HOUSE COMMITTEE FIRM AGAINST USER FEES
If you've never written the President, now's a good time to start. That's the message from House aviation subcommittee members as the FAA reauthorization bill moves through Capitol Hill. The subcommittee attended a somewhat sparsely attended public session at EAA AirVenture on Saturday, and Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., said that while user fees are big news in aviation circles, most senators and representatives are barely aware of the issue, as is the Administration. The House is likely to pass its version of the bill (H.R.2881), which does not include user fees or major tax breaks for the airlines. The Senate bill, S.1300, contains a $25-per-leg fee for all turbine-powered aircraft in the IFR system. It also eliminates fuel taxes paid by airlines, meaning the tax revenue from a cross-country trip for an airliner would drop from about $500 in fuel taxes to the flat $25. Most observers believe that the $25 fee would justify establishment of a billing and collection system that would be quickly put to work collecting new and expanded user fees on general aviation. The Administration is likely to back the Senate version of the bill, so it's important that the President also know directly that there is widespread opposition to the user fee, according to Graves. More...

MYSTERIOUS INHOFE AMENDMENT IN WORKS
Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., is asking those opposing user fees to time it right when expressing that opposition. In a session at the EAA's members' village on Saturday at AirVenture, the veteran pilot and politician indicated he has something up his sleeve that he'll introduce when the Senate votes on its reauthorization bill.The Senate bill, S.1300, contains a $25-per-leg fee on turbine aircraft using the IFR system, which has prompted general aviation leaders to be very concerned. The worry is that the fee is just the beginning of a massive bureaucracy to directly tax the movement of aircraft. Inhofe has been contacting his colleagues in the Senate, but he's not letting anyone know what his amendment will say until the time is right. Likewise, he doesn't want anyone writing their senator in advance because it will alert the senators that are adamantly in favor of user fees that some kind of organized oppposition is being mounted. "That'll just tip them off," he said. Instead, he's telling those opposed to user fees to wait until they are alerted by EAA and AOPA and to then write their senators urging them to "support the Inhofe amendment." More...

NTSB UPDATE ON P-51 MUSTANG COLLISION
In a press briefing Saturday afternoon, NTSB air safety inspector Jim Silliman said the Safety Board is still very much in the investigation stage of Friday afternoon's accident involving two P-51 Mustangs participating in the showcase flights at EAA AirVenture. EAA spokesman Dick Knapinski said Gerald Beck, 58, of Wahpeton, N.D., was killed in the fiery crash and Casey Odegaard, 24, of Kindred, N.D., suffered only minor injuries. Silliman said both airplanes were landing on Runway 36L at Oshkosh Wittman Regional Airport when Beck's P-51A hit Odegaard's P-51D from behind before flipping over and catching fire. As expected, several airshow watchers caught the accident on camera or video camcorders, and Silliman said the NTSB is now reviewing a video and several photos submitted to investigators. More...

LEROY KILLED DURING PERFORMANCE IN DAYTON
Award-winning aerobatic pilot Jim LeRoy died Saturday when his Pitts Special crashed during a performance at the Dayton (Ohio) Air Show. According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, LeRoy, 46, was in one of two aircraft making loops when his biplane hit the runway at an angle and slid about 300 yards before catching on fire. First responders arrived in less than a minute, and firefighters quickly extinguished the flames. LeRoy was cut out of his Pitts airplane, but he died en route to Miami Valley Hospital. More...

DORNIER LSA HARKS BACK TO COMPANY'S ROOTS
Eighty years ago, Claude Dornier introduced a small "flying boat," and on Friday afternoon his grandson, Iren Dornier, revealed the Dornier Aircraft S-Ray amphibian light sport aircraft. The all-composite two-seater, which achieved first flight on July 14 in Germany, has a high wing with a forward-facing engine mounted on top. At present, the prototype is powered by a Rotax 914 engine, though the production version is likely to have a 100-hp Rotax 912. However, Dornier said his company is exploring different engines as well (the Jabiru engine was specifically mentioned). Designed as a flight trainer, the S-Ray is expected to cruise at 115 knots, go up to 500 miles without refueling and have a stall speed of only 30 knots. Interesting features of the S-Ray are its tiltable wing, which will make for easy storage of the $129,000 LSA amphib, and optional skids. According to Dornier, the company wanted to fly the prototype to AirVenture, but the FAA nixed those plans, at least for this year. He said there are orders for 20 aircraft, with first deliveries planned in "four to seven months." More...

