Features

In the years since Savvy Aircraft Maintenance Management (SAMM) (see the January 2009 issue of our sister publication Aviation Consumer) brought managed aircraft maintenance from the turbine to the owner-flown piston world, the company’s practice of analyzing the engine monitor data of its clients has resulted in the collection of a massive database. According to […]

General aviation pilots make IFR takeoffs in reduced visibility and low ceilings on a daily basis. We line up, launch, establish a climb, transition to the gauges and press on with the flight. Assuming there is an approach with adequate minimums at home plate or a nearby airport, we’re confident we can return and land […]

Often the hardest part of flying into a big Class B airport is finding your way around on the ground. After landing at Washington Dulles, I heard this exchange on the ground frequency. Hawker: “Ground, Hawker xxx, uh, we’re having some trouble finding Foxtrot” Ground: “Hawker xxx, where are you?” Hawker: “We’re at Zulu and […]

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 […]

It’s probably a journalistic pretense to imply that there’s anything practical about light sport airplanes. Few of them are used for travel and even fewer are flown in the kind of weather that a utilitarian airplane like a Bonanza or Cirrus has to tackle to earn its keep. So in reviewing LSAs, we’re talking about […]

While we were preparing to shut down at a tie down spot at Henderson Airport, Las Vegas, ground control was directing a taxiing Piper. Ground: “Cherokee Nxxxx, say your destination.” Cherokee:“Uhh, we’re not sure where we’re going. We’re just following the van in front of us (the “follow-me” van). Ground (chuckling):“I mean when you depart […]

Flying a seaplane off of the water is well up there on the list of the most purely fun things to do in aviation. When you take one of the most enjoyable of human endeavors—flying—and combine it with zipping across the water, you get a rush that’s tough to beat when engaged in doing anything […]

Each month IFR Refresher highlights an accident involving some aspect of IFR flying that an unfortunate pilot failed to respect. All too often, the pilots are professionals who have achieved considerable success in their career fields. The question often asked is; how persons with such a high personal performance standing can allow themselves to be […]

Recently heard on Bremen Information (Germany): Pilot: Bremen Information D-EABC ATC: D-EABC Bremen Information Pilot: D-EABC there is a guy here violently moving on the vertical about 2000 feet up- and downwards. Do you know about that and does he have a permission to do that? ATC: D-EABC yes, he does, But you have no […]

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 […]