Features

Glider Rating Add-On: Upping Your Game As a glider instructor and tow pilot—DURDEN NAILED not only the essence of flying gliders (pure fun—no pretense of business related aeronautical travel) but HOW to learn! Yes, “racing glider” pilots can get caught up in aeronautical esoterica—but for most of us—it’s just FUN FLYING! You’ll be a better […]

You took advantage of some free time to go flying over the weekend. It had been almost two months since your last flight, so you took the rental 172 around the pattern nearly a dozen times and got the rust off of your crosswind landings. On the drive home you replayed the flight in your […]

We were flying into Watsonville, a non‑towered airport on California’s Monterey Bay coast recently, on an unexpectedly clear summer evening. When we tuned into the common traffic advisory frequency, we heard a Citation announce, “Clearing the active.” Wanting to know which runway was being used at Watsonville, I asked, “Watsonville traffic, Citation clearing the active, […]

I’ve always been one to advocate getting as much airplane as you can afford for your mission. For example, if your analysis says a Cessna 172 meets your needs, seriously consider a 182. The operating costs aren’t that much more, it’s faster and it carries more. Plus, it’s a good bet your mission will expand—mission […]

Bad For Aviation One More Time Interesting article, Paul. It pretty well sums up the current status of aviation and where it is going in the future. Modern kids are as used to flashy electronics as my generation was to spinning wrenches and fiddling with carburetors. Their eyes glaze over looking at twitchy round gauge […]

My next-door hangar neighbor, GlaStar builder and KITPLANES® web manager, Omar Filipovic, had already cast his steely gaze upon the Titan IO-340 hanging from my GlaStar’s nose. A few days before “the event,” I had mechanic friend Will Steenrod pop over to provide another set of eyes. His expertise involves cars and motorcycles—as a factory-trained wrench for […]

During the peak of last summer’s pandemic there was not a lot of air traffic or radio traffic with commercial travel being at a near standstill. I was flying into Santa Fe, New Mexico, and was talking with Albuquerque Center when I heard another pilot call in. Pilot: “Albuquerque Center, N1234. It looks like my […]

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 […]

Good Gravy, There’s Another Paul? It was great to read your story, Paul, and learn about that voice. I have been flying through Paul N.’s sector frequently the past few years and got to know the voice and appreciate his expertise. I was flying there the other week and heard many other pilots express their […]

Circadian rhythm is the daily alteration in a person’s behavior and physiology controlled by an internal biological clock in the brain. Body temperature, melatonin levels, cognitive performance, alertness levels, and sleep patterns are all subject to our circadian rhythm. A circadian challenge refers to the difficulty of operating in opposition to an individual’s normal circadian […]