Good intentions

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Piper PA-32. Image courtesy Jake Osborne.

Before I could qualify for my helicopter private pilot license in the Robinson R-22, I had to watch an R-22 fall out of the sky. It was part of Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR 73) training.

The training also involved viewing a video of the wreckage close-up. In it, I could plainly see a pair of woman’s legs, in fashionable pumps, crossed comfortably at the knee. I could not see the rest of her. Her body was lost, crushed beneath the collapsed wreckage of the engine, transmission and main rotor mast.

Heavy metal chaos balanced atop the eerie serenity of that woman’s crossed legs. The pilot had been flying with his first passenger — his wife. [Read more…]

Are you forgetting these preflight tasks?

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GlobalAir.com blogger Sarina Houston’s latest post about preflight tasks notes that general aviation pilots going on a familiar flights often do a preflight that’s “quick and dirty,” sometimes including only a brief check of weather and a quick walk-around of the aircraft. But there are required items in a preflight — familiar with the acronym NWKRAFT? – that all pilots must do before taking off. Check out the post here.