Airborne 01.20.12: Citation TEN, Obama's User Fees, EAA's 'Black Thursday'

Also: LightSquared, Kestrel, SpaceX, JetBlue, Mustangs!, FlightDesign, 'Red Tails', Phobos-Grunt...and SO MUCH MORE!

Well... the sky didn't fall -- even though it appeared to be ready to do so... at times. It was a monumental week for the aviation news business as Cessna got a new BizJet started on its flight test program, Phobos-Grunt hit the deck, LightSquared was told it couldn't work--by experts--again, and the Obama Administration angered nearly EVERYONE in aviation by endorsing User Fees. To the readers and viewers of Aero-News and Aero-TV, this did not sit well and nearly 2000 responses later, we wonder whether anyone who flies will vote for this guy come November. Adding to those tales, we have news that Kestrel has found a home in Wisconsin, a JetBlue CEO says a few things he maybe shouldn't have, and we're going to have to wait longer to see SpaceX make its way to the ISS -- and of course, that's not all. Yeah, once again... a VERY interesting week...

PLEASE keep sending us your feedback and ideas... you have no idea how important that is to us as we evolve the Airborne mission. As we listen to your critiques, we're getting a far better idea as to how to tweak and fine-tune future Airborne programming to fit your needs. We think you're going to like what we have in mind for the future.

Airborne 01.20.12 is chock full of info about the week ending Friday, January 20th, 2012... Presented by Aero-TV veteran videographer and Airborne Host Ashley Hale, and supported by ANN CEO/Editor-In-Chief Jim Campbell, Chief Videographer Nathan Cremisino, and Aero-Journalists Tom Patton and Paul Plack, this episode covers:

Citation Ten Prototype Makes First Flight
The White House Supports User Fees
Is LightSquared Swirling The Drain?
EAA Lays Off Dozens, Reshuffles Staff
Wisconsin Now Home To Kestrel
ANN Readers Respond To User Fee Proposal... Massively
SpaceX ISS Mission Delayed
JetBlue CEO Talks Off The Cuff
Phobos-Grunt Hits The Deck
'Barnstorming' Wants You To Go To The Movies
FlightDesign Extends Their Warranty
AVW -- Building A T51 Mustang
George Lucas Unveils 'Red Tails' This Week

Get Comprehensive, Real-Time, 24/7 coverage of the latest aviation and aerospace stories anytime, at aero-news.net. And be sure to join us again next week for the first 2012 edition of "Airborne" here on Aero-TV. Thanks for watching. Happy New Year! See you next week!

FMI: www.aero-news.net, www.aero-tv.net, www.youtube.com/aerotvnetwork, http://twitter.com/AeroNews, The Full ANN/YouTube AIRBORNE Roster http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL42E90078D99B1053&feature=view_all

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[N100MG]

Great production value and even better information. However the audio sounds like it was shot in an empty bedroom with a lot of reverb. Please put up some sound deadening material. It will make a big difference imho.

[jakebwallace]

Sounds to me like the government is up to the usual no good. Ron Paul 2012

[FlightTutor]

@dirtbikegy Saying that is nice, but it doesn't amount to squat in the public eye. Like I said, GA can moan and groan about user fees until it is blue in the face. Until you can point to some actual DATA that supports your point, the public will not care what you have to say. GA will be perceived as a rich mans sport that burns ***$1600/hr**** in fuel per hour, but does not want to pay a minute $100/flight. You need to convince the public, with data, how user fees will affect THEIR wallets.

[dirtbikegy]

@FlightTutor Speaking like a politician.

[HonestJohn60]

Your gonna pay for Oblama's TSA thats now groping you on highways to football stadiums, one way or another!

[FlightTutor]

I am trying to find data from the FAA which shows a break down of their costs. How much does the Airlines currently pay and how much does GA pay. And how much does airline vs GA use the NAS system relative to what its currently paying. It would be nice if you could find this information and make it readily available.

[FlightTutor]

Follow up (2): Lets look at a more realistic flight duration, let's say, 4 hours (these types of planes are made for long distance travel at high speeds after all). The PC12 sees a 7.62% increase in cost of that flight, while the Gulf Stream sees a *****trivial****** 1.56% increase in cost of that flight.

My conclusion: Please put some data, facts, numbers, and calculations behind your complaint. I see nothing other than repeating the mantra "they're unfairly out to get us." -- Prove it.

[FlightTutor]

Follow up (1): Using these figures, let's assume a short hop that uses 2 Hours of fuel to see the effects on operating costs. The worst hit are the small turbo-props that have low fuel burn. The PC12 would cost $656 for 2 hours. That means the $100 user fee would increase the cost of flight by 15.2%. On the high end (Gulf Stream), the user fee would increase that short hop flight cost by 3.12%. The turboprops get hit the hardest for short hops. They have a reasonable complaint in this debate.

[FlightTutor]

According to what2fly _ dot _ com the operating costs of a Citation BIZJET is $689.22/hr in fuel alone. The proposed user fee of $100/flight translates to roughly *10 minutes* of flight time in fuel costs. I have a hard time believing if you can afford to own a Citation, 10 minutes of flight time cost will bust your budget. A Gulf Stream uses $1600/hr in fuel alone. Learjet is $1300/hr in fuel. A PILATUS PC-12 is $328/hr in fuel.

Seriously???........$100/fligh­t is going to "break the bank"?