Features

Not long ago, Rick Durden and I wrote companion columns on the subject of buying and selling airplanes. Now it is time to discuss airplane paperwork – the maintenance records which provide a complete history of everything that has been done to the airplane since it left the factory as well as a complete equipment […]

When AVweb approached me about writing this column, I really didn’t know what to think. I was flattered, of course. But I was apprehensive, too. First of all, I’m not a writer. Secondly, despite my title, I’m just a plain old everyday controller. I didn’t get any special training to be a Safety Representative for […]

Pretty neat image, huh? I actually got to fly missions in that thing. Yes, it’s a U-2 spyplane; we referred to it as the “Dragonlady.” The saying went, you had to learn to fight with the dragon before you could dance with the lady. It was a joy to fly, but more so than any […]

Largely as a result of these columns, I am privileged to get a lot of email about engines and the basic principles, and I monitor a number of forums and mailing lists where pilots and owners hang out online. GAMI gets even more mail and phone calls of course, with over 8,000 sets of GAMIjectors […]

Before Lindbergh even took off for Le Bourget in 1927, he complained bitterly about the sensationalistic media coverage surrounding his and other attempts to be the first to fly non-stop from New York to Paris. Between that feat and the tragedy of his son’s kidnapping and murder, the mass media forced his retreat from the […]

Editor’s Note: This column should be printed out and posted on airport bulletin boards everywhere now and again next July. After getting back from Oshkosh I unpacked the airplane, put it away and walked into the pilot’s lounge here at the virtual airport to see what had happened while I was gone. One of the […]

Polly Vacher was born January 13,1944, in Paignton, England, and spent her childhood in the rolling hills andsunny beaches of Devonshire. She trained as a physiotherapist, then as a musicteacher, married, and raised three sons. Her attraction to flying began in 1989when she skydived to raise money for a charity, and she subsequently logged 245jumps. […]

At a recent press conference, Hal Shevers, founder and “head guy” of Sporty’s Pilot Shop, mentioned a drastically different training technique that Sporty’s Academy has been employing in its ab initio program. Instead of doing things the “traditional” way – planning for the Private Pilot practical test from the beginning – they start all students […]

The ink is barely dry on my new temporary pilot certificate with “G-IV” appended as a type rating. This is, of course, the rating for the magnificent Gulfstream IV. This airplane, more than any other, has become the favorite of movie stars, “dot.com” billionaires, and those whose time is of very high value. If you’d […]

Summertime. Here at the virtual airport the talk in the pilot’s lounge is of aerobatics, airshows and performers; who is worth going to see and which ones the faithful can miss if a choice has to be made? The other day, a group of us in the lounge were, um, discussing – yes, that’s it, […]