ECLIPSE, UNITED VLJ TRAINING PACT DISSOLVED
On Tuesday night, Eclipse Aviation president and CEO Vern Raburn confirmed in a letter to customers that the start-up aircraft manufacturer and United Airlines have mutually agreed to terminate their training program partnership for Eclipse 500 pilots. This change comes right on the heels of a supplier switch for the very light jet's Avio avionics system. Raburn advises customers to take the latest news in stride: "We are currently in negotiations with an exceptional new training partner that will deliver on the Eclipse vision of comprehensive, scenario-based flight training through the curriculum we co-developed with United…we are in the final stages of a detailed multi-month selection process [and] plan to announce our new training partner within the next few weeks." More...

A BETTER BRAIN FOR THE ECLIPSE 500
One week after revealing a divorce from Avidyne, Eclipse Aviation on Monday announced that Innovative Solutions & Support (IS&S), Chelton Flight Systems, Garmin, Honeywell and PS Engineering will be its new partners for the Eclipse 500's improved avionics system. Dubbed Avio NG (for next generation), the upgraded version of the very light jet's deeply integrated avionics system has been in development "for many months and is scheduled for production and delivery this summer." A hot-bench Avio NG suite is currently being evaluated, and a test Eclipse 500 will fly with the new system in "about 35 days." Eclipse promises a faster timeline for Avio NG functionality; according to Eclipse, it was Avidyne's failure to deliver functionality on time that caused the rift between the two companies. Aircraft delivered with the Avidyne avionics will be retrofitted with Avio NG by year-end. The retrofit is expected to take less than 10 days to install. More...

DAYJET'S FIRST FLIGHTS 90 DAYS AWAY
Bolstered by a $50 million infusion of new funding, DayJet said this week it expects to start offering air-taxi jet service in five Florida cities by the end of June. “This funding is the keystone to the operational launch of our ‘Per-Seat, On-Demand’ jet service,” said Ed Iacobucci, president and CEO of DayJet. “With the necessary capital now in place, we are just months away from delivering regional business travelers something they have never had -- accessible and affordable mobility between difficult-to-reach regional destinations.” The infusion of cash means that construction of DayJet's facilities at Tallahassee Regional Airport's Flightline Aviation will begin within the next 30 days, the Tallahassee Democrat reported Wednesday. The on-demand, per-seat operator’s reservation system will be online within the next 30 days, and DayJet’s fleet of Eclipse 500 jets should start arriving about that same time, according to company COO John Staten. More...

FAA REVEALS 10-YEAR CONTROLLER HIRING PLAN
The FAA on Wednesday released its updated plan to hire air traffic controllers over the next 10 years. According to the FAA, it will hire and train more than 15,000 controllers over the next decade, starting with nearly 1,400 new controllers this year. Instead of listing a fixed optimum staffing number for each of the FAA's 314 facilities, as in the past, the new plan provides a range of numbers to give the agency greater flexibility. "Air traffic levels are very dynamic," said FAA Administrator Marion Blakey. "It is critical that we staff facilities based on actual and forecasted traffic demands. We are confident that the new controller hires will be able to meet the needs of the future." The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) was quick to dispute the plan. More...

AOPA CRUNCHES THE NUMBERS FOR FAA FUNDING PLAN
Staffers at AOPA have been sorting through the FAA's funding proposal to figure out exactly what all the proposed changes would cost. They've found that if the FAA gets its way, fliers of piston-engine aircraft would see their fees increase $100 million per year -- more than triple what they pay today. Fees for turbine-powered GA aircraft would also more than triple, adding up to an extra $868 million per year. The big winners would be the "legacy" airlines, whose taxes would be cut by more than one-fourth, saving them about $1.7 billion a year. The low-cost airlines would see a 15-percent cut, saving about $286 million per year. "It's no wonder the airlines love this proposal so much," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. "Not only would they pay less, they'd have more control over who uses the air traffic control system, and they'd have the majority vote in setting the fees they charge themselves and others." More...

RACCA, HAI JOINS RANKS AGAINST USER FEES
The Regional Air Cargo Carriers Association (RACCA) and Helicopter Association International (HAI) recently joined ranks with other aviation groups to take a stand against the FAA's proposed change to a system funded by user fees. In a statement to members of Congress, RACCA said the proposal would triple the fuel taxes paid by its members. The group also said the cost of collecting new fees for GA operations and services would be prohibitive. "If implemented, the proposal puts the FAA in the position of being a tax collector, diluting its mandated focus on aviation safety issues," according to RACCA. Meanwhile, last week at Heli-Expo HAI President Matthew Zuccaro said his organization is "strenuously opposed" to the FAA's user-fee proposal, charging that the fourfold fuel tax increase and other additional untold fees are "not acceptable." More...

