Aero-Tips!
A good pilot is always learning -- how many times have you heard
this old standard throughout your flying career? There is no truer
statement in all of flying (well, with the possible exception of
"there are no old, bold pilots.") It's part of what makes aviation
so exciting for all of us... just when you think you've seen it
all, along comes a scenario you've never imagined.
Aero-News has called upon the expertise of Thomas P. Turner,
master CFI and all-around-good-guy, to bring our readers -- and us
-- daily tips to improve our skills as aviators, and as
representatives of the flying community. Some of them, you may have
heard before... but for each of us, there will also be something we
might never have considered before, or something that didn't
"stick" the way it should have the first time we memorized it for
the practical test.
It is our unabashed goal that "Aero-Tips" will help our readers
become better, safer pilots -- as well as introducing our
ground-bound readers to the concepts and principles that keep those
strange aluminum-and-composite contraptions in the air... and allow
them to soar magnificently through it.
Look for our daily Aero-Tips segments, coming each day to you
through the Aero-News Network. Suggestions for future Aero-Tips are
always welcome, as are additions or discussion of each day's tips.
Remember... when it comes to being good pilots, we're all in this
together.
Aero-Tips 03.08.06
A pilot died recently attempting takeoff. The irony is that he
had successfully landed off-airport after losing power. After
repairs were complete, he tried to take off from the emergency
landing site... only to impact trees on departure.
Another pilot did a masterful job of gliding onto a busy
boulevard without damage or injury, after exhausting his fuel
supply. After fueling up, with the road seemingly cleared by police
and firefighters (and with news cameras rolling), he tried to take
off—when his wingtip snagged a truck’s mirror, which
pulled the plane into a loss of control that left it totaled in the
trees alongside the boulevard.
After the Fall
If decisions or bad fortune puts you
in a scenario where you put the airplane down off-airport,
it’s generally not a good idea to try to fly the plane back
out. In fact, most aviation insurance policies include a provision
that pays to disassemble an airplane as necessary to truck it to
the nearest suitable airport, then reassemble it following an
off-airport landing. Given the history of crashes after off-airport
landings, it’s in the insurance company’s best interest
to pay to move it to an airport. Most certainly it’s in your
best interest.
Aero-tip of the day: Check your policy or ask
your agent/broker about coverage for such events, and even if you
don’t have insurance coverage to pay for it strongly consider
trucking your airplane to an airport if you ever end a trip
flyable, but short of a runway.