Flying from private unmanned airfields has many benefits, but also some unexpected complications and many lessons in common sense. We are constantly learning… I have always loved older aircraft, and with so many aircraft having been built in the sixties and seventies, finding a good example is not too difficult.Read More →
A propeller breaking in flight could result in your engine ripping itself off its mounting within seconds. As with most things that continually perform their duties without any hassles, we generally take the propeller for granted. Yes, we check it for chips and cracks during our pre-flight, but we don’tRead More →
One of the unexpected pleasures is having a fondly cherished idea booted into touch. For me one such notion was that hydrogen powered planes are not practical. Hydrogen has always just seemed like a bad idea – think of the Hindenburg disaster – and for a hundred other reasons. ONERead More →
(George Tonkin) – Almost simultaneously, both Gareth Pahl (one of my regular crewmen) and I received the message notification on our phones while flying a routine VISPOL (Visual Policing) sortie somewhere over Pretoria East: “Armed robbery in progress. Wonderboom area.” LOOKING FROM THE OUTSIDE IN, being a helicopter pilot canRead More →
This report was compiled in the interest of the promotion of aviation safety and the reduction of the risk of aviation accidents or incidents and not to establish legal liability. Aircraft Registration: ZS-JOA Date of Accident: 13 November 2010 Time of Accident: 1007Z Type of Aircraft Piper-PA-31P-350 Chieftain Type of Operation: TestRead More →
As times get increasingly tougher I find increasing evidence of aircraft insurance companies looking for any excuse not to pay. There are good insurance brokers – and underwriters – and er… some not so good ones. This is a story of good insurers not paying – and how things went downhill from there. Read More →
I’ve been trying to figure out how the five personality traits recognised by psychologists affect the safety and harmony of a flight. Here they are again. Conscientiousness Agreeableness Neuroticism Openness to experience Extraversion You have three main lines of defense against them: Brief them properly. Treat them like talking cargo. Never trust the buggers. Read More →
As we find ourselves commencing another Gregorian Calendar-defined trip around the sun on Space Ship Earth, a review of expectations for this orbit may be in order. In our over-optimistic, typically human assumption of being able to control, regulate and measure everything around us, the Gregorian Calendar evolved from theRead More →
A radio buff was busted for posing as an air traffic controller in Germany. The 32-year-old, whose identity wasn’t released in line with German privacy laws, was arrested Thursday night in the capital’s eastern Koepenick district. Police said he made contact with air traffic and gave fake flight orders. OneRead More →
Takeoff and landing is the most critical and intense time of any flight, and an engine failure at either of these stages is guaranteed to get your attention. They don’t happen often so it’s virtually unheard of to have two such occurrences on the same flight. “THE EGT (exhaust gasRead More →
