Accident Probes

Fight flights are some of my favorites. The air usually is smooth, what traffic is sharing the sky can be spotted easily, theres less chatter on ATC frequencies and-when conditions are right-the beauty is unmatched. But flying at night also brings with it some additional challenges, at least when compared with the same mission during the daytime. The root problem, of course, is lack of illumination. More than a few aircraft have smacked into hillsides at night and in good weather. Even more insidious is dealing with the odd emergency, especially if we have to put down in a remote, unlit area.

Pilots and non-pilots alike fret about and measure a flights quality by the landing. Yes, landings are important to get right, but takeoffs and initial climb procedures can be just as critical. In fact, I worry about takeoffs more than landings. One of the reasons is a takeoff involves more variables and uncertainties than a landing. As an example, the airplane weighs more than it will the rest of the flight and exhibits its worst performance. For another, were accelerating, not slowing down. In fact, were trying to go as fast as we can in as short a distance as possible. A third thing is the relatively unknown status of the airplane: How will it feel? Is it loaded correctly? Is it trimmed correctly? Will it perform as expected? What about the local wind and weather-is it what we expected from our preflight briefing and personal observations? If there are obstacles, will we be able to clear them if something goes wrong?

Almost any airplane more than a handful of years out of the factory has been modified to some extent. These pages have, on several occasions, discussed the difference between minor modifications requiring only a logbook entry, major mods accomplished as a field approval with an FAA Form 337 and more complicated additions necessitating a supplemental type certificate (STC). For my own airplane, which has been in service coming up on 50 years, I keep a three-ring binder documenting and preserving the Forms 337 and STC paperwork. The binder isnt full, but it wont take much before Ill need to find another place to keep all those important forms.

Ive done my share of flying to and from soft fields, in a variety of airplanes, including 150s, 172s and my current flivver, a Beech Debonair. The landing portion doesnt require a great deal of planning-presuming the runway isnt too short-and my primary training taught me well enough I never have a problem with the arrival. The departure, however, is another thing entirely. The built-in deceleration a soft field provides on landing works against us on takeoff. Soft terrain, high grass and (my) imperfect technique all combine to lengthen the takeoff roll. I know this, again thanks to my training, and always pull out the AFM/POH or a soft-field takeoff checklist to review the procedures. Ideally, I do that-plus run a basic soft-field takeoff performance calculation-before even committing to go into such a landing area.

Ensuring the aircraft were about to fly is adequate for the mission is one of the reasons we perform preflight inspections. During such inspections, well occasionally find something amiss. Depending on what it is, whether the problem can be remedied before takeoff and the mission, we may decide to depart without it. (The legality of taking off without all equipment functioning is discussed in the article beginning on page 12 of this issue.) Owners tend to know their rides better than a renter knows the airplane he or she has been assigned. We might know, for example, a gentle tap on the oil pressure gauge will awaken it, the landing light has burned out again or the number two comm always has a problem with certain frequencies.

No matter what and where we fly, our speed usually is of interest. Sometimes, were just out loafing, watching the clouds above us and the cars below us. Other times, were trying to get somewhere and for any number of reasons want to do it as quickly as possible. In fact, a personal airplane often is an ideal traveling tool, one ensuring the fastest door-to-door travel times this side of a Star Trek transporter beam. Speed usually is a good thing.

Using a single-engine airplane for long-distance, literally cross-country trips, usually isnt a good choice. That is, of course, until you survey all the other choices-including the airlines-and decide the flexibility and utility of using a personal airplane is the only way to go. Often, of course, the flight is the trips purpose, not the act of getting to a destination. Watching various landmarks and other magnificent scenery slide underneath the wings-albeit relatively slowly-makes up for the time it can take, especially when headed west into prevailing winds.

Launching into instrument conditions usually is a busy time, especially for the single pilot. When ceilings are low, the almost-immediate transition from conducting a takeoff visually to flying the airplane on instruments can be very demanding. The airplane is at its heaviest for this flight and at a relatively low airspeed, plus were trying to do many things at once, including navigating, communicating and aviating. Doing it without any reference to the natural horizon means we can be at our busiest for normal, non-emergency operations.

Whenever we use a personal airplane for travel, we impose on ourselves pressure to complete the flight. The same is true of driving a car, weeding a garden or writing a magazine article: There is at least one thing we want to accomplish by engaging in an activity. The pressure may be subtle, and most of the time it doesnt affect the flights outcome, but its there. But pressure often is not the least bit subtle. On one extreme, maybe weve simply told someone were going to fly over someones house at such and such a time. If were late, or dont make the flight at all, we might be accused of wimping out, or perhaps of not being a good enough pilot to find the house.

Flying has been said to involve hours and hours of boredom populated with moments of sheer terror. Of course, if were doing it right, there might be a number of times when were very busy, but avoiding the moments of sheer terror is what its all about. Indeed, one of the things separating seasoned pilots from those with less experience involves how we respond when things dont go as we planned.