Search Results for: oxygen

Aztec may lose elevator bungee spring, resulting in pitch handling difficulties

Pressure chamber training can help prevent the hazards of high-altitude flight. Hint: Hypoxia is just part of the problem.

High gas prices lead many to look at auto fuel options. The jury is out on whether thats a smart tactic or dumb shortcut.

Airlines take the switch to a new airplane type very seriously, but GA pilots tend to miss the importance.

My copilot had begun the “Before Starting Engines” checklist. “Rudder pedals and seats?” he challenged. “Adjusted and locked,” I responded without emotion. “Oxygen masks, interphone and goggles?” my copilot continued. “Set and checked,” I mumbled. “Weapon?” “Safetied and secured,” I answered while patting the leather holster on my left side. Okay, let’s stop the checklist. […]

My copilot had begun the “Before Starting Engines” checklist. “Rudder pedals and seats?” he challenged. “Adjusted and locked,” I responded without emotion. “Oxygen masks, interphone and goggles?” my copilot continued. “Set and checked,” I mumbled. “Weapon?” “Safetied and secured,” I answered while patting the leather holster on my left side. Okay, let’s stop the checklist. […]

Though it seldom happens, a passed-out pilot may be passengers greatest fear. For frequent passengers, just a little training can make for a happy ending

After a 20-year hiatus, I returned to flying a couple of years ago and try to fly as often as I am able.

I filed for a 2:00 p.m. departure from New Orleans Lakefront to St Louis Downtown Airport but, as I drove to the airport, it was apparent that I would be delayed by some heavy thunderstorms that moved into the New Orleans area and seemed intent on staying for awhile.

I spent the time at the airport watching the radar and talking with some Navy pilots who were on a training mission and planning their return to Texas.

At about 5:30 p.m., the storms were clearing from west to east and, after discussing it with a briefer, I decided to depart toward the northwest with a turn to the n…

All right, you finally scared me. After years of reading your excellent articles as a low time pilot and thinking Ill never do that, you sent me one on spatial disorientation that I probably would have done: launch into a dark, moonless, featureless night without anything even remotely resembling an instrument rating [What If?, February].

Perhaps Ive been lulled into a false sense of confidence by instructors who tell me my instrument skills are pretty good for a non-rated pilot. Perhaps its because there are almost always lights around to provide a ground reference in Northeastern New Jersey. Maybe because most of my 12 hours per year are flown at night and that I periodically spen…

It should come as no surprise that more than half of all general aviation aircraft are more than 25 years old, and more than 25% are past their 35th birthdays. Like everything else thats getting older, an aging aircraft can experience a host of problems, including decreases in both performance and structural integrity.

As aircraft age, undetected or uncorrected wear, fatigue, corrosion and creep can decrease an aircrafts ability to sustain the fail-safe loads designed into it. The most graphic example of fatigue and corrosion causing a serious problem in flight comes is the Aloha Air Lines B-737 accident in 1988, and that should be enough to scare any pilot. Clearly prevention, timely d…