Features

Two people died and 11 were injured after a hot air balloon caught fire and crashed in the Vancouver, B.C. suburb of Surrey on Friday evening. Bill Yearwood, of Canada’s Transportation Safety Board said a fire started in the balloon’s basket shortly after it lifted off on a tethered flight with 12 passengers and a […]

This Week’s Question |Previous Week’s Answers PREVIOUS RESULTS *** Last week, we asked AVweb readers what they thought of thequarter-million-dollar prize NASA put up in its recent Personal AirVehicle Challenge. 41% of the readers who took time to answer our poll thought theamount was a bit excessive, given that none of the contestants really pushedthe […]

User Fees As I watch the debate between GA user (?) fees or not, I am left wondering what purpose will be served. If one listens to the airlines, the company line appears to be, “Gotta have user fees … we are paying too much … GA is causing delays,” etc.I believe, should user fees […]

Imagine yourself in the captain’s seat of this DC-3 (see photo below), flying in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) and hard on the gauges. Which instrument on this airline-standard panel of the 1940s and ’50s is directly ahead of you? It’s the turn-and-bank indicator. This is a throwback to the earliest days of instrument flight, when […]

Overheard in IFR Magazine‘s “On the Air” Flying home to Portland Troutdale (KTTD) from Medford, Ore. (KMFR) Friday night, I heard the following: Portland Approach: November One Two Charlie, traffic ten oclock, southbound at 9,000, a Navajo. 12C: Were looking. Approach: Correction, its a Malibu. 12C: Still looking. Approach: Sorry, its really a Navajo. Oh […]

This Week’s Question |Previous Week’s Answers PREVIOUS RESULTS *** Now that Delta Air Lines has become the latest Air Transport Association member to lay the blame for commercial flight delays at the feet of general aviation, we’ve heard quite a few complaints about the ATA from the G.A. segment of our audience. Last week, we […]

Cessna 162 Skycatcher In response to other “Letters to the Editor” regarding Cessna’s new LSA (AVmail, Aug. 6), I must stand up in Cessna’s defense.Yes, $109,000 is prohibitively expensive for an individual to purchase. However, the real beauty of the Sport Pilot certificate is that you can now become a licensed pilot for about $3,000. […]

One of the most enjoyable things about frequenting the Pilot’s Lounge at the virtual airport is getting to spend time with some very interesting people who are determined to live their lives fully; who are always reaching out to do things that enrich their existence and that of others. Part of the fascination of spending […]

Overheard in IFR Magazine‘s “On the Air” On a recent trip from Illinois to Arkansas, we overheard the following exchange: Razorback Approach: Cessna Two Three Tango, Razorback Approach. Have you changed your destination from Houston, Texas? Cessna 23T: Razorback Approach, Cessna Two Three Tango. Thats a negative. Destination is still Houston. Approach: Well Cessna Two […]

This Week’s Question |Previous Week’s Answers PREVIOUS RESULTS *** EAA AirVenture saw no shortage of big announcements in ’07, and last week we asked readers to pick the biggest single announcement to come out of Oshkosh this year. Opinions varied widely, and a full 13% of respondents told us they considered the show’s biggest news […]