by Joseph Standley | Nov 20, 2012 | All Pilots
Around 20 years ago I was on a cross country flight with a pilot friend. We were in a rented 172 RG from Illinois on our way to North Carolina or Virginia ( I don’t remember which). We had been this way a couple of times before. I had friends there and he had family there so we would split the cost to fly there and take turns flying.
We were both VFR only pilots at the time but we made sure that when we did those long cross country flights that we took off a couple of extra days from work in case we got stranded due to weather. Weather was not a problem this day. The visibility was a little hazy and we were using pilotage to find our way there, trying to keep track of where we were on the sectional chart.
About 20 miles before reaching the Smoky Mountains I happened to notice that it was slightly wet around the mixture control shaft where it went into the firewall. It was barely wet so I assumed it was just lubricated so that it would be easier to move. We were admiring the view as we approached the mountains flying about 2000′ above them. I was looking at the chart trying to figure out exactly where we were going to cross so we could figure out where we’d go in an emergency if the engine failed over the mountains. According to the chart we should have been just 2 or 3 miles from an airport right below us. There was another about 10 miles from that one.
Just as we finished looking at the chart, we were about to reach the mountains so I did a quick scan of the instruments to be sure everything looked good. I glanced at the mixture control and noticed liquid running down the firewall where the mixture control went into it. It no longer seemed to be lubrication. I reached over and rubbed my finger in it and smelled it. It was fuel! We had fuel leaking into the airplane!
I immediately powered to idle and went into a steep spiraling turn to get the ground as soon as possible. I was not going to burn today! I yelled to my friend to look for the airport and said there should be one below us somewhere. On the way down we spotted an airport about 5 miles away and flew well into the yellow arc (it was a smooth air day) to get to it as fast as possible. By the time we were over the top we spiraled onto base, watching for traffic but not talking on the radio. We just wanted to get it on the gournd before it caught on fire. I continued to roll into a tight turn to final, got it on the ground and started rolling down the runway to the first exit.
As I looked over toward the taxiway my stomach flipped around and I got a huge sinking feeling in my gut. I was looking at a Control Tower! We were a little off course and in the rush to get down we spotted the wrong airport. We thought it was the uncontrolled airport we were landing at but instead, we spiraled down at 1500′ per minute right over and into a Class D airport and landed without talking to anyone! As we taxied to the ramp, someone was walking out to meet us.
When we got out, the guy said that the tower wants us to call him. We explained what happened and apologized. He said to just let the tower know, he’ll understand. In the meantime, the guy (who was a mechanic), looked under the cowling after taking it off and said the whole firewall was soaked in fuel. The mixture control cable had been rubbing on the electric fuel pump and over time, it rubbed a hole into it and started spraying fuel all over. He said if the fuel had sprayed forward instead of backwards, then we would have caught on fire. He said we were really lucky!
We went inside, and explained to the tower controller what had happened. We told him how we thought we were at the other airport and we were scared to death that the plane was going to start on fire and our only thought was to get it on the ground. We would have called him if we knew. He said that we did a good job looking out for traffic because we came right down between someone on downwind and someone on short final. Someone was looking out for us because we never saw them!
I hope you enjoyed reading this! Please email me if you’d like me to put your story here too. It’s hard to keep thinking of things to write for you guys and I think people would enjoy a good story now and then. Make sure to let me know if you want your name kept private. Please leave a comment below and LIKE or TWEET this to help spread the word about our site.
Take care!
by Joseph Standley | Nov 18, 2012 | All Pilots
Hey guys! You have to let me know what you want to learn about. The more feedback you can give me the more I can write for you. I’ve had a lot going on lately and it’s making it difficult to come up with flight training tips for you! Comment below and let me know what kind of flight training information you’d like to read about. For those of you that have bought any of the e-lessons, can you offer a testimonial as to how it may have helped you or your students if you’re an instructor?
Sorry for not writing much lately. I’ve been battling more hackers trying to ruin my site. It gets pretty frustrating when you’re trying to help people and do good things and someone tries to destroy everything you’ve done. It’s such a waste of time. Sigh. If anyone ever notices anything funny going on with my site, please send me an email as soon as possible and let me know. I’m trying to stay on top of it to keep things running smooth but the sooner I see things happening, the sooner I can fix them! There’s someone from the Ukraine that has tried to guess my password 273 times in just a few days. I blocked him from even being able to see my site anymore.
Please write your suggestions, comments or testimonials below. Any little bit will help! Thanks and have a great one!
by Joseph Standley | Nov 7, 2012 | All Pilots
Is it just a coincidence that the gloomy area happens to be EXACTLY where the presidential TFR is?
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by Joseph Standley | Oct 25, 2012 | Student Pilots
Can you get your pilot license if you are color blind?
