393 Bonanza Ruddervator Crisis Solved: $500K Prize Spurs Certified Replacement
Aviation News Talk – Pilot Stories, Safety Tips & General Aviation News
Release Date: 07/24/2025
411 Vision Jet SF50 Landing Gear Collapse: Wrong Lever After Touchdown +GA News
Aviation News Talk – Pilot Stories, Safety Tips & General Aviation News
Max talks with Rob Mark about a classic “simple mistake with big consequences” scenario: a pilot who possibly raised the landing gear handle instead of selecting flaps up during the landing roll in a Cirrus Vision Jet. The event looks minor on the surface—no injuries and the airplane stayed on the runway—but it exposes a human-factors trap that can bite any retractable-gear pilot, especially when you’re trying to be quick and efficient right after touchdown. The discussion centers on the NTSB’s final report for a Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet that landed at Watsonville Municipal...
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410 Cirrus SR22 Safety: Stabilized Approaches and Go-Around Accident Lessons
Aviation News Talk – Pilot Stories, Safety Tips & General Aviation News
Max talks with Mark Waddell of the Cirrus Owner and Pilots Association (COPA) about how Cirrus pilots can reduce accidents by focusing on the places where the accident chain most often begins: unstable approaches, indecisive go-arounds, and delayed choices during power-loss events. They discuss what pilots are doing in the cockpit that turns routine flights into incidents, and what specific habits and training standards reduce that risk. Mark explains that 2025 included eight fatal Cirrus accidents and twelve CAPS saves. Mark argues that the big safety wins come from addressing repeatable...
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409 Statesville Citation 550 Crash (Greg Biffle): New ADS-B Clue & Rain-Induced Illusions
Aviation News Talk – Pilot Stories, Safety Tips & General Aviation News
Max talks with host Scott Hamilton of WBT, Charlotte's News Talk radio, about the Statesville, North Carolina Citation 550 crash that killed NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and six others, then expands the conversation with a fresh technical finding and a practical training takeaway for pilots. While preparing for the short radio interview, Max revisited the ADS-B track and noticed something he hadn’t seen anyone else write about: the altitude anomaly isn’t merely a “jump,” it’s an impossible spike. The key number is stark. The ADS-B data shows a reported climb of 1,374 feet in 1.64...
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408 Aerobatic Training for Pilots: How Upset Recovery Prevents Loss of Control — Dr. Catherine Cavagnaro
Aviation News Talk – Pilot Stories, Safety Tips & General Aviation News
Max talks with Dr. Catherine Cavagnaro about how aerobatic training builds safer, more confident pilots by reducing loss of control, improving stall and spin awareness, and shortening the startle response. Although many pilots associate aerobatics with airshows or extreme flying, this conversation reframes aerobatic training as a practical safety tool that directly applies to everyday general aviation operations. Catherine explains that the core value of aerobatic training lies in learning where “the edge” of aircraft control really is. Many pilots are taught to avoid stalls and spins...
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407 Starting a Flight School with The Flight Academy
Aviation News Talk – Pilot Stories, Safety Tips & General Aviation News
Max talks with John Fiscus, co-founder of The Flight Academy, and Director of Operations Jordan Ming to break down how one of the country’s most respected Cirrus-focused training organizations was created, expanded, and refined over more than two decades. Whether you’re an instructor considering the entrepreneurial leap, a pilot curious about how flight training businesses operate, or someone fascinated by the evolution of modern GA training, this conversation delivers clear, practical insights rooted in real experience. John opens with the origin story behind The Flight Academy—one...
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406 Flying Tails: Ken Wayne’s Amazing Animal Rescue Flights with Bears, Eagles & Wildlife
Aviation News Talk – Pilot Stories, Safety Tips & General Aviation News
Max talks with former KTVU 2 and KRON 4 anchor Ken Wayne, founder of Flying Tails, about his extraordinary animal rescue flights involving bear cubs, bald eagles, coyotes, and dozens of shelter animals across California. Drawing on his past experience as a Navy journalist, Ken describes the path that led him from military broadcasting to a major-market news career—and ultimately to a mission that blends aviation with wildlife rescue. Ken’s journey began at the Navy’s Defense Information School, where he learned print reporting, photography, radio, and TV production. His service...
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405 Aviation Safety Lessons from Todd Conklin: Human Factors, Margin & Mistakes
Aviation News Talk – Pilot Stories, Safety Tips & General Aviation News
In this episode of Aviation News Talk, we begin with the developing details In this episode of Aviation News Talk, Max sits down with renowned safety expert Dr. Todd Conklin to explore some of the most important aviation safety lessons pilots can learn from Human & Organizational Performance (HOP)—a framework rooted in human factors, systems thinking, and the realities of how people actually perform in complex environments. Todd’s work has shaped safety programs across multiple high-risk industries, and in this episode he explains how these ideas translate directly to aviation, both...
