AVIATION GROUPS CRITICIZE "HIGH FLYERS" REPORT
The Institute for Policy Study, a Washington-based social and environmental think tank, says the perceived boom in private jet travel is hurting the environment, stretching air traffic control and airports and could even be making commercial airline travel worse for those who can't fly privately. In a podcast interview with AVweb, Chuck Collins, a senior scholar for IPS and author of the report, entitled "High Flyers: How Private Jet Travel Is Straining The System, Warming The Planet And Costing You Money," said the disproportionate environmental impact of private air travel is obvious, and that he relied on FAA figures he says suggest that private jets don't pay an equitable potion of the costs they cause in the air and at airports. "It's about paying your fair share," he said. But both the National Business Aviation Association and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association were quick to dismiss the report as inaccurate and unbalanced. "This report is 30 pages of nothing but outrageous claims and the warmed-over rhetoric used by the nation's big airlines," said NBAA President Ed Bolen. "It is unfortunate that at a time when businesses are struggling and communities are losing air service, we see political screed masquerading as a policy report." Collins said his organization is independent and wasn't trying to get in the middle of the years-long friction between airlines and GA over who pays what. More...

BRITISH LORD FEARS GA TERROR ATTACK
Lord Carlile of Berriew QC, the British government's anti-terror advisor, says police in that country are worried that light aircraft will be used as "vehicle bombs against places of public aggregation," adding in his annual report that pulling off that kind of terror attack would "relatively simple." Naturally, the report has prompted pressure on Home Secretary Jacqui Smith by opposition politicians to ensure "that security measures at small airports are as tough as those for larger airfields." The Home Office has replied that while it is mindful of that kind of threat, it also has heard of no intelligence that suggests terrorists are plotting any light aircraft attacks. More...

EPIC TO BUILD CERTIFIED JET IN GEORGIA?
A Georgian Web site, finchannel.com, is reporting that Bend, Ore.-based Epic Aircraft has reached a deal with Tblisi-based Tbilaviamsheni (TAM) to certify and build its seven-place Elite light jet in the country, under Russian certification. The news service says the cost of the project is $10 million, split between Epic and TAM. Epic did not immediately respond to our request for confirmation of the report. The Elite was introduced at EAA AirVenture in 2007 and is a twin-engine composite aircraft with a predicted range of about 1,600 nm and cruise speed of 410 KTAS. More...

GIPPSLAND REVIVES NOMAD BUSH TWIN
An icon in Australian aviation is about to be reborn. Following a ceremony at Latrobe Regional Airport, the type certificate for the Nomad twin turboprop was handed over from Boeing Australia to Gippsland Aeronautics Pty Ltd. (GA). GA purchased the certification of the aircraft along with technical and spares sales support and all intellectual property for the aircraft. Development of the new Nomad aircraft is planned to be a global affair, catering toward remote area operations like GA's already highly successful aircraft, the GA-8 Airvan. More...

NEW FLIGHT-PLAN RULES TAKE EFFECT SUNDAY
As part of FAA's ongoing effort to harmonize its paperwork and procedures with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the form for filing a flight plan is about to change, but only for IFR flights that include RNAV arrival or departure routing. Pilots filing VFR, or filing IFR but without the RNAV arrivals or departures, can continue to file using the usual flight plan format. Pilots filing point-to-point (RNAV direct) and "T routes" also are not affected. The format change, which takes effect at 0900 UTC June 29, is being made to help expedite the FAA's transition to a new en-route computer system for Air Route Traffic Control Centers. Click here for the text of FAA's Letter to Airmen. Pilots affected by the change can find more information, including FAQs and step-by-step filing instructions, at the FAA Web site. More...

CARBON TAX HIKES FUEL PRICES IN B.C.
As fuel prices continue to rise, the government of British Columbia is imposing a carbon tax on all fuels, including Jet-A and avgas, that put the price up by at least 10 cents a gallon. The tax, which goes into effect on Tuesday (Canada Day, the country's annual patriotic holiday) will push the price of Jet A up 2.61 cents per liter (10.15 cents a U.S. gallon) and 100 LL 2.46 cents a liter (9.56 cents a U.S. gallon). Jet fuel was selling for $6.18 a U.S. gallon and 100 LL was priced at $6.73 a gallon at Vancouver International Airport on Tuesday. More...

'HIGH FLYERS' AUTHOR CHUCK COLLINS ON BIZAV AND CULTURE
Private air travel evokes wonder, envy and scorn, depending on who you talk to. But is it really the cause of a social schism that furthers the economic divide? Think tank author Chuck Collins is inviting people to think about the impact of business aviation beyond its place in the airspace system, and he talked to AVweb's Russ Niles about it. More...

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: B-2 SPIRIT STEALTH BOMBER CRASH TECHNICAL REPORT
The crash on takeoff of a 509th Air Wing, Air Force B-2 Spirit bomber, February 23 operating at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, was caused by water in the aircraft's sensors, according to an Air Combat report issued Thursday. Specifically, moisture in three port transducer units "distorted data introduced by a B-2 Spirit's air data system" which led to flawed information entering the bomber's flight control computers. The aircraft was reacting to inaccurate airspeed and a "perceived" negative angle of attack. This resulted in an "uncommanded 30 degree nose-high pitch-up on takeoff," according to the Air Force. (Click through to watch our video crash report.) More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: AVIATION REGULATORS NEED TO EMBRACE TECHNOLOGY
Live-saving aviation technologies are available--if only the road from tech to flight deck wasn't so long and slow. In the latest installment of our informative and opinionated AVweb Insider blog, contributing editor Mary Grady is as baffled as the rest of us with the frustrating gap between inspiration and implementation. More...

ADAM KOMACK TO XOJET

Adam Komack

XOJET has hired Adam Komack as its chief marketing officer. Komack was the chief lifestyle officer for EOS, an executive-class-only airline. More...

WHO'S WHERE? YOU TELL US
Get a promotion or a new job? Your colleagues want to know about it, and AVwebBiz can get the word out. Drop us a line about the staff appointment, with a nice recent photo, and we'll do our best to include it in our new section, "Who's Where." The items will be permanently archived on AVweb for future reference, too. More...

AVWEB'S NEWSTIPS ADDRESS ...
Our best stories start with you. If you've heard something 200,000 pilots might want to know about, tell us. Submit news tips via email to newstips@avweb.com. What have you heard? More...

DO YOU LIKE THE HEADSET YOU OWN? HOW ABOUT TELLING US ABOUT IT?
Our sister magazine, Aviation Consumer, is conducting an extensive customer survey on headset quality, performance and comfort. We would love to hear from readers everywhere about their headset experiences. The survey takes just a few minutes. Click here to take part.

(The results will appear in a future issue of Aviation Consumer. For subscription information, click here.) More...

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.

The AVwebBiz 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

Click here to send a letter to the editor. (Please let us know if your letter is not intended for publication.)

Comments or questions about the news should be sent here.

Have a product or service to advertise on AVweb? A question on marketing? Send it to AVweb's sales team.

If you're having trouble reading this newsletter in its HTML-rich format (or if you'd prefer a lighter, simpler format for your PDA or handheld device), there's also a text-only version of AVwebBiz. For complete instructions on making the switch, click here.

Aviate. Navigate. Communicate.