Índex per November 2021 a Flying

If the past 18 months have proved one thing to pilots, it’s the value of aircraft ownership. That has been reflected in the used-aircraft market, which has an intensity to it that we’ve not seen in decades. One truism remains clear: The airplane you choose must have a utility based on your plans. Friends of ours bought a Cessna Turbo 206 Stationair as a first airplane a few years ago—a good step up from the Cessna 172 in which they learned to fly—to serve as a superior way for one to commute to work 350 nm away. But the 206 truly proves its value to them because they can also pack it with a couple of mountain bikes and camping gear for weekend trips. They’ve discovered the real value of…

With lots of high-tech features, Best Aviation’s line of tugs fit a wide range of owner needs. From the company’s Alpha A2 tug, shown above, to the new Sierra tug designed for use at FBOs or for larger airplanes, the line offers versatility and capability across its models. The tugs incorporate industrial-quality hardware paired with smart software that can be airplane specific, depending on the model. The Sierra tug has two touchscreen displays on the main console to set up the machine. On the left touchscreen, the user can enter an employee ID. The tug is programmed to provide access only to the airplanes within the weight category that the employee has been trained for. There are six categories with corresponding images of associated airplanes. The tug programs the autothrottles,…

I learned about flying from that NO.964 Most pilots don’t need an excuse to go fly on a calm, sunny Saturday morning, but on this particular day, I had a good one. The plan was for my Cessna 172 to be part of a four-airplane formation, launching from St. Louis Downtown Airport (KCPS) at about 10 a.m. to fly over a parade in St. Louis, Illinois. The event was a peace march organized by the widow of David Dorn, a retired Black St. Louis police captain killed by looters on June 2, 2020, while he was protecting a friend’s pawn shop during the unrest following the death of George Floyd. My VFR flight started an hour earlier from Smartt Field (KSET) near St. Charles, Missouri, which is just a short…

Goodland Municipal Airport felt like the epitome of a Kansas airport—wide-open spaces and lots of room. John and I were taxiing for takeoff on Runway 12. But the taxiway entered the runway several hundred feet to the southeast of the runway threshold. We looked at the little stub to the northwest, and then we looked to the southeast—there was plenty of length remaining. At that point, we made two decisions that constituted poor risk management: First, that it wasn’t worth it to back-taxi to use all of the runway, and second, that the light breeze from the northwest was not a concern and taking off slightly downwind would be fine. It would be a long taxi to the threshold of Runway 30. Plus, the Hobbs meter was running in our…

When Jerrie Mock returned to Port Columbus International Airport in Ohio on April 17, 1964, to successfully complete her world-circumnavigation flight, she became the first woman to fly solo around the globe. While technically she was the only person on board, throughout the flight she was not alone. Right there with her, pushing onward with every nautical mile, was Jerrie’s essentially stock 1953 Cessna 180 Skywagon, christened Spirit of Columbus, after Jerrie’s home town. To the FAA, the airplane was known as N1538C, but to Jerrie, it was “Charlie”—her nickname for her faithful airplane—which needs to be given an almost equal amount of credit for the flight. From a distance, Charlie looks like every other Skywagon. Look inside the cabin, and you’ll see that it was stuffed with giant aluminum…

Growing up in Sweden, several decades ago, there were many barriers between me and my dream of flying. While, in hindsight, they were not rational obstacles, they suppressed my ability to reach for what seemed to be an impossible dream. The biggest barrier—one that I started to breach in the 1990s—was a lack of good information. Without the benefit of computers and the internet, it was hard to figure out how to go about getting a pilot’s certificate. In those days, research was limited to books and tiny microfiche sheets, which I could view through enormous machines at the local library in Karlshamn—my hometown of around 10,000 people. I did have access to one close source of information, however. My aunt’s husband was a pilot. He owned a small charter…

The other day I was reminded, once again, of the trouble with a pref light inspection: When you find something wrong, it’s too late to do anything about it. I was doing my routine run-up. My homebuilt’s quaint touches include a toggle switch for each mag. When I clicked the left switch to “off,” the revolutions per minute dropped by several hundred, and the engine ran rough. Usually I see mag drops of just 50 or 75 rpm, so this was disconcerting. I went through the usual fouled-plug routine of running up to high power, leaning the mixture, and verbally encouraging the offending plug to clean itself out. When I repeated the mag check, however, nothing had changed. “Whiteman Ground, two Mike Uniform, returning to parking.” Assuming it was a…

