AVweb Insider

Anyone who transcends beyond casual skepticism understands that to be truly blackhearted is to know that cynicism is the smoke that curls up from burned dreams. Personally, I’ve embraced it, with a list of failings and character flaws so numerous that I need an Excel spreadsheet just to list them. But one thing I am […]

I never know quite what to expect when I cover the Aircraft Electronics Association show, which opened Monday in Las Vegas. As shows go, it’s decidedly non-mega, with only about 130 exhibitors, many of them trade-to-trade selling tools and equipment shops are interested in but our readers aren’t. This year’s show illuminated some trends that […]

The text message was familiar: “Have to cancel today’s lesson.” The accompanying sad-face emoji didn’t mitigate the fact that too many flying lessons never get off the ground, stalled by self-imposed realities of alleged real-world issues. Over a quarter-century of instructing, I estimate about half of all appointments cancel and not simply because the student […]

Aviation regulation theory couldn’t be simpler. The freckle-necked masses aren’t expert enough to assess the relative risks in boarding a flying machine so we, as a society, allow the government to establish certain standards and rules designed to eliminate the most egregious practices that people trying to make money in the flying game will, quite […]

When trying to count and classify a group of pronghorn antelope from the air, you deal with lots of factors that aren’t included in most other general aviation flying. Where are the towers or power lines? Where’s the light coming from? Where’s the wind coming from and how strong is it? Where are the fences? […]

As Monday’s tragic helicopter accident in the East River vividly shows, ditching in a rotorcraft is a low-probability, high-consequence event. The reason for this is that helicopters, with their roof-mounted power trains, have a high center of mass and they always turn over, flood quickly and sink. Because of these dismal survival aspects, many helicopters […]

Gail Halvorsen. Some readers will instantly recognize that name, some will search the mists of their memories and others will draw a blank. Which are you? In 1948, Gail Halvorsen was a 27-year-old prematurely balding Air Force transport pilot who gained overnight fame as the beloved Candy Bomber during the Berlin Airlift. At 97, Halvorsen […]

In my recent wanderings in the online aviation world, I came across this question in a few different places … if pilots are so scarce, why do airlines still require pilot applicants to have a four-year college degree? Especially since they often don’t seem to care what the degree is in … forestry or engineering […]

I just pulled down from a dusty shelf in my office a plaque awarded to me for an important aviation achievement. It was presented to me personally by none other than famed flight test pilot and Collier Trophy winner Scott Crossfield. More on that in a moment. The reason I retrieved it relates to something […]

With pilot friends like this, who needs Comedy Central? The pilot of an experimental RV-6 in Michigan told a friend to get to the beach and watch for his flyby. As promised the sleek two-seater buzzed at 100 feet, made three passes—one is never enough—pulled up in a steep turn, stalled and hit the water, […]