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Thanks to everyone who has written to me with appreciative comments and suggestions. To the writer who questioned my use of “gotten” last time, I can only say I’ve “gotten” a great deal of pleasure from the feedback. Keep it coming! U.K. CAA Under Review The British government is to conduct a strategic review of […]

No More FSSs in the Northeastern U.S. Come this Sunday (11/4), the last remaining Flight Service Station (ISP) north of Virginia, east of Michigan will close for good. This means that when you’re flying in New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, the Flight Service person you’re talking to on the radio most likely […]

The Pilot’s Lounge at the virtual airport was days and many miles away from the chair to which I was affixing myself with a seat belt and shoulder harness. I had foolishly started my travels via a ground conveyance that had proven its utility by breaking down rather spectacularly in rural Missouri. I managed the […]

This article originally appeared in IFR magazine, May 2005. IFR magazine asked its readers to contribute defining moments of IFR flying. Here are a few where the moment was made by the company as much as the flight. Tanks for the Help I rotated among all three CFIIs at a small flight school near Philadelphia, […]

Studs Terkel: We’re seated here, two old gaffers. Me and Paul Tibbets, 89 years old, brigadier-general retired, in his home town of Columbus, Ohio, where he has lived for many years. Paul Tibbets: Hey, you’ve got to correct that. I’m only 87. You said 89. Studs Terkel: I know. See, I’m 90. So I got […]

This article originally appeared in Aviation Safety, Sept. 2005. Night flying can be one of the most enjoyable ways a pilot can exercise his or her flight privileges. The air is generally smoother, there usually is less traffic (unless you’re flying near Memphis or Louisville) and any traffic will be easier to spot. Too, clear […]

[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 will publish several chapters from this book, beginning with this chapter on weather. To download the FSX files they […]

I got the idea for this column as I was finishing up this year’s “annual ordeal” on my airplane. Because I do all my own maintenance, I tend to get a bit grumpy that time of year (or so says my wife). This year, I had to pull the #3 cylinder off of my right […]

Bob Hoover Just finished watching the short video of Bob Hoover and his Shrike Commander (Video of the Week, Oct. 15). It sure brings back memories of all the times I watched this in person over the years at Oshkosh. It surely is beautiful. I don’t know if anyone could ever fill his shoes. Plus […]

My nephew Kermit had moved up in the world. Fresh out of the Aviation College at the University of South Toledo, he was a sales-rep gofer for one of the dozens of new VLJ manufacturers that dot the flying landscape of late.He was justifiably proud of the “Sky-Screamer 100.” Not only did this three-place, subsonic, […]