Sudden power failure on initial climb
Total power loss at 300 ft. Eighteen year-old solo pilot glides back safely by flying the plan he’d verbally self-briefed. Very short, very cool video: Plan your flight. Fly your plan. Control your airspeed.
Author: Dave English
Death before embarrassment
One of the best books written by a test pilot/astronaut is Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut’s Journeys by Mike Collins. He was a USAF test pilot, spacewalked on Gemini 10 and went to the Moon on the historic Apollo 11 mission. Here he talks about an interesting airmanship trap — Death by Embarrassment: It’s hard to admit a slip or mistake or error. But don’t let that kill you.
Paul May on good pilots
Paul Day had a long career with the RAF, flying Tornados and spending 20 years in the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, eight of those as commander. After retirement he continued to fly private Spitfires. This quote is from the book ‘Supermarine Spitfire Owners’ Workshop Manual’ (Haynes 2007).
Are you a low-gain pilot?
Reading the (excellent) new book Into the Black, about the flight test history of the Space Shuttle, I was intrigued by this line: “Engle was a low-gain pilot. Like Charles Lindbergh or Chuck Yeager, he barely moved the stick, anticipating the need to do so and making small, necessary corrections in plenty of time. His inputs were smooth and progressive, never snatching at the controls.” Rowland White, Into the Black. The author is talking about Joe Engle, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut. He was scheduled to land on the Moon, a dream dashed by budget cuts, but ended … Continue reading Are you a low-gain pilot?
It’s always a balance
It’s always a balance — you have to make money; you have to stay on schedule; moving people is your goal. But you have to get them there safely. Captain Sheryl Clarke Director of safety, security and compliance, ExpressJet Airlines. While there are some concerns with SMS, it’s nice to see a senior airline SMS manager publicly (in Flying magazine online) acknowledge that safety is not number one. Moving people is the goal. Safety is risk management. Safety is a balance. “Safety is our number one value” and other trite soundbites initially sound good, until you try to apply … Continue reading It’s always a balance