Table of contents for April 2022 in Plane & Pilot

There’s a fable that my fourth-grade teacher recounted to my class that tells of this family who lived in the forest in Germany. Their life was normal except for one thing. There was an axe stuck in the ceiling. The people of the house went about their lives knowing that the axe was there, perfectly aware of the danger it posed to them but doing nothing about it. And it would have stayed that way had it not been for a wise visitor—I don’t know who it was exactly, some guy—who witnessed the situation and gave them clear guidance. “Pull the axe out,” he said. The meaning of the tale was clear. If you’re living with some clear and present danger, don’t just go about your day as if it…

The Complete Multi-Engine Pilot, New Edition ASA has just released the fifth edition of Bob Gardner’s guide for pilots learning multi-engine flying. The Complete Multi-Engine Pilot textbook includes a new chapter on energy management and information on obtaining the multi-engine rating and checking out in a new twin. An integrated flight and ground syllabus outlines the rating program, with a sample written test that’s a helpful guide to the ones typically used for new-aircraft checkouts. It also comes with a complete library of FAA source material on multi-engine flight subjects. The Complete Pilot Series was written to complement training materials in flight schools, for home study and as a starting point for student kits. It has a soft cover, measures 8.25 x 10.75 inches, and is illustrated with 200 pages.…

Orville and Wilbur Wright are widely recognized as pioneers in powered flight, but without Charles E. Taylor, they might never have gotten off the ground. Even though his name has largely been forgotten, “Charlie” Taylor is the man who was able to develop an engine with a sufficient power-to-weight ratio to launch the Wrights at Kitty Hawk and into aviation history. His lightweight and powerful—for its time—1903 Wright engine removed one of the biggest obstacles to powered flight, giving the Wright brothers the edge they needed to take to the skies before their competitors. Taylor had an innate mechanical ability and was a respected toolmaker. He was working in his own shop when one day Orville and Wilbur Wright came in and asked him to make them some parts. Pleased…

Managing risk is a full-time job, no matter the size, speed or cost of the airplane. Our friends in the military live in a world where risk is baked into the equation. Flying fighter jets a couple feet apart like the Thunderbirds or Blue Angels, simulated air-to-air combat at Red Flag exercises or TOPGUN, or challenging rescue and logistic missions in transport aircraft and helicopters all involve elevated levels of risk. Yet the safety record of these intrepid aviators who fly on the edges of the envelope is exemplary. So, how do they do that? The first step is accepting that risk is present in every type of aviation or human endeavor and then dealing with it. We go to an airshow and watch the Air Force Thunderbirds perform one…

On September 24, 1929, Jimmy Doolittle made a trip around the patch in a Consolidated NY-2 biplane. That wouldn’t be much of a big deal, except that there was more fabric covering installed than just the Grade-A cotton on the airframe. Beneath a view-blocking hood, Doolittle was marking an aviation milestone as he took off, followed a course, and landed completely on instruments. Industry experts at the time lauded the flight as the biggest advancement since Wilbur and Orville Wright lifted from the dunes at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903. Doolittle’s flight—funded by the Guggenheim Foundation, the plane equipped with Sperry gyroscopic instruments—marked a huge advancement. And while the instruments would, over the years, go through generations of refinement, the general idea of keeping an airplane upright and on-course…

“November 46 Romeo, are you declaring an emergency?” asked the Abilene Tower controller. Juan, new owner of the Diamond DA-40, looked at me from the left seat, eyes bulging, clearly uncertain how to respond. “What should I tell him?” We had begun a training flight on the ramp in San Antonio earlier this morning, intending to make a “round robin” flight around the middle of Texas to complete the insurance requirements and to familiarize Juan with both the airplane and the new Garmin G1000 panel. In his mid 30s, Juan is a medical doctor and fairly low-time private pilot. He is whip smart and serious about training. He purchased the airplane to allow him to travel to outlying hospitals for shifts in the emergency room. With his wife riding in…

The world of aviation training is huge, and when you include training for flight crews, cabin crews, technicians, dispatchers, weather analysts, engineers and more, the universe of aviation training is vast. When it comes to flight training itself, well, that’s a big world, too, and its history goes all the way back to the Brothers themselves, who invented the airplane and who established one of the first flight schools in the world, which makes sense. While flight training has experienced its ups and downs over the past 110-plus years, mostly because of ups and downs in pilot hiring needs, its growth over time has been steady, with new technologies, teaching methodologies and requirements constantly changing the game over time. Today’s flight schools are well-oiled machines, and pilots who go through…

