Features

This article originally appeared in IFR Refresher, February 2005. In the past we have studied accidents that were the result of the pilot’s lack of weather flying experience. In some of those reports we discovered that the lack of overall flying experience also contributed to the outcome.This month we are going to look at an […]

The following was an exchange between a friend and a pre-flight briefer last weekend. The briefer got to the NOTAMS and there was one for a rocketry club near Schaumburg, IL… Briefer : … and Schaumburg has a warning that they’ll be firing rockets. My Friend: Man! First it’s North Korea, now Schaumburg! It took […]

This Week’s Question | Last Week’s Question PREVIOUS RESULTS *** Last week, AVweb asked about professional pilot pay. Are those who drive the heavy iron bringing home more than they’re worth? Most of you didn’t think so – 38% of those surveyed said I don’t even care if it’s as easy as pushing a button; […]

The only production four-seat or side-by-side taildragger still being built in the U.S., the Maule is a one-of-a-kind airplane. Its fans can verge on the cultish. 288 Its easy and forgiving to fly, they say, despite its rap as a groundlooper. Its simple to fix, good at going slow yet capable of respectable cruise speeds. […]

This is the problem with being a safety rep: After a while, your perspective changes on things. Sometimes, it seems like every thing. Take this story from a recent edition of AVweb, for instance: NTSB Finding Reassessed — Case To Reopen, Decades After … When a Piedmont Airlines 727 and a Cessna 310 collided over […]

The virtual airport, home of the Pilot’s Lounge, is much like any other little airport in the country. As with other modest, general aviation airports, we occasionally have the aeronautical version of the fender bender, where someone skitters off the side or end of a runway and comes to a somewhat ignominious halt.One of our […]

Seeing is believing… Overheard while in the pattern at FNT: Tower: N12345 traffic at your one o’clock. N12345: Looking for traffic. Tower: N12345 traffic now … your traffic at three o’clock. N12345: Still looking. I only see birds over there. Tower: Well, look close. One of them has a transponder in it. Find all of […]

Resultsof Last Week’s Question PREVIOUS RESULTS *** Last week, AVweb asked about your level of emergency preparedness: Wewanted to know how many of you have landed on non-traditional surfaces – grass,dirt, water, and the like. As it turns out, a full 55% of those who responded have landed ongrass. At the other end of the […]

Lockheed FSS Needs Help! Re: the article in the June 29 AVweb, “Lockheed wants your feedback” …I’ve been trying to register/logon for several days without success. “Registration is never activated, no email confirmation sent, etc.”I’ve noticed a significant decline in FSS service since Lockheed took over. In almost 50 years of flying I can count […]

Like the changing of seasons, I imagine this scene happens at regular intervals through the year: The managing editor of some large technology magazine catches a story on the net about some crazy aviation idea that could revolutionize the industry, make flying possible for every man, woman and (quite possibly) child on the planet with […]