CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - 25
Safety Spotlight
INsTruCTOrs prObAbly ExpECT OWNErs
TO kNOW THEIr OWN mACHINEs, WHIlE
pIlOTs ExpECT INsTruCTOrs TO kNOW, WEll,
eVerything. bOTH CAN bE WrONg.
The owner had bought the Baron just four days
before, but his logbooks showed hundreds of
hours in that same airplane. How? He'd owned
it for more than three years before selling it 22
years earlier. Since that time, it had been modified
under two different supplemental type certificates
(STCs). The first, for vortex generators, reduced
VMC from 81 knots to 74, and a new airspeed
indicator had been installed. Then, a decade later,
it had undergone the Colemill FoxStar conversion
that included the installation of 300-horsepower
engines, four-bladed props, and winglets. This
STC also increased VMC to 87 knots, but the
Baron's airspeed indicator had never been remarked accordingly.
Of course, VMC demonstrations should be
flown by visual references, not instruments,
but it's hard to see how a significant error
in placing the red line could improve the
safety of the maneuver. Whether that error
was actually 13 knots remains uncertain.
Each STC had been tested in isolation on
an otherwise unmodified airplane. Neither
certificate holder had any information
about the combined effect of vortex
generators and the Colemill upgrade, so
the true VMC is unknown. It seems unlikely
that it was higher than for the Colemill
conversion without VGs, but that's never
been proven.
The owner might have felt more familiar with the
airplane than he really was-and the instructor
had little chance to prevent disaster by taking the
controls. The Baron had a throw-over yoke, which
the previous owners acknowledged was difficult
to change in flight. The CFI hadn't obtained the
exemption required to teach in an airplane without
dual controls-a regulatory nicety that probably
didn't seem important to two such experienced
pilots, but might have created the final link in the
accident chain.
David Jack Kenny is manager of aviation safety
analysis for the Air Safety Institute, an instrumentrated commercial pilot, and owner of a Piper Arrow.
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Vol. 4, Issue 3
A Question of the Mind
Safety Quiz: A Day in the Sun
CFI Commentary: To Your Health
CFI Tips: Stall Commandments
ASI Message: It's the Basics
Accident Case Study: In Too Deep
Safety Seminar: Weather Challenge
Safety Spotlight: Caveat Mentor
ASI News: Champion of Public Benefit Flying
CFI Tools: Airspace "On the Go" with e-Flash Cards
Chief's Corner: Focus on What's Important
Did You Know? ASI Safety Presentations at your Command
Pilot Safety Announcement: V.A.C.A.T.I.O.N.
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Vol. 4, Issue 3
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - 2
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - A Question of the Mind
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - 4
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - 5
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - 6
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - 7
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - 8
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - Safety Quiz: A Day in the Sun
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - CFI Commentary: To Your Health
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - 11
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - 12
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - 13
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - CFI Tips: Stall Commandments
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - 15
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - 16
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - 17
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - ASI Message: It's the Basics
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - Accident Case Study: In Too Deep
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - 20
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - Safety Seminar: Weather Challenge
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - Safety Spotlight: Caