Flight Training

With all the literal and figurative bells and whistles in todays cockpits, something as mundane as losing communications with ATC is rare. One reason is the stuff we have in the panel these days is a couple of light years ahead of even two decades ago in reliability. But loss of communications-going no radio, or […]

The smog in some Chinese cities is too severe to fly these days, but two new general aviation policies recently coming into play may hopefully clear the forward vision a little for the market players in China. First, the Chinese regulator Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) loosened licensing requirements for private pilot licenses (PPL). […]

Letter of the Week:Affordable Avionics Garmin’s comments are just silly. They don’t want to use open standards because then they would have to admit there are things that might be better than what they have. A bunch of years ago, some large computer manufacturer said, “Don’t get locked into open systems,” and that large computer […]

A few days ago, we emerged from a polar vortex that drifted south – a textbook example of what those things do from time to time. The associated cold managed to get the media into full cry and revived all of the how cold is it? jokes. Judging from Internet aviation forums, it also got […]

Piper Aircraft announced that it has selected Hebei Yuanao Aircraft Manufacturing Co. Ltd., of Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China, as Pipers authorized dealer in China for sales of the Mirage, Archer TX and Seminole. Established in 2012, Hebei Yuanao Aircraft was the first private general aviation manufacturing company in Hebei Province. Its factory is located in […]

AOPA has announced that it received a letter from FAA Administrator Michael Huerta apologizing for the FAAs nearly two-year delay in responding to the joint AOPA-EAA petition that would expand the use of the drivers license medical standard. In his Dec. 26 letter, Huerta said it was important to ensure that such an unprecedented change […]

The Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE) has criticized the FAAs Jan. 2 Notice Of Policy Change that restricts the use of flight simulators as an action that will adversely affect flight safety. As of Jan. 1, 2015, a maximum of 10 hours of simulator time will be allowed toward an instrument rating. Currently, […]

The General Aviation Manufacturers Association and Build A Plane teamed up last year to bring four high school students to the Glasair factory to build a Sportsman, and this year they are doing it again. “Having worked side-by-side with the students for two weeks last summer and seen how the competition not only improved their […]

In this week’s Cub Theatre installment, AVweb’s Paul Bertorelli provides a video examination of the runway turnback or the so-called “impossible turn.” Well, it’s not impossible at all, although it’s not necessarily easy. If you want to try it, you’ll need to practice it first. And think about making the turnback decision before you take […]

Accidents, like elections, have consequences. And as youve probably read, a consequence of one accident is that the ATP will soon rise to the level of unobtanium, so if you always wanted one, 2014 is the time to act. And better be quick about it. The accident, of course, is the Colgan Air crash in […]