Search Results for: Cessna 172

Before the second landing, the crew selected gear down, which showed down and locked, but the crew saw and smelled smoke. The landing gear circuit breaker tripped after gear completed cycle. Inspection confirmed source of smoke was from the landing gear actuator motor and a faulty dynamic brake relay (mfr p/n SM50D7) is suspected to have caused the landing gear motor to overtravel against hard stop and smoke.

Opening the June 2013 issue, I was met with a lovely bit of nostalgia. The photo of the Link Trainer on page 5 could have been of the unit in which I took my first flight training, the summer of 1967. At the University of Illinois’ Institute of Aviation, I spent two hours in one of these before getting into an aircraft (a Champ 7FC). Over the summer of instruction, we went back to the Link again and again to hone skills. I had 11.2 hours total in the Link, and 30 hours total in the aircraft, when I got my license. I’m not sure how many hours of Link and aircraft time I had before I was allowed to fly visually. Of the 7 hours in the aircraft prior to solo, nearly half were behind polarized glasses and windscreen plastic.

At about 0830 Eastern time, the airplane was substantially damaged during a forced landing. The engine lost all power shortly after takeoff. The airline transport pilot sustained minor injuries and a passenger was not injured. Visual conditions prevailed. The pilot reported taking off and climbed to 2500 feet msl when the engine began to vibrate and lose power, and the cabin began to fill with white smoke. The pilot shut down the engine and performed a forced landing to a soy bean field. During the landing roll, the airplane nosed over. The airplane was equipped with a Franklin 6A-350-C1, 220-hp engine. Initial examination revealed the No. 4 cylinder head was partially separated and the No. 4 cylinder piston was displaced.

Illustrations by Chris Gall| “Why don’t you just go to the airport and go flying?” Those were my lovely wife’s exact words. I should have them memorized; I’ve heard her say them, oh, 5,000 times over the past 12 years. Not that she’s nagging in any way (all pilot husbands should be so lucky). She […]

Two students from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Daytona Beach campus finished first in the collegiate division of the Air Race Classic, one of the oldest and most revered air races for women. Pilots Valdeta Mehanja and Danielle Erlichman placed first among collegiate competitors and third overall in the four-day, transcontinental race, originally known as the “Powder […]

Of all the major components of a conventional airplane, the tail—empennage, if you prefer—may be the least understood. Yes, we generally know it’s there to help balance and stabilize the airplane’s attitude in flight, and to help control yaw and pitch, but that’s often the extent to which we paid attention in ground school. If we were paying more attention, we might have learned airplane tails come in many different shapes and sizes, and can be placed at either end of the airplane. They can be partially or totally omitted from some airplanes, while others might be considered to have more than one.

Self-confidence is often the first casualty when a serious illness strikes a child or their family. Flight1 is a groundbreaking nonprofit that helps children in those difficult circumstances gain or rebuild confidence by placing them somewhere unexpected: the pilot’s seat! “Wait a minute,” people ask. “Children flying planes? Is that possible?” It’s more than possible. […]

The pilot observed smoke in the cockpit, declared an emergency and landed normally. On inspection, the muffler’s aft wall was missing and exhaust was directed onto the battery box, which melted the battery and battery contactor, clock fuse holder, both battery cables and boots. Also, the gascolator push/pull control knob was melted and all wiring into the engine compartment was destroyed. The owner recalls the engine backfiring when a student performed ignition test at high rpm.

Low-level, low-speed maneuvering is always a challenge, something reflected in the accident record. Whether we engage in this type of maneuvering because we’re showing off or trying to get around the traffic pattern, the risks are the same: There simply isn’t enough altitude to recover from a stall/spin if we get into one. Add some stiff wind, gusty conditions and/or poor planning to our low-speed equation and things quickly can get out of hand. That’s presuming everything else is as it should be, including an airplane loaded within its weight and balance limitations. If it’s overweight, out of balance or both, you’ve just become a test pilot on a difficult day.

“You need more right rudder,” Bill Martin scolded as I sloppily put the Cessna 172 into a climbing right turn. My recollection of P-factor and torque effect, it seemed, had gone the way of the dodo bird. “I guess I’m used to yaw dampers in the jets,” I mumbled. “It’s been 10 years since I’ve […]