Multimedia

Famed test pilot Chuck Yeager was a household name through much of his career. But not always. In his first book, “Across the High Frontier,” Yeager said his work during the X-1 project to exceed Mach 1 gave flight test pilots a profile—and respect—they never enjoyed before that. In 1949, he became instantly famous when […]

To say that electric airplanes are a hot item now is to give understatement a bad name. New ones appear almost weekly. In this interview video, AVweb talks to Miles O’Brien, who recently completed and aired an hourlong NOVA film on electric airplanes for PBS. O’Brien and AVweb’s Paul Bertorelli discuss why it’s so difficult […]

Light sport airplanes were supposed to be a cheaper alternative to certified aircraft and they are. But in this republication of AVweb’s analysis of the accident record of these airplanes, the data confirms what many skeptics worried about: They suffer more crashes than standard category aircraft. This video explains why.

The horrific crash of a Bonanza A36 in March due to a runway turnback attempt prompted AOPA Air Safety Institute to shoot this excellent video analyzing turnback results with four different types of aircraft. Bottom line: The turnback is viable for smaller, lightly wing-loaded aircraft flown by a proficient and prepared pilot. It’s unlikely—probably impossible—to […]

Pilots deal with control towers all the time and most think they know what the tower is supposed to do, but … probably not. In this video, AVweb’s Paul Bertorelli explains what air traffic control towers are actually supposed to do. And it isn’t to keep airplanes from colliding in midair, but on the ground. […]