Systems Check

Preflight inspections are kind of like landings: a good one takes some practice. As students, we were trained to walk around the airplane with a formal checklist, perhaps with our thumb pointing to the task at hand, so we wouldnt miss anything. And in the rental/training environment, a methodical approach to preflighting what youre about to fly has a great deal of merit: You never know who flew it last, the airplanes condition afterward and what they broke until you look for yourself.

while in four out of five accidents blamed on fuel contamination

During a routine inspection, the technician noted the strobe lights would remain on after the switch was selected off. Troubleshooting revealed the switch to be defective. Removing and disassembling the switch revealed the solder joint holding the braided wire had broken and welded itself to the line post. Switch was replaced IAW AD 2008-13-17 in May 2009.

Loss of control in-flight (LOC-I) has become the safety issue du jour, and justifiably so. According to the NTSB, between 2001 and 2011, over 40 percent of fatal fixed-wing GA accidents occurred because pilots lost control of their airplanes. Takeoff and climb, landing and maneuvering are regarded to be the flight phases in which pilots are most susceptible to LOC-I,

Most of us fly aircraft powered by piston engines, a basic technology dating back to the late 19th century. Meanwhile, the modern air-cooled aircraft piston engines basic configurations hasnt changed since before WWII. Given the power output for their weight and fuel consumption, theres no better solution. But hundreds of metal parts going through thousands of heat cycles year after year eventually find a way to break.

While there are differing statistics regarding causes of aircraft fire-related accidents, it is safe to say that aircraft maintenance and pre-flight actions by the pilot play a significant role in most such events. And since the chances of surviving an in-flight fire without major injury or death are poor, preventing a fire from occurring in the first place should be Job One. Pilots can memorize procedures, talk about scenarios and what-ifs, but when it is all said and done, avoiding one starts on the ground.

Once I started the engine and made it to the runup area, the Dynon D-180 registered about 10 gallons in the selected right tank (I have a Lycoming O-235-L2C engine installed and typically I burn about 5-6 gallons an hour). I thought it was peculiar, but I attributed the loss of five gallons to starting, taxi and runup. I took off and headed the 30 miles to my practice area.

Back in August, AOPAs Air Safety Institute released the latest of its Nall Reports, an in-depth look at a years GA accidents. The newest Nall Report, the 25th, looked at 2013s accidents and found the rate of fatal GA accidents had dropped below one in 100,000 for the first time. Ever. Thats a big deal, especially if it turns out the next few years numbers are similar.

Most of us fly airplanes powered by air-cooled piston engines. Im thinking of a conventional, horizontally opposed spark-ignition powerplant from Lycoming or Continental, though the big radials also are air-cooled. The popular Rotax 912/914 series uses air to cool some portions of the engine and liquid for the rest. And even if an engine is totally liquid-cooled, it uses a radiator to exchange heat with the ambient air. Why do we use air as a primary coolant when liquid usually is more efficient, and a liquid-cooled engine can be built to tighter tolerances and greater resulting efficiencies? Air cooling is lighter and simpler than the alternatives, for one. For another, its the same reason submarines arent air-cooled-the abundance of air rushing past an airplane in flight provides ample opportunities to shed an engines heat. But thats true only if the air entering an engine cowling is properly managed and directed.

the NavWorx ADS600-B may be the least expensive 2020-compliant device on the market.”