Features

On a bumpy day near New York City, we heard the following exchange: Diamond 8DS: “New York Approach, Diamond Eight Delta Sierra. I’m getting continuous moderate turbulence at 5000. Request 6000. It looks like I’ll be on top at six.” New York Approach: “Diamond Eight Delta Sierra. Unable 6000. Maintain 5000.” Diamond 8DS: “Maintain 5000, […]

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 […]

The Case For Flight Helmets Thought provoking piece Paul. I don’t consider myself short at 6’1” but always crave better visibility when taking off or landing my Husky. It has an excellent 5 point harness but a fixed position seat. As a result, I’ve taken to using cushions to improve visual awareness. The downside is […]

Stop me if you’ve heard this story before. Some of the details may vary here and there, but the general plot is always the same. I had a morning departure time, right in that sweet spot where you are going to hit rush hour traffic no matter what time you leave. We rush to get […]

Slow, but rugged and easy tempered, the ubiquitous Cessna 172 Skyhawk first flew in 1955 when company engineers moved the tailwheel of the Cessna 170 to the nose. This so-called “tricycle” gear wasn’t new, and arch-competitor Piper had already rolled out a nosegear design on the popular Pacer to fashion the Tri-Pacer. But the Cessna […]

Flying to Long Island’s Republic Airport (KFRG) one dark night, heavy rain appeared out of what appeared to be a clear sky. To break up the boredom on what had been a very quiet frequency for quite some time, I said, “Hey, where did all this rain come from?” An unknown voice forced into an […]

Every now and then, I come across an NTSB accident report that leaves me shaking my head. After absorbing the facts and the outcome, I want to reach out to grab the pilot and shake him—it’s always a “him”—into some more enlightened state of awareness regarding the possible consequences of his actions. So it is […]

A Good FOD Walk Spoiled Paul’s comment about playing the fool made me smile. Many years ago during a surprisingly pleasant afternoon, I was invited to fly a friend’s Ercoupe. I was fond of Ercoupes, their pleasant demeaner, the wonderful visibility, and the freedom of open cockpit flying, and wasted little time in pulling it […]

Eyeball the typical proposal for a modern avionics installation and you might consider scaling the job back to include used avionics. But sourcing the equipment—especially more advanced gear—is challenging and risky. We’ve seen our share of buyers get stung by what initially seemed like a smoking deal, but in the end they paid as much […]

On a recent trip from Illinois to Arkansas, we overheard the following exchange: Razorback Approach: “Cessna Two Three Tango, Razorback Approach. Have you changed your destination from Houston, Texas?” Cessna 23T: “Razorback Approach, Cessna Two Three Tango. That’s a negative. Destination is still Houston.” Approach (chuckling): “Well Cessna Two Three Tango, on your current heading […]