FIVE KILLED IN FLORIDA WHEN CESSNA 310 HITS HOUSES
A Cessna 310 crashed on approach to Orlando (Fla.) Sanford International Airport about 8:35 a.m. on Tuesday, killing both people on board and an adult and two children on the ground. Three other people were seriously burned in fires that affected nearby houses. The pilot, who had departed from Daytona Beach and was headed for Orlando, reported smoke in the cockpit, declared an emergency, and was attempting to land when the crash occurred about a mile or two north of the runway, according to reports from the NTSB and Associated Press. Dr. Bruce Kennedy, 54, of Daytona Beach, Fla., husband of a NASCAR official, and Michael Klemm, 56, a pilot for NASCAR Aviation, were on board. The victims on the ground were identified as law student Janise Joseph-Woodard, 24; her 6-month-old son; and their four-year-old neighbor, Gabriela Dechat, according to the NTSB. More...

IN-FLIGHT FIRE: WHAT TO DO?
Tuesday morning's fatal crash of a Cessna 310 in Sanford, Fla., soon after the pilot reported smoke in the cockpit, should be a reminder to pilots of how fast smoke and fire can travel in an airplane. According to a January 2006 article in AVweb sister publication Aviation Safety, "an in-flight fire is a bona fide emergency … [and] you could have a matter of seconds before the fire incapacitates you or causes catastrophic engine or airframe failure, or more than enough time to find the nearest airport and land." In any case, time is of the essence during an in-flight fire since "the elapsed time between the first indication of a hidden fire and the point at which an aircraft is catastrophically uncontrollable has ranged between seven and 35 minutes, with an average of 20 minutes," according to a study referenced in the story. Possible indications of an in-flight fire are odor, smoke, component failure or uncommanded operation, sudden drop in fuel flow on fuel-injected engines, tripped breakers, hot spots, and/or electromagnetic interference. The article also gives some sage advice on what to do if an in-flight fire should strike your airplane. More...

CESSNA TO PROCEED WITH LSA PROGRAM
Cessna Aircraft on Tuesday greenlighted its light sport aircraft (LSA) program and said it plans to unveil a full-scale mock-up and program details at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis., later this month. (Watch AVweb's Cessna LSA video from Sun 'n Fun.) The move to commit to the project comes just shy of a year after Cessna publicly announced it was working on an LSA concept airplane at AirVenture 2006. "After conducting extensive market research, it is clear to us there is a great need for this aircraft as we strive to drive down the cost of flying and learning to fly," said Cessna Chairman, President and CEO Jack Pelton. "We believe this aircraft will make a major contribution to stimulating new pilot starts and will encourage already-licensed pilots to continue to fly because it will be more affordable." In making the announcement, the Cessna chief noted: "We have developed a business case that makes sense; we have incorporated several innovative features into the design; and we believe we can deliver the finest aircraft in the category, combined with our extensive customer service, flight training and distribution networks, at an attractive price." More...

NEW LSAS COULD BREAK PRICE BARRIER
Many potential buyers of light sport aircraft have been disappointed that these "entry-level" airplanes have gone on the market for $100,000 and up. But that could be changing soon, says Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association (LAMA) Chairman Dan Johnson. He expects that at least two ultralight manufacturers will seek LSA approval for their designs by the end of this year, and those aircraft would likely sell for about $50,000 or less. CGS Aviation, which builds the Hawk, and M-Squared Aviation of Alabama, have said they will enter the LSA market, Johnson noted. What about the effect of Cessna's announcement on Tuesday that it will produce an LSA? "No surprise there," Johnson said. Most observers have been expecting that it would for some time. "For the top five or 10 LSA manufacturers, I think they will see this as a boost. It legitimizes and validates the LSA concept. It won't hurt them, and may help them sell more airplanes," he said. More...

CESSNA EXPANDS LSA PRESENCE WITH SPORT EXPO SPONSORSHIP
The US Sport Aviation Expo, which is held annually in Sebring, Fla., announced on Wednesday that Cessna Aircraft Co. has agreed to be the sponsor of Expo 2008, to be held January 17 to 20. "We are extremely proud to have Cessna, the primary manufacturer in the general aviation community, as our prime sponsor," said Robert Wood, chairman of the the Sebring show. "We have worked for nearly four years to have our event recognized as the stellar event for LSA. Having Cessna agree to be named as our sponsor certainly adds credibility to our effort. We are proud to be associated with an aviation manufacturer of such reputation.” Cessna also announced this week that it will manufacture a light sport aircraft, with more details to come at EAA AirVenture in less than two weeks. More...

