AVweb Insider

I have always been fascinated by World War II and especially by the history of the Manhattan Project. And that leads inevitably to the B-29 Superfortress and Paul W. Tibbets, whose arc through history put him at the point of two of the war’s biggest projects-the bomb and the bomber that would deliver it.Although it’s […]

Being a certified, card-carrying reactionary member of that special interest group known as general aviation, I am just as capable as the next guy-no, more capable-of reacting with outrage when our industry is put upon by the government. But I like to think of myself as an equal opportunity crank and yesterday’s fiasco with the […]

In my experience, “keynote speech” is sedative by another name. I will confess to having snoozed through more than one of these, with my eyes open and evidence that I actually scribbled notes to write about my waking moments. But Jack Pelton’s address to the Aircraft Electronic Association meeting in Dallas was a cut above […]

During Continental’s press conference summarizing its fuel research into a replacement for 100LL, I had the odd feeling of waking up from a bad dream. As we reported this week, Continental’s idea is that maybe the industry can get by on a fuel called 94UL-essentially 100LL minus the lead. They’ve embarked upon a series of […]

I guess the biggest question I have about the nomination of Randy Babbitt as FAA administrator is what took so long. What I hope is that given the enormity of the other issues facing President Barack Obama’s administration, that the comparatively trivial matters of airspace modernization and FAA funding simply took a back seat. If […]

In my blog last week, I tossed some darts at the Air Force for its cheesy power play to grab a rare F-82 Twin Mustang that belongs to the CAF. After a week of reflecting on this, I now realize that not only was I absolutely right, I have now discovered the real reason the […]

If you’ve been around aviation for a while, you’ve no doubt seen the impact of all kinds of charitable efforts — over a million kids took their first flight in a GA airplane thanks to EAA’s Young Eagles program, and thousands more are learning about science and technology thanks to a hands-on project provided by […]

Adults.Every organization needs at least one. But it looks like the U.S. Air Force Museum is coming up one short. I’ll get to the adult part in a moment, but first the reprise.Earlier this week we reported that the Commemorative Air Force lost a court fight with the Air Force Museum over custody of one […]

With everyone worrying about both the cost and availability of leaded avgas, the reporting we’ve done on Swift Fuel, a proposed replacement, has generated plenty of interest, not to mention questions. The lead-off query: Is this stuff for real?From the outside looking in, it’s always difficult to judge the credibility of projects like this. People […]

Don’t see a video screen?Try disabling ad blockers and refreshing this page.If that doesn’t work, click here to download the video directly. There are various dividing lines in the world of aviation, none more stark than that drawn between avocational pilots and professionals-the airline and military community. Although we should know better intellectually, those of […]