Features

Your Analysis Of Priorities Matters My first biological emergency almost five decades ago involved the FAA, fire trucks, an ambulance, the state police, and many hundreds of witnesses. It was almost noon on a beautiful fall day with no wind or clouds. Chugging along in my tandem Taylorcraft, a weakening bladder compelled me to land […]

For some, flying is just braving the traffic pattern or short, local flights. But serious long-distance flying or commercial operations will eventually bring you to the heart of the Great Plains. Meteorology captivated me because of the incredibly turbulent and strange weather in this area. I chased tornadoes for 15 years and forecasted weather for […]

It’s said that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. In the world of homebuilt aircraft, usually more power is better than less, but it’s also true that power without control is just heat and noise. (And there ends your monthly ration of overused aphorisms.) Power is speed and climb performance, but it can also […]

Not long ago during my instrument training, my very accomplished instructor and I were doing a VOR 14 Approach at Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport (KMFD). After completing the missed approach the tower controller came on the radio to say, “That was a very good job on the approach.” Somewhat surprised my instructor said, “Gee they […]

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 […]

Defensive Flying Excellent article. I want to add that if you are practicing ILS or RNAV approaches at a non-towered airport you have to be very specific about your intentions and location and even more vigilant as many VFR pilots are unfamiliar with IFR procedures. Adib B. Don’t forget that you may have rotorcraft legitimately […]

After several weeks of not flying, I had finally found the time and energy to unlimber the Debonair and get some air under its wings. I was out doing some basic maneuvers and just letting the airplane exercise itself before heading off to a nearby non-towered field for some landings and cheap fuel. I had […]

This story originally appeared in KITPLANES. Despite appearances, and what you might logically conclude, the uAvionix AV-30-E (E for Experimental) is not intended to be a head-on competitor for the Garmin G5. Even though you might assume differently from the basic feature sets and price point, the companies have come at developing a small EFIS to […]

We were returning in our Phenom 300 from New Jersey to our home base in San Jose, California (KSJC). The weather was good but west of the Rockies was pretty rough the whole way. One commercial pilot heading north from the SoCal area called ATC and said, “You said the rides from 300 to 380 […]

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 […]