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Tuesday 13th January 2009

Top News
The Associated Press is reporting that a public auction to sell the assets of Eclipse Aviation Wednesday has been cancelled for lack of qualified competing bidders. According to AP's story, that will pave the way for EclipseJet Aviation, owned by current Eclipse Chairman Roel Pieper, to pick up the company for roughly 20 cents on the dollar. ETIRC is proposing to pay $188 million ($28 million cash, $160 million in new notes) and offer 15-percent equity to senior secured creditors. Eclipse's total liability was estimated at more than $1 billion when it filed for Chapter 11 protection in late November.
Jan 13, 11:50pm UTC

More News
Police in Quincy, Fla. say they've arrested an Indiana pilot who is alleged to have faked a distress call, parachuted from his Piper Meridian and fled on a motorcycle.
Jan 14, 12:39am UTC
Soon after retiring from his 18 years as AOPA's president, Phil Boyer has taken a next step common to many former executives -- he has joined the board of an industry stalwart.
Jan 13, 11:10pm UTC
Atlanta lawyer and pilot Alan Armstrong claims the TSA's Aircraft Security Program is unconstitutional, and he's started a campaign to convince Congress of that.
Jan 14, 1:15am UTC
Cirrus Design will announce a series of model changes for 2009 today, including certified flight into known icing for the SR22.
Jan 12, 6:15am UTC
"As soon as we finalize our revised 2009 production plan, we will communicate what the implications are for our company," wrote CEO Jack Pelton.
Jan 10, 1:52am UTC
It has nothing to do with the economy, according to 70-something-year-old owner Armand Rivard. It's just "time to go fishing."
Jan 10, 1:50am UTC
To produce more airline pilots at a faster rate, Boeing's Multi-Crew Pilot Licensing shifts training's emphasis from flight hours directly to airline cockpit competency, but it's not without criticism.
Jan 10, 7:50am UTC
Users of Garmin's portable datalink receivers—the GPSmap 396, 496 and 696—got their weatherlink back in service by mid-morning on Wednesday, Garmin told AVweb.
Jan 8, 12:34am UTC
As he prepares to leave office, President Bush announced that he intends to designate Lynne A. Osmus, of Virginia, to be acting administrator of the FAA, effective Jan. 16.
Jan 7, 7:16pm UTC
 
Diamond Aircraft is furloughing 180 of its 684 employees in London, Ont. to balance inventory as weakening demand settles over the light aircraft market.
Jan 12, 10:56pm UTC
JAARS Inc. has become the first customer to take delivery of one of the 10-place Kodiak turboprops Quest Aircraft has pledged to support humanitarian work in remote places.
Jan 13, 11:13pm UTC
Garmin has issued an update for certain handheld GPS units to fix a problem with access to the XM weather option.
Jan 12, 3:44am UTC
Boeing announced Friday that it will layoff 4500 workers from its commercial aircraft division amid reports that it would lose both the orders and deliveries race to Airbus.
Jan 10, 12:07am UTC
Superior Air Parts, which has filed motions for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, now expects to obtain court approval of the bidding process by Jan. 15.
Jan 10, 12:12am UTC
In a letter obtained by Dow Jones Newswire, aviation groups are seeking funds to launch NextGen and equip aircraft with ADS-B.
Jan 10, 5:55pm UTC
Two passengers noticed at a security checkpoint that an airline pilot they passed nearby smelled strongly of alcohol, so they told a TSA agent ... but they didn't stop there.
Jan 10, 5:57pm UTC
Superior Air Parts says it's continuing to fill and ship orders following its bankruptcy filing of last week and the acquisition of most of its assets by Textron Lycoming.
Jan 6, 12:35am UTC
Embraer announced on Wednesday that it has received the type certificate from the FAA for its ultra-large Lineage 1000 executive jet.
Jan 7, 10:57pm UTC

COMPLETE NEWS Read the Latest Issue of AVwebFlash
NEWS ARCHIVES Past News Stories on AVweb
Columns
We demonstrate all manner of inherently unsafe behavior in airplanes to student pilots. Why not show them how to buzz?
Stabilized approaches aren't just for the Jet-A club. AVweb's Thomas P. Turner suggests ways to make them work for piston-pounders.
 
Our European correspondent Liz Moscrop says hello to the Skycar, goodbye to Tempelhof and good luck to Prince Harry.
Your aircraft is undergoing its annual inspection, and your IA tells you that he has to perform some costly maintenance task because the manufacturer says it's required. But is it really?

FULL INDEX OF COLUMNS Find All Columns Of Interest

AVweb Insider Blog
Did Garmin and XM miss an opportunity in not reacting faster to last week's weatherlink outage?
 

