I Learned About Flying From That: Three Laws

Chester Peterson

Friday, August 09, 2013 at 07:47 PM ET

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** To see more of Barry Ross' aviation art, go
to barryrossart.com.**

Key Takeaways:

During a cross-country flight, the pilot and instructor encountered rapidly deteriorating, unforecasted weather, leading to disorientation and a dangerously low fuel state.
Against better judgment, the instructor pressed on into the weather, nearly forcing an emergency landing before the pilot recognized a landmark, allowing them to find an airport.
The flight concluded with an extremely close call, as the aircraft landed with only 0.1 gallons of fuel remaining in its 13-gallon tank.
This harrowing experience taught the pilot crucial lessons, forming his personal laws of flying: always have an "out" and never completely trust a weather forecast.

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I encountered a minor problem while working on my private pilot ticket: Members of the Des Moines, Iowa, company’s flying club kept crashing their airplanes!

In one case, a member got into weather he couldn’t handle in a Tri-Pacer with minimal instruments. So he put her down in a cornfield. He wasn’t hurt, but the wings were torn off the light airplane. Then, a month after it was airworthy again, a member who hadn’t paid his member dues for two years but still had a key flew it. Whatever he did (we think he overleaned, causing the engine to detonate), he also found a handy cornfield in which to land. The Tri-Pacer survived all right, but the engine was completely trashed.