The valley and surrounding terrain bring very odd and unpredictable weather, with freezing fog, snow, and low clouds popping up without notice. Since the mountains are so high, you also cannot get radar services or flight following in the valley or below 10,000ft. The only way to have your flight tracked was through a VFR flight plan…
In the age of rapidly changing technology it is nearly impossible to keep up with the latest computer, tablet, or smart phone. Aviation is beginning to see similar technological innovation at a pace unmatched in any previous period of history.
One of the great (and sometimes confusing) things about the G1000 is that it provides many options for customization. One of the simplest options available to us is the ability to change the layout of the Flight Plan page on the MFD.
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…
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
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…
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 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.
In almost every accident analysis, there is a chain of events that can be followed all the way up to the accident. It is never just one thing, but a combination of bad choices that ultimately lead to the final event. I had convinced myself that these were just the statistics of other peoples’ accidents, and I so blindly led myself down a chain of bad choices that almost certainly could have ended in disaster.
It was supposed to be a routine solo flight – from Hooks to Pearland and back to drop off my aerobatic parachutes to be re-packed. I was in a Cessna 172 that was equipped with a Garmin 430 with WAAS and no autopilot or onboard weather.
I have always been known to be a thrill seeker. It was nothing new to most of the people that knew me to find out that I was interested in airplane aerobatics. I had always loved roller coasters, and an aerobatic sequence is pretty much just that – except you aren’t connected to the ground.
Looking to buy a new airplane? Look no further! This guide will give you the steps you need to buy your next Cirrus, Cessna, Beech, Piper, or any other aircraft. Don’t want to do all the work yourself? Give the experts at High Performance Aviation a call!
When you shut down your Turbocharged or Turbonormalized Continental Engine in your Cirrus SR22T or SR22TN, especially on a hot day, the fuel lines inside the cowling are heat soaked. Because they are so hot, when a restart is attempted, the fuel get’s vaporized once it get’s into the fuel lines under the cowling.
Electronic logbooks have been around for years. I tried several times to put all my flight time into a spread sheet, but I started well into my flying career, so I had no desire to put all the hours in to document all my flights. I have a lot of friends who did start the spreadsheet approach when they started flying, so they have a complete electronic record.
Ever wish your airplane could fly itself? With the Garmin GFC 700, that vision is getting closer to reality. In the past, some GA aircraft have been equipped with rate-based autopilots, like the S-TEC 55X or the Bendix-King KAP 140. Some of these autopilots would allow the aircraft to fly standard-rate turns, hold altitudes, command wings-level, and even couple to instrument approaches, depending on the particular model. With the Garmin Flight Control system, we now have access to incredible attitude-based digital precision.
The VNAV function on a G1000 or Garmin Perspective system is a great resource to assist pilots in planning descents. It takes a lot of the math out of the process. Here are some advanced tips and tricks for utilizing the VNAV function properly.
Flight Training / Educational Articles
Whether you are buying your first high-performance aircraft or selling the one you own, the HPA brokerage team can help.
Prefer to talk it through? Schedule a call