Features

I was a new controller and just assigned to my first duty station, Falcon Field in Mesa, Arizona. I had a pretty good working relationship with my crew mate. It was slow and we had the frequencies on the speaker so we could use handsets instead of wearing headsets. Out of nowhere we get a […]

Would you like to play a game of Russian Roulette? To make it more interesting, what if we load five of the six chambers. If you think those odds are poor, then consider that flying VFR into IMC conditions are about the same. Too often many general aviation pilots place themselves in IMC situations and […]

FAA Stops Medical Enforcement Until June 30 This FAA enforcement policy for expired medical certificates (the non-enforcement policy between March 31, 2020 and June 30, 2020) leaves a big open question about pilot insurance policies. The FAA did not extend the effective date of medical certificates expiring during this time period, the FAA just said […]

Since the mid‑1970s, satellite imagery has made its way into everything from television weather‑casts to flight weather briefings. We see them constantly. When a hurricane is approaching the coast, viewers are presented with satellite images. When the local news shows the forecast, a satellite image is almost always used. This technology has grown progressively more […]

This story, as part of a series on building the SubSonex, originally appeared in KITPLANES. There comes a day in every airplane build where there is nothing left to do but fill it with fuel, get in and take it aloft. But between the time when you have turned the last bolt and applied the […]

Every IFR pilot knows the joys and sorrows of routing. Flying home from Massachusetts one afternoon, I heard the following exchange: NY controller: “King Air XXXX, climb and … disregard.” Pilot: “Awwww…” NY controller: “I’ll be right back with you.” Pilot: “Woo‑hoo!” Ed Fischer Philadelphia, PA

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 […]

FAA Rejects Collings Foundation Request To Carry Passengers The problems the FAA are citing Collings Foundation is poor maintenance, poor record-keeping of maintenance performed, and maintenance people unaware of operational procedures/requirements of the LHFE [Living History Flight Exemptions] program. The FAA’s refusal to reissue the LHFE program to Collings is based on all of the […]

No matter how you slice it, aircraft ownership is expensive. Required inspections, airworthiness directive compliance and regular replacement of wear items can gang up on us to make the total cost of ownership a somewhat breathtaking experience. There are almost as many ways to manage these expenses as there are people flying, but one consistent […]

If you teach at or run a flight school—any size, from one of the big ones to a small-airport school—and have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, we want to hear about it. Email us about your experiences so far at newsteam@avweb.com.