Do you know what you don’t know?

Over time, I’ve come to realize that many people don’t know much about how any of the mechanical things work in the airplane. They go through the motions of doing a runup and not really knowing if something is right or recognizing if something is wrong. One example I can give is when I was with a student. He was doing a magneto check, and checked the right mag. It immediately started running rough. He checked the rpm drop and switched back to the both position. He then switched to the left mag which was smooth. He went back to both and then went on to the next item in the checklist.

I stopped him at this point and asked if he noticed the difference between the two mags. He said that he did. I asked him why he ignored it and continued on with his checklist if he noticed it and he said it was because the rpm drop was within the limits specified in the checklist. We had a discussion afterwards. As a pilot, you need to be able to problem solve things and if you don’t know how things work and what they are supposed to do, then how are you going to save the day if something ever goes wrong while you are flying? I can tell you right now, that if I was on an airline flying with a pilot that had no clue how things worked, I would be pretty nervous.

Would you be ready and know what to do if the engine started running rough?

What about if the engine quit while you were flying. I’m sure you’d go through the motions of trying to restart by flipping switches and turning on buttons because that’s what you were taught to do, but do you know WHY you are doing it? Do you know how to narrow down the problem? Would you recognize the signs of the problem or know how to minimize your risk?

Can you answer these questions?

Do you know what an alternator is? How about a load meter, fuel pump, circuit breakers, carburetor or carburetor heat, magnetos, primer or vacuum pump? What about the throttle or mixture control, alternate air, annunciator lights, oil or master switch? Most people I talk to only know only a couple of these things. Knowing these things can be critical to your safety and the safety of your passengers. You need to study every detail about all of these items and know them well enough to be able to problem solve if something happens.

We have a new offer made available today to help you!

As of today, we have just released a new E-Lesson explaining in simple terms, you can relate to, so that you can easily understand and remember what all these things are. There are also tips on how to problem solve, explaining what you should be looking for and why. It doesn’t get any easier than this. If you’ve avoided this stuff because it’s boring and hard to understand, then this is for you. If you like the free tips we post on our site, then you’ll love the detail of this even more. The explanations are designed to make it as easy as possible for you! If you want to learn it all in as short a time as possible, buy it now! You’ll be glad you did.

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The mechanical things and how they work