are you a small plane pilot?

[flytire 0]

i have flown in a piper cub but never got to control it. probably a good thing!

 

[mikechell 0]

Yes and no.

Back in the 80's, I started taking lessons. We had Aero-clubs on base and the cost per class was VERY low. I finished ground school and had just over 20 hours in the seat when the club had to leave the base. All across the Country, clubs were being given the choice ... carry $6 million in insurance or get off the base.

When they left the base, the cost per lesson increased to uncomfortable levels. My next flight was to be a solo ... but I'd need to pay for (I think it was) another 20 hours to get my license ... and that was beyond my pay grade at the time.

Never got my license.

 

I am/was taxi licensed on C-130s, and could drive one of those beasts anywhere on the flight line.

 

If I had to fly a plane, I am 99% sure I'd get it off the ground AND back on the runway intact. Maybe not in perfect condition ... but nobody would die.

[CasualAngler 0]

I've ridden in a couple of GA airplanes; a J-3 Piper Cub (handled the controls), the Cessna 172, and an Aviat A-1B Husky (similar to the Cub, but with WAY more Power). My Bucket list ride would still be the DHC-2 Beaver, the Dean of the Bushplanes.

 

Can I handle the Controls? Yes. Can I land? NO. Would I go through the motions & get a Ticket? Probably not. Too high strung!

 

[JC Hoppaire 0]

This 17-year old student pilot lost an entire wheel and strut on takeoff in her first solo flight.

 

Audio with air traffic control:

 

https://www.flyingmag.com/student-pilot-loses-wheel-audio

[feathers5 0]

This 17-year old student pilot lost an entire wheel and strut on takeoff in her first solo flight.

 

Audio with air traffic control:

 

https://www.flyingmag.com/student-pilot-loses-wheel-audio

Wow, that girl was incredible. How old is she?

[mikechell 0]

 

This 17-year old student pilot lost an entire wheel and strut on takeoff in her first solo flight.

 

Audio with air traffic control:

Wow, that girl was incredible. How old is she?

 

What part of "17-year old student" didn't you understand, feathers?

[ColeJByrne 0]

Thanks, guys!

[TIER 0]

I am in cap, the air force auxilary, and we fly lots of small aircraft. I have flown a cessna 172,182, 206, and a GA-8.

 

[Steeldrifter 0]

Nope, no small planes for me. I have only flown twice in a big plane, and hated it lol

[Chasing_Tails 0]

Started flying in 1997 at 17. Commercial singe-engine/multi-engine, instrument rating, advanced ground instructor, remote pilot.

I now work in the unmanned aviation industry so I spend more time flying with my feet on the ground rather than sitting in the cockpit.

[DFoster 0]

I earned my private pilot license in 1986, later earning a commercial license multi-engine, land with instrument rating. I worked in the early 90's as a corporate pilot flying a Piper Arrow and a Piper Twin Comanche for a local company.  Flying bug smashers to build enough flight hours to apply with one of the major airlines resulted in a personal revelation:  I loath living out of hotel rooms.  I do not have that "traveling bone" you hear about.  So I left flying and  went on to pursue a successful career in engineering.  Now to be sure most of the pilots that I know, Including my brother in law who is a 777 captain with United, would live in a tent eating canned tuna everyday as long as someone paid them to fly.   As it turned out I made the correct decision.   I suffered a major heart attack at the relatively young age of 48 which would have ended my flying career in it's prime anyway.  I survived because it happened a 15 minute ambulance ride from one of the best if not the best cardio hospitals in the world.  Had I remained in a flight career I might have been  on a trip when it happened I probably wouldn't be here today.   😲

A long time commercial pilot once said "When I was a boy I would look up at an airplane and wish I was flying.  Now I look down at a river and wish I was fishing".  I say "Rock the wings, I'll wave". 😊😊😊

[SilverCreek 0]

Isn't there a requirement for a stress EKG for commercial pilots?

Even if there isn't, signs and symptoms of ischemic heart disease may have detected on the physical exam.

Then a stress EKG would have been performed which would have been abnormal. Then a coronary artery cath and stenting would have prevented the MI.

I wanted to learn to fly when I was in Med school. When I was in Salt Lake City for my radiology residency, I had one year when there were 5 fatal private plane crashes. SLC is well over a mile high and we are at a higher altitude than the "Mile High City" of Denver. We are surrounded by mountains on both the east and west sides so planes going east or west must circle over SLC to climb high enough to get over the mountains.

One plane carrying a family of 5 fueled up and entered Little Cottonwood Canyon before gaining enough altitude. They were all fueled up and could not make it over the pass. They crashed in near Alta Ski Resort. The plane caught on fire and all occupants were burned up. 

All coroner cases are taken to the University of Utah Medical Center for examination. So the father, mother and 3 children were brought there. X-rays are done through the body bags. We read the coroner Xrays.

There were 4 more fatal crashes that summer. One was private plane that was stolen in Arizona. They found the plane when the snow pack started to melt. There were 2 men in their 20s who were perfectly preserved. Both were in the sitting position and had on Hawaiian flower print shirts!

That cured me of the desire to fly.

