ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER FALSE ALARM FOR FOSSETT SEARCHERS
Searchers rushed to the scene of another promising lead in the hunt for Steve Fossett today only to find the latest in a series of previous wrecks. Over the past week, at least six old wrecks have been spotted by searchers, proof that the crews are doing a thorough job of combing the area, according search coordinator, Civil Air Patrol Maj. Cynthia Ryan. She told reporters Sunday that the search is now being redirected to the immediate area surrounding the Hilton Ranch where Fossett took off a week ago in a Super Decathlon belonging to the ranch. Reports today said he carried only one canteen of water. Meanwhile, thousands of people all over the world have joined the satellite search for Fossett, many of them AVweb readers. More...

FAA CLARIFIES CESSNA'S LIFE LIMIT FOR THE 441 CONQUEST II
AVweb has received a response through FAA spokesman Les Dorr regarding Cessna's announcement last month that recommended operators of Cessna 441 Conquest II twin tuboprops comply with a life limit of 22,500 hours flown. Cessna based its action on "data from test articles and from field reports," according to Cessna spokeswoman Pia Bergqvist. The FAA's Dorr said that the FAA does not usually review or approve Supplemental Inspection Documents (SID), like the one Cessna used to recommend the life limit. He added that the FAA is currently evaluating the 441 and unless the FAA issues an Airworthiness Directive that mandates compliance, operators can do as they wish with regard to a life limit on the Conquest II. More...

EASTERN AIRSPACE REDESIGN FACES OPPOSITION
The FAA decided to go with a controversial redesign of the airspace serving New York, Newark and Philadelphia airports on Wednesday but it has a fight on its hands to implement the changes. At least one town, Elizabeth, N.J., has filed a court challenge and several well-organized and well-heeled groups are opposing the so-called Integrated Airspace Alternative. In a nutshell, the plan provides for more direct inbound routing and more and steeper takeoff trajectories. The agency says the redesign will save fuel and result in 20 percent fewer delays by 2011 than if no changes were made. “This new concept in airspace design will help us handle the rapidly growing number of flights in the Northeast in a much more efficient way,” said FAA Administrator Marion Blakey in a news release. “This airspace was first designed in the 1960s and has become much more complex. We now need to look at creative new ways to avoid delays.” But the changes will also put air traffic over areas that have so far been spared the noise. More...

FAA ISSUES FIVE-YEAR 'FLIGHT PLAN'
The FAA's quintennial navel-gazing document, its "2008-2012 Flight Plan" was released Thursday and, while a first glance it doesn't reveal anything we haven't reported before, it does flesh out some initiatives that have been in the trial stage for years. The 60-page document concentrates on safety, modernization and management and sets goals to increase both safety and capacity in coming years. Among the initiatives we haven't heard much about before, however, is a new plan to make more use of so-called reliever airports. The agency intends to direct more Airport Improvement Fund resources to secondary commercial and general aviation airports in congested areas. Those airports can expect more concrete, more lighting and more navaids to handle increased traffic as metro airport traffic counts continue to grow. More...

GOBOSH AVIATION DELIVERS "LUXURY" LSA
Gobosh Aviation, which introduced its LSA to the American market at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh this past July, Thursday announced deliveries of its first two G700S light sport aircraft in North America. The low-wing all metal aircraft is promoted as a "luxury" aircraft for the light sport market and, of course, falls within the 1320 pound gross weight limit with a maximum speed of not more than 120 knots. Gobosh offers three trims that range from $107,000 to $124,000 with standard equipment. More...

FAA REMINDS US 121.5 ELTS WILL FADE FROM SATELLITES
The day after the NTSB issued a recommendation that the FAA require that all aircraft be equipped with 406 Mhz ELTs, the FAA issued a safety bulletin reminding pilots that as of Feb. 1, 2009, search and rescue satellites will no longer scan 121.5. However, the agency doesn't seem to be in a hurry to require that the much more accurate and less nuisance-prone 406 models be made mandatory. While this debate has been going on for some time, the pending loss of satellite detection has raised some interesting questions among those who use the signals to find people. The Civil Air Patrol's public forum has no shortage of opinions, including the fear that search and rescue officials will grow complacent about 121.5 signals because so many are false. More...

BALLOONS ORDERED TO LAND AT APEC SUMMIT
Anyone who thought airspace security for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Sydney, Australia this week was a lot of hot air found out differently if they breached it. And that included a couple of hot air balloon pilots who were ordered to make emergency landings as they approached the 45 nm exclusion zone. "We were waiting for them to send in the F/A-18s," John Allen, one of the balloonists, told the Sydney Morning Herald. However, the pilot of a Cessna 337 didn't have to wait long for some turbine-powered company as he was intercepted by a couple of Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18s when he busted the zone. More...

TURBULENCE INJURES NINE WESTJET PASSENGERS
Nine passengers were injured and three of them were hospitalized when a WestJet Boeing 737 hit severe turbulence over Northern Ontario late Thursday. The flight was on its way from Calgary to Halifax when passengers said it suddenly dropped. Some reports have said the plane may have plunged as much as 1,000 feet but there's been no confirmation. Passengers told the Halifax Chronicle-Herald that the flight crew had announced the possibility of turbulence and turned on the seatbelt sign just seconds before the plane dropped. Most of those injured were on their way back to their seats and were thrown into the ceiling and overhead luggage compartments. A WestJet spokesman said the airline is looking into the incident. More...

