Features

“I was sitting on the ramp just about to fly out of Lubbock, TX, yesterday when hopping along came the biggest jackrabbit I ever saw. I thought I would advise ground control about it so they could spare some aircraft from making contact with it on the runway…” Me: Lubbock ground, um, there’s a big […]

This Week’s Question | Last Week’s Results PREVIOUS RESULTS *** It’s been a while since our readers were so firmly united in their answers to an AVweb “Question of the Week” – but when we asked What do you think is the biggest cause of aviation accidents? last week, a full 83% of those who […]

Do you get nervous on the radio? Me too. After a slight delay to handle a family matter, I arrived at Oshkosh just in time to do my very first radio interview. And I mean just in time. The radio interview was at 12 noon and I didn’t get there until 11:30 a.m. or so. […]

Teaching Young People To Fly This week’s articles (NewsWire, Aug. 7) did not mention the Civil Air Patrol, which also introduces young people to flying. As Cadets, kids (12-17) get five hours of glider training and five hours of powered aircraft training. This is another source for young people to be introduced to aviation and […]

Flying in Essex county in England, one day: Southend ATC (having radio trouble): G-ABCD, Southend, radio check. Southend ATC: G-EFGH, Southend, radio check. Southend ATC: G-IJKL, Southend, radio check G-IJKL: Roger Southend, your readability, 4. Southend ATC: Well… One outta three ain’t bad.

A friend of mine, Hal Shevers, stopped in at the Pilot’s Lounge at the virtual airport the other day. Hal seemed a little agitated, which was not unusual because he runs various general aviation businesses, including Sporty’s Pilot Shop, and has done so for many years. With the challenges facing general aviation business people, I’m […]

The Pilot’s Lounge #103: The FAA As Customer — Good Business? – (Aug. 13, 2006)Somebody has to rent planes to FAA personnel so they can maintain currency. And with the government backing them up, you shouldn’t have to worry about collecting the fees, right? AVweb’s Rick Durden has a cautionary tale from the Pilot’s Lounge […]

This Week’s Question | Last Week’s Results PREVIOUS RESULTS *** There’s been a lot of buzz around Cessna’s LSA announcement.  Last week, AVweb asked if the news would lead you to reconsider buying a Sport Plane – of if it would change your attitude toward buying into LSA at all. Of the 600 AVweb readers […]

User Fees There will be the usual complainers sounding off, but in the end, the costs incurred for keeping the system running will make it necessary to impose user fees (NewsWire, Jul. 28). The non-flying taxpayer will not want to pay all the costs. Get ready for it.Fred Engel Low-Priced LSA $95,000 for an LSA […]

This article originally appeared in Aviation Safety, April 2004. While many pilots fly only for recreation, the utility of airplanes is what drives the quest toward aircraft ownership and continued flying for most.But it is also the utility that motivates pilots to make the kinds of errors that lead to tragedy. They push into circumstances […]