Features

I just got home after delivering a brand-new American Champion Denali Scout from the factory to a dealer in Boise. One of the integral parts of any ferry flight is a careful preflight inspection—both for the pilot’s safety but also to assure that any little thing that is wrong is fixed at the factory before […]

One of the concerns many pilots express about doing their flight planning on a tablet computer is that they don’t spend time with a chart and a plotter looking over a route. They end up starting a flight with less situational awareness about airports where they can bail out if something goes wrong en route. […]

While flying in New York air space I heard this controller: Controller: Piper turn right 20 degrees. No response Controller: Piper turn right 20 degrees Still no response (must have seen Piper turn on screen) Controller: Piper instead of nodding your head, key your mic and answer me!!! Alan Kane

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 […]

The idea of an inflight fire rightfully scares the bejabbers out of pilots. Uncontrolled combustion in a confined space is ugly enough—adding altitude and speed to the mix can make a fire lethal in short order. It’s no wonder that pilots dealing with an inflight fire have jumped out of their aircraft even though they […]

Holding at the holding point Nelson, New Zealand, we were waiting for the cabin to be cleared before calling ready.Tower:“Link XXX, are you ready?”Link XXX:“Just waiting on the cabin.”Tower:“It’s right behind you.” Justin Zangerl

To follow up on its popular Your Refurb series, AVweb is starting a new, equally occasional, series on caring, feeding and upgrading your airplane: What’s Under the Hood? The idea is to pass along information on the components see when you open up the cowling, why they’re there, how they work and how to take […]

The instrument rating is probably the most challenging step-up in aviation—and this is coming from an ATP with a couple of jet type ratings. With the rating in your pocket, how can you make flying easier and more satisfying? How to stay proficient? Chances are your CFII started you out with most of the following […]

Heard at JFK one summer day after a very long ground roll and subsequent lift off by a British Airways 747. Tower: “Speedbird XXX noise violation.” Speedbird XXX:”Send it to the ()(*&^% Queen.” Real story. Dan Jenkins

There are three ways to arrive at an airport when operating under IFR: a standard instrument approach procedure (IAP), a visual approach and a contact approach. A great way to bring hangar flying to a screeching halt is to ask about a contact approach. A lot of IFR pilots know that it is some sort […]