Flight Safety

This article originally appeared in Aviation Safety, Mar. 2006. Some of my most memorable flights involve night flying, both for good and bad reasons. On the good side, I recall breathtaking sunsets, full, orange moons on the horizon, distant lightning and flying down New York City’s East River after departing the now-closed Flushing Airport. On […]

This article originally appeared in IFR magazine, Oct. 2005. Circling at your home airport isn’t that tough. Familiar landmarks help establish proper lateral spacing from the runway. Because you know the landmarks well, you can pick them out from circling altitudes and in low visibility.Circling to an unfamiliar field in challenging conditions is another story. […]

Pick-up times can come awful early when you are laying over in Manhattan and departing out of Newark. Our 6 a.m. departure for Los Angeles from EWR necessitated a 3:45 a.m. pick-up at the “Mildew Plaza” on 7th Avenue. Our normal pick-up times in Manhattan are an hour and a half before report time, but […]

Nominate an FBO |Rules |Tips |Questions |Winning FBOs AVweb reader Dick Bicknell couldn’t find enough nice things to say about this week’s “FBO of the Week” winner – Parlin Field Airport (2B3) in Newport, New Hampshire. Six or so years ago, while searching for low fuel prices, we discovered a perfect gem of an airport […]

This article originally appeared in IFR Refresher, May 2007. The VOR/DME-A approach into Weatherford, Texas, contains a specific missed-approach procedure, as do all instrument approaches. The concept is simple: When you get to the missed-approach point (MAP), the plane should be at the minimum descent altitude (MDA) and — if the airport is not visible […]

Most of us taxied an airplane on our very first flying lesson. After a period when we learned part of what our feet do in airplanes (a much longer lesson in tailwheel aircraft), taxiing became second nature, quickly becoming an assumed part of our aeronautical skill set and falling out of the lesson plan and […]

Nominate an FBO |Rules |Tips |Questions |Winning FBOs Today, AVweb‘s “FBO of the Week” ribbon goes to Landmark Aviation at KORF in Norfolk, Virginia, which was recommended to us by AVweb readers David & Roberta McKenna, who write: The line staff and front counter girls were outstanding, giving [us] a truly excellent experience. We were […]

I don’t know if it set a record, but it snowed here every day save one in February, so most of the action at the virtual airport was in the Pilot’s Lounge, where students and experienced pilots alike colorfully expressed their preference to be flying and their frustration with the elements.I confess to being among […]

Nominate an FBO |Rules |Tips |Questions |Winning FBOs AVweb‘s “FBO of the Week” ribbon goes to Blue Diamond Aviation at Russellville Municipal Airport (M22) in Russellville, Alabama. AVweb reader Robby Bendall calls the FBO “a welcome stop for anyone,” recounting how he and a friend have made it their base of operations while airplane shopping: […]

This article originally appeared in Aviation Safety, Feb. 2006. It’s often easy to forego obtaining a full weather briefing before a flight. Looking at the weather as we drive to the airport, we assess the local conditions, noting the cloud cover and bases, check visibility by seeking out distant landmarks and note if any other […]