AVweb Insider Home

Podcasts and Video
Diamond Aircraft was the last of the major OEMs to announce layoffs to grapple with the tough economy. CEO Peter Maurer spoke with AVweb's Russ Niles about the market in general and the steady sales in the training sector.
Cirrus Design has announced features included in its 2009 product line. Flight into known icing is among the enhancements, and AVweb Editorial Director Paul Bertorelli spoke with Cirrus's Ian Bentley about the developments.
One of the oldest continuously produced line of aircraft in the world, the Lake family of single-engine amphibians, is for sale. AVweb's Russ Niles spoke with the current owner, Armand Rivard, about the potential future of the unique airplane.
The first in a series of public hearings on the Transportation Security Administration's proposed Large Aircraft Security Program (LASP), which targets general aviation aircraft larger than 12,500 lbs., was held in White Plains, NY on Tuesday. AVweb's Russ Niles spoke with National Business Aviation Association President Ed Bolen just after the hearing concluded.
 
By now, you've seen and heard a lot about Garmin's new GPSMap 696 GPS device. In this video, Jeb Burnside, Editor-in-Chief of Aviation Safety magazine, walks you through four key safety features of the 696. (Click through to watch.)
IFR magazine Editor-in-Chief Jeff Van West spent time in the Tower at Kennedy airport to see what it takes to run the operation during the evening push and why it takes two years for a controller to reach full qualification at one of the busiest airports in the Northeast. (Click through to watch.)
Avidyne has upgraded its Entegra Flight Deck. Join us as we have a look, courtesy of Paul Bertorelli and Glenn Pew. (Click through to watch.)

FULL INDEX OF PODCASTS Find All Podcasts Of Interest

Features

Letter of the Week: From an Ice Expert

Our company airplanes fly in icing as part of cloud-seeding and atmospheric research operations, so we have some experience in that area. The NTSB is completely missing the boat. ...

Hans Ahlness

Click through to read the rest of Hans's icing tips and other letters from our readers.

 
As winter approaches, days get shorter ... well, not shorter; they're still 24 hours each, but they do get darker. To master nighttime's dark side, shed light on the following questions.
It doesn't get much more essential for getting rated engine performance than a properly functioning set of spark plugs.

FULL INDEX OF FEATURES Find All Features Of Interest

AVwebBiz: AVweb's Business Aviation Newsletter
Delivered every Wednesday morning, AVwebBiz focuses on the companies, the products and the industry leaders that make headlines in the business aviation industry, making it a must-read.

Add AVwebBiz to your free subscriptions today by clicking here and choosing "Update E-mail Subscriptions."
Jan 1, 10:14pm UTC

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Who's Where
Kelly Aviation Center, an affiliate of Lockheed Martin, has received EASA certification for maintenance repair and overhaul of the CF6-50 engine. The certification expands the company's market to European-owned DC-10s, A300s and Boeing 747s.

Jan 14, 1:02am UTC

FULL INDEX OF WHO'S WHERE STORIES Find Past Who's Where Stories Of Interest

VIDEO


Wingsuit Base-Jumping

No video? Direct link here.
Aviation Safety Demos the Garmin 696's Top Safety Features

No video? Direct link here.

READER-SUBMITTED PHOTOS
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QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Are you planning to buy a light airplane this year?

Tough times for the U.S. economy have slowed predictions of breakout growth in general aviation — but they haven't stalled it. Tell us if this is the year you plan to buy a light airplane.


Share your Opinion »
FUEL FINDER

FBO OF THE WEEK

AVweb's "FBO of the Week" ribbon goes to Desert Skies Executive Air Terminal at Lake Havasu City Airport (HII) in Lake Havasu, Arizona.

AVweb reader Claudia Huber confessed that she stopped at Desert Skies "because of the cheap fuel," but was surprised by the hospitality:

Our first stop was at the wrong place, but there was no problem to get the fuel truck from Desert Skies to our parking. Inside the building, there were free coffee, donuts, popcorn, and much more for free for pilots. As a Swiss pilot usually flying in Euorpe, this was a wonderful arrival. Nice, helpful, friendly people, smiling all the time. Great!

Keep those nominations coming. For complete contest rules, click here.

AVweb is actively seeking out the best FBOs in the country and another one, submitted by you, will be spotlighted here next Monday!

Nominate an FBO »

SHORT FINAL...

Overheard while en route to Hendersonville, NC:

Approach:
"Piper XXX, say destination."

Piper XXX:
"Destination:
T as in ... tail.
R as in ... roger.
I as in ... um ... inside."

Jeff Brooks
Flushing, MI

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