I WOULD NEVER DO THAT????

For years I have been studying the preliminary accident reports put out by the FAA every work day. I say to myself how could anyone be stupid enough to do that, then I take a deep breathe and say wow I could have done that. It used to be that the major cause of accidents was fuel starvation, but that has greatly decreased over the years. Tail draggers seem to be on the reports almost every day, ground looping and flipping over on landing. A majority of these seem to occur in Alaska. Of course tail draggers are more prevalent in Alaska. I question whether more instruction is needed in tail draggers as they have to be flown to a full stop before leaving the runway. With the center of gravity behind you, one has to be on top of a tail dragger on take offs and landings. They are a much more demanding airplane to fly on takeoffs and landings, and you really have to stay on the rudder and brakes if necessary to remain straight. Gear up landing seem to be prevalent. I do not know if these accidents are due to the gear not coming down or forgetting to put the gear down. I go through my GUMPS check three times before landing and really cannot slow my Bonanza down without getting the gear down. Yet almost every day I read about a gear up landing(s). Taxing into a fence or taxing into another airplane or parked vehicle seems to make the list a lot. Reading these makes me give a parked plane a lot of room when taxing. If there is a fence involved when parking, I pull to a stop turning my plane when parking and push it back into the parking place. I have had a couple of close calls with fences that change direction at airports, and stay far away from fences and light poles. Better to have a lineman or someone else around to help push my plane into a parking place than to tangle with a fence or light pole. Landing off airport is another big number. Again I do not know if this is because of mechanical problems or bad judgment. It is always better to go around then to be lined up wrong for landing. Midairs around non controlled airports also seem to be a problem. It is so important to first study the pattern of an airport before you go. At Sedona, AZ (SEZ) the proper procedure coming from the south is to cross over midfield to join the downwind. If someone decides they are going to land straight in it messes up the whole pattern. The other thing to do is announce where you are and what your intentions are. A radio call 10 miles, 5 miles, downwind and base turns are very important. Sometimes you have planes announcing 25 miles out and every 5 miles thereafter tying up the radio. This is too much. Listen to where other planes are and look out the window. Try to draw a mental picture of where others are in the pattern. Midairs in flight are minimal but still occur. With glass cockpits and IPads in the plane too many are looking at the glass and not outside the window. Keep your eyes outside the window and scan your instruments as necessary. Airliners are not exempt either. There seem to be a number of planes striking each other on pushback or support vehicles running into airplanes. I look at each accident and say to myself how can I avoid doing these things. It has served me well over the years. I would hope that all pilots look at these reports and say what can I do to prevent having an accident or incident.

WRIGHT BROTHERS MASTER PILOT

I joined the EAA recently and attended my first chapter meeting last Thursday. This was not a regular chapter meeting, as the chapter awarded not one, not two but three Wright Brothers Master Pilot Awards. To have three recipients in one night is almost unheard of. The Wright Brothers Mater Pilot Award is presented to a recipient who has flown safely for 50 years accident free and has obtained other aviation distinctions throughout their aviation careers. The first person of the evening to receive this award was Arv Shultz. Arv started his aviation career in 1966. He is a CFII, and he went through all his ratings from 1966 through 1967. He has flown aircraft from a Cessna 150 to MD 80. Arv retired from Northwest Airlines and is in the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame.

The second award was to Bernie Gross. Bernie is retired from US Airways flying as a captain on a 737. He also flew for Braniff Airlines flying the 707,727 and DC8. Bernie is also a esteemed glider pilot. He also flew the B17, P51 and F4U. Bernie is also a CFII.

The last recipient of the evening was Robert Bloemer. Robert started flying in 1964 and is also a CFII. He started his Airline career with Airwest Airlines. From there he flew for Hughes and then Northwest Airlines flying the DC9 and MD80.

This was an esteemed honor for me to be present when these three men received their Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award. After seeing their accomplishments in aviation, I doubt that I would ever apply for this award. In closing I must compliment the Scottsdale FSDO for their professional presentation. It was a first class evening.

ARIZONA AIRCRAFT EXPO...SCOTTSDALE, AZ (SDL)

Last Friday and Saturday the Arizona Aircraft Expo was held at Scottsdale Airport (SDL). The weather was beyond perfect with sunny skies and temperatures reaching the high 80's. Attendance was the largest turnout I have seen for this event, could not be the because of the weather as it is usually a beautiful weekend when the Expo is held. Maybe there is an upswing in buying as the economy has been good this year with the Bull Stock Market. The static display was set up excellent this year giving attendees plenty of room to walk by and get inside of the latest and greatest airplanes. This was one noticeable factor that this years show was dominated by turboprops. My only disappointment is that Cessna and Beech had no piston airplanes represented. Three airplanes not there that I always enjoy seeing were the Bonanza, Baron and Cessna TTx. These three planes have always had a presence at the Expo, and I have no idea why they were not there. Tail draggers were well represented from the Aviat Husky

to the Carbon Cubs

The only piston planes represented were the Cirrus

and the new Mooney 2 door which I apologize as my picture did not come out well enough to publish. Next came the turbo props from EPIC, TBM, Piper, Beech, Cessna Caravan and Palitus

Fan Jets were represented by Cessna, Honda and Cirrus

It was great seeing old friends and making new ones. There was a great diversity of airplanes and pricing. Hoping all that attended found their dream airplane.