Search Results for: Cessna 172

We asked readers to tell us what they consider risky and what they dont. The numbers include some surprising revelations.

October 2, 2004, Santa Fe, NM.
Sukhoi SU-29
At 1327 Mountain time, the airplane was destroyed and its solo ATP-rated pilot fatally injured upon impact with terrain 500 feet west of Runway 20 at the Santa Fe (N.M.) Municipal Airport. Visual conditions prevailed for the aerobatic flight, which was the second performance in the 2004 Santa Fe Air Show. An FAA inspector witnessing the airshow later reported that the airplane was high, at approximately 1500 feet AGL, when it entered an inverted spin. The inspector said, The pilot attempted to recover but didnt make it. The airplane struck flat in an upright, nose down attitude and was engulfed in a fireball. A witness, one of…

A daylight scud run in a slow airplane is risky enough. This accident reveals how deadly it can be at night in a fast airplane.

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

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American General Model AG-5B
Seatbelt Plate Installation
While replacing the rear passenger seatbelts, a technician discovered the reinforcement plate (P/N 5102330-6) had been installed on the forward side of the aft seat bulkhead under the seatbelt attach bracket. The -6 plate should have been installed on the aft side of the bulkhead in accordance with AGAG drawing 5102299. Furthermore, MS20364-1032 (thin sheer nut) was used to secure the AN3-5A retaining bolts. MS20365-1032 or MS21042-3 nuts should have been installed as indicated on the drawing….

Its again the time of year when icing forecasts can figure prominently in your go/no-go decision. Heres how to find ice and avoid it.

Handling a crosswind correctly means maintaining directional control. Here are six common tools you can use to prevent runway excursions.

The FARs set minimum standards everybody is free to exceed. But what would they look like if aviation insurance companies wrote them?

August 4, 2004, Mineral Wells, Texas
Piper PA-32-260
At approximately 1140 Central time, the airplane was destroyed when it departed controlled flight, impacting power lines and terrain one mile northwest of the Mineral Wells (Texas) Municipal Airport. Visual conditions prevailed for the test flight by a Commercial pilot and Private-pilot rated passenger. Both sustained fatal injuries. According to several witnesses, the accident airplane was observed flying over Runway 31 at approximately 150 feet AGL and flying rather slow. The airplane then pulled-up hard and banked to the right. and was observed to descend below the tree line. The airplane was found, inverted, in a…

Changing Weather
After a beautiful morning of flying in a 300-hp Cessna 182 from Steamboat Springs, Colo. (SBS), to Telluride and back, my flying buddy and I decided to have breakfast at a local restaurant then return to our home base of Fort Collins, Colo. It had been an incredibly smooth and uneventful flight. The aspens were already turning their fall colors despite it still being late August.

After breakfast, we proceeded back to SBS, pre-flighted and observed some ominous-looking clouds coming from the southwest. The skies over SBS and eastward looked very clear and promising and a call for a weather briefing indicated that our 40-minute flight over the mountains to For…

One reader castigated me for not paying enough attention to Thielert diesels. Another inquired whether the just-certified Diamond TwinStar would have superior climb performance because of the great torque of its Thielert diesel engines. A critical mass of Thielert interest has evidently been reached. Thielert GmbH is located at the small town of Lichtenstein in […]