NASA DENIES REPORTS OF DRUNKEN ASTRONAUTS
A NASA safety review has found no evidence to support claims that astronauts were impaired by alcohol when they flew in space, the agency said on Wednesday. Bryan O'Connor, NASA chief of safety and mission assurance, conducted the monthlong review to evaluate allegations in an Astronaut Health Care System Review Committee report that was released in late July. That report stated that in at least two instances astronauts had been so intoxicated prior to flight that flight surgeons and/or fellow astronauts raised concerns regarding flight safety, but the astronauts were still permitted to fly. O'Connor said he was unable to verify any case in which an astronaut was impaired on launch day, or any case where a manager disregarded the recommendation of a flight surgeon or crewmember that an astronaut should not fly the Shuttle. More...

NO CHARGES FOR MEN WHO TRIED TO GET INTO AIRLINER COCKPIT
Winnipeg, Manitoba police say the actions of two men who made repeated attempts to get into the cockpit of a WestJet Boeing 737 while it was in flight from Calgary earlier this month was “not a reportable incident.” Canadian Pressreported Sunday that the two men insisted on seeing the cockpit while the aircraft was on the ground in Calgary and captain allowed them a brief visit and “showed them a few things,” said WestJet spokeswoman Gillian Bentley. "They took their seats and during the course of the flight, the two people involved did approach the flight attendant at the front of the aircraft, asking to go on the flight deck again, Bentley said. "She told them they could not. They were very insistent.” More...

CESSNA SETS LIFE LIMIT ON CONQUEST; AIRPLANES GROUNDED IN AUSTRALIA
Operators of Cessna 441 Conquest II twin turboprops must comply with a life limit of 22,500 flying hours, Cessna has said, and several of the aircraft have been grounded. "As part of the continuing product safety process, Cessna looks at data from test articles and from field reports regarding the structural integrity of its aircraft," Cessna spokeswoman Pia Bergqvist told AVweb. Based on test and field data, Cessna has issued a Supplemental Inspection Document recommending the life limit for the aircraft. While most of the Conquests operating around the world are well below this limit, according to Bergqvist, several aircraft in Australia are beyond it, and those aircraft have been grounded. Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority has allowed one year for alternatives to be explored that could extend the safe operation of the Conquest beyond the current life limit. It's not known if any Conquests in the U.S. will be immediately affected, industry groups are looking into it. More...

LSA ROUND-THE-WORLD FLIGHT COMPLETED
Two Indian Air Force officers have completed a circumnavigation of the globe in a Light Sport Aircraft in 79 days. Wing Commanders and Squadron Leaders Rahul Monga and Anil Kumar visited 19 countries in a Flight Design CTsw. The flight marks the 75th anniversary of the Indian Air Force. Monga and Kumar, who normally fly helicopters and fighter jets, launched June 1 from Delhi, India, and returned August 19, after flying through China, Russia, North America, Europe, and the Middle East. Monga flew solo across the north Atlantic so he could carry more fuel. "The round the world tour under day VFR rules was successful with this airplane despite difficult weather conditions," said Matthias Betsch, CEO of Flight Design, which is based in Germany. More...

ECLIPSE 500 VLJ DRAWS $1.8 MILLION BID ON EBAY
Eclipse Aviation CEO Vern Raburn announced at Oshkosh that one Eclipse 500 jet would be auctioned off on eBay and the owner could take it home right away, without having to wait until 2009 for their turn to come up. "We'll let the market decide what that could be worth," Raburn said, and this week, the company announced the results of its auction. Morten Wagner of Denmark placed the winning bid of $1,833,945 at 2 a.m. local time on August 11, outbidding five other contenders. Wagner plans to accept his Eclipse 500 in Albuquerque this week, the company said. "I was just sitting there, holding my breath, watching the auction run out," said Wagner. "When I saw I had won, I was delirious; I woke up the whole house and told everyone I just bought an aircraft on Eclipse's private marketplace." More...

HONEYWELL, SENSIS DEVELOP RUNWAY ALERTS FOR PILOTS
It's fine for air traffic controllers to get conflict alerts when airplanes converge on the airport surface, but wouldn't it be better if that information was directly available to pilots? The cockpit technology to make that work is now available, Honeywell International and Sensis Corporation said this week. The two companies have created a cockpit advisory system that sends potential ground, arrival or departure conflicts directly to pilots as an audible alert. The system uses a Mode-S data link and an existing TCAS unit in the aircraft, and requires only software modifications to start working, the companies said. The audible alert is transmitted simultaneously to the cockpits in the affected aircraft and to air traffic controllers. Currently, surveillance equipment notifies air traffic controllers of potential incursions and then controllers must relay the information to pilots, slowing down response time. More...

FALLOUT FROM COMAIR CRASH CONTINUES
It's been a year since a Comair crew tried to take off from the wrong runway in Lexington, Ky., and the co-pilot, who was the sole survivor, and the captain's widow have filed suits against the FAA, the airport, and Jeppesen. Also, the NTSB, which in its final report on the crash last month faulted the pilots for failing to check their position before takeoff, this week issued safety recommendations (PDF) asking the FAA to revise procedures for pilots and controllers. The FAA should require flight crews to positively confirm and cross-check the airplane's location at the assigned departure runway before crossing the hold-short line, the NTSB said. Also, controllers should not issue a takeoff clearance until after the airplane has crossed all intersecting runways, and controllers should refrain from performing administrative tasks, such as the traffic count, when moving aircraft are in the controller's area of responsibility, the board said. More...

