Search Results for: bellanca

When To Use The Gear
With respect to When To Use The Gear (March 2006), thanks for an excellent article! What has worked best for me is the approach and landing profile in the FAAs Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3A, <www.faa.gov/library/manuals) specifically intended for multiengine flying, but equally useful in flying complex airplanes.

I conduct at least two landing gear checks on every approach and landing! The first one is made on the base leg, which tells me it is okay to continue the approach. The second is done on final, telling me its okay to continue to a landing. Perform as many more landing-gear…

The NTSBs improper IFR category covers a host of pilot errors. Heres our top five list of common IFR mistakes and how you can avoid making them.

June 14, 2005, Woodfords, Calif.
Bellanca 7GCBC
At about 1139 Pacific time, the airplane collided with terrain, fatally injuring the pilot. Visual conditions prevailed. According to a witness, the airplane appeared to be doing aerobatics. He saw it complete a loop and began a second one. The airplane appeared to be fighting the wind and moving very slowly. The airplane then came down, completing the second loop. The airplane then went back up into a third loop and came straight down, out of sight, and into the trees. Another witness stated the airplane appeared to stall and descend in a tailspin.

June 15, 2005, Fort Payne, Ala.
Cessna 152
The airplane coll…

October 2, 2004, Santa Fe, NM.
Sukhoi SU-29
At 1327 Mountain time, the airplane was destroyed and its solo ATP-rated pilot fatally injured upon impact with terrain 500 feet west of Runway 20 at the Santa Fe (N.M.) Municipal Airport. Visual conditions prevailed for the aerobatic flight, which was the second performance in the 2004 Santa Fe Air Show. An FAA inspector witnessing the airshow later reported that the airplane was high, at approximately 1500 feet AGL, when it entered an inverted spin. The inspector said, The pilot attempted to recover but didnt make it. The airplane struck flat in an upright, nose down attitude and was engulfed in a fireball. A witness, one of…

The FARs set minimum standards everybody is free to exceed. But what would they look like if aviation insurance companies wrote them?

Taxpayers pick up the tab for the FSS briefer to read you forecasts and weather reports prepared by the government’s weather bureau. It’s a great service that pilots have enjoyed for decades, but if you are willing to invest a few bucks a month, you can buy better weather, or at least better weather information, […]

Selected recent general aviation and airline accidents

Casting Aspersions
To say that I am outraged would be a gross understatement! For the first time in my many years of reading the NTSB reports section of your periodical I noted that you identified the pilot by name in the report on the October 2 accident in Clayton, Ga.

In my opinion, you callously insulted perhaps the greatest aviator in aviation history, bar none. I have followed the career of Gen. Yeager since my Air Force days with SAC in the mid-50s and have always had the greatest of respect and admiration for the man.

His work as a test pilot in the 40s, 50s and 60s probably saved the lives of more pilots in the Air Force (and general aviation, for that matter…

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

The following briefs were selected from the preliminary reports filed with the NTSB in September 2003. Statements in quotes were taken directly from the NTSB documents. Click here to view “Accident Totals, Sept.”

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September 01, Fajardo, Puerto Rico
Cessna 172
At about 1210 eastern time, a Cessna 172F lost engine power on initial climb and was damaged in the ensuing forced landing. The pilot was not injured. The pilot said he took off and, as he climbed through 300 feet agl, the engine lost power. He attempted to turn back to the runway but landed in a field about a half mile from the runway.

September 01, U…