The safety window – Raytheon Premier accident analysis

Synopsis It is midday on Thursday 12 March 2015. A Premier I business jet is descending to its destination, Blackpool (EGNH), UK. The aircraft experiences intermittent hydraulic pressure fluctuations with associated indications and warnings.…
ForeFlight radar map

Go or No Go: spring cold front

Sometimes it feels like Mother Nature has access to your Flights tab on ForeFlight: it sees your planned trip and places a front right across your route. That's what today looks like a first glance, as a solid line of rain stretches from Maine to Texas—right in the middle of your planned Atlanta (FTY) to Memphis (MEM) trip. Read the weather briefing below and then tell us if this flight is a go or a no go.

Sleeping on the job – a lesson in staying alert

WAIT!  I’m supposed to be flying, not sleeping!  Where am I?  Where am I going?  I checked the instruments and saw I was now heading west at 10,500 feet.  I glanced around and knew exactly where I was, so I turned back to a northerly heading.

Friday photo: last of the frontier DC-3s

My Dad wanted us to experience airline travel in a DC-3 before they were replaced with Convair 580 turboprops. I still remember the flight as it was my first in an airliner. We sat on the left side, towards the back.

Young and reckless

A wall of clouds quickly advanced from the west. Lightning flashed, illuminating several shocked faces in the dark. Before I ducked into the small backpacking tent Niki and I were sharing, I glanced at the Cessna 177 parked next to us. It was snugly tied down, chocked, and ready to weather the storm. The tie-downs. My stomach sank. I forgot to pack the tie-downs!

Beginner’s Luck: Winning my first aerobatics competition

Pitching 20 degrees nose down to build the energy before the first manoeuvre I was ready for the loop. Gently twitching the stick back, 3.5g pushes me into the seat. I subtly relieve back pressure at the top of the loop to ensure a perfect “sky circle” is drawn, the nose gradually dropping back through the horizon and I re-tense my muscles for the bottom of the loop.

Hand-Flying a Category IIIA approach and landing with almost no visibility

At about 175’ AGL, we entered the clouds. As we reached the 50’ AGL point, I announced “Landing”. I retarded the throttles when the flying cues in the HGS called for me to “flare” (ease the power off and pull the nose up for touchdown) and the mains settled-on the runway right where they were supposed to.

Cold weather clarity – staying calm in an emergency

We had eaten up a lot of the 6,600’ runway by the time the airplane was ready to fly, so I rotated and up we went. Barely. The tach bounced between 2100 and 2200rpm, barely into the green arc. I watched the last bit of runway disappear under us at 200 feet per minute.

Returning to the air after a suspended medical

In September 2020, a letter landed on my doorstep inviting me to the Cardiac Surgery Unit to discuss my aortic valve replacement. Time stood still for a few minutes. My most recent scan had determined that, in much the same way it is advisable to change a timing belt before it breaks, it was time to swap put my valve. All routine, I was assured.

Friday photo: Oahu at night from FL380

Oahu, HI and Honolulu International Airport (PHNL) shot from FL380 aboard a B787-9 Dreamliner enroute from Vancouver (CYVR) to Brisbane (YBBN).

Fate was on my side – a lesson in scud running

It was a dreadful sickening feeling, flying ever so close to the tower with the supporting guy wires clearly visible. The tower pulsed strobe lights, meaning it poked menacingly into the sky to at least 500 feet unseen in the daunting gloom.
Bell 47 helicopter

Tail rotor failure in the Grand Canyon

I was performing sling loading operations in the Bell and was picking up my external loads from within a corral that was situated right next to an 800', sheer cliff. On that particular hook-up, right as the loader signaled that I was good to go, and as I added power and anti-torque pedal to rise to my hover, I felt a slight jerk in my tail rotor control pedals. That’s when things began to unravel.

Protecting the Pitot-Static System … by making Safety a Habit

On takeoff, the pilot also neglected to observe the airspeed indicator as the airplane accelerated and rotated. Only then did he discover his error. Looking out the left window, the pilot saw the white pitot tube cover still in place underneath the white Cessna wing.

From the archives: What it takes to fly the President

Air Force One, as the Presidential plane is identified when the Chief Executive is aboard, is a swept-wing Boeing VC-137C, basically the same design as the 707-320B, an intercontinental jetliner flown by many airlines. Delivered in late 1962, it has a top speed of 620 miles-an-hour, and a non-stop range of 7000 miles — 2500 miles more than the previous Presidential jet.
Garmin GFC 500 autopilot

Autopilots are underrated

It’s time to add the much-maligned autopilot to this list of life-saving technologies—and retire some old myths in the process. The latest generation of digital autopilots are nothing like the “mechanical brain” of 1947 or even the analog systems of the 1970s and 80s. They are the first models to truly live up to the grand title they are often given: “automatic flight control system.” 

Friday photo: Generations of air travel

The view: A DC-3 sits outside the Frontiers of Flight museum ramp as a 737NG shadow departs.  The first 737-300 delivered to Southwest airlines is also just visible in the upper left corner. The pilot: Chris Schaich The airplane: Boeing…
Super Cub landing

Which controls which? Throttle/elevator and airspeed/altitude

There’s an old story about an insane asylum in which nobody ever thought up any new jokes, so all the old jokes were given numbers. This meant that telling a joke only required giving its number. In that same spirit, here is a list of arguments as to whether pitch or power controls airspeed or altitude. Now pilots can discuss the issue more succinctly by tossing numbers around.

Idaho backcountry adventure – expectation and the reality

We expected the “Frank” to be wild, majestic, and to have amazing vistas. We expected it to teach us lessons. We expected to see some neat airplanes. We expected it to be a place to meet wonderful people. We expected it to provide memorable hangar tales. It did all that, and much more.
J-3 Cub on floats

No good reason to fly, but this is why I do

Flying is expensive, but then again, it has always been expensive. Perhaps you too have had enough of the touch-and-goes, and the "$100 dollar hamburger" flights to your favorite non-towered field. The thought of cruising the beach once again does not exactly motivate you to race to the airport. But I do it because it’s fun!
Airplane out side window

First solo out of the pattern: an unexpected adventure in risk management

All of a sudden, I hear “MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY!” along with a report that a small biplane had a propeller failure during the takeoff roll.  After a minute or so of radio silence, the UNICOM monitor announces that the the runway - the ONLY runway - at my home airport is closed until further notice.  Gulp.