Features

Three guys are in the cockpit for today’s flight from Los Angeles to the beautiful splendor of Newark, N.J. Normally, having a jump seat rider in the cockpit for such a long flight is a huge pain in the butt. Today, it’s not so bad because the seat is filled with the butt of Jeff, […]

GA Security In Practice … Pilot Crashes After ATC Denies Access How much longer will the safety of government officals be put over Americans? The system pre-9/11 was there for our safety. You got in trouble, you called ATC and the system became yours to help you get down safely. Now, courtesy of Homeland Security, […]

The July 3-20 Inventing Flight celebration in Dayton, Ohio, kicked off this weekend with a hot air balloon launch and a visit by President Bush. Events celebrating 100 years of flight will continue at various locations through the year Nearly fifty yars ago when I was a NAVCAD (Naval Aviation Cadet), one of our classmates […]

This week, we would like to know your thoughts on using anti-depressants before flight. For AVweb’s Question of the Week, click here. PREVIOUS RESULTS We received over 700 responses to our question last week on cell phone use in airplanes. Approaching half (44 percent) of those responding felt there might be some risk of interference […]

SBD Checkout I was very interested in the checkout story, and how different mine was in 1943. I had just finished operational training in Avengers and transferred to Marine Corps Air Station, El Toro, and was told, “Forget the Avenger, you will fly the SBD.” So with only a cockpit checkout and a tower clearance […]

This week, we would like to know your thoughts on cellphone use in airplanes. For AVweb’s Question of the Week, click here. PREVIOUS RESULTS We received over 300 responses to our question last week on the Paris Air Show. The largest group (39 percent) of those responding felt the American boycott of the event was […]

Most days when I come home from work, no matter how bad things are (and they usually are), I take a few moments to calm down and take stock of my life. Invariably, I come to the conclusion that I’ve got it good. I’ve got a good home, a good wife (a great one actually), […]

There are no more than a handful left. You can count the ones that are currently airworthy on one hand, and the ones that are flying regularly can be counted on the fingers needed to hold a good cigar. Of the more than 5900 built between 1940 and 1944, that’s all there are in the […]

I‘ve always liked Grumman airplanes. They range from the funky (the Duck and the Widgeon) to the awesome (Bearcat). What does that have to do with the Gulfstream? The lineage, and history. Grumman built the first Gulfstream, a Gulfstream I (a twin turboprop). Over the last 40 years the company has gone through the now-common […]

Question of the Week — Kit Planes vs. Production A previous AVmail listed advantages of factory-built planes over homebuilt planes, including: 5. Best Re-Sale Value 6. Best for Over-All EconomyI disagree at least in part with both of these assertions. It isn’t fair that a builder might spend 3000 hours on a plane and sell […]