EPIC AIRCRAFT TO UNVEIL TWO NEW DESIGNS
Epic Aircraft will introduce two new aircraft at the Sun 'n Fun air show coming up in Florida next month, the company said on Wednesday. One will be a single-engine jet and the other one a prop airplane, but the company is releasing few other details as of yet. "We'll have two wind-tunnel models, each about 10 feet long" at the show, company spokeswoman Francoise Labbe told AVweb. The company will also reveal drawings and other details then. "One of the aircraft will be flying into Oshkosh in July, and the other one should be flying sometime in the third quarter," Labbe added. Both new aircraft models, which began as clean-sheet designs in December 2006, will first be sold as experimental kits "for market verification and systems testing," Labbe said, and later will follow Epic's twin-engine jet through the certification process, starting with Transport Canada and then the FAA. More...

SECOND SPORT-JET IN PROGRESS
"We're building the next plane same as the last," Sport-Jet founder Bob Bornhofen told AVweb Tuesday. With the fuselage currently in construction, that aircraft should be in the air "in 10 or 11 months." The project to produce a $1 million certified four-seat single-engine jet that would cruise at 340 knots at 25,000 feet suffered a major setback when the original proof-of-concept aircraft on June 22, 2006, crashed after 25 hours of otherwise "virtually flawless" flight testing. Test pilot James Stewart survived the crash without injury and has stayed on with the project. "We had to convince some financial types that it wasn't the airplane," Bornhofen said, but while the program could always use more money, funding has been secured to see the build of the second aircraft through to completion. The new aircraft will incorporate the design's originally intended aluminum wings and further optimize cabin space. (The original proof-of-concept aircraft flew with composite wings due to a problem with a supplier, according to Bornhofen.) "We haven't found anything that would prohibit the plane from gaining certification," said Bornhofen, who aims to reach that goal in two to three years. More...

WANTED: AVIATION EDITOR AND WRITER
Belvoir Media Group is seeking an aviation editor/writer to join the staff of our Sarasota-based print and online magazine division, including Aviation Consumer, Aviation Safety, IFR, IFR Refresher and Light Plane Maintenance. We're looking for a CFI or CFII with a proven track record in writing, reporting and editing to assume editorship of one of our titles. Electronic page make-up and Web skills plus higher flight ratings are a plus, but we offer training to the right individual. If you are that individual, contact us by clicking here. More...

DISTRAUGHT FATHER'S AIRPLANE CRASH BELIEVED DELIBERATE
Investigators are treating an airplane crash on Monday as a murder-suicide. Eric Johnson, 47, of Bedford, Ind., a student pilot, rented a single-engine Cessna from his local airport, took his eight-year-old daughter, Emily, with him, and crashed into the roof of his ex-mother-in-law's house. Nobody in the house was hurt. Johnson and his wife had divorced last year. The Indianapolis Star reported that he had taken the girl on a vacation to Cancun, and was supposed to drop her off at school Monday morning, where her mother would later pick her up. Instead, he called his ex-wife and said he planned to keep the girl, the ex-wife's mother told reporters. "I've got her, and you're not going to get her," he reportedly said. More...

ANOTHER AIRLINER CRASHES IN INDONESIA
Investigators recovered the flight data and cockpit voice voice recorders from a Garuda Airlines Boeing 737-400 that crashed and erupted in flames while landing at Jogyakarta Airport in Indonesia on Wednesday. At least 23 people trapped inside the burning wreckage were killed, while more than 115 others on board escaped through emergency exits, authorities and witnesses said. Survivors said the narrowbody "shook violently" as it approached the airport at a high rate of speed. The 737 overran the runway and bounced three times before plowing through a fence and coming to rest in a rice field. More...

THE PUBLIC VIEW OF GA, VIA C-SPAN
When the general public thinks about general aviation, we know what they usually think first -- weekend fliers in dangerous little airplanes, crashing into buildings and making useless noise. But now there is a new icon for GA -- thousands of dangerous little jets, darkening the skies and clogging up already-overloaded airports. Those concerns were lobbed to FAA chief Marion Blakey on C-SPAN's Sunday-morning "Newsmakers" show this week. "Can the system handle 5,000 more planes?" asked Alan Levin of USA Today. Blakey said she hopes that very light jets will make good use of smaller airports that now are underutilized. She also explained that congestion will be relieved by the next-generation air traffic control system now in the works, and argued that her proposed changes in revenue collection are the best way to fund it. More...

NEW TECHNOLOGY TO ASSIST NORTH SEA HELICOPTER OPS
Flying helicopters to offshore oil rigs is known around the world as a dangerous undertaking. Weather, heavy loads and rough seas all create a challenging task for pilots. That task will now be a little easier for pilots in the North Sea, known for stormy weather and strong winds, and home to an active offshore industry that supports more than 25,000 helicopter flights per year. New technology from Sensis Corp. will enable air traffic services to track helicopter traffic to and from oil platforms from close to the helicopter deck up to 10,000 feet, covering 25,000 square miles of airspace off the coast of Scotland. The new system will locate and identify helicopters using sensors placed on oil platforms. "It is a less expensive yet more effective solution than traditional radar," said Marc Viggiano, president of Sensis Air Traffic Systems. More...

