Features

Heard over Miami Center last week: Lady ATC Controller (in a somewhat monotone and hard-to-hear voice): Airliner 123, proceed direct FATHR. Airliner 123: Say again for 123. ATC: 123, proceed direct FATHR. Airliner: Couldn’t quite understand you. center. Say again. ATC (now in a slow, deliberate but still monotone voice): Airliner 123, proceed direct FATHR, […]

This Week’s Question | Last Week’s Results PREVIOUS RESULTS *** Whether you think it’s a crisis or a bunch of hot air, growing concerns over ATC are on everyone’s mind.  Last week, AVweb asked readers what single issue they think is driving the controller dilemma. The biggest portion of our readership fingered power as the […]

I spend a lot of time talking about “the book.” I use the phrase as a catchall for FAA publications. My favorite “book,” by far, is the AIM — The Aeronautical Information Manual. Some might consider that strange in that I’m not a pilot. I’m a controller. You might expect me to spend most of […]

Thanks for the support… I made a pretty nice landing in my Husky at San Antonio International last week with 20 knots across the runway. On rollout, the controller and I had the following conversation: Controller: That was a pretty stiff crosswind. Me: Yeah, I was looking for “10” cards up in the tower cab […]

Jacksonville’s Ban On Home Aircraft I read the article describing Jacksonville’s city ordinance attempting to prohibit aircraft repair, restoration or kit construction at residential homes (AVwebFlash, Aug. 31). I then visited Brian Kraut’s Web site, viewing pictures of his home and numerous neighbors’ homes. The obvious distinguishing difference between his home and the others appears […]

This Week’s Question |Last Week’s Results PREVIOUS RESULTS *** “Runway responsibility” has been a common phrase in the wake of therecentComair crash. Last week, AVweb asked who ultimately shouldersthe burden of responsibility for such mistakes. Not surprisingly, a whopping 69% of AVweb readers who answered ourpoll said the burden rests squarely on the shoulders of […]

Over the past two weeks the topic of discussion in the Pilot’s Lounge at the virtual airport has been preserving and restoring our aviation treasures. It evolved from conversation regarding the staggering sums spent to restore individual airplanes with historic significance, into the surprising lack of interest in the airports, buildings and structures that figured […]

Lexington RJ Accident In regards to the Comair crash (AVwebFlash, Aug. 28): It seems there is plenty of talk about “what should be done to correct a problem” that doesn’t exist. No disrespect to the pilots who were in charge of the Comair flight, but facts are facts. Why should the aviation community pay to […]

I subjected my still-new (and barely broken-in) Barrett-built IO-390-X to the kind of abuse that would make the old pelican himself, John Deakin, stand up in a crowd and shake his fist at me. I ran the cylinder heads to a temperature that would make any half-smart metallurgist cringe. I flogged my four-banger in a […]

Proper radio technique — think, click, speak… Flying in the practice area northwest of Daytona Beach an aircraft was giving an advisory call that went like this: Lake Disston traffic, Cessna 12345 is northeast … uh, west. No, east. [pause] Where the hell are we?