[DFoster 0]

On 2/9/2022 at 9:35 AM, SilverCreek said:

Isn't there a requirement for a stress EKG for commercial pilots?

Even if there isn't, signs and symptoms of ischemic heart disease may have detected on the physical exam.

Then a stress EKG would have been performed which would have been abnormal. Then a coronary artery cath and stenting would have prevented the MI.

I wanted to learn to fly when I was in Med school. When I was in Salt Lake City for my radiology residency, I had one year when there were 5 fatal private plane crashes. SLC is well over a mile high and we are at a higher altitude than the "Mile High City" of Denver. We are surrounded by mountains on both the east and west sides so planes going east or west must circle over SLC to climb high enough to get over the mountains.

One plane carrying a family of 5 fueled up and entered Little Cottonwood Canyon before gaining enough altitude. They were all fueled up and could not make it over the pass. They crashed in near Alta Ski Resort. The plane caught on fire and all occupants were burned up. 

All coroner cases are taken to the University of Utah Medical Center for examination. So the father, mother and 3 children were brought there. X-rays are done through the body bags. We read the coroner Xrays.

There were 4 more fatal crashes that summer. One was private plane that was stolen in Arizona. They found the plane when the snow pack started to melt. There were 2 men in their 20s who were perfectly preserved. Both were in the sitting position and had on Hawaiian flower print shirts!

That cured me of the desire to fly.

I'm not sure about the EKG, the regulations likely may have changed since the late 80's.  I don't remember ever having an EKG during a flight physical.  If I'm remembering correctly private pilots were required to pass a bi annual flight physical and Commercial pilots required an annual.  Commercial pilots acting as pilot in command were every 6 months. 

Statistically if you don't get killed driving to airport private aviation is extremely safe.  Most private pilots treat flying with the serious respect it demands.  Still as with any of life pursuits there are those who grossly over estimate their abilities.   

My first flight instructor had a saying he made every one of the students memorize. "The superior pilot uses superior judgement to avoid getting into situations that require the use of superior skill".   I never forgot that.  I have applied it many, many times through out my life when contemplating any "do I really want to attempt this" type decisions.

 One situation that I witnessed involved a wealthy corporate owner who purchased very complex multi engine aircraft soon after passing his multi engine check ride.  Technically he was certified to fly it but it this aircraft was not really designed for the weekend pilot. It was geared to the entry level corporate transport or a short distance scheduled airline.  Eventually he got busy running his businesses and got away from flying for months.  As in fly fishing, too much time between outings is a bad thing and will inevitably result in mistakes. Obviously the more complex the machine the more you need to be on your game.  This aircraft was a joy to fly but when things go wrong even an experienced pilot can get overwhelmed real fast.  This guy had the dough but not the experience level.  Fly fishing teaches us humility and so does flying, if you don't get killed. 

 So after not flying at all for about 6 months he showed up one day and decided to do a few touch and goes to get reacquainted with his airplane.  Touch and goes are a training standard where the pilot takes off and flies a rectangle pattern around the runway, usually four 45 degree left hand turns and then touches down on the same runway he just took off of.  Without stopping you reconfigure the aircraft for take off, push the throttles forward and take off again -repeat.  After his first touch down he raised the wing flaps from the landing position to take off position and began his second take off roll.  Unfortunately the right wing flap did not raise and remained in a full down position.  Possibly the result of the aircraft setting unused- I don't know for sure.   At the rotation point the resulting increased camber on the right wing created increased lift which caused the right wing to rise and the aircraft to want to roll to the left.  He felt this immediately but incorrectly attributed the roll to a left engine failure. When you lose an engine often the prop will keep "wind milling" so it's not as easy as looking out the window to see which one isn't running.  We're taught "dead rudder, dead engine" as a way of quickly identifying which engine is out.  In any event he thought the left roll he was fighting was due to a dead left engine.  He was fighting the left roll with applied right aileron.  He no choice but to abort the take off by cutting the power and land on the runway he was taking off of.  He made the mistake of cutting power to the right engine and leaving the throttle full on the left engine.  The result was a yaw and roll to the right.  The left engine was in reality still running at full power and combined with the application of right aileron caused the aircraft to suddenly cartwheel to the right.

 These events transpired over only a few seconds but a more seasoned pilot probably would have saved the airplane.  All this happened within a few feet of the runway and at a relatively slow speed which is what allowed him to survive the crash.  Not a scratch on him-

 

 

[SilverCreek 0]

Thanks for the reply.

[vicrider 0]

Back a whole lot of years ago small planes were a family thing and I should have completed my license back then. I love small planes. The feel of flight is one you cannot get in any other way. The person who became my stepdad had a 4 seat Stinson (sp) and we flew on a regular basis and I got feel for controls back then. My dad, close friend of man who became stepdad, bought a two seat Taylorcraft and began the steps to his license. On his first solo flight he landed safely but unfortunately knocked a wing off in doing so. Took other wing off and towed it home to our house and was working on it when cancer took him out. If I could go back I'd definitely continue in training and gotten that license but motorcycles, horses, fast cars, girls and beer kind of took over my life for a few years and planes in the family were sold so it never happened.