FLORIDA REGIONAL AIRLINE FACES VLJ COMPETITION
Gulfstream International, a regional airline based in Florida with no affiliation with business aircraft maker Gulfstream Aerospace, operates a fleet of Embraer and Beech twin turboprops in scheduled airline service throughout the Sunshine State. But with DayJet about to debut its Eclipse 500 air-taxi service on the same turf, Gulfstream is worried that it will lose traffic, Aviation Week reported on Wednesday. DayJet plans to fly Eclipse 500 very light jets from five bases in Florida, with on-demand, per-seat fares of $1 to $4 per mile. According to an initial public offering statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission late last week, Gulfstream International warned potential investors that if DayJet or similar outfits are successful, they could drain off passengers and revenues. Start-up air-taxi DayJet plans to begin operations to three Florida cities now served by Gulfstream -- Gainesville, Tallahassee and Pensacola -- as well as to Lakeland and Boca Raton. More...

LINEAR AIR TO LAUNCH ECLIPSE VLJ AIR-TAXI SERVICE
Linear Air of Bedford, Mass., has been proving for several years that its air-taxi concept is viable, flying a fleet of Cessna Grand Caravans while it waited for delivery of its Eclipse 500 very light jets. The wait is over, as the company's first Eclipse jet is scheduled to arrive later this week and enter service soon after. Linear Air said it will be the first company to operate an Eclipse 500 jet in an air-taxi service, though DayJet plans to start air-taxi service in Florida with the small jets this month, too. "The revolutionary nature of the Eclipse 500 clearly captures the imagination," said Linear President and CEO Air William Herp. "Our team couldn’t be more excited to be first to offer the Eclipse to the traveling public." The company has ordered 30 of the Pratt & Whitney Canada PW610F-powered twinjets, which are scheduled for delivery over the next two years. More...

PER-SEAT AIR TAXI TO USE EXISTING BIZJET FLEET
Critics of the planned per-seat air taxi operators have long complained that if the concept was viable then why not use existing business jets instead of an unproven very light jet for the service. Alfred Rapetti, a former investor in fractional provider Avantair, has listened and is taking on that challenge. Last Thursday he formally launched BusinessJetSEATS to offer "by-the-seat private charter service" from community airports using the existing 2,000-strong jet charter fleet in partnership with CharterX. In an interview with AVweb, Rapetti said his per-seat, air-taxi service -- which is available now in 215 markets in the U.S. -- costs half as much as whole airplane charter and has all-inclusive pricing and no membership fees. BusinessJetSEATS has a licensing agreement with start-up light jet air-taxi firm Earthjet to use its proprietary back-end scheduling and front-end flight-booking systems. More...

LAWN CHAIR BALLOONIST: IDAHO OR BUST
Kent Couch, owner of the Stop and Go Mini-Mart in Bend, Ore., on Saturday strapped himself into lawn chair with 105 balloons, four-foot-round multi-colored balloons, hoping to fly all the way to Idaho. His onboard equipment included an altimeter, handheld GPS, two-way radio, camcorder and cellphone. Couch's flying lawn chair also sported four gallon-size plastic bags filled with water for ballast. Couch came short of his goal, landing south of La Grande, Ore., after a nearly nine-hour trip in the homemade balloon, which flew at about 13,000 feet. What possessed him to do the flight? "When you're a little kid and you're holding a helium balloon, it has to cross your mind," he told the Bend Bulletin. "When you're laying in the grass on a summer day, and you see the clouds, you wish you could jump on them. This is as close as you can come to jumping on them. It's just like that." More...

COLUMBIA OFFERS "WEEPING" ANTI-ICE SYSTEM
Columbia Aircraft is ready to offer optional TKS anti-ice and de-ice "weeping wing" protection for its line of single-engine piston aircraft, the company said on Monday. The TKS system works by exuding a measured amount of glycol-based fluid through microscopic holes in wing leading edges. A separate mechanism disperses the fluid for the prop. The system will be offered as an option on new aircraft and as a retrofit upgrade on all Columbia 400s and 350s and soon the 300s, according to Kevin Hawley, president of AS&T, which manufactures the TKS system. Columbia also offers all-electric E-Vade anti-icing. "Columbia likes to provide customers a choice and TKS is a brand that consumer are familiar with and respect," said Columbia Vice President of Sales and Marketing Randy Bolinger. More...

SEAN TUCKER AND TEAM TO PREMIERE NEW SHOW AT OSHKOSH
Sean D. Tucker will be at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis., later this month flying his spectacular aerobatic routine in the Oracle Challenger biplane, but he will also be debuting the world premiere of a new project, called The Collaborators, with four airplanes flying together. The show will include Tucker in the Challenger, Bill Stein flying an Edge 540 and Eric Tucker (Sean's son) and Ben Freelove in Extra 300Ls. "We're flying all different airplanes together, and we will be doing everything we can to entertain the crowd," Stein told AVweb on Wednesday. "We'll have nonstop action, formation aerobatics, solo maneuvers, in trail and a bunch of us in the box at once, mixing it up." More...

