NOTAM:  4/9917  Issued:  09/19/2004 03:00  Effective:  Immediately - Until Further Notice  State:  USA  Facility:  ZJX - JACKSONVILLE (ARTCC),FL.  Type:  HAZARDS  Description:  GULF OF MEXICO COASTLINE. 

NOTAM:  4/9933  Issued:  09/19/2004 16:10  Effective:  Immediately - Until Further Notice  State:  LA  Facility:  ZHU - HOUSTON (ARTCC),TX.  Type:  HAZARDS  Description:  PORT SULPHUR LA. 

NOTAM:  4/9921  Issued:  09/19/2004 03:50  Effective:  09/19/2004 14:25 - 09/19/2004 18:35  State:  FL  Facility:  ZJX - JACKSONVILLE (ARTCC),FL.  Type:  VIP  Description:  FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS PENSACOLA, FLORIDA, SEPTEMBER 19 2004 LOCAL. 

Good Samaritans Breathe Easier

The United States House of Representatives has overwhelmingly (385-12) passed HR 1084, a bill backed by EAA Tuesday that would extend "Good Samaritan" protections to nonprofit volunteer pilot organizations and volunteer pilots. The Volunteer Pilot Organization Protection Act of 2004 ensures that vital services, such as donated medical flights for the needy, flights of compassion, humanitarian, and charitable purposes. Charitable organizations conduct more than 30,000 such flights annually.

But Hurricanes May Delay Shuttles' Return To Flight

Virtually no place in Florida has escaped nature's wrath this summer -- and that includes Cape Canaveral. Because of poundings from Hurricanes Charley and Frances, NASA is now about a week behind on its schedule for returning the space shuttles to service -- hopefully in March or April.

McClellan-Palomar Airport Neighbors Say Pilots Aren't Following Noise Abatement Procedures

"If pilots would just follow the recommended (flight) path, we wouldn't be here tonight." So says Gail Carroll, who lives in Carlsbad (CA). She was one of about two dozen people who showed up at a meeting of the McClellan-Palomar Airport Advisory Committee Thursday night to complain about airport noise.

Granny And Sonny Bail Out

David Cox is pretty tight with his 72-year old grandmother, Barb Hickman. So tight, in fact, that when he recently went over the river and through the woods, she told him she wanted to do something to bring them even closer.

Once Endangered Bird In Mid-Air With AAL Flight

If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck and is ingested in a commercial aircraft engine like a duck, then is it a duck? In the case of an American Airlines McDonnell Douglas Super 80 departing Chicago (IL) last week, the answer was no. It was a double-breasted cormorant. The bird was once close to extinction (well, in fact, this particular bird IS extinct) and was, at one time, on the federal list of endangered species.

Dealing With World Changes

The global war on terrorism is placing many stresses on the US Air Force, but the service members are responding well to those stresses and the leadership is working to alleviate them.

But It's Looking Good...

Genesis team scientists and engineers continue their work on the mission's sample return canister in a specially constructed clean room at the US Army Proving Ground in Dugway (UT). As more of the capsule's contents are revealed, the team's level of enthusiasm for the amount of science obtainable continues to rise.

"Our expert said that a cormorant is chunkier, meatier and has more bones than a looser, watery bird. Once ingested by the engine, it would have a harder time getting through the fan blades of the turbine." Source: American Airlines spokeswoman Mary Frances Fagan in an interview with the Chicago Tribune, saying that AAL Super 80 flying over Chicago didn't actually ingest a goose or a duck as first thought. No, it was actually a double-breasted cormorant, which, as one expert said, "looks similar to a goose, especially at high speed." Glen Kruse, manager of restoration ecology at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, told the Tribune, "I doubt a pilot would know the difference between the birds." The cormorant was once on the federal list of endangered spec

NOTAM: 4/9912 Issued: 09/18/2004 18:40 Effective: Immediately - Until Further Notice State: CO Facility: ZDV - DENVER (ARTCC),CO. Type: HAZARDS Description: EL DORADO CO.

NOTAM: 4/9898 Issued: 09/18/2004 04:00 Effective: Immediately - Until Further Notice State: AZ Facility: ZLA - LOS ANGELES (ARTCC)PALMDALE, CA. Type: HAZARDS Description: PAGE AZ.

NOTAM: 4/9903 Issued: 09/18/2004 06:40 Effective: 09/20/2004 19:00 - 09/21/2004 13:00 State: OH Facility: ZID - INDIANAPOLIS (ARTCC),IN. Type: VIP Description: COLUMBUS, OHIO, SEPTEMBER 20 2004 LOCAL.

Aviation Pioneer Burt Rutan Flies Weightless for the First Time

ANN has been having a ball sharing Zero-G with a number of luminaries while Editor-In-Chief Jim Campbell has been serving as a crewmember aboard "G-Force One" this week. But... with the exception of Apollo 11's Buzz Aldrin, none of these VIPs have been as eagerly awaited as Scaled Composites' Burt Rutan (shown below, to the the right of X Prize's Gregg "Born 2 Fly" Maryniak).