Joseph, a student pilot in Georgia, writes: I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around induced drag. Can you help me out?
Human Factors: A good airplane in a bad neighborhood
In addition to picking the right airplane for the job, an important pilot skill is bringing the same level of thought to picking the right airport for the airplane.
Questions from the Cockpit: A Christmas quandary
Nancy, a student pilot in Florida, writes: Over airport pancakes and discussion of holiday plans, Ol’ Saint Nick’s airport came up, and my friends and I began to banter about the location of the North Pole Airport and what its GPS location would be. I thought it should be 0° North latitude, by 0° longitude…but then I realized that I don’t know if zero longitude is west or east. To top off all that confusion, Google says the North Pole is at 90° north, 135° west! What gives?
Human Factors: A cold, hard lesson
The pilot’s cold weather start technique is blamed for accident when his Cessna 172’s engine quits due to a lack of oil.
Human Factors: A poorly-timed thumb’s up
There are only two types of pilots in the world: Those who have left the wheel chocks in place and those who will.
Questions from the Cockpit: Not your father’s electrical system
It is interesting how electrical systems have changed over the 100-plus years of flight, and especially in recent times. It’s something for traditionally-trained pilots to think about when stepping into newer airplanes, because even today’s Cessna 172, well, it isn’t your father’s Cessna 172.
Human Factors: Even a little crash can be deadly
More often than not, it’s the little things that kill you. For instance, of all the myriad hazards of flying the bush in Alaska, death by pond taxi in the state’s third-largest city would seem so low on the list of possibilities as to be nearly impossible. And yet…
Questions from the Cockpit: Take time to tap the ‘break’ pedal
Tami, a student pilot in Arizona, writes: I’m in an accelerated flight training program to become an airline pilot. The entire thing is supposed to take a year. I’m only a couple of months in and I’m already starting to burnout. There’s just so much to read, so many videos to watch, so many things to memorize — and for most of it I’m pretty much on my own. Do you have any advice on how I should organize what I’m doing and how can I avoid burnout?
Human Factors: Cool as a cucumber
In his well-written and detailed accounting of the accident to the NTSB, it’s clear the pilot was still completely stumped about what caused his engine issues. Carb ice simply doesn’t enter his mind as a possibility.