Transition
Lives!

I laugh in the face of those who said Terrafugia's Transition was a crazy idea, that designing a "flying car" was insane. Those fools who doubted had better not head to the Land of Cheese and Brats right now, or they will see something that ought to prove without any question that the Transition is real, it is very, VERY cool, and it is going to be a huge success. Here is the skinny, from EAA:

"Terrafugia Inc., developers of the Transition "roadable vehicle," will display a non-operational model at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2008. The two-place plane, which will meet light-sport aircraft (LSA) standards, is anticipated to have a top speed of about 85 mph on the road and a cruising speed of 100 kts (115 mph) in the air. It will be powered by a Rotax 912 engine and priced at $148,000. Carl and Anna Dietrich, the MIT graduates who created the flying car, displayed the mockup and conducted a folding wing demonstration at the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring in January. Flight-testing is on target to begin before the end of the year, with the first deliveries anticipated in late 2009. "

As you can see from the photo above, yep, there it is, a real, live Transition. I am not going to lie to anyone, this is the most exciting aviation story out there right now, this vehicle is a serious game changer.

As I have watched this project mature two things are crystal clear:

(1) Those who do not believe the claims that Team Terrafugia makes are fools, and...
(2) these people know what they are doing, big time. I have never set foot on campus at MIT, but when a resume has those three letters in the "education" portion, you can be assured that person can design just about anything, including roadable airplanes.

I have said this numerous times, but today the feeling is stronger then ever: I want one.

UPDATE@1:18P: Transition interior shot posted over at ANN: Eager would have been a monumental understatement in describing how we Transition fans feel about seeing the first photos of the interior of the POC vehicle at Oshkosh. And thanks to Aero-News Network, that photo is here (click on the tiny thumbnail to launch a larger version).

OMG! OSH!

This is the time of the year when all aviation news gathering outfits have their throttles firewalled. And because there are so many "boots on the ground" right now in the Land of Cheese and Brats, juicy bits of news from EAA Airventure are coming at us fast from everywhere on the web.

Over at AOPA, their daily Oshkosh news can be found here, and today's dose had the following:

"Lycoming is entering the light sport aircraft (LSA) arena. At Oshkosh, the company unveiled a new fuel-injected engine, a derivative of a model well known to general aviation. Dubbed the IO-233-LSA, the four-cylinder engine produces 100 hp at 2,400 rpm and has a 2,400-hour TBO. The engine is rooted in the familiar 235-model line, but the company took several steps to save weight with lighter parts. The engine has a dry weight of 200 to 210 pounds and burns 5.25 gph at 75 percent power."

Yes, is is this kind announcement that makes the GA world go 'round in late July. This LSA Lycoming might be great news for all of us, but I suspect it might not be party time at Rotax.

And as we all hoped, one of today's most exciting jet projects made an appearance at Wittman Regional Airport. Below, EAA's Airventure own extremely capable news and photography teams spotlight today's biggest happening at the show:

"Barely three weeks after its maiden flight, the Cirrus Vision SJ50 single-engine personal jet arrived at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2008 Wednesday for its world debut. The red and white V-tail single-engine jet made a low pass along the flightline before landing and taxiing up to a hero's welcome at AeroShell Square. EAA President and AirVenture Chairman Tom Poberezny welcomed the SJ50 to the fly-in and congratulated Cirrus Design co-founders Alan and Dale Klapmeier, who've been coming to the fly-in for 32 years, on their achievement. "I almost can't describe how excited it is to show this airplane to you here at this place. This is the greatest place in the world to be this week of the year, and for us this is a very long time coming, because it takes Cirrus to the next level," Alan Klapmeier said."

And back at AOPA's news page, Thomas Haines tells us why Diamond is still one of the most forward-thinking GA makers out there:

"Diamond Aircraft is proposing to build the first new pressurized piston single in decades. The company said this week that it will offer two versions of the DA50, the SuperStar and the Magnum. The Continental-powered, full-featured SuperStar will be pressurized to provide about a 12,000-foot cabin at 25,000 feet. Meanwhile, the Magnum will be powered by Diamond’s new 170-hp Austro Engine AE 300, a jet-fuel burning engine. Both models will share the same five-seat composite airframe and wing, but the SuperStar will sport a 350-hp turbocharged, FADEC-controlled Continental engine."

Man, this is just KILLING me, sitting here on the Left Coast while the rest of the GA world plays along the banks of Lake Winnebago. But right here on my desk is a United Airlines voucher – earned when they bumped me from an overbooked flight earlier this year – and that voucher is already spoken for. Yes my flying friends, it is going to buy me a R/T ticket to Airplane Wonderland next summer, and I've already made lodging arrangements at the White Swan House where I stayed last time through.

As each day's Oshkosh news gets even hotter then the day before, it makes me start counting the days until July 27, 2009 when the next Airventure gets underway. With so much great stuff being announced each year, it makes us all wonder what bombshell could get dropped at Oshkosh 2009.

I have one prediction, and it teases my next post:
The Terrafugia Transition will fly.

Not. Impressed.

The mainstream media is frothing at the mouth over the Martin Jetpack, which debuted yesterday to mixed reviews at EAA Airventure in Oshkosh.

