'Twas the night before Christmas, and out on the ramp, Not an airplane was stirring, not even a Champ. The aircraft were fastened to tiedowns with care, In hopes that come morning, they all would be there. The fuel trucks were nestled, all snug in their spots, With gusts from two-forty at 39 knots. I slumped at the fuel desk, now finally caught up, And settled down comfortably, resting my butt...

Time To Speak Up, Folks! The cheerful elves that toil endlessly at ANN look forward to doing a number of special issues each year... though none many be as pivotal as the two that are done on either side of New Year's Day. For the fifth time around, ANN will be presenting a look at 2003, on December 31st... looking at the stories that made the year interesting and remarkable, and January 1st, 2004, we'll look forward.  Let's face it, 2003 was a helluva year... both in terms of the victories that we produced (some surprising ones, to boot) for ourselves, as well as the fights that didn't exactly go our way. We'd hear from YOU as to what you think were the most important stories, people, planes and products of 2003 so that we may properly represent what YOU think mad

Klyde Spreads More Of That Holiday Spirit

He called his position, no room for denial, 'St. Nicholas One, turnin' left onto final.' And what to my wondering eyes should appear, But a Rutan-built sleigh, with eight Rotax Reindeer! Source: Anonymous aviator's version of "The Night Before Christmas." From all of us here at Aero-News Net, happy holidays and safe flying.

Happy Holidays!

The hard-working and long-suffering gnomes that publish ANN will finally get to take a short holiday break this week [we gnomes thank you --ed]. ANN's normal DAILY news will be presented December 23rd and 24th, and will then be on hiatus on December 25th and 26th. No matter what or when, we'll STILL do our best to keep you updated on anything important, while normal DAILY (weekend) news coverage will resume on December 27th. ANN will present its Annual Year-End Wrap-Up on December 31st through January 2nd. Important news items will still be presented over this period, though the main thrust of our coverage will be a look back at all we've survived in 2003, as well as a look forward at what we might have to deal with in 2004.