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GOD
REALLY WAS TROUBLED KING AIR CREW'S COPILOT
A King Air B200
landed Friday at Cape Giardeau, Mo., with a cracked windshield, buckled
skins and much of its horizontal stabilizer gone, but the beginning of
this story is just as interesting. John Taylor was acting as Flight
Nurse aboard an aeromedical helicopter in the area that day transporting
a specialty team when his pilot said he saw something nearby fall and
hit the ground. Taylor and his pilot looked around and quickly diverted
to avoid falling debris. There was a King Air almost directly above
them, and it was in trouble. At 27,000 feet, the King Air crew had
experienced windshield failure. Sheldon Stone, the 4,200-hour ATP-rated
pilot at the controls, and copilot Adam Moore donned their oxygen masks
and depressurized the aircraft to prevent the windshield from blowing
out. St one twisted the valve to begin the flow of oxygen but felt it
wasn't coming. And that's when things got really bad. AVweb's Glenn
Pew spoke with Taylor about what he saw. Click
here to listen. More... FAA
BUDGET DETAILS TODAY
We should find out today just what all
the FAA’s political maneuvering and posturing of the past year or
so were intended to do as the Bush administration releases its 2008
budget request. Somewhere in those trillions of dollars is the
government’s plan to reshape the way the FAA is funded, and it has
aviation groups on pins and needles. It’s pretty obvious from the
way FAA Administrator Marion Blakey has been talking in the past 18
months that some form of user-fee system will be proposed, and
that’s sure to dominate the political agendas of the alphabet
groups this year. More... |
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BIZAV
GROUP BLASTS FAA POSITION
The National Business Aviation
Association has challenged FAA Administrator Marion Blakey to prove that
the current system of funding the FAA is flawed. But in a news release issued last week, NBAA President Ed
Bolen says the agency has declined those overtures and now appears
determined to overhaul a system he says works just fine. "Some of the
things said by the Administrator seemed at odds with decades of funding
experience and the FAA's own information," Bolen said, referring to
Blakey's response to questions last Tuesday at a National Press Club
luncheon. For about 18 months, Blakey has been saying the current method
of funding the FAA, through a GA fuel tax and airline ticket taxes,
doesn't tie revenue to expenses and won't provide the funding needed to
modernize the air traffic system. As the September deadline for FAA
authorization looms closer, Bolen and other GA leaders have become more
strident in their opposition. More... AOPA
LAUNCHES PREEMPTIVE STRIKE
Last week AOPA President Phil
Boyer was in Washington, D.C., to brief the national media on the dark
days that lie ahead if FAA Administrator Marion Blakey and the Bush
administration hold sway on user fees. Boyer told the National Press Club that the real
agenda is to cut Congress out of the decision-making process and to hand
the National Airspace System over to the airlines. "They are attempting
an end-around of Congress to put the world's safest, most efficient and
largest air traffic control system into the hands of airline barons
who've flown their own businesses into bankruptcy," Boyer said. As
backup, Boyer brought along Ken Mead, the former Department of
Transportation inspector general. More... USER
FEES NOT A DONE DEAL
Just because the Bush administration and
FAA Administrator Marion Blakey want them doesn’t necessarily mean
they’ll get the user-fee structure they seem to favor. The current
incarnation of Congress is feeling its oats these days, and all the
groundwork laid by the alphabet groups to curry favor with key members
could pay off in those hallowed halls during the coming hearings and
debates. According to Air Transport World, a key congressional aide is
predicting the funding proposal could stall because the
Democratic-controlled House isn’t convinced that wholesale changes
are necessary. David Heymsfeld, majority staff director for the House
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, told the American Bar
Association’s Forum on Air and Space Law that the airlines’
motives are questioned by some. More... |
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ECLIPSE
500 PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENTS GO OVER THE TOP
In a letter sent Thursday to Eclipse Aviation customers,
Vice President of Customer and Product Support Ken McNamara had good
news to share regarding the performance enhancements for the Eclipse 500
very light jet. He said the company has "demonstrated that we have
exceeded our performance guarantees of speed and range" for the Pratt &
Whitney PW610F-powered twinjet. According to the letter, N505EA –
which has been retrofitted to the so-called “B model”
configuration -- flew last week with "production-quality performance
modifications" and achieved 372 ktas (two knots more than the 370-knot
