Search Results for: Lear 45

At 1505 Eastern time, the airplane was substantially damaged during landing. The private pilot was not injured. Visual conditions prevailed. A witness observed the airplane power up and perform a go-around or touch-and-go and reported the airplane “did not appear to be climbing as fast as it should…and appeared to be almost stalling.”

A Colorado couple, both pilots with 2,000 hours and instrument ratings, had taken their Malibu to Hutchinson, Kansas, for its annual inspection. They returned home to Steamboat Springs in a rented car, and two weeks later drove back to Hutchinson to retrieve the airplane. The work done had included the removal of free play from […]

The snow level in the Oakland hills dropped to about 1,500 feet the other day, a description that makes sense only in mountainous areas at the edges of winter, or in California pretty much all of the time. Since it’s almost never cold enough for snow to survive at sea level, snow in California is […]

The controls felt like a Citation CJ, but the numbers on the new Collins Pro Line 21 displays didn’t belong to any CJ I had ever flown. Level at 45,000 feet, the true airspeed was 425 knots. And it had taken only 23 minutes to reach that rarified altitude after a near-maximum weight takeoff. How […]

In my 45-year flying career I have been fortunate to experience many of the different ways to earn money as a pilot. Occasionally I am asked what the best flying job is. I have to answer, “That depends. … It depends on the kind of person you are, what kind of flying you like to […]

Treat and well-illustrated article on the whys and hows of pre-heating (“Pre-Heating,” January 2010). I, too, have an Archer II (at MMU). I invested in the sump and heating bands, which is the best you can do if you are poor. A heated hangar here will cost you your first-born male child and a kidney. However, I purchased a Makita one-kilowatt gas-driven generator. I leave it on my trucks tailgate, start it and plug in the bands and sump heater. I go back into the cab, have some coffee, do my pre-flight, and in 35 minutes, we are ready to go, assuming a 17-to-20 deg. F ambient temperature. If I am going to land and stay overnight, I bring the generator with me. It weighs about 35 lbs, and you have to tie it down so it doesnt move (it has gasoline in it). The Makita was about $1000 when I purchased it five years ago. There is now a lot of competition and there are nice units available starting at $500.

It’s starting to come together for me. At least for slow flight and power on and off stalls. With Lesson 5, I accomplished these under my “own power.” I even successfully radioed in each of the maneuvers so others in Charlie South practice area, located to the west of KRVB, would know where we were […]

It’s individuals, not corporations, who dominate orders for new business jets. Many — probably most — of those jets will be flown by professional crews, but increasing numbers will be piloted by their owners at least some of the time. That means hundreds of pilots will transition from some sort of propeller-driven airplane into a […]

**BLOGBOOK ENTRY 6 ** I had my third flight lesson on Saturday, six weeks after my last. I had made the decision about a month ago to finish the FlightSafety ground school course and take the written before continuing with the flight lessons. Remember, when I started flying “oh so many years ago,” I learned […]

Mountain flying is one of the more challenging but rewarding types of aviation available to most pilots. The scenery is magnificent, landing on remote strips affords access to some of the least-trammeled locations on Earth and its rare to find much of a crowd. Whole books-and careers-have been based on the skills and knowledge needed to fly mountainous terrain safely. Indeed, the hazards of mountain flying in personal aircraft go far beyond what is normally taught to “flatlander” pilots in ground school. Most mountain flying caveats dwell on the vagaries of leeward hazards such as downdrafts, waves, rotors and resulting turbulence. The effects of temperature and altitude on aircraft performance also are part of this equation, as is the reduced power available when a normally aspirated engine is taken up to around 10,000 feet msl and the pilot forgets proper leaning. This is not one of those articles.