On TV, ABC News and MSNBC were just two outlets I found that gave quality air time to what many are calling a "piano-sized contraption", but what really got me laughing this morning was the coverage from the usually stoic BBC. If you just read the headline on their web site, it appears we have all been transported back in time to December 17th, 1903:

"Human flying invention unveiled

Humans avoiding traffic by gliding through the air? Pigs might fly. Although, we might start seeing our pink four-legged friends taking to the sky soon, thanks to a new invention which has been unveiled in the US. The Martin jet pack can, in theory, fly an average-sized pilot about 30 miles in 30 minutes on a full 5-gallon (19-litre) tank of petrol. The piano-sized contraption costs $100,000 (£50,517) and was unveiled at AirVenture, the annual aviation convention of experimental aircraft at Oshkosh in Wisconsin."

What I think is hysterical about the reporting of this story on the MSM is the continuous mentions of Jetpack flyers being like a "rocket man" and "zooming over their city like The Jetsons or Buck Rodgers." Give us real aviators a break, will ya?

The aviation media such as AOPA and Aero-News Network have been reporting this story more close to reality, saying not much is known about the company that plans to manufacture the Jetpacks and sell them for one hundred large. And at this blog, an aerospace engineer remains skeptical.

I tried very, very hard to get excited about this product. I have been using The Google every few days to find one positive review of the Jetpack, minus the aforementioned media frothing of course. So far, I'm coming up empty. But the one thing that has me bugged so far about this project is the following:

On paper, the idea of a personal Jetpack is great. Exit your suburban house, slip into a jet pack, and blast off effortlessly over the clogged freeways below. You return gracefully to Earth and drop the pack and yourself into your reserved parking spot, making your morning commute a thing of beauty. But after scouring the Internets for ANY footage showing this thing flying on it's own, I came up far short. Every video of the Martin Jetpack shows it hovering in a very wobbly manner a few feet off the ground, so close in fact that the two men on either side of it can easily keep it steady by HOLDING ON to the port and starboard handles. This includes the widely-distributed youtube video of yesterday's debut, in which 2,000 people stood by in Aeroshell Square and watched this thing wallow around while being righted – so it seemed – by the two guys holding on to it. One word...boring.

As an aviation journalist and blogger, I expect to hear from supporters of the jetpack for that last comment..and this I welcome. If ANYONE has video of this thing flying say the length of an airport without being kept steady by a couple of crew members right and left, I want to see it. Because if the Martin Jetpack cannot fly without those two dudes keeping it upright, there is absolutely no chance this thing will ever sell.

But as an aviation marketing professional, you sure have to give Glenn Martin and his crew kudos for getting the media so worked up over this. What is pure genius is how – despite it not even flying on its own – the national network news editors still sent the Airventure debut footage out over their network distribution systems. You'd think those usually hard-nosed news editors would have taken one look at those two guys holding this thing from possibly spinning out of control and quickly deleted this story as hogwash.

Only at Oshkosh

The annual migration to Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin means something different to each visitor. To some, it is a chance to buy hot new equipment and avionics at show prices, and to others it is the row after row of show-quality aircraft lined up literally as far as the eye can see.

And while we all can agree it is the most fun any pilot or aviation enthusiast can have while still attached to the surface of our planet, there is one common denominator that every one of Airventure's attendee's share: The afternoon air shows!

Generally, the drill goes like this:

From the morning opening of the show through early afternoon, time is spent wandering the four gigantic exhibition halls, visiting all the groovy show planes at Aeroshell Square, eating grilled Brats or walking the miles of aircraft parking lots, looking at the most beautiful examples of each breed of flying machine imaginable. But as the afternoon winds down, everyone – except those tethered to some sort of exhibit booth – begins a mass eastbound migration to the edge of KOSH's runway 18/36. And for the next few hours, the very best of the very best in this country's aerobatics acts performs their "A" routines, and it is always, ALWAYS a great show.

Yes, if there is a hot aerobatic act in the USA, expect them to be in Cheese and Brats Land in late July, that's just the way it's always been. Of course, you can expect Patty Wagstaff, Julie Clark, Mike Goulian, Gene Soucy and Sean Tucker to be there, but I'll bet you didn't expect this, from the Airventure site:

"The only aerobatic helicopter show in North America will appear at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2008. Red Bull's BO 105 CBS helicopter, a stock Eurocopter/Messerschmitt Boelkow Blohm (MBB), will perform its unique maneuvers during the annual event scheduled July 28-August 3 at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh. Pilot Chuck Aaron holds the distinction as the only pilot licensed in the United States to fly aerobatics in a helicopter. His performances feature aerobatic maneuvers achieved previously only in fixed-wing aircraft, including loops and rolls, but also nearly the entire regimen of maneuvers reserved for fixed-wing aircraft; the Split-S, Immelman, Half Cuban Eight, and even the challenging Lomcevak, slightly modified by Aaron for the helicopter."

This is the kind of thing that makes Oshkosh, well, Oshkosh. Aaron's Red Bull MBB gets it's power from a pair of 425 hp Rolls Royce C-20B turbine engines that spin composite rotor blades mated to a solid titanium head. There is a great Youtube video of this act found here.

I Shoot,
Therefore
I Am

I got an email from a reader the other day who asked a question I hear often...just what do I DO? I get that question quite a bit, from people who can't figure out what Av8rdan does to pay the dog food bill.

Some people – such as friends, fellow pilots, plenty of readers, even my CFI-I – all know I own an aviation ad agency. But their understand of my means of employment ends there:

Am I a graphic designer? A web developer? A copy writer? Am I the agency's staff photographer and photo editor? Maybe I'm a creative team leader, or a project manager. Am I in charge of the agency's search engine optimization efforts for our clients, or am I responsible for finding new aviation clients that need help with their marketing materials?

The answer to all those questions is...yes!

