You can request unique training opportunities from ATC. Things like light gun signals. If you’re a CFI you should expose your students in a controlled environment. If you’re an experienced pilot on your flight review, ask for something challenging. It might just make your life a whole lot more comfortable later on…when you least expect it.
Opinion
How can I ensure an FBO’s fuel is not contaminated?
I recommend that you let your plane sit for maybe a half hour or so after fueling before you do your fuel sump checks. That way if you did get some moisture or contaminates, you would have a better chance of spotting it.
Can my engine really be converted with just a simple adjustment?
I am building a Velocity and it happens that I purchased a zero time rebuilt 250-hp Lycoming IO-540-C4B5 engine. I have been told by a maintenance shop that the only difference between a C4B5 and a D4B5 is the setting of the fuel servo. The D4B5 is rated at 260 horsepower, and they claim they can adjust the servo to convert the C4B5 into a D4B5.
Questions from the Cockpit: Not your father’s electrical system
It is interesting how electrical systems have changed over the 100-plus years of flight, and especially in recent times. It’s something for traditionally-trained pilots to think about when stepping into newer airplanes, because even today’s Cessna 172, well, it isn’t your father’s Cessna 172.
Mother Nature always wins
There are remedies for virtually all the obstacles we are likely to encounter in flight and in life. The real variable is whether we will take the precautions necessary to be safe or not. Too many of us play fast and loose with the risks. The resulting accidents present general aviation in a poor light to those who stand on the outside looking in. They see us as dangerous and, frankly, some of us are.
Is the DPE program sustainable?
37% of all DPEs administer three-quarters of all tests, while just 21% administer half of all tests.
Is what I’m doing protecting my aircraft from corrosion during the winter?
The short running of the engine pumps heavier oil throughout the engine. Better corrosion protection is the theory. What is your opinion?
Human Factors: Even a little crash can be deadly
More often than not, it’s the little things that kill you. For instance, of all the myriad hazards of flying the bush in Alaska, death by pond taxi in the state’s third-largest city would seem so low on the list of possibilities as to be nearly impossible. And yet…
The miracle machine that binds us
The Cub represents the essence of flight and nothing more. A cluster of welded steel tubes wrapped in a blanket of Grade A cotton, powered by Continental, Lycoming, or Franklin engines producing as many as 65 hp. The Cub sprung from the imaginations and sweat of men and women who did something amazing. They invented, then perfected, a flying machine that has never been equaled.