SMALL OPERATORS GET ICE RELIEF
The FAA has amended its controversial rule requiring pre-takeoff ice inspections to allow Part 135/125 operators the same flexibility as larger carriers when there is threat of ground contamination by ice and snow. Last year, the FAA enacted a rule that required a visual or tactile inspection of wings and control surfaces within five minutes of takeoff in ground icing conditions. The rule has been amended to allow pilots of aircraft that have been de-iced by an air carrier or approved contractor to apply the same holdover times (the time allowed before the de-icing needs repeating) as larger air carriers. Under the old rule, the five-minute rule applied even if the aircraft was de-iced. More...

PHENOM FACTORY FINISHED
Embraer has completed a 200,000 sq. ft. hangar at Gaviao Peixoto, near Sao Paulo, for final assembly and interior installation on its Phenom 100 and 300 light jets. The state-of-the-art facilities will turn out 120 to 150 Phenoms a year. It will start working on the backlog of 700 Phenoms in 2009. "I am absolutely certain that here, in this hangar, we will write a new and very successful page in the Company’s story," Embraer CEO Frederico Fleury Curado said at the dedication of the building. "This is a further demonstration of our commitment to the executive aviation market." More...

CHINESE REGIONAL JET ROLLED OUT
The Shenyang Aircraft Manufacturing company (the same firm that will build Cessna's Light Sport Aircraft) rolled out the first ARJ21 "Flying Phoenix" regional jet on Friday. According to United Press International, the aircraft is the first-ever clean sheet airliner design by the Chinese. A 20-seat business variant is planned but the up and down world of regional airline life is where most of the aircraft will end up. The 90-seat aircraft will fly in March and is expected to eventually take 60 percent of the domestic airline market share from Boeing, Airbus and Bombardier after first deliveries start in 2009. A total of 171 orders are claimed by the manufacturer. But while the Chinese claim it as their own, the Flying Phoenix is more like the rising of a defunct American design. More...

CHARTER, TAXI RATES TO DROP?
An online reservation service for people looking for charters and air taxi flights predicts the cost of flying in style will drop in the coming year. Taxijet.com says the announcement that Eclipse Aviation has achieved certification of its Avio NG avionics system should spark the boom the market has been straining to hear. "That means there will be more of the speedy little jets finding their way into air taxi companies all across the country," the company said in a news release. "As more taxijets are placed into service you can expect the prices you pay for aircraft charter to decrease." More...

TAG WANTS FARNBOROUGH RESTRICTIONS EASED
A week after it bought the airport, TAG is asking the British government to ease restrictions that cap flight operations, particularly on weekends and holidays. The airport is currently restricted to 2,500 weekend and holiday operations a year (the airport is closed on Christmas Day and Dec. 26, the Boxing Day holiday in Britain) but, with the boom in private jet travel, more people want to get away on their own aircraft than ever. "We have significant demand in excess of the 2,500 flights over weekends," TAG Farnborough Brandon O'Reilly told the Sunday Times. "It is an artificial constraint on our operations, and we feel 5,000 would be more appropriate." More...

THIELERT EXPANDS DEALER, SERVICE NETWORKS
In case you're wonder whether this diesel aircraft engine thing is going anywhere, Thielert, which makes the market-leading Centurion 2.0 liter mill announced this week that it now has 250 authorized service centers worldwide. Of those, 58 are in the U.S. and the company is busily training its first "native speaking" U.S. technical representative to ensure customers in that make-or-break market have ready access to service help. He's describes as being well experienced in the industry and will be located in Dallas, where Thielert owns Superior Air Parts. More...

IN-FLIGHT MEDICS SAVE JAMES BOND
A Scottish company that specializes in providing in-flight medical advice for crew and passengers aboard private jets and airliners, will see its name up in lights again when the next James Bond movie is released. TheFirstCall at the International Centre for Emergency Medicine in Aberdeen has been selected again as advanced medical consultants to the world's most famous spy. "We are thrilled to be partnering with Eon Productions and the rest of the Bond team," said CEO Roderick MacDonald. TheFirstCall was responsible for one of the most dramatic scenes in the last James Bond film. In Casino Royale Bond drinks a poisoned martini during a tense poker game. He staggers to his car where he has an automatic external defibrillator (AED), along with a remote telemedicine connection to his backup team at MI6. He rams a needle in his arm, which indicates that he has been poisoned with digitalis. They instruct him to place defibrillator pads on his chest and inject an antidote into his neck. He is too weak to start up the defibrillator, but fortunately his love interest arrives in the nick of time. The scene resulted from some in-house navel gazing on the future of the leading edge medical technology. More...

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MEET THE AVWEBBIZ TEAM

AVwebBiz is a weekly summary of the latest business aviation news, articles, products, features, and events featured on AVweb, the internet's aviation magazine and news service.

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Publisher
Timothy Cole

Editorial Director, Aviation Publications
Paul Bertorelli

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Russ Niles

Contributing Editors
Mary Grady
Glenn Pew

Features Editor
Kevin Lane-Cummings

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