See, I change hats many times each hour, and have been known to wear several of them all at once. And while it sure feels funny trying to multi-task, I somehow pull of the creative ballet that is performed while designing a web site, sending a four-color print job off to the printer, answering phones and juggling six flaming chain saws, all at the same time. Yes, it gets really crazy around here, but it's a good crazy.

But when forced to choose one vocation, I have to choose photography. I have had a camera in my hand for about 42 years, and I'm just 52 now. That whole "lensman" thing started at age 10 when I became the "official" photographer for my Boy Scout troop. And from my early teens, I've been making some or all of my income from taking pictures of all sorts of things, race cars, people, flowers, horses, the sky, dirt. But the one thing that I have always enjoyed to shoot above all, is birds:

No, not THOSE kinds of birds. The birds I like to shoot are composite rocket ships and gleaming aluminum creations. What gets me off as a photographer is to get "all up in it" on a perfectly-restored Wright Whirlwind, so tight, the lens is begging for mercy. Set me down next to any DC-3 and chances are better then 20-to-1 I will make my Canon glow until all memory cards are stuffed full of Gooney Bird.

So while I do all sorts of things, if I'm forced to check off some sort of box, I'd have to claim "photographer" as my occupation. To get a real nice look at the kinds of airplanes and aviation-related goodies that have filled my viewfinder over the years, go HERE and spend a few minutes in my aviation photo gallery.

More Smoke.
More Mirrors.

AOPA and other aviation news outlets are reporting this week that the U.S. Department of State has issued a policy statement announcing their intention to end the J-1 visa program which allows foreign flight students to work while they study in the United States. In this two-year visa program, students are allowed to complete flight training and then remain in the country for a period of time to work as CFIs and build flight time.

In this AOPA story, their ePublishing staff explains the implications of eliminating the J-1 program:

"Currently, eight U.S. flight schools train as many as 700 students each year using the J-1 visa program. Those schools estimate that their revenue could be cut in half if the program is ended.”

In an economy that has brutalized general aviation due to the greed of Bushie's Big Oil buddies, the last thing any flight school needs is to lose half their revenue. Some schools are hanging on by their fingernails, and this ridiculous move by State might be the thing that closes their doors for good.

I call this a "ridiculous" idea, and am not alone on that theory. In researching this story, I found someone in the flight training industry who knows their J-1 visa from their M-1 visa. Patrick Corr, a Senior VP at the Bristow Group in Houston, TX., offered the following below, and it is published with permission, verbatim:

"This is the latest of several attempts by the director of the Exchange Visitor Program to eliminate flight training schools from the J-1 program. We’re confident that it will be reversed, just as his previous efforts were. To eliminate J-1 visas for flight training on the basis that it is a threat to national security is totally absurd. Nearly all of our J-1 students are British, Irish, Dutch or Scandinavian – young Norwegians, Swedes or Danes trying to make a career as North Sea helicopter pilots and hardly the source of the next terrorist plot. Every J-1 student is carefully vetted by the US Embassy in their home country before being issued a visa, by the CIS upon arrival in the US, and by the TSA prior to commencing flight training."

To end the J-1 visa program now is wrong on so many levels. For one, it is a "smoke and mirrors" attempt by an inept administration to make Average Joe think they are actually trying to secure our borders to prevent terrorists from strolling onto our soil. But ask anyone who lives anywhere along the part of the United States that borders Mexico, and they'll tell you that our borders are anything but secure. This 411 from globalsecurity.org sums it up best:

"By one estimate each year between 400,000 and 1 million undocumented migrants try to slip across the rivers and deserts on the 2,000-mile US-Mexico border. In 2005 over 1.2 million illegal immigrants were apprehended by the Border Patrol. Official Border Patrol statistics are that 1 in 5 illegal aliens are apprehended and arrested."

If you have ever visited San Diego, Los Angeles, Yuma or Brownsville, you know all too well that it is a cakewalk for illegal, undocumented aliens to hike across the border looking for work, free health care, or education for their U.S. born bambinos. Everyone knows this is a major problem, and until the Feds can seal our southern border for good, they can never say we are safe from terrorists. Can Bushie and his State Department assure us that there are no "evil doers" mixed in with the broccoli pickers and hotel maids that waltz untouched into our country every day?

Didn't think so.

Again, we see BushCo's Washington stumbling to try and do something that looks like they have a clue about anything. I am guessing they also think this pandering will give Senator John McCain's neocon base at least one tiny morsel of something to get excited about.

I'll close with a quote from W himself found on unitedstatesvisas.gov:

"America is not a fortress; no, we never want to be a fortress. We're a free country; we're an open society. And we must always protect the rights of our law -- of law-abiding citizens from around the world who come here to conduct business or to study or to spend time with their family."

Yeah right, George...unless they are from Sweden and want to learn to fly helicopters. This all begs a very obvious question: Is it January 20, 2009 yet?

Please, oh please make the calendar speed up, I cannot take much more of this guy's cowboy politics.

They Say The Neon
Lights Are Bright...

One of the little-known facets of what makes up my personal DNA is an immense love of the arts. I have always been drawn to the visual arts – painting, sculpture and photography – most likely since my mom, Joan was a skilled and innovative painter.

But my real love of the performing arts took off big time in 1987 when I married Julie, herself a trained classical ballet dancer and teacher. Ballet has been her life since early childhood, and we have always attended as many concerts, dance performances and gallery openings as we can in our 21 years of wedded bliss.

