Features

Boeing’s New Hypersonic Concept I’d love to see the technology advance. I’ve been following Reaction Engines in the U.K. for several years. The have a very interesting concept for using ultra-high-efficiency heat exchangers to produce oxygen from the air to use in rocket propulsion, thus reducing the need for the weight of O2 on board. […]

Cleveland Center: Airliner xyz, turn right heading xxx to intercept the localizer, cleared for the RNAV xx approach at XXX. Use caution for party balloons on the final approach course at around 2,100 feet. Airliner xyz: Party balloons? Cleveland Center: Yes a previous arrival told us he saw a group of party balloons at about […]

I was on an IFR arrival into Houston a while ago with busy Approach Control, when I heard the following exchange: Approach Control: “N1234 say altitude.” N1234: “Altitude.” Approach without hesitation and very patiently: “N1234 say the altitude you are flying.” N1234: “Oh, 5,500 feet.” Approach: “Thank you. Altimeter 29.93.” Mark Robertson Alvin, TX

Too many IFR pilots don’t know their GPS as intimately as they should. Hitting “Direct To” and their destination is as much as many can muster out of their navigator. There is a serious lack of knowledge of what the GPS is trying to tell them. The most basic information a GPS provides to a […]

AVweb’sGeneral Aviation Accident Bulletinis taken from the pages of our sister publication,Aviation Safetymagazine, and is published twice a month. All the reports listed here are preliminary and include only initial factual findings about crashes. You can learn more about the final probable cause in the NTSB’s website atwww.ntsb.gov. Final reports appear about a year after […]

Diamond’s Christian Dries First of all, thank you for recognizing and writing about a gentleman who, despite his larger than life personality when you are with him, has most certainly not had the public recognition he deserves. But then again, Christian was never in it for recognition but rather to make a difference in an […]

Healthy Pilot has been covering the BasicMed checklist in the past few installments, but we will be departing from that protocol in coming issues to cover health problems that impact the population in general and pilots in particular. Sleep disorders are up first, a condition that seems ubiquitous. For pilots, fatigue caused by sleep problems […]

I was inbound for landing at Reid‑Hillview airport and had a traffic alert off to my left, 300 feet higher and faster. About a minute after the traffic alert the tower told me I had traffic above and to the left of me. I replied that I did not have traffic in sight. Tower said, […]

I was flying over central Kansas when I overheard Center clear a jet pilot “direct destination.” The pilot, grateful, confirmed the clearance and added the compliment, “You’re a gentleman and a scholar.” The controller, apparently unfamiliar with the phrase, replied, “Say again?” The pilot, simply replied, “Thank you. Have a great day.” Jerry Arnold Valentine, […]

I am not a big proponent of memorizing airspeeds. It can be a risky practice if you fly many different types of aircraft. Most of the important airspeeds can be determined from the airspeed indicator (ASI), though there are a few you probably should commit to memory, or at least keep on a placard. Eight […]