Search Results for: maintaining your airplane

(October 2011) The concept of staying current always seemed an intellectual one to me. While I still had my Cessna Cardinal, I tried to fly it every week or so to keep its fluids — and mine — flowing. As a result, I was able to routinely check off most of the currency boxes without […]

In April’s article, “Using Ground Effect,” you gave a reasonable explanation of it. In May, reader Dave Simpson wanted to correct your “error” and wrote, “Ground effect is almost exclusively caused by reduction of induced drag” and that reducing induced drag allows “us to fly with reduced angle of attack to maintain lift when flying close to the ground.” That’s nice, but what causes reduced induced drag when in ground effect? I think that Mr. Simpson has it backward and your article was correct.

I had just been hired to instruct in the manufacturer’s authorized pilot training program for the Beechcraft Bonanza. Part of my orientation was a check flight with Norm, the lead instructor of Bonanza training (whom I was replacing as he moved up the product line). We were in an older A36 about 4000 feet over Anthony, Kan., when he reached over and pulled the throttle, choking off the Bonanza’s tired, TBO-busting IO-520 engine. I immediately found the local airport, pointed the Bonanza toward it, and transitioned to a glide as I stepped through the emergency checklist from memory. Norm declared my restart efforts moot, so I pulled the vernier prop control to the low rpm position and committed to a glide.

Im always amused by pilots and non-pilots alike who express the view that landing is the most challenging portion of a flight. Yes, it can require all of our skills, but so can other segments, even straight-and-level cruising. The degree to which any flight segment poses a greater or lesser challenge depends on weather, terrain, aircraft loading-essentially all the variables were trained to consider and for which we compensate during our flight planning and execution. When merely considering the challenges posed, one of the oft-overlooked portions of flight is what comes immediately after the airplane clears the runway on takeoff. Depending on things like density altitude, terrain, weather and aircraft loading, the initial climb to clear obstacles and reach a “safe” altitude easily can be the most challenging flight portion. The combination of variables can conspire to rob us of the relatively marginal performance we have right after liftoff, putting us in the weeds.

_(August 2011) _The Cessna Cardinal RG was sitting forlornly at the edge of Montgomery Field in San Diego with a “for sale” banner hanging from its propeller. As we came out of the parking lot after having lunch at a sushi restaurant across from the airport, Judith pointed at the Cardinal. Isn’t that one of […]

Taking a check ride for a new rating is always stressful, whether it is the Private Pilot License or an advanced rating. While there is a little room for error, some components are absolutely essential to get right both in the oral portion of the exam and during the flight test. And you can maximize […]

Februarys article, “Horizontal Lift,” is correct in stating the horizontal component of the lift vector turns the airplane. But as a long-time flight instructor and physics teacher I would prefer to explain the airplane turns because there is a net inward force acting on it. This is an unbalanced force, acting toward the center of the circle about which the plane is turning. And yes, the plane is accelerating even though the pilot may be maintaining a constant airspeed, his direction is changing and therefore the plane is accelerating.

(June 2011) I recently asked FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt about the tough time that applicants have been having on FAA Knowledge Testing (the tests that many of us still refer to as the “writtens”). Many test takers are failing the tests because the FAA has included a lot of new, previously unpublished questions that are […]

(June 2011) “Shortly after takeoff, I knew we were in trouble — everything looked, acted and sounded OK, but I watched the vertical speed indicator drop to zero. Knowing we had taken off from a strip located down in a mountain valley, that’s not a good thing. It was just after dusk, so I couldn’t […]

__The special light-sport aircraft market offers a range of airplanes — there are 115 S-LSA models approved by the FAA — that serve many missions. To gain a bit more perspective on the offerings, I arranged for demo rides in three S-LSAs during this year’s Sun ’n Fun in Lakeland, Florida. Each was touted as […]