Search Results for: Cessna 172

It was a windy Sunday in March. I didn’t fly and I wasn’t happy about it. I could have flown if I had really wanted to, but I just didn’t get to go. My oldest daughter, Alix, was here for a weekend in Florida with her very likeable husband, Rob, and we’d been busy with […]

The new shop made the right call based on the information in front of them, but add in the information I had and it added up to something else.

Ed Graham, 19, is a college student, swim coach and lifeguard. The proceeds from the last two activities have gone into a private certificate and instrument rating and are now propelling Ed toward a commercial certificate and CFI. He flies out of Long Beach and John Wayne in Southern California. He has 250 flying hours, […]

We didnt have enough altitude to glide in and couldnt get more anyway due to a ceiling

Engine start should be such a simple thing. Why then do so many pilots scramble to get the prop turning?

Your July article Fat and Happy touches a subject aviation writers dont dare discuss publicly but is a fact of flying life. I have been flying for 27 years, logging 2,000-plus hours. I own a Cessna Turbo 206 and a Ram Series VII Cessna 414A.

I have always followed the POH when it comes to loading an airplane and very seldom overload. On those occasions when I have done it, I follow this personal strict criteria:

1) Never go beyond 1 percent, a maximum of 2 percent, which in the case of the 414 is around 70 to 140 pounds, which will be burned in the first 30 minutes.

2) Never exceed aft cg limits.

3) Never exceed zero fuel weight.

4) Never even consider the possibility of u…

Airlines take the switch to a new airplane type very seriously, but GA pilots tend to miss the importance.

My Jeppesen Private Pilot Manual tells student pilots that radio communication is very serious stuff. “When speaking on the radio,” the good book says, “it is important to speak in a professional manner. Radio transmissions should be as brief as possible to help avoid frequency congestion. Incorrect radio procedures can compromise your safety and the […]

It wasn’t a big deal. Shortly before Judith and I were slated to leave for a trip (possible only with our own airplane) to a reunion of college friends in Wyoming, a stop to help with haying at the Flying A Ranch in South Dakota and a week at AirVenture in Oshkosh, I fell off […]

Here I sit in the right seat of a fine old 172, inside the marker on an ILS approach, my first ever instrument student refusing to correct for the wind. I watch the localizer needle drift off and feel myself twisting my entire upper body to force it back to center. Should I tell him […]