EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2007 Aircraft Awards

Condolences
The entire EAA community of aviation enthusiasts expresses condolences to the family and friends of Gerald Beck, who died in an aircraft accident on Friday as part of the Showcase Flights at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Gerry was flying his P-51A, which he had built from the original North American Aircraft plans and specifications, when the accident occurred.

Two-week build options expand
Over the past three years, 70 owners have taken a Glasair Sportsman 2+2 kit from nothing but parts to a state where it can taxi. There's nothing remarkable about that figure until one realizes the transformation occurred in just a two-week period. Then it gets interesting. The program, conceived by Glasair and currently only available for the Sportsman, provides a kit owner with all the tools, fixtures, and parts necessary for the compressed construction schedule.  Read more 

Grumman Duck wins 'Best of Best' contest
It survived the attack on Pearl Harbor, and to some it looks like a duck. It's uncertain whether its history or its look won people over in the "Best of the Best" competition. But no matter, the 1939 Grumman J24-F Duck won the inaugural people's choice competition at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2007.  Read more 

First AirVenture visitor-submitted video contest announced
One of the really cool things about EAA's new online video player is the ability for members to upload and share their own videos. During EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2007, that capability is getting a thorough workout as we announce the first EAA AirVenture Video Competition. Participate and you could win a new Canon HV20 high definition camcorder!  Read more 

Safety first in Warbirds area on air show days
On days the EAA Warbirds of America perform at EAA AirVenture this week (all days except Thursday), the Warbirds area is required to close certain sections of the aircraft parking area just before, during, and after the performances. With dozens of aircraft starting up and taxiing through "public access" areas (warbirds aircraft parking), it creates a huge safety concern.  Read more 

EAA Memorial Wall: In honor of those who have fallen
EAA's Memorial Wall provides a place to remember important people in a special way. It is a lasting tribute to those who have passed on. Located near the Fergus Chapel on EAA's campus, the EAA Memorial Wall honors departed EAA members and aviation enthusiasts.  Read more 

Van's RV-12 LSA on display
With all the excitement surrounding new light-sport aircraft (LSA) from major manufacturers here, almost lost in the commotion is an entry from one of the industry's most popular kit manufacturers, Van's Aircraft.  Read more 

Ready or not, the FAA promises your new avionics will be based on ADS-B
Get any group of pilots and aircraft owners together at a place like EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, and the talk eventually turns to airplanes, engines, weather, and avionics. At the same time, if you get some FAA managers together, the discussion starts revolving around how good a job the agency is doing at meeting the various challenges thrown at it and, of course, how great will be the industry's future.  Read more 

Being egg-shaped means being rare
If Dave Powell has one complaint about flying his Anderson-Greenwood AG-14, it is that it doesn't have much of a front reference point to line up his landings with.  Read more 

Tremendous turnout at Learn to Fly Center
When speaking of the almost-complete first year of the Learn to Fly Center at AirVenture Oshkosh 2007, Rusty Sachs, executive director of the National Association of Flight Instructors (NAFI), said, "It's been a tremendous success." With more than 227 sport pilot certificates handed out Monday through Friday, Rusty is probably correct in his statement.  Read more 

LSA Mall enjoys great traffic
The Light-Sport Aircraft (LSA) Mall, located just south of AeroShell Square, has enjoyed another successful year at Oshkosh. The LSA Mall introduces current and prospective pilots to economical personal flight with a wide variety of new, low-cost, light-sport aircraft including categories of factory-built and amateur-built experimental.  Read more 

Poberezny: Future holds promise for aviation
EAA is an organization that reveres the people and planes of the past, EAA President Tom Poberezny said. But it's the future that holds the most promise for the sport aviation association.  Read more 

EAA by the numbers
As of February 28, 2007, there are 167,713 EAA members throughout the United States and in 100 countries.  Read more

U.S. debut of DA50 leads Diamond news at AirVenture
Diamond Aircraft Industry's DA50 SuperStar made its U.S. debut this week at Oshkosh and company President Peter Maurer was available to talk about plans for the new model. A five-place high-performance single, the DA50 continues the company's aggressive expansion of its fleet, which ranges from the DA20 two-place trainer to the D-Jet, Diamond's highly anticipated single-engine personal jet, scheduled to begin deliveries by mid-2008.  Read more  

GA manufacturers post strong half-year numbers
First six months shipments of airplanes manufactured worldwide by GAMA member companies
This week the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) announced its member companies' airplane shipments and billings for the first half of 2007 totaled 1,883 units, a 1.7 percent increase over the same period last year, with industry billings rising 11.7 percent to $9.8 billion.  Read more 

FAA Administrator: Ultralights are here to stay
"The FAA has no intention of doing away with Part 103," FAA Administrator Marion Blakey said Friday about her agency's rule authorizing and regulating ultralight aircraft. Some visitors to AirVenture have observed that the Ultralight Area seems to have fewer aircraft and exhibitors than in prior years. And some in the ultralight community are wondering about the future of Part 103, now that the light-sport aircraft (LSA) market is taking off.  Read more 

Morgan Freeman realizes a childhood dream at AirVenture
At 15, Morgan Freeman was too young to fly the F-86 Sabre jet, but that didn't stop him from pretending. Sitting in class, as the teacher droned on, his desk would transform to his plane as Freeman talked on the radio and made war noises as he struck down another MiG fighter.  Read more 

Members of Congress also oppose user fees
Seven members of the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Aviation met at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2007 Saturday for a special panel discussion and Q&A session about the issue on the minds of most aviation enthusiasts: user fees. Attending were Rep. Thomas Petri, in whose district AirVenture resides (R-Wisconsin); Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii); Candace Miller (R-Michigan); Jerry Costello, subcommittee chairman (D-Illinois); Vern Ehlers (R-Michigan); Leonard Boswell (D-Iowa); and Sam Graves (R-Missouri).  Read more 

B-24 pilot McGovern feels lucky to have survived
George McGovern may be best known for his political career as a senator and 1972 presidential candidate. But his military career in World War II really helped to form his belief that not all wars are good.  Read more 

Big monoplane completes collection
John Seibold, founder of the modern Scenic Airlines - a Grand Canyon air tour operator - needed one last airplane to complete his collection of planes flown by the very first air tour operator to give the vacationing public views of the great canyon from the air. The missing airplane was the very first Grand Canyon airplane, the Stinson SM-1 Detroiter.  Read more 

NASA and AirVenture crowd share knowledge with each other
There's a mutual admiration society at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2007 involving NASA and members of the show crowd. NASA exhibit staffer Mark Thornblom says, "The people here seem to know a lot about what we do ...  Yeah, they're a savvy group."  Read more 

Around the Field
A C-17 picnic ... airplane campers from Seattle ... and the controllers from ZAU
The C-17 crew was hard at work yesterday in AeroShell Square, repairing the nose landing gear. They'd been working for many hours, skipping meals in order to get this important task completed.  Read more 

Pilot Briefings
Safe ground operations for conventional gear aircraft
All pilots feel a need to be vigilant regarding safety issues. They carefully inspect their aircraft during preflight, run up the engine(s), and check the weather. They ask themselves, "Am I physically and mentally ready to fly today?" Simply stated, pilots make many critical, safety-based decisions well before the wheels start to roll.  Read more 

Ask Tom
Tom Richards answers your questions.  Read more

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