SEAWIND PULLING THE PLUG?
Seawind Aircraft has written at least some of its business associates to say that the company is closing and there will be no resumption of the long effort to certify the unique amphib. As AVweb reported last month, the Seawind certification test aircraft crashed during a test flight near Winnipeg, Manitoba. Glenn Holmes, the experienced and well known Canadian test pilot, died in the crash. Canadian authorities are still investigating. Early indications from Seawind President Dick Silva were that the project would resume after results of the investigation were known and the company's Web site still says that and has job opportunities listed. However, a Sept. 7 letter sent to some businesses associated with Seawind paints a much different picture. We were unable to reach Silva for comment. More...

BLAKEY TAKES PARTING SHOT AT AIRLINES
Marion Blakey made her last speech as FAA administrator on Tuesday, before the Washington, D.C., Aero Club. And it held at least one surprise -- she put the blame for airline delays squarely on airline scheduling practices that are "out of line with reality." The airline industry has waged a campaign trying to blame general aviation aircraft for congestion and delays. "If the airlines don't address this [scheduling issue] voluntarily, don't be surprised when the government steps in," Blakey said. Thursday is the last day of her five-year term. Former FAA Deputy Administrator Barbara Barrett has been widely speculated to be a likely successor, but an interim administrator may be named until a new appointment is complete. More...

SEARCH FOR FOSSETT CONTINUES INTO SECOND WEEK
With dozens of aircraft scouring the Nevada desert, and thousands of Internet volunteers perusing fresh satellite images for a clue, the hunt goes on for missing adventurer Steve Fossett. Hundreds of airplanes are heading to nearby Reno for this week's air races, raising concern that ad hoc searchers might go looking in the desert -- and perhaps end up lost themselves. "I'd just ask [the pilots] to give us a wide berth," Nevada Civil Air Patrol Maj. Cynthia Ryan told reporters on Monday. "Don't try to fly in and assist unannounced." But more trained searchers are needed. Mark Marshall, who is coordinating flight operations from Barron Hilton's Flying M Ranch, where Fossett took off on Sept. 3, has posted a request online looking for turbine helicopters and experienced mountain pilots. More...

CALIFORNIA COURT APPROVES LYCOMING CLASS ACTION
A California judge has approved the class for a class action suit filed by owners of aircraft with Lycoming engines who will be required to replace, at their own cost, the crankshafts, by Feb. 21, 2009, in those engines because they might be flawed. Under Mandatory Service Bulletin 569a (PDF), Lycoming is selling the crankshaft kits at the reduced cost of $2,000 but labor is up to the owner. That's in stark contrast to an earlier crankshaft recall in which the replacement was not only free, but owners were given credit for aircraft rental and other expenses related to the loss of use of their aircraft. Senior Judge Lawrence Karlton approved the class action after the original plaintiff, Richard Bristow, found a couple of other owners who met the "typicality" standards of a class action. Bristow's Mooney is owned by his corporation and the judge wanted personally owned aircraft to be represented. Ronald Brown and Dana Pope, whose own names are on the registrations, stepped forward and now anyone in California with an affected crank is covered by the suit if they want to be. Bristow's attorney, Robert Mills, says he's hoping the California decision will influence a Pennsylvania court to allow a nation-wide class action that was filed there. Lycoming's offices were closed at this writing and we'll be contacting them for comment Wednesday. More...

CUSTOMS SEEKS NEW RULES FOR GA
Pilots of private aircraft that cross the U.S. border in either direction would be required to submit a roster listing everyone on board to the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, if a new rule proposed this week (PDF) is made final. Under the proposed rule, the information must be received by the CBP no later than 60 minutes before an arriving private aircraft departs from a foreign location and no later than 60 minutes before a private aircraft departs a U.S. airport for a foreign destination. The CBP wants to check those rosters against its no-fly list. Yes, says AOPA, "This applies to short trips across the border with your family or friends in your Cessna 172." The rosters must be submitted electronically, so pilots departing from remote airports without Internet access would have to land at another airport with Internet service and complete the information before entering or leaving the United States. "That's not practical," says AOPA. More...

RENO AIR RACES ROARING THIS WEEK
The Reno Air Races, a one-of-a-kind flying event with powerful airplanes racing around pylons at speeds up to 500 mph, opened on Wednesday in Nevada. The popularity of the races have grown in recent years, with up to 200,000 visitors expected by the end of the event on Sunday. Along with the races, daily air shows feature top performers like the Canadian Snowbirds jet team and aerobatic flyers Mike Goulian and Greg Poe. This year, the race Web site will feature daily videos and podcasts for the first time. On Tuesday, a pilot from California was killed during a practice flight when his engine failed shortly after takeoff from the Reno Stead Airport. Steve Dari, from Lemon Grove, Calif., was flying a Rose Peregrine biplane, and it nosed over in an attempted off-airport landing. More...