I write all this to lead into a little bit of Broadway news...not for the world, but for me, and I am guessing for you too. And of course, if it's Av8rdan, this show news MUST have something to do with flying machines:

"Boeing-Boeing" is a Broadway show currently running in New York City at the Longacre Theater, and stars Bradley Whitford – one of my favorite actors because of his work on The West Wing. This comedy revolves around a complex plot that has Whitford's character, Bernard, making time with three stewardesses at once. The story was made into a movie in 1965 starring Tony Curtis and Jerry Lewis. Writes reviewer Mattias Thuresson about the movie "Living in Paris, journalist Bernard has devised a scheme to keep three fiancées: Lufthansa, Air France and British United. Everything works fine as long as they only come home every third day. But when there's a change in their working schedule, they will be able to be home every second day instead. Bernard's carefully structured life is breaking apart."

Intrigued, I checked out some reviews of Boeing-Boeing, and it might well be a very good ticket to purchase if you are headed to the Great White Way any time soon:

"A riot! Director Matthew Warchus and his sparkling cast fine-tune this production with clockwork precision. Kathryn Hahn is like Paris Hilton on steroids: Her voracious sexual appetite threatens to devour everyone on stage." – David Rooney, Variety

"Boeing-Boeing' is pure pleasure and unconditional bliss! It soars right out of its time zone and into some stratosphere of classic comedy. the happy cast, led by Bradley Whitford and Christine Baranski, is a roaring success. Mark Rylance gives a priceless performance. A delicious, delirious production." – Ben Brantley, The New York Times

"A MATTERHORN OF COMICAL FROTH! Everybody better tape their ribs to prevent fractures from laughing so furiously at the madness galloping across the stage in this giddy revival." – Michael Sommers, The Star-Ledger

This might be a great show to check out....tickets are available here, and more 411 on the show is at their official site here.

You Can Tell Oshkosh
is Getting Close

This time of the aviation year is to us aviators that Christmas Eve is to a six-year-old. You just KNOW Santa is coming, bringing all kinds of special presents. But unlike the toy train sets and G.I Joe's that'll be under the tree, these gifts will be opened very soon at Aeroshell Square, deep in the heart of Brat Country, along the banks of Lake Winnebago.

Yes, it is almost time for EAA's Annual Airshow, Blowout and Trade Show extravangaza. If you have been lucky enough to attend what amounts to Woodstock of the Aviation World, you already know that every exhibitor keeps their hottest toys under wraps until the show.

And this summer, we again will see a TON of great new stuff. Here are just a couple of tastes, from this week's web news:

A new Bend, OR-based company called Stratos Aircraft is taking the wraps off their "Very Light Personal Jet," a composite single-engine jet that on paper looks like tough competition for Cirrus' Vision, the PiperJet, and even the Eclipse 500. The Stratos 714 is being designed to haul four people and their stuff 1,500 NM at 400 knots, and will be powered by a centerline-thrust FADEC-controlled Williams FJ44-3AP turbofan producing just over 3,000 pounds of thrust at sea level. Former Lancair chief engineer Carsten Sundin, Stratos CEO Michael Lemaire and entrepreneur Michael Lamaire are the principals behind Stratos. They claim their jet will fill a void between high-performance piston singles and larger, more expensive VLJs like the Citation Mustang and HondaJet. Stratos had a small presence at EBACE, and this summer, you can find Stratos in the East Exhibit Hangar E, booth number 5020 at OSH.

In exciting avionics news, Garmin is going to be pushing hard with what many are calling "G1000 Lite":

AOPA Pilot Senior Editor Dave Hirschman writes that he got to see Garmin's hot new G600 retrofit glass panel up close during a demo flight in Garmin’s Mooney M20J, and will publish a report in the organization's magazine. "The G600 has two 6.5-inch display screens (a primary flight display and a multifunction display) that are meant to replace the standard “six-pack” electromechanical flight instruments and greatly enhance reliability and situation awareness. Flying behind the G1000 is like watching a Jumbotron at a sports stadium. The G600 is like watching a flat-screen TV in your living room. It’s bright, crisp, and accessible. The G600 is expected to retail for just under $30,000, and it took about 70 shop hours to install the G600 in the company’s 1988 M20J."

You can bet the lines will be long at the Garmin booth, filled with GA drivers who want to junk their steam gauges and give their panels a major glass facelift.

Oh, Oshkosh, I miss you already. I cannot attend this year's show, and I feel like the black sheep step-child of the aviation family, yearning from the top of the stairs for my presents too. The rest of the "good" children are clustered around the Christmas tree, opening their gifts before a roaring fire, hot cocoa in hand. Susie gets some Bose headsets, Jack got a flight bag. Santa brought mommy a beautiful Abingdon lady's aviator watch, and daddy unwrapped a new personal jet.

And what do I get? I get to sit here on the left coast from July 20 to August 3, my mouth watering for grilled brats, missing the party, again.

Are You Still
Browsing in
the Stone Age?

There can be no disputing the fact that we aviators have it pretty good when it comes to online weather products. With a few clicks of your mouse, it is very easy to have before your face a full menu of data that will be precisely what the FAA briefers at 1.800.WX.BRIEF at looking at on their displays.

I have always been an advocate of online WX for flight planning, but that comes with this caveat: Never, ever fly without talking with a briefer first unless you can consider yourself a "Master Level" aviation weather guesser by using the Internet as your primary tool. If you cannot find the very latest TFRs, freezing levels and other stuff that will get you (a) killed or (b) have your ticket ripped from your clenched fist by the FAA, then you had better stick with the telephone.

