features_old

It was a normal weekend morning in the Pilot’s Lounge at the virtual airport; students were either exulting or bemoaning flights they had just completed, a few pilots were debating where they should go for their high-dollar hamburgers and a couple of airplane owners were deep in discussion over the operating costs of their steeds. […]

My last column (The Annual Inspection Trap) triggered some fascinating responses from several readers who are career A&P/IAs.One such reader — who oversees a GA maintenance facility — chastised me severely for my assertion that FAR 43.11 calls for an IA who is asked to sign off an annual inspection with discrepancies to document those […]

Sharing Military Airspace The excessive impact of military airspaces (Question of the Week, Mar. 3) could be mitigated by providing general aviation safe corridors. Similar corridors work in Class B airspace.The military should provide safe flight-following for civilian flights. If this is considered burdensome, it shows the impact of the airspace restriction is excessive.Chuck Forsberg […]

Retirement parties, like funerals, get more plentiful as your life and career nears their respective ends. Much like funerals, these retirement fetes are sometimes the last opportunity to pay last respects to old friends.Leaving the airline almost always means literally leaving your flying friends. This is because a major airline’s flight crews are usually made […]

This is the eighth and last in a series of excerpts that began with Chapter One. Chapter Sixteen: Circuits Very much on my mind lately has been the fact that I am approaching the point where I may be turned loose at last for a solo flight. The landings have been reasonably well executed; to […]

Lying to the FAA It’s interesting that the FAA would be so serious about lying on a medical application (NewsWire, Feb. 28). I do not justify or condone any form of dishonesty, and I do not object to liars being prosecuted. It’s strange, though, that when lawyers openly lie in court, it is not considered […]

Cessna one two three four five, what’s your on-course heading?” How many times have you heard that little piece of phraseology lately? If you’ve flown out of a place where the controllers routinely assign you “Runway heading” (and who doesn’t), I bet you’ve heard it a lot. So what does the phraseology mean?Right now, dozens […]

Lycoming Lawsuit I agree with Anson Jones’ post about Lycoming and Continental (AVmail, Feb. 21). It’s about time for some new competition in the engine market. Let the likes of Honda and Toyota show these two GA giants how to make long-lasting, efficient engines at a price bearable to pilots. Who wants to spend $30K […]

Natural selection weeds out the weak and encourages proliferation of the strong. It works in nature but I’m not so sure it hasn’t been subverted elsewhere. Specifically, I’m talking about Franklin engines, a once-upon-a-time contender in general aviation that is, for the time being, out of business.The short version is this: United Technologies — Pratt […]

Cessna Twins Spar Corporation36 Columbia Street, Farmingdale, NY 11735-2606 Tel: 516-847-0002 February 23, 2005 Ms.Mary GradyEditorAVWeb Dear Ms. Grady, Per your request, the following are CTScs comments regarding the spar cracks discovered in two Cessna 402C aircraft. The recently discovered spar problems on two extremely high-time Cessna 402C aircraft used in commuter service indicate that […]