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Thomas W. Wathen was born October5, 1929, in Vincennes, Ind., across the Wabash River from O’Neal airport. Theairplane bug bit early. He built model airplanes, became a Civil Air PatrolCadet, and traded airplane rides for work around the airport. He graduated fromIndiana University in 1951 with a degree in Police Administration. He joined theAir Force, […]

I‘ve said before and I’ll say again, the folks in ATC (air traffic control) are, on the whole, the greatest public servants in the history of the human race. However, the Flight Standards division of the FAA is an entirely different story. The vast majority of people in Flight Standards are typical bureaucrats, shuffling paper […]

Just when we thought we had a handle on all the possible threats to the safe operation of our flights, along comes another facet of madness: air rage to the Nth degree. Cases of enraged passengers crashing through the cockpit door, assaulting pilots and trying to interfere with control of the airplane had been increasing […]

Each year, September brings aviation fans the National Championship Air Races, staged at Reno/Stead Airport in Reno, Nev. This year, the racing was schedule to start next Thursday, September 13. Unfortunately for race fans, national security concerns which, at this writing, have grounded VFR Part 91 flight operations also spelled the end of this year’s […]

Each year, September brings aviation fans the National Championship Air Races, staged at Reno/Stead Airport in Reno, Nev. This year, the racing was schedule to start next Thursday, September 13. Unfortunately for race fans, national security concerns which, at this writing, have grounded VFR Part 91 flight operations also spelled the end of this year’s […]

Part One of AVweb‘s exclusive coverage of the National Championship Air Races at Reno includes some discussion of the goings-on within the unlimited racing community, plus some great images of the planes – including the jets – that had been slated to race this year. Part Two rounds out AVweb‘s coverage with a discussion of […]

Most pilots I know believe that the Global Positioning System (GPS) is the greatest thing since the invention of DME. It’s easy to see why. It’s like magic. No more pesky VORs; you can navigate direct to any point on the planet. What’s not to like? If you’re a pilot, not much. If you’re a […]

It suddenly occurred to me that I’ve never done a column on my all-time favorite airplane! How could I have so neglected my old sweetheart? My logbook reveals that I have 1,864.08 hours in this old classic, second only to the 747 time, which we won’t count because it’s a nosedragger, it burns that stinky […]

What a week. Like many of you, I’ve been stranded by the grounding of general aviation since Tuesday, finally able to fly my Debonair out of Las Vegas, Nev., as of Friday evening. Like many of you, I have some barely suppressed anger at the federal government for its actions in grounding me – and […]

Click any image to view a larger version. Special thanks to loyal reader Roman Robles for making these images available to AVweb.