Or atlest a little dozed off…
HOUSTON: Following a detailed, integrated assessment, NASA selected target launch dates for the remaining eight space shuttle missions on the current manifest in 2009 and 2010. The manifest includes one flight to the Hubble Space Telescope, seven assembly flights to the International Space Station, and two station contingency flights, planned to be completed before the end of fiscal year 2010.
Russia’s new state-of-the-art Su-35 Flanker multirole air superiority/strike fighter successfully completed its first demonstration flight on Monday…
A Boeing 747 cargo aircraft operated by Kalitta Air has crashed near Bogotá in Colombia, killing two people on the ground. It seems that fire in one of four engines of the 747 caused the accident, just after taking off from El Dorado International Airport for a flight to Miami…
HAMPTON, Va.: Sixty-one students from 14 colleges and universities
around the globe have imagined what the next generation of airliners and cargo planes may look like. Fourteen teams and two individual students submitted their designs in the annual competition sponsored by NASA’s Fundamental Aeronautics Program, part of the agency’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate.
As fuel prices continue to climb nationwide, the pinch on the general aviation consumer becomes tighter as recreational flying becomes too expensive for many.
Our sister magazine, IFR, is asking pilots nationwide how their experience with Lockheed Martin Flight Service has affected the way they do their preflight prep. We’d love to hear your thoughts on how LockMart is doing these days. The survey takes just a few minutes. Click here to take part.(The results will appear in a future issue of IFR magazine. For subscription information, click here.)
If the architects of the Sport Pilot certificate are correct, there should be thousands of teens like Kris Halvorson out there. At least that’s what they hope. Halvorson is a textbook case of how the simpler certificate is supposed to entice youngsters to fly. Halvorson earned his Sport Pilot certificate on June 18 at the AirLake airport (KLVN) in Minneapolis. He recieved his certificate almost exactly one year after starting his flight training. All of his training was done in a Flight Design CTsw at LSA North, Inc. “I really enjoyed the flight training,” said Halvorson. “The Sport Pilot program was pretty straightforward and was what I was expecting.” Halvorson chose the Sport Pilot license for its simplicity. He paid for his flight training himself by working nights and weekends at LifeTime Fitness. “My schedule was work, then fly, work, then fly,” said Halvorson. “I would have been able to get my Private [Pilot Certificate], but it would have taken a lot more time.”
More then ever before, drivers and pilots are affected by the steeply rising fuel costs. But the folks at the EAA have a plan. Actually, they have numerous plans that can make the trip to Oshkosh for both drivers and flyers more economical. To help share travel costs to and from the show the EAA has a program called RideShare. Through the website visitors can either advertise empty seats in their car or plane, or search for local travelers who are willing to offer a lift. This five-year-old program was formed due to members request and is getting more interest than ever this year. To help further alleviate costs, many FBOs across the country are offering fuel discounts for travelers flying to Oshkosh. “We encourage pilots to support these businesses that support EAA members and EAA AirVenture,” said EAA President Tom Poberezny. The exact discount varies, but can each be found by contacting the individual FBO. For those that prefer to fly in via airline, discounts are available for those flying on Midwest Airlines and Northwest Airlines. Midwest offers an 8% discount and Northwest a 5% discount to published fares.
AVweb reader Michele Travierso recently spent some time playing passenger during aerobatic passes but unlike many of us who get the opportunity, she (a) had her videocamera handy, (b) was in what she describes as a “beautifully restored Tiger Moth” (what we can see in the video bears out her assessment), and (c) zoomed and flipped over some gorgeous Australian countryside. (Click through to watch.)
Overheard in IFR Magazine’s “On the Air”I was departing Terre Haute, Indiana. The ATIS said clear below 12,000, but I could see a scattered layer of clouds to the south with tops around 4,500 feet. After tower switched me to departure, there was this exchange:Cessna 123 (me):”Approach, Cessna 123. Request VFR-on-top 5,500.”Controller (sarcastically):”Cessna 123, it’s called ‘clear.’”Cessna 123 (me):”Then I’d like to report strange puffy white things with tops around 4,500, 12 o’clock, 10 miles.”The controller must not have understood that VFR-on-Top does not require clouds.John RudolphEvansville, Indiana
>>> AVWEB FUEL FINDER CURRENT PRICE FOR 100LL: $5.57 (up 3¢ from last week)CURRENT PRICE FOR JET A: $5.92 (up 1¢ from last week)Fuel prices provided weekly by AirNav, based on prices from the past 2 weeks. Changes are relative to last week’s prices. /TEXT_ONLY–>AVweb’s “FBO of the Week” ribbon goes to FlightLine First at Lakefront Airport (KNEW) in New Orleans, Louisiana.AVweb reader Ian Cairns called the airport to our attention this week, calling the staff at FlightLine “good folks trying to make a go of it and up against two national chains.” Ian went on to explain that the main office is still located in a trailer while they finish post-Katrina renovations, “but it has everything widescreen TV, computer access for briefings, comfortable sofas … [and the] courtesy car is a new Mercedes.” Ian does warn us against higher fuel prices throughout the area, but he says FlightLine is very competitive in that context and should have self-serve options in the very near future.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!
A CHILDHOOD fascination with flying was responsible for transforming Olympian and former ironman Grant Kenny into the largest private owner of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters in the country.
