I Learned About Flying From That: Three Laws

Chester Peterson

Friday, August 09, 2013 at 07:47 PM ET

Verified

** To see more of Barry Ross' aviation art, go
to barryrossart.com.**

Key Takeaways:

During a dual cross-country flight, the narrator and instructor faced rapidly deteriorating weather despite a clear forecast, and the instructor's decision to press on rather than turn back led them into a dangerous situation.
Lost with critically low fuel and diminishing visibility, they narrowly avoided an emergency field landing after the narrator recognized a landmark and guided them to an airport, landing with only 0.1 gallons of fuel remaining.
The harrowing experience taught the narrator vital flying principles: always have an "out," never fully trust weather forecasts, and prioritize safety by adhering to these rules.

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I encountered a minor problem while working on my private pilot ticket: Members of the Des Moines, Iowa, company’s flying club kept crashing their airplanes!

In one case, a member got into weather he couldn’t handle in a Tri-Pacer with minimal instruments. So he put her down in a cornfield. He wasn’t hurt, but the wings were torn off the light airplane. Then, a month after it was airworthy again, a member who hadn’t paid his member dues for two years but still had a key flew it. Whatever he did (we think he overleaned, causing the engine to detonate), he also found a handy cornfield in which to land. The Tri-Pacer survived all right, but the engine was completely trashed.