Landing gear malfunction over the desert offers lesson in resource management
I was thereSuddenly the caution light got my attention indicating that the landing gear was not in a safe position. Soon thereafter, the landing gear circuit breaker popped. I looked immediately in the exterior inspection mirror located on the engine cowling and could see the landing gear dangling precariously in between an up and down position.
Hard lessons learned
I was thereSuddenly, the engine started running very roughly. They always say flying is long hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror. I put the carb heat on and things seemed to settle down. A few minutes later, the engine roughness and coughing started again with the engine almost dying and then surging back to life in cycles.
One hour closer to your first accident
I was thereWithin minutes, I'm flying 30 degrees to the left to hold the same heading in clear air while pointing this out to my copilot. Looking past the airport, there was a long string of clouds up next to the Front Range. Down from the clouds comes a long skinny “S” shaped tornado. Our friend in the back seat says, “You know we are flying towards a Tornado.”
Witnessing a horrific accident forges a pilot’s journey
I was thereFirst, we could see the top of the plane and the top tip of the tail through the gaps in the tops of the trees. Then the windshield, then the wings, and then over the whine of the engine there was a ‘CRACK’ and the plane shuttered. The nose rose sharply then sank. ‘CRACK’ ‘CRACK’ ‘CRACK’ it began to shear out the tops of the trees as the nose pitched further and further down.
A Precautionary Landing and The Human Body’s Reaction to Fear
I was thereI tell the Tower my gear lights don’t indicate three green down in locked. The young man's voice asked me “Would you like a flyby?” He wanted to know if I wanted to “fly by” the tower for him to look. Then he asked me “How many souls on board?”
A runway incident that continues to haunt
I was thereAfter what seemed like centuries of silence, I looked to my right and noticed it was quickly getting brighter - much brighter - when all of a sudden, over the hump in the runway appeared a very large aircraft whose bright landing lights were mimicking noon. It was growing in size, accelerating by the second.
Strong crosswinds offer a lesson in risk management
I was thereWhen I was close enough, I tuned the Crossville ASOS. Winds were from 320 degrees at 18, gusts to 25. Another example that the only forecast you can believe is the one you see in the windshield.
My first solo flights
I was thereI must have landed safely, because off I went, solo! Holy moley, the airplane took off and climbed a lot quicker with only one person on board, all that weight gone. Also, there was somewhat less yelling in the cockpit. I went around the pattern and did touch and goes and then went out north of town to the “practice area.”
The mishaps that never happened and valuable words of wisdom
I was thereThis is where overall pilot knowledge and experience comes in and I believe that a lot of that is distilled into words of wisdom that we sometimes take for granted. Not surprisingly, I have some personal stories that make the case that our short words of wisdom are valuable assets if we use them.
A mother overcomes her rusty pilot fears to share the joy of flying
I was thereI loved my time in the air. But after having my son, I found I feared flying. I was afraid to leave him without a mother. I would think about flying once in a while as I focused on working and raising him. I was busy, for sure, but I was also afraid. I accepted that bad things might happen when I flew before he was born. In the years after he was born, though, things changed.
Engine Failure Over Kentucky
I was thereAs I dialed in the tower frequency, the cockpit fell silent. Prop-loafing, heart stopping engine failure. My training kicked in (thank you, Tom Davis). I added carb heat (late, I know), checked the fuel selector (should have an hour's fuel still in the tanks), flipped through the left and right mags, and pushed the mix ture knob into full-rich. No change.
Making a difference – speaking up when it mattered
I was thereI lost sight of them before liftoff as they passed behind the fuel island tanks. They had passed over the dam and were following the river drainage to the south. At this point, they still had not climbed above pattern altitude. After what felt like an agonizingly long time, they finally reached their cruise altitude of 9,500'.
Beginner’s Luck: Winning my first aerobatics competition
I was therePitching 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
I was thereAt 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
I was thereWe 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
I was thereIn 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.
Tail rotor failure in the Grand Canyon
I was thereI 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.
Press on and get the job done: the aroma of deference
I was thereOne crewmember prefers to terminate the flight in the interest of safety, adherence to existing rules, and compliance with standard operating procedures. The other crewmember - through body language, grunts, hand signals, and time-consuming silent deferrals - intends to “press on and get the mission done”. It becomes obvious that a covert difference of opinion permeates the cockpit infusing in its wake the unmistakable aroma of deference.
“I’m going to crash!” -helping a pilot in distress
I was thereI approached the aircraft from behind and to its right, decelerating to match its pace. I could make out the familiar shape of a Cessna 150. Even at my minimum safe speed, my Cessna 310 was still faster. I came even with the aircraft on its right wing, keyed the mike and said, “Aircraft in distress do you see another airplane off your right wing?”
Older and Rusty-er
I was there
There I was turning from base to final, oh my. Is that me getting scared? Last time I did this I thought I was “Joe Pilot”, what’s happened?
The runway looks really small. I don't know how we are going to fit this Cessna 172 on…