by Ken Steiner | Oct 20, 2018 | Aviation Safety Articles and Tips
I consider ice accumulation equivalent to an aircraft being on fire. You have to take immediate action or the consequences will be disastrous. Some pilots rely on the belief that there will be plenty of forewarning before things get serious. Perhaps, but it depends on...
by Ken Steiner | Oct 20, 2018 | Aviation Safety Articles and Tips
You would think that taxiing an aircraft is a relatively low risk proposition. We follow painted lines. We move at slow speeds. Ground traffic is often controlled by ATC. We have signs, rules, radios, and space to maneuver and yet this seemingly innocuous phase of...
by Ken Steiner | Oct 20, 2018 | Aviation Safety Articles and Tips
One of my early claims involved a pilot who was flying his recently purchased Beech Bonanza and could not get the landing gear to extend. He conscientiously tried everything he could think of to extend the gear, but finally resigned himself to the fact that he was...
by Ken Steiner | Oct 20, 2018 | Aviation Safety Articles and Tips
Last week while flying back to the Bay Area, the topic for this article came to me in a flash. Well, actually several flashes. Over on the west side of the San Francisco peninsula nature was putting on one of its most dazzling shows. Brilliant bolts of lightning arced...
by Ken Steiner | Oct 20, 2018 | Aviation Safety Articles and Tips
It was a beautiful summer’s day as the pilot and his family were flying back in the late afternoon after visiting friends in Sacramento. Over Concord the pilot could see that the marine cloud layer was blanketing the Bay Area with the coastal stratus just...
by Ken Steiner | Oct 20, 2018 | Aviation Safety Articles and Tips
It was 109 degrees on the ramp at Sacramento International. My preflight was a half-hearted walk around the plane and an oil check. I must confess my mind was more on getting the prop started to get some air circulation than it was in a detailed aircraft inspection....