Recent content by Witmo

https://www.foxnews.com/us/air-force-instructor-pilot-killed-ejection-seat-activated-ground RIP

If you're vfr and given a direct to xxx, if you've let the CDI drift off center, it's your choice whether to intercept the original track or just hit direct to again and do a better job keeping it centered. I don't believe ATC projects a couirseline for your aircraft from the point you're given...

Huh? I was responding to John Collins who claimed that a Bonanza could not successfully land with the gear and flaps down from a normal landing.

But a "normal pattern" doesn't preclude using the engine so why couldn't an A36 make the runway from a "normal pattern" with the gear down and full flaps?

Don't Bonanza A36s have engines? Even without an operable engine, I suspect more than a few commercial pilots could demonstrate a successful power-off 180 in a Bonanza.

I don't agree that stuck valves are always caused by worn out valve guides/stems. Excessive deposits in the guide will stick the valve. One source of deposits is excessive lead build up. Dropping the valve and reaming out the guide will fix it.

What do you expect the controller to do other than grant the request? If the pilot were to declare an emergency, he can pretty much do anything to safely land.

Could be the explosion took out some flight controls. Looked like the left aileron might have departed. Nothing the crew could have done. RIP

I don't know if this was mentioned earlier but the entire camera crew had walked off the set earlier that day (before the accident) because of their substandard accommodations and the lack of compliance with firearm safety protocols. The union rep had brought this to the attention of management...

Don't forget the invasion stripes!

I would think that retired fighter pilots might gravitate towards aerobatic airplanes where they could fly upside down and pull some occasional g's. Not that some gliders aren't aerobatic but you have a different level of aerobatics in powered aircraft. Powered aircraft also provide the...

The Continental claim of 100 HP is at 2700 rpm. I've never flown a Cessna 150 that could achieve 2700 rpm in anything but a dive so the claim is pretty much marketing hype. Perhaps with a prop very finely pitched, you'd see the 100 HP in normal flight but your cruise speed would suffer.

There's an AD for early O200 cylinders that changed the timing of the magnetos to decrease the likelihood of the cylinder cracking. They never said what this did to the rated power of the engine and I wondered how much of an effect it had. I'm sure most of those effected cylinders are out of...

Accident happened in South Africa. Young pilot had just gotten his commercial with the minimum time and had only flown around 3 hours in the last 90 daya. Besides the tied open door, factors included density altitude > 6000 feet, 10 degrees of flaps, three people in a 172E. The accident...

Many years ago I attended an event where an FAA official spoke about the Bob Hoover affair and how the FAA had learned its lesson and was now a kinder and gentler safety partner with General Aviation. After her prepared dissertation, she then opened the floor to questions and quickly reverted...