Flight Safety

This summer, a company called Universal Helicopters was called on to fight fires in Canada using the Bell 407, an aircraft often associated with executive or VIP transport, and AVweb spoke with one of the aircraft’s pilots about his experience. Geoff Goodyear said the aircraft was contracted to serve as a firefighter because clients found […]

AVweb speaks with Universal Helicopters pilot Geoff Goodyear about his experience flying the Bell 407 to fight fires in Canada this summer and the advantages helicopters bring to the task. Duration: File Size: download here

When the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators announced last month it would hold its first pilot-seminar weekend in Texas at the end of October, Redbird Skyport’s $1 avgas was promoted as an extra incentive to attend — but that was before Redbird decided to end the promotion early. But Redbird has announced the offer […]

Vulnerable. Thats essentially how Eric Geisleman and a group of aviation safety researchers described flight crews when it comes to operating transport category flight control systems. Are general aviation pilots just as vulnerable? That’s debatable. One article (Flight Deck Automation: Invaluable Collaborator or Insidious Enabler?)that was published in the July 2013 Ergonomics in Designfocused on […]

Robert B. Barnes, the founder and CEO of the International Association of Flight Training Professionals (IATPF), died Sept. 29 following a stroke. Barnes created the organization to provide a touchstone for those involved in training to share best practices in the evolving vocation of teaching people to fly.”I considered Bob Barnes to be one of […]

Four advocacy groups sent a letter to government leaders in Washington on Tuesday, asking for certain FAA programs to be reopened immediately to prevent “critical economic, operational and safety issues” for general aviation. The letter, signed by the leaders of AOPA, EAA, NATA, and Helicopter Association International, said the absence of FAA inspectors is affecting […]

The FAA has partially granted an exemption that EAA sought to allow Young Eagles pilots to be reimbursed for fuel costs, but EAA says the requirements the FAA would impose are too onerous. “Meeting [the exemption’s requirements] would literally be impossible for EAA,” said Sean Elliot, EAA’s vice president of advocacy and safety. To comply […]

While pilots and aviation enthusiasts in the U.S. haveannual conclaves like AirVenture and Sun N Fun to sustain their passions, Chinas emerging aviation industry has no equivalent.But that may be changing with Thursdays launch of the China International General Aviation Convention (CIGAC), sponsored by the district of Shaanxi in the central Chinese city of Xian. […]

Somewhere over Nevada, returning to Utah from San Jose. All the airliners where working hard to find their customers smooth air. There were sigmets for turbulence up to 14,000 feet and above 18,000. A UPS flight checked in on-level at 35,000 feet and asked:“What altitudes are working for smooth rides?” Controller: “There does not seem […]

This week, AVweb is attending the China International General Aviation Conference (CIGAC) and the annual Aviation Training Congress China (ATCC). We’ll have coverage all week of our visits to Beijing and Xi’an. view on YouTube