Flight Training

Airshow legend Sean D. Tucker is the recipient of this year’s Al Ueltschi Award for Humanitarian Leadership for his work with at-risk youth in the Bob Hoover Academy. Tucker accepted the award at the opening session of the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA-BACE) convention in Orlando on Tuesday. Tucker and his son Eric co-founded the […]

EAA has announced it will fund up to $10,000 each toward the cost of flight training for up to 100 young people, thanks to a $1 million grant from the Ray Foundation. The foundation, based in Naples, Florida, aims to help boost the flight-training success rate from the current 20 percent to 80 percent. The […]

The Commonwealth of Virginia requires motor vehicles to undergo annual safety inspections. An authorized mechanic checks the lights, horn, brakes, tires, steering, suspension, etc., to make sure they’re within service limits (sound familiar?). In neighboring Maryland, on the other hand, just one safety inspection is required, when a vehicle is initially registered. After that, it’s […]

This week, AVweb‘s news roundup found reports of a new sim lab, a second chance to catch a weather tool webinar and a change in leadership at Pro Star Aviation. In partnership with Cirrus Aviation, Alsim has opened a demonstration center and simulation lab at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) in Sarasota, Florida. The facility […]

I’ve been wrong about so many things, so I’m announcing that I’ve seen the flashing lights at the bottleneck in the tunnel-of-irony and am changing my ways. Everything I thought I knew about leading a healthy pilot’s life is, apparently, wrong. This occurred to me while staring up at the ER’s fluorescent lights—one was flickering; […]

The FAA’s just-revealed report that it would consider raising the light sport aircraft limit from 1320 pounds to 3600 pounds is just a proposed talking point and any rule is at least a year and a half away, according to EAA. And no, the 3600-pound figure isn’t a typo nor confusion over kilogram conversion, as […]

Most pilots venture into windy conditions with enough skills and smarts to know how to either avoid or cope with them. But wind-related accidents are still commonplace, so clearly we don’t always get it right. One reason for this may be fairly simple: With the exception of blowing snow, tornadoes, dust devils and some cloud […]

Is the FAA about to go all-in and all but remove the weight restriction on light sport aircraft? Here, key the ecclesiastical music, insert the visual of the clouds parting and Jack Pelton descending the mount with the stone tablets, or at least a USB drive announcing something intriguing. But let’s tap the brakes and […]

Santa Claus wears captain’s bars in the e-commerce economy but it’s some of the pilots who are getting gifts this holiday season. FedEx is offering its retirement-age captains as much as $110,000 in retention bonuses to keep working through this year’s busy time. Last year, FedEx and its competitor UPS had record years thanks to […]

FAA Approves Ultralight VTOL First of all, the FAA does NOT “approve” ultralight vehicles. The letter shown only states that in the FAA’s opinion, the craft appears to meet part 103 requirements. It either meets part 103 or it doesn’t. If it does, then the FAA is out of the picture. Mel Asberry Motorcycle gear […]