37 search results for: what's wrong with

Top 10 articles of 2022 on Air Facts

It was another busy year at Air Facts: we published 156 articles in 2022, written by more than 100 different writers. Many of these writers were first time contributors at Air Facts, just pilots with a story to tell or a lesson to share. Hopefully you're enjoying a moment to relax this holiday season. While you're doing that, enjoy the 10 most popular articles of 2022 below.
Pilatus PC-12

What’s wrong with Pilatus PC-12 pilots?

A key reason for the PC-12’s popularity has been its stellar safety record, one of the best in all of general aviation. So any effort to answer the question, “what’s wrong with Pilatus PC-12 pilots?” has to begin with: not much. But accidents do happen, including a recent one off the coast of North Carolina. That means it’s worth our time to examine the safety record of a specific airplane type, even if you don’t fly that model.

Editor’s choice: our top 10 articles from 2019

We published over 200 articles at Air Facts this year, including personal stories, tips for safer flying, and memorable pictures. Some of these were written by well-known authors like Mac McClellan, but most were written by everyday pilots. After reviewing all of them, we've selected ten must-read articles from 2019.

Richard Collins’s 10 most popular articles on Air Facts

This week marks the one year anniversary of Richard L. Collins's death, and we are remembering the legendary writer by reviewing 10 of his most popular articles. Over the years, Collins tackled a huge variety of topics, from weather flying tips to personal stories, but none were as popular as his detailed reviews of airplane safety records. As you can see below, some were good, some were bad, but almost all elicited strong opinions.
R44 hovering

What’s wrong with Robinson R44 pilots?

Robinson R44 helicopters are death traps, right up there with Mitsubishi MU-2s and Cirrus SR22s - at least that’s according to a lot of articles you read online. But does it tell the whole story? In the spirit of Richard Collins’s very popular “What’s wrong with Cirrus/Mooney/Bonanza pilots” series of articles, I’d like to offer a more nuanced perspective.
TBM 900

What’s wrong with single-engine turboprop pilots?

From studying everything that has gone on with the TBM and Meridian and with knowledge of the high performance piston fleet, I get the feeling that the lower fatal accident rate in the turboprops has to be attributable to better training. Better reliability could be a factor and the enhanced performance capabilities of these airplanes may have also made a contribution to safer operation.
RV-7 in flight

What’s wrong with experimental pilots?

The higher incidence of accidents in E-AB aircraft is just as logical as the fact that the fatal accident rate in private (general) aviation is almost infinitely higher than it is in airline flying. When more freedom is granted by reducing regulations and eliminating stifling procedures then the risk goes up.

Top 15 articles of all time at Air Facts

New to Air Facts? This list of popular articles is a great place to get started. Enjoy! 15. Retractable singles: the good, the fad and the ugly. Some of the most iconic general aviation airplanes were single engine retractables, and Richard…
Aztec on one engine

What’s wrong with piston twin pilots?

Back in the heyday of piston airplanes being used for personal and business travel, one question was most often asked of owners of high-performance singles: When are you going to step up to a twin? It was automatically assumed that everyone wanted to and all would when they could afford it. In the history of private aviation, though, new piston twins were not a big factor.

Top 10 articles of all time on Air Facts

Air Facts was founded in 1938, but we relaunched as an online magazine six years ago today. Since that time, over 300 pilots have shared their stories with us, and we have published over 900 posts in total. We sometimes get asked which articles have been the most popular, so we've compiled a list here of the 10 most-read article since our relaunch in 2011. Enjoy!
Cirrus SR22

What’s right with Cirrus pilots?

In 2012 I posted an article about what might be wrong with Cirrus pilots. That attracted a lot of attention and is third on the list of most-read AIR FACTS posts. A lot has changed since 2012, the Cirrus safety record has improved dramatically, and what has happened seems directly related to the great debate about flying through computers v. basic flying.
Cessna 172

What’s wrong with Cessna 172 pilots?

The 172 is the most built airplane in history at 43,000 copies. It is probably still safe to say there are more 172s flying in the U. S. than anything else and though production rates today are relatively low, that will remain true for a long time to come. That makes it a true benchmark airplane in a lot of ways, including that good safety record.
decision right and wrong

To go or not to go? That is the (wrong) question

We falsely view most aviation decisions as binary. The language of decision-making subtly reinforces this, with exhortations to "keep it simple" or "be confident." What we end up with is a hopelessly unrealistic set of answers: yes or no, black or white. We should know better. Flying is all about subtle clues, 50/50 decisions and shades of gray.
ICON A5 in flight

Debate: what’s going on at ICON?

ICON Aircraft's self-proclaimed mission is to "create products that not only deliver great functional benefit but also deeply inspire us on an emotional level." But inspiration isn't the word that comes to mind right now for many ICON position-holders. As the A5 finally gets close to being delivered to pilots, the company's purchase agreement has raised a number of questions.

Air Facts turns five!

This magazine was founded in 1938 by Leighton Collins to advocate for "facts - knowledge - safety." Since then, its pages have been filled by some of aviation's greatest writers, including Richard Collins, Wolfgang Langewiesche, Bob Buck and Richard Bach. Given that rich history, it may seem odd to celebrate a fifth birthday, but Air Facts in its current form was relaunched five years ago, in March 2011.

We’re thinking about electric airplanes all wrong

Bill Gates has famously said, "We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten." Thus we overhyped the internet in 2000, but failed to recognize how completely it would change life by 2010. The same could be said for electric aircraft, an emerging technology that seems to have been on the "coming soon" list for decades.

Safety crisis – what’s going on?

The airlines have been able to parlay advances in technology and training to their near-perfect safety record. We have available every bit (and possibly more) in the way of high-tech stuff and yet the safety record doesn’t improve and has now apparently gotten worse. There is no question that something is badly out of place.

“Never bank over 30 degrees in the pattern,” and other lessons

The crosswind blew me a little past the runway line as I came around on final and I banked it left and added a bit of power to get lined up. Things suddenly got quiet and I had an epiphany! For the first time I really understood why my instructors had said never bank over 30 degrees in the pattern.
Mooney landing

What’s wrong with Mooney pilots?

I have found that the safety record of an airplane relates more to who flies it and what they try to do with it than anything else. Maybe the pilot is 90 percent of the equation and the airplane ten. When thinking of it in this way, the Mooney 20 series is by far the most diverse airplane in the fleet.
Cirrus with airframe parachute

What’s wrong with Cirrus pilots?

Despite all the safety features it has, from a glass cockpit to a whole airframe parachute, the Cirrus SR-22 has a higher fatal accident rate than most similar airplanes from other manufacturers. Why has this come to be true? It can only be because of one thing: the Cirrus pilot.