Search Results for: Cessna 172

With winter nearly in full swing north of the equator, it’s only a matter of time before instrument-rated pilots will need to make decisions about how to escape from icing situations, whether that be before takeoff or while en route. Ice adds weight and acts as a lift spoiler across wings and tail surfaces. Ice […]

The pilot reported that he and his co-owner had flown the airplane the night before the accident; it flew normally without problems. On the morning of the accident, he had to use the low-pressure boost pump to start the engine, but the pre-takeoff run-up was normal. The airplane ised most of the 4201-foot-long runway before becoming airborne. On reaching about 500 feet agl, the pilot determined the engine was not producing full power. He turned on the low-pressure boost pump and climbed to 1000 feet agl before turning back to the airport. The engine continued losing power, so he conducted a forced landing to a cornfield. A witness reported observing dark exhaust trailing the airplane during the takeoff.

Amanda Curless, 29, is a student pilot at ATP’s Daytona Beach, Florida, training center. She completed her first solo on September 25, 2018, and hopes to earn all of her instructor ratings by spring so she can start building the flight time she’ll need to become an airline pilot. “I try to be here as […]

A witness observed the airplane make a normal landing aligned with the runway centerline. His attention was momentarily diverted and when he looked back, the airplane was established in a gradual left turn, maneuvering at a slow speed in a three-point attitude. The airplane then collided with the airport perimeter fence and came to rest about 600 feet past the touchdown point. The pilot stated that, despite application of brakes and right rudder, the airplane veered off the runway. Damage included the right wing strut.

But, if you are going VFR, deciding if you want flight following should definitely be on your list. If youre going to pass through Class Bravo airspace you might as well; its virtually a requirement. Otherwise, if the weather is clear and a million, youre not going through any airspace requiring you to talk to ATC, and youve decided to go VFR, should you consider flight following? Long story short, and after all factors are considered, the answer is Yes.

One Friday I shot the GPS 7 approach into Gwinnett County, Georgia (KLZU). As I was briefing the approach, I wondered how I would pronounce CURAP, the FAF, if I was asked to report it. Thankfully, that situation did not arise since I was cleared for the approach earlier and sent over to Tower shortly thereafter.

Bye Aerospace might just become the first U.S. company to certify an all-electric airplane in the normal category under Part 23 if the targeted mid- to late 2020 deadline holds to earn agency approval of the two-place Sun Flyer 2 and the four-place Sun Flyer 4. But Bye Aerospace’s reason to keep moving forward toward […]

I had flown a full day with the new owner of a turbocharged Beech Bonanza, a recently retired airline pilot who also had been a U.S. Air Force tanker pilot. He was IFR proficient from the airline and wanted to focus on visual and hand-flying skills while orienting to his airplanes autopilot and avionics. He did a great job and got markedly more comfortable with the airplane as the day progressed. At the end of the day, I recommended he get more experience with the airplane before going IFR in it. We shook hands and I went to my office to complete my paperwork.

The pilot-rated passenger later stated he verified that the flaps were down and the three green landing gear lights were illuminated in the cockpit during the approach. Just before landing, he heard the angle of attack indicator alarm. The airplane landed hard, and he heard a loud pop and felt the left main landing gear fracture. The airplane then slid off the left side of the runway, colliding with PAPI lights, and continued sliding until the right wing dug into the ground. The airplane then flipped over and caught fire. The cockpit canopy was jammed, but several observers helped open it and egress the two occupants.

Summer, glorious summer! It snuck right up on me. Sailing the relentlessly sunny Caribbean for seven months aboard Windbird, the pageantry of northern seasons played out distantly across the flickering screens of muted beach-bar TVs: Halloween horror flicks, cable-news Snowmageddons, Yankees-Red Sox at Fenway Park. So when Dawn and I hurricane-prepped and hauled Windbird at […]