- Altitude above you.
- Runway behind you.
- Fuel in the truck.
- A navigator.
- Half a second ago.
- Approach plates in the car.
- The airspeed you don’t have.
Did we leave anything out?
Student pilot killed after a New Year’s Eve “joyride” in a Piper PA 30
The New York Daily News among other media sources has reported a tragic incident over New Years where a teenage student pilot and his two teen passengers were killed on what is being described as a “joyride” in a Piper Twin Comanche by officials. Seventeen year old high school student Jordan Smith fell in love with flying at an early age and started going to a nearby airport at age 14 for flights with friends. He had even won a scholarship to Wallace State Community College to study aviation and was one test short of earning a private pilot license.
However and around New Year’s Eve, James crashed a Piper PA 30 in a wooded, swampy area roughly a mile from the Walker County Airport in Jasper, northwest of Birmingham – killing himself and two teenage friends. The owner of a nearby farm stated that she often saw training flights from the airport circle her farm and she guessed that Jordan was flying the same pattern before he crashed.
Jordan’s mother said that the owner of the Piper PA 30 had given her son his own key and the code to a security gate behind which his airplane was parked, but a local sheriff says he believes the teens basically stole the aircraft and took a joyride in it. The airport manager has stated that the aircraft left the airport at around 10:30 PM in overcast skies and a low cloud ceiling. He was also quoted as saying:
“It was a student pilot flying an airplane without permission, an airplane that he was not qualified to fly at night.”
There were a couple of interesting comments posted on the New York Daily News’ article that are worth noting, including:
mryan75: There is no such thing as “one test short of a pilot’s license.” You either have one or you don’t, and this kid obviously did not. By that logic, I’m one medical degree short of being a doctor.
Denton14: I highly doubt that the invite to use the plane was meant for a last night flight with friends. I’d like to know if they had been drinking, and, or, using drugs before this took place.
RochesterSabre: just curious, what does the FAA say about owners giving keys up to folks that they KNOW don’t have a license?
And knowing the States, no doubt everyone involved or touched by the tragedy (e.g. the airport, the owner of the aircraft and the families of the victims) wants to avoid costly lawsuits (the National Transportation Safety Board has not commented yet pending an investigation), but I do have to wonder whether any insurance on the aircraft will be paid out given the circumstances and where blame will be placed should lawyers start getting involved. Certainly there are lessons from the tragedy – especially if you have a teen who is already flying or you allow other pilots to use your aircraft.
Is your flying club an “old boys club?”
Scott Spangler recently wrote an interesting post for Jetwhine about how flying clubs welcome or don’t always welcome new members. His observations (in part) were brought by Tim Lemke, the president of the Winnebago Flying Club, in a conversation the two had after the latter gave a presentation at a recent AM Oshkosh.
To begin with, Scott pointed out that flying clubs make aviation affordable by sharing the fixed costs of operating an aircraft among a number of people with active and lapsed pilots being the obvious benefactors. However, Scott then observed that:
In focusing on their immediate needs, members of many clubs have, without realizing it, created a closed society. Without new members to propagate the pilot species, their number will dwindle with time, adding to the survivor’s financial responsibilities
Scott added that in his experience with flying clubs, there does not tend to be much outreach or recruiting activities and that in many cases they are “old boys clubs whose members often share narrow views of what aviation should be.” He went on to describe how some flying clubs are dedicated to a specific make or model airplane, an aviation era, a specific activity or even a landing gear configuration and those not interested need not apply to be members. The problem of course with such “closed societies” is that the future of a flying club can be computed based upon the age of the youngest members. And if all of the members are older pilots, there won’t be much of a future for the long term.
If you do belong to a flying club whose future days may be numbered, its worth mentioning that General Aviation News has reported that various flying club experts will host a webinar on Wednesday, January 9 (8pm EST), to share tips and tactics for improving a flying club and no doubt the recruiting of new members will be discussed (To learn more or to register, you can click here).
With that said, we would like to ask you our readers, especially anyone in the UK where flying is ridiculously expensive, a simple question: Is your flying club an “old boys club?” If so, what are you doing (if anything) to change that to ensure that your flying club survives for the long term and for younger pilots?
Pilot catches a thief while doing a fly-by of his house
ABC News has reported an odd story about how pilot David Zehntner was doing a flyby of his home in a Cessna 182 Skylane and caught a thief in the act. David has a vacation home in Franklin (North Carolina) and a main residence in LaBelle (Florida) that’s under the approach pattern for the nearby airport. For that reason, David always makes a low altitude pass over his home on his flying trips.
However and on his flight returning from Christmas vacation, David noticed a truck in the driveway. When he dropped down to 300 feet, he saw a guy walking around and looking into all of the windows and testing the doors of his home to see if he could get in.
