AVweb Insider

I know by firsthand experience that AVweb finds its way into the upper reaches of the FAA’s HQ at 800 Independence Avenue in Washington. What I don’t know is this: Do the gentle people inhabiting FAA’s mahogany row have a clue of how their lower minions are carrying out their jobs? Do they have even […]

Superior Airparts announced last week that it’s being purchased and re-capitalized by a Chinese company. Key the kneejerk reaction: Good grief, are we shipping the entire country to China? In five years, will there be anything left?I’ll concede that this is my standard reaction whenever I’m told or read that a company has sold its […]

When I was watching the morning news the other day and an overhead view of the Ted Stevens crash site flashed on the screen, I had two immediate reactions. The first: I’ve seen this before. And a second later, I found myself wondering why this kind of accident still happens. To the first reaction, the […]

The dynamics of obtaining professional flight training in the United States are no doubt complex-which is why we focus on the elements of finding a good flight instructor and training organization whenever we talk to prospective pilots about learning to fly. The consumer must be their own best advocate, because those flight training organizations vary […]

God help me, but I found myself oddly-and not that unenthusiastically-sympathetic with one Steven Slater. He’s the Jet Blue flight attendant who finally went around the bend Monday after a passenger bopped him in the head with a suitcase being extracted from the overhead. He helped himself to a beer, popped a forward emergency slide […]

AirVenture is many things to many people, but one thing is undeniable: It is a giant, unending photo-op for airplane junkies. A blind-folded four-year old could swing a camera with the shutter on auto could produce Web-worthy images. So when Jack Roush’s jet crumped on the runway last week, it was inevitable that it would […]

The sky falls just about every day here at AVweb and, frankly, you get used to it. It doesn’t seem to take much. Adjust the regulations or the laws a little and the e-mail pours in.Sometimes the matter in question is so patently ridiculous that we jump on it. The inability of the FAA and […]

MEGO on AvgasJust as everyone predicted, avgas was the hot topic of discussion at AirVenture, throughout the week. Some of this discussion was public in forums and briefings, some was behind the scenes. Why it takes so much lip flapping to move things forward is truly baffling, but we have come to accept that it […]

Year of the VolunteerI was walking toward Aeroshell Square yesterday when Doug Rozendaal pulled up in his golf cart for a chat. His first observation: EAA AirVenture 2010 ought to christened the Year of the Volunteer. He’s right. The hundreds of volunteers that keep AirVenture running smoothly have always worked tirelessly to do any of […]

In a moment of absolute delusional optimism, when I left for Oshkosh last week, I secretly thought that AirVenture would, at long last, produce the briefest, shining glimpses of clarity about a replacement for 100LL. My wild fantasy was that a path out of the mire would at least become visible, if not negotiable.Sadly, just […]