Topping out AOPA’s list was Flying’s feature story, “Cessna 172: Still Relevant,” a piece that explored the continuing appeal of GA’s most popular airplane, as well as its evolution over more than half a century. For the article, Flying Editor-in-Chief Robert Goyer took the 2012 Skyhawk model for a spin, a flight that impressed him enough to report back that “today’s Skyhawk is the best the company has ever made and by a good margin.” Check out the story here.

Other stories that made the list include a Time Magazine article suggesting Amelia Earhart’s airplane may have been located as well as an AOPA editorial on the White House’s push for user fees.

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Take a close look at the inner workings of a modern turbofan engine and you’ll discover a marvelous network of parts that puts Newton’s second law of motion to work with elegance and surprising simplicity, allowing today’s jets to go farther on less fuel while making less noise and emitting lower emissions. Here’s how a turbofan works:

STEP 1: SUCK Thrust creation begins at the inlet where a large-diameter fan rotates thousands of times per minute, taking in massive amounts of air. How much air are we talking about? Enough that a high-bypass turbofan engine like Pratt & Whitney’s PW4000 series could suck up all the air in a four-bedroom house faster than you could count to one.

The air passing through the fan then takes one of two routes. Some of the air makes its way to the combustor, where it undergoes the fuel ignition sequence, while the majority of the air bypasses the core and enters a narrow fan duct where its speed increases before exiting at the rear. The accelerated air leaving the turbofan engine can provide up to 80 percent of the overall thrust.

STEP 2: SQUEEZE The remaining airflow enters the low- and high-pressure compressors where it passes through a series of rotating and stationary blades. During this stage, as the air is squeezed, the air-pressure ratio can reach 40-to-1 while air temperatures rise several hundred degrees.

STEP 3: BURN This high-pressure air then moves into the combustor, where fuel is added and the mixture is ignited. The resulting energy spins both the high- and low-pressure turbines, which are connected concentrically via shafts to the compressors and the fan at the front of the turbofan engine. As the turbines turn, so do the fan and the compressors, creating the engine’s continuous process of air intake and expulsion.

STEP 4: BLOW After powering the turbines and decreasing in pressure, the air moves to the exhaust assembly and exits the engine, providing the remaining thrust. The ratio of air that enters the fan and bypasses the core versus the air that enters the compressor is aptly referred to as the bypass ratio. Early turbofans typically had bypass ratios between 1 and 2, but today’s ratios are higher. For example, the Rolls-Royce AE 3007 that powers Cessna’s Citation X+ features a bypass ratio of 5-to-1.

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Since the first Cirrus Jet prototype was unveiled in 2008, the program has completed more than 600 flight hours. Cirrus is currently building the newest prototype — the first of three production-conforming airplanes slated for testing — with data gleaned from those flight evaluations.

Cirrus initially began accepting deposits for the Vision Jet in 2006, but the program struggled for funding in the years that followed as the financial downturn descended on general aviation. The CAIGA buyout of Cirrus in 2011 breathed new life into the program, providing needed financial resources as well as access to the burgeoning aviation market in China.

Cirrus says more than 500 orders for the single-engine jet have poured in. A report in a Chinese newspaper cites Meng Xiangkai, chairman of CAIGA — the state-owned Chinese corporation that took ownership of Cirrus Aircraft in 2011 — as stating the price for early buyers of the Cirrus Jet has been set at $1.8 million, but that the cost could rise to $2 million as the jet nears delivery.

Featuring a V-tail design and a single Williams FJ33 engine, the Cirrus Jet features seating for up to five adults and two children, and will top out at a max cruise speed of 300 ktas. According to Cirrus, the fundamental impetus behind the design was ease of operation, as the company hopes the airplane will provide a smooth transition for piston single or twin operators looking to move up to a jet.

The news of the impending Cirrus Jet rollout comes as many other personal jet ventures have fallen by the wayside. Piper suspended its PiperJet program indefinitely in the fall of 2011, while Diamond announced similar news for its D-Jet in February.

View our Cirrus Jet photo gallery here.

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Despite a shortened schedule, this year’s show set a new record with 630 exhibitors from 29 countries in attendance. Visitors at the show got to see a variety of new aircraft and technology, and airplanes on exhibition ran the spectrum from business jets to gliders. There were several new airplane introductions, including a four-seater from Flight Design and new models from Tecnam as well.

Among the highlights of the show were the e-flight-expo, which showcased electric airplanes, ecologically friendly designs, along with numerous technological innovations and the Berblinger Flight Competition, in which dozens of participants competed for awards recognizing resourceful and eco-friendly aircraft.

AERO 2012 will take place April 18–21.

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According to a statement released by the FAA, the controller was working a radar position when the controller’s microphone unintentionally activated, picking up and transmitting a movie soundtrack for more than three minutes over the active radio frequency for that airspace. A military pilot alerted the ATC center of the problem by transmitting on an alternate frequency.

The incident comes just days after numerous reports of controllers sleeping on the job forced the head of the FAA’s ATC, Hank Krakowski, to resign.** **

In light of the recent problems, FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt and National Air Traffic Controllers Association president Paul Rinaldi have initiated a “Call to Action,” in which they are visiting ATC centers across the United States in an attempt to discuss safety issues and promote professionalism.

In a press release issued last week, Babbitt said, “we are conducting a top to bottom review of the way we operate our air traffic control system.” They began their tour in Atlanta on Monday and will be visiting additional ATC centers in other U.S. cities throughout the week.

