Learning Experiences

I rented a Cessna 182RG from a local flight school in Houston to fly a couple of buddies down to Scholes Field in Galveston one night. The weather was perfect, with no wind to speak of and the visibility was about 3,000 miles. Temperature was about 55 degrees. There was not a cloud in the sky and no moon. In short, they were the kind of flight conditions every pilot would love to fly in – especially to view the skyline of a large city like Houston.

I departed David Wayne Hooks about 9:30 p.m. for the 20 or 25 minute flight. The flight down was really terrific with all the city lights. We passed just north of the large downtown buildings through what is known as the I-10 corridor (an are…

We had just had three to four weeks of absolutely beautiful late summer/early fall weather. I got in as much flying during that time as I could, but unfortunately other commitments prevented me from getting in more than a few hours.

I was buoyed by the knowledge that my wife and I were about to embark on an extended trip that would take us to a resort in South Carolina for a four-day stay, then on to a week in Florida visiting relatives, followed by a stop in Atlanta to visit our daughters family.

There were things that needed to be done to get the plane ready for the trip. In the last few weeks I had received two mandatory service bulletins on my 1995 A-36 Bonanza. Id also had a few…

Last year, my wife and I were flying our newly acquired Piper Cherokee 235 cross-country from Virginia to Oregon, where we planned to help my parents celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary.

After dodging late-summer thunderstorms over Indiana and enjoying big, thick steaks in Grand Island, Neb., we departed for our next refueling stop in Rock Springs, Wyo. We climbed to 10,000 feet and cruised IFR above a low cloud deck. On the airway between North Platte and Scottsbluff, I noticed the oil pressure was beginning to fluctuate slightly.

The big Lycoming O-540 was roaring along and hadnt missed a beat, and the oil temperature was steady and in the green. A few miles later, the fluctu…

I was flying my PA-24-250 Comanche to Lee Airport in Annapolis, Md. It was a beautiful VFR day and, as always, I was taking advantage of ATC flight following. Everything went smoothly until Andrews Approach Control terminated radar services and instructed me to squawk VFR.

Approaching from the south, I noted again the orientation of the single runway, 12-30. There is no automated weather at Lee, so I tuned in to CTAF for traffic advisories and to hear which runway was in use. At this point, things got confusing.

The first response to my call for traffic advisories was a female voice stating she was about to take off using runway 30, and that the wind had been fluky lately. Shortly…

As pilots, I am sure we have all thought about death and the possibility of being involved in a plane crash. If you are like me, you can hear a small plane fly overhead before you see it and look to the sky whenever practical. We read literature on the subject, study and perform refreshers, and try to plan for the possibility that one day we will be forced to endure the five minutes of panic for which we have prepared.

A few months ago, I had the unfortunate opportunity to witness a pilot during these five minutes. It seemed like eternity to me and I cannot imagine how it felt to him. You would think that this pilot was somewhat lucky since he was able to get to an airport when he encoun…

I guess you would call me a senior pilot although I have been flying for just 11 years. I learned to fly at age 66 and got my instrument rating at age 72. I share a Cessna 182 with a friend in Florida and a Cessna 172 with a friend in Cleveland. This story is about the 172.

Last spring triple two Juliet was presented to the maintenance shop at Cuyahoga County for its annual inspection. No major problems were reported, with a few small items listed and corrected. All AD requirements met, the plane returned to our hangar.

The aircraft was not flown for several weeks because weather and personal reasons kept us from flying. But finally at the end of April I was able to make some time fo…

I own a Cessna 170 thats a great plane and has received a lot of attention of would-be buyers. I am not interested in selling the plane but have received a number of unsolicited inquiries. I believe some of that interest led to what turned out to be a new lesson for me in the value of a thorough pre-flight inspection.

My wife and I had decided to take a quick day trip to Wendover, Utah, for brunch and a little gambling. My airplane is kept at Salt Lake International Airport, where access is restricted through a gate with an electronic access code.

When we arrived, everything appeared to be in order. We began removing the tie downs, chocks and windshield cover and then I conducted my…

This experience took me years to admit because of how close to disaster I came and how easily it could have been avoided.

So here goes. I was a newly rated IFR multi-engine pilot ready for the excitement and challenge on a beautiful fall day for a trip from Toronto to Venice, Fla. We headed to the airport with all the weather briefings complete, notams checked and IFR flight plan filed. We planned a stop at Charlotte, N.C., to clear Customs and refuel, with the next stop Venice.

I made a thorough walkaround, carefully checking the fuel tanks, both mains and auxiliaries via eye-balling them because everyone knows you cant trust fuel gauges. Our Seneca was ready to go.

Off we went…

It was a flying day. The sky had not a single cloud, the temperature was 78 degrees. It was April 1st and I was an 18-year-old April fool with a freshly minted private pilot license.

I actually flew twice that day. The first flight of the day was just not enough, so I had to go for more. The afternoon sun was dipping to the west as I headed out in the 152 with my passenger, a friends roommate.

What a grand time we had zooming over the hills and valleys of the desert right out to a large lake north of town. Then, the foolishness began to kick in. Wanna get a closer look at that boat? I yelled above the roar of the engine. Sure! she hollered back.

So I dipped lower, getting us…

As a 3,000-hour pilot with a CFII rating, I am reasonably comfortable in the cockpit in either the right or left side. However, when I havent flown in a while I like to go out and fly by myself and run through some maneuvers as well as get in some short- and soft-field takeoffs and landings before I take passengers.

One day in the early summer I found myself in a situation where I needed to fly my wife from Portland, Ore., to Spokane, Wash., on a Sunday. I had not flown our Cessna 172 for about four months, so on the Saturday before I decided to go out and knock off some of the rust and enjoy the kind of sunny day that we here in Oregon hope makes up for living in the rain the other eigh…