features_old

Pilots Say The FAA Is Getting BetterDoes anyone really expect anything to improve at FAA? Has anything improved over the past 4-1/2 decades within this increasingly bloated tax-gobbling group? Nay, only the bureaucracy has increased with each new Administrator. New Administrator Blakey is just another example of increase-the-bureaucracy only for the sake of preserving the […]

Steve McDonald: Pilots Say The FAA Is Getting Better Does anyone really expect anything to improve at FAA? Has anything improved over the past 4-1/2 decades within this increasingly bloated tax-gobbling group? Nay, only the bureaucracy has increased with each new Administrator. New Administrator Blakey is just another example of increase-the-bureaucracy only for the sake […]

Another layover, another motel restaurant, another inane discussion about whatever with the co-pilot “du jour.” With the end of the year looming and tomorrow night’s New Years Eve – a Jackson, Mississippi, layover – on the horizon, it seems time to reflect back on the past and project myself into the future. “My plan,” said […]

What is this CRM stuff we’ve been hearing so much of lately? I can tell you some of the things it isn’t. Although air carriers may call it Company Resource Management, and the manufacturers of some air carrier aircraft in their manuals refer to Crew Resource Management, the FAA (Friendly Feds) mean Cockpit Resource Management […]

If you’re an actor, like Tom Cruise or Harrison Ford, or a well-known TV reporter, it’s usually not too hard to get a ride in a jet fighter, just ask. But for the common man, they are extremely hard to come by – even for a member of the Air Force team. I earned my […]

First, a shameless plug, and a disclaimer, so that you know where I’m coming from. I am one of three partners in the new “Advanced Pilot Seminars, Inc.” a company formed for the purpose of educating pilots in engine management. The other partners are George Braly and Walter Atkinson. We have now completed two seminars, […]

Among the many things that have surprised me in writing for AVweb, one of the most surprising has been the number of military fliers that I’ve heard from. I don’t know why it surprised me. There certainly are enough of them. I guess I just never thought they’d be interested in what I have to […]

(click photos for larger versions) There I was in the left seat, 1,500 feet, sweating buckets, searching the jungle below for anything unusual that should be reported. Well, OK, it wasn’t a jungle, just the piney woods of western Georgia, and I didn’t really need to report anything, I just needed to keep the airplane […]

While there has been much written about cold-weather operations for power plants there has been little written about actual aircraft and systems operation and maintenance preparation for winter. This article will discuss both power plant and airframe and try to bring the two together for a common-sense solution to some potentially difficult and expensive situations […]