Search Results for: Lear 45

Getting a type rating or passing a check ride are certainly satisfying and, most often, fun exercises, but they don’t make a pilot out of you. It is true of all technical pursuits, I suppose, that excellence comes from an admixture of talent, effort, practice and love. Three out of four of these qualities probably […]

In March Gulfstream announced development of a new model, the 650, the first clean sheet Gulfstream business jet since the G-II laid the foundation for the most successful line of large cabin business jets in the 1960s. The 650 is a response to Gulfstream customers who want more cabin space, longer range and more cruise […]

Thunderstorm avoidance is a perennial topic among GA pilots. There are all kinds of tips and equipment recommendations thrown about, including suggestions on how to use and interpret both airborne and data-linked Nexrad weather radar, plus sferic devices and, we suppose, animal entrails, powdered unicorn horns and coin flipping. All methods pretty much depend on a pilot actively seeking information, processing it and reacting to what is learned. As we detailed in last months feature article, On A Mission: Thunderstorms, operators who absolutely, positively have to fly when thunderstorms are present have evolved a wide range of tools and rules they employ to ensure safe flight. Those same methods, including the time-honored step of simply parking the airplane until the bad weather moves off, are easily adapted and adopted by more casual operators.

At about 2150 Mountain time, the airplane collided with terrain, sustaining substantial damage. The solo private pilot sustained minor injuries. Night visual conditions prevailed. The pilot was conducting a solo, night, cross-country in preparation for obtaining a commercial pilot certificate. Approximately 45 to 60 minutes into the flight, the pilot subsequently reported encountering rain and snow at 7500 feet msl. He entered a standard rate turn to the left but received a terrain warning. The pilot immediately pulled up and did not recall the impact.

At 1018 Pacific time, the airplane collided with terrain and was substantially damaged. The private pilot in the right seat, the private pilot/owner in the left seat and the passenger were killed. A witness about two miles west of the accident site heard an engine revving up and down repeatedly. He saw the airplane come out of a cloud layer about 2000 feet agl. The right wing pitched down; the airplane was in a corkscrew pattern clockwise, at a descent angle of approximately 45 degrees, with its engine running. The witness then heard the airplane impact the ground. Earlier, the flight had been cleared to climb to 13,000 feet msl. At 1017, radar data recorded the airplane at 10,400 feet msl, and the pilot reported an emergency. Radar contact and communication were lost with the airplane at 1018.

In response to Marchs Unicom “Correcting Readbacks,” in which you ask readers whether and how they would correct a readback error heard on the frequency, I believe I would give it a few seconds to see if the error was picked up and then say something like “Cessna 12345, readback incorrect” and then drop it. That would alert the pilot and controller something was amiss without confusing the issue. As you say, each situation is different and may require different response. If the frequency was really busy, you could use the ubiquitous cellphone and call the appropriate agency. Just a thought. Keep up the good work! If I had to receive only one aviation magazine, Aviation Safety would be the one.

In this series first installment (“The Problem With Flight Training,” March 2008), we identified a few of the systemic errors and omissions committed during flight training, and how they feed into typical aviation accidents. We dealt primarily with issues pertaining to the mechanics of flying an airplane. In this second of three articles, well look at some of the psychological aspects involved. A lot of educational material has been generated in recent years on aeronautical decision making, hazardous attitudes and cockpit resource management. The FAA has been actively promoting the Perceive-Process-Perform (P-P-P) risk management decision path as well. Perceiving risk in the P-P-P model is aided with the PAVE checklist; processing levels of risk is facilitated with the CARE checklist; and performing risk management is prompted by the TEAM checklist (see the sidebar on page 6 for more).

Before every flight by Gulfstream test pilots, the flight test engineer conducts an exhaustive briefing on every imaginable detail. Obvious issues are weight, CG location, fuel load, reference airspeeds and so on. Less apparent are restrictions on operation of the specific airplane being used, such as airspeed or altitude limits that have not yet been […]

Bill Warlick has had an interesting career. He began flying at 14, graduated from NC State in Aerospace Engineering, joined the Navy, instructed in T-28s, and flew several tours in the P-3 Orion – the Navy’s patrol version of the Lockheed Electra – before spending three winters flying ski-equipped C-130s in Antarctica. He did stints […]

When engineers developed the ILS so many years ago, they simultaneously created one of the most reliable and accurate navaids ever. The basic ILS is in use throughout the world and, with appropriate air- and ground-borne hardware, site prep, training and certification, we can use it to fly down to and land without seeing much at all out the windshield. But those engineers couldnt do everything. They couldnt, for example, eliminate the ever-narrowing of the desired course and descent path as we get closer to the runway. They also couldnt eliminate the need to descend in the first place. In the bargain, were “saddled with” a well-understood and predictable means to transition from straight-and-level flight in the terminal area to sitting upright at the airport bar, with a few moments of needle-chasing thrown in for good measure. Like so many things in life and aviation, there are ways to cheat-err, simplify-the ILS. Many pilots-especially those with a newer instrument rating-may not have grasped them yet.