A classic aircraft from the early days of commercial air travel will be touring through the Midwest as the Experimental Aircraft Association brings its restored 1929 Ford Tri-Motor airliner to eight cities in …
FIREFIGHTERS were called to deal with a blaze at a private airfield after a light-aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing at Whitson.
Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt has said she was as shocked as her rebel captors when she and 14 other hostages were freed by government soldiers.
July 3, 2008, Cirrus Design marked the first flight of its jet offering. The aircraft, currently dubbed “The-Jet” successfully flew for 45 minutes. (Click through to watch.)
ROME: Alenia Aeronautica, a Finmeccanica company, successfully completed destructive testing on the horizontal stabilizer of the Boeing [NYSE: BA] 787 Dreamliner. The test took place at Alenia’s Pomigliano plant in Naples with Boeing engineers and representatives of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in attendance. The stabilizer is made at the Alenia Aeronautica plant at Foggia in Italy’s Puglia region.
Once upon a time, flying movies were a staple of Saturday matinee cinema. Along with wrestling flicks and westerns, they have sadly for the most part gone the way of the fifty cent double feature. There have been some great military aviation movies over the years, however, including a few from the not too distant past. Here’s our top ten list of the best military aviation movies of all time…
American airline Continental and five individuals are to stand trial in France on manslaughter charges over the crash of an Air France Concorde near Paris in 2000. The defendants include two of the airline’s employees, two former members of the Concorde team and a French civil aviation official. The Concorde crashed after its tyres were punctured by a stray piece of metal on take-off at Charles de Gaulle Airport…
The-Jet, Cirrus Design’s single-engine, V-tail airplane, made its first flight on Thursday, July 3, from Duluth International Airport in Minnesota. The first test version, V1, “performed flawlessly” during its 45-minute flight, the company announced…
MOSCOW (AFP): A civilian Mi-8 helicopter crashed in northwest Siberia on Wednesday killing at least nine people, Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said. "According to provisional information, there were 16 people on board, including three crew members. At least nine people died," ministry spokeswoman Natalya Lukash told AFP…
The Royal Air Force’s Typhoon aircraft marked another milestone in its capability today, Tuesday 1 July 2008, as it was declared operational in the air-to-ground role, becoming the Service’s most advanced multi-role aircraft…
British Airways boosted its new continental Europe-to-America operations by announcing that it had agreed to buy a French airline for £54 million. The privately-owned L’Avion operates two Boeing 757 all-business class aircraft between Paris’ Orly airport and Newark in New Jersey, US. Following completion of the deal, expected this month, it will become a BA subsidiary and be integrated into OpenSkies, BA’s new EU-US subsidiary airline.
Today, July 3, marks the first flight, a 45-minute jaunt, of Cirrus Design’s The-Jet — the company says the five-plus-two seat aircraft “performed flawlessly.” The first aircraft is dubbed “V1″ for verification and validation testing. It, like other Cirrus aircraft, flies with a full-plane parachute — unlike other Cirri’ The-Jet is powered by a Williams FJ33-4A-19. Performance targets are 300 ktas at 25,000 feet, range was not specified in Cirrus’ latest release. Cirrus Chairman and CEO, Alan Klapmeier set the bar for the aircraft at holding “the unique promise of redefining general aviation.” Aimed at owner-pilots, if The-Jet hits the mark it will be simple to fly and wrap efficient single-jet operation in a package that offers more flexibility and “more lifestyle pursuits” than other aircraft. The-Jet recently completed wind tunnel tests at Langley and has been further tested to substantiate the structural load capacities of its sub-assemblies.
Space physicists report that the Voyager 2 spacecraft, which has been traveling outward from the sun for 31 years, has made the first direct observations of the solar wind termination shock, according to an article in the journal Nature.
Bob Rybak of Saunderstown, Rhode Island kicks off the summertime fun with an air show photo from the Rhode Island National Guard’s recent affair. As this week’s top photo contributor, Bob will get an official AVweb baseball cap to shade his eyes during the next weekend air show he gets out to visit. Submissions remain high this week as we sit between the long weekends of Canada Day and U.S. Independence Day. That means we get a three-day weekend, an excuse to eat way more barbecue than anyone should, and plenty of great airplane pictures to show off on our PDA while we wander around outdoors looking for the mustard. And better still, AirVenture is only weeks away! But don’t worry you can enjoy the same great photos as us while sitting in front of your computer, even if work prevents you from taking a day off (or good sense prevents you from gorging yourself).
With fuel prices constantly on the rise, we’ve been getting a lot of QOTW suggestions from readers about alternative power. This week, we have one from Bruce B., who sent us a rather specific list of characteristics and wonders if any of these might tempt AVweb readers to make the jump to a battery-powered electric airplane. Plus: The shocking result of last week’s Question, “At what fuel price would you quit flying?”
Three American defense contractors landed late on Wednesday in Texas, hours after they were freed from years of captivity in the jungles of Colombia.
So your local FAA guys are amiable as can be and a pleasure to chat with, but you’d still rather not have them underfoot whenever you turn around? You’re not alone on the AVweb Insider blog, AVweb Editorial Director Paul Bertorelli explains why Sporty’s front man Hal Shevers has deciced it’s just more trouble to rent airplanes to the FAA than it’s worth.
Report: FAA needs to be a better job overseeing airlines…Traffic alerts occur up to 10 times more often in U.S. than in Europe…FAA is offering bonuses up to $100,000 for air traffic controllers to relocate…Houston’s 1940 Air Terminal Museum is raffling off a 1947 Cessna 140.