guarantee) and a maximum NBAA IFR range of 1,156 nm (above the planned
1,125 nm with four occupants). "An important fact to remember is that
although we have exceeded our targeted performance guarantees, we are
not changing the guarantees," McNamara notes. "You will most likely see
better then 'book' performance in your aircraft due to the better then
forecasted improvements. But we are not guaranteeing the increased
performance." More... ASPEN
AVIONICS, ECLIPSE AVIATION SETTLE SUIT
Eclipse Aviation will
get a 1-percent stake in Aspen Avionics under the out-of-court settlement of a suit launched by
Eclipse late last year. As AVweb reported in December, Aspen founders
Peter Lyons and Jeff Bethel were sued by Eclipse, which claimed rights
to the AT300 Hazard Awareness Display, a nifty little moving map and
terrain awareness device that fits a three-inch hole in the panel and
replaces the conventional vertical speed indicator (there's an
electronic one built in). Eclipse claimed the pair developed the device,
which earned technical standard order (TSO) status in 2005, while
working for Eclipse and in violation of an agreement that anything
invented on company time was the company's to exploit, charges that
Lyons and Bethel denied. More... |
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PILOTS
OF VINTAGE PLANES UNHURT IN COLLISION
It’s not often
that both pilots walk away from a midair collision. It’s rarer
still when the airplanes involved are 60-year-old wire and wood antiques
and at least one of the pilots is older than the aircraft. It happened
Saturday when Ralph Baxter, an 82-year-old former airline and Navy
pilot, was practicing aerobatics in his 1940 Waco biplane off the coast
of San Pedro, Calif. Somehow the Waco’s tail came in contact with
the prop on a 1942 Stearman whose pilot hasn’t been identified.
According to the Fresno Bee, the Stearman was able to get back to
Torrance Airport for a safe landing, but Baxter opted for an emergency
landing on the beach. More... OPEN
AIR TO GIVE D.C. ON-DEMAND AIR TAXI
On Jan. 24, Open Air was
granted a Part 135 air carrier certification to operate its fleet of
brand-new Cirrus SR22s for on-demand, air-taxi service out of Montgomery
County Airpark (GAI) in Gaithersburg, Md., about 20 miles outside of
Washington, D.C. Flying from the back yard of arguably the most
sensitive and restrictive airspace in the country, Open Air's "exclusive
air-taxi service" offers "nonstop, and 'door-to -door' concierge service
throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast," according to a company press
release. The company touts the SR22's safety (the piston single comes
standard with a ballistic parachute) and comfort features (leather,
climate control, XM satellite radio and Bose noise-canceling headsets)
and also notes the aircraft accommodates up to three passengers and one
"FAA-certified airline captain." More... |
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Do You Know the Cold Facts
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INTERNATIONAL
BID FOR MARTIN MARS AIRCRAFT
An international effort has emerged to ensure that
the last two Martin Mars flying boats can be enjoyed by generations of
aviation buffs to come. The massive aircraft, which have had a
spectacularly successful career as air tankers for the past 40 years,
would become museum pieces at opposite ends of the continent under an
arrangement reached between the British Columbia Aviation Council and
the Glenn L. Martin Maryland Aviation Museum. The two groups are jointly
bidding for the aircraft, which were built at the site of the museum in
Middle River, Md. The plan is to fly one of the aircraft for display in
Maryland and leave the other at its existing base on Sproat Lake, near
Port Alberni, B.C. More... COURT
BATTLE OVER MISSILE-STRUCK CARGO JET
The DHL A300
that was hit by a missile before enduring a miraculous no-hydraulics
landing at Baghdad Airport in November 2004 might not survive the court
battle that has blown up around it. The courier company apparently
walked away from the aircraft, which, in addition to a rather large hole
in the left wing courtesy of the missile, suffered some runway rash and
sand damage in its inelegant but ultimately safe return to earth. Enter
a couple of U.S. companies who figured they could fix the damage and
resell the airplane for a tidy profit. But, according to a story in the
Burlington Free Press, the deal has gone sour and
the mostly-fixed airplane is on the ramp at Baghdad International
Airport, where it’s an inviting terrorist target.
More... |
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situational awareness afforded by XM WX Satellite Weather allows pilots
to enjoy their journeys with more confidence and comfort than ever
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ON THE
FLY
Airport film activity worth $590 million in Los
Angeles…
Nuclear Regulatory Commission decides against aircraft
protection at nuke plants…
Kestrel to be built in Abu
Dhabi…
One whooping crane survives Florida storm...
