Aviation Safety

Partial panel isnt a death sentence, but backups – from simple manifold suction to complete panel redesign – turn it into a nonevent.

ELTs are there to aid rescuers, but false alarms are compounded by the fact that ELTs usually dont work when they should.

In a little airplane, a final longer than a half-mile is a gross waste of national resources. Tighter patterns are better and more fun.

Old airplane and twin-engine psychology take Apache pilot down the wrong road toward emergency landing.

Last week I was scheduled for my second solo flight, and I arrived at the airport (a controlled, class D field) ready and willing. It had been a rainy day up until that point, but the weather had broken, and it was now clear VFR with 10 miles of visibility and a scattered layer at about 6,500.

It was 4:00 pm, and I figured that I could get in at least a good hour before sunset. My first solo the day before had gone splendidly and I was feeling confident in my abilities to go up and do it again. I got my weather briefing, preflighted the aircraft, a 1998 Cessna 172R, and was all ready to start her up when I was interrupted.

My instructor, who had been in the pattern with another studen…

On a coast-to-coast cross country in my 160-hp Warrior, my wife and I made a planned stop at Grand Canyon (GCN) while enroute to Camarillo, Calif., via Las Vegas. We arrived in the late afternoon, intending to leave the next morning for LAS. Instead, we decided it would be fun to see the canyon in mornings light, and we decided to remain overnight an additional night and leave at 6 a.m. local time since the density altitude was reaching over 8,500 feet msl by mid-morning at the airports 6,600 ft elevation.

Having experienced the Warriors abysmal climb in high density altitude conditions the previous day at El Paso, I was anxious to be in the air no later than 6:30.

We arrived at G…

A pilot we know usually starts (and often completes) his preflight in the car on the way to the airport. He calls Flight Service from the cell phone. He pulls the airplane out of the T-hangar, makes sure its got both wings and still has a propeller, and away he goes.

Most pilots are a bit more diligent, calling Flight Service before leaving home or the office and conducting a more thorough walk-around before parking the car in the hangar and heading out. Some are downright anal-retentive about it, plotting the weather for days before a flight and conducting a 100-hour inspection before lighting the fire.

Over the recent Thanksgiving holiday, I was reminded of how many different faces…

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

The FAA reported that there have been numerous instances of structural corrosion of the wing attachment fitting on virtually all Cessna single-engine airplanes.

The agency recommends an inspection to determine the airworthiness of the parts. Mechanics should remove the top and bottom fairings covering the wing/fuselage attachments and inspect the spar block, the center wing spar and the wing spar assembly for corrosion.

The areas of concern for the Cessnas indicated are the spar block, spar channels and the upper end of the doorposts. Any evidence of corrosion in…

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

The FAA is looking into a number of reports and safety recommendations that have arisen as a result of lines behind the instrument panel leaking flammable fluid. The problems are encountered in a variety of models, from old models of aircraft currently in production to out-of-production vintage models to current production models.

Part 23 certification rules require a means to minimize the ignition and resultant hazard of ignition associated with the installation of flammable fluid systems. However, many older models do not have to comply with current Part 23 rules….

Welcome to the new world, where freedoms are lost on a moments notice through vague Notams, backed by a fleet of fighter jets. Thats something I would expect to read in a political editorial, not in a safety magazine. Who is the enemy here? What are you trying to say?

Ive been a reader of Aviation Safety for several years and have found it a worthy publication. I have even recommended it to many of my pilot friends. However, I found the article You Cant Fly There! [Risk Management, December] totally out of line. I gave myself a cooling-off period, but a day later Im still as livid as I was when I read it.

Im an experienced general aviation pilot and an active CFI. However,…