Flight Safety

It was late when I got into the Pilot’s Lounge at the virtual airport. I’d airlined into the big airport and driven about an hour here, as I wanted to drop off some things in my hangar and then see if I could locate a back issue of a magazine in the Lounge before going […]

This article originally appeared in Aviation Safety, Jan. 2006. Owning an airplane can be a real pain. There are costs for insurance, tiedown/hangaring, annual inspections and debt service, all of which are incurred before the engine even turns over. Add in the hourly costs of fuel, oil, tires, unscheduled maintenance and overhaul reserves, and it’s […]

Nominate an FBO |Rules |Tips |Questions |Winning FBOs You guys have been doing a lot of flying lately! We received more “FBO of the Week” nominations over the last seven days than we have in months. Despite some outstanding recommendations, we’re awarding our “FBO of the Week” ribbon to the FBO at Santa Ynez Airport […]

This article originally appeared in IFR magazine, Jul. 2005. It was late in 1981 or maybe early in 1982, because that’s the only time in the history of O’Hare that the draconian departure restrictions in this tale were used. To understand how those departure restrictions fit into our story, you need to know a little […]

It was a tough approach to a landing and I was all by myself. No co-pilot to help me and no company dispatcher to ask for numbers or advice. I was fairly low on fuel — about two and a half gallons left — and the air pressure in my left main gear tire was […]

Nominate an FBO |Rules |Tips |Questions |Winning FBOs AVweb‘s “FBO of the Week” ribbon goes to the FBO at North Las Vegas Airport (VGT) in Las Vegas, Nevada. AVweb‘s own Mike Busch has nominated these folks before, pointing out that “the same customer service people have been working there for as long as I can […]

This article originally appeared in IFR Refresher, Mar. 2007. There is no rule that states how many instrument approaches a pilot can fly before going to another airport and there shouldn’t be. I am not in favor of removing any of the pilot’s authority to conduct operations the way he or she sees fit. However, […]

I was arriving at Wichita with the GPS set up for the ILS Runway 1R approach. About 10 miles from the final approach fix, approach control called: “9PT, change in runway, expect the ILS 1 Left, fly present heading to intercept the localizer.”My world got really busy, fast.I was facing what safety researchers call an […]

Nominate an FBO |Rules |Tips |Questions |Winning FBOs AVweb‘s “FBO of the Week” ribbon goes to American Aviation West at KPGA in Page, Arizona. According to AVweb reader Scott A. Hauert, “These folks embody the spirit of aviators helping aviators” – and after hearing his story, we tend to agree. Scott arrived early the morning […]

Winter in the Pilot’s Lounge at the virtual airport can be pretty slow, with days of low overcast and generally lousy flying weather. Either no one comes out to the airport and our flight-school owner starts to panic over whether last summer’s revenues can be stretched through the winter, or a lot of people come […]