Multimedia

The Bell X-1 is one of aviation history’s most important—and interesting—aircraft. Everyone knows Chuck Yeager flew it to establish the first record-breaking flight beyond Mach 1, but there’s much more to the airplane than that. In this long-form video, AVweb’s Paul Bertorelli uses a fantastic drawing of the X-1 panel by aviation artist Jean-Luc Beghin […]

There’s a reason why propellers are recommended to be overhauled by service hours and calendar time, but they’re often one of the most neglected systems on the aircraft. There’s also a mystery surrounding propeller work, so to get a firsthand look at the propeller overhaul process, Aviation Consumer Editor Larry Anglisano spent some time on […]

After years of soft premiums, the insurance market is turning harder. That means higher rates and insurability issues for aging pilots. Plus, your choice of aircraft can have serious ramifications for the cost and type of insurance coverage you can get—if you can even get the coverage you need. In this long-form video, Aviation Consumer’s […]

Nobody thinks much about aircraft escape slides unless and until they’re needed. And then they think about little else. If an airliner itself is a technical marvel, one of the sub-marvels aboard is the slide system. Every exit door has to have one and in a big airframe like the 777, there may be a […]

For some reason, pilots often make a hash of flying the traffic pattern with especially nasty arguments over straight-in approaches. In this descent into animated madness, AVweb’s Paul Bertorelli takes a humorous look at the issues. For Ercoupe and Mooney owners, the thin-skinned and the humorless, viewer discretion is advised. All others, Happy 2021!