Search Results for: Cessna 172

I was at the tail end of three months of training for my CFI reinstatement check ride. My instructor Kevin and I were flying into a deepening Pacific Northwest twilight as we descended westbound over Lake Washington toward Boeing Field/King County International Airport (BFI). We began maneuvering to enter right traffic for Runway 31R in […]

A big chunk of my first 6,000 hours was spent instructing … possibly 5,000 hours too many. Yeah, it takes patience, but it’s fun and spiced with occasional adrenaline moments, like when somebody is trying to kill you. It’s also a little like logging one hour 6,000 times. When I found myself nodding off on […]

Most pilots know Sporty’s for its famous “Pilot Shop” mail-order pilot supply business. But for more than 20 years, Sporty’s has been not only a place where you can buy “Learn to Fly Here!” signs, but also a place where aspiring pilots can learn to fly. Sporty’s founder and chairman, Hal Shevers, was a flight […]

I read with interest your article on VFR into IFR conditions (“Inadvertent IFR,” October 2009). It seems to me you missed one of the most obvious aids to maintaining control of the aircraft: Engage the autopilot and fly the plane with the heading bug on the heading indicator. Nothing could be simpler. Using the autopilot keeps turns at appropriate angles and gives you time to communicate and sort things out. The only additional factor to keep in mind is to maintain proper trim.

Each year, the AOPA Air Safety Foundation (AOPA/ASF) releases its excellent Nall Report, a review of a previous years accidents and causes, taken from NTSB data. And each year when perusing the report, we find pilot-related accidents-as opposed to mechanicals or unknown causes-to lead the pack by an overwhelming margin. In 2006, the last year for which the AOPA/ASF has crunched the NTSB data, pilot-related causes comprised 73.8 percent of all accidents and a whopping 79.1 percent of fatals. In fact, from 1999 through 2006, inclusive, maneuvering has accounted for approximately 25 percent of all accidents in the U.S. The annual numbers vary, but never dip below 20 percent and too-frequently arch above 25 percent. Breaking down the numbers, we find maneuvering accidents as a whole-which AOPA/ASF says “often involve questionable pilot judgment, such as decisions to engage in buzzing, low passes, or other high-risk activities”-outpaced all other fatal accident causes in 2006, including weather and those occurring during the descent/approach flight phases.

On July 14, 2009, Teledyne Continental Motors (TSM) published the latest revision to its Mandatory Service Bulletin MSB09-1B. In it, TCM states it has determined a tool used to manufacture new TCM-brand cylinders “created an area of reduced thickness” between the upper spark plug bore and the fuel injector/primer nozzle bore “that may result in a crack after prolonged operation.” The MSB includes a list of affected engine models and engine/cylinder serial numbers dating back to August 2006 that may be affected.

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, among others, is thankful for small favors when it comes to President Obama’s vacation week on Martha’s Vineyard, off the coast of Massachusetts. For the first time since post-9/11 temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) were instituted to protect the president, general aviation aircraft are allowed within the 10-nm inner ring […]

Rich Karlgaard is a late bloomer. At least, in terms of aviation. “I never had an itch to fly until I read a New York Times Sunday Magazine piece called “Turn Left at Cloud 109″ by James Fallows, which appeared on Thanksgiving weekend in 1999,” says Karlgaard. “It was about Cirrus. A couple of days […]

I have a 100-knot airplane. Oh, sure; the airspeed indicator usually reads much higher than that. But when it comes down to what really counts-rate of movement over the ground-my shiny, expensive, 160-knot airplane is frequently relegated to speeds closer to those of an 18-wheeler on the Interstate below me. The reason? Headwinds. Eastbound, westbound-any direction-its not a matter of whether Ill have a headwind, but how strong it will be. If I plan a trip for Tuesday, on Monday the chosen route will afford a nice little nudge. On Tuesday, the fickle fates will deal a howling 40 knots on the nose. After an unplanned fuel stop, Ill drag into my destination about two hours late, landing only after being forced to shoot an ILS to near-minimums and well after the FBO has closed. The only food available will be a warm Pepsi and a package of cheese crackers. On Wednesday, that same route will once again have a nice little tailwind. Such is my life. Of course, there are good, logical reasons for headwinds. Lets explore them.

“The pilot’s failure to maintain airspeed while maneuvering for approach to land. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s operation of the airplane above the design gross weight.” Such was the verdict of the National Transportation Safety Board as to the probable cause of the fatal crash of a Cessna 172 at St. Petersburg-Clearwater airport […]