Thirteen Lucky Ways to Prevent
Your Aircraft from Coming Apart in Flight
by Darren
Smith, CFII/MEI
from PocketLearning, July 2003
A few of
the most
important things are never taught in flight training. Many are
blissfully
unaware of the many ways an aircraft can fall apart. Here's your
chance to clear up any confusion, to remove any doubt, and to
understand
the many ways the bits of an aircraft can fall off when you're flying
it.
1.
Most aircraft
have wimpy brackets holding the vertical stabilizer to the
airframe.
The most common way for those brackets to fail is to perform a high
speed
slip with the flaps extended.
2.
Preflight
action: check all the cables, pulleys, hinges, bolts, and cotter
pins of your favourite flight control surfaces. The loss of even
one can make you miserable. Remember the a coke can is not very
strong
with a dent in the side. The same can be said of the wing &
fuselage.
3.
Landing
with a high cross wind component. Check your POH for the maximum
demonstrated cross wind component and remember who it was who
demonstrated
it. Don't know? It was the factory test pilot who had
30,000 flight hours more than you. Think you can measure up to
his
skill? Exceeding that number is a great way to prove how much
better
a pilot you are than he. Doing so, however, may earn you extra
pennies
at the local aluminum recycling plant.
4.
Failure
to look both ways before turning offers a great opportunity to meet
another
pilot mid-air. Remember, no one survives a mid-air collision and
the aircraft are particularly vulnerable to falling out of the sky with
bits missing.
5.
Flying below
the traffic pattern or climbing on downwind in high wing aircraft is
particularly
dangerous. Flying above the traffic pattern or descending on
downwind
in low wing aircraft are equally dangerous. Definitely another
opportunity
to meet other pilots in unique places.
6.
Not looking
down both ends of a runway, especially the approach course when you
enter
the runway for takeoff or turn base to final for landing is another way
to have a mid-air collision and accounts for some 28% of all mid-air
collisions.
7.
Ensuring
that annual and 100 hour inspections are completed is a great way to
ensure
that all the parts stay connected as they should. Assisting your
mechanic with such inspections is a great way to learn more about your
aircraft and build your preflight inspection skills.
8.
Aerobatic
maneuvers in aircraft without the appropriate certification can lead to
early failure of important parts, such as wings and flight control
surfaces.
If those don't fall off, inverted flight will most certainly cause
engine
stoppage providing you new challenges. Obviously, spins are not
suggested
in aircraft not certified for such maneuvers.
9.
Incomplete
re-assembly can usually cause bits to fall off in flight. How
does
this happen? Typically this kind of thing occurs after a visit to
a mechanic. Particularly important to ask your mechanic is:
1. What do you do if you have extra screws after you finish a
job,
and 2. What do you do if you're missing a tool after you finish a
job.
10.
Flying
in bad places. This can be as simple as flying into turbulent air
while in the yellow arc or as complex as flying into a thunderstorm
(which
doesn't seem nearly so complex to me). Other bad places that also
qualify: Presidential TFR zones, Military training routes, or "hot"
MOAs
where F-16s are dog-fighting.
11.
Airframe
fatigue is a big cause of parts coming off during flight. Metal
Remembers.
It means every hard landing, loud bang in turbulence, ground loops,
exceeding
Vne causes the aircraft to remember you in a very special way. If
you knew how small the bolts are that hold the wing on, you'd never be
rough with an aircraft. You never know when it can happen, but
promise...
its just a matter of time with an abused airframe.
12.
Landing
on the nose wheel. The nose wheel is arguably the weakest part on
an aircraft save the armrest you use to pull the door closed. A
few
good nose wheel landings nearly guarantee that pesky nose wheel will
come
off on its own accord.
13.
Putting
out flaps at an airspeed higher than Vfe is a good way to get rid of
them.
When was the last time you practiced a no-flaps landing? Better
brush
up if this is one of your bad habits.
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