Features

The problem of jump-starting your plane is you have no idea of the condition of the battery once it starts, and it will be at least 90 minutes cruise or possibly not at all before the battery has any true backup value. A strong case can be made that you are operating an un-airworthy airplane, […]

According to GAMA statistics, there are 611,000 active pilots in the United States and only 223,000 registered general aviation aircraft. Even allowing for air taxi airplanes, clubs and partnerships, this means that lots of us are flying airplanes that we don’t own. Some of us rent from local flight schools, some borrow from friends. Few […]

The Weekender found some three-day getaways on SocialFlight coming up along with a few morning fly-ins. Reserve your single-engine spot for a dry camping site across the street from the three-day Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival in Florida, which starts Friday. The private Citrus Hedging Ranch offers 80 acres of room with its own grass […]

In 2009, I was making multiple flights around the southeast U.S. and landed in Columbia, South Carolina at Columbia Downtown Airport (KCUB) on multiple occasions for business. The runway at KCUB is parallel and adjacent to an active railyard. After contacting the KCUB tower for my IFR departure clearance on a clear VFR day, the […]

Letter of the Week:Supersonic Adjustments Just wanted to correct Paul Bertorelli on Capt. Eric “Winkle” Brown’s obit, where you repeat the widespread myth that the XS-1 had to be modified to incorporate the M.52 tail in order to break the sound barrier. Brown RN was the pilot designate for the M.52 and wrote a book, […]

As part of AVweb’s Features, we’re starting an occasional series on innovators who are making a difference in general aviation—the young guns of GA, so to speak. We’ll be doing interviews with them where they can talk about what they’ve done and their vision for the future of the area of general aviation where they […]

According to FAR 61.57 (c), instrument currency means the need to execute six approaches, intercept and track courses, and perform a hold within the last six calendar months. If that requirement is not met, you have another six months to fly with a safety pilot and complete the requirements. There is no requirement that those […]

The Weekender found some early spring-cleaning opportunities on SocialFlight, whether it’s clearing out the hangar or knocking the rust off from the winter. On Saturday, Plant City Airport in Florida will host Planes, Trains & Automobiles, with numerous displays including airplanes, helicopters, RC planes, model trains, vintage cars, police and fire department demonstrations, flight simulators […]

On a training flight between Terre Haute, Indiana and Indianapolis, Indiana, I heard the following exchange between Hulman (Terre Haute) Approach and a Cessna 172 requesting flight following: N12345:“Are you enjoying your Saturday?” Hulman Approach:“Negative. I’m at work.” John Sutherland

Every pilot I know has a sense of adventure. That’s the starting point for why she or he learned to fly. Pilot certificate in hand, the quest for adventure continues in many ways—some go for advanced ratings; others seek different aircraft to fly; others explore aerobatics or remote airstrips. A byproduct of the process of […]