Aircraft

I think the student, who has spent most of his time in Cessnas, was trying to use the rudders in a similar manner, which requires long, constant pressure to control. The Piper Cub requires quick, constantly changing rudder inputs to maintain directional control.

I also wouldn’t rely too much on ATC to provide traffic information in busy airspace, even on IFR flight plan.

I have been struggling with fear in the cockpit since a long flight in IMC in which I encountered prolonged strong downdrafts. I have retrained several times, trying to enjoy flying again.

I never heard the guy, and obviously we didn’t see one another until we were very close. He never said anything, and I chalked it up to a new pilot.

I think that it is important to heed the alerts from all of those on board. I could have paid more attention to my student mentioning the noise from the engine. I might have been able to detect an issue before we were en route.

I feel the most dangerous part of the situation was not the near miss, but the formation’s disregard for other aircraft at the field. The only time the formation called on the radio was to give me feedback on what they thought of my airmanship.

This is my key takeaway: An electrical system failure, much like an engine failure, may not manifest as a black-and-white event.

I was familiar with the ESP (Electronic Stability & Protection) feature on my recently installed Garmin GFC 500 autopilot in theory, but seeing it in practice was scary.