It didn't take billions of dollars to accomplish and the man at
the controls started out as a homebuilt pilot. In the end, Scaled
Composites' honcho Burt Rutan and SpaceShipOne pilot Mike Melvill
did what NASA and Alan Shephard did more than 40 years ago. They
sent a small ship -- albeit briefly -- into space.
At this year's Airventure in Oshkosh (WI), parked right next to
the old entryway arch, is a yellow, two-seat airplane that is so
perfectly built it grabs your eye from a hundred feet away.
233 Kts, FL230, 26 Minutes From Brake Release... Wow! Part
Seven
Serious Concerns…
With speed comes responsibility… with speed and altitude
comes responsibility and greater a need for understanding the realm
within which we operate. It’s one thing to operate an
aircraft at rarified heights… it’s another to train
someone to go there.
Encircled in purple stratospheric haze, Saturn's largest moon,
Titan, appears as a softly glowing sphere in this colorized image
taken on July 3, 2004, one day after Cassini's first flyby of that
moon. Titan has a dense atmosphere composed primarily of nitrogen
with a few percent methane. The atmosphere can undergo
photochemical processes to form hazes.
The 2004 AirVenture theme, "Launching the Next Century of
Flight," seems to have permeated the thoughts of this year's
attendees and filled them with warm fuzzy feelings about the
event.
Excitement was in the air as Winnebago County, State of
Wisconsin and federal officials broke ground today for a new air
traffic control tower at Wittman Regional Airport, Oshkosh
(WI).
At a wooded lot in Camp Scholler, adjacent to Oshkosh's Wittman
Regional Airport, one of the 30,000 or so campers who come to
AirVenture each year is Chuck Swain, owner of Beaver Aviation."I've
been at Oshkosh since it was in Rockford (IL) in 1963," he told me
during the big fly-in. "I have been in this campsite since 1970. If
you look around, you'll find all kinds of bottle caps buried in the
turf." He laughs contagiously. "We dig them up every once in awhile
just to remind us 'that was a very good year.'"
Ryan International of Columbus (OH) announced Friday the ability
to integrate its Multi-Hazard Display (MHD) with Honeywell's
KGP-560 Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) and L-3
Avionics' WX-500 Stormscope Weather Mapping Sensor.
It's often said there's so much to do at Oshkosh you have to
clone yourself to see it all. I have just one AirVenture under my
belt. That hardly qualifies me as an expert. I do have several
years of large science fiction (shameless plug - Serenity April
2005) convention experience. It's a lot like an air show, with
booths, vendors, talks, and movies -- all scheduled at the exact
same time.
"How many of you
would buy a $5.00 lottery ticket for a space flight? How many of
you would buy 100 of them?"
Source: Burt Rutan at the Theater
in the Woods at AirVenture Oshkosh 2004, teasing the crowd about
what might happen with Spaceship One after the X-Prize competition
is over.
Awards Presented To Aviation Over-Achievers At Airventure
The Theater In The Woods is AirVenture's largest gathering
place. It is small enough to feel intimate. But with three sides
open to the surrounding woods an enormous crowd can gather around
the theater. That was the case Thursday night in Oshkosh (WI), when
the EAA and FAA presented some of their most prestigious awards to
several of aviation's best.
"Learning to fly is the foundation upon which every segment of
aviation is built," says the Be a Pilot brochure. No one is born
with the ability to fly. Even baby birds must be taught. The Be a
Pilot program is reaching out through today's most popular medium
-- television -- bringing a new generation of flyers to the
airport.
Volunteers are the heart of Oshkosh EAA Air Venture. Without the
4,500 or so selfless people who give their time to this air show,
there wouldn't even BE an air show. Volunteers comprise about 95
percent of the air show staff.
Departure via Long Island Can Save 45 Minutes Due to Air
Traffic Delays at Teterboro
It’s a typical scene for the well-heeled traveler (and
you know who you are... and why you don't work for ANN...):
You drive to Teterboro Airport on a Friday afternoon and board your
private Learjet, looking forward to getting a jump on the weekend
while avoiding the crowds and hassles of commercial airline
travel.
AD NUMBER: 2004-15-18
MANUFACTURER: Cessna
SUBJECT: Airworthiness Directive 2004-15-18
SUMMARY: The FAA supersedes Airworthiness
Directive (AD) 2003-24-13, which applies to certain Cessna Aircraft
Company (Cessna) Models 172R, 172S, 182S, 182T, T182T, 206H, and
T206H airplanes that are equipped with a certain Honeywell KAP 140
autopilot computer system installed on the center instrument
control panel near the throttle.
AD NUMBER: 2004-15-11
MANUFACTURER: Eurocopter France
SUBJECT: Airworthiness Directive 2004-15-11
SUMMARY: This amendment adopts a new airworthiness
directive (AD) for the specified Eurocopter France (ECF) model
helicopters that requires cleaning the auxiliary system unit (ASU)
board and modifying the wiring and wiring harness.
AD NUMBER: 2004-15-15
MANUFACTURER: Air Tractor
SUBJECT: Airworthiness Directive 2004-15-15
SUMMARY: The FAA supersedes Airworthiness
Directive (AD) 2002-19-10, which applies to certain Air Tractor,
Inc. (Air Tractor) Models AT-402, AT-402A, AT-402B, AT-602, AT-802,
and AT-802A airplanes.
AD NUMBER: 2004-15-19
MANUFACTURER: New Piper
SUBJECT: Airworthiness Directive 2004-15-19
SUMMARY: The FAA adopts a new airworthiness
directive (AD) for certain the New Piper Aircraft, Inc. (Piper)
Model PA-46-500TP airplanes.