FAA PLANS 'LONG TALK' WITH PILOT AFTER THREE EMERGENCY LANDINGS
FAA spokesman Ian Gregor says the agency will have a "long talk" with pilot William Supan after the 52-year-old Pleasanton, Calif. resident made three emergency landings in the same aircraft on the same day last Saturday. On the third landing his passenger Jinhua Lin had apparently had enough and jumped from the aircraft, breaking a leg and suffering abrasions. The plane was destroyed by fire on that landing and Supan suffered smoke inhalation, according to the Modesto Bee. Gregor said there are some questions about the pilot's judgment that will top the agenda when investigators sit down with him. More...

CURTISS FLYING BOAT REPRODUCTION SET TO FLY
After two years of painstaking work, the reproduction shop of the Glenn Curtis Museum is ready to let another of its creations take flight. On Sept. 14, during the annual Seaplane Homecoming at the museum, retired American Airlines pilot Jim Pohl will fly a recreation of the 1914 Rodman Wannamaker America, a twin-engine flying boat that Wannamaker envisioned as transatlantic aircraft. The aircraft will launch off Keuka Lake, at Hammondsport, N.Y., which was where Curtis developed his early aircraft. More...

VIDEO OF THE WEEK: RECREATING THE GLENN CURTISS AMERICA
The folks at the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum are hard at work putting the finishing touches on a replica of the America, a Glenn Curtiss twin-engine OX-6 "flying boat" that was originally conceived (in 1914, mind you) as a trans-Atlantic transport. 30,000-hour retired American Airlines Captain Jim Poel is scheduled to fly America at the Lake Keuka (NY) Seaplane Fly-In this weekend, which means the project staff and volunteers will be pretty busy as you read this. YouTube user angelica4709 has posted several videos about the project (which we're still working our way through), but here's a quick look at the fuselage and a preview of the weekend fun with pilots Poel and Lee Sackett and head builder Art Wilder. (Click through to watch.) More...

ON THE FLY ...
89-year-old pilot, who'd been flying 12 years, walked away from crash ...
Hot air balloon was blown into power lines, no one injured ...
Heart problem ruled out in Skytyper accident ...
Public Benefit Flying Award Winners announced. 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: ATLANTIC AVIATION (PWA, OKLAHOMA CITY, OK)

AVweb's "FBO of the Week" ribbon goes to Atlantic Aviation at Wiley Post (PWA) in Oklahoma City, Ok.

AVweb reader Bill Johnson gives the FBO a stellar recommendation:

If your travels take you to Oklahoma City, the best airport is Wiley Post and Atlantic Aviation. Their facities are excellent, open 24/7 -- and more friendly, considerate people you will not find. On a recent trip to visit my ailing mother, Allison and her team not only got me where I needed to go, they made arrangements to pick me up and even checked to make certain everything was O.K. If Im in Oak City, Im at Atlantic Aviation at PWA.

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!

AVWEBBIZ: AVWEB'S BUSINESS AVIATION NEWSLETTER
HAVE YOU SIGNED UP yet for AVweb's NO-COST weekly business aviation newsletter, AVwebBiz? Reporting on breaking news, Business AVflash focuses on the companies, the products and the industry leaders that make headlines in the business aviation industry. Business AVflash is a must read. Sign up today at http://www.avweb.com/profile/. More...

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

THE PILOT'S LOUNGE #117: PLAYING "LET'S PRETEND" FOR KEEPS
Emergencies don't have to only be practiced in the airplane. More...

AVMAIL: SEP. 10, 2007
Reader mail this week about where you flew this summer, privatized FAA, ADS-B and much more. More...

AVWEB'S MONDAY PODCAST: MID-AIR SURVIVOR JOE SHARKEY WRESTLES WITH THE AFTERMATH OF THE EMBRAER LEGACY COLLISION
About a year ago, New York Times columnist Joe Sharkey had the life-changing experience of surviving a mid-air collision with an airliner over the Amazon jungle. Most of us are familiar with the story about the Embraer Legacy's brush with death and the tragedy that befell the 154 people on the Boeing 737 that crashed after the collision. But Sharkey, as a private journalist and not representing the Times, has naturally continued to chronicle the fallout from the crash. He brought AVweb's Russ Niles up to date on the legal quagmire that could result in the Legacy pilots, Joe Lepore, and Jan Paladino (both of Long Island) ending up international fugitives.

Click here to listen. (8.7 MB, 9:32)

SHORT FINAL

Overheard in IFR Magazine's "On the Air"

Overheard near Greensboro, N.C.:

Greensboro Approach:
"Cessna One Two Three, fly heading one four zero, left base runway five, keep your speed up, turn it tight and I'll get you in front of the RJ."

Cessna 123 (hesitating):
"Um, turn ... base ... five ... keep the speed up."

Approach:
"Pretend you're an F-15."

Cessna 123:
"Uh, OK."

Approach:
"You're not buying it."

MEET THE AVWEBFLASH TEAM

AVwebFlash is a 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

Contributing Editors
Mary Grady
Glenn Pew

Features Editor
Kevin Lane-Cummings

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