Cessna 182 Skylane Archives - Golf Hotel Whiskey

Cessna gets away from a (short) pilot (who forgot to adjust the seat)

General Aviation News will often reprint excerpts from US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) accident reports, including one from January 2011 that involved a Cessna 182 which got away from a (short) pilot in Meeker (Colorado).

According to the accident report, the pilot was attempting to taxi to the runway. However, the Cessna began to move left faster than the pilot wanted to. He then attempted to apply the right rudder, but the aircraft failed to respond. So the pilot applied the right wheel brake, but the aircraft failed to stop and ended up slamming into a snow bank – leading to substantial aircraft damage (Luckily, there were no injuries).

During the investigation, the pilot indicated that he probably did not have his seat positioned far enough forward in order to activate the rudder pedals or the brake pedals to their full extent. The NTSB then ruled that the pilot’s loss of directional control while taxiing was probably due to not have the seat adjusted correctly.

Obviously it goes without saying that as with driving, its a good idea to adjust your seat, seatbelt and whatever else in your aircraft you need to adjust before you head out to the taxiway.

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.

GA flight from Sydney to London on a fuel made from plastics

Few pilots are probably also readers of Plastics & Rubber Weekly or BusinessGreen but both publications have articles about Pilot Jeremy Rowsell who intends to fly from Sydney to London in a Cessna 182 powered from a fuel made out of plastic waste. Specifically, Jeremy’s “On Wings of Waste” project will attempt to break two records:

To be the first to fly via plastic waste fuel at 100% treatment.
To break a flight time from Sydney to London for a single engine piston plane.

To break those records, Jeremy will use a fuel produced by Ireland based Cynar PLC – company that is developing and has a patent applied for a technology to convert a wide range of end of life plastics (ELP) into liquid fuels. The plastic-derived fuel has already been tested in cars but Jeremy’s flight will be the first real-life trial in an aircraft.

However, Cynar chief executive Michael Murray has stated that the fuel needs more testing and trials but it should be just fine in a diesel engine not going beyond 8,000 feet. Jeremy will also be needing 400 litres to complete the London to Sydney flight with that amount of fuel requiring around five tonnes of plastic waste to produce. Hence and if large quantities of plastic waste can be secured, plastic based fuel could become a green fuel alterative for small general aviation aircraft but there is no mention of costs in either article and whether plastic based fuel will be competitive with more traditional fuels.

As for the flight itself which is scheduled for autumn (and more likily for November), Jeremy plans to stop along the 10,000-mile route at Darwin, Christmas Island, Sri Lanka, Oman, Jordan and Malta. He will also be cruising at 5,000 feet for stretches of up to 13 hours before reaching London six days later.

Don’t forget to tighten the fuel cap

General Aviation News regularly reprints summaries of accident reports from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the USA and this recently mentioned report involving a Cessna 182 dating from August 2008 is well worth repeating. The crash near Caldwell Texas resulted in two serious injuries and substantial damage to the aircraft involved. According to the brief report summary:

Prior to departure the airplane was filled with approximately 24 gallons of fuel. An airport security camera recorded the airplane being refueled. The video showed that the pilot, after refueling, did not put the right wing’s fuel cap back on. During the cross-country flight, the Cessna engine lost power. The pilot attempted to conduct a forced landing to a nearby airport. The airplane did not have enough altitude to glide to the airport. It hit a light pole and crashed into a athletic field near the airport.

Besides the fact that the pilot was caught on camera not putting the fuel cap back on, the on-site investigation found the right wing’s fuel cap itself on the ground near the aircraft’s wing (the left wing’s fuel cap was still in place). Moreover, blue streaks were found on fuselage and the right wing had fuel streaks that were consistent with 100LL aviation fuel being siphoned from the fuel tank during flight.

In other words and the next time you refuel – be sure to replace and tighten the fuel cap!

Reassembling a Cessna 182RG video

Max Trescott recently posted this video of a Cessna 182RG being reassembled after its landing gear was damaged in an accident. The video actually consists of several thousand photos taken over several weeks and these photos were put together into a two minute video to help viewers appreciate the amount of effort that goes into repairing even the smallest amount of damage.

However, Max has also written a fair amount of detail about the aviation group doing the repair. Apparently, they are faith supported ministry who operate such aircraft all over the world and there are many interesting videos posted on the group’s Vimeo page. Moreover, their corporate blog details and includes plenty of pictures of some of the repair work they are doing on aircraft in Central and South America. In other words, they are not your typical aviation group and working for them as a pilot would definitely be interesting!

Moody Aviation’s Cessna 182 Assembly from Paul Jones on Vimeo.

The Cessna 182 vs. the Cessna 172

Brian of Brian’s Flying Blog recently posted a very detailed response to an email he received regarding whether or not the Cessna 182 (Skylane) was harder to fly that the Cessna 172 (Skyhawk). His answer: Any private pilot should be able to fly a Cessna 182 with some instructions from a instructor who regularly flies one.

In general, Brian comments that the Cessna 182 is a great plane that can carry 4 people and baggage well but depending on the weight of the passengers and baggage, it may not be able to carry a full fuel tank. Another downside he describes is the fact that the plane is a bit nose heavy which is noticeable during flaring. However, the Cessna 182 is more roomier than the Cessna 172 and Brian says he was even able to fit someone in the back who was 6′ 8″.

Brian then provides a fairly detailed evaluation of the Cessna 182 for takeoffs, speed and slowing down, landing and flares, stalls, stability and carb heat usage and hence, the post is well worth a read by any pilot who plans to rent or fly one on a regular basis.