The affect on aircraft sales during this recession was out of character as top-end GA aircraft continued to sell while almost all other segments suffered. Courtesy: Piper Aircraft
I’ve been writing this Left Seat blog for EAA with the generous sponsorship of Aspen Avionics for a year. I don’t think it’s my fault, but 2011 has not been the most memorable year in aviation, but there was some good mixed in with the bad. Continue reading
Courtesy: blog.minitab.com
All pilots are amateur meteorologists out of necessity. And one weather fact we think we know is that high pressure systems make for good flying weather. And that’s generally true – but not always at this time of the year.
As you remember from private pilot ground school, high pressure systems typically clear out the atmosphere, bringing good visibility and generally clear skies. The soggy stable air of low pressure systems can collect lots of moisture that leads to widespread clouds and reduced visibility. Lows usually spawn fronts that add their own mix of flying weather challenges. Continue reading
At one time NASA promoted SATS – What happened?In the mid-1990s NASA created a program to revive general aviation and transform piston airplanes into reliable transportation machines that could be safely operated by pilots without thousands of hours of experience. The hope was to create a small aircraft transportation system (SATS) that would allow people to travel with convenience and predictability between the thousands of airports in the country that are not served by scheduled airlines.
The general aviation industry applauded. Richard Collins and I scratched our heads. We, and many thousands of other pilots, had been SATS participants for decades and didn’t even know it. We used our airplanes for transportation and essentially matched the schedule reliability of the major airlines, which was a bit of a challenge then, but not that difficult now. What would SATS do that we didn’t? Continue reading
TruTrak Auto Trim module on an RV. Courtesy: Ivan and Dianne Kristensen
Every well-trained crew, or any competent instructor, always makes it absolutely clear who has the controls. Even pilots who have flown together for hundreds or thousands of hours always announce aloud, “You have the controls,” and the other pilot responds, “I have the controls.”
These procedures come from the hard-learned lessons that somebody must always be in control, but two can never be in control effectively and safely at the same time. Continue reading
Courtesy: Donna Arnott
All aviation accidents are, of course, tragedies for those involved and their families and friends. But the deaths caused by pilots who fly into weather conditions that they and their airplane are not equipped to handle strike me as the most sad because they are totally avoidable.
The VFR pilot who presses on into IMC (instrument meteorological conditions) is invariably trying to reach some destination, and that sets the stage for carrying passengers to that destination, and so often the death toll for a continued flight into IMC accident is high. Holidays add to the urgency to be someplace with an airplane full of passengers. As we saw over the Thanksgiving period poor weather and VFR flying can lead to disaster. Continue reading
Courtesy: Lifehack.org
How old is too old to fly? The question is in the news again because the pilot flying the Piper Cherokee 180 that crashed in Arkansas last week killing two popular women’s basketball coaches from Oklahoma State University was 82 years old.
Almost nothing is known about the circumstances of the accident. The weather was good VFR, the pilot had decades’ worth of total experience and extensive time in the accident airplane, and preliminary reports do not indicate any distress calls to controllers. The pilot was certified for the flight, and had a current medical certificate. Continue reading
People build their own aircraft for all sorts of reasons, but high on the list is a desire for a machine you just can’t buy from a factory. And that’s exactly why Frank Robinson built his own helicopter. And that was 10,000 Robinson helicopters ago.
Frank worked for several helicopter manufacturers, including the biggies of Bell, Hughes, and Kaman. He was also at Cessna when the company created the Skyhook, a helicopter of unprecedented performance and flying qualities. The Skyhook was so stable that it earned single-pilot IFR approval without an autopilot or artificial stability system, which was a first, and as far as I know, is the only helicopter so approved. Continue reading
Spotting damage on a homebuilt is relatively easy. This wingtip damage is ready for repair. Courtesy: Mansbergeraircraft.com
Using composite materials to build an airplane has many advantages. Composites – particularly advanced materials such as carbon fiber – can weigh significantly less than aluminum. Composites can be shaped to meet any designer’s whim, and the finished surface can be extremely smooth and free of lap joints and rivet heads.
But, can composite materials be too tough for their own good? The answer is maybe. Continue reading
Instrument flying was pretty crude in the late 1960s when Don Bateman began developing what would become the ground proximity warning system (GPWS). If pilots followed all procedures correctly every time, there was no danger of hitting the ground. But if pilots made a mistake, there was nothing to warn them of the danger. Pilots, believing they were correctly following an instrument procedure but were not, flew into the ground way too often. Continue reading
The petition asks the FAA to allow pilots to fly fixed-gear single-engine airplanes of 180 hp or less under daylight VFR using a driver’s license as an alternative to the FAA third-class medical. Four-seat aircraft can be flown but with only one passenger.
The petition by EAA and AOPA to allow required medical education to replace the third-class medical for recreational flying is the first proposal that I think actually can improve safety and be approved by the FAA.
The petition asks the FAA to allow pilots to fly fixed-gear single-engine airplanes of 180 hp or less under daylight VFR using a driver’s license as an alternative to the FAA third-class medical. The airplane could have four seats, but pilots opting for the driver’s license option would be restricted to carrying a single passenger.
This type of petition has been made many times by various groups and even individuals in the past with no success. What’s different this time is that pilots using the driver’s license would be required to complete an online aeromedical awareness training course, including a test to be sure they correctly and completely absorbed the information.
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