Vendors
submit ADS-B proposals. More... CLARIFICATION
In
Thursday's issue, the Age-65 story (FAA Chief: Controller Age Limit "Law Of The Land")
referred to the drafting of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that will
change the retirement age for airline pilots. FAA spokeswoman Alison
Duquette told AVweb the role of the Aviation Rulemaking Committee
will be to provide specific economic data to the FAA, not to draft the
NPRM. The actual NPRM will be drafted by FAA staff. More... |
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Columbia Introduces 2007 Models
The 2007 Columbias have arrived. Fresh for this year are new,
dynamic paint schemes for both the Columbia 350 and 400,
as well as a host of thoughtful and unique features for the discerning
aircraft owner. See how your new Columbia will look with the
interactive online Paint Selector.
Just go online and click on the
"Paint Your Passion" icon. 
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WELCOME
TO THE NEW FACE OF AVWEB
AVweb.com, the world’s best Web site for
general aviation news and information, is now even better thanks to a
redesigned home page that was unveiled this weekend. The revamped home
page has more content, easier navigation, a more user-friendly podcast
interface and better graphics to complement AVweb's real-time
general aviation news, incisive commentary and unparalleled feature
reporting. More... |
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Oregon Aero Defines Aviation
Upgrades
/up-grade/ verb: to raise equipment to a higher
standard by adding or replacing components. Oregon Aero makes
Painless, Safer, Quieter™ upgrades for aviation equipment —
from seats to headsets — that improve your flying experience. You
don't need new equipment; you just need an Oregon Aero®
upgrade.
Visit OregonAero.com to learn
about Oregon Aero® upgrades and other products. 
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AVWEB
AUDIO NEWS
AVweb posts audio news on Mondays, plus a new
in-depth interview each Friday. In last Friday's
podcast, you'll find an interview with Alaska pilot Cable Wells
about ADS-B. And AVweb's podcast
index includes interviews with NATCA's Paul Rinaldi; AOPA's Kathleen
Vascouselos; Maule Air's Mikel Boorom; Professsional Aviation
Maintenance Association president Brian Finnegan; aviation forecaster
Richard Aboulafia; NORAD; Bill Lear, Jr.; NATA President Jim Coyne;
Eclipse Aviation's Vern Raburn; and Honda Aircraft's Jeffrey Smith. In
today's
podcast, AVweb interviews Open Air President Michael Kline.
Remember: In AVweb's podcasts, you'll hear things you won't find
anywhere else.
Brought to you by Bose Corporation. More... |
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Tired of the High Cost of Fuel? GAMIjectors Are
the Answer!
Don't be grounded by sky-high gas prices. Install GAMIjectors,
and you could see up to a 20% cut in your aircraft's fuel bill. Balanced
fuel/air ratios make your aircraft's engine run smoother, cooler, and
more efficiently. Call 888-FLY-GAMI, or
order a kit online for your Continental
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FBO
OF THE WEEK: DB AVIATION
 AVweb's "FBO of the Week"
ribbon goes to DB
Aviation at KUGN in Waukegan, Ill. AVweb reader David
Stone said the facility's staff literally gives him a warm and fuzzy
feeling inside. "I am in and out of KUGN about four times a year,
so the guys at DB Aviation do not really know me.I showed up on a cold
breezy day, and asked for my Tanis heater to be plugged in. When I
walked out on the ramp to depart, my plane was nowhere to be found. With
a look of bewilderment on my face, the lineman asked if I was driving
the Arrow. I said yes, and he said to look in the hanger. It was nice to
jump into a 50+ degree airplane when it was 10 degrees out. DB is always
great, with a crew car often available." Keep those nominations
coming. For complete contest rules, click here. AVweb is
actively seeking out the best FBOs in the country and another one,
submitted by you, will be spotlighted here next Monday!
More... |
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ASO — A Better Way to Sell Your Aircraft
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SHORT
FINAL
En route from San Antonio to Kerville, Texas, I let
my 19-year-old private-pilot-rated daughter run the
radios: Piper Six Seven Romeo: Center, Piper Six Seven
Romeo. Center: Piper Six Seven Romeo, go ahead. Piper Six
Seven Romeo: Request flight following. Center: Piper Six
Seven Romeo, state your location, altitude, and destination. Piper
Six Seven Romeo: [After a long pause] Uh, San
Antonio. Center: [After pause] Piper Six Seven Romeo, when you
figure out where you are and where you want to go, give us a call
back. More... |
MEET
THE AVWEBFLASH TEAM
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
Contributing Editors Russ
Niles (bio)
and Glenn Pew (bio)
and Editor In Chief Chad
Trautvetter. 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. Aviate, navigate, communicate.
More... |
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