But if you are like me and can find your way around WX on the web easily, then listen carefully:

I have discovered the very coolest in Firefox add-ons, one that allows you to split your browser windows into a series of smaller windows each holding thumbnails of various web sites. I configured my set-up to show 15 WX sites [see photo above] that I use constantly to check the weather before a flight. Click on any of these little thumbnails and the real site opens full window in a new tab. Simply awseome.

Sounds like fun you say? Very efficient you say? Want to know how to do this fun little Firefox trick, then here's the drill if you want to show this set-up each time you open Fox:

(1) Go here and download Firefox 3 for Windows, Mac or Linux
(2) Install the browser.
(3) Go to your preferences/main, and select "show a blank page" under the "When Firefox starts"
(4) Go here and add Fast Dial 1.90 to your browser, then restart Firefox
(5) Navigate to your favorite weather sites, and once there, right-click and at the bottom of your contextual menu should be a choice to "Add to Fast Dial".
(6) I use command-T on the Mac to bring up the Fast Dial window showing a number of small thumbnails. The one you just added will be there. In your tools/add-ons menu, click "add-ons", open the prefs for Fast Dial, and configure to show your desired number of thumbnails. Rinse and repeat many times to add a bunch of sites to the Fast Dial thumbs.

It is really easier then it sounds. Here are the 15 sites I use:

California METARS
Oregon METARS
Washington METARS
ADDS Java PIREPs
NASA GOES West Interactive Infrared Satellite
ADDS CIP Icing
Weatherimages.org Jet Stream
DUATS Pacific NW NEXRAD radar
ADDS Northwest Winds Aloft tables
NWS RIDGE Radar sites
Fltplan.com
Airnav
FAA Graphic TFRs
GOES Western US SECTOR Infrared Image
ADDS Lowest Freezing level

SWA Might Win
'Last Airline Standing'

With jet fuel prices off the charts, and disgruntled passengers now considering Greyhound buses as a viable alternative to commercial air travel, it's no secret that major U.S. carriers are on the mat, flat on their backs, fighting for their life.

Over the weekend in a Reuters story, Sir Richard Branson – owner of Britain's No. 2 long-haul airline Virgin Atlantic – openly predicted Armageddon coming soon to an airline near you:

"There will be "spectacular casualties" in the airline industry over the next 12 months. The financial state of the world is just about the worst I've ever known it. You have the perfect storm -- you've not only got the banking crisis and the housing crisis, you've got the soaring fuel prices as well. One of the big American carriers will almost definitely go."

While Branson may be right that one of the "Bigs" may go the way of the dinosaur, a very good story from portfolio.com writer Joe Brancatelli that was published on wired.com seems to indicate that carrier will not be Southwest Airlines:

"By some estimates, the country's major carriers have consumed perhaps $100 billion in capital during the past decade, but Southwest Airlines continues to be profitable. It's been in the black for 33 consecutive years and, last week, for the 127th consecutive quarter, it paid a modest dividend. Its balance sheet, with about $3 billion in cash on hand and $600 million in available credit, is the envy of an otherwise fuel-price-ravaged industry."

It has always been possibly the ninth or tenth Wonder of the World how SWA can stay profitable in this completely anemic economic downturn. In a story you simply MUST READ, Brancatelli lays it all out there for you and SWA's competitors to read. Here's a few tidbits...but you really need to read the entire article:

SWA flies only one airframe, Boeing's 737 series. This strategery saves them millions on maintenance and parts.

SWA avoids the "hub and spoke" system, instead flying non-stop to minimize the time their jets spend being delayed at the larger hubs.

SWA's lean and mean cabin layout, no assigned seating and minimal beverage and snack service allows them to "turn a gate" quicker, meaning they can deplane and reload faster.

SWA's fare structure is more passenger friendly, and as competitors tack on fuel surcharges and extra baggage fees, SWA's predictable ticketing means pax can know what to expect when they reserve a seat.

But the big reason that SWA remains profitable while their competition flouders has to do with the way they buy their fuel. For the details of that, I urge you to go read Brancatelli's article, it will inform you and also raise this one glaring question:

If Southwest can buy the same Jet A as the next guy and stay in the black, why can't the others? You'd think all major carriers would have ripped that page out of SWA's playbook by now, but one look at their bottom lines indicates that maybe it's just too much of a punch in the ego for SWA's competition to admit they've bungled their fuel buying for years.

It's Time We All Fight Back

When I bought 27W last October, 100LL was hovering a little under four bucks...spendy, yes, but not a price that was unmanageable. But today, I am getting excited over finding $5.25 AvGas, and am willing to tanker fuel at that price to avoid paying the $6.50 it often costs off the truck at many major airports. Add that to the ridiculous prices Soccer moms and trucking companies are paying for regular and diesel, and it does not take a genius to figure out this country's economy is in serious and possibly fatal jeopardy.

Today, Associated Press tells us the problem is only getting worse:

"Oil prices spiked to a new record above $147 a barrel Friday, as rising hostilities between the West and Iran and the potential for attacks on Nigerian oil facilities gave investors reason to rush back into the energy markets."

Yesterday – like millions of Americans – we received an "open" email letter signed by the CEOs of 12 major U.S. airlines, saying the problem lies not with greedy oil terrorists, but in oil speculators who are falsely driving crude oil prices sky high. Here is that letter verbatim:

Open letter from airline CEOs:

Our country is facing a possible sharp economic downturn because of skyrocketing oil and fuel prices, but by pulling together, we can all do something to help now.

