Search Results for: Cessna 172

The following information is derived from the FAAs Service Difficulty Reports and Aviation Maintenance Alerts. Click here to view “Airworthiness Directives.”

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Virtually any aircraft may be subject to fuel contamination following the discovery that certain filters used in fuel farms and fuel trucks may deteriorate.

Velcon Filters Inc., maker of Aquacon and CDF cartridges, has determined that some of its filters would, under some circumstances, allow some of the gelatinous water-absorbing media to pass with the fuel.

As water is absorbed by the water-absorbing media, similar to whats used in baby diapers, the differential press…

If you fly much over the water – even over wide bays and rivers – youve had to quell the uneasiness that arises when the engine goes into auto rough mode the instant youre beyond gliding range of shore. Not to worry; its not just you.

The prospect of going into the water in an airplane terrifies most pilots, chiefly because few prepare for it and, in general, instructors dont know enough about the relevant risks to make well-informed judgments about overwater flying.

As a result, certain myths and half-truths about ditching seem to persist, handed down from one pilot to the next who read something or knows someone who knew someone who vanished without a trace in Lake Michigan…

The following information is derived from the FAAs Service Difficulty Reports and Aviation Maintenance Alerts. Click here to view “Airworthiness Directives.”

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An aircraft owner delivered a Kidde Dexaero fire extinguisher to an FAA-certificated repair station for a hydrostatic test and overhaul.

After a receiving inspection, the unit was routed to the production department so the necessary work could be performed. The unit was found to be full of extinguishing agent and was purged.

While disassembling the fire extinguisher, the technician noticed that the yellow outlet rupture disk had been fired, even though the cylinder was…

The following information is derived from the FAAs Service Difficulty Reports and Aviation Maintenance Alerts. Click here to view “Airworthiness Directives.”

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After an accident in which a helicopter crashed and burned, NTSB investigators discovered that the hose used to refuel the aircraft had decomposed internally and leached a gummy resin into the fuel. The contaminated fuel clogged the carburetor jets and the helicopter lost power on takeoff.

The truck-mounted fuel hose was a 30-foot terra-cotta colored hose labeled Versicon which the owner had acquired as a replacement hose from a local supplier in August 1997. The owner re…

It was my second cross-country in the RV-6 since getting my private license and tailwheel endorsement. I had about 100 hours total time and about 25 in the RV.

I picked up a friend at a nearby airport, where I also filled the tanks. On takeoff, I was surprised and a little concerned with the reduction in climb rate caused by full fuel tanks and a 180-pound passenger. Fortunately I had been warned about it, which is why I didnt fly out of the 2,700-foot grass strip with 50-foot trees on both ends where the RV makes its home.

The 1:40 trip went smoothly to Montpelier, Vt. Flying VFR with a GPS for navigation took most of the guesswork out of the flight. I even remembered to switch fuel…

The discussion started out being is a twin better than a single. But soon it was branching into the philosophical questions of how much more does it take to make something better, when is more less, and can you really afford more anyway?

Die-hard twin pilots smugly point to the capabilities of their machines and say its no contest. The pilots of singles like to say that the second engine does little but lift its own fuel and fall back on old jokes about the second engine only being there to take you to the scene of the crash.

But twins do cost more to operate than a roughly comparable single, and since most general aviation pilots vote with their checkbooks, the popularity conte…

The following information is derived from the FAAs Service Difficulty Reports and Aviation Maintenance Alerts. Click here to view “Airworthiness Directives.”

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When auditing a propeller repair station recently, the FAA discovered that certain alignment and inspection procedures had not been accomplished in accordance with the manufacturers propeller overhaul manual procedures.

Although there have been no reports of failures of the propellers, overhauled by Santa Monica Propeller Service from January 1997 to March 1999, the FAA considers it a significant safety risk because a propeller failure can lead to catastrophic loss of airc…

The following briefs were selected from the 105 preliminary reports filed with the NTSB in November 1999. Statements in quotes were taken directly from the NTSB documents. The information is subject to change as the investigations are completed. Click here to view “Accident Totals, November.”

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Nov. 2, Stites, Idaho
Hiller UH-12
At approximately 11:18 PST, a Hiller UH-12E suffered an inflight separation of a control rotor, after which the helicopter struck power lines and crashed. The pilot and one passenger were seriously injured; a third occupant was not injured. The pilot said he was on a fish-spotting mission at…

The following information is derived from the FAAs Service Difficulty Reports and Aviation Maintenance Alerts. Click here to view “Airworthiness Directives.”

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Some current production aircraft and replacement fuel cap kits include metal retention chains. These aircraft, often not originally equipped with any type of fuel cap retention device, were not certificated to meet the lightning protection rules that are currently required. The current required lightning certification criteria, explained in FAA Advisory Circular 20-53A, recognizes the contribution of metal chains to the potential of fuel tank explosions induced by lightning st…

The accident record of overshoots and undershoots makes it clear that some people dont practice maximum performance landings enough, but you dont have to review the statistics to convince yourself its true.

Just sit out where you can watch the touchdown zone at an airport with a relatively long runway. Airplane after airplane will show that the pilot cares less about style points than somehow getting the thing on the ground.

Some will dive in at the speed of blazing heat and float halfway down the runway. Some will come in high and land 2,500 feet from the approach end. In either case, touchdown may be followed by the squeal of tires and a half-mile back taxi to the ramp.

A fe…