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This article originally appeared in Aviation Safety, Oct. 2005. Having the talent and skill to fly an airplane pretty much when and where we want doesn’t mean we should. Any number of factors may, from time to time, argue against making a trip or completing one. Weather, terrain, mechanical shortcomings, time of day and/or some […]

[Editor’s Note: Recently two flight instructors wrote a book on how to use Microsoft Flight Simulator X (FSX) to enhance pilot training and to provide sim-only pilots a guide to making their flying more realistic. AVweb is reprinting several chapters from this book, the first of which was Chapter 13 — Weather. To download the […]

Recently, I attended a two-day, FAA-sponsored, aviation maintenance symposium in Southern California, along with a few thousand other A&P mechanics who were there to renew their Inspection Authorizations. The symposium featured many informative presentations by experts in many different facets of aircraft maintenance. One that I found particularly fascinating — and also frightening — was […]

Flight Without Delays The Leading Edge article concerning flight delays (Columns, Nov. 12) apparently omits the one- to three-hour early airport arrivals demanded by airlines. The long lines and sit/wait periods are a part of today’s commercial travel whether we like it or not, but not a part of GA travel. What happens to the […]

It was a nice, sunny day at home. A day off with great weather can be a rarity where I live and I intended to enjoy it to the full. My neighbor and fellow pilot, Chad, and I had one appointment to attend to before we headed out to play tennis. Apparently, there is such […]

This article originally appeared in Light Plane Maintenance, May 2005. The modern dry vacuum pump — when it works — is economical ($200 to $400), low-weight (under three pounds) and capable of high-output operation. The dry pump displaced its traditional competition (venturis and oil-lubricated “wet” pumps) in a matter of only a few years during […]

[AVweb’s reprint of A Pilot’s History began with Chapter 1.] At Hickam Field, Honolulu, I was a part of a small unit flying westward to the new war fronts, as we battled against the enemy to reclaim the vast section of the world it had conquered. Our assignment, in a nutshell, was to fly cargo […]

This article originally appeared in IFR Refresher, Dec. 2006. It’s not too difficult to understand the theory of the ILS approach. The pilot is required to fly a horizontal radio beam while referring to a cockpit indicator that tells him whether he is left or right of the course. At the same time he must […]

FSS Consolidation The anonymous author of “No More FSSs in the Northeastern U.S.” (AVmail, Nov. 5) should be aware that there are many alternate sources of weather information other than Lockheed-Martin and that not being able to talk to a L-M briefer with local weather knowledge should not put one or one’s family at risk.Considering […]

A highly successful manufacturer of personal airplanes displayed a big banner at AirVenture last summer that read, “Life without flight delays or cancellations.” Obviously this company was marketing to people who fly for business or long-distance personal transportation. Since I travel frequently by airline to train pilots fortunate enough to own their own airplane, the […]