Aviation Safety

The relationship between angle of bank and stall speed isnt a mystery, but it is a bit complicated. Heres whats going on, and why.

When stratus happens and you didnt file, youll need to sweet talk your way into the system. Here are some practical tips to do that safely.

Glider pilots learn energy management as a matter of survival and usually make it back to a runway. Whats their secret?

Landing gear-related mishaps are alarmingly frequent. In-depth research shows distractions and modified procedures are usually to blame. Having a CFI aboard may not help.

Although you might not tell the FAA about it, are you absolutely certain youre healthy enough for this flight?

No Toys Allowed

It was my first solo cross-country flight, from the John Wayne-Orange County Airport (SNA) to Ramona, Calif. (RNM). The objective was to use pilotage and dead reckoning, so my instructor admonished, Remember: No toys like GPS allowed, before endorsing my logbook.

But, using my visual checkpoints and timing them, everything was going according to plan. On my third leg of the flight, the wind must have shifted, though, because I couldnt find my next checkpoint.

I knew better-even then-and should have executed a lost procedure. I thought it would take only a few more minutes of looking around before I find something familiar. But the next thing I knew, SoCa…

The following information is derived from the FAAs Service Difficulty Reports and Aviation Maintenance Alerts.

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Cessna Single Engine Airplanes
Fuel Strainer Orientation
The FAA has been advised that some fuel strainer assemblies may have been originally installed or are being put back into service improperly. Cessna single-engine airplanes may have the fuel strainer assembly installed with the fuel flow arrow oriented against the fuel flow path. Although fuel may freely flow, contaminants may not be removed during a normal check of the fuel strainer. The FAA recommends all owners and operators check fuel strainer orientation at the next inspection to ensure pr…

Short, Soft And Bold
Jeff Pardos Soft Touch in the June 2006 issue asks rhetorically what to do if a field is short and soft, without giving a definitive answer. This question was asked by the Gulf Coast instructors who signed my logbook as a trick question, because the correct answer was there is no such thing as a short/soft takeoff.

Pardo notes that most POHs dont cover this territory. The technical reason for this is that the techniques for soft-field takoffs and short-field takeoffs are mutually incompatible, so that trying to combine them means the pilot is doing neither. The Advanced Pilots Flight Manual, by William Kershner, briefly mentions combining a shor…

At 0623 Mountain time, a Swearingen SA226TC twin-engine turbo-prop sustained an in-flight failure of an elevator control cable during initial takeoff climb. Visual conditions prevailed; the Airline Transport pilot, who was the sole occupant, was not injured. At rotation speed, the pilot pulled back on the yoke and the aircraft left the ground. At this point, yoke came back all the way back and the aircraft quickly began to pitch upward. The pilot reported that moving the yoke forward had no effect and it felt disconnected from the elevators. The pilot quickly began to trim nose down and reduced power to stop excessive upward pitch. The pilot executed a gradual descent to the runway and lande…

The airplane was substantially damaged during a forced landing to a field at approximately 1430 Central time following a loss of engine power. The Private pilot and sole occupant was not injured. Visual conditions prevailed. The pilot, who received a Private pilots certificate on February 7, 2006, reported to authorities that soon after leveling off at 5500 feet, the engine lost power and then stopped. An engine restart was unsuccessful. During the emergency landing, the airplane rolled through a wire fence while striking several steel posts….