AVweb Insider

Summer is traditionally a time to slow down a bit, take some days off, go to the beach or lounge by the pool, and part of that tradition is spending some time with a good book. If you’re like me, that tradition might seem imaginary most of the time, as the calendar fills up and […]

In last weeks blog, I was bemoaning the fact that the FAAs avgas replacement effort had entered the dark phase and its now impossible to find out much of anything about whats going on behind closed doors. No one seemed to know anything about a company called Avgas LLC, which is one of five companies […]

Its possible to simultaneously make much of and nothing of last weeks announcement from the FAA that five entities have submitted nine proposals for an unleaded replacement for leaded avgas. Ive spoken to several sources in the industry about this and no one seems to have much detail on the proposals. But one thing seems […]

Standards must be slipping at CNN. Early Saturday morning, they didnt have the United 777 diversion to Midway story. I expected the network to have summoned their stadium full of talking heads to connect that incident to–what else?–Malaysian 370. I figured they could spin a couple of days of 24/7 speculation out of the Midway […]

Our annual AirVenture pre-show press pump priming has revealed something interesting. I count at least 50 press announcements of some kind and since there are always last-minute additions, theres likely to be more than that. (There are 20 on Monday alone.) As far as I know, this is a record number by a significant margin. […]

With the explosions from the 4th of July celebration finally subsiding, this video has gone viral on YouTube and I wonder if its going to ignite some post holiday explosions of its own. (Thanks to Edd Weninger for sending the link; the video popped up on numerous sites over the weekend.) First, the particulars. The […]

Given that aviation isnt the broadest topic in the world, publications that cover it have to repeat certain topics from time to time. These articles are sometimes called evergreens, because they can be revisited with a fresh perspective. One of these is the notion of personal minimums for aeronautical decision making. The theory is that […]

Although it should come as no shock but is nontheless sad news, the family of Louis Zamperini announced his death on Thursday after a long struggle with pneumonia. At 97 and given his life experience, Zamperini had a good long run indeed. Many World War II veterans of his era passed years, if not decades […]

Im sure you saw the dramatic footage of the Marine AV8 Harrier landing on the deck of the U.S.S. Bataan with a stuck nosegear. If you didnt, here it is.My initial reaction was twofold. First, the pilot, Captain William Mahoney, was really on his game in hovering that airplane prior to committing to the landing, […]

In casual conversation, some people tell me that they think the best part of an aviation journalists job is getting to fly lots of different kinds of airplanes. Maybe. On the other hand, it should be no surprise that most new airplanes these days fly about the same, given that most were certified years ago […]