Features

The new math. Airline ABC: Miami center, Airline ABC, any ride reports up ahead? We’re getting continuous light to moderate here at two-eight-oh. Center: Airline ABC, Miami center, no ride reports for your area, but I’ve got three-zero-zero available. That’s a brand new flight level … so there shouldn’t be any potholes in the road […]

Picture of the Week and Digital Edits In response to J.T. McDuffie (AVmail, Jan. 17):Yes, Ansel Adams made the most of his photographs in the darkroom. But he didn’t “move mountains,” he enhanced them. His photos represent an actual vantage point, a real moment in time.Remember the uproar in 1982 when National Geographic “moved” the […]

A couple of months ago we got into an extended discussion of emergencies here in the Pilot’s Lounge at the virtual airport as a result of a gear-up landing gone seriously wrong. The column that evolved generated a fair amount of comment, including one from Dr. Alex Aimette, who has taught surgery for some years […]

Overheard, one beautiful sunny day in southern California. I wasn’t clear on exactly what the miscommunication was, either… Twr: Helicopter N123 are you heading southeast after takeoff? N123: Negative, request south towards San Diego. Twr: There are mountains in the way… (pause) N123: …which explains our use of an aircraft today.

AVweb’s Rick Durden recently corresponded with a surgery instructor who described one of the methods he used to teach new surgeons: He had them write down everything that could go wrong during an upcoming operation and then set out what should be done to deal with each anomaly. When he became a pilot, Dr. Aimette […]

Flat Spin A navy pilot (retired) with 6,000 hours in jets, props, multi engine, test pilot, combat, and trained pilots had a flat spin in a jet fighter. He came out of it by cutting the power, dropping the flaps and pushing the nose down. I’ve been told that you can’t get out of a […]

Dodging airborne 737s is one thing, but dodging airborne Chevy Trailblazers is a totally different situation. As usual, the drive to the airport proved to be much more dangerous than the flying trip. I had avoided a major roadway boning on the way to work and was still a little shook up about it as […]

Short runway, shorter fuse, and usually carrying less animated cargo… Tower: Understand you’re without cargo today. If you’re light, cleared for runway 6. N1234: All I have on board is my wife … and she’s heavy, but not THAT heavy. (pause) Tower: Roger N1234, and she’s flying with you, now? N1234: Yep, she’s got her […]