Flight simulator maker Redbird is offering flight simulator controls for the popular Cirrus SR22 and SR20 singles. The offering is in the form of two products, a side yoke that can be placed by itself away from the rest of the controls and a throttle quadrant (coming soon), both of which replicate the functionality, look and feel of the real deal. As you might know, in creating its SR-models 20 years ago, Cirrus wanted to do a side controller, but it went with a side controller that’s not a joystick style-model but one that’s very much a small yoke mounted on the side. Like a conventional control yoke, it moves in the two axes independently, so you pull it back, instead of tilting it as you do with a joystick,…

BACKGROUND As Harold Bray, a sheriff in Jefferson County, Colorado, looked out the window of the United Airlines jet he was a passenger aboard, he noticed something strange below, a series of flashing lights from the snowy moonlit landscape. While others onboard thought nothing of it, Bray’s stomach sunk as he realized that the light pattern was morse code for SOS. Quickly, he rushed to speak to the captain of the United Airlines flight, who alerted the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office below. Sheriff Bray’s sharp eye that cold January night in 1982 set the stage for rescuers to head up the 10,000-foot peak of Guanella Pass, just east of Breckenridge, Colorado. There, they found a man by the name of Alan Lee Phillips, 30, stranded in the cold. Phillips…

Modern pilots don’t get how lucky they have it. Even those aviators who have been flying since before most of us were born were raised on technologies unavailable and often unimaginable to their predecessors. It’s the nature of progress, sure, but it’s easy to forget how far we’ve come in aviation and how fast. Here’s a short list of eight of the most important aviation technologies in the history of flying, and you might be surprised how early some of them were introduced. RADIO COMMUNICATIONS There is no shortage of miracle technologies we pilots take for granted. I’d argue that near the top of the list should be in-flight radio communications. Most pilots think that radios have been around forever, and they’re not far from being right about that. You…

It was undoubtedly a peaceful morning. Cornelia Fort had woken up early to take her place in the skies over Hawaii. Now, she and her student puttered around the pattern in a little Interstate Cadet. As her student made the turn from base to final, Fort noticed a fast aircraft coming right at them. Instincts took over, and she pulled up sharply. The plane flashed by, too close for comfort. It was then she saw the plumes of black smoke roiling up from Pearl Harbor. Born in 1919, in Nashville, Tennessee, Fort wasn’t exactly the definition of a debutante. She was more of a tomboy, and at the age of 5, her love of aviation was born watching a barnstormer in a Curtiss Jenny. Fort’s father had made her brothers…

For years, we’ve been putting together surveys of the top aviation jobs, and over time the list hasn’t changed a lot. These careers made it to the top of the list because of their great salaries, worker-friendly schedules, stimulating challenges, potential growth opportunities, and an interesting variety of positions and geographical locations. And to top it off, all of them are likely to be part of growth segments in coming years. In making our calculations, we’ve also considered the time and financial resources the job seeker needs to get into such a position. And while we tried to get as definitive as possible, please be aware that the salary ranges are approximate, and the upper ranges represent the approximate current typical top salary for such fields. Leaders in their fields…

Champion 7FC Georgetown, Delaware/Injuries: 1 While about 10 feet above the runway during landing, the airplane was struck by a gust of wind that pushed it to the right of the runway centerline while banking it to the right. The pilot responded by applying left rudder and full engine power to initiate a go-around. The airplane continued to descend, and the right wing impacted the ground, substantially damaging it. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. PROBABLE CAUSE(S): The pilot’s failure to maintain airplane control while on landing in gusting crosswind conditions. Piper PA-31 Navajo Leesburg, Florida/Injuries: 1 fatal, 1 serious The pilot and the pilot-rated passenger were flying from their home located at a residential airpark, where…

There is something magical about the name “Mustang.” The beautiful lines and unforgettable Merlin wail of the P-51 or the low V8 rumble of America’s iconic Ford Mustang Pony Car evoke images of power and speed. So when the Mooney Aircraft Corporation set about to reinvent itself in the 1960s with the creation of a fast, high-flying, pressurized flagship, the Mooney M22, the Mustang moniker was the obvious choice. Brothers Al and Art Mooney founded Mooney Aircraft in 1929, an inauspicious year for startup ventures, and abruptly declared bankruptcy a year later. The company lay dormant until 1948, when the Mooney brothers and their partners resurrected Mooney Aircraft in Wichita, Kansas. By the mid-1950s, the brothers had designed and produced the first of the iconic Mooney M20 series. This design,…

This month’s column should more properly be called After the Accidents, as we’ll look at three recent fatal crashes. In each case, the same cause was clear to everyone on the ground but invisible to each of the pilots. On the morning of Sunday, June 16, 2019, a classic 1948 yellow and silver PA-11 Piper Cub Special was aloft in the beautiful clear blue skies above Copperopolis, California. Alone in the plane was a 58-year-old private pilot with 450 hours of flight time and a passion for flight. This father of three boys had married into a family that also loved flying. Friends described him as a kind and respectful man. A friend of the pilot got a text earlier in the day saying the pilot would be doing a…