briefs

https://avweb.com/avmail/ Reader mail this week about security awareness training and young pilots, and lots of fighting about where to put those cockpit controls. Plus a few travelogues from North Dakota.

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_______COLUMNS From the CFI #5: How to Pass Any Checkride … The First Time!Pilots are usually successful in the rest of their non-aviation life, so it can come as a shock to hear that not everyone passes a checkride on the first try. It’s especially a shock when you don’t pass! AVweb’s Linda Pendleton, who […]

Our sister publication, Aviation Consumer, is conducting an exhaustive survey of aircraft-owner experience with engine overhaul shops and sources. If you’d like to participate, just click here. You don’t have to be a subscriber to participate. Replies will be kept confidential.

With the age-60 rule back in play, how would you like to contribute to scientific research, while getting free simulator time, earning a few extra bucks and attaining that goal of attending Stanford U. (sort of)? The Palo Alto, Calif., school is studying age-related changes in aviator performance. Volunteers must be 50 to 67 years […]

If you think you’ve tried everything there is to try in aviation, think again. Sunrise Paragliding in Nepal has teamed with the Himalayan Hawk Conservancy to present what it calls “Parahawking” — flying a paraglider in tandem with a trained hawk who will scout out the thermals for you. The flights launch from Pokhara, in […]

A huge, unmanned NASA balloon carrying two tons of scientific gear floated near the edge of space for nearly 42 days and made three orbits around the South Pole, breaking flight records for duration and distance, NASA said on Friday. The balloon landed Thursday, 410 miles from its launch site at the McMurdo research station […]

A international consortium of companies led by Lockheed Martin beat out Sikorsky Aircraft in a competition to build a fleet of 23 “Marine One” presidential helicopters, the Department of Defense announced on Friday. The contract is worth $6 billion. The new helicopter, called the US101, is a variant of a medium-lift three-engine helicopter designed in […]

The FAA should find a new way to deal with pilots of air carrier and charter operations who consistently fail flight proficiency checks, and ensure that records of those failures are taken into account during hiring decisions, the NTSB said Friday in a Safety Recommendation Letter. The recommendation was prompted by the safety board’s investigation […]