AOPA News
| Pilots share thoughts, concerns with senator |
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Why is general aviation important to you? An audience of 130 Denver-area pilots and aviation enthusiasts had an opportunity to share their answers with their senator Aug. 30 at a GA Serves America community event at Centennial Airport. |
| Kansas aviation brings $10 billion in economic activity |
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Aviation in Kansas has an ally in its state legislature; elected officials are working together to ensure that Kansas aviation stays strong. A bipartisan coalition awarded airports 25 grants, totaling $1.3 million, to focus on airport development, airport and pilot safety, and airport maintenance. |
| GA event brings pilots, members of Congress together |
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Oklahoma pilots talked about user fees, avgas, and more with AOPA President Craig Fuller and AOPA member U.S. Sen. James Inhofe during an Aug. 18 General Aviation Serves America community event at Wiley Post Airport in Oklahoma City. |
| New Mexico honors aviation |
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New Mexico relies on GA for businesses, tourism, aviation training, agricultural applications, and police and fire protection. Gov. Bill Richardson recognized the importance of aviation to his state by proclaiming September 2010 "Aviation and Aerospace Appreciation Month." |
| Land-use measure passes California legislature |
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California public-use airports would be assured the protection of an airport land-use commission under a bill passed by the state Assembly Aug. 30. |
AVWEB
| CVR Recovered In UPS Crash |
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The UPS Boeing 747-400 that crashed in Dubai Friday was only three years old and had less than 10,000 hours on it according to a news release issued by the company on Saturday. UPS identified the pilots killed in the crash as Capt. Doug Lampe, 48, of Louisville, KY and FO Matthew Bell, 38, of Sanford, FL. They were based in Anchorage. The aircraft. According to Dubai's National newspaper, the pilot reported a fire on board and was trying to return to the airport. The aircraft had been airborne for 38 minutes before the crash. There is also speculation the pilot deliberately headed for an empty area of a military base where it crashed. There were no injuries on the ground. The cockpit voice recorder was recovered on Saturday but the flight data recorder has not been recovered. |
| Warning: Suspicious Activity May Include Yours |
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A flyer left by the DHS in an FBO at Hickory Regional Airport in North Carolina makes bullet points of suspicious behavior associated with illegal activities but ensnares some behavior pilots might consider routine. The flyer was left at the FBO about two weeks ago by federal agents and lists suspicious activities that include customers who: insist on paying in cash; are vague about their itinerary; fly in with a dirty undercarriage; use self-service fueling early in the morning or late at night; seek temporary hangarage for their aircraft; fly a "worn out" plane with a "very nice" GPS; or travel with "excessive" luggage. The posting listed special agents to contact "if you encounter such suspicious activity." It also offered a reward of "up to $250,000" for information "relating to the transportation or storage of contraband and/or criminal proceeds." The list did also include some activities that might be considered suspicious by a larger group of pilots. |
| UPS 747 Down Near Dubai |
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A UPS 747-400 out of Dubai for Cologne crashed after take-off Friday at about noon EST, within the perimeter of a military base, killing its two crew after suffering an onboard fire, according to early reports. A statement from civil aviation authorities said "measures were taken to contain the fire which broke out on board," but did not directly indicate where the fire was located within the aircraft. Witnesses have reported they saw the jet was on fire before it crashed. The crash took place some 18 miles from Dubai International airport and early reports did not indicate additional casualties on the ground. |
| Computer Virus Linked (Loosely) To Airline Crash |
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Two years ago, a Spanair MD-82 crashed on takeoff at Madrid, killing 154 people and marking Spain's worst air tragedy in 25 years; now, malicious code infecting a maintenance department computer has been implicated in the crash. To be clear, the code was not flown on the aircraft's own systems and did not cause the crash. This specific crash could have been avoided regardless of the malware's existence. But the discovery of malicious code introduced into an on-ground system operated by the airline's maintenance department does suggests certain negative possibilities. One possible scenario is that the code slowed a program which, if properly maintained, would have flagged the aircraft for service and disallowed the takeoff because of a series of smaller problems already noted with the plane. That's a lot of qualifiers. But the fact that the system was infected and didn't flag the aircraft in this case closed one door on an opportunity to save the flight. It also suggests the urgency of proper computer maintenance throughout the entire airline system to assure safety of flight. |
| AOPA: Through-The-Fence Access Changes Loom |
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Existing airport community homeowners might enjoy continued "through the fence" access to their associated runways, but things may be very different for similar communities in the future, according to AOPA. In 2009, the FAA sought to eliminate through the fence access to airport taxiways and runways for aircraft based on adjacent private property. That general layout is popular at many airport community neighborhoods. AOPA says the FAA is now leaning toward a more considered approach for those airports that currently include, or were largely built around, a through the fence concept. At those airports, AOPA says the FAA may avoid broad-stroke regulation and apply a by-case approach. But looking forward, there's still a chance that aiports seeking to provide those access privileges in the future may simply be out of luck. |
Aero-News
| NBAA to Honor Industry Leader Paul Stinebring With 2010 John Winant Award |
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Steinbring Is Credited With Forming The IBAC The NBAA said Thursday that Paul Stinebring of Emerson Electric will be honored with the 2010 John Winant Award at the 63rd Annual Meeting & Convention (NBAA2010) in Atlanta, GA. |
| Aero-News: Quote Of The Day (09.05.10) |
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"The Google Lunar X PRIZE has a great deal of momentum now, with an incredible roster of teams and with major agencies such as NASA stepping up to become customers of our teams... We're happy we could hold this summit during World Space Week and in a location like the Isle of Man, which truly represents the new era of innovative space commerce." Source: William Pomerantz, the Senior Director for Space Prizes at the non-profit X PRIZE Foundation. |
| Eclipse Sims Receive FAA Level D Certification |
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Full-Motion Simulators Should Be Operational Next Month The FAA has awarded Level D certification for the Eclipse EA500 full motion simulators located in Orlando, FL. |
| NASA Selects Investigations For First Solar Close Encounter |
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Five Experiments Will Enter The Sun's Atmosphere NASA has begun development of a mission to visit and study the sun more closely than ever before. The unprecedented project, named Solar Probe Plus, is slated to launch no later than 2018. |
| Middle Eastern Aviation Authorities Seek Ways To De-Congest Airspace |
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Air Traffic System Struggles To Keep Up With Growth In the Regaion According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Middle Eastern airlines saw an increase in airline passenger demand of 16.8 percent in July year-on-year, and a 19.4 percent jump over the first seven months of the year. |