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 […]

Pilot Exodus Blamed For Alaska Cancellations The age of air carriers being able to take advantage of pilots due to pilots love of flying may finally be coming to an end. Since it is supposed to be a pilots’ job market rather than the other way around, those pilots who are leaving a current employer […]

They have a cool factor that entices and can utterly disable the ability to make a rational purchase decision. More than a few pilots you hang with claim that you’re not a real pilot until you fly tailwheel. Plus, watching one slip down final to a deliciously soft touchdown on a grass runway just plain […]

The iconic Bonanza has long ago established itself as one of general aviation’s most respected piston singles. And the 36 series still earns high marks for its roomy and upscale passenger dwelling, good fit and finish and timeless good looks. While still in production in limited numbers by Textron as the G36, the 36-series Bonanzas […]

Earning a pilot’s certificate involves more than just regurgitating book knowledge. A potential pilot must confidently apply that information in a variety of intense scenarios, while exercising good judgment. Air traffic controller training follows a similar path. Both can be long, grueling roads, and those who come out the other end with a certification can […]

The typical personal airplane lacks many creature comforts we’ve come to expect in private transportation. Perhaps foremost among them is air conditioning, but the cabin heat systems also can leave a lot to be desired, especially among piston singles. The primary reason is that the vast majority of these airplanes employ air-cooled engines, unlike the […]

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 […]