Features

A Few Comments Regarding recent aviation news …1. I have not seen the obvious big plus in the light sport aircraft (LSA) program mentioned anywhere. That is for the new young upcoming pilots. Renting solo a tailwheel or float airplane is just not practical (or available) to the low-time pilot. The LSA program allows a […]

The ALPA meeting was over and we were in the coffee shop with a bunch of the retirees that had come to see if they still had a retirement. With all the recent turmoil in the business, many airlines had tried to do away with retirement benefits and some had succeeded. Lucky for us they […]

Brown Field, south of San Diego has an 8,000-foot runway offering multiple intersection departures for smaller aircraft (and exits for larger ones)… Experimental: Brown Tower, experimental ###, holding short of 26R on Bravo. Running late and ready to go. Tower: Experimental ### hold short landing traffic … Citation on four mile final. Experimental: Hold short […]

*** PREVIOUS RESULTS *** Last week, still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Charley, AVweb asked our readers about their aircraft insurance.  As it turns out, our you’re a pretty well-insured group:  70% of those who responded carry full hull coverage (moving or stationary, in the air or on the ground), plus liability insurance.  20% […]

Why Not Evacuate for Hurricane? Thanks for saying this (ATIS, Aug. 19). I was one of the very, very few who moved our plane out of Clearwater (CLW), to Asheville, by the way. Why so few?What really bothered me was the lack of concern by owners about the environment they’d created. Despite us “getting the […]

A long time ago, bopping along in my 180 Arrow at 10,000 feet, IFR in VFR conditions, from Boston to Kalamazoo. It had taken me 20 minutes to get that high — 10 of that for the last 2,000 feet. Then, Cleveland Center asked me to climb to 11,000 feet for traffic… Me: You mean […]

*** PREVIOUS RESULTS *** Last week, AVweb asked our readers to speculate about the new Light Sport Aircraft category – specifically, how well will it hold up once there’s a highly-publicized accident involving an LSA?  Would such an accident mark the end of the new cateogory?  No way, say AVweb readers – at least 240 […]

If you’ve ever had the misfortune to be around an aircraft crash, there are certain aspects of it that are unforgettable. One is the smell: a disagreeable blend of fuel, oil, hydraulic fluid and wet upholstery, and a sour, metallic odor unique to bent, broken or burned airplanes. Although the wind carried off most of […]

A couple of recent events have compelled me to write this article. It’s going to be a little different than my standard fare. You may need to shift into a different gear, so be forewarned.As most of you are aware, I’m getting to be a short-timer. I’ve got just a little over two years left […]

Heard on frequency during some nasty weather, a beech 18 night freight pilot offered a report about his current situation… ATC: Copy. Care to offer a PIREP? Beech: Sure. At 12,000, we’ve got lightning … cloud-to-cloud, cloud-to-ground … so far, negative cloud-to-airplane-to-ground…