Letterman's Got Nothing On Us When It Comes To Top Ten Lists...

By ANN Associate Editor Juan Jimenez

Every year, ANN takes a look back at the year about to become history, and picks what we think are the ten most important aviation milestones of the year. Without further ado, the countdown...

10. Election Night, November 2, 2004

The evening when the TFR's From Hell ceased. Need I say more? ANN published a whopping 1,152 Temporary Flight Restriction NOTAM's during the past year, and most of them came up between January and the first week of November. A few were not published because by the time we saw them, they were set to expire before our next publication day. TFR's had to be near the top of the list of ten things which caused the most stress and aggravation to general aviation. Some of them were so confusing I doubt the FAA itself knew exactly how to fly around them. In fact, in some cases they did not, and controllers failed to warn aircraft that they were about to infringe on TFR'd airspace. Finally, did you know that Sen John Kerry never requested a single TFR during his entire campaign? The US Secret Service could learn a thing or two from that...

9. Garmin G1000 Joins The Field

The introduction of Garmin's G1000 EFIS has taken the GA world by storm. Who would have ever thought that we would see an airliner-quality EFIS on the venerable Cessna 172? Granted, Garmin was not the first to introduce such a system, but no one can deny that Garmin's reputation and clout with the pilot community was an important catalyst in (further) opening those gates. Virtually all the GA manufacturers are getting on the EFIS bandwagon with some type of EFIS installation, and it is becoming clear that other manufacturers of similar hardware such as Avidyne and Chelton are going to have to work hard to keep up their lead after bringing their products to the market in advance of the G1000 (especially Avidyne, who has hundreds of installations flying very nicely right now and is easily the most mature product line in this market segment, at the moment). Our only gripe with the G1000 is that it is not available for use on experimental amateur-built aircraft, and we hope that will soon change.

8. NBAA 2004, Las Vegas Convention Center

One of the fun parts of our job as aviation journalists is covering the various trade shows around the country. Since 9/11, the general and business aviation shows had been... well... let's just say that folks had not been exactly thrilled about where the industry was going. In our opinion, NBAA 2004 changed all of that for the business aviation community. The show was upbeat and exciting, and one could feel the electricity on the floor and in the various seminars. There are clear signs that the industry is recovering from the downturn that followed the deadliest terror attack in our country in recent memory. The decision to continue into 2004 the accelerated depreciation programs that benefited business aircraft sales in 2003 was a good one for NBAA's members, and we believe that the NBAA will see the momentum carried into 2005 and beyond.

7. Spirit And Opportunity, The Hardest-Working Robots On Mars

In January, three and a half years of work on the part of the JPL Mars Rover Team paid off. Two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, touched down on the surface of Mars and began what has been one of the most spectacular and eye-opening episodes in the exploration of our reddish-colored neighbor. The rovers have already operated for far longer than the team thought was possible, and the science they are returning to this planet is nothing short of amazing. The discovery of evidence pointing to an era in the planet's history where water was plentiful has scientists from every country in the world buzzing with excitement. There is no doubt in anyone's mind that NASA has made up for the loss of two spacecraft enroute to Mars in 1999. Let us hope that the lessons learned from this success story are repeated over and over again.

6. The FAA's Sport Pilot Rule And Light Sport Aircraft Initiative

The long-awaited Sport Pilot Rule finally saw the end of the tunnel and became... well... final! For nine years our various alphabet organizations had been working to make this a reality, and it finally became so hours before the beginning of EAA AirVenture 2004. As we said in the past, we believe that this rule has the potential to become the rocket that powers Sport Aviation to new heights. The rule still needs work, though, and it did not help one bit that the FAA decided at the last minute to do something we thought it would never do -- refuse to allow pilots who had been denied a medical to exercise Sport Pilot privileges. Never mind that a new pilot with serious medical conditions can simply put a driver's license in the glove compartment and go fly -- Aeromedical refused to let go when it came to the ones they already had in their grip. So far, we at ANN have not seen proof that the FAA truly meant what it said when we were all told during Oshkosh that there was no intention to keep anyone from flying. It remains to be seen if this situation will change in 2005, because that is the only reason this milestone did not garner a higher spot on this list.

