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The
official daily newspaper of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh
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Volume 7, Number
7
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July 29, 2006
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A broader selection at
the LSA Mall this year
Last year at this time, the list of certified special light-sport
aircraft (S-LSA) included 14 models. In what may become an AirVenture
tradition, a number of those models were gathered together at the LSA
Mall. That tradition continues here at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2006,
only now there are a lot more certified S-LSA models at this year’s
mall, many of which are available for viewing and for sale. Read
more
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Gathering of Eagles event
tops the $1 million mark
EAA garnered record
support in its annual fundraiser, The Gathering of Eagles, held
Thursday night at the EAA AirVenture Museum’s Eagle Hangar. More
than 1,000 members of the aviation community attended the gala event,
and when the night was over, more than $1.3 million was raised to
support EAA’s youth inspiration and education mission: promote the
future of, and build a legacy for, aviation. Read
more
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Largest kit builder
working on LSA
With Cessna, one of the world’s largest general aviation aircraft
manufacturers, expected to enter into the S-LSA market, it only seems
reasonable that the largest manufacturer of kit airplanes would enter
it, too. Read more
- Dueling DUATS
Automated weather briefings, flight planning may be endangered
DUATS(Direct User Access
Terminal System), the online automated weather briefing and flight
planning and filing service, may be endangered, according to the two
companies that currently provide the free service to pilots under
contract with the FAA. These two vendors (DTC and CSC) are spreading the
word here at EAA AirVenture about the potential shutdown. Read
more
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Cessna’s Jack Pelton
receives Key to the City award
When Jack Pelton was 13
years old, he flew with his father to his first EAA fly-in and
convention at Oshkosh in a Cessna 140 from their home in Southern
California. On Friday morning, Pelton, president and CEO of Cessna
Aircraft Corporation, was given the Oshkosh Key to the City Award at the
17th annual Mayor’s Breakfast event downtown. Read
more
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After 35 years of
AirVentures, FAA staffer to retire
Mike Simon was an FAA staffer here at Wittman Field back when the EAA
Oshkosh fly-in first came to town. And this year he’s back again,
volunteering to support the radio and other electronics facilities,
for one last time before he retires after 35 years. Read
more
Mustangs and Legends
to gather for the last time
In what is being billed as the The Final Roundup, P-51 Mustangs, their
owners, their pilots and the legendary veterans who made it one of the
most recognizable airplanes in the world, will gather in Columbus,
Ohio, September 27th to 30th, 2007. Read
more
AeroShell Square
Building to honor memory of Daryl Lenz
Daryl Lenz, who worked as
EAA’s director of aircraft maintenance for many years, perished in a
traffic accident earlier this year. Daryl, who resigned from EAA in
August 2004 to take a teaching job at Fox Valley Technical College in
Oshkosh, still retained the role of organizing and managing aircraft
attractions on AeroShell Square during EAA AirVenture. Daryl also worked
closely with the sport pilot and aircraft maintenance offices. Read
more
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The longest route to
Oshkosh
Mike Buser didn’t take the straightest route to Oshkosh, but it might
have been the most beautiful one. Buser left Ubatuba, Brazil, on July 1,
flying his Pelican with its 100-hp Rotax engine and 100-knot cruising
speed. About 11,000 miles later, he arrived at EAA AirVenture 2006 on
July 23. He’s staying throughout the week and will begin his flight
back to Brazil next week. Read more
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B-1 pilot flies Young
Eagles in his Bonanza
In 1993, when David Marten was 15, he took a Young Eagles flight in a
Beechcraft Staggerwing. It was his first flight in a small airplane.
"The pilot, an old Air Force
instructor, let me take the controls," he recalled. "He
basically taught me the maneuvers and explained everything so I was more
comfortable. It was not just a ride." Read
more
ASTM standards support
development and safety of LSA
Representatives from ASTM International, EAA, the FAA, and various
aerospace manufacturers met Wednesday at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh to
review progress on developing standards and to discuss the possible
needs for additional standards for general aviation. Read
more
For NASA staff,
AirVenture is unique
If you think EAA AirVenture Oshkosh crowds respect NASA’s
accomplishments, you should hear what the NASA staffers at this year’s
show have to say about the EAA audience. "Everything and anything
that is aviation-oriented is at Oshkosh," says Frank Cutler,
earth sciences capabilities specialist from NASA’s Dryden Flight
Research Center in California’s Mojave Desert. Frank, who owns a
1957 Piper Pacer, smiles as he pronounces the AirVenture variety
"almost overwhelming." This is Frank’s first year staffing
the NASA exhibit building. He enjoys the cross-section of aviation
enthusiasts who visit AirVenture, ranging from novice to professional.
