Videos Archives - Page 36 of 44 - Golf Hotel Whiskey

What instruments do I need for a VFR flight?

Jason Schappert has recently created a short video with a great acronym to remember what instruments are required for VFR flights. His acronym for day flights: A-TOMATO-FLAMES. Here is what it stands for:

A – Altimeter
T – Tachometer
O – Oil Temperature Gauge
M – Manifold Pressure Gauge (If applicable)
A – Airspeed Indicator
T – Temperature Gauge (For each liquid cooled engine)
O – Oil Pressure Gauge
F – Fuel Gauges
L – Landing Gear Position Indicator (If applicable)
A – Anti Collision Lights (For aircraft manufactured after March 11, 1996)
M – Magnetic Compass
E – ELT
S – Seat Belts

And if you happen to be flying at night, just add FLAPS:

F – Fuses
L – Landing Light
A – Anti Collision Lights
P – Position Lights
S – Source of Power

Hence and on your next checkride, just remember: A-TOMATO-FLAMES-FLAPS

Bizarre turkey vulture strikes helicopter video

Here is a really bizarre story and video that was first mentioned on the Cirrus Owners & Pilots Association (COPA) blog and involved a turkey vulture striking a helicopter in Miami just before the Superbowl. According to the pilot, he saw the turkey vulture outside the helicopter and next thing he knew, the bird was sitting on his lap after leaving a big hole in the windshield! Luckily, the pilot had kept his hands on the controls and safely landed the helicopter – despite the 80 mile an hour winds blowing through the windshield hole. However, the most amazing and perhaps bizarre part of the story was the fact that the turkey vulture was merely dazed and still managed to fly off after the helicopter landed. Now that is one lucky pilot and an even more lucky (and perhaps hard headed) bird!

Fire in the cockpit simulator video

A fire in the cockpit can have serious consequences – especially if a pilot panics and turns off the engine when its not an engine fire but a cabin or electrical fire. Moreover, the smoke alone can obscure a pilot’s vision, impact his or her lungs and be a HUGE distraction away from flying the aircraft.

Hence, the Flight Academy has recently posted a video where they simulated a cockpit fire about 2 minutes after take-off. In the video, the pilot performed all the proper procedures which included:

Shutting off the electricity.
Grabbing the fire extinguiser and discharging it underneath the dash in an attempt to put out the fire.
Opening the door a little to let out the smoke.
Look for the nearest airport (in this case, one where he could not communicate with the tower).
Keep an eye out for other traffic.
Come in for a landing.

Again though, the key point to remember is not to panic and turn off the engines when they aren’t the source of the fire. Turning off the engines when the fire is an electrical fire will only make your situation worst and have potentially fatal consequences.

Cool videos about flying light sport aircraft in China

Hat tip to Max Trescott for noting that Photographer Kjartan Pétur Sigurðsson of Iceland has recently uploaded two new videos of flying a light sport aircraft (Ramphos Trike aircraft) in China. As we have noted in the past (see our post about China’s do it yourself aviators), general aviation is slowly starting to take off in China and from watching this first video, you can sense the growing enthusiasm that the Chinese and some Westerners living in China have for aviations:

In this second video, the Ramphos flies in the vicinity of a river in Changsha with what sounds like an ehru, which is sometimes known as a “Chinese violin” or a “Southern fiddle,” playing in the background:

Fuel starvation accident video

There are few things more embarrassing than running out of fuel but running out of fuel in an airplane can prove to be dangerous or downright deadly. Hence, Jason Schappert has recently created a video about a fuel starvation accident that happened to a pilot flying from Maryland to Florida.

While approaching Tallahassee, the plane lost power 3 miles short of the runway, hit power lines causing a blackout and landed nose first in the middle of a busy intersection. Ironically and luckily for the pilot, there was no fire as he was completely out of fuel. In fact, he told the FAA interviewer that he “rocked the wings to use every drop of fuel (60 gallons)”

Jason does not mention whether or not the plane had a faulty fuel gauge but this would be irrelevant as its still the responsibility of the pilot to properly calculate the amount of fuel needed and ensure everything is in proper order before takeoff and during the flight. In other words, the accident was caused by:

Poor preflight planning which was the most obvious and avoidable cause of the accident.
Not notifying ATC until it was to late as the pilot was no doubt a little embarrassed by the situation that was developing.

According to Jason, out of the 125 million hours flown over the last five years, there were only 238 fuel related accidents accounting for only 0.1% of all accidents. In other words, running out of fuel while in flight should be completely avoidable.

Gliding in the Alps in HD video

This is probably the most beautiful bit of aviation filming I have ever seen. It’s just gorgeous. It’s mostly film taken from a glider in the mountains around Sion in Switzerland at 10,000-21,000 feet. If you’ve never flown before, this film will explain why we do it. It’s worth clicking on the ‘full screen’ button just to see it in all its HD glory.