5. The Thielert Aircraft Engines GMBH Certified Aviation Diesel Engine

One of the seminars we attended at EAA's AirVenture was presented by an expert on fuels and lubricants with 35 year experience in the field, Mr. Ben Visser of AeroShell/Shell Oil Products. During that seminar, Mr. Visser explained in great detail what it takes to make 100LL aviation fuel and deliver it to your local airport. There is no doubt 100LL is on its way out, and that is why we welcome the development of new diesel/multifuel engines such as the newly certified Thielert Aircraft Engines GBMH 310 HP powerplant. Now FAA certified, this engine represents the first of what we hope will be many new engines that will reduce our dependence on a fuel that is hard to produce and transport, and whose days are literally counted.

4. Diamond DA-42 Atlantic Crossing - St John's, Newfoundland, Canada To Portugal For $200

Normally we would not feature an Atlantic crossing in a twin aircraft as a milestone for a calendar year, but this one goes hand in hand with our comments on diesel engines. If there ever was an example of what diesel aviation engines can do to excite even the most jaded pilot, this was it. On August 16, Diamond Aircraft test pilot Gerard Guillaumaud ferried the DA-42 twin that had been on display at Oshkosh back to Europe. He departed London, Ontario, Canada and arrived at St John's, Newfoundland. He then topped off his 78 gallon extended tanks and 26 gallon ferry tank, and took off for Porto, Portugal. He arrived twelve and a half hours and 1,900 NM later, and still had the contents of the ferry tank plus six gallons in the extended tanks. At a 42 percent power setting, burning a total of 5.74 gallons per hour, the trip cost less than $200 at August fuel prices. Had the weather cooperated, he could have made his final destination in Toulouse, France... with reserves. Folks, in our book, that is one heck of an accomplishment.

3. One Word: "Cassini!"

Yes, we are going to give NASA another milestone recognition. Just as with the Mars rover robots, Cassini has been a spectacular success. Launched in 1997, the spacecraft made the long voyage to Saturn after engaging in four gravity-assisted maneuvers. Cassini entered orbit around Saturn in July of 2004, and began what is to be a four-year mission that is scheduled to include 70 orbits around the planet and its moons. Cassini has already returned an incredible wealth of information, including what can only be described as spectacular imaging as part of its multigigabyte daily download of data. As this feature article was being written, Cassini was on an impact trajectory with Titan, playing "chicken" with the moon so as to be able to deploy the Huygens probe. The spacecraft will then veer back into orbit and, if everything goes well, begin receiving data from the probe as it descends and impacts Titan. This is the stuff that space exploration dreams are made of, and we hope to see much more of it in the next four years.

2. Scaled Composites Wins The X-Prize

We have said so much about the accomplishments of Burt Rutan and his SpaceShip One team that not much is left to be said, except to think about the future, and the doors that Rutan and the little spacecraft that could have opened for the rest of us in that future. Rutan has accomplished what most people thought impossible just a short decade ago -- to put a civilian into space without spending the annual budget of most small countries, and to do it three times in a row! We at ANN consider ourselves very privileged to have been part of an event that we know, without a shred of doubt in our minds, will become just as much a part of our aviation and aeronautics history as the Wright Brothers' first flight and Yuri Gagarin's trip into space.

1. We Made It!

Admit it -- you were wondering why SpaceShip One's flight into space was number two on the list, and what could possibly be number one, right? The reason is simple: we at ANN feel that our biggest aviation milestone is that the aviation community is still flying, still going strong and still growing.

Three years after 9/11, we have to say it -- the terrorists lost, and we are back, stronger than ever. Aviation has suffered many attacks since 9/11, from many sectors of our society; the NIMBY's, the non-aviation media and their shameless fishing expeditions to look for the ratings at our expense, flea-brained politicians who think they are above the law and beyond Phil Boyer's reach... you name it, we took it on and won. Of course, it is important to recognize the accomplishments of the individual members of our aviation and aerospace family, but it is also important to recognize that our community has beat the odds. Stand up and applaud yourself! You deserve it!

FMI: www.aero-news.net