While I agree that it sure seems like a lot of airplanes are running out of gas, to be honest, I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more often. And the reason for that boils down to two issues: First, there’s no way to know how much gas you have in your tanks, and second, there’s no way to know how much gas you’ll need for your flight.
Questions from the Cockpit
Questions from the Cockpit: Low passes, low blows
I, like many of you, know perfectly well what a low approach is. What I didn’t know is that there are apparently quite a few people who don’t know what a low approach is. That affects my safety.
Questions from the Cockpit: Legend of the Phoenix
Is it true that if an airplane is completely destroyed, except for the data plate, that you can completely rebuild it, and it’s the “same” airplane?
Questions from the Cockpit: How do bugs fly?
Almost nobody on the planet truly understands insect aerodynamics — and the few who do can’t explain it to the rest of us. So in that regard, insect aerodynamics are absolutely identical to airplane aerodynamics. Except for the fact that they are, you know, totally different.
Questions from the Cockpit: Rotate what, exactly?
Riley, a CFI candidate’s non-pilot flying companion from Florida, asks: “So what’s rotating when you say ‘rotate’ during takeoff? It seems to me to be more of a pull-back than a spinning motion.”
Questions From the Cockpit: Who needs to be enlightened?
There are a lot of stumbling blocks in the way of accurately turning on Pilot Controlled Lighting, so it may be time for a refresher on lighting up the night.
Questions from the Cockpit: Going to the dogs
Sandra, a private pilot from Arkansas, writes: As I was flying into a small Class-D airport the other day, I heard the controller tell another airplane to fly a “dog-leg” to the runway. What the heck is that? I can’t find it in the Pilot/Controller Glossary.
Questions from the Cockpit: CarFax for airplanes
When a plane is damaged in a crash, there must be a record of it somewhere, right? Not according to a deep dive into the regulations by Questions From The Cockpit columnist William E. Dubois.
Questions from the Cockpit: Can someone give me a lift?
Truth be told, the four-letter word LIFT is a lot more complex than we are taught in flight training. This, perhaps, is what prompted a retired Naval aircraft hydraulic and pneumatic mechanic to write a two-page letter saying that all the current theories of lift are wrong. Having worked professionally with both fluids and air, he felt that outside of closed environments they “do not behave alike.” He advocates that airflow is irrelevant, and it’s all about pressure.