MOOSE CHARGES HELICOPTER
A moose that had been shot with a tranquilizer dart by a wildlife biologist in a hovering helicopter charged the aircraft, damaging the tail rotor, The Associated Press reported on Monday. "The moose would start to move, and then the helicopter would back off and try to keep the moose out in the open," Doug Larsen, regional supervisor for the Division of Wildlife Conservation in Anchorage, Alaska, told the AP. The intent was to use the helicopter to keep the moose out from the water so that it wouldn't drown when the tranquilizer kicked in. But instead of moving away from the helicopter, the moose suddenly charged. The pilot landed safely. The moose was badly hurt by the spinning rotor, and the biologist euthanized it. More...

ALIEN TECHNOLOGY SOLUTION TO AVIATION POLLUTION?
A former Canadian defense minister, worried about pollution of the atmosphere by fossil-fuel emissions, has asked governments around the world to stop hoarding their secret alien technologies and use them to stem global warming. "We need to persuade governments to come clean on what they know," Paul Hellyer, 83, told theOttawa Citizen. "Some of us suspect they know quite a lot, and it might be enough to save our planet if applied quickly enough." Presumably, the advanced technology, gleaned from captured UFOs, would help airplanes to fly with less pollution, and maybe save money, too. More...

ON THE FLY
Final AD requires seat modifications on single-engine Cessnas...
The mysterious wreckage of a Cessna 180 has been identified...
A fire destroyed aircraft belonging to Iowa's Aviation Museum...
AOPA's ASF has updated its online Skyspotter course...
FAA needs better data on air-ambulance safety, says the GAO...
What's your favorite aviation movie? EAA wants you to vote.
More...

AVWEB'S NEWSTIPS ADDRESS ...
Our best stories start with you. If you've heard something that 130,000 pilots might want to know about, tell us. Submit news tips via email to newstips@avweb.com. What have you heard? More...

AVWEBBIZ: AVWEB'S BUSINESS AVIATION NEWSLETTER
HAVE YOU SIGNED UP yet for AVweb's NO-COST weekly business newsletter, AVwebBiz? 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. Sign up today at http://www.avweb.com/profile/. More...

NEW ARTICLES AND FEATURES ON AVWEB

COLUMN INDEX

Say Again? #72: Flight of the Freight Dog
Freight dogs know how to work the system. Unfortunately, other new pilots and controllers think the freight dog way is a safe way. Think again.

Probable Cause #27: Never Established
A Seneca pilot crashes 2,000 feet from the runway on a low IFR night. The pilot may have thought he was proficient, but was he really?

More...

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. 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...

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 LoPresti's R.J. Siegel. And AVweb's podcast index includes interviews with Eclipse Aviation's Vern Raburn; B-29 restoration program manager Cliff Gaston; NBAA's Ed Bolen; Alaska pilot Cable Wells; 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.; and NATA President Jim Coyne. In Monday's newscast, hear about the highlights of Heli-Expo2007, production problems looming at Eclipse Aviation, lawsuits flyingin wake of the Cory Lidle crash, Jacksonville reconsidering its ban onbuilding kit airplanes in garages and more. Remember: In AVweb's podcasts, you'll hear things you won't find anywhere else.

Brought to you by Bose Corporation. More...

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: PREDICTING THE SUCCESS OF AIR TAXI SERVICES
On-demand, per-seat air-taxi service on very light jets is expected to start this summer. We'd like to hear your predictions on how successful these services might be. (Please send us an e-mail if you have more thoughts on this topic.)

Plus: What's the biggest problem faced by local airports? Results of last week's QOTW poll. More...

FBO OF THE WEEK: PREMIER JET

AVweb's "FBO of the Week" ribbon goes to Premier Jet at KCRQ in Carlsbad, Calif.

AVweb reader Douglas Roberson said the staff gets what it takes to have a successful FBO.

"When I arrived they gave me the red carpet treatment and parked me right up front and met me when my door opened, with a friendly smile and a welcome. Then the service began: they asked me what I needed for my overnight, and within a few minutes they had me a hotel room and a ride for me. The next morning they picked me up, without a phone call, at the time I requested. When I arrived, my aircraft was positioned up front ready to load. They treated me as if I was flying a jet. They get it!! They know with the advent of the very light/personal jets that a lot of their future customers will be buying jet-A. But in my opinion I believe the staff truly desires to treat there customers the way they themselves would like to be treated."

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!

PICTURE OF THE WEEK
Each week, we go through dozens (and sometimes hundreds) of reader-submitted photos and pick the very best to share with you on Thursday mornings. The top photos are featured on AVweb's home page, and one photo that stands above the others is awarded an AVweb baseball cap as our "Picture of the Week."

Once again, our electronic mailbag is full to overflowing with reader-submitted photos of planes, airports, pilots, passengers, gliders, RC gizmos, and pretty much anything else that you could get off the ground and into the air. Donald Reid of Bumpass, Virginia has submitted photos to us before, but this serene (if damp) morning photo from last year's 10th Annual Virginia Regional EAA Fly-In makes him an official "POTW" Contest winner. Thanks, Don — watch your mailbox for a hat package in the next few days! More...

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