BruceAir
Pre-takeoff checklist
The bad news is, I didn't get to go flying today. The good news is, I didn't get to go flying today.
Among the many things I love about the Beech A36 is the fact that you can open the cowling and really look at the engine during the preflight inspection.
This morning I was scheduled with a student for recurrent training in the Bonanza. We ran through the cockpit checks, flagged down the fuel truck, and started the exterior inspection. We wiggled and poked all the stuff on the right side of the fuselage, the empennage, the left flap and landing gear, and the remainder of the left wing. Then we opened the left side of the cowling.
All the usual items appeared OK--brake fluid, rubber grommets on the fuel-injector lines, oil filter safety wire, etc. But then we noticed a piece of gold-colored machined metal peeking from the baffling, where nothing should be sticking out. We extracted the 6-inch shiny thing and quickly discovered that it had once been half of a cross-brace on the front side of the oil cooler.
I had flown the airplane a few days ago (with an FAA test pilot who uses some of his proficiency budget to stay current in the Bonanza), and we noted no discrepancies on preflight or during our flight, which involved air work, a couple of GPS approaches (the Garmin GNS 530 is one marvelous piece of equipment, by the way), and some simulated engine-out landings (a fun exercise in the A36). A couple of other people had flown the airplane in the interim, so I don't know when the piece finally snapped.
You'd probably never spot this sort of thing peering through the oil-dipstick access door on a Cessna, and it certainly wouldn't have been visible by looking through the intakes. But regardless of how much you can see of an airplane during a preflight inspection, make sure you LOOK.
Among the many things I love about the Beech A36 is the fact that you can open the cowling and really look at the engine during the preflight inspection.
This morning I was scheduled with a student for recurrent training in the Bonanza. We ran through the cockpit checks, flagged down the fuel truck, and started the exterior inspection. We wiggled and poked all the stuff on the right side of the fuselage, the empennage, the left flap and landing gear, and the remainder of the left wing. Then we opened the left side of the cowling.
All the usual items appeared OK--brake fluid, rubber grommets on the fuel-injector lines, oil filter safety wire, etc. But then we noticed a piece of gold-colored machined metal peeking from the baffling, where nothing should be sticking out. We extracted the 6-inch shiny thing and quickly discovered that it had once been half of a cross-brace on the front side of the oil cooler.
I had flown the airplane a few days ago (with an FAA test pilot who uses some of his proficiency budget to stay current in the Bonanza), and we noted no discrepancies on preflight or during our flight, which involved air work, a couple of GPS approaches (the Garmin GNS 530 is one marvelous piece of equipment, by the way), and some simulated engine-out landings (a fun exercise in the A36). A couple of other people had flown the airplane in the interim, so I don't know when the piece finally snapped.
You'd probably never spot this sort of thing peering through the oil-dipstick access door on a Cessna, and it certainly wouldn't have been visible by looking through the intakes. But regardless of how much you can see of an airplane during a preflight inspection, make sure you LOOK.