ADAM AIRCRAFT ADDS UPGRADES TO A500 TWIN
With customer deliveries of the A500 centerline twin under way, Adam Aircraft is working to enhance the features of the product. Upgrades include the addition of a Traffic Advisory System, certified in May, and XM weather and audio and CMAX Jeppesen charts are now available. Testing is completed for an enhanced ground-proximity warning system, engine cooling and inadvertant-icing protection. Testing of an air-conditioning system will be complete by September, CEO Rick Adam said at a press conference at AirVenture on Thursday. More...

POL-AIR CHILLIN' AT EAA AIRVENTURE '07
Clearwater, Fla.-based Pol-Air has been busy keeping EAA AirVenture attendees nice and cool with its "personal air chiller" for airplanes, which it introduced and is demonstrating at the airshow. "It's not an air conditioner," stressed Pol-Air President Jamie Blackstone, nor is it a whole aircraft cabin cooler. Instead, cooled air is piped through up to four hoses to provide a "zone of comfort" around the occupants. The 10-pound Pol-Air B310 is comprised of a "Gatorade-type" cooler, four hoses, drain basin and a proprietary turbine that provides 22 cfm of air pressure per hose. It holds up to 35 pounds of ice and works by drawing air through the ice, thereby drying the air in the process. The company says the B310 has a cooling endurance of about two hours. During a demo at AirVenture, the device was shown to reduce the humidity from 73 percent to 35 percent in less than a minute. Pol-Air said the cooler can be permanently kept in the baggage compartment (strapped down, of course) since melted water is discharged into an aircraft drain line or the spill-proof basin, which can be easily drained via a siphon. More...

AEROLEDS INTRODUCES AEROSUN LIGHTING FOR HOMEBUILTS
The guys from Boise, Idaho, who run AeroLEDs like to call themselves geeky engineers, but at EAA AirVenture this week they were showing off some marketing savvy, dunking their LED units in a fishbowl filled with water, dropping them repeatedly and shining them all night into the skies above Wittmann Field. Company cofounder Mike D'Amico is a Kitfox owner-builder and says that like many pilots of experimental aircraft, he found the traditional landing light would dim just when he needed it most -- low-rpm engine settings at night on short final and during night taxiing. His AeroSUN product results from his effort to solve that problem. "The LED lights are very bright, solid state, shock and vibration resistant, require less energy and can last up to 50,000 hours," he said. They can be used as anti-colllision lights as well as for landing lights, and will enhance the safety of flight, D'Amico said. More...

YOUNG EAGLES ARE NOW TRADING PLANES
In an effort to get kids back into aviation and thus help slow or even stop the declining pilot population, Alpha Tango Charlie at EAA AirVenture said it is offering a discount on its aviation trading cards for aviation education and learn-to-fly organizations. 'Several EAA chapters offer them to Young Eagle kids to help reinforce the thrilling memory of their first flight," company President Tom Trainor said. "This is a new tool available to help inspire and encourage kids to become interested and involved in aviation." Each $2.99 pack contains 11 cards -- eight aircraft cards, two trivia cards and a bonus card. Six pack bundles are also available for $17.99. More...

ORIGINAL VIDEO: EAA AIRVENTURE SATURDAY AIR SHOW HIGHLIGHTS
AVweb says goodbye to AirVenture today, with a look at some of the sights and sounds from the Saturday air show. The 300,000-pound Boeing C-17 Globemaster can stop in about 1,200 feet -- and here's what that looks like. Plus shots of the B-2, F-86, F-22 and heritage flight formation including the restored P-38 Glacier Girl. More...

AVWEB'S AIRVENTURE 2007 PODCAST #7: FLYING FARMER FIGHTS FEES
Monticello, Iowa may not be the biggest name in aviation circles, but aviation plays a vital role in the day-to-day lives of almost everyone in and around the bustling farming community. AVweb's Russ Niles spoke with farmer, student pilot, and aviation advocate Max Dirks about what he sees as the biggest threat to aviation down on the farm and why he's busy bending his Congressman's ear on a range of topics. More...

EXTRA! KITPLANES MAGAZINE EXAMINES THE TALON A600 HELICOPTER KIT FROM ROTORWAY
Rotorway International introduced its new Talon A600 helicopter kit at AirVenture this week. The ship, a dramatically refined version of the popular Exec 162F, is a two-place, kit-built helicopter powered by a proprietary four-cylinder, FADEC (full-authority digital engine control) fuel-injection and ignition system. The A600 features a wider cabin, improved systems and a standard MGL Avionics EFIS (electronic flight information system) glass cockpit with comprehensive data logging capabilies. In addition, the Talon features a new shaft-driven tail rotor the previous one was belt driven) and new hydraulic tensioners for the main belt-drive system. Prices will start at $95,700. Company CEO Grant Norwich talked to Kitplanes editor-in-chief Marc Cook about the new ship. More...

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