Search Results for: Lear 45

Today, the beginning pilot has many paths to choose from when learning to fly. There’s the Light Sport activity, which gets you going in a basic airplane. Then there is the recreational route which expands horizons a bit. Finally there’s the tried and true private certificate that expands piloting privileges by a lot. If initial […]

No Toys Allowed

It was my first solo cross-country flight, from the John Wayne-Orange County Airport (SNA) to Ramona, Calif. (RNM). The objective was to use pilotage and dead reckoning, so my instructor admonished, Remember: No toys like GPS allowed, before endorsing my logbook.

But, using my visual checkpoints and timing them, everything was going according to plan. On my third leg of the flight, the wind must have shifted, though, because I couldnt find my next checkpoint.

I knew better-even then-and should have executed a lost procedure. I thought it would take only a few more minutes of looking around before I find something familiar. But the next thing I knew, SoCa…

Im a 1000-hour Bonanza pilot with a fair amount of actual IMC experience. I was on my way to the Dekalb-Peachtree Airport outside of Atlanta, a route I fly fairly often. The last hour of the flight was IMC, with the PDK ATIS reporting 800 feet overcast in light rain. Piece of cake; Ill shoot the ILS approach to Runway 20L. Heck, I might even turn off the iPod and hand fly this one.

I was feeling on top of my 40-something game; I even remembered to check in with the ATIS letter when handed off to approach. Soon I was getting vectors to intercept the 20 Left localizer.

The controller: Bonanza 12345, you are three miles from Chamb, maintain 3000 until established, cleared to the…

The ultimate expression of freedom in flight requires training, the right equipment and a broader understanding of the operating environment.

We have all heard the story of how a horseshoe nail was lost, leading to the loss of the horse and its rider, and the message he carried into battle. Because the message was never received, the battle and the war was lost. Its as apocryphal today as when it was written. Examples include the shuttle Challenger tragedy-caused by a defective O-ring-and the Eastern Airlines Lockheed L-1011 that crashed in the Florida Everglades because someone nudged the autopilot switch off while working on a simple landing-gear problem but didnt notice it.

The point is that accident chains usually start from very simple events, pick up steam from other links in the chain and then snowball out of contro…

Ice In The Desert
Heading to Mesa, Ariz., from Dallas, Texas, we landed my twin Travelair for fuel in El Paso. It was a cool February morning, at about 0200. Weather included scattered clouds with a 30-knot headwind. Talking to a cargo pilot who had just flown the same route in reverse, I learned the winds were strong but there was no ice or other problems.

Off we went. It was a very dark night, with a high cloud layer blocking any moonlight. About 45 minutes after takeoff, I noticed what appeared to be a storm cell ahead of us. I made a slight course change but minutes later showers started to hit the plane.

The headwinds increased to over 50 knots and it was raining hea…

Driven To Distraction
We have all heard stories of little things leading to big tragedies. Consider Challenger, a terrible tragedy caused by a defective O-ring. Then there was Eastern Airlines Flight 401, a Lockheed L-1011 that crashed in the Florida Everglades on December 29, 1972, because someone nudged the autopilot disconnect but didnt notice it while working on a failed nosegear indicator light. There are many-too many-other examples The point is, accidents and incidents can start from very simple events that simply snowball out of control. Heres the reason I began thinking about the chain of events.

A few months ago, I flew a 160-nm VFR trip in my Cherokee 140; not…

A Touchy Subject
About a year ago I was practicing solo landings in preparation for my FAA checkride to become a new private pilot. I was at a familiar untowered airport that gets busy and on this particular day it was exactly that. I announced my intent to complete a touch and go, closed pattern and received a reply from the plane behind me that he had me in sight and would land on the same runway.

I approached the runway with 30 degrees flaps and made a nice touch down. Carb heat off, full throttle, I hastened to take off and not delay anyone behind me.

To my surprise, the aircraft (a Cessna 172) sprang into flight at about 40 knots, not a safe speed. I forced the n…

At about 1137 Alaska time, the twin-engine turboprop was destroyed during an in-flight collision with tree-covered terrain, about 10 miles east of Kodiak, Alaska. The airplane was being operated non-scheduled domestic cargo flight under FAR Part 135 during the accident flight. The solo Airline Transport Pilot was fatally injured. Instrument conditions prevailed at the destination airport and an IFR flight plan was filed. According to the FAA, the flight departed Anchorage at 0955. As the flight approached Kodiak, the ceiling and visibility lowered, and the pilot elected hold east of the airport to await more favorable weather. After holding for about 45 minutes, the weather had improved and…

At about 0645 eastern time, a Gates Learjet 35A was substantially damaged while landing at Oneida County Airport. There were no injuries aboard the Part 135 air taxi cargo flight. The copilot reported that he was the pilot flying at the time of the accident, which occurred after an ILS approach to runway 33. The airplane was too high during the approach, and the copilot decreased engine power. The sink rate then became too great, and the flightcrew initiated a go-around. However, the airplane landed hard on the runway before the engines could spool upand sustained damage to the main landing gear and both wings….