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Engine failure over the Pyrenees

Max Trescott has posted excerpts on his blog from an email exchange with a pilot who had purchased a G1000 and Jeppview-equipped aircraft and recently experienced an engine failure while flying at night over the Pyrenees. Recalling the experience, the pilot states that:

It was a very unpleasant experience. Engine and prop vibration was extreme–as if the engine what going to unmount. Add a thick cloud layer, 60 knot winds and bad turbulence, terrain and at night. I don’t know how much more adverse it can get. [company name] pilot was outstanding. We suspect fuel contamination, but it is pure speculation at this point. I am seriously considering switching to twin engine flying, but all is too fresh now.

Stopped engine aerobatics

Amazing aerobatics by the legendary Bob Hoover. (Hat tip: Arsy.org)

Not in Kansas anymore

The AOPA Pilot Blog has picked up an interesting story about an odd phenomena from a recent National Weather Association newsletter. It seems that wind farms are giving off tornadic vortex signatures (TVSs) on some Nexrad radars; in other words, they are showing up as thunderstorms and even as tornados. Hence, pilots receiving their preflight briefings will now need to know where these wind farms are located in order to avoid confusion. The NOAA has even posted a detailed PowerPoint presentation about the phenomena on its website.

Beginner’s Guide to Business Jets

Business jets are no longer to the playthings of billionaires. For some businesses, they are valuable tools and, while not exactly cheap, they can be surprisingly cost effective. For example, a five-person sales tour of three European cities might take three days on scheduled airlines plus two overnight hotel stays thanks to check-in delays and inflexible airline schedules. Total cost: perhaps £7,000. In a chartered private jet, you could do the same trip in a day. Total cost: perhaps £11,000. Factor in the savings in salaries for the wasted two days and the opportunity cost of tying up key people for so long and it looks like a good deal. Besides the time efficiency, there is less stress – the plane waits for you, not the other way around. It is also more private, more secure and you’re not tied to the big airports. For example, around London you could fly from Biggin Hill, Southend, Northolt or Farnborough or London City. [Read more…] about Beginner’s Guide to Business Jets

Latest Cirrus parachute pull

According to a report on WUSA9.com, a Cirrus crashed yesterday near Montgomery County Airport. The pilot, who was the only person on board, survived the crash thanks to the Cirrus’s CAPS parachute. As of March 2009, the CAPS has been activated 14 times with 27 survivors and 1 fatalities, according to the Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association.

I’m a Cirrus pilot myself and sometimes I think of the parachute as a bit of a gimmick – something to make passengers feel safer in a single-engine aircraft – but these results are a useful reminder that it is a serious safety device.

I spent a very happy afternoon last year at RGV Aviation in Gloucestershire Airport crawling all over dismantled SR-22s with one of their mechanics. It’s fascinating to see how planes are put together and how all the components interact and much better than trying to read the manual and visualise it. One of my strongest memories was how very small the parachute seemed. It’s smaller than a hiker’s backpack when stowed.

Hat tip Rob Mark at Jetwhine (via twitter).

When all passengers were first class

With discount airline RyanAir eliminating ticket counters and its CEO suggesting that passengers may soon have to pay to use the toilet on board, this 1933 American Airways promotional film, complete with cheeky 1930s humor, will take you back to the way air travel once was. In those days, passengers booked reservations at American Airways ticket offices where they found a:

Friendly kind of service, service with a smile. Here you will get accurate information promptly and cheerfully from a highly trained and efficient personnel…