Features

In an age when the majority of new airplanes are made of plastic and equipped with glass panels and envelope-protected autopilots, it’s hard to imagine that as recently as 1985, at least one company was still making a popular taildragger. But it was. That company was Cessna and the airplane was the 185. It’s no […]

Royal Flying Doctor Service was flying a B200 IFR out of Broken Hill, Australia and had a young student doctor in the right seat, who was unfamiliar with flying and for whom English was a second language. As the flight progressed, the pilot noticed the student becoming more and more uncomfortable and, after a normal […]

Pilots are flying less these days, and among the most important skills that might be eroded are those involving IFR flight. The IMC Club is trying to address that with “organized hangar flying” meetings, but what’s your own assessment of your IFR currency? How comfortable are you on the gauges? (click to answer) Last Week’s […]

The world of training aircraft has all but reinvented itself since Diamond introduced the DA20 to the North American market nearly 20 years ago. When the Katana appeared, Diamond reasoned that the fleet of ancient Cessna 150s and 152s was growing weary and operators would lust for replacements. What it didn’t anticipate was a couple […]

Heard on KBIS tower frequency years ago: Tower:“NorthWest XYZ, cleared to land, 31. Be advised of model rocketry testing from the United Tribes Educational Center just west of the airport.” Northwest XYZ (with a Texas drawl) :“Ah liked it bettah when they only used bows and arrows.” Rob Scarlettvia e-mail

Do you feel tempted to answer a call or reply to a text while you’re flying? Canada’s Transportation Safety Board has implicated texting while flying in an accident in nothern British Columbia in 2011. What’s your cell phone protocol in the cockpit? (click to answer) Last Week’s Question: Results Want to see the current breakdown […]

[AVweb‘s reprint of Dick’s memoir began with the Introduction.] When I returned to the Ohio State University in June 1969 after 18 months of Air Force active duty in Korea, I joined a group of flight instructors that provided classroom instruction for general-aviation pilots preparing to take FAA written examinations. The program was sponsored by […]

Overheard on the radio a few years ago: N1234:“Kalamazoo approach, student pilot N1234 five miles west.” Approach:“Are you the red and blue Cessna 172?” N1234:“Yes. How did you knnow?” Approach:“I have color radar. N1234, go to tower 123.45.” Me:“Kalamazoo approach, white Bonanza with black and red stripes checking in.” Approach (laughing) :“I used to fly […]

We have one now thanks to Sen. Jim Inhofe, who discovered the power of the FAA the hard way after being sanctioned. Is the new system going to be better? Is the Pilot’s Bill of Rights a good thing? (click to answer) Last Week’s Question: Results Want to see the current breakdown of responses? Take […]

Departing north from Moorabbin (YMMB) on a warm summer’s day, in a very tired rental Arrow, I was cleared to climb in class C over the busy approach to Melbourne. Centre:“ABC, cleared to Eildon Weir; climb 7,500.” [shortly thereafter …] Centre:“ABC, maintain best rate of climb.” Me:“Best rate? I’m pedaling as fast as I can.” […]