HELICOPTER HITS BOAT DURING PHOTO SHOOT, TWO LOST
Two men were killed Tuesday morning when a helicopter crashed into the sea while filming video near Sarasota, Fla. A third person in the helicopter was seriously hurt. The group was working on a project for Powerboat magazine. The boat was also damaged, but the two people on board escaped unhurt, according to The Associated Press. It was not clear if the helicopter hit the boat, or if it hit the water and debris caused the boat damage. Executives at the magazine told the AP they had several staffers and freelancers working in the area and were uncertain who was in the helicopter at the time of the accident. More...

CESSNA MAKES EMERGENCY LANDING ON WAREHOUSE ROOF
Three people walked away from the emergency landing of a Cessna Cardinal on the roof of a warehouse in Columbia, S.C., on Sunday. And it appears that in this case, hitting power lines actually helped. Pilot Larry Ross and passengers James and Joanne Keisler had just taken off from Owens Field in Columbia when the engine failed. With little wiggle room, they headed for the first flat surface. "We hit the power line and dropped right onto the roof," Keisler told WLTX News. The three had some bumps and bruises but were not seriously hurt. Keisler credited Ross with the successful outcome. "Larry did a great job. I told him I would fly with him anytime," Keisler said. More...

WRIGHT TROPHY GOES TO ASTRONAUT EUGENE CERNAN
The National Aeronautic Association announced on Wednesday that retired Navy Captain Eugene Cernan is the winner of the 2007 Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy. The trophy, presented annually, is awarded "…to a living American for significant public service of enduring value to aviation in the United States." Previous winners include Charles Lindbergh, Igor Sikorski, Juan Trippe, and Neil Armstrong. Cernan was selected for the trophy due to his extraordinary lifetime of achievement as an astronaut, naval aviator, and ambassador for aerospace. One of 14 astronauts selected by NASA in 1963, he flew in space three times, spent three days on the lunar surface as commander of Apollo 17, and became known as the "last man on the moon." More...

WARNINGS ABOUT AIRBORNE VOLCANIC ASH IMPROVED
Running into volcanic ash aloft might not be high on your list of things to worry about, but a bunch of folks working for our federal agencies are very aware of the dangers and are finding better ways to track dangerous ash plumes so aviators can keep their distance. "The risks include degraded engine performance, flameouts, loss of visibility, failure of critical navigational and operational instruments and loss of life," said Steven Osterdahl, director of en route and oceanic operations in the FAA's Western Service Area. On Wednesday, Osterdahl and others said their new effort, "National Volcanic Ash Operations Plan for Aviation," will improve the safety of flight. The plan sets new interagency standards for warnings and forecasts, and outlines the roles of the various agencies in the aftermath of an eruption. More...

BOMBARDIER: SOME Q-400 TURBOPROPS SHOULD BE GROUNDED
Bombardier said on Wednesday that some older Q-400 turboprops -- those with 10,000 or more cycles on the landing gear -- should not be flown until inspections are completed. The advisory follows two recent incidents in Europe in which the landing gear failed on landing. A Scandinavian Airlines aircraft was damaged when it skidded off a runway in Lithuania early Wednesday, though none of the passengers or crew were hurt. In an incident on Sunday, an SAS aircraft caught fire after its right landing gear collapsed during an emergency landing in Denmark, and five people on board suffered minor injuries. The advisory affects about 60 aircraft, and led to the cancellation of some 200 flights worldwide. More...

AVWEB HAS NBAA COVERED
As we make our coverage plans for the National Business Aviation Association's annual convention in Atlanta at the end of the month, we're trying to make sure we don't miss anything new, innovative or just plain newsworthy. If your company or organization has a story to tell, make sure that the uniquely qualified audience that AVwebBiz and AVwebFlash serves gets your message. Please email your advance press releases and news conference times, along with contact information to Editor-in-Chief Russ Niles at rniles@avweb.com. 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...

ACROSS THE POND #8: CROSSING TWO PONDS
Air racing, rule making and basing herself across not one, but two ponds have meant for an interesting month for AVweb's Euro-correspondent, Liz Moscrop. More...

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: THE SEARCH FOR STEVE FOSSETT
The search for Steve Fossett has been on everyone's mind this week. We realize this will stir a lot of reactions (and maybe some emotions), but based on the e-mails we've seen, we're curious what you think of the search. In your opinion, how has it been handled? 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...

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." Philip Clifton of Hixson, Tennessee burned through the film at the Naval Air Station Oceana's recent air show, but, in his words, "somehow none of them have the magic of this kid in a blue flight suit and garrison cap talking to one of his idols." We couldn't agree more, Philip — and to prove it, we'll be sending a cap your way in the next couple of days. (Just tell all your friends that we're as cool as the Blue Angels, and we'll call it even, eh?) More...

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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