AVweb Insider

I was born in Texas and even by the tender age of 10, I knew what the oil-patch aphorism “big hat, no cattle” meant. If it was true in the 1950s, it’s just as true now. I thought of it when our news columns lit up this week with yet another artist’s conception of a […]

Jet-A burning diesel aeroengines, we’re led to believe, are the future of general aviation propulsion. So at Aero last week, I expected the place to be lousy with them. Well, not quite. There were a couple of new ones-SMA’s six-cylinder concept engine and the nice little three-cylinder SmartCar conversion from FlyEco, but also some MIAs. […]

As I was rushing around the halls at Aero this week, I still took the time to pause and talk to lots of people, many I know and many I just met. Like any major aviation show, Aero draws from all over the world, but there’s a strong concentration of central European attendees.If I were […]

If you’re a student of the First Amendment-especially the part about redress of grievances-aviation gave you a great week. If you’re a frustrated deficit hawk-that’s my tribe-it was further cause for despair and yet another lesson in how we the people contribute mightily to tying the government into one hopelessly tangled knot.Specifically, the Air Line […]

I just sent Jack Howell $100 and here’s why you should, too.I met Jack last week at Sun ‘n Fun as I was walking the flight line. He had a modest little display with his vintage Cessna 150. As explained in this podcast what Jack Howell is doing is simple: He’s raising money to provide […]

The major shows like Sun ‘n Fun and AirVenture may be imperfect reflections of the industry they promote, but they are nonetheless reflections. And the image I saw this week in the mirror of attendees, vendors and perhaps even fellow journalists was of a general aviation community that’s adrift, lacking a sense of what the […]

Remember back in 2002 when the faddish phrase of the day in aviation was “disruptive technology?” It was being flogged mercilessly by Vern Raburn, who was then launching the Eclipse on a river of hype that spectacularly ended in the muddy flats of bankruptcy. The notion of disruptive technology-which is really just a techno-babble word […]

Judging by the volume of mail we got on last week’s article on non-towered operations, I know people are thinking about this issue. The first tower closures happen during early April and will continue until May, pending any action by congress and the administration to straighten out the mess they’ve made of budgeting. Watch for […]

Whoever coined the phrase that in Las Vegas, wretched excess is never enough missed one thing about this town: It may be tacky, but it’s sure expensive. Sooner or later, like the inevitable turn on the Karmic wheel, if you’re involved in aviation, you’ll do a tour here.This time it was the Aircraft Electronics Association […]

Over the weekend, I was searching for my better nature and tried to restrain myself from commenting one more time on the FAA’s tower closure plan (PDF), which was announced Friday. But having read the list and watched the unfolding coverage of this fiasco, I find that… I just can’t stand it.Not the list itself, […]