What was the emergency?

I was going to make a witty remark, but Photofly's is better!

Yes, any flight control surface work justifies extra attention, balancing is very important. Also important is freeplay in trim tabs. The Reno accident with the Mustang is a case study in this. I was asked to test fly a Navajo some time ago, which was to include a dive test to 110% of Vne. I did my ...

I CANNOT say enough wonderful things about FSS on the ground or in the air! Great folks to work with indeed !!!

Quite agreed. Though, on a couple of occasions, which were wind, not visibility related, I have been told by FSS that I'm better to go sooner than wait.

Not sure if that applies to this case, or if the pilot just didn't bother getting any weather briefing (whether from an FIC, or self-briefing from the GFA). My mind extends to thinking that the unfortunate pilot just failed to resist other factors pressing him to fly. He seems to have been a dilige...

I asked a TC staff member on behalf of one of my students, and it went perfectly well (Other than I had made an error in a log entry!).

Yes, agreed, that is a significant service bulletin, and states that an AD is a possibility. So it's not an AD yet, but obviously an operator would have a hard time explaining why they continued to fly an Otter with that SB applicable, other than to ferry it for inspection. It's a better thing in th...

I don’t think they’re grounded, but there’s a Safety Bulliten to inspect the struts/fittings/bolts, etc before its next flight Is what I'm referring to when I seek an actual document. Is there a safety bulletin number? On occasion, there is a sudden understanding that a particular feature of an air...

Evidently all Otters in Canada have been grounded pending the results of the accident investigation. I wonder what regulatory mechanism has been used for this action? The only means I know of for TC to ground a type would be an AD. I've looked, and cannot find an AD to this effect. seasonaldriver -...

What ever happened to ongoing, self-motivated learning instead of having to be taught everything? I very much agree. And, I observe that many pilots earn their PPL, seemingly think that they "have arrived", and the training phase of flying is over. Someone, somewhere had told them they'd done well,...

Ever sat back and watched a really experienced excavator, or grader operator do their jobs? It's poetry. This is the one! Decision making skills aside, for simple hands and feet, backhoe/excavator is it. For the first few hundred hours on my excavator, I would focus on making my hands move levers, ...

No one here has ever made an error in judgement...right? Oh... I have made so many! Nearly died in one. Written about many others here, in the hope that newer pilots might consider what I think threatened the safety of my flight, could also threaten the safety of theirs. Maybe they're more skillful...

It is judgement pure and simple. ....... His poor kids trusted dad to keep them safe. Yes, but, low experience pilots may need to be taught what to judge, and what is safe. If a pilot lacks that understanding of what to be scared of, or cautious about, their judgement as to "safe" may be offset so ...

Let's add one more important direct risk factor to that list: A pilot who may have had little or no experience flying in winter freezing conditions. Then the reality that that many risk factors simply sum to be additional risk, just because there are so many risk factors for that flight! Every pilot...

The news reports that the flight was planned Buttonville to Quebec City. For that, any of us would have departed full tanks. Full tanks & full seats in a Cherokee Six does not allow much room for handling errors. If, when in poor visibility, he lost control, the plane would build up speed very quick...

I was landing at the Island on Porter last night at the time of the accident. As we descended, we broke out through a mixture of snow and rain, so I speculate the weather may not have been welcoming in the Kingston area either.

You also get the benefit of lots of contact with seasoned pilots, who are only too happy to offer their experience and advice once they learn of your plans. You get to see if the airline life is for you, because flight attendants have a very similar work schedule to an airline pilot. You also get t...

The news is saying that emergency services have been searching near Kingston for a missing Cherokee Six for a few hours now...

Yes, TC questions are multiple choice A, B, C or D. Choose the most correct answer....

This topic is the elephant in the room with TC, with respect to mods, particularly multi mods. Gathering and approving performance is an immense task. I've done it a few times, and never considered the resulting performance data worth the cost to get it, apply the required corrections, write the fli...

I watched a pilot with three passengers taxi in at Bradford, Pennsylvania, decades back, in a 172 that looked like that. The pilot did not look anywhere near as scared as he should have looked. I've had two unintended icing encounters in non deiced plane, and one in a deiced plane, each of which ren...

When Dash 8 serial number one was painted at DH, it was a rush to get it ready for rollout. A few of us were around that Sunday evening, and went down to the paint shop to sneak a look at the beauty. We were volunteered to help. It turned out that somehow, they'd pulled it into the paint shop with t...

A 150 just doesn't have the payload unless you and any potential passengers are tiny. A 152 does. Sorta. If you really need to haul a load, buy a load hauler, which a 150/152 was never designed to be. That said, I took my wife, two folding bikes, and a very modest amount of luggage in my 150, and f...

For a Cessna 140, as long as you learn to land three point, and wheel landing, and can handle a 10 MPH crosswind, I would really not be too worried about picking up any bad habits in it. In a turbine twin, yes, you could pick up bad habits, in a single taildragger, not so much. Just don't let the go...

I'll log those as duel Dual will be safer, both you and your uncle can claim victory, and live.... Crosswinds: It's a plane, like any other plane, while in flight. When taking off, or landing in a crosswind, it's still a plane, and can still be flown. Don't be afraid of it. If, you cannot taxi it s...

I'm very happy to recommend John and the staff at ATC Engines at Orillia, he's done several engines for me, always a good outcome. Though he's not right on the airport, he's close enough that having the engine re-n-re'd by Orillia Aviation works okay. Otherwise, it's into the back of a pickup (usual...