Features

I’d Rather Be Mowing The owner of the airport where I live used to spend much time mowing around the runway with an ancient tractor pulling a bush hog. One year he fell prey to aging, and had a hip replaced. As you know, however, the mowing must go on, so I volunteered to run […]

As a working air traffic controller, I’m often introduced around the flight school as the “voice in the tower.” When conversations get around to asking about my job, it seems to me that new student pilots have this fear of talking on the “party-line” radio frequency. Student pilots stumble, scream, ramble, speak softly, rush through […]

This story originally appeared in KITPLANES. By Tom Wilson Early days are always interesting, and these are certainly early days in electric flight. But as the world awaits a truly energy-dense method of storing and releasing electrons, a few pioneers are paying their dues with crafty experimental airplanes. They’re not only improving the breed, but […]

Heard on frequency near Sacramento, California: “Piper 1234, are you planning to do an approach into Sacramento Executive?” “Affirmative, Piper 1234.” After about 30 seconds of silence, the controller keyed up again and asked in a humorous tone, “Do you want me to pick one for you?” Phil Verghese Santa Clara, CA

During my primary training and for a few years thereafter, weather awareness was drummed into me by pilots and mentors whose opinions I respected. As one consequence, I didn’t fly many overnight cross-countries when I could get caught by weather, nor did I go “take a look” at poor weather very often. Once I got […]

Takeoff Accidents Analyzed Paul, thanks again for what you do to promote aviation safety. I think you just saved a life or two with that video. Someone will see that video and have an engine failure on takeoff that will benefit from going through your teachings. 16 years ago, I lost oil pressure in my […]

The autogyro is sometimes thought to be an American invention—who hasn’t seen a black-and-white photo of the famed Pitcairn PCA-2?—but it actually originated in Spain. And it’s Europe where this aircraft continues to thrive despite the fact that North America is still the largest and richest light aircraft market. But persistence might be about to […]

Like many RV builders of the early 2000s, I was a Yankee refugee. I had been an active member of the American Yankee Association—the type club for those who owned American (and Grumman American) Yankees, Cheetahs and Tigers, the descendants of Jim Bede’s BD-1—for over 20 years, but we all saw the writing on the […]

I was flying from Texas to Minnesota on a less‑than‑smooth day in December. The Kansas City Center controller had a full plate working several busy frequencies, and had finally reached his wits end with constant inquiries about the ride. Center: “The rides are light chop. It’s going to be that way all winter.” Chris Wegener […]

AVweb’s General Aviation Accident Bulletin is taken from the pages of our sister publication, Aviation Safety magazine. All the reports listed here are preliminary and include only initial factual findings about crashes. You can learn more about the final probable cause on the NTSB’s website at www.ntsb.gov. Final reports appear about a year after the […]