Features

Ice tinkled in glasses. Large screen TVs blared and you could hear the subtle sounds of country music wafting over the sour smell of warm beer and tattered dreams. I was at the bar in the layover motel once again. Many people suppose that airline pilots are drug-crazed loonies; otherwise, why would we be made […]

Since I’ve been writing this column I’ve been reading various and assorted publications about aviation just as I always have. I try to stay abreast of what is going on the the industry and how it might affect ATC. Writing this column has given me another perspective as I read. I’ve always questioned whether most […]

Driving along Interstate 280, the wind is really buffeting the car. It’s actually difficult to keep it pointed in a straight line, and it has four tires glued to the pavement. This is what I’m thinking about as I head for the airport. As I get further west, leaving the urban sprawl of New York […]

Robert Griffin was born July 30,1924, on a farm near Saint John, Wash. He grew up on another farm near Pullman,Wash., took his first flight with his father and identical-twin brother in aBoeing Mailplane, and learned to fly during high school in a J-3 Cub. After hisfirst year of college, Bob attended a presentation by […]

It started with a bike ride. I was taking advantage of our unseasonably warm fall and riding through a subdivision near a local lake. As I approached a woman who was out for a walk, I heard an airplane. Being genetically unable to ignore any aircraft in the vicinity, I looked and saw it was […]

AVweb‘s coveragethis year is in three parts: 1. It’s Back to Business at NBAA 2001 Notwithstanding a three months’ delay and an uncertain economy, it was back to business in New Orleans at the 54th National Business Aviation Association Annual Meeting and Convention. As expected, attendance was down. Some of the usual exhibitors could not […]

When the rickety bus screeched to a stop behind thehangar, I didn’t even look up. My early morning attention was totally caught upin a careful preflight inspection of the Helio Courier before starting the day’sflying. It promised to be a busy day. The crunch of shoes on gravel and a cheery greeting broke my concentration.”Hola, […]

G rowing up as I did in suburban Cleveland, Ohio, throughout the 1930s I was privileged to attend the National Air Races. Because my father was the attorney for the local organizing group, I was doubly blessed with the privilege of getting to sit right down in the pit where I got to meet all […]

This column, and my next one, are a little different, and serve several purposes. A New Name for an Old Flame First, it is an unabashed pitch for my favorite charity, hobby, and passion, the Commemorative Air Force. Ok, what’s that? Why, it is the Confederate Air Force, under its new name, as of December […]

I rolled my suitcase over the entry door hump, unhooked my flight bag from its strap and heaved it in one swift motion onto my left-hand seat in the cockpit of a rapidly aging MD-88. My suitcase went into the cockpit coat closet and like a good pilot, I strapped it in using the canvas […]