Features

When the vast majority of American pilots want to go flying they rent an airplane from their local FBO, flight school or flying club. That means they have to go through some sort of a checkout with the aircraft provider before they can take the aircraft on their own. Whether the checkout is in a […]

Although the design is more than four decades old, the Cessna 177 Cardinal—with its racy sloped windshield, wide doors and strutless wings—looks more modern than the newest Skyhawks coming out of Cessna’s Independence, Kansas, plant. Yet, sadly, the Cardinal is a poster child for why innovation and audacity in general aviation development has often met […]

The Weekender has a SocialFlight agenda that runs cross-country, from flyouts to a daylong expo. On Saturday, join the crowd at “Rancho Cylinderos,” on the south side of Sampley Field in Aguila, Arizona, for a free breakfast by flying or driving in. Gather at the hangar on the southwest end of the flight park under […]

I just now heard this while listening to the McKinney, Texas (KTKI) tower: N1234:“McKinney Tower, N1234 is 10 east, inbound at 2,500 for touch-and-goes.” Tower:“N1234, ident.” N1234:“Ahhh. Uh. I am about 10 east at 2,500; heading: 270 — a red-and-white Cessna 172.” Tower:“N1234, just press the identbutton on your transponder please.” N1234:“Oh, O. K.” Ron […]

As part of AVweb’s series on aviation innovators, we spoke with Craig Barnett, who created the company, Scheme Designers. For nearly 20 years, Craig and Scheme Designers, have been creating unique paint schemes (and, more recently, vinyl designs) for aircraft. There are now more than 11,500 airplanes flying throughout the world with paint and vinyl […]

A reader recently questioned the wisdom of flying IFR in “old” aircraft with traditional flight displays that lack modern accouterments—GPS in particular. It’s a fair question and one that deserves some thought. I have to admit that growing up in an earlier age, and having flown IFR for almost a decade before I had the […]

The Weekender’s SocialFlight calendar has a lot of flying in store for those east of the Mississippi. Join fellow flyers on Saturday for the Second Annual Southeast Tennessee Poker Run. Start at your selected base and finish at the Cleveland Regional Jetport. Each entry fee of $10 will go into the jackpot and the winner […]

Back in the late ’90s, as a radio operator on MC-130E Combat Talons, I was returning to EGI from the East Coast. As I neared home, the pilot asked:“R. O., see if we can get lower.” I asked ATC for lower, as directed by the pilot. The kind folks at ATC denied our request. The […]

Letter of the Week:Frequent Reporting Best Anyone who flies on VFR weekends knows that CTAFs are awash in squealing verbal garbage, making it often impossible to announce a position or identify the cluck who’s announcing every stinkin’ leg of the traffic pattern or that he’s taxiing to the runway at your airport so you can […]

Structural failure accidents, often from getting too friendly with thunderstorms, kill both people and what little good press GA is able to garner. In the last decade, 50 accidents—about 10 per cent of all accidents—were due to in-flight structural failure. Worse, even with better weather data in flight, these accidents aren’t going away. Turbulence, Not […]