Learn to Fly

Back in the blissfully simple days of 1986, before cable news became the 24-hour din it is today, I recall watching some coverage of Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager landing the Voyager back at Edwards Air Force base, where they had begun their round-the-world flight nine days earlier. Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff had been […]

No matter how smooth and enjoyable the flight, your passengers always will remember the landing. Anything other than a single, bounce-free touchdown is ripe for comment and, if your passengers also are pilots, ridicule. While a good landing is a combination of many factors, the last chance you have to affect its outcome is in […]

Instrument pilots take far more checkrides than their more visually oriented counterparts. In addition to the initial rating check, you occasionally face an instrument competency ride when you are more than six months out of currency. Most times when you add a rating, like a multi-engine ticket, you’ll be expected to show off your gauge […]

It’s taking a roundabout route, but a Sonex kit complete with engine is heading to a youth program in Georgia. AVweb’s Elaine Kauh spoke with Sonex GM Mark Schaible about the generous gift that benefits youth not only in Georgia but all over the country. Duration: 2:50 File Size: 2.6 MB download here

The Boeing 727 on the Sun ‘n Fun grounds in Lakeland will become an educational laboratory for all ages as part of the Aerospace Center for Excellence. view on YouTube

California-based FlyThisSim (FTS) was the first company to develop and manufacture an FAA-approved, touchscreen basic aviation training device (BATD). Its latest TouchTrainer can instantly switch between multiple aircraft with a wide variety of avionics systems and is also available as a Robinson R44 helicopter simulator. Aviation Consumereditor Larry Anglisano flew the devices at Sun ‘n […]

Redbird Simulations is taking three zero-time students to solo flight in seven days using simulators and diesel-powered RedHawk 172s. AVweb learns how the program works. view on YouTube

Most instructors these days, when pressed to give an ideal number of hours for a new student to solo, will say it’s 10 hours in the airplane. So, all things being equal, can you do that in a week? Sure. Redbird’s “One Week Ready to Solo” campaign, now four days in at Sun ‘n Fun […]

Most casual discussions of hand-propping begin and end with the admonition “Don’t.” That’s not bad advice, except when there’s no other way to start the engine. In fact, hand-propping is a time-honored practice, dating to the beginning of heavier-than-air flight. That it’s still employed says as much about the legacy of aviation as it does […]

When I was a little kid riding in my Dad’s Oldsmobile across the plains of Texas at night, we would spot the lights of Amarillo in the distance and two hours later, we’d get there. An exaggeration of course, but it reminds me of covering the electric airplane industry. We’ve reported periodically about this company […]