For airlines, ultra-expensive fuel means thousands of lost jobs and severe reductions in air service to both large and small communities. To the broader economy, oil prices mean slower activity and widespread economic pain. This pain can be alleviated, and that is why we are taking the extraordinary step of writing this joint letter to our customers.

Since high oil prices are partly a response to normal market forces, the nation needs to focus on increased energy supplies and conservation. However, there is another side to this story because normal market forces are being dangerously amplified by poorly regulated market speculation.

Twenty years ago, 21 percent of oil contracts were purchased by speculators who trade oil on paper with no intention of ever taking delivery. Today, oil speculators purchase 66 percent of all oil futures contracts, and that reflects just the transactions that are known. Speculators buy up large amounts of oil and then sell it to each other again and again. A barrel of oil may trade 20-plus times before it is delivered and used; the price goes up with each trade and consumers pick up the final tab. Some market experts estimate that current prices reflect as much as $30 to $60 per barrel in unnecessary speculative costs.

Over seventy years ago, Congress established regulations to control excessive, largely unchecked market speculation and manipulation. However, over the past two decades, these regulatory limits have been weakened or removed. We believe that restoring and enforcing these limits, along with several other modest measures, will provide more disclosure, transparency and sound market oversight. Together, these reforms will help cool the over-heated oil market and permit the economy to prosper.

The nation needs to pull together to reform the oil markets and solve this growing problem. We need your help. Get more information and contact Congress by visiting www.StopOilSpeculationNow.com.

At first, I took this with a little grain of salt because it came from ATA member airlines, but today AOPA has fully supported the Stop Oil Speculation effort...which validates it for me. From AOPA:

With avgas prices hovering between $5 and $7 a gallon and auto gas prices double that of a year ago, nearly three-quarters of AOPA members have scaled back their flight time. Looking for any way to assist members in what is becoming an aviation fuel crisis, AOPA joined a new, rapidly growing coalition late this week that is led by the transportation industry to do just that: Stop Oil Speculation Now (S.O.S. Now).

When you go to the SOS site, you see the following:

The Problem - What is causing the high price of fuel? The oil price bubble is unfairly taxing American families and restricting our nation’s economic potential. While everyone is aware that supply and demand constraints contribute to price increases, there’s another force at work that, like gravity, is invisible yet powerful. This force is rampant speculation.

The SOS site offers clear solutions to bring back sanity to oil pricing. If you fly airplanes or drive cars in the United States of America, you have a civic duty as a responsible citizen to go to the SOS site and read EVERYTHING on it. When you have done that, if you are not compelled to write your congressperson and urge them to back legislation to do what SOS is asking, you will lose your right to bitch about high gas prices.

The Cirrus 'the-jet'
Name is Toast

I've always had zero doubt that Team Cirrus would axe the 'the-jet' moniker for their super-groovy new single-engine jet. It always felt like a "working" title anyway, and like Cirrus fans across the country, we all held out hope that they would come up with the perfect name for what will surely be a very popular model.

And this week, AOPA's Dave Hirschman reports that our wishes have been granted:

"Long known simply as “the-jet,” Cirrus Design’s new plane has a name—and a model number. The single-engine, V-tail plane will be known as the SJ-50 Vision. “We had to come up with something that fit the idea, image, and dream,” said Alan Klapmeier, Cirrus CEO and cofounder. He was speaking Wednesday at an event for Vision buyers at the company’s annual homecoming in Duluth, Minn."

Hirschman reports that Klapmeier and Co. put quite a bit of thought into this decision, and tried as hard as they could to avoid some obvious pitfalls:

"Klapmeier said Cirrus consulted Latin, Greek, and English dictionaries in search of meaningful words that started with V to highlight the distinctive shape of their airplane’s tail. Company officials considered “Vector” and “Victor” but decided there was too much potential for confusion on busy radio frequencies (and potential ribbing from movie buffs who remember Airplane!)."

The Vision is a five-seat (seven if you count the two fold-down "stowaway" seats) plane that has design targets of a 300 knot cruising speed in the neighborhood of FL250, and it must be able to carry those five souls more than 1,000 miles while stalling in the very low 60s on arrival at the end of that trip.

This beautiful ship has just begun flight testing, and there seems to be a massive amount of rumors floating that the Vision may or may not fly into this summer's EAA Airventure in Oshkosh 28 July to 3 August, 2008. I'm throwing my money that yes, it will be there, since it is indeed has flown multiple test flights and Cirrus will want to capitalize on the huge buzz factor surrounding their newest, sexiest model. To miss Oshkosh would mean Cirrus would miss a wonderful opportunity to pull down even more than the reported 400 deposits already in the books. And the fact that they just happen to be flight-testing it right before the biggest air show on the planet ought to tell us all to expect an appearance of the SJ-50 in Wisconsin.

I want to go on the record as being very, very happy with the Vision name. Back in the late 80s/early 90s, we owned an art gallery and custom picture framing shop called...Visions Gallery. It was located out of the way in a tiny little conservative town called Reedley, outside Fresno, CA. It was the kind of place that had their entire world as they knew it destroyed (or so they thought) the day Bill Clinton – a gosh-derned Dem-oh-crat, they'd say – got elected President. With so many bummed out GOP farmers thinking the world was indeed coming to its end, they all stopped buying original art from us, and we eventually moved on to Oregon and entered the ad agency business.

