Features

Pilots Say The FAA Is Getting BetterDoes anyone really expect anything to improve at FAA? Has anything improved over the past 4-1/2 decades within this increasingly bloated tax-gobbling group? Nay, only the bureaucracy has increased with each new Administrator. New Administrator Blakey is just another example of increase-the-bureaucracy only for the sake of preserving the […]

Steve McDonald: Pilots Say The FAA Is Getting Better Does anyone really expect anything to improve at FAA? Has anything improved over the past 4-1/2 decades within this increasingly bloated tax-gobbling group? Nay, only the bureaucracy has increased with each new Administrator. New Administrator Blakey is just another example of increase-the-bureaucracy only for the sake […]

Another layover, another motel restaurant, another inane discussion about whatever with the co-pilot “du jour.” With the end of the year looming and tomorrow night’s New Years Eve – a Jackson, Mississippi, layover – on the horizon, it seems time to reflect back on the past and project myself into the future. “My plan,” said […]

Heard at Republic Airport, Long Island. Ground controller to a cargo Beech-18 taxiing in: “What are you hauling today?” Twin Beech: “Ten thousand baby chicks … we had a heck of a job getting them to put their seat belts on.”

What is this CRM stuff we’ve been hearing so much of lately? I can tell you some of the things it isn’t. Although air carriers may call it Company Resource Management, and the manufacturers of some air carrier aircraft in their manuals refer to Crew Resource Management, the FAA (Friendly Feds) mean Cockpit Resource Management […]

This week, we would like to know your thoughts on learning to fly. For AVweb’s Question of the Week, click here. PREVIOUS RESULTS We received over 600 responses to our question last week on personal jet aircraft. The majority (69 percent) of our respondents felt that the introduction of these new aircraft is a sign […]

If you’re an actor, like Tom Cruise or Harrison Ford, or a well-known TV reporter, it’s usually not too hard to get a ride in a jet fighter, just ask. But for the common man, they are extremely hard to come by – even for a member of the Air Force team. I earned my […]

From our “Learning to fly is FUN” file… Student pilot to irate instructor: “You’re simply impossible to satisfy. I just finished navigating successfully through a boiling fluid swirling around a rotating sphere that is hurtling around a fusion reaction source at thousands of miles per hour. This system is moving in a circular motion around […]

This week, we would like to know your thoughts on personal jet aircraft. For AVweb’s Question of the Week, click here. PREVIOUS RESULTS We received over 800 responses to our question last week on aerobatic training. The vast majority (71 percent) of those responding said pilots should receive basic aerobatic training as part of the […]

First, a shameless plug, and a disclaimer, so that you know where I’m coming from. I am one of three partners in the new “Advanced Pilot Seminars, Inc.” a company formed for the purpose of educating pilots in engine management. The other partners are George Braly and Walter Atkinson. We have now completed two seminars, […]