Who else is dead slow lately?

[alebrewer]

I guess I've had too many cars that quit me in the middle of the road when the motor died to ever want to fly a plane. I like to fly. Love to take photos from the plane but never wanted a license. One of my classmates, a semi-retired pathologist is a hobbyist and flies an experimental plane. He took it to Liberal, KS and run the lab their while their doc was on vacation. The good doctor left him a BMW to drive around during the two weeks, then he got back in his little one-man plane and flew 400 miles back home.

I think that's part of the adrenaline rush - not knowing how you're going to come down once the rubber leaves the runway. I still remember my first solo as a student. I was pretty sure I was going to end up in a body bag. You spend a LOT of time in training doing stalls and engine off landings. Unless you're over water or a jungle, you can probably figure out how to get a single prop down and walk away. There's just nothing like the feeling of being 'above it all' as it were. And nothing like sticking a landing on the numbers.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

nothing like sticking a landing on the numbers.

A WWII pilot I knew, father of one of my best friends, was shot down twice and survived. Went on to run a crop duster, then got a job with a pipeline company who was bought out by Gulf Oil. He retired as the executive pilot for the Houston Hdq. Flew jets all over the world. Once in Allegany Airport, he radioed tower who said the temps were 34 degrees. He landed, the plane swapped ends, and slid to the very end of the runway stopping feet from going into the grass. They sent a trolley down to pick everyone up and one of the VPs on board said, "Nice flight Jim, except those last 15 seconds." When Big Jim retired, he never got into another plane to fly it. Said he felt like he had used up all his luck. He flew commercial only or with a trusted friend flying the plane.

Because son Jimmy was a polio victim and suffered a palsy, he never had a license, but he could fly a plane. He loved airplanes and went with another friend at every opportunity, who was a commercial pilot for a local chicken company, then Southwestern Energy. The most beautiful flight I was on was from Boise City, OK to Guthrie, OK, in a company plane from a well, and there Brad came with Jimbo in tow, and picked me up and got me back to Siloam Springs after dark after a front had passed. We could see literally from Wichita, KS to Dallas on the horizon. Sadly, all three are gone. Big Jim was the last, living to his 90s. Jimbo died from the polio suffering heart problems at age 48. And Brad died in Texas when a wasp flew into a guy's car causing him to swerve into traffic. Brad had just turned 49 and died in College Station on a weekend jaunt on his Harley 15 years ago.

 

[alebrewer]

He flew commercial only or with a trusted friend flying the plane.

IMO, single props are WAY safer than commercial. I get anxiety when I fly commercial. I would love to have had a career as a commercial pilot for some small group, flying Citations or something similar, but I started my journey way too late in life for that.

 

[KHS445]

IMO, single props are WAY safer than commercial. I get anxiety when I fly commercial. I would love to have had a career as a commercial pilot for some small group, flying Citations or something similar, but I started my journey way too late in life for that.

I feel the same way. I did fly some right seat for the local FBO in a light twin. I would love to learn and experience flying either a TBM or a light jet.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

single props are WAY safer than commercial.

The more engines the better

 

[KHS445]

The more engines the better

Not really. More engines require significantly more work for the pilot and in many light twins if you lose one engine about all the other engine does is slow your decent. I had a friend who was flying late one night in a Cessna 310 that blew an engine over Lake Michigan. His passenger asked him if he had ever experienced the situation before and he said nope, but I will have to figure it out.

 

[alebrewer]

Not really. More engines require significantly more work for the pilot and in many light twins if you lose one engine about all the other engine does is slow your decent. I had a friend who was flying late one night in a Cessna 310 that blew an engine over Lake Michigan. His passenger asked him if he had ever experienced the situation before and he said nope, but I will have to figure it out.

Kind of freaks me out to be over water. Tricycles don't land well in water, and I doubt tail draggers do either.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

is passenger asked him if he had ever experienced the situation before and he said nope, but I will have to figure it out.

An appraiser friend I knew had a twin engine and we flew to OKC once to take an FHA class. There were 5 of us (he and wife were both appraisers) And the other 3 of us paid for the rent car and they provided the plane. Nice trip and very fast. I always liked to see the ground because I was a geonut about aerial photography and remote sensing (SLAR, Lidar, etc.) I used to be a member of the American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing but dropped out after seeing my career choices weren't going in that direction.

 

[alebrewer]

Most spicy I ever had was a trip from McKinney TX (T31) down to the hill country for the TMBA. Flew into Boerne TX (don't remember the call sign). Anyways, on the way back, one of the passengers didn't get the door closed well. I noticed the takeoff roll was a bit slow, but it wasn't until we got in the air that we could tell. Tried to tell them there's no way the door could open in flight (due to wind pressure), but we had a few folks that had to change their britches when we got back down on solid ground.

 

[KHS445]

Kind of freaks me out to be over water. Tricycles don't land well in water, and I doubt tail draggers do either.

True. Just flare as much as you can and try to land tail first, pop the doors and have your hand close to your seat belt release. Over large bodies of water you try to get as much altitude as possible so you can glide either to or at least nearer to shore. Over oceans and large seas you can’t get enough altitude. For some reason steep turns and stalls performed over land didn’t bother me, but over Lake Michigan there was an additional pucker factor. Probably the loss depth perception and the sky and horizon being poorly defined.