"We all love airplanes," he adds. Does he want to return
next year to help NASA’s exhibit? "I’m going to try every
year I can," Frank says enthusiastically. Read
more
Autogiro: a
"bottle rocket" with radial
Back in their day, autogiros had the best safety record of any
aircraft type, according to Ron Herron. Because of that fact and a
desire to replicate the classic lines of the early examples from
Cierva and Pitcairn and Kellet, he set out to build a fun-to-fly
autogiro, with a decidedly retro look. Read
more
FAA proposes removing
area proficiency requirements for Warbirds
Current FAA regulations covering civilian-owned and -operated military
and surplus aircraft are based on the assumption that these aircraft
will be flown for exhibition purposes only, not simply used for
personal transportation. The regulations allow certain aircraft to
operate only within a specified distance from their home airports.
Turbine-powered aircraft, like the Beech T-34 Mentor, can currently
operate only 600 miles from their home bases. Piston-powered aircraft,
including WWII warbirds, are limited to operating within 300 miles of
home. (FAA regulations do permit straight-line flights of longer
distances to reach air shows or for maintenance or proficiency
training.) Read more
SkyWatch chosen for
WMU fleet
L-3 Communications Corp. this week announced that the Western Michigan
University (WMU) College of Aviation selected its SkyWatch collision
avoidance system for its entire aircraft fleet. The WMU has the
third-largest collegiate fleet and the largest Cirrus collegiate fleet
in the nation. Current aircraft include Cirrus SR20 and SR22s, Piper
Arrows, and Piper Seneca IV and Vs, all either already equipped or
soon to be equipped with SkyWatch systems. Read
more
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EAA Annual Meeting
today at Theater in the Woods
All EAA members are encouraged to attend the annual
business meeting of the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc. today at
Theater in the Woods starting at 10 a.m. EAAers in attendance have the
opportunity to cast votes to elect eight Class I directors (three-year
term). Read more
Sennheiser introduces
HMEC 460
Sennheiser rolled out its newest headset this month,
the HMEC 460. The HMEC 460 is an active noise-canceling beauty that
offers enhanced convenience and audio. Its state-of-the-art NoiseGuard
active noise reduction system can be powered by either the aircraft’s
electrical system or a pair of AA batteries. Should the pilot choose,
the active noise cancellation can be switched off; the HMEC 460 also
operates as a superb passive headset. Read
more
A really big show
Ed Sullivan used to promise viewers a "really big show" and
gave impersonators a phrase on which to hang their spiels. The EAA
also promised a really big show and there’s no question, it
delivered. The news this year has been enough to keep my colleague
Robert Goyer sprinting between press conferences and his computer. We’ve
been intrigued by and speculated about Cessna’s promises of future
products and proofs of concept. Garmin made its 396 into a 496 and
surprised a lot of us with its G600 and G900X displays; Cirrus’s
announcement of a turbocharged airplane wasn’t a complete surprise
but something else to write about. Honda made news with the
announcement it’s going to go ahead with production of the HondaJet
with Piper as a sales and service support partner. And Eclipse came
very close to its promise of an end-of-June certification for the
Eclipse 500 when its provisional type certificate was delivered here
on Thursday. Read more
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Around the Field
Dawn patrol at Wittman
Field... a long-lost family...a history buff...and preparing to wander
home. Read more
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Ask Tom
EAA members
and attendees who have questions regarding aviation, AirVenture or EAA,
feel free to drop them off at the AirVenture
Today office just north of
the control tower, or e-mail asktom_airventure@hotmail.com
and Tom will attempt to answer them. Please be sure to include your name
and where you are from. Read more
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