Flight Planning

Although some pilots think closing towers at small general aviation airports may negatively impact flight safety and convenience, nearly half of them — about 45 percent — say they support the closings anyway and not even one in five believes the towers should remain open. And by overwhelming margins, AVweb readers told us that the […]

The FAA will close 149 federal contract towers beginning April 7, in response to sequestration’s budget cuts, the agency announced Friday. The newly revised list is online here (PDF). The agency says closures will be phased in over a four-week period. At least 38 states are affected. Florida is one of the nation’s most populous […]

Don’t see a video screen?Try disabling ad blockers and refreshing this page.If that doesn’t work, click here to watch on YouTube. A mountaintop in Utah that’s a popular launch site for paraglider and hang-glider pilots is being destroyed by a mining operation, and the fliers have launched a protest. “This is a jewel, this is […]

Popular aviation charts vendor Air Chart Systems has sent a notice to its subscribers that it’s ceasing publication of the spiral-bound paper atlases that were its signature product for more than 50 years. In a note attached to the March 7 electronic update of en route charts and approach plates, the company suggests it’s out […]

Consumer technologies that use GPS to track aircraft in flight are adding features all the time, and this week one of the more popular vendors, Spidertracks, of New Zealand, announced new capabilities in its latest device, the Spider S5. The new unit retains the small footprint of the earlier models, but adds integrated Bluetooth communications […]

Mapmaker DeLorme’s inReach messenger/tracker uses the Iridium satellite network to send position reports and text messages from almost anywhere on earth. The handheld device can send pre-determined text messages with an up-to-date position included. Pairing it via Bluetooth with an iPhone or Android device allows for custom text messages or short emails. It can also […]

Although all kinds of sport flying are for fun rather than transportation, all you “power pilots” don’t know what fun is until you try soaring; it’s so quiet the instructor can hear his students cry. Soaring in a glider or sailplane is just pure joy. With the sophisticated aircraft of today that most of us […]

Editor’s Note: This column should be printed out and posted on airport bulletin boards everywhere now and again next July. After getting back from Oshkosh I unpacked the airplane, put it away and walked into the pilot’s lounge here at the virtual airport to see what had happened while I was gone. One of the […]

Editor’s Note: This is the second of two articles by AVweb columnists on FBOs. If you haven’t already, be sure to read Howard Fried’s companion column “Eye of Experience # 37: The Place of the FBO in the Scheme of Things.” Sometimes things here in the Pilot’s Lounge at the virtual airport get a bit […]

Ialways had enjoyed waking to find snow falling, although it had been a long time since I’d had the experience. Maybe this morning’s snow was prophetic, as a white blanket was never guaranteed in these parts this time of year. It made me feel particularly good in spite of the fact it would take while […]