MEDAIRE SCALES BIG-JET SERVICE TO FIT VLJS
Q, an air-taxi service owned by North American Jet Charter of Illinois, will be the first operator to offer MedAire service aboard a fleet of Eclipse 500 very light jets, the companies announced on Wednesday. Each of the Q Eclipse jets will carry a MedAire first-aid kit specially designed to fit the VLJ's three-passenger, two-pilot design. Also included is a Heartsine Samaritan Pad automated external defibrillator, and pilots will be trained in CPR and use of the defibrillator. "We expect other air taxi operators around the country will follow our lead in this safety arena," said Kenneth Ross, president of North American Jet Charter Group. More...

ON THE FLY
A PW308 turbofan will power White Knight II for Virgin Galactic...
Orion Sport Aircraft, of Oshkosh, now a dealer for REMOS LSAs...
Sirius, a high-wing version of StingSport SLSA, to debut at Oshkosh...
AOPA wants FCC to protect aviation weather services...
The Army is funding work on a hydrogen propulsion system for a UAV...
GA accidents in Australia have declined over the last five years...
Sigma-Tek to unveil new electric attitude director at EAA...
Two B-1 “Lancer” bombers will fly by at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. 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...

Columns | Features | What's New | Calendar | Brainteasers

BRAINTEASER

Quiz #122: Welcome To Brainteaser Refresher Camp
Camp Wannaflybettah is open to pilots who obey a few camp rules: Don't drink from the seaplane pond, believe anything in the pilots' lounge or swallow the occasional red herring in the following questions.

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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 hear you'll hear Dick Knapinski give a preview of EAA AirVenture 2007. And AVweb's podcast index includes interviews with AOPA's Andrew Cebula; Cirrus Design's Alan Klapmeier; NBAA's Harry Houkes; Reason Foundation's Robert Poole; SATSair's Sheldon Early; Epic Aircraft's Rick Schrameck; AOPA's Randy Kenagy; Eclipse Aviation's Vern Raburn; Xwind's Brad Whitsitt; BoGo Light's Mark Bent; DayJet's Ed Iacobucci; Pogo Jet's Cameron Burr; Teal Group's Richard Aboulafia; Air Journey's Thierry Pouille; Epic Aircraft's Rick Schrameck; Cessna's Jack Pelton; Embraer's Ernest Edwards and LAMA's Dan Johnson. In Monday's podcast, hear Alfred Repetti of BusinessJetSEATS and Earthjet's Dean Rotchin talk about their partnership to deliver per-seat air taxi service using the existing bizjet fleet. Remember: In AVweb's podcasts, you'll hear things you won't find anywhere else.

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EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: AN INSIDE LOOK AT CESSNA'S CITATION MUSTANG
Take a quick tour of Cessna's introductory jet with AVweb Video Editor Glenn Pew. Some may refer to the Citation Mustang as a very light jet or "VLJ," but others are calling it a whole new breed of personal jet. (Click through to watch.) More...

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: THE END OF FSS?
Given the Lockheed Martin-run Flight Service Stations' modernization snafus, long telephone holding times, and the erosion of specialists' knowledge of local areas due to facility consolidation, one AVweb reader has suggested that the FAA should just shut down FSS completely since DUATS provides the same service. Should the FAA eliminate FSS and require pilots to obtain flight briefings and file flight plans via the computer-based DUATS system? Plus: The results of our impromptu VLJ Beauty Pagent! More...

FBO OF THE WEEK: ATLANTIC AVIATION KISM

AVweb's "FBO of the Week" ribbon goes to Atlantic Aviation at KISM in Kissimmee, Florida.

AVweb readers (and Cessna Pilot Society members) Dave Kalwishky, Greg Wright, Gene Cartier, Gilberto Velez-Domenech, Ray Mozingo and Keith Dorken said the facility's staff rose to the occasion during a fly-in for their annual get-together.

"We had a group fly-in to ISM and we used this FBO. They did a great job of parking the 25 of us, brought us ice cold bottled water when we came in and gave us rides on golf cart from our plane to the FBO," noted Kalwishky. Velez-Domenech added, "Each and every person in the staff made me feel like I was their most important customer. They were efficient, courteous, friendly and always had a smile on their faces."

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: AVWEB'S FLYING PHOTOGRAPHY SHOWCASE
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."

Ah, summertime. We hope everyone's enjoying the longer days and the fresh air — since you've apparently lost interest in taking photos and sending them in for us to ogle! We know, we know — photo submissions always drop during the summer, and with so many high-quality shots finding their way into our contest these days, we really don't have a right to complain. But we do work in tiny little offices reading press releases and checking HTML all day. Your photos are the windows into real life that spark our imaginations and let us tell the boss "we're working" when really we're just arguing over which paint job would be cooler if we had a shiny new personal jet. We realize everyone's busy (and frankly, with AirVenture coming up, now's a good time to get a few less "POTW" contenders in the submission box), but don't forget about us when the show's done. We genuinely miss the flood of photos and are looking forward to seeing more in August.

Enough begging! Time to make with the congratulations, which go this week to Ric Lee of Sandy, Utah. 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 Editor Mary Grady (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.

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