The course the PT-17 was turning towards appeared to put them on course to pass over the top of me as I departed northbound. I assumed they didn’t see me, so I started a turn roughly 30° to the right and made a radio call that I had the PT-17 in sight and we were no longer a factor for each other.
Skylane and Twin Star have near miss in pattern
While on the left base leg I heard another aircraft announce left base. I looked all around and was not able to see another aircraft. I announced and made my turn to final for Runway XX. At that point another aircraft reprimanded me over the CTAF for “cutting me off.” There was some unprofessional “back and forth” on the CTAF where, in the heat of the moment, we expressed our differing opinions of who was at fault.
Fixation on finding the runway captures pilot’s attention
The chain of events began with my inability to locate the runway while already descending, and my commitment to my base to final approach plan.
Pilot inadvertently flies through Special Use Airspace on way home from air show
I was using Foreflight for flight planning and airspace avoidance purposes. I was not aware that on the airspace menu the tab for SUA had been set to the “off” position. I was following a direct path between ZZZ1 and ZZZ, which resulted in flying directly through the restricted area completely unaware of its existence.
Poor radio coverage a problem at KBAZ
Everyone, including Approach, is well aware of this and they are forced to hand off in-bound traffic to New Braunfels Tower way too early and Tower, being non-radar, is blind to that traffic until acquiring them visually.
When left isn’t right
From now on I will make sure to have a more “big picture” understanding before rolling for takeoff — I was thinking why did I not see him on my ADS-B and I realized because both my GPS units were zoomed in to airport taxi diagrams.
Maintenance error leads to in-flight oil leak
I was very lucky to have made the airport before oil starvation and engine seizure, which could have occurred minutes later.
Pilot’s mistake ‘could have had a tragic ending’
For this reason, I will carry this lesson with me through the rest of my flying career and be hyper vigilant about entering the correct altimeter setting.
CFI learns lessons from forced landing between two houses
Even the smallest routine should not be taken slightly and, with this being said, I hope that others can learn from my mistake and avoid making the same mistake that could have potentially cost us our lives. Create your own checklist before getting into the plane with your student, analyze all aspects of the situation, and do not get complacent.