Three Out Of Four

As a 1700-hour pilot with what I consider a set of prudent and safe practices, I knew my initial 10-hour engine break-in flights would be VFR-only. Certainly, there was no reason to take chances. After liftoff on my second hour of break-in flights, I reported in to our local tower to make them aware I was out there flying around their Class C airspace, near Lexington, Ky. As I reported my altitude, 3000 feet, and well below the cloud deck, the friendly controller politely responded, “We show your Mode C as 2400.”

Editorial Staff

Wednesday, December 21, 2011 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

LFA has provided more than 1,500 free orientation flights primarily to youth from underrepresented groups since 2015, with banner years taking place in 2017 and 2018 (above), when nearly 1,000 youth were flown during those years. Courtesy Legacy Flight Academy

Key Takeaways:

A pilot encountered a 600-foot altitude discrepancy where ATC and multiple digital avionics reported an altitude lower than his primary altimeter.
Trusting the digital readouts, he unknowingly flew 500-600 feet lower than his actual altitude for several hours, as his "steam gauge" altimeter was later found to be correct.
The issue stemmed from a faulty Mode C encoder, demonstrating how a single component failure can feed incorrect data to ATC and three other interconnected avionics systems.

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As a 1700-hour pilot with what I consider a set of prudent and safe practices, I knew my initial 10-hour engine break-in flights would be VFR-only. Certainly, there was no reason to take chances.