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The importance of general aviation in disaster situations was, once again, displayed in the wake of the devastating tornado in Joplin, Missouri. After the St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Joplin was destroyed, the Missouri-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team (MO-1 DMAT) quickly established a mobile emergency room and field hospital. A need for 200 doses […]

Unlike many aviation enthusiasts, flying is not in my blood. It was a passion sparked while visiting a military field with a classmate when I was about eight years old. But, through the years, my love for flying has kept growing. I can rightfully be classified as an aviation nut. And now that I have […]

Scott Ernest, a veteran of GE Aviation, has been named president and CEO of Cessna Aircraft by parent company Textron. Ernest replaces former Cessna Chairman and CEO Jack Pelton, who retired only weeks ago. Ernest faces an extremely tough bizjet market that, despite recent hopeful signs, remains mired in a three-year slump. Single-engine business, likewise, […]

Aerodynamics 101 teaches us about angle of attack and that all wings have a critical one at which they will stall. Afterward, were treated to a discussion about accelerated stalls and how the airplane will enthusiastically stop flying at an airspeed sometimes well above its straight-ahead stalling speed. Were also taught about stall-warning systems and how they are designed to alert us when were approaching that critical angle of attack.

The instruments in our so-called “steam-gauge” panels are marvels of ingenuity. A collection of springs, tubing, gears, bellows, shafts and dials, their basic design predates most of the pilots staring at them. While they have, for the most part, been rendered obsolete by the latest microelectronics and air-data computers, they still work as advertised. Well, pretty much. The fact is our faithful mechanical instruments are regularly susceptible to certain errors. Too, they can fall victim to not-so-regular problems, mostly brought about through neglect or damage. The good news is many of these errors are predictable, if we take the time to understand how the instruments work and how the errors may manifest themselves.

Pilots are famous for arguing the finer points of various procedures they employ when flying. In recent years, few topics have generated more “discussion” and disagreement than when and how to lean a gasoline-fueled piston-engines fuel mixture. A previous article (“The Red Knob,” April 2011) explored the benefits of modern multi-cylinder engine monitors, closely balanced fuel flow between all cylinders of an engine and the effects leaning from full rich have on parameters like exhaust gas temperature (EGT), internal cylinder pressure (ICP) and cylinder head temperature (CHT).

Those who successfully earn the private certificate or an instrument rating are told many things along the way. Among them is their hard-fought goal is a license to learn; they should carefully consider the first few hours they spend aloft without someone in the right seat; they should consider setting something called “personal minimums” for themselves. All of these suggestions can be helpful to someone who hasnt fully considered all the responsibilities and freedoms their new certificate or rating affords. Meanwhile, some would suggest the best advice a new pilot could receive is “just go fly.” Personal minimums, of course, generally are a set of conditions-not unlike the basic VFR weather minimums or the ceiling and visibility requirements for an instrument approach, but also involving other operational considerations-beyond which a pilot vows not to fly.

A few items of interest crossed my desk in recent weeks, leading to a variety of reactions and thoughts, plus a few rants and smiles. Bear with me for a moment, because all this stuff is linked together.First out of the chute: The NTSB in April released its aviation accident statistics for 2010. As has been the case in recent years, the news for general aviation is mixed.

I watched a demonstration by the pilot of a U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor on one of the nicer weather-days at this years Sun n Fun International Fly-In and Expo (the day before the tornado hit). The Raptors most unique characteristic-from an observers standpoint and in addition to its efficient conversation of fuel into noise-is its ability to maneuver at extremely high angles of attack-maintaining a constant AoA of over 60 deg. in sustained flight. Watch an F-22-or any other high-performance aircraft-maneuver, however, and you may notice an interesting pattern. Any time the fighter changes attitude under a G-load, the pilot does so incrementally. He or she changes pitch, then changes bank, or the pilot changes bank and then changes pitch. You never see a radical pitch and bank change simultaneously.

The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is embracing general aviation as part of its disaster planning preparations after conducting a successful large-scale disaster drill that included private aircraft dealing with a simulated national emergency. “Our GA ‘ready fleet’ performed superbly,” said Marianne Stevenson, president of AERObridge, a group that coordinates use of private aircraft […]