Hand Propping Gone Wrong
Since I began flying, I have always felt a connection with older and vintage airplanes. It is something about the true meaning of aviation when flying in a wood and fabric built machine from the 1940s…
First Solo flight in IMC and Circling Approach at Night
I was extremely fixated on the runway, and as I turned base, something just told me to look down at my airspeed indicator and to my surprise I was only a few knots away from entering an uncoordinated stall
Emergency Landing in Danbury, TX
Out of nowhere, it was almost as if something snapped in the engine and it started to violently shake. Immediately I pushed all the controls forward – throttle, prop and mixture. I saw the manifold pressure come up and it started vibrating even worse…
Bird Strike
As I passed downtown Houston, out of nowhere a bird hit the airplane. Its guts were splattered all across the windshield and my heart started to race. I looked down at I-10 again and thought to myself “I can’t land there”. I didn’t know if the bird had gotten into the engine cowling or intakes, and I am not enough of a mechanical person to know what that would have done. All I could think of was how I didn’t want another engine failure and told ATC I wanted to divert and make a precautionary landing.
The Big Day: Tips for the Checkride
The day has finally come for you to demonstrate your exceptional pilot skills to a Designated Pilot Examiner. How many pilots are under the impression that it will be a flawless flight, the best of their training career? Odds are, not many.