Features

Firefighting Season (and Controversies) Begin Every summer the fire season kicks into gear with all the fury of World War III. The scenario repeats itself every single year. The same questions are asked, the same data used, the same (or increasing) cost to the taxpayer in fire-related losses (not to mention the lives lost). There […]

To the delight of the multitudes, spring has arrived in the higher latitudes. Here in the pilot’s lounge at the virtual airport, Old Hack showed up and growled proudly to the assemblage that he had survived another winter and only fired up the furnace seven times. He then made scurrilous comments about some of our […]

Everybody’s a critic… Overheard on a busy training day while joining the traffic pattern at Caldwell airport, N.J… Tower: Cessna ###, traffic at your one o’clock and 1,200. Cessna ###: We’ve got a Piper flying an extremely tight pattern … or a go-around. Tower: Piper ###, traffic, a Cessna, at your five o’clock and 1,300. […]

*** PREVIOUS RESULTS *** Last week, AVweb asked readers about that modern medical marvel, LASIK eye surgery.  This week, AVweb’s merry webmaster paid a ridiculous amount of money for new glasses and is seriously rethinking his own position on the matter.  But it’s not his opinion we care about – it’s yours, and the vast […]

Northwest Airlines and Metropolitan Airports Commission A lot of folks, both in the aviation business and others, have had to face the reality of increased costs and hardships in the post-9/11 era (NewsWire, May 3). Is it too hard to understand that the private aircraft owner is going to have to share some of these […]

Computers have made aviation so much easier. A mere decade ago, flight engineers were trained to compute weight and balance figures on something called “a piece of paper.” These figures were then used in the operation of the aircraft.Then a major breakthrough happened and the airlines came up with a radio dispatch system that was […]

From our “Finer Points of Maintenance” file… “Remember, you really only need two tools: WD-40 and duct tape. If it doesn’t move and it should, use the WD-40. If it moves and it shouldn’t, use the duct tape.”

*** PREVIOUS RESULTS *** Last week, AVweb asked readers what they thought of the new Boeing 7E7.  Interestingly enough, this was the most evenly split poll AVweb has run in 2004!  Your responses were split almost evenly across all five responses, with a very slight lead (26%) for (you guessed it) our median response – […]

Sport Pilot Not Ready Yet The EAA does not understand that OMB represents the public (NewsWire, Apr. 19).Way back when I was in an Air Force Reserve meeting at Warner Robins, Ga., the Chief Engineer of the Chandler Evans Company emphasized, “Never hatch a half-baked scheme!”There has been no evidence that NPRM FAA-2001-11133 has approached […]

From our brain burps file… Tower: Fokker 170, hold position. Fokker 170: I don’t know how to do that. (pause) Manila Tower: [Airliner] 2, hold position. Fokker 170, continue approach, cleared to land.