Experimentals

The first time you start the engine on your airplane, you should be really close to completion. Not 90% done and 90% to-go close, but really, really close. This is because you will be removing the preservative measures that should have been in place all through the construction process, and you will now expose your […]

Letter of the Week:ALPA’s Medical Bombshell I’m a retired Northwest Airlines (now Delta) 747-400 captain. I was a member of ALPA for 38 years. The letter ALPA put out against medical is baseless. Due to the fact many ALPA pilots and those representing pilots at other carriers, retired and active, own GA aircraft, I think […]

At AirVenture 2015, a Chinese company called Liaoning General Aviation Academy brought its new RX1E electric trainer. AVweb took a look at the airplane and shot this news video describing the aircraft. view on YouTube

Electric airplanes have generated a lot of interest for their potential to cut costs and complexity in entry-level GA airplanes. George Bye, CEO of Sun Flyer, says his company has blazed a new path for certification that he believes will enable them to bring to market a two-seat electric trainer with a three-hour flight duration […]

Jim Bede, who for more than 50 years designed airplanes, aircraft components and homebuilding kits, died Thursday in Cleveland, Ohio, after suffering an aneurysm. His company in Medina, Bedecorp, sells plans and kits for a series of aircraft including the BD-4B and BD-17. His early design, the BD-1 from the early 1960s, evolved into the […]

It’s funny how a rendezvous with old friends can inspire acts of either derring-do or works of complete insanity. Sometimes you just can’t help yourself. I attended the Dawn Patrol Rendezvous in 2005, flying a Dennis Wiley-designed Jenny and came away with a terrible resolve after talking with Robert Baslee during the dedication dinner. We […]

Back in the blissfully simple days of 1986, before cable news became the 24-hour din it is today, I recall watching some coverage of Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager landing the Voyager back at Edwards Air Force base, where they had begun their round-the-world flight nine days earlier. Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff had been […]

Pipistrel is taking orders for its pure-electric Alpha Electro aircraft. AVweb’s Paul Bertorelli recently went to Slovenia to fly the aircraft and prepared this video report. view on YouTube

The Carbon Cub is CubCrafters’ most popular seller, by far. Slap a pair of Aerocet floats on it and head for the nearest lake, and it’s easy to understand why. AVweb’s Paul Bertorelli did just that and prepared this video report. view on YouTube

If ever we need a king in this country and someone put me in charge, somewhere on my to-do list would be getting rid of FAR 91.119. OK, so I wouldn’t eliminate it, but I’d amend it so that people would just worry about it less. I’ve been in more discussions than I care to […]