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In the years since Savvy Aircraft Maintenance Management (SAMM) (see the January 2009 issue of our sister publication Aviation Consumer) brought managed aircraft maintenance from the turbine to the owner-flown piston world, the company’s practice of analyzing the engine monitor data of its clients has resulted in the collection of a massive database. According to […]

General aviation pilots make IFR takeoffs in reduced visibility and low ceilings on a daily basis. We line up, launch, establish a climb, transition to the gauges and press on with the flight. Assuming there is an approach with adequate minimums at home plate or a nearby airport, we’re confident we can return and land […]

AVweb’s General Aviation Accident Bulletin is taken from the pages of our sister publication, Aviation Safety magazine and is published twice a month. All the reports listed here are preliminary and include only initial factual findings about crashes. You can learn more about the final probable cause in the NTSB’s web site at www.ntsb.gov. Final […]

It’s probably a journalistic pretense to imply that there’s anything practical about light sport airplanes. Few of them are used for travel and even fewer are flown in the kind of weather that a utilitarian airplane like a Bonanza or Cirrus has to tackle to earn its keep. So in reviewing LSAs, we’re talking about […]

Flying a seaplane off of the water is well up there on the list of the most purely fun things to do in aviation. When you take one of the most enjoyable of human endeavors—flying—and combine it with zipping across the water, you get a rush that’s tough to beat when engaged in doing anything […]

Each month IFR Refresher highlights an accident involving some aspect of IFR flying that an unfortunate pilot failed to respect. All too often, the pilots are professionals who have achieved considerable success in their career fields. The question often asked is; how persons with such a high personal performance standing can allow themselves to be […]

AVweb’s General Aviation Accident Bulletin is taken from the pages of our sister publication, Aviation Safety magazine and is published twice a month. All the reports listed here are preliminary and include only initial factual findings about crashes. You can learn more about the final probable cause in the NTSB’s web site at www.ntsb.gov. Final […]

One issue that comes up with building an aircraft is where and how the pilot learns to fly the aircraft. Many believe it’s the old adage of “kick the tires and light the fires.” But speaking from the insurance side…I don’t think so. When a person is working on their license, they are required to […]

Every year structural icing claims a small but steady number of airplanes. Many of the accidents are on approach in clear air—after the airplane has already collected a load of ice. We look at them afterward and wonder—the airplane had been doing fine—why did it crash well after it escaped from icing conditions? Full-scale airframe […]

Last month Icon Aircraft announced it had opened its second Flight Center to support its A5, a light sport amphibian (S-LSA). Based on Tampa’s Peter O. Knight Airport, the Center will provide flight training, sales, demos and service for the aircraft. At first glance, the announcement was generic good news that a general aviation manufacturer […]