Congratulations, Cirrus on a great, great choice! Now I can stop banging on you guys about the the-jet name of what used to be the the-jet but now is the SJ-50 Vision. Man-oh-man, that just rolls out of the mouth with ease, doesn't it...the Cirrus Vision. It really exemplifies what Cirrus is all about...having the vision to push forward with a gutsy brand of innovation that has propelled them to the top levels of their sector.

I want a Vision. But then again, what aviator who now drives pistons doesn't?

Wrung Out

I am really glad tonight I don't have a CFI-I who yells. That's because I certainly gave him reasons to today as I completed the single most grueling day of flying I have ever flown. As I go about earning my instrument rating, there has always been three words I had to get past:

Long. Cross. Country.

And today was the day to get past them. It was a full day of ups and downs, quite literally, with plenty of good and bad, depending on who you ask. Here is a capsule recap:

Pre-flight planning: It was back to pencil and paper for me here, as if I was stuck back in Aviation 101 again. How many minutes to this check point, and the next, with what wind correction. And how do I find that illusive VOR changeover point with a full panel of steam gauges and decades-old technology that does not include an IFR-certified GPS? I burned a lot of midnight oil this week noodling all this out, and then watched it all go down the toilet when I forgot to start the timer. Urrrgh moment #1.

ILS into historic Boeing Field (Seattle, WA): This might have been the best part of the day, despite a finnicky localizer and an even wonkier glideslope. But we made BFI without landing on Interstate 5 or taxiway Alpha, which looks exactly like runway 31R from the outer marker. On departure, my eyes drifted to the many MANY Boeing jets in for refurbishing at Boeing just off my nose eleven o'clock low, so much so that I really had to concentrate on the job at hand...fly the airplane.

LOC approach into Aurora, Oregon: The laundry list of weird things that happened inbound to this approach is endless, including ATC giving me winds at 200 when they were in fact 020...or were they 360 as the one-minute WX said? And what WAS that minimum altitude...2,600, 2,000 or 2,200...I heard them all in the span of a few moments as I chased the centerline all the way to hell and back. The approach was the worst I have flown, but I cannot pin this crappy arrival on anyone or anything...I was PIC, I was man-handling the yoke, it was my mistakes that sent me to the woodshed on this one. Urrrgh moment #2.

Departure at Aurora: No tower here, so an IFR departure means talking to (a) Portland clearance delivery, (b) Portland Approach, (c) Aurora unicom, and finally (d) back to Portland Approach. Bottom line was I had to give the assist to the teacher on this one as I might not have figured it all out without him. Jumped the airway and was southbound to Eugene to finish this day...or so I thought.

Surprise VOR-A at Corvallis, Oregon: I know why my CFI-I surprised me with this unplanned approach, because he somehow knew that after a day of sweating, I still needed to be able to pull new charts out of the bag and land. After a brief period of wanting to jump out of Katy without a parachute, Jim calmed me down and walked me through the steps slowly, allowing me to think this one through and get her down at CVO.

Back at the hangar at EUG, I was glad 27W flew to perfection. The plane is flawless, it just flies great...I wish I could say the same about its owner. Did we accomplish a lot...yes, I now have that all-important long IFR XC in the log book. Did I make progress...yes, I suppose. Do I possess the skill level needed to pass the instrument check ride?

Yes. No. Maybe. Who knows. Not a chance. Absolutely.

Classy Print
Publication
Goes Online

Today I received word that Business Jet Traveler Magazine has their new online version live, and it is beautiful. That should come as no surprise to anyone who has ever opened their slick, polished and highly refined print version. While there are many different aviation publications out there, the quality levels vary greatly...and I should know:

As the owner of an aviation ad agency, we buy media in many different aviation publications across the country every month. As a result of that – and also being highly visible in our sector for over 10 years – we are comped just about every av publication out there. Not a day goes by that our mailbox doesn't have at least one magazine in the day's delivery with an airplane on the cover...a good thing if you are me. There are a few "must read" issues that we get, and of course, AOPA Pilot is my top choice as a strong supporter of that group. But the one magazine that always catches my attention and refuses to give it back is BJT...Business Jet Traveler.

BJT print and online – as their name implies – covers the business jet world to perfection. If this is your area of interest, only Aviation International News comes close to the levels of journalistic expertise that you will find in BJT. That shouldn't be of any surprise once you see that both publications are produced by the same company:

Founded in 1972 by aviation editor James Holahan and publisher Wilson S. Leach, The Convention News Company published its first issues of NBAA Convention News at that year's National Business Aviation Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio. The company publishes Aviation International News, a monthly trade publication widely called "AIN,", as well as the company’s newest publication, Business Jet Traveler, is written for the users of business aircraft—those riding in the cabin—providing them with the information they need to maximize their investments in private air transport. In addition to AINalerts and AINonline, the company's other Web-based product is AINtv (www.aintv.com). AINtv provides daily video news reports from the conventions and airshows where The Convention News Co. publishes on-site issues.

If you have even a passing interest in bizjets large or small, the companies that make them, the people who fly in them, or the many advantages of owning one, I urge you to go here and check out BJTonline. I can guarantee that if private jets get your heart racing, this will be time well spent.

Couch Flies
Chair to Idaho

Today Oregon is ground zero for flying lawn chairs, as gas station owner Kent Couch completed a flight from Bend, Oregon to Cambridge, Idaho. This is the same guy who tried this "flight" twice before but ran into aeronautical troubles both times.

But today, he was finally successful, flying a piece of lawn furniture lofted skyward by more than 150 party balloons filled with helium. According to Associated Press which was all over this story, Couch covered 235 miles in about nine hours. By my calculations, that's roughly 26.11 miles per hour, not too shabby for a chair.

