Flight Training

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 […]

If there was any surprise in Wednesday’s announcement about production delays for the Icon A5, it’s that the company was so forthright in admitting what many have suspected for months. There’s a reason Icon isn’t delivering and for a company that has been obsessive about its image and marketing with a close-to-the-vest press policy, it […]

I got a note from a reader commenting on Friday’s blog on pilot starts and populations. His view was that everything is more or less about the Benjamins and more people would fly if it were cheaper. We’ve reduced that dead horse to molecular slurry so I won’t argue the case for or against. It […]

For over 70 years general aviation pilots have volunteered their time, skills and airplanes to help others in need by giving free flights for everything from search and rescue through medical transport, environmental survey and research to disaster relief, animal transport and exposing kids to the world of flight. What has been termed Public Benefit […]

In another chapter of my publishing career that might as well have taken place on Mars, I worked for a company that hit the magic. It started a publication in the craft field right in the midst of an explosive interest in craft revival in the mid-1970s that few knew was happening. (No internet then; […]

The FAA has opened comments until Aug.10 for changes to GA flight training rules that would affect a broad spectrum of pilots, including those pursuing private and commercial certificates. Its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking includes a long-anticipated proposal to use glass-cockpit, fixed-gear aircraft for commercial flight training instead of traditional complex aircraft with retractable gear. […]

I remember my first flight as left-seater in a TAA (technically advanced aircraft). Too. Many. Buttons. And each switch, knob and button had multiple roles, depending on my stage of flight and the information I wanted to pull up or program into it. And harmony? Well, other than the integrated glass panels available on then-new […]