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The crash occurred at dawn on Jan. 18, 2003, approximately eight minutes after pilot Gary Prokop, 47, and James Kosak, 51, took off in marginal VFR conditions in north west Minnesota. According to the NTSB, the Cirrus SR22 crashed into a heavily wooded area after the pilot encountered instrument conditions. Prokop was a VFR, single-engine land pilot working on his instrument rating. He had only 19 hours in an SR22 at the time of the incident.

The passenger’s estate sued both Cirrus and Prokop for negligence. Prokop’s estate also sued the Duluth-based manufacturer. The plaintiffs alleged that Cirrus had not provided sufficient training to Prokop, particularly with regard to the airplane’s autopilot system. The 2009 jury found Cirrus 75 percent negligent and Prokop 25 percent negligent.

In the recent Minnesota Court of Appeals ruling, the justices maintained that “although proficiency training undoubtedly promoted the safe use of the SR22 (model of airplane), we find no support in the law for (the) proposition that Cirrus’s duty to warn included an obligation to train Prokop to proficiently pilot the SR22.” Citing a state law created to prevent plaintiffs from suing for “educational malpractice,” the court ruled that the lawsuit never should have been brought in the first place.

One judge dissented, maintaining that Cirrus was responsible for the pilot’s transition training because it was included in the SR22 purchasing agreement.

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Representatives from Wichita’s aircraft manufacturing plants, suppliers and service providers were among the 160 people gathered for the governor’s economic summit. They gave suggestions to state officials on many fronts, including their desire for greater state support of job training programs, a pro-business tax code and the elimination of unnecessary regulations.

Many business executives also brought up the desire for policies that allow more qualified foreign workers to remain in the state. According to Zulma Toro-Ramos, three quarters or more of all graduate engineering degrees at Wichita State University are awarded to foreign students, who often face significant hurdles when attempting to remain and work in the United States.

When discussing their reasoning, many executives emphasized how they are frequently approached by other states with compelling arguments for relocating their multi-million dollar businesses. They also highlighted the important role the aviation industry plays in other areas of the economy. According to David Coleal, a leading executive at Bombardier Learjet, every aviation job stimulates the formation of 3.6 jobs in other segments.

The Monday summit was the second largest aviation event held in Wichita within recent weeks, preceded just weeks before by a large GA rally that garnered thousands of attendees.

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The find comes just days after searchers from France’s BEA investigative unit found the airplane’s flight data recorder, which records in-flight instrument information, at a depth of 12,800 feet. The two black boxes are being shipped to BEA headquarters in France this week, where investigators will open the units and determine what, if any, usable data can be retrieved from them.

According to officials, both recorders appear to be in good condition. However, while made to sustain a collision 1,500 times the force of gravity, they are only designed to withstand submersion in 20,000 feet of seawater for a 30-day period.

The recent discoveries are the culmination of the fourth search effort launched to find the wreckage of Air France Flight 447 since the accident occurred in 2009. While earlier remnants of the airplane were found floating on the ocean surface shortly after the crash, searchers did not discover the first signs of the the A330 lying beneath the Atlantic until last month, after scouring almost 4,000 square miles of ocean floor.

In light of the findings, Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, CEO of Air France KLM, said in a statement on Tuesday, “On behalf of Air France, it is my heartfelt hope that the data contained in these flight recorders may be used and provide answers to questions that relatives of the victims, Air France and the entire airline industry have been asking for nearly two years about why this tragic accident occurred.”

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During January through March of this year, the company made a total of 45 deliveries, a significant increase from the 34 deliveries Hawker made over the same period in 2010. The company’s backlog has also increased in 2011, rising $122 million during the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2010.

But Hawker also reported a sales decrease of**** $9.8 million compared to the first quarter of 2010, as well as operational losses of $37.9 million, up $12.8 million from last year. Bill Boisture, chairman and CEO of Hawker Beechcraft, attributed these losses to a variety of factors. “This was driven in large part by loss-making aircraft charges, higher sales and marketing expenses related to our international expansion, expenses associated with our cost reduction initiatives, and continuing weakness in the general aviation market,” he said.

Indeed, Hawker’s greatest losses were felt in the business and general aviation. Sales there decreased $48.9 in the first quarter of 2011 when compared with 2010, while operating income took a hit of $20.9 million.

Despite these losses, Boisture tried to keep a positive note when looking forward to the rest of the year. “While 2011 will continue to present challenges as we work our way through what remains to be a soft market, we are confident that we are making sound business decisions and have a unique, diversified product mix,” he said.

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The event’s many exhibitors include Gulfstream, which is scheduled to showcase four of its business jets, including the G550, G450, G200 and G150 on static display. Additionally, the company recently announced it will feature one-tenth scale models of all its aircraft in a separate 1,200 square-foot exhibit. Also preparing for this year’s EBACE is Embraer, which will feature its Phenom 100, Phenom 300, Legacy 650 and Lineage 1000 on static display. This year’s EBACE line-up will also include Cessna, Bombardier and many other big names.

In addition to exhibiting a wide array of display aircraft, EBACE will serve as a platform for a variety of different business aviation technology and service providers. A number of educational sessions and maintenance and operating sessions will also be held. The event will take place at the Geneva PALEXPO and the nearby Geneva International Airport from May 17 – 19.

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