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World's Leading Independent Aviation News Service Volume 25, Number 11a March 12, 2018   View Online | Forward This Email help

Five Dead in East River Helo Mishap (Updated)   AVweb Staff     Five people were killed after a tour helicopter autorotated into New York's East River Sunday evening and turned over after touching down on the water. News reports said the pilot was the sole survivor of the accident. Prior to touching down on the water on inflatable skid floats, the pilot had reported engine trouble to ATC. CNN published dramatic footage and ATC audio of the mishap early Monday morning.   Read more

The Berlin Airlift: This Is The Year To Remember   Paul Bertorelli   Seventy years ago this summer, the first act of the Cold War played out in a fleet of clapped out C-47s and C-54s. It cemented a post-war world order that endures today. Gail Halvorsen. Some readers will instantly recognize that name, some will search the mists of their memories and others will draw a blank. Which are you? In 1948, Gail Halvorsen was a 27-year-old prematurely balding Air Force transport pilot who gained overnight fame as the beloved Candy Bomber during the Berlin Airlift. At 97, Halvorsen is still with us and this year, the 70th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift, I suspect you’ll be hearing a lot both about him and the airlift.   Read more How To Get A Light Sport Seaplane Rating   Paul Bertorelli     The sport pilot rule allows anyone who wants a seaplane rating to do it with five or so hours of training and then an endorsement from an evaluating CFI. AVweb's Paul Bertorelli recently did the rating at Jones Brothers Air and Sea Adventures in Tavares, Florida. Here's his report.   Read more

AOPA Aviation Curriculum Free To Teachers   Mary Grady     AOPA has developed a curriculum for ninth-grade students that uses aviation to teach science, technology, engineering and math, and is offering it free to schoolteachers. Teachers will be introduced to the program through a professional development workshop offered June 26 to 28, which can be attended at AOPA headquarters in Frederick, Maryland, or taken online. The course has been tested with more than 700 students in nearly 30 schools over the last year, AOPA says.   Read more Honeywell Forecasts 4,000 To 4,200 New Civil Helicopter Deliveries Over Next Five Years   AVweb Staff     In its 20th annual "Turbine-Powered Civil Helicopter Purchase Outlook," released in late February 2018, Honeywell forecasts 4,000 to 4,200 new civilian-use helicopters will be delivered from 2018 to 2022. Honeywell says they feel a better long-term global economic outlook this year means customers are holding firm in their intentions to invest in new helicopter purchases.   Read more Sponsor Announcement Give the Gift of Life! Wings for Humanity is a non-profit humanitarian aid organization working in areas of the world where traditional transportation is unavailable. WFH regularly flies medical workers, medications, and supplies into areas where medical assistance and supplies are needed. Through your donation-in-kind (airplane, car, land, or other items of value), you can help save a life. For more information, call (414) 763-5781 or go to Wings4Humanity.org.

Berlin Airlift: Plus Fifty   J. B. McLaughlin     With needle, ball and a hell of a lot of guts, a bunch of guys flying beat-up C-47s won the first round of the cold war. It was the most challenging IFR flying imaginable with equipment generously described as primitive. On this classic reprint from IFR magazine, two veterans of the lift tell their stories.   Read more

FAA Poorly Managed NextGen Funding, According to OIG   AVweb Staff     A new report this month from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) says the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lacked effective management controls over the “project level agreements (PLAs)—an internal control mechanism for documenting the agreed-upon work and managing project execution” for the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). This program was implemented to meet the FAA’s goals of modernizing the National Airspace System.   Read more Red Bull Air Chooses VectorNav VN-300   AVweb Staff     Red Bull Air Race selected the VectorNav VN-300 Dual Antenna GNSS-Aided Inertial Navigation System (INS) as the primary source of aircraft telemetry data for the Master Class raceplanes participating in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship. The February inaugural event of the 2018 season saw the VN-300 used for the first time in all 14 aircraft to provide real-time telemetry data used for judging, in-race simulation and virtual reality applications. The first stop on the circuit was Abu Dhabi.   Read more

Picture of the Week     This past November at Bowman Field in Louisville, Ky., high school student Caroline Schmid, shown here, took a discovery flight...her first time in a small plane. She loved it! By the way, her mom, Maura Schmid, is a pilot for UPS. Caroline hopes to begin training for her private pilot certificate soon. It must be in her genes.   Read more

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