Flight Safety

So now that all the towers are closed, what are we to do? Will chaos reign? Have the dogs of doom been loosed? Not quite, but depending on where you fly, there could be some challenges ahead that will be unnerving. And just to put some numbers on it, the FAA-announced closures will shutter 149 […]

A 19-year-old man who pointed a powerful laser at a Netjets Cessna Citation and then at a police helicopter that responded to the pilot’s complaints in Burbank, Calif., was sentenced on Monday to 30 months in prison. Adam Gardenhire pleaded guilty to the charge, which was made a federal crime last year. At sentencing, “Gardenhire […]

Twenty seven years after the fact, Dick Rutan says he’s somewhat astonished that he and Jeana Yeager made it around the world in the Burt Rutan-designed Voyager, given the rudimentary avionics of the day and the fact that the airplane had so little surplus load factor that moderate turbulence would have torn it apart. As […]

Not every air traffic control tower slated for shutdown will stop operating at once, according to an FAA list posted online by AOPA on Monday. The first group of 24 towers will close on April 7, another 46 on April 21, and 79 on May 5. The Lakeland, Fla., tower will remain open until April […]

Boeing launched a 787 from Paine Field in Everett, Wash., on Monday afternoon and flew a two-hour test flight with its redesigned battery system. The 787 returned and landed with no apparent problems, The Associated Press reported. Boeing had said in a statement prior to the flight that during the check flight, the crew would […]

Nominate an FBO |Rules |Tips |Questions |Winning FBOs AVweb‘s latest “FBO of the Week” ribbon goes to Baxley Municipal Airport (KBHC) in Baxley, Georgia. AVweb reader Robert Inman recommends adding it to your Sun ‘n Fun flight plan: This facility has been completely remodeled with an emphasis on pilot efficiency and comfort. The young manager, […]

Although sales of avionics for certified aircraft have been in the doldrums, Garmin International seems to be bullish on the experimental and light sport markets, introducing this week no fewer than seven new products for that segment, all with sophisticated capability and eye-opening low prices. Garmin’s flagship product, the G3X EFIS, will get a new […]

Although some pilots think closing towers at small general aviation airports may negatively impact flight safety and convenience, nearly half of them — about 45 percent — say they support the closings anyway and not even one in five believes the towers should remain open. And by overwhelming margins, AVweb readers told us that the […]

Although the tower at Lakeland Linder Regional Airport in Florida is on the FAA’s list for closure (so is Wittman Regional’s in Oshkosh) the facility will be manned as usual by FAA controllers through Sun ‘n Fun. Under the sequestration closure plan, Lakeland is among 149 towers being closed due to sequestration cuts and was […]

If the tower at the local airport was supposed to be closed but wasn’t it’s because someone convinced the FAA that closing it would pose a threat to national security. At least 24 towers that would normally have been closed under the mathematical limits set by the agency before sequestration took effect (fewer than 150,000 […]