Features

AVweb’s General Aviation Accident Bulletin is taken from the pages of our sister publication, Aviation Safety magazine. All the reports listed here are preliminary and include only initial factual findings about crashes. You can learn more about the final probable cause on the NTSB’s website at www.ntsb.gov. Final reports appear about a year after the […]

American Parks 100 Regional Jets, Others Cut Schedules Like a many of us that fly, it was always a dream to wrench planes and learn how it all works, so I took advantage of the pandemic out-of-office to cram in an A&P. I graduated last year feeling very sad about aviation’s future – like visiting […]

Almost from the beginning of our training, pilots are taught how to react to an engine failure. Before that, though, we’re also taught how to conduct a preflight inspection to ensure the engine (and the rest of the aircraft) is ready for what we are planning. That’s as it should be, since mechanical failures are […]

While I was working in the admissions department for East Coast Aero Tech (now part of the National Aviation Academy) at Hanscom Field in Bedford, Mass., I was having some trouble with the flashing beacon on the tail of my 1973 Grumman Trainer. At times, ground controllers would tell me the beacon wasn’t working as […]

The Citabria is a proven design, based on the Champion 7-series airframe. The more rugged 8 series is the more fully aerobatic Decathlon. Pre-1990s Citabrias have wooden wing spars, and with that comes the possibility of strut corrosion. The aerobatic 7GCBC model, with slightly longer wings and flaps, is arguably the most popular with first-time […]

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will […]

A close friend of mine, also a pilot, revels in flying low enough to view various features on the ground, to the extent a long cross-country flight in IMC not only bores him but seemingly can elevate any anxieties. I get it, and always enjoy that vista when I’m able. But I also subscribe to […]

Me And The A-10 When two PA-48 Enforcers arrived at Edwards AFB from Piper in Lakeland in 1984, the USAF wouldn’t establish a formal “Joint Test Force” (later, Combined Test Force) for them. The two airplanes were assigned directly to the Test Pilot School for evaluation. The ‘golden arms’ loved the things. One is now […]

It used to be easy. Slap in a couple of King KX155 navcomm radios and you’re good to go for VFR, IFR and everything in between. These days, the buying decision is muddied by WAAS GPS, the concerns of signal outages and whether a ground-based nav receiver makes sense for a backup. But there is […]

During one very long day when I was a full time instructor, I ended up with five students in a row all early in the PPL syllabus so I did all the radio calls at our busy, towered airport. On flight five, I called clearance with my call sign and got a casual “Same as […]