Close Calls - September 2011

Close Calls is a column detailing the “close call” experiences of fellow pilots. I invite you to contact me at CloseCalls@TheAviators.TV to anonymously share your stories. The experience shared and lessons learned will be of benefit to all readers. Confidentiality will be assured and I will not use your name or aircraft ident without your permission. If your submission is used in Close Calls you’ll receive a copy of “The Aviators: The Complete First Season” on DVD.

The Chill of Icing

Our pilots were on their way to the sun of Florida from the winter chill of Erie, Pa. with plans to stop in western South Carolina for fuel. They had originally hoped to depart before noon but life got in the way so their departure was delayed until closer to 6 p.m. The spring weather hadn’t changed all that much through the afternoon but they’d now be flying most of the trip in the dark of night. Both of our pilots were instrument rated so they filed IFR.

In the left-seat was the owner of the aircraft with a private pilots license and in the right was his friend, an airline pilot. They were expecting some clouds over the mountains of West Virginia but they were to dissipate on the other side of the mountains.

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Close Calls - August 2011

Close Calls is a column detailing the “close call” experiences of fellow pilots. I invite you to contact me at CloseCalls@TheAviators.TV to anonymously share your stories. The experience shared and lessons learned will be of benefit to all readers. Confidentiality will be assured and I will not use your name or aircraft ident without your permission. If your submission is used in Close Calls you’ll receive a copy of “The Aviators: The Complete First Season” on DVD.

A Student’s Life Lesson

By Anthony Nalli

Our pilot was working in the pattern on just solo hour number two working toward her private pilot’s license. She really enjoyed circuits… the routine of taking off, turning crosswind, downwind, base, final and then having the wheels touch the runway only to get to do it all over again.

That day, the skies were clear and blue with a bit of a crosswind – overall, a good day to practice. It was her second circuit of the day and she was feeling comfortable. She turned final and made her call then noticed the runway was approaching rather quickly.

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Close Calls - July 2011

Get-Home-itis Despite Vast Experience

By Anthony Nalli

Close Calls is a column detailing the “close call” experiences of fellow pilots. I invite you to contact me at CloseCalls@TheAviators.TV to anonymously share your stories. The experience shared and lessons learned will be of benefit to all readers. Confidentiality will be assured and I will not use your name or aircraft ident without your permission. If your submission is used in Close Calls you’ll receive a copy of  The Aviators: The Complete First Season on DVD.

Our pilot had departed the airport he was visiting in his high-performance homebuilt on the 80-mile trip home when at approximately 200 feet the gull canopy on the pilot’s side of the aircraft detached itself from the fuselage. There was a loud bang and our pilot thought that the canopy had collided with the tail section.

He declared an emergency and told area traffic that to stay alert and stay away. The aircraft was marginally controllable with quite a lot of buffeting. He knew that lowering the gear and flaps would also have some aerodynamic effects on the aircraft so decided to increase the power to offset the resulting drag. As the gear came down he found that choosing a higher power setting certainly helped. Next were the flaps.

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Close Calls - May 2011

Building a Better GA Pilot

By Anthony Nalli

Close Calls is a column detailing the “close call” experiences of fellow pilots. I invite you to contact me at CloseCalls@TheAviators.TV to anonymously share your stories. The experience shared and lessons learned will be of benefit to all readers. Confidentiality will be assured and I will not use your name or aircraft ident without your permission. If your submission is used in Close Calls you’ll receive a copy of The Aviators: The Complete First Season on DVD.

A while back we explored VFR flight following from the perspective of ATC. This month we take our discussions on flight following to the next level and we look at flight safety from the inside out – instrument training. As part of getting the Private Pilot License in Canada five hours of instrument time is required. Five additional hours are required as part of obtaining a night rating (a separate rating in Canada NOT included as part of the PPL). The reason for these 5+5 hours is to provide pilots with very basic instrument skills to help them should circumstances arise where situational awareness becomes impaired (such as VFR flight into IMC or instrument meteorological conditions).

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Close Calls - May 2011

Building a Better GA Pilot

By Anthony Nalli

Close Calls is a column detailing the “close call” experiences of fellow pilots. I invite you to contact me at CloseCalls@TheAviators.TV to anonymously share your stories. The experience shared and lessons learned will be of benefit to all readers. Confidentiality will be assured and I will not use your name or aircraft ident without your permission. If your submission is used in Close Calls you’ll receive a copy of “The Aviators: The Complete First Season” on DVD.

A while back we explored VFR flight following from the perspective of ATC. This month we take our discussions on flight following to the next level and we look at flight safety from the inside out – instrument training. As part of getting the Private Pilot License in Canada five hours of instrument time is required. Five additional hours are required as part of obtaining a night rating (a separate rating in Canada NOT included as part of the PPL). The reason for these 5+5 hours is to provide pilots with very basic instrument skills to help them should circumstances arise where situational awareness becomes impaired (such as VFR flight into IMC or instrument meteorological conditions).

Click to read more ...