Category Archives: Flying

Flying

April 12, 2007 was a really bad day flying

I was flying to south Georgia on the afternoon of April 12, 2007. I was on an instrument flight plan. The low oil pressure light came on. I notified ATC (air traffic control) immediately. Thankfully I was on an instrument flight plan and they knew which “blip” I was on the radar. I was nine miles from the closest airport. The engine quit when I was still six miles away.

From the time the engine quit until I was on the ground was only three to four minutes, but it seemed as if it had been 10-15. I was able to glide the airplane to the ground completely under control. There was never any doubt in my mind about making a safe landing.

Eventually I expect someone will figure out the cause of the engine failure. The plane is a total write off but I’m fine and unhurt. All of my training proved itself in these few minutes of flight. I expect to be in the air again in a few days. This won’t dissuade me from pursuing a commercial pilot certificate and a flight instructor rating.

(This post is dated for the date of the event. The pictures were taken the day after. This was originally posted on my model railroading website at the time it happened. I’m now trying to combine disparate domains into a single blog, now early in 2021. The link to the NTSB report was not in the original post.)

Thanks to my friend Brook Facey for visiting the site with me the next day and taking pictures.

Flying, Training

Unexpected IFR – trained but surprised

DESIGNATED PILOT Examiners are known for saying a new rating/certificate is “a license to learn.” When I passed my instrument rating the examiner told me to file IFR on some nice days and work my way into real weather. It didn’t work that way.

I had planned my checkride to be able to return the airplane to the flight school (now defunct Aviation Atlanta) and drive two hours home to spend the evening with my kids. When I realized that wouldn’t work I called my ex to ask about shifting the time some. I got a negative response, so I made arrangements to keep the airplane for several more hours. I flew home with the plan to see my kids, fly back to Atlanta, and then drive home. It would make for a long day, but time with the kids was worth it.

I invited a friend to go with me and checked the weather in Augusta and Atlanta for the 115-mile flight. VFR. Good to go.

About 20 minutes into the flight it wasn’t looking as nice as I expected. Then I saw a heavy rain shower off to my left. It was pretty impressive to see – torrential rain streaming down with swirls of mist all around the perimeter. NOT where I wanted to be flying. Then I saw more heavy rain off to the right. I was glad I had a bag full of pubs in the back seat as I decided to request a pop up clearance so I didn’t have to worry about ending up in the clouds.

We dodged the rain and only ended up with a bit of “actual.” The landing at PDK was uneventful as was the drive home. It was not what the examiner intended, but learning certainly took place – at a minimum I learned that the weather around the two ends of the flight is not enough to be fully aware. Pop up storms in Georgia in the summer. Who knew?