Search Results for: Cessna 172

(October 2011) Those of us who have been around airplanes for any length of time understand the concept of stepping up, whereby a nonpilot becomes a pilot, learns to fly in a certain brand of airplane and then remains loyal to that brand while gaining experience and moving up through the model lineup to bigger, […]

(June 2011) In the February issue, Robert Goyer reported on a project to convert Cessna Skyhawks to electric power. Many Skyhawks are used as trainers, and training flights seldom last more than 90 minutes; so batteries, though notoriously lacking in stamina, might be an adequate power source for this application. Parenthetically, Robert mentioned that wingtip […]

__My wife’s sister invited my wife and I to spend Memorial Day weekend with her and her husband in Cape May, New Jersey. An early summer visit to the Jersey shore sounded like fun, plus I could fly us there in our Cessna Skyhawk. Our plan was to fly out on Saturday, spend a couple […]

In Aprils “Using Ground Effect,” I think the author made an inaccurate and misleading statement concerning the aerodynamics of ground effect. The article wrongly asserts Newtons equal and opposite force has different effects when operating close to the ground as opposed to at altitude. He states, “At altitude, of course, theres no reaction between this downward forced air and the wing because theres nothing against which it can react.” If this were true, an airplane wing would not be able to fly when at altitude and only achieve lift when close to the ground.

(March 2010) — The girlfriend of a student pilot, eager to see how his flying skills were coming along — he had recently soloed — arranged to accompany him and his instructor on a flight. They took off in a 172 on a beautiful June evening. She was sitting behind her boyfriend, who was in […]

(February 2011) — We got an e-mail last month from a reader taking Peter Garrison to task for suggesting in his Technicalities column that, if the FAA did a thorough review of the Light Sport Aircraft industry, it would find a lot of discrepancies in the certification process for light-sport airplanes. It seemed like a […]

When you think about the array of flight technologies available in today’s light general aviation airplanes, it’s sometimes hard to believe we’ve come so far so fast. From infrared enhanced-vision systems and computer-generated synthetic-vision technology to satellite downlinked weather graphics and GPS precision-approach capability, all presented on bright, colorful flat-panel cockpit displays, the instrument panel […]

I appreciated your article and will endeavor to be more conscious of dealing when pilots are in the right seat (“Right Seat Tips,” October 2010) in the future. Several years ago, in a rented 172, while on final for Runway 27 at Oshkosh, Wis., to attend EAAs AirVenture, and after controllers directed a turn to base sooner than I would have done, I let a presumed more-experienced pilot in the right seat take the controls to demonstrate a slideslip. I will not do that again.

We leveled off at 5,500 feet, I set the power, and we watched the Texas Hill Country slide by below us. The three of us, Tom Canavera and Gary Buchanan from Sierra Industries and I, were heading over to Gillespie County Airport in Fredericksburg to grab a bite to eat at the regionally famous and […]

The e-mail we received here at Flying from Col. Sid “Scroll” Mayeux, chief of aviation safety at the United States Air Force Safety Center, was a little hard to believe. “Last year (Fiscal Year 2009),” Mayeux’s e-mail read, “was the USAF’s safest year in aviation safety, with 17 Class A Aviation Flight Mishaps for a […]