and maintain 10,000.

Jet 123: Why are you doing this to us?

Approach: Well, I'm trying to separate you from traffic behind you, if that's OK.

Jet 123: That's fine, but we just zero-g'd an aircraft with a US Senator aboard. We'd rather not squash him, now.

[pause]

Approach: If I'd known that, I'd have sent you back down to 5,000 first. 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 Russ Niles (bio).

Click here to send a letter to the editor. (Please let us know if your letter is not intended for publication.)

Comments or questions about the news should be sent here.

Have a product or service to advertise on AVweb? A question on marketing? Send it to AVweb's sales team.

If you're having trouble reading this newsletter in its HTML-rich format (or if you'd prefer a lighter, simpler format for your PDA or handheld device), there's also a text-only version of AVwebFlash. For complete instructions on making the switch, click here.

Freedom, independence, responsibility.