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Date: 03/18/99 Newsletter No. 05
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Concept: This newsletter is about presenting information on a
wide range of aviation subjects of interest to pilots and/or
aircraft owners. The author has been a pilot for thirty years
with a wide range of flying experience. The author has also
sold General Aviation aircraft for over twenty three years.
Roger W. Carpenter 1901157 ATP, CFI/II (not current),AGI,IGI.
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Published Bi-Monthly.
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near and dear to their heart. We will do our best to come up
with intelligent answers. Hopefully other readers will help out.
Also, I hope that readers will submit articles for publication
in this newsletter.
Feature Article:
The following article has to do with kind of a pet peeve I've
had for many years. It is about watching countless pilots
hop in an aircraft and just take off without any common sense
preparation. Many don't even have a clue about the weather. Many
just glance at the fuel gauges but don't really KNOW how much
fuel is in the plane (Does John Denver ring a bell?) Some don't
even know that much about the aircraft they're getting ready to
fly but think they can figure it out as they go along.
Unfortunately most of these pilots I'm referring to are
experienced and should know better. To become complacent and
carelessness simply because nothing has ever happened before is
foolish and very dangerous.
The following article has to do with one area of flight
preparation that is ignored on a large scale.
BE PREPARED!!
This was the motto of the Boy Scouts forty years ago when I got
kicked out for a practical joke the Scoutmaster didn't
appreciate. None the less, the idea of being ready to handle the
unexpected when you get into the left seat of an airplane is
something for all of us to think about. Whether you are just
going around the patch for a maintenance check or across
the country, BE PREPARED!!
What am I talking about here? When I was the General Manager of
a fairly large FBO in the Denver, CO area we had a flight school
and about ten to fifteen instructors. In addition a sales
department and a large maintenance shop. Lots of airplanes and
pilots. Lots of flying. A month didn't go by that an instructor
with a student had to land at an uncontrolled field and call our
local tower to request instructions for getting home because his
mike or speaker quit working. He couldn't communicate. You all
know the routine of flying over the tower and dipping your wings
to get light signals from the tower in order to land. Very
embarrassing. REAL pilots always have a spare mike and headset
in a flight kit. They're PREPARED!
All my harping to the chief pilot and memos didn't do much good.
Human nature is a complicated thing. But after we had an
instructor killed in a crash because he wasn't PREPARED for the
flight conditions he suddenly found himself in, we were able to
get the immediate attention of our young (and old) pilots.
To make a sad story short, we had a part time instructor and full
time cop flat spin a Cessna Turbo 210 from 19,000 feet at night,
covered up with ice, to the ground near Eagle, CO. This is not
far from Aspen. The NTSB said the aircraft still had more than a
ton of ice on the plane the day after the crash. It appears a
major factor was the pilot did not have a flashlight to
check the wings for ice in IFR conditions. He had flown over to
Utah from Denver to check on a flying job. It appears it was on
short notice and he just hopped in the T210 and went. He was
returning at night and unexpectedly found himself in weather. I
understand the FAA tapes of his transmissions while flat spinning
to the ground are not pretty. He obviously didn't have much of
a flight kit.
Several years of Part 135 flying in old BE-18s, T-210s and T-310s
quickly re-enforced Murphy's law in my mind. "If something can go
wrong, it will" and let me add it is usually at night, in the
clouds and you're alone. The number of possible things that can
happen to get your attention is almost limitless. I know an old
WWII pilot that flew the hump from Burma into China in C-46s and
he can tell you a few stories about things going wrong in an
airplane.
So, for what it's worth, I pulled out my old flight kit and went
through it. This kit is not big and it always goes along for the
ride. Easily fitted between the seats or behind. No matter
how brief the flight, the kit goes too.
The first item I found was a hatchet (don't laugh.) When you're
in a BE-18 full of mail and the door is in the back, you can chop
your way out of anything if you're scared enough. It would also
come in handy if you had to put down in rough terrain like the
nearby Rocky Mountains. I even found "flint and steel" to make a
fire. Air Force survival school taught me that.
The following items are some things I feel should always be with
you when you're flying a plane. I'm not talking about a large
flight bag with all the Jep charts and approach plates for the
whole world when you're just going from Denver to Greeley. I'm
referring to a small bag of things that can prove life saving
ANY time you're riding the relative wind.