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404 VFR into IMC: Why GA Pilots Crash in Weather and How to Stay VFR + GA News
Aviation News Talk – Pilot Stories, Safety Tips & General Aviation News
In this episode of Aviation News Talk, we begin with the developing details Weather accidents in general aviation often happen to pilots who genuinely believe they’re cautious about flying in marginal conditions. But when you look closely at the chain of decisions that lead up to VFR-into-IMC crashes, a consistent pattern emerges—fatigue, long flights, pressure to complete a trip, weakening visibility, and the belief that “I can stay just under this.” In Episode 404 of Aviation News Talk, Max Trescott unpacks a tragic example of this pattern and shows how NTSB data helps explain why...
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403 UPS MD-11 Crash Analysis + Dr. Catherine Cavagnaro on How to Make Better Landings
Aviation News Talk – Pilot Stories, Safety Tips & General Aviation News
In this episode of Aviation News Talk, we begin with the developing details surrounding the crash of UPS Airlines Flight 2976, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11F cargo aircraft that crashed shortly after takeoff from Louisville, Kentucky. The aircraft, tail number N259UP, was a 34-year-old MD-11F powered by three General Electric CF6-80 engines. Bystander video shows the left engine separated from the wing, with the wing engulfed in flames as the aircraft lifted off. ADS-B data indicates the aircraft climbed less than 100 feet before beginning a descending, left-turning roll from which it did not...
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402 Flying the Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet Before the Type Rating: 5 Days with Ken Ansin
Aviation News Talk – Pilot Stories, Safety Tips & General Aviation News
Vision Jet owner Ken joins Max Trescott to recount an unforgettable five-day training adventure that bridged the gap between piston flying and turbine jet proficiency. As a longtime Cirrus SR22 pilot from the Boston area, Ken had spent nearly a decade flying for both business and family trips, rarely exceeding 300 nautical miles from home. When he decided to upgrade to a 2019 G2 Vision Jet, he wanted more than a checkout—he wanted a head start on mastering the airplane before tackling the Cirrus type rating course in Knoxville. In this episode, Ken explains how his “pre-SOE”...
info_outlineMax talks with Tom Turner, Executive Director of the American Bonanza Society’s Air Safety Foundation, about an extraordinary initiative to preserve the operational future of the iconic V-tail Bonanza aircraft. When Textron Aviation quietly stopped producing the magnesium ruddervator skins—a unique flight control surface used only on V-tail Bonanzas—it left over 5,000 aircraft potentially grounded due to a lack of repair parts. Even minor damage could make these aircraft unrepairable.
To solve this crisis, the ABS Air Safety Foundation awarded the $500,000 Maciel Ruddervator Prize to SRS Aviation of Minnesota. Tom explains the history and challenges behind the ruddervator issue: the original parts were made from a now-obsolete thickness of magnesium, which is no longer commonly produced. Even worse, the chemical process used to harden the magnesium is so caustic and environmentally hazardous that almost no facility could perform it anymore.
SRS Aviation, already experienced in building replacement aluminum control surfaces, initially declined to compete. But after realizing no one else was pursuing a solution, they took on the challenge, developing their own safe and FAA-acceptable hardening process. They eventually met the prize’s requirements, which included certifying replacement skins for all three ruddervator design variants and producing at least 100 completed kits to prove production viability.
Tom also discusses the origin of the prize money: a generous bequest from Manny Maciel, a quiet aircraft fueler in Santa Rosa, California, who left $5 million to aviation safety research. The ABS Air Safety Foundation received $1 million of this funding, which it used to underwrite the prize. Tom emphasizes that the Foundation structured the award not just to incentivize a solution, but to ensure long-term support for V-tail Bonanza owners.
The story also touches on how the ruddervator issue impacted aircraft valuations and even insurance policies—some insurers were unwilling to total aircraft with ruddervator damage, knowing repairs were impossible. Tom notes that after the prize was announced, Textron resumed limited production of the original ruddervator skins, showing how serious ABS was about finding a solution.
Max wraps up by asking what other challenges might face Bonanza owners. Tom replies that while issues will always arise, most are solvable. The ruddervator shortage, however, was unique—it was an existential threat. Thanks to SRS Aviation and the support of the aviation community, that threat has now been eliminated.
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