The news is looking a bit better for globe-trotting RV Flyer, Jon Johanson. But... not a lot better. Jon has been offered safe passage home via transport aircraft but his RV-4 will have to stay until it can be shipped back by boat, later this winter. Worse; Jon will have to pay for it all... and it isn't going to be cheap. Trying (Hard) to discourage unplanned and unannounced visits to Antatrctica, the National Science Foundation and other controlling interests at McMurdo, are taking a very hard line on the issue of Johanson's having got stuck at McMurdo station when headwinds forced him down. Antarctica New

The EAA AirVenture Museum is celebrating the centennial of powered flight in grand style Dec. 13-20, as a full week of activities to inspire and entertain aviation enthusiasts of all ages. Highlighting the week's events will be a live showing, via satellite, of the re-creation of the Wright brothers' first flight from Kitty Hawk, N.C., on Wednesday, Dec. 17. This flight, in an exact reproduction of the Wrights' 1903 Flyer, is the centerpiece of EAA's Countdown to Kitty Hawk celebration, sponsored by Ford Motor Company. On the evening of Dec. 17, renowned test pilot Dick Rutan (below, right) will be the featured speaker at a banquet hosted by EAA that commemorates the Wrights' 12-second flight that changed the world.

My dad frequently said “Doesn’t matter how good your airshow is…if people don’t know about it.” He was talking about marketing and promotion, and ICAS handed out awards Tuesday for airshow promotional materials and ads that did the best job in drawing in people and sponsors  and the dollars from both. There were more than 500 entries, the largest batch ever, and they were divided into 27 categories. We’ll present the winners here, and only wish we could print all the jokes Ric Peterson was using between the awards. He had some zingers.

For airshow performers and promoters, providers and suppliers, the International Council of Air Shows is the one place where they can get together at the end of every year, have some meetings, trade some knowledge, and trade stories about what went right and what went wrong in the year gone by. The 35th Annual ICAS got underway Monday morning in Dallas, with the opening general session, with a Wright Brothers glider hanging from the ceiling, and a high energy airshow promotional video blasting from three huge screens across the front of the room. ICAS Chairman Harry Wardwell (below) welcomed several hundred people to the show, and pointed out that the first airshow was in the late morning of December 17th, 1903, when about a dozen people witnessed the Wright brothers take to

The price of the Express Series 2000RG kit will increase, as of December 31st, 2003, to $75800. Even so, this bird is still priced thousands below many competing retractable gear SportPlane kits. The Express Series 2000RG features a cabin class useful load of 1875 pounds, 375 pounds more than available in other kits and even ahead of certified aircraft in the top end of the light aircraft price range. Fuel capacity is 140 gallons verses 90 and the 2000RG can carry that extra 50 gallons of fuel and still fill all four seats plus luggage. The large rear seating and luggage areas make your passengers feel like they are in a cabin class aircraft.