1. A flashlight with spare batteries and bulb. It doesn't have to
big, just there at all times. Ever have an electrical problem at
night and you want to see the instruments or just look for your
approach charts lying around somewhere? If you happen to get in
the clouds, particularly at night, you need to be able to check
the wings for ice. Some planes have ice lights, most don't. In
the clouds, particularly in the winter, THINK ICE! Also comes in
real handy for a walk around inspection at night.
2. Always have WAC charts, IFR enroute charts and approach
plates for the area you're flying in. It's amazing how the clouds
can slip in and cover up your home field when you're down the
road doing touch and goes at an out of the way airfield. Trying
to remember frequencies, altitudes and headings for an IFR
approach in a non-radar area can be tricky without the charts.
This will not make you popular with ATC. Trust me.
3. A spare mike and headset. Mandatory!
4. Spare bulbs for the landing gear lights and instrument post
lights. Who hasn't heard of the L-1011 that went down in the
Everglades at night several years ago because the crew couldn't
get a nose gear down light. The airplane was put on autopilot
and all three crew members went down into the well to check the
gear down indicator. NO ONE WAS FLYING THE PLANE!! The autopilot
was accidentally knocked off line by the pilot getting out of his
seat. The plane flew itself right into the swamp. The problem
was simply a burned out gear down indicator light. Takes only a
minute to replace a bulb, "if" you have one.
5. A small container of aspirin and diarrhea pills.
6. One of those Swiss army knives with all those handy little
tools. It's amazing how often a screwdriver can come in handy
while flying. There are times when you may want to simply remove
the cowling in some out the way place or just tighten something
down to prevent problems. Don't be helpless, BE PREPARED!
7. "Barf" bags. Need I say more?
8. I used to carry a few quarters in change. A closed FBO at
an out of the way airport will often have an outdoor pay phone.
Today, small cell phones don't take up much room. Comes in handy
for calling a cab in Podunk, IA at 3AM.
By now I think you're getting my point. In an aircraft you can't
just stop at a mall for what you need. Think about it and come up
with a small kit that ALWAYS goes with you. It doesn't have to be
big, just handy. It is kind of like a gun; when you need it, your
life may depend on it.
Use common sense. Things like warm clothes when flying in the
winter. Only a complete idiot thinks aircraft heaters always
work. A survival kit kept in the plane is not a stroke of
genius. Why survive an emergency landing and then die of
exposure? BE PREPARED!
Some pilots I've known feel that they're "lucky" and
nothing will ever happen. Famous last words. The problem is
they usually take innocent people with them.
You may fly a lifetime and never need anything in your flight
kit for an emergency situation. But never forget the "rule of
one". That's how many butts you have to lose. I would hate to
lose my life, like Mike the flight instructor, for the lack of
a simple flashlight.
Questions and Answers:
I received another opinion about pre-buy inspections that I had
mentioned in my last newsletter. While I don't fully agree
with the writer, in fairness, here is his entire comment.
Roger :
Regarding the pre-buy inspection @ $250 to $500, I'm an A&P and ATP, and
I try not to do pre-buys because of the liability, and because the plane
always goes somewhere else. However, I'm nervous at a pre-buy for $250
to $500 since the plane requires a really thorough log and AD check, and
that really takes a day with more complicated planes and older planes.
There really are not too many planes which take less than that.
Then the physical inspection takes time as well.
The reason why most mechanics will suggest doing an annual is that it
saves the buyer paying for it twice, since so much of the pre-buy check
is taken care of by the annual, and vice versa.
While it is a decision for the buyer, I'd hate to see a buyer pay for a
pre-buy and then take the plane to his home port and pay again for an
annual. I'd be inclined to put some money down on the deal with the
seller and have the seller deliver the plane for the pre-buy to the shop
in the buyer's home town where the permanent work will be done. I
recognize that this entails complications as well - but this is the only
way around the predicament of a buyer on one hand paying twice for the
service, and on the other buying a plane that has not been checked out
by a responsible individual.
Pat Barry
Chino, California
Other Information:
For a current listing of General Aviation aircraft for sale by
The R.W. Carpenter Company, go to
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In addition, I often recommend, what I feel to be the best book
ever written about flying an airplane, "Stick and Rudder" by
Wolfgang Langewiesche. I sincerely believe that every pilot
should read this "bible" at least twice. It WILL make you a
better pilot because it discusses flying an airplane from the
WYSIWYG perceptions a pilot receives. If you would like to order
it on-line or any of a million other books from Amazon click on
<http://aircraft-airplanes.com/mainpage.html> Great Discounts.
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