Aviation Safety

You are flying a well-appointed, 180-hp Cessna 172 and with a friend have just taken off from Aspen, Colo., on a trip back to Wichita. You make a right climbing turn over the hills north of the airport and, at 80 knots, continue climbing to the southeast. The air has a gentle texture, not even light turbulence.

As you gain altitude in the valley of the Roaring Fork River you are below the tops of the mountains. The September gold of the aspens is phenomenal. Theres a cloudless, blue sky. You are feeling good because you flew in and out of Aspen successfully and didnt foul up in the busy mix of aircraft types and opposite direction traffic on runway 15-33.

Your airplane rises steadil…

All right, you finally scared me. After years of reading your excellent articles as a low time pilot and thinking Ill never do that, you sent me one on spatial disorientation that I probably would have done: launch into a dark, moonless, featureless night without anything even remotely resembling an instrument rating [What If?, February].

Perhaps Ive been lulled into a false sense of confidence by instructors who tell me my instrument skills are pretty good for a non-rated pilot. Perhaps its because there are almost always lights around to provide a ground reference in Northeastern New Jersey. Maybe because most of my 12 hours per year are flown at night and that I periodically spen…

Couldnt resist commenting on Milovan Brenloves Gasping for Gas [Airmanship, February]. His example of the private pilot who believed he had 26.5 gallons per tank in his 150 only to discover in reality the airplane carried 22.5 gallons per tank wouldnt have been saved the embarrassment of running out of gas even had he plugged in the 45 gallon stats.

According to an old manual I have for a 74 150, usable fuel for the little trainer totals 22.5 gallons. Thats both tanks, not in each. The optional long range tanks in the 150s prior to 65 provided only 35 gallons; 38 gallons through 77; the 152 long range upped the ante to a total of 39 gallons usable.

To quote the article, Misin…

I really like Aviation Safety, but after I read Climb and Maintain What? [Risk Management, December] I wondered how it got there. Then I thought it might have really been a plant to get readers to write on this topic.

I agree that the hemispherical rule has its problems, exactly as outlined. To address these, I was taught during my primary instruction to fudge a bit on the altitude. Therefore I might cruise at 4400, or 5650, within 250 ft of the xx,500 ft levels during VFR. In fact, my instructor never wanted us at an even height of x,500 or x,000, even when too low for the hemispherical rule, and I stay away from those altitudes still. In 500 hours, I have had 3 near-misses, sepa…

Debate with the Devil [Learning Experiences, March] offered a very interesting insiders look at a fuel exhaustion accident that didnt happen. A full-blown accident investigation wouldnt have provided the details, considerations and actions that the pilot offered in his contrite and articulate description of his flight, from planning to touchdown. His debate with the devil was a good dose of get-home-itis.

The thing that stands out to me is the need for continuing training to reduce or eliminate fuel-related accidents. The perfect format is the mandatory flight review or the Wings Program. All that needs to be done is make a mandatory training syllabus. The writers lessons learne…

Thanks for the usual informative issue of Aviation Safety.

No-Fly Zones [April, Weather Tactics] was of special interest, as I fly in and about the Sierra Nevada Mountains most of the time, with home base at Reno Stead Airport.

There is one small addition that I would like to make to Ms. Lambs article. We should spend some time talking to our friends without engines, as they must pay attention to the air movements over the mountains.

At least some reading of the good books on that subject would be of benefit.

The accident over Independence Pass Lamb mentioned could have been avoided by using ridge lift to help.

A couple of years ago I stopped at Aspen for fuel in my old…

The following briefs were selected from the 189 preliminary reports filed with the NTSB in May 1999. Statements in quotes were taken directly from the NTSB documents. The information is subject to change as the investigations are completed. Click here to view “Accident Totals, March.”

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May 1, New Milford, Conn.
Glaser-Dirks DG-400
At about 15:03 EDT, a Glaser-Dirks DG-400 broke up in flight and crashed. The pilot bailed out and received only minor injuries. The glider was self-launched from Mountain Meadow Airport in Burlington about 13:30. Flying straight and level at about 6,500 feet, the pilot heard a sharp ban…

Visual perception starts with a complex image analysis done by neurons in the eye. That data is sent to the brain, which interprets information from the eyes by using information gained from prior experience (and some fancy processing tricks). Unlike a photograph, where what you see is what you get, real life visual perception hinges largely on things that are inferred.

Consequently, you can be fooled fairly easily when you place yourself in environments and circumstances that violate the visual rules that you learned through prior experience. Sometimes the fooling around can be fun, as with textbook optical illusions. Other times however, vision can fool you into a tragic mistake.

A…

Pilots and even aircraft owners have a tendency to take airplanes at face value. If a friend or acquaintance asks you to go flying, do you ask to see the maintenance logs, check the applicable ADs, or even tag along on the preflight?

The fact is that the FARs put the onus on the airplane owner to maintain the aircraft in an airworthy condition, and most people trust that the rules have been followed. And when someone asks you to go flying with them, odds are you accept that persons piloting skills as a given without even asking a few simple questions.

The last flight of an Aero Commander 500-B shows just how misplaced that trust can be. The aircraft was being positioned from Lancaster…

General aviation airplanes are great business tools that improve our efficiency by allowing us to do more work that is productive in the same total time. However, a self-piloted businessperson – primarily an instrument-rated private or commercial pilot who flies him/herself in a high performance single or light twin on business trips – can end up in trouble if they dont use that tool correctly.

Perhaps the most common problem experienced by the self-piloted business flier is fatigue. The flexibility of the GA airplane tempts them into scheduling themselves into situations in which they cannot get adequate rest before flying.

How About This…
Lets say you have a 10:00 a….