You're descending at a relatively high speed in calm air, and since there was no forecast for nor little chance of turbulence, you let the airspeed climb into the yellow arc, but fail to keep your attention focused on the airspeed indicator. Then you hear this buzzing noise. What might that mean?
Accessory Power – Smoke in Your Cockpit
The accessory plug is an often-overlooked part of your airplane. In most airplanes, this was called the "cigar" plug or "cigarette lighter" plug, before pilots and maintenance personnel started to figure out that smoking was bad for you ... and just as bad for your airplane.
Taxiway Incursion
My MD-88 flight from Atlanta rocketed down final approach at the Class C primary airport in Florida this hot Monday morning. From seat 19A I spied a Seneca in the run-up area at the end of the eastbound runway. (A lot of flight training originates from this airport.) The twin Piper sat cocked into the wind, the forward cabin door open as the instructor tried despondently to capture some of the last of the prop blast before sentencing himself and his student to the broiling cabin.
A Leg To Stand On
With aircraft, there's usually very little in the way of chrome ornamentation. Unlike the Cadillacs and Fords of the early 1960s, if an airplane has fins, they're not for show; almost every part is there because it has to be. One of the most essential assemblies an airplane can have, namely its landing gear, is often regarded as having only secondary importance in terms of its overall engineering contribution to how the entire aircraft functions. However, being aware of how they can be attached (and what can go wrong) is indeed important.
Trivia Testers : The Magneto Marh
For what clever but ill-fated design was General George Armstrong Custer's great grand-nephew best known?
Decision Training for Pilots — Emergency Readiness
Emergencies are rare but that does not mean it's a good idea to be unprepared for them. Emergency possibilities offer an endless number of scenarios. Here are a few to get you thinking...
Aircraft Can Get Cancer, Too
There she is, sitting by the wash rack: the picture of health. You've just finished washing off the bugs and grime, vacuumed out the interior, and you can't wait to head out on your next cross-country. One thing that we often don't stop to consider however, is the question of whether or not the next aircraft you eagerly await flying looks as good on the inside as it does on the outside. I don't mean the upholstery or avionics, either.
Dick’s Follies #8 — Tall Grass Takeoff
I love writing about my friend Dick, since his thousands of hours of flying have been so fraught with things that would (and do) give me gray hairs just thinking about them. Still, it is our hope that by bringing these lessons of life to everyone's attention, we will all learn and so avoid our own incursions into Dick's world.
Trivia Testers : Slightly Higher in Bolivia
What IFR aircraft under ATC guidance in IMC (instrument meteorological conditions) may suddenly find that their services have been terminated, and that they have to fly a full instrument approach, rather than simply being vectored to the final approach course?
LOOK OUT!
Transitioning to a new airplane can be a lot of fun, if you do it correctly. I can remember way back to when I was making the transition to my Debonair, and all of the fun and challenges that were included. This was mostly due to the fact that I was going from flying Cessna 172s, to flying a complex, high performance, retractable gear aircraft like the Debonair. Let's just say the experience was loaded with opportunities to expand my skills as a pilot.