Aircraft: Beech Mentor. Injuries: 2 Fatal. Location: Williston, Fla. Aircraft damage: Destroyed.
What reportedly happened: The pilot, a CFI, took off from a turf runway surrounded by trees. Witnesses said the airplane became airborne within a couple of hundred feet, ballooned up, then leveled off just above the runway and accelerated. When the airplane passed abeam the witnesses, the airplane’s smoke system was active and the airplane’s wings were rocking up and down.
Aircraft: Bellanca Cruisemaster. Injuries: 1 Minor. Location: Borger, Texas. Aircraft damage: Substantial.
What reportedly happened: The pilot was on a cross-country flight. Twenty miles from the destination airport when airplane was at an altitude of 9,500 feet MSL, he began the landing sequence. He intended to change fuel tanks when the plane reached 5,000 feet.
Aircraft: Cessna 210. Injuries: None. Location: Wolfe City, Texas. Aircraft damage: Substantial.
What reportedly happened: The pilot departed his private airstrip and was en route to a local airport to purchase fuel when the engine lost power.
Aircraft: Cessna 180. Injuries: None. Location: Norfolk, Va. Aircraft damage: Substantial.
What reportedly happened: According to the pilot, as he started to taxi onto the runway he noticed that the airplane was difficult to turn. He thought that the tailwheel had not locked into position, [Read more...]
Aircraft: Loehle P-40. Injuries: 1 Minor. Location: Tullahoma, Tenn. Aircraft damage: Substantial.
What reportedly happened: Shortly after takeoff the airplane rolled into an uncommanded 10° bank to the left. The pilot initially assumed that the bank had been induced by a crosswind, [Read more...]
Aircraft: Rans S-7 Courier. Injuries: 1 Serious, 1 Minor. Location: Riley, Kans. Aircraft damage: Substantial.
What reportedly happened: According to the pilot, he turned off the airplane’s fuel shutoff valve and tied the airplane down, thinking that he was done flying for the day, when he noticed a family with a 10-year-old boy at the airport and offered to give the boy a ride around the field.
Military aircraft, flags, fierce mythical creatures, comely young women — these are often the inspiration for aircraft paint schemes. You can get exceedingly elaborate with a design that stands out and attracts crowds, or go the other direction and keep it simple with a white base coat and a stripe.
The Bruch family from Sturgis, S.D., decided to go between the two ends of the spectrum when they designed a paint scheme for their RV-9 drawing inspiration from a child’s toy.
Aircraft: Cirrus SR22T. Injuries: 1 Fatal, 2 Serious. Location: Carrollton, Texas. Aircraft damage: Destroyed.
What reportedly happened: The 550-hour instrument-rated pilot reported 209 flight hours in a Cirrus SR22, and 35 hours in actual instrument conditions. [Read more...]
Aircraft: Piper Seminole, Beech Bonanza. Injuries: 1 Fatal. Location: St. Paul, Ore. Aircraft damage: Substantial.
What reportedly happened: A Beech Bonanza and Piper Seminole were both flying in the local practice area in VFR conditions.
There are airplanes that are built for show, airplanes built for backcountry camping, and airplanes built for IFR cross-country flying. One of the best things about building your own airplane is that you can create a machine that fits all these categories. Gordon Anderson, from Silverthorn, Colo., has achieved this with his 2012 Sportsman 2+2. The red and gold high-wing was one of the more talked about airplanes at this year’s AirVenture in Oshkosh.
Meg Godlewski is GAN’s staff reporter and a Master CFI.
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