"POSITION AND HOLD" CHANGE EXPECTED SOON
The FAA could soon implement a changeover from "position and hold" to "line up and wait," to conform with international phraseology standards, NBAA said this week. If approved later this month, the new terminology could be implemented as soon as this June. It's long overdue, according to NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman. She said the NTSB issued six recommendations in July 2000, asking the FAA to change various ATC procedures to reduce the risks of runway operations. "In response, we were recently advised that the FAA soon plans to adopt a single change: the use of "line up and wait" instead of "position and hold" to instruct pilots to enter a runway and wait for takeoff clearance," Hersman said at a runway safety summit in Washington last month. "We needed to wait nine years for that?" Bob Lamond, of NBAA, told AVweb on Tuesday he doesn't expect too much distress over the change. "Folks are going to stumble over it at first, but we'll get used to it," he said. "It's been talked about for years, so it's really a non-issue for us." More...

FAA SECURITY PROCEDURES IN FORCE FOR SUPER BOWL
Economic forecasts for the coming year may be mixed, but the FAA is bullish on its expectations for air traffic at next month's Super Bowl. "A large number of aircraft" are expected to arrive in the South Florida metropolitan area during the period from Jan. 26 to Feb. 8 for the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl XLIV, the FAA says. The FAA recently posted a notice describing temporary procedures in place to manage the flow of traffic, enhance safety and security, and minimize delays. Pilots flying in the area during that time frame should be prepared to provide documentation, including personal identification, certificate number, aircraft ownership information, and a contact number, the FAA says. Pilots also will be required to maintain two-way communication and comply with discrete transponder requirements. Access to some airports may be restricted, local flight training will be curtailed, and TFRs will be in place. More...

CIRRUS CONTINUES GLOBAL PUSH
As the domestic aircraft market remains flat, manufacturers are looking offshore to bolster sales and Cirrus Aircraft's sales force is getting that message this week. The company's 65 sales executives are in Duluth for a week of meetings and since 35 of them cover other countries there's a global perspective to the meeting, punctuated by CEO Brent Wouters in his comments to the gathering. "I want to drive home the point that we are a global company today, and we need to think differently about how we operate in a world market," he's quoted as saying in a story in the Duluth News Tribune. Cirrus now sells airplanes in 50 countries and will get a presence in Argentina next. More...

WASHINGTON EYES AIRCRAFT OWNERSHIP TAX
Washington State aircraft owners are getting ready to fight a new tax that could add hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year to their fixed costs. State Sen. Cheryl Pflug told the Washington Pilots Association that a citizens' commission on tax preferences has recommended a 1 percent yearly excise tax based on the value of aircraft. An aircraft worth $100,000 would therefore be taxed $1,000. Pflug told the association that the commission views the tax as a "revenue opportunity" and is recommending the state legislature impose it. She urged the WPA to give her ammunition to fight the proposed tax in the form of economic impact analyses and the volunteer efforts of pilots in maintaining state-owned airports. WPA spokesman John Townsley told AVweb that aircraft owners now pay a flat annual registration fee ($65 for a piston single) and that the proposed tax wouldn't benefit aviation. More...

BANK SUES DEFUNCT FLIGHT SCHOOL OVER STUDENT LOANS
Two flight training companies and their owners are being sued (PDF) by Wachovia Bank, which is alleging fraud in the alleged improper disbursement of student loans. As we reported last May, a number of students were caught in the middle of their training when Jet University abruptly closed. Now, some of those students are either unwilling or unable to repay student loans provided by Wachovia Bank and the bank is now saying they shouldn't have gotten the money in the first place. More...

RING PROMOTED AT AVIDYNE

Pete Ring

Pete Ring is Avidyne's new sales manager for eastern North America. He was previously the inside sales rep for the region.
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CANAVERA BACK AT SIERRA INDUSTRIES

Thomas Canavera

Thomas Canavera has rejoined Sierra Industries as sales manager. He was most recently senior director of delivery and insurance risk management at Mooney Airplane Company.
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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 INSIDER BLOG: ALL SULLY, ALL THE TIME
As an aviation editor, Paul Bertorelli has seen enough coverage of the US Airways Flight 1549 ditching to last him a lifetime — but still, he found TLC's Brace for Impact worth watching. Read Paul's comments and add your own at the AVweb Insider blog. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: FILMS YOU GOTTA WATCH
What is it about World War II pilot training films that make them so interesting to watch? Paul Bertorelli offers no answers in his latest post to our AVweb Insider blog — but he does have plenty of links, so you can watch a few and develop your own theories. Click here to revisit the golden age of training films. More...

15 YEARS AND NOW 15 GRAND GIVEAWAYS ... IT'S YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A BOSE AVIATION HEADSET X

Win a Bose Aviation X headset as we celebrate our 15th Anniversary! All you have to do is click here to enter your name and e-mail address. (You only have to enter once, and you'll be entered in our prize drawings for the entire year — so if you've already entered, you're all set.)

And no, we're not going to rent or sell your name, ever. Tell your friends, and invite them to sign up for AVweb so they can qualify for our 15 Grand Giveaways prize drawings, too. (We won't spam them, either — but we hope they will sign up for our newsletters.)

Deadline for entries is 11:59pm Zulu time Friday, January 29, 2010.

Click here to read the contest rules and enter.

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: SMA'S CESSNA CONVERSION — ONE CLUB'S EXPERIENCE
Despite good fuel specifics and power-to-weight ratio, SMA's Jet A-fueled SR305 hasn't made major inroads into the aircraft engine market. The Paramus Flying Club in New Jersey converted one its 182s to diesel power nearly a year ago, and in this joint report by AVweb and Aviation Consumer magazine, we report on the club's encouraging operational experience. 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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