Flight Training

Many of our ranks are professional pilots because they simply love to fly. They find a way to fly no matter what. For them, retiring from a career in aviation simply means they no longer get paid to fly, but they’ll find a new ride. These are usually superb pilots—pilot’s pilots—but they can sometimes struggle […]

AVweb actually has a policy about ignoring coverage of “youngest pilot” aviation exploits since they can and have led to disaster but a story out of the U.K. is one of the exceptions. Budget carrier easyJet has welcomed the U.K.’s youngest airline pilot and he said few have noticed, which is as it should be. […]

Remember films like The Blue Max, The Red Baron or Flyboys? They all depicted WWI aerial warfare, in machines invented some 15 years earlier. Instead of defined runways, pilots of that era landed and took off from large, broad fields, which always allowed them to fly into the prevailing wind. One of the reasons those […]

This year’s winners of the annual GAMA/Build A Plane design challenge are at work this week in Arlington, Washington, helping to build a brand-new Sportsman airplane at Glasair Aviation. The four students, plus a teacher and chaperone, traveled from Weyauwega-Fremont High School in Weyauwega, Wisconsin, after beating out 76 other teams from around the country. […]

The new Airman Certification Standards for private pilot and instrument rating applicants are a welcome change, pilot examiners said following the rollout of the revamped requirements. The ACS, which replaced the Practical Test Standards, also includes updated knowledge tests. “The new standards are designed to adapt as in-cockpit technology changes and to do a better […]

The new Airmen Certification Standards for private pilot and instrument rating applicants will emphasize risk management while making checkrides more efficient, according to Doug Stewart. The pilot examiner and CFI, who served on the original FAA committee charged with rewriting test standards, says the result will be “safer pilots.” Duration: 16:18 File Size: 7.8 MB […]

After five years of work in collaboration with aviation industry experts, the FAA has published its new Airman Certification Standards for the private pilot (airplane) certificate and the instrument (airplane) rating. The new standards replace the current Practical Test Standards as of Wednesday. The ACS provides guidance for both the knowledge exam and the practical […]

As with most things in life, a successful flight is all about preparation; unfortunately, the longer we fly the more complacent we tend to get. We can handle any situation that arises—we can ‘wing it’ when we have to. However, to fly the perfect approach you have to prepare for it. Reviewing the approaches that […]

Pull the mixture or condition lever and the propeller comes to a stop. Turn off the switches and what had been saturated with noise and vibration becomes still and quiet. After removing your headset and while sitting in the momentary silence that follows a flight, perhaps you’ll hear the engine ticking as heat dissipates. It’s […]

Last week, when AVweb Editor-in-Chief Russ Niles phoned me about Icon’s breaking announcement of its retrenchment, he happened to mention he had been reading Walter Isaacson’s bio of Steve Jobs and … “Stop right there,” I said, “I know where you’re going and I already have that blog written.” And so I did, displaced by […]