TRANSITION ROADABLE AIRCRAFT FLIES
The Terrafugia Transition, the "roadable aircraft" that's attracted considerable attention at aviation shows in the last year, flew for the first time on March 5 at Plattsburgh, N.Y., and its makers say they've changed aviation as a result. "This breakthrough changes the world of personal mobility. Travel now becomes a hassle-free integrated land-air experience. It's what aviation enthusiasts have been striving for since 1918," said Carl Dietrich, CEO of Terrafugia. While most "flying car" concepts to date have incorporated detachable or trailerable wings, the Transition has electromechanical folding wings that convert the vehicle in 30 seconds. The company says production models will meet Light Sport specifications and be street legal. More...

VLJS ARE THE NEW COOL
Timing is everything, and VLJs are the right product for a recession, claim, well, VLJ salesmen. Cyrus Sigari of JetAVIVA and Randall Sanada of Jet Alliance claim the exodus from big business jets is filling the seats of the smaller aircraft. "It is still cool to own a VLJ," Sigari told the San Fernando Valley Business Journal. "It is not so cool to own a $20 million, $30 million jet." But busy execs still need to get around, and when current political correctness doesn't allow them exclusive access to an aircraft, charters are filling the void, Sanada said. He started Jet Alliance as a fractional ownership business but has expanded to provide charter service. More...

SATCOM CAPABILITY FOR EFB
A collaboration between Latitude Technologies and navAero has resulted in an electronic flight bag with satellite communications capability. Latitude makes voice and data devices that use the Iridium satellite system, navAero makes the EFBs, and the partnership between the two has resulted in greatly expanded utility for EFB users. The new setup allows the EFB to be used as the telephone dialer and for sending and receiving text messages via the sat phone network. "Text messages from the cockpit and cabin can be sent and received with any web-connected device through Latitude's LWS Sentinel™ data service," Latitude said in a news release. "Received messages can be displayed in-flight through the EFB, a PDA, or a laptop computer. Crew and passengers can communicate using operator pre-defined messages, or messages can be typed freehand." More...

STUDY SHOWS OLDER CONTROLLERS CAN DO THE JOB — BUT DO THEY WANT TO?
Older air traffic controllers can head off mid-air collisions at least as well as younger controllers, using experience to compensate for age-related declines in mental sharpness, according to a report published this month by the American Psychological Association. Controllers in the U.S. face a mandatory retirement age of 56, which the report suggests should be reconsidered. "Given substantial experience, older adults may be quite capable of performing at high levels of proficiency on fast-paced demanding, real-world tasks," wrote Ashley Nunes and Arthur F. Kramer, researchers at the University of Illinois. However, while airline pilots lobbied for years to raise their mandatory retirement age of 60, no such movement has been seen among controllers. "Only 2 percent of all controller retirees the past three years reached the mandatory retirement age of 56," Doug Church, spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, told AVweb on Tuesday. "So it's irrelevant and foolish to raise the issue of mandatory retirement in any discussion of this kind. Controllers in this country are not staying to 56." Church blames hostile working conditions and pay cuts for destroying morale and removing any incentive to stay even until 56, never mind beyond. More...

CESSNA EXEC PREDICTS UPTURN SOON; SATSAIR THRIVES
"We think we're probably close to the bottom" may not seem like the most optimistic words about the global economy, but the upside is that the sooner we get to the bottom, the sooner we start back up. That was the take from Roger Whyte, Cessna's senior vice president for sales and marketing, on Monday as he delivered two new Citation XLS+ jets to a customer. Whyte told the Wichita Eagle that a little historical perspective helps in keeping a positive outlook -- the bizjet business has been through slow times in the past, he said, before it boomed in the last 10 years or so. And even with the projected decline in deliveries for the next couple of years, the numbers aren't expected to fall below where the industry was in 2005, he said. Meanwhile, SATSAir has found an aviation business model that works, with record growth last year despite a slight downturn in the fourth quarter. The South Carolina air-taxi company operates a fleet of Cirrus SR22s, serving hundreds of airports in the eastern U.S. "We're extremely pleased with the strong 2008 numbers and the expanded presence in the Southeastern growth corridor that they represent," said Steve Hanvey, SATSAir president and CEO. "2008 was a landmark year for our business concept from a financial perspective and signals a growing acceptance of this innovative approach to business and personal air travel." More...

RE-ENGINED DIESEL TWIN STAR EASA CERTIFIED
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has certified the Diamond DA42 NG, which is powered by Diamond's own 170-horsepower Austro diesel. The certification came less than a year after Thielert, whose engines powered first generation Twin Stars, became insolvent, resulting in serious maintenance issues for DA42 owners. The EASA certification means Diamond can start delivering Twin Stars again in Europe (it has 40 on the line) and also start turning its attention to retrofits for existing owners who want to swap out their Thielerts. "We are focusing our efforts to achieve the certification of the optional upgrade of all delivered DA42s with the Austro Engine, such that all customers can benefit from these improvements along with comprehensive customer support for their engines," said Diamond CEO Christian Dries. Although the EASA certification is valid only in Europe, it should be fairly straightforward to get it recognized everywhere else, and Dries said Diamond is working on it. More...

DIAMOND'S AUSTRO ENGINE READY
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has certified the Diamond DA42NG with Diamond's own Austro engines, marking the beginning of the end of a challenging period for the company. AVweb's Russ Niles talks with Diamond's Peter Maurer about what the certification means to new and existing customers. More...

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

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: NOTE TO AIR FORCE — BUTT OUT
The Air Force has gotten itself into quite a snit over the CAF's rare F-82 Twin Mustang. It wants the airplane back. In the latest installment of our AVweb Insider blog, Paul Bertorelli wonders why there wasn't just one starred officer to say, "Ya know what, let's not do this. We'll look really dumb, and, anyway, we already have a Twin Mustang in the museum." Too bad it didn't happen that way. More...

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: FIRST FLIGHT OF THE TERRAFUGIA TRANSITION ROADABLE AIRCRAFT
Not a flying car, but a roadable aircraft — the Terrafugia Transition took flight for the first time March 5, 2009. More...

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: AVWEB'S BLOOPER REEL
So you think TV is easy? Take a look at AVweb's hilarious blooper reel, in which the staff unmasks the ugly side of the exciting world of web video. (And this is the G-rated version.) More...

PETKUS PROMOTED AT HBC

Edward Petkus

Edward Petkus is Hawker Beechcraft's new vice president of product development and engineering. He's been the acting VP since December. More...

TWEYMAN JOINS PRECISION AERO
Cara Tweyman has joined Precision Aero, of Mississauga, Ontario, in a newly-created sales and marketing position. Tweyman has 16 years of experience in the aircraft parts business. 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...

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

Webmaster
Scott Simmons

Contributors
Jeff van West

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