Flight Safety

Many years ago I flew a turbocharged Beech Bonanza from Wichita, Kan., to Springfield, Mo., and return. The roughly one-hour flight to Springfield was uneventful above a building base of puffy cumulus clouds. I dropped off a passenger at his airplane, the mission for our flight, and took off again for home.On departure the skies […]

Nominate an FBO |Rules |Tips |Questions |Winning FBOs AVweb’s “FBO of the Week” ribbon goes to Augusta Aviation at KDNL in Augusta, Ga. AVweb readers Jim and Karen Lindemulder says the FBO owners went out of their way to help them. “Good Friday evening our Skylane experienced multiple instrument failures while flying over Georgia. Control […]

A while back I was sitting in the Pilot’s Lounge at the virtual airport wondering what the phrase “sit back and relax” means and why in the world the airlines keep saying it to me when I’m jammed into a seat designed for an eight-year-old. My reverie was disturbed when Tom, a thirty-something businessman, walked […]

Each month, AVweb publishes about a half-dozen columns on a range of aviation topics. If we do things right, these simply appear on the site, for all to read free of charge. What’s less obvious is the behind-the-scenes work and thought that goes into these columns. That’s another way of saying producing a monthly column […]

Nominate an FBO |Rules |Tips |Questions |Winning FBOs AVweb’s “FBO of the Week” ribbon goes to Bergstrom Aircraft at KPSC in Pasco, Wash. AVweb reader Richard Ciccone says the FBO blends old-fashioned service with modern facilities. “It’s easy to see why Bergstom Aircraft has been Central Washington’s foremost full service FBO for 35 years. They […]

This article originally appeared in Aviation Safety, Feb. 2005. The NTSB has several (too many, actually …) categories it uses to classify aviation incidents and accidents. Among them is the catch-all phrase “improper IFR,” which the Board usually uses to describe a pilot executing procedures you won’t find in the Aeronautical Information Manual. But there […]

This article originally appeared in IFR magazine, Jan. 2005. Gather ’round, boys and girls. It’s time for your annual smug fix, wherein we harvest the perplexing and peculiar from a year’s worth of NTSB accident reports.For the new folks who haven’t trod this well-worn path with us before, a bit of preamble. None of these […]

Nominate an FBO |Rules |Tips |Questions |Winning FBOs AVweb’s “FBO of the Week” ribbon goes to Dillon Flying Service at KDLN in Dillon, Mont. AVweb reader Benjamin Marsh liked the service so much at the FBO that he dreams of going back. “Dennis and Jean, the owners, offer extremely personable service and genuinely care about […]

“I can’t figure it out,” said Sid, my co-pilot. “The airplanes keep getting bigger but the coffee cups keep getting smaller.” He was looking askance at his shot-glass-sized coffee that the flight attendants had just brought up.”I wonder why they are so stingy on coffee. The passengers are just going to bug them for a […]

This article originally appeared in IFR Refresher, Feb. 2006. The Northeast winter weather was normal for February when the pilot of a Rockwell 500S Shrike Commander departed Naples, Fla., for Newport State Airport (KUUU) in Rhode Island. He had flight planned a stop in Wilmington, N.C., and the first leg of the flight went without […]