After requesting an article from our readers, one of them offered to write this for me and allowed me to post it on this site. He has hands on experience with the struggles of getting a pilot license with color blindness. He has written everything he had to go through for anyone that may be wondering what their options are with this condition. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks Sam!
Getting your pilot license with color blindness
Article written by Sam Cribbs
I remember being so infatuated with being an Army helicopter pilot as a child that it drove me silly. One day while interviewing (or more realistically drooling in the presence of a superhero) a helicopter pilot, I found out that my red/green color blindness was a disqualification and that I was “not gonna fly for the army little guy.” World = Shattered.
I think only about 2 percent of the population has a red green color deficiency but I do remember when I was doing my research, there was absolutely nothing out there that was helpful. Those color vision tests made up of circles with the numbers in the middle of the circle… I see only circles. However, now I know that I am a very physically capable pilot regardless of this.
I spoke with countless AME’s regarding my hiccup towards a medical and student pilot certificate. Each of them had a different opinion and most were concerned with getting me in for an examination or referring me to a friend of theirs. I really couldn’t get a clear answer from anyone. Finally, I found an AME in Phoenix, Az who specializes in helping guys through with their color deficiencies. After consulting with him I learned that although incredibly rare, there are aviation medical examiners out there who offer the alternative test that goes by the name of the Farnsworth Lantern. It is essentially a re-creation of light gun signals that would be given by an ATC tower in the event of communication failures (as you well know i’m sure.) There is another test given which I found to be even easier (the Optec 900 I believe it was) which is the same design, just a bit easer
Mind you, this is to have a medical with no restrictions placed on it. If I were to fail even this test, I would have only the restriction of “not valid for night flying, or flying by color signals.” But let’s face it, if you’re trying to fly for compensation or hire, that’s not something you want to have. Even if one does get that restriction, they can go to their local FSDO and take an examiner up with them to prove that they can see the light gun signals in the air and can read an aeronautical chart correctly. If they pass that successfully, the restriction is lifted.
But ultimately, I would recommend to anyone who is going through a similar (and truthfully god awful) situation to what I was a few months ago talk to Dr. Forred. WWW.MYFLIGHTSURGEON.COM He specializes in this whole color vision shenanigans and is more than willing to tell anyone where an AME is with the aforementioned rare alternative testing equipment is, even if it isn’t himself.
Hope this helps someone… if only one person. That was the worst damn 5 months of my life getting tossed around from person to person who didn’t have a color deficiency nor the knowledge on how to pursue their passion with one.
by Joseph Standley | Oct 19, 2012 | All Pilots
Do I need glasses to fly?
Many people have come to me in the past and said they never followed through with getting their pilot license because when they went to the military to become a pilot they were told that they needed 20/20 vision. Just because of this, they gave up on their dream to fly. The private pilot vision requirement is 20/40. Don’t worry, that doesn’t mean that you can’t fly if your vision is worse. You just need to be able to correct your vision to 20/40 to do so. If you need glasses to correct your vision to 20/40 then you will have a restriction on your medical certificate saying that you must wear corrective lenses.
Lasik eye surgery
Some people get surgery to correct their vision which is allowed too but the last I heard, if you’ve had the surgery to correct your vision then you will have to wait 6 months for your eyes to stabilize before you can fly. Check with the FAA Medical Examiner to be sure. I personally have had RK done many years ago before Lasik came out. My vision was corrected to 20/20 and has stayed that way for many years. I can tell though that my eyes are starting to get a little worse as time passes. This is normal with eye surgery, your eyes will always get worse with age. It’s been over 20 years since I had mine done. At the time, it cost me about $1500 per eye, but it was new technology back then and I think prices have come down. Over time you will eventually need reading glasses or bifocals. If you choose to correct for this problem then the only way to do it with lasik is to do one eye for close vision and one eye for distant vision. It will take awhile to get used to it and eventually you won’t notice it much. The requirements with the FAA may be different though so I would check into that before you decide.
Natural eye exercises
Since I’m getting to the point where I may need reading glasses, I have considered this a million times. I just don’t know if it really works or if it doesn’t. This is one of those things that I’ve heard two sides on. Some people swear it works and some say it doesn’t. Just like some people love Chiropractors and some say they don’t do anything. This one is for you to decide. I have attached a link at the bottom of this article for you to read more about it. I see ads for this all the time and every single time I am tempted to spend the money for the chance that it will work and I won’t need to wear glasses. After all, I got eye surgery so I wouldn’t have to wear glasses! If anyone decides to try it and buys it through the link below, please let me know if it really works because I’ve been dying to try it and I don’t have the money to spend right now!
Can you really eliminate your glasses and improve your vision with simple eye exercises?
