Michael, a commercial pilot from New Jersey, writes: “In fixed-wing airplanes that require two pilots, the captain sits on the left. Why is that?”
Because it’s easier for left-handed pilots, like me, to fly from the left seat, and we all know that lefties make the best pilots. Next question…
What..? What’s that? You say 90% of the pilot population disagrees with me?
Oh. Well, I guess there must be some other explanation, then. So let’s dig into it.
[Read more…]When I was young, I used to watch the TV series Dragnet. One of the famous lines from that series was “The facts, ma’am, just the facts.”
But today the question has become what are the facts and whose facts are correct?
When I watch the news, on almost every issue, one party will show facts and/or data showing their side and the other party will show just the opposite. So, which one is correct? Well kind of sort of both.
[Read more…]Back in my school days, I found it entertaining that we were taught humans reign supreme at the top of the food chain. Even as an adolescent, I knew that was a bunch of nonsense.
Not because I had a deep scientific background or that I’d read extensively from the accumulated knowledge stored in the school’s library. Nope, I knew it was wrong because I’d spent a lot of time in the woods. Sometimes for days on end with nothing more than a pocket knife, a length of rope, and a sheet of polyethylene plastic.
I was, without a doubt, an unusual kid.
[Read more…]One of the controversies surrounding Light-Sport Aircraft has to do with that first word in that term: “Light.”
Early on, one LSA importer lobbied to remove the word as it was negatively viewed, he believed.
Indeed, outside of the LSA community, many pilots I’ve spoken to often say these aircraft are too lightly built to withstand the rigors of flight training, one of the more demanding of all aviation activities.
“Yes, an experienced pilot may love a LSA,” they may concede, “but these aircraft cannot hold up to regular flight instruction duty.”
Enthusiasts may be biased in favor of LSA, but what would an actual flight school operator say?
[Read more…]In daily life, I tend to be positive and optimistic. My life’s not perfect. Far from it, in fact. But on the whole, my family and I are blessed.
And yet, there are often bumps in the road…or maybe turbulence is a better way to say it.
On May 28, 2019, the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Transportation released a pretty damning statement.
[Read more…]A lot of moving parts characterized the development of aeronautics from 1941 to the end of World War II in 1945.
For the U.S. Navy, the creation of the twin-engine XF7F-1 Tigercat design in the summer of 1941 was a blend of technology and tradition.
Q: I’m considering buying a 2003 Socata Trinidad TB20 that has an extremely low time of just over 200 hours. A single owner purchased it new and obviously hasn’t flown it much.
It has a 250-hp Lycoming IO-540 engine. The cylinder heads were nickel coated in 2017 after an inspection found pitting on the original steel cylinders, no doubt because it sat for some time between flights. The plane has never missed an annual inspection, so it must have been run at least once a year.
Since the cylinder coating in 2017, the plane still hasn’t been flown much, but I’m told that it never sits for more than a month without being run by an airplane mechanic for some period of time as it is hangared in a place that has a service center.
What are the risks with this low time, but older infrequently used engine?
[Read more…]In 1903 Orville and Wilbur flew on strips of ash and “Pride of the West” muslin. Their engine weighed in at an acceptable 180 pounds, producing a barely adequate 12 horsepower.
The engine had no carburetor or fuel metering device as we know them today. Raw gasoline fed into the intake manifold where it hopefully vaporized to mix with the air filling the chamber. A spark was generated by contacts that opened and closed. There’s not a spark plug to be found on that powerplant.
We might see a machine of that description as quaint, or rough, or even amateurish. Certainly, the FAA would be loath to certify such a rag-tag assemblage of parts. But that was the state of the art at the genesis of modern aviation.
We have come a long, long way.
[Read more…]In my January column I wrote that not all 100 octane fuels are the same. Now it has been reported that the 100UL avgas program has been more or less put on hold. The reasons given were technical problems and the change in administrations in Washington.
This begs the questions: “Why did the program go on in the first place?” and “Why would big oil companies put so much money into a program that may not go anywhere?”
[Read more…]I introduced my last column about reports to NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System from pilots who had experienced problems with contemporary RNAV approaches by describing a BFR/IPC combo I took over 10 years ago.
With sincerest apologies to my editor, publisher, and readers, I forgot to put quotes around the word “declared” in the phrase “…declared an emergency….” The emergency was simulated. The only person who heard me declare was my flight instructor. I did have a feathered prop and a dead engine, but only because he’d cut off the fuel flow. We were on a precision approach, but it was in CAVU VFR conditions. And we went missed at the DA, not any lower.
Even well-meaning writers miscommunicate. I use a mental shorthand while drafting my column. It helps me make sure I get my message across. But sometimes the shorthand ends up on the page instead of the message. Mental shorthand that leads to miscommunication is not reserved only for the writer’s room. It also finds its way into the cockpit.
[Read more…]
