AVweb Insider

Earlier this week, Garmin sent out a press release reminding us that during this week 25 years ago, it rolled out the first approach-approved GPS navigator, the GPS 155 TSO. In commemoration of that seminal event, Garmin is giving away free ADS-B installations until the end of the month. That previous sentence is an utter […]

The corner newsboy was hawking the morning edition with Dead End Kids enthusiasm, “Extra: Chicago To Reopen Meigs Field! War Against General Aviation To End!” Scooped, but willing to follow someone else’s possibly phony story, I tossed a Buffalo nickel with, “Keep the change!” And, adjusting my fedora, flagged down a cab and ordered the […]

In another world and another age, when I lived in Connecticut, several times a year I’d hop in the Mooney and fly down to DCA, walk to the Metro, thence to the NTSB’s basement to pore over accident reports. This led quite naturally to my penchant for reducing eye-bulging, bowel-loosening fear to actual numbers so […]

Periodically, a story falls into your lap. This one fell 37 years ago, and I just discovered the relevance to today’s flying. Well, maybe. Nov. 3, 1982, was a slow news day in Watsonville, California, when the local radio led with, “Local Man Lands Airplane on Freeway.” I was on my way to work as […]

Today’s reality quiz: You’re in an airport boarding lounge and the gate agent announces your flight has been delayed because a drone was sighted near the airport. In the improbably fantastical world I’ve created for this blog, the agent asks for a vote: Go or stay on the ground? How do you vote? How do […]

As I’ve stated before, airshow flying is risky. So is practicing to fly in an airshow. Thankfully, not all years include the death of a civilian or military pilot practicing for or flying in a show. But sadly, 2018 was not a good year at all, resulting in the deaths of civilian and military performers, […]

The profoundly concerned TV meteorologist warned of dangerously cold temperatures sweeping across the Midwest, conjuring Dr. Zhivago images of Cossacks on horseback and Lara Guishar in her Ice Palace with Omar Sharif to keep her warm and free from reality. A nice try to glam up winter, but it failed. I despise the season. Hate […]

If you’re traveling by air today—your own airplane or via airlines—you’re having a much better experience than would have been likely if the government hadn’t been reopened on Friday. With the paychecks again flowing, a massive flu outbreak among air traffic controllers has been miraculously avoided. In the annals of disease prevention, it may stand […]

In between your news reporting of the U.S. government shutdown and what adverts might be played during the Super Bowl, you might have heard talk mentioned of the U.K.’s Brexit negotiations. I hesitate to use the word negotiations, as that would indicate all the parties involved are working together to bring together divergent positions into […]

A friend used to delight in telling a joke about the Georgia State Patrol officer who pulls over a couple of rednecks in a pickup, taps his nightstick on the driver’s window then reaches in and pummels the guy for two minutes. “Why’d you do that?” complains the driver. The officer explains one should never […]