Features

In rural Holden, Missouri, roughly 50 miles southeast of Kansas City, is a 10-acre island of recreational aviation in a vast ocean of corn and soybeans. The pole barns adjacent to its 1000-foot grass strip look like those on neighboring farms, until you look inside. The hulking gray lathe, milling machine, and drill press don’t […]

The Weekender found a diverse selection of events on SocialFlight, from local fly-ins to a full-fledged regional aviation conference. On Saturday and Sunday, the 33rd annual Northwest Aviation Conference & Trade Show at the Washington State Fair Events Center in Puyallup, Washington, will be held by the Washington Aviation Association. Attendees who are flying in […]

Phoenix approach asked a GA aircraft:“N1234, how far are you from your present position?” They were greeted with silence. Randy Richmond

Proposals for new autopilot upgrades can be shocking. Even entry-level wing-leveling systems start at $10,000, not including installation. But that won’t buy much. Higher-end models with add-on options can easily snowball a project to $40,000. That’s roughly the cost of an average engine replacement—or an average Skyhawk. For years, S-Tec (now Cobham Avionics) has dominated […]

Technically advanced aircraft (TAA)—those with a primary flight display (PFD), multi-function display (MFD), and GPS—are sexy. Pilots are drawn to them like Pooh Bear to honey. Besides being eye-catching, TAA attempt to address some of the biggest problems in aviation by providing pilots with a lot of supplementary safety information. Moving maps designed to improve […]

It feels like spring is a long way out for some, but The Weekender found some turf runways to head for on the SocialFlight calendar – snow is optional. Triple Tree Aviators will host the group’s third annual Chilly Chili Fly-In and Lunch on Saturday to raise funds for their aerodrome in South Carolina.Arrive for […]

The development of Piper’s Super Cub is as much a story of survival as it is progress. While the role of the original J-3 was mainly for training, Piper had to bring more utility to the table than the Cubby’s 75 MPH cruise speed, 200-mile range and 450 FPM climb performance. Enter the refined PA-18 […]

We were flying into Birmingham, Alabama at about 2:00am on a Sunday morning. The sky was clear with great visibility. Birmingham has an ILS to runway 6, and the final approach fix is MCDEN. After checking in with Birmingham Approach, we were told to fly “direct to MCDEN for the McVisual approach.” John Young

Letter of the Week:The Privatization Trap HR 4441 (ATC privatization) is a bear trap using austerity for bait. Don’t think for a moment that user fees will stay out of private aviation. Think revenue. Functional ADS-B infrastructure provides a precision billing platform to warm any number of Congressional hearts. With growing Part 23 and 25 […]

Obstructions, sand, mud, wandering animals and other surprises like the end of the runway rushing up to meet you…these are just some of the hazards common to short and soft fields. We all think we’re trained for them, but there’s a big difference between training and reality. I’m not knocking what CFIs teach or what’s […]