Building the Dream Being a reader of Flying for more years than I care to remember—about 50 years—I will state that I truly care about Sam Weigel’s well-being. Sam and his wife seem to be unstoppable. My letter to the editor, the month after Sam’s first published article in Flying, pertained to thanking Flying for adding Mr. Weigel to the magazine. My letter was thankfully published. I was a pilot years ago, and aviation and airplane love is what sells Flying. By the way, Sam was very gracious in writing me back about yet another letter to the editor in the past. Anyway, I am just trying to make things clear that what is next for Sam Weigel is what is next for us readers too. There is no one…

Arguably one of the most stunning lakes in the United States, Lake Tahoe sits at a relatively high elevation surrounded by even loftier mountains. This can make flying an approach to South Lake Tahoe, California, something that requires a little more attention than your average approach, especially if you are going to be using the LDA Runway 18 procedure. If I had to choose, this might be one of the coolest and most beautiful approaches to fly in the United States—in VFR weather. In IFR, it certainly has a few key points you wouldn’t want to miss. A Making the Approach While vectors are often given, there are times when a pilot wants to establish themselves at a fix that leads them onto the approach—or needs to, owing to a…

I am floating gently upward out of a dark, dreamless sleep, my mind slowly sparking into wakefulness and struggling to make sense of muddled stimuli. I am snuggled in a nest of silky material, my face exposed to the morning chill; I smell faint mildew and earthy petrichor. Soft noises fade in—chirping birds, raindrops pattering on canvas. For a moment, I could swear I hear yodeling in the distance, though I quickly dismiss this as a waking absurdity. My eyes flutter open and struggle to focus on a weirdly lit orange surface undulating above me. I’m still processing this when a new sound abruptly shatters the silence and smothers all competing murmurs with an apocalyptic roar. This, my brain recognizes with startling speed and clarity, is the sound of a…

After the seat belt comes the initial nest building. Headset adjusted and water bottle stowed. Seat full back and full down, oxygen checked, parking brake set, battery switch on, voltage checked. Beacon on to let the line guys know that there’s power on the airplane and somebody is in the cockpit. Rotary switch check, air source select on both, fuel quantity noted and compared with fuel required. Does the flap handle match flap position? Reach (or call) for the before-start checklist. After the first two or three hundred hours in the airplane, you get familiar. It’s called flow. The checklist points out that I’ve neglected to turn on the passenger safety switch. No matter—this is an empty leg. The checklist also confirms what I already know: The throttles and engine…

A The Alpha A2 version features similar rugged hardware and custom software to that found throughout the product line. B A quick round of practice moving the tug around without an airplane attached allows you to get a feel for the differential drive system that lets the tug rotate around the aircraft’s gear. C All of the tugs feature autothrottles, autobraking and torque control to provide the appropriate torque for the weight of the aircraft being moved. D The shape of the upcoming Sierra tug is specifically designed to prevent damage to turboprop propellers, a common hazard for FBOs and operators.…

A pilot friend—now in his late 70s and, for health reasons, no longer flying—recalled donating an unusual homebuilt of his to a museum. It was the airplane in which he had done a lot of his early flying, including episodes of scud running in the Pacific Northwest that he would occasionally describe with that combination of relish and shame that pilots reserve for situations of their own making from which they were lucky to escape with their lives. “When I taxied up and shut down the engine,” he said, “a warm feeling filled my whole body. And I realized that it was the feeling that this was the last time I would fly that airplane, and it hadn’t killed me.” Scud running, flying VFR under low clouds and with limited…

“Dogs love trucks.” I will forever remember the Japanese man in those great Nissan commercials from the ’90s. He wasn’t wrong. My dog, Seven, certainly did go crazy for trucks. She rode in the bed of every pickup I’ve owned: the Ford F250, the F150. She even made the jump to a diesel Ram. Over the past 14 years, that dog has gone everywhere with me in every kind of vehicle: motorcycles, cars, ATVs (jumped off one on her maiden voyage), boats (which she loved to poop on), excavators, mowers and airplanes. Ah, airplanes. A magical vehicle, taking Seven and me to destinations markedly different from our point of departure. In the many trips we made by truck to racetracks in the Southern states, she would feel the gradual change…

Apparently, after over four decades of borrowing someone else’s airplane (with passengers included) and limited mechanical problems, my nemesis has become airplane ownership. A major repair that was completed more than four years ago on my Piper Arrow has once again come back to haunt me. Unfortunately, the latest iteration of cringeworthy airplane ownership is the result of a heartbreaking, unimaginable accident. Those of us seasoned in the world of aviation and airplanes know that stuff breaks. A cylinder loses compression. A fan blade cracks. A magneto fails. A hydraulic pump leaks. But do any of us for even a moment conceive that a wing might fail? Tragically, this is precisely what occurred on April 4, 2018, at Daytona Beach International Airport in Florida when the left wing separated from…