Knowing when to head for the pasture and when to continue the flight without a care in the world can make all the difference. There’s no need to tear up a perfectly good airplane in an emergency landing just because a light burned out, a secondary flight control failed, or the person beside you lets their breakfast loose in the cockpit.
Opinion
Product Review: Lightspeed’s Zulu 4 delivers quiet comfort
A new headset is put to the test in a Piper J-3 Cub.
What oil will GA use with unleaded fuels?
Will general aviation move to a full synthetic oil when we transition to unleaded fuels? Or will we stick with what we are using today?
The ripple effect goes on
If we are so unfortunate as to mix the very human tendency to be momentarily irresponsible with something as unforgiving as aviation, the pain is expanded beyond ourselves. The collateral damage can last for decades.
Ask Paul: What could cause this to happen?
If you look closely at the photo, you’ll notice that the exhaust valve pushrod shroud tube on the right is bent severely and has fractured the pushrod shroud tube. The intake pushrod shroud tube is also bent, but you’ll also notice that this has caused much more serious damage because it has cracked the tappet boss on the crankcase, which means the crankcase will either need serious repair work completed at an FAA-approved facility or a complete replacement.
For the love of airplane noise
Before I understood much of anything about manned flight, I was attracted to the sound of aircraft passing over my head. I knew nothing of density altitude, stochiometric mixtures, cloud types, or weather patterns. I had little understanding of lift or thrust or drag. But the sound caught my ear.
A blip is a blip
When talking about paying for access to airports and ATC, it’s important to compare apples to apples.
Human Factors: Safety in numbers?
The big takeaway from this accident is clearly that flying as a crew requires good communication and a clear discussion of who is responsible for each aspect of the flight. If we really want to take a page from airline crew resource management, duties should be divided up, rather than duplicated.
Express yourself
Whether it’s learning to fly or pursuing some other life goal. we’re not held back by some nefarious outside force. With few exceptions we are the governor that limits the scope and breadth of our own lives.