On the fourth pass, the thief looked directly at the aircraft, but he still attached David’s utility trailer to his hitch and took off with it. David’s wife suggested landing on the road, but the aircraft had three hours of fuel left. So instead, David tried but failed to get in contact with the local airport while his wife tried calling the police on her cell (it was to noisy to talk) – all while following the thief in the Cessna.
The thief even stopped at a red light at a police station, but David had no way of alerting the police to the situation. When he saw the thief turn onto highway 80, David landed at the nearby airport and called the police who caught up with the thief.
Fifty-nine year old Gary Robert Haines was arrested, charged with grand theft and released on $2,500 bond (no doubt before the paperwork could be processed according to one sarcastic comment on the article…). Police also found several loaded rifles and a handgun in the vehicle (which they are investigating) while David got his trailer back.
Aviation videos of flying that would be illegal in the UK
Hat tip to Rodney of the Rodney’s Aviation Ramblings blog for finding and posting this video of 1920s wing walker Gladys Ingle of the 13 BLACK CATS changing aircraft in mid-air in order to replace a lost wheel. Rodney’s comment was:
I am sure there are a few reasons why this would never happen these days…
…probably including the Rules, and a lack of engineers who enjoy flying…:-)
And we can safely assume this would not be legal in the UK today:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oAzdbd0J2A&w=480]
The same goes for this next video (“The daredevil pilots of Colombia”) produced for Al Jazeera and posted on FlightSchoolList.com showing pilots in Colombia fly a DC3 on some of the most perilous air routes in the world over the Amazon jungle. One reason old DC3s are still used is because they can actually stand up to the brutal weather and climate conditions in places like the Amazon jungle where they deliver supplies to remote villages, but maintenance problems and (fatal) accidents are common:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-F-cBF5ZbQ&w=480]
Finally, Matt Dearden, a British born Pilatus PC-6 Turbo Porter pilot who flies over the jungles of Indonesia, has recently posted this great flying video on his Bush Flying Diaries, Indonesia blog that was taken on trips to remote and rather dangerous looking jungle airstrips in Northern Kalimantan/Borneo. The scenes were shot over a few months entirely on a single GoPro 1 HD camera:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj2aw2zjdlA&w=480]
What is the real cost of flight training and flying?
If you are wondering what the real costs of flight training or flying as a general aviation pilot are, a would-be student pilot nicknamed aggieflyer has asked a great question on the Ask a Flight Instructor website about what those costs would be:
I know to get a private pilot certification cost anywhere from 5k to 9k.
What I am trying to figure out is the real cost of flying a plane after I get my certification. I see online where Cessena rents for $100-$125/hr WET.
What are other cost associated with flying everytime? Do i need to buy insurance coverage when I fly, what are added cost? do i need to pay landing fees at airports I land? Do i need to be a flying club member? Any FAA fees? Additional passenger charges etc
John D. Collins responded by writing that he owns a Bonanza which costs him the following:
- Maintenance: $3,000
- Insurance: $1,200
- Hagar Taxes: $1,100
- Hangar Condo Fees: $600
- Fuel: $4,500 (Assuming $6 per gallon x 15 gallons per flight hour x 50 hours per year)
His total flying costs comes to $10,400 per year or $210 per hour, but he estimated that a C172 would be half that value. He also commented about airport and FBO fees and that most general aviation pilots learn to avoid those that have them (not difficult to do in the USA) or minimize their exposure to them.
Jim F. then posted that a student pilot should expect the cost of flight training to be much closer to $10,000 than to $5,000.
- Renting a 172: At Least $120 an Hour (Potentially less for a 150/152, Cub or Tail-wheel)
- Renter’s Insurance (Even if You Don’t Have Much Assets): $250
- Equipment (e.g. Headsets, Charts, Books etc.): $1,000
- Charts: Annual Updates
- Gas (As In To and From the Airport) etc.: Varies
Jim suggested adding a few dollars or if you end up doing a significant amount of flying, adding $5 to $10 to the hourly rental charge to anticipate all of the other costs you will incur as a general aviation pilot.
Bob Watson added that the cost of a flight instructor will also need to be included in a flight training cost calculation. In the Pacific Northwest where he lives, a flight instructor will cost $40 to $70 an hour and you will need to assume 20 to 30 hours of instruction in an aircraft plus 10 to 15 hours of instruction both before and after a flight – adding around $2,000 to the cost of flight training.
Finally, Brian commented that you will first need to determine if you are the type of person who learns quickly. If so, then you should assume 50 to 80 flight hours for training plus roughly the same amount of ground time and you will need to find out what a flight instructor charges per hour. Multiplying those figures will equal your total flight training costs.
With the above flight training and flying costs in mind that are more appropriate for the States, we would love to ask any UK or Europe based readers: What were your flight training costs and what are your annual flying costs?