General Aviation accidents have been on the rise over the last few months. These are 5 things that can kill you in your airplane and they are easy to overlook. I am also going to share a story that happened to me the other day and it could have killed me as well.
This happened because I was rusty and distracted. Watch the program to find out. What I am going to do in this program is remind everyone to go back to the basics and remember your basic training.
As pilots we all and always need to keep these the basics front and center in our mind as we prepare to go flying. This hit home for me a couple of weeks ago as I was getting my prop balanced… I am not immune and the reality is I had not been flying for a while… While my plane had been down for 3 months and I only had been flying maybe 10-12 hours in the last three months. That alone is cause for alarm.
1) Checklists checklist checklists… do your checklists, and do them again. Take your time and when in doubt do them again. If you are forgetting certain items, notice where and come up with a plan or a memory aid to remember. Not doing your checklists can kill you. Do your checklists…
2) Distractions during preflight… This always happens to me and I am sometimes rude but I really don’t care. When I am doing my preflight someone always comes over and starts talking to me…. Focus solely on your preflight when you are doing it and take your time- discovering something that stops you from flying will save your life!
3) Not sumping your fuel. This is easy to forget and to make sure I remember I created a memory aid of every time I get fuel I take the fuel strainer out and put it on my seat. Its now a muscle memory and it really helps. Fuel contamination will happen and its entirely preventable. Sump your fuel.
4) This one is kind of a sleeper but really important. Do the IM SAFE checklist. While we were on my engine breaking trip up to New York and back we stopped in DC and the air quality was pretty bad. My eyes were scratchy, and I was really feeling the city air,… and I was tired…so I canceled the flying for the day until I felt better. A simple decision that was also a wise decision. Don’t be afraid to make the decision not to go flying.
5) And finally - Weather. Please check and recheck the weather. Even if it looks awesome out weather can change in an instant, especially in t-storm season. Its s simple check. Also- don’t cut close to large storms. The safe distance is 25 miles away from thunderstorms and just the other day we were coming back from DC to Florida - going in between to storms that were about 50 miles apart with a wide open gap and there were ice crystals forming on the windshield… on a beautiful sunny day. Don’t challenge the weather….
Yes! I bought an airplane! This program has some initial numbers and breaks down the monthly expenses. Owning an airplane can be affordable... but the upgrades.... That is what will get me. Watch this program to find out what ownership costs.
Have you always wanted to learn how to fly but now you are over 50? Get out there and start and learn! There are so many people in there 50's and 60's who are just starting to fly so what are you waiting for?