Features

Last Learjet Rolls Off Bombardier’s Wichita Assembly Line It breaks my heart to hear that the last Learjet just rolled off the line. I was the Director of Manufacturing Control Systems from 1984 to 1985. It was my job to implement a new manufacturing control system. I remember getting frustrated trying to convince the VP […]

We choose to build aircraft for many reasons. There are elements of challenge to the project, of course, learning to master the details of project management while keeping the emotions in check. (As best we can.) At the end of which we find ourselves basking in our glory or deeply concerned for our sanity; sometimes […]

In the early 1980s, I was working in the administration of East Coast Aero Tech (now part of National Aviation Academy), at Hanscom Field (KBED), Bedford, Massachusetts. ECAT was a top-rated Airframe & Powerplant (A&P) school, and part of my compensation agreement was that students would perform maintenance on my two-seat Grumman AA1-B—under the supervision […]

We’ve all been trained to deploy full flaps when executing normal landings and flying airplanes that have them. The reason is fairly simple: the full-flap setting provides the most lift at low speeds, which is desirable when landing. “Normal” is doing a lot of work here, since what might be a normal landing to you […]

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 […]

Shark Says No Thanks To Pushing A Youth Record Having flown around the world myself (Mooney M20K, following Amelia Earhart’s route in 2017) I have received queries from several young people wanting to set “youngest” circumnavigation records. I detail the issues I had with weather, getting fuel, systems failures, and the like, which challenged my […]

Should it become necessary, you really need to know and understand ways to deal with the FAA. These days, it’s more likely you will first deal with the gentle Dr. Jekyll, but it can escalate quickly to the enforcer, Mr. Hyde, if the soft approach fails. Your interaction with the Feds will play a prominent […]

On the subject of favorite fixes, when I got my instrument rating of course I spent lots of time planning trips. One such theoretical trip was a return to Bowman Field (KLOU), where my wife and I had enjoyed a trip a couple years ago. When I pulled up the approaches I nearly fell out […]

If you have your sights set on a composite four-place piston, the Diamond DA40 Star is likely on the list of airplanes to consider. There is plenty to like, and DA40 owners rave about their airplanes’ performance and reliability. But the deal sealer could be the aircraft’s impressive safety record, thanks to a smart overall […]

Everyone knows that buying a used airplane involves a level of risk, and despite the requirements for record keeping and mandatory annual inspections any number of significant gremlins can hide within the airframe. The risk increases substantially with an aging composite structure. Face it, while aluminum aircraft still dominate the fleet, composite construction represents a […]