FlightCentral

(SMART SUMMARY) The International Air Transport Association (IATA) says that as of November, "global safety performance is at the best-ever level recorded," with one notable exception.

(SMART SUMMARY) This week's winning photo comes from Chuck Stickney of Honolulu, HI.

(SMART SUMMARY) To cover its expenses, the FAA's AeroNav proposes to charge at least $150 per user for its digital databases, more than doubling the cost of apps like ForeFlight and WingX and probably eliminating free viewing of charts on services like DUATs and other no-charge sites.

(SMART SUMMARY) A District Court Judge has ordered the United States to pay $4.4 million to the family of a pilot killed in a 2005 plane crash after finding that a controller (currently serving as a front line manager) "breached his duty of care."

(SMART SUMMARY) A 55-page report this weekend made public a laundry list of flaws currently dragging on the F-35 fighter program and is complicated by a production plan called "Concurrency" that allows Lockheed Martin to churn out the jets while testing continues.

(SMART SUMMARY) Federal officials Wednesday confirmed earlier reports that signals from a nationwide broadband system proposed by LightSquared will significantly disrupt existing GPS service.

(SMART SUMMARY) American Airlines is the first U.S. airline to be officially approved by the FAA to use iPads as an electronic flight bag in all phases of flight, the FAA said this week.

(SMART SUMMARY) According to the Washington Post, Helms advised Reagan administration officials that air traffic safety would not be affected if more than 11,000 union controllers were fired.

(SMART SUMMARY) A storied interceptor in its day, it was built to exceed an Air Force requirement for 1.9 mach and continuous flight at 57,000 feet.

(SMART SUMMARY) The FAA’s AeroNav charting division told vendors on Tuesday that it proposes to charge end users of digital charting producers about $150 a year to close a $5 million shortfall in its budget due to declining paper chart sales.

(SMART SUMMARY) In a new proposed advisory circular, the FAA says it aims to provide "best practices and guidance for training, testing, and checking for pilots to ensure correct and consistent response to unexpected stall warnings, and/or stick pusher activations."

(SMART SUMMARY) Aircraft designer Burt Rutan has teamed up again with investor Paul Allen -- who bankrolled Rutan's winning entry in the 2004 X Prize -- to build what they say will be the world's largest airplane, "Stratolaunch," capable of launching payloads into space.

(SMART SUMMARY) A recent report from Forecast International predicts that 2012 will see a turnaround in the business-jet market, with modest growth expected, ending a three-year trend of declining sales.

(SMART SUMMARY) A new program offered by Build A Plane and Fly To Learn aims to help kids learn about science, technology, engineering, and math by building and flying virtual aircraft using X-Plane flight simulator software.

(SMART SUMMARY) >>> AVWEB FUEL FINDERCURRENT PRICE FOR 100LL: $5.72 (down 2¢ from last week)CURRENT PRICE FOR JET A: $5.46 (down 3¢ from last week)Fuel prices provided weekly by AirNav, based on prices from the past 2 weeks.