In case you have been camping under a rock for several years and haven't heard about people trying to fly chairs, here's the drill:

While journalists and bloggers have a good time calling Couch's rig a "flying lawn chair", it is actually quite a bit more sophisticated then that. According to AP's report, the chair, the pilot and his parachute weighed about 600 pounds. Each of the 5-foot in diameter balloons can create four pounds of lift. To keep from ending up on Mars, Couch carried a Red Ryder BB gun to blast away a few balloons at a time to control altitude. In the name of redundancy, he also carried a "blow gun" equipped with steel darts. In his "cockpit" were several GPS devices, an altimeter, satellite phone, along with some food. It should be noted that his chair's menu of beef jerky and chocolate offered a better selection for in-flight edibles then most major airlines.

What I find interesting is this guy's choice of yard furniture as a means to fly. He has sky dived and flown hang gliders before, so he knows of other ways to experience flight then to be hoisted through the jet stream under a canopy of balloons.

I congratulate Kent on finally completing this long-held dream to get to Idaho in a flying chair. Not many people can say they've done likewise. Now with that dream in the can, maybe he can actually begin taking flying lessons to earn at least a Sport Pilot certificate and fly for real. That way, the FAA won't be quite so "amused" each time he drifts aimlessly through their airspace.

Is Cirrus Dropping
the the-jet Name?

I want to be clear that I'm a HUGE fan of the Cirrus single-engine jet, a beautiful work of aviation art that is about to take off towards more record sales for the Duluth, MN-based airframe giant. I'd love to see Team Cirrus sell thousands of their jet, and further cement their position at the top of the GA food chain.

But as I have said before, the current name of the the-jet just doesn't roll out of your mouth with ease. Yes it is a great concept, and yes, it will be a successful model for Cirrus, but I've always been in the growing camp of aviators who feel that the brass at Cirrus should re-think that name.

Well it turns out that this article on Aviation International News's site might offer a clue to a possible name change:

"Cirrus Design rolled out its single-engine jet prototype on Thursday, almost a year to the day after it unveiled a cabin mock-up to customers and the press. The company has started engine and ground runs on the airplane in anticipation of first flight, which could be conducted as early as this month. Dubbed “V1” by Cirrus, the prototype (N280CJ) is registered to “Cirrus Jet Co.,” according to FAA records. While the aircraft manufacturer refers to the model as “the-jet,” the FAA registry identifies it as the SJX, which would be in line with the naming convention for Cirrus’ SR20 and SR22 pistons (“S” stands for “single” and “R” stands for “reciprocating engine”). Logically, the “J” in the model name stands for “jet,” but Cirrus won’t comment on whether the “X” will stay or be replaced later by a model number. Although a final name and price have yet to be set for the personal jet, Cirrus claims it has orders for more than 460 of the airplanes, each backed by refundable $100,000 deposits. Certification of the Cirrus jet is scheduled for late 2010."

So maybe the "the-jet" will be dropped after all, replaced with "SJX" instead as the model's name. That would be a very good move by Cirrus, a company who makes few if any major mistakes. By calling their new jet a "Cirrus SJX" instead of a "Cirrus the-jet", it will allow dreamers who want one to more easily speak of that wonderful design with affection. Here is a couple of samples of what future hangar discussions might be like, and you make the call:

Pilot #1: "Hey Jim, I'm selling my Bonanza and finally getting a turbine."
Pilot #2: "Way to go! What jet are you thinking about?"
Pilot #1: "I've decided on the Cirrus the-jet."
Pilot #2: "Great choice, so you like the jet from Cirrus?"
Pilot #1: "No, it's not the jet from Cirrus, it's the the-jet from Cirrus."
Pilot #2: "Isn't that what I said...the jet from Cirrus?"
Pilot #1: "You aren't getting it. The jet from Cirrus is the the-jet, not the jet, the the-jet. Oh, never mind."

Or this:

Pilot #1: "Hey Jim, I'm selling my Bonanza and finally getting a turbine."
Pilot #2: "Way to go! What jet are you thinking about?"
Pilot #1: "I've decided on the Cirrus SJX."
Pilot #2: "So you like the SJX?"
Pilot #1: "You bet! I've always wanted an SJX, even back when Cirrus was calling their jet the the-jet."

See what I mean? And before anyone at Cirrus thinks about flaming me with emails, I am really supporting this project – trust me on that – and I vow to continue supporting it no matter what model name the the-jet/SJX/whatever flies with. Having said that, I really, REALLY hope AIN is right on with this news. Because in a sector that already has a HondaJet and a PiperJet, if Cirrus wants to assure market sales superiority, introducing a CirrusJet or Cirrus SJX sure stacks up better against the competition then the current working name for the project.

Takin' A Ride With Waldo

O.K., let's all just take a step back from the abyss a minute and chill. In our hectic lives, we often find outselves so enthralled with things we have to do that we don't take enough time to treat the aviator's soul to a good time.

So without delay, pour yourself a cold one, and click to view the video below. Make sure you have your sound turned up, and then sit back and take a ride with one of the finest biplane operations in the country.

And if you find yourself around Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, Florida any time soon, ask anybody standing near any biplane where "Lock" can be found...they'll know who you are looking for.

If you wish to view this full screen, try this link...(highly recommended)

Oh, and the answer to an emailer asking what the "very cool" music is behind this video:

"Learning to Fly"
Pink Floyd
A Momentary Lapse of Reason
Released 8 September, 1987