Features

On a corporate flight from Utah to Southern California, Center informed us of traffic, opposite direction and above. While flying in RVSM territory 1000 feet is plenty of clearance but still looks close. Learjet: Nice tie. I guess you had to be there but it was humorous to me at the time. Michael Hollister

(Editor’s note: In the last 20 years the development, deployment and proliferation of Single-Engine Air Tankers (SEAT), nimble fire fighting airplanes converted from the biggest turbine crop dusters, has caused significant changes in the way forest fires are fought. While not able to carry as much fire retardant as the multi-engine tankers, they are faster […]

Somewhere between conception and execution of the light sport aircraft idea, the notion of simple and inexpensive got tossed overboard. Typical LSAs are lavishly equipped at prices in the $130,000 range. Yet at least a couple of companies persist with offerings below that price, including the Italian-built Groppo Trail, which surfaced again this year at […]

A couple years ago, an airship moored at Orlando Executive Airport for an event. The area where airships moor is in an area used by helicopters as a practice area.One day, a student was using the practice area & an airship was also moored in the practice area. The student called the tower for takeoff […]

The Brainteaser Quiz #224 bonus question asked how readers were adapting to the brave new world of ACS, which replaced the moldering old PTS. For those who don’t keep the FAA’s Acronyms and Abbreviations handbook on their bedside table, ACS means Airman Certification Standards, and PTS is the lovable — but aging — Practical Test […]

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.org. Final […]

As simple and straight forward as the visual approach, is sometimes you might end up wishing you were in the soup to minimums. The visual approach has a few traps waiting to grab you. It is important to remember the visual approach is not an instrument approach even though you are still on an IFR […]

During helicopter primary flight training at Fort Wolters, TX in 1970 a long, loose line of TH-55 helicopters, some with solo students, some with instructors, were returning from afternoon training. Student: (In broken Vietnamese) Wolthers Tower,Osage 1234 entering extended down wind for landing. Wolthers Tower: Osage 1234, negative entry, you are entering traffic from wrong […]

In his influential book, Stick and Rudder, Wolfgang Langewiesche states the rudder “. . . causes the greatest difficulty for beginners,” and “. . . even the more experienced pilot often has trouble using it correctly.” Commenting on improper rudder use as a contributing factor in accidents, he states, “In the typical fatal accident, which […]

With a few weeks having passed since my ditching on the way to Catalina (KAVX), I finally had time to calm down and reflect on what happened. It all began with our typical debate about where to fly for Saturday lunch. Someone suggested Big Bear Lake, a nearby resort nestled in the San Bernardino Mountains. […]