UNITED PILOT NOTICED FOR NICENESS
While many general aviation pilots revel in avoiding the miseries of airline flight, most find themselves occasionally forced to join the milling crowds in the main terminals. But if they are lucky, they may find themselves aboard a United Air Lines flight captained by Denny Flanagan. Flanagan won his 15 minutes of fame this week when Wall Street Journal travel columnist Scott McCartney singled him out as an island of niceness amid a sea of mere bland competence. While other pilots may get you to your destination in one piece, Flanagan does that plus checks on your pets and your luggage, calls the parents of children flying alone to reassure them, invites families into the cockpit, makes jokes, raffles off free bottles of wine, and orders hamburgers for passengers during delays. More...

BALLOON PILOT SAYS HE WAS BLOWN FROM BASKET
A Canadian balloon pilot criticized by a passenger for being among the first out of burning balloon basket says he was blown out by what he suspects was the ignition of a fuel leak. Two people died and 11, including Pennock, were injured in the accident last week near Vancouver, B.C. Pennock was criticized by passenger Darlene Rutledge, who jumped 50 feet from the burning basket and questioned why the pilot was among the first out. She spoke with reporters from the hospital where she was recovering from burns and broken bones in her feet. In a story in the Vancouver Sun, Wednesday, pilot Steve Pennock says he remembers being thrown from the cockpit of the balloon after an explosion on board. He told the Sun he was thrown to the ground and temporarily immobilized. "I was blinded and stunned," he said. "I couldn't see or do anything I was basically disabled. I was shocked and stunned on the ground." More...

AIRPORT VIDEOS NOW IN GOOGLE EARTH
Users of the latest version of Google Earth, released last week, now can find videos related to all the world's airports with a single click. Version 4.2 enables users to embed videos and link them to sites on the world map, so the folks at planeplaces.com have collected all the airport-related videos at YouTube and linked to them to Google's map of the world. They found over 2,800 videos marked with airport identifiers. "We’re not claiming to have exhaustively searched YouTube or error-checked every video," they said. They have provided an e-mail link with each video and ask users to help weed out incorrect or inappropriate videos. More...

A FIRST SOLO CROSS-COUNTRY TO REMEMBER
We all remember our first solo flights but some are more memorable than others. A 69-year-old student on his first solo cross-country flight got lost last Sunday and stumbled into the busy airspace around Indianapolis International Airport. FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro told the Indianapolis Star that controllers tracked the plane flown by Keith Sharpe to within three miles of the airport and finally made contact with him. They directed him to land immediately. Three aircraft waiting to land circled the airport waiting for Sharpe's plane to clear the runway. More...

THE SAVVY AVIATOR #48: RELIABILITY-CENTERED MAINTENANCE (PART 2)
Mike Busch explores how RCM might be applied to our small airplanes and especially to our piston aircraft engines.

Click here for the full story. More...

ON THE FLY ...
Boeing says it will be ready to test biofuel in a 747 within a year...
The Hawker 750 flew for the first time on August 23...
The Hawker 900XP was type certified by the FAA last week...
The D.C. ADIZ airspace changes shape on Thursday, August 30 ...
Dr. Paul MacCready, builder of Gossamer Albatross I human powered airplane died Aug. 28. More...

WANTED: AVIATION WRITER, EDITOR AND WEB PERSON
AVweb has an opening for an able and experienced aviation writer and editor with proven experience in both print and web publishing, although we're willing to train the right person in the finer points of massaging content for the web. This position requires relocation to our Sarasota, Florida office. If this description fits you, contact aviationeditorial@comcast.net. 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...

FBO OF THE WEEK: TNT AIR (N47, POTTSTOWN, PA)

AVweb's "FBO of the Week" ribbon goes to TNT Air at N47 in Pottstown, Penn.

AVweb reader Howard Whyte recommended the FBO after an unscheduled stop at Pottstown:

Recently, while my wife and I were on a cross country flight to visit her brother, we experienced a complete electrical failure. We diverted to the nearest airport and upon landing discovered that because it was Sunday there were no services available. No rental cars, no maintenance and no way home. We called friends and we called acquaintenances, but no luck. Since we are based at N47 we finally called TNT Air. Tom and Angie Noetzel run the FBO there and they immediately sprang into action. Tom picked us up in a Cirrus 22 at no cost, and even let me fly it home. Angie met us on the ramp with cold bottled water and a welcoming smile. That's just the way the operate. Form setting up and hosting a lavish birthday party for a local 96 year old pilot to impromtu cook-outs they manage to keep the airport the place to be. Clean, hospitable, friendly, you couldn't ask for a better FBO than TNT Air.

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." Bill Howard of Milton-Freewater, Oregon shot this photo from the window of his airport hotel room — and now it's our "Picture of the Week." In fact, this is the first "POTW" to feature a sunset in a while! Watch your mailbox, Bill. We'll be sending an official, sharp-as-a-tack new AVweb cap your way in the next few days. More...

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: WHERE DID YOU FLY THIS SUMMER?
This week, we're asking the old back-to-school standard: What did you do on your summer vacation? Or, more appropriately to AVweb, where did you fly this summer? Plus: The results of last week's question on youth outreach. 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.

The AVwebFlash team is:

Publisher
Timothy Cole

Editorial Director, Aviation Publications
Paul Bertorelli

Editor-in-Chief
Russ Niles (bio)

Contributing Editors
Mary Grady (bio)
Glenn Pew (bio)

Features Editor
Kevin Lane-Cummings (bio)

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