Features

The magnetos we’ve been relying on to fire our aircraft’s spark plugs may be the trailing edge of technology, yet if cared for appropriately, they are remarkably reliable. It’s the cared for part of the equation that matters—because they do require regular maintenance, otherwise some failure modes can mean engine stoppage or even catastrophic engine […]

When you’ve been flying an individual homebuilt airplane as long as we have (22 years, to be exact), you encounter a lot of opportunities for improving on your product. Occasionally these “improvements” come because of malfunctioning equipment. That’s certainly happened to me. Yet every now and then, you just want a little change. Either way, […]

On the Saturday night before AirVenture opened, I was listening on my iPhone to KOSH tower for 27, wishing I was there instead of doing yard work. Evidently, weather was not great so traffic was slow when I heard a pilot tell tower he was turning final. Tower: Low wing cleared to land 27 Pilot: […]

AVweb’s General Aviation Accident Bulletin is taken from the pages of our sister publication, Aviation Safety magazine 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 web site at www.ntsb.gov. Final […]

When I got my first job flying freight in the mid-1970s, every single pilot I met was a white male. I didn’t really think anything about it—it was the way of the world. There were no women flying for the airlines or the military and the WASPs of World War II were not even a […]

Sometimes you just get set up. You got up early, looked out the window at a nearly clear sky and figured you’d fly the 80 miles or so to visit a buddy and hang out at his airport instead of yours. You whipped out your tablet for a full briefing and to make sure there […]

Heard over rural Massachusetts. Cherokee XYZ (tremulous voice): “Albany Approach, Cherokee XYZ five miles northeast of Pittsfield at 3500 feet, requesting fight following to Kilo Oscar Romeo Delta.” Silence: all on frequency were contemplating the Cherokee, a student pilot at the controls, attempting the impossibly long flight to Chicago and then penetrating the O’Hare airspace. […]

April 1, 2017, Edgewater, Fla. Cessna 170B/Grumman AA-5B Tiger At about 0842 Eastern time, the two airplanes were destroyed in an in-flight collision. The airline transport pilot flying the Cessna and the airline transport pilot flying the Grumman were both fatally injured. Visual conditions prevailed. The airplanes were part of a five-ship formation flight. Shortly […]

With minimal fanfare, composite propellers have been appearing as original equipment on more and more airplanes and more and more owners are finding that they are an option for their airplanes when it comes time for an overhaul or replacement. Composite props are more expensive than their aluminum counterparts, so we were curious why owners […]

Heard recently on the CTAF frequency at Arlington Municipal Airport (KAWO) in Washington: Cessna 123: “Departing 34, straight out to the west.” Eric Taylor