briefs

Everyone likes to save a buck and if very light jets (VLJs) can stretch Uncle Sam’s defense budget then the Air Force wants to know about it. The Air Force’s Acquisition Center of Excellence has issued a Capability Request for Information urging VLJ manufacturers to show their stuff. The Air Force classifies VLJs as those […]

The FAA says it may take further action spurred by growing concerns about the performance of Cessna Caravans in ice. FAA spokesman Les Doerr told AVweb the icing behavior of the 208-series aircraft is a “continuing concern to us” and he said it’s possible the agency will take further action. He also said the agency […]

NASA is claiming a 10- to 20-percent improvement in forecasting error with use of airborne weather sensors attached to dozens of Mesaba Airlines planes in an experiment being carried out over the Midwest this winter. The planes, which toil on feeder routes for Northwest Airlines, are equipped to gather temperature, humidity, pressure, wind and icing […]

https://avweb.com/avmail/ Reader mail this week about killer kites, radioactive instruments, the new look of AVwebFlash and much more.

COLUMNS Motor Head #11: One Thousand (Not So Easy) PiecesWonder why airplane engines cost so much? Just try to build one. AVweb’s Motor Head, Marc Cook, did (well, he helped anyway) and found it to be very enlightening. And then he flew a Turbo Cirrus … __________AUDIO CLIPDick Taylor takes on the IFR crowd, making […]

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You might suspect that watching a sailplane competition — even in a spectacular setting amid New Zealand’s rugged Omarama mountains — would be about as exciting as watching a lawn bowling match. But at last week’s Gliding Grand Prix there may have been some who strongly disagree. A week’s worth of daily press releases painted […]

A Czechoslovakian-made Albatros L-39 jet crashed in Ketchikan, Alaska, last Wednesday, killing the pilot. The pilot apparently ejected from the jet before it hit the ground, and was found strapped into his seat about 100 yards from the wreckage. The jet crashed into a small trailer park, causing extensive damage but no serious injuries. The […]

Pilots should not include the effect of thrust reversers when computing safe landing distances for jet aircraft, the NTSB said last week. Calculations tend to assume the thrust reversers will deploy immediately, when in practice there can be a lag of several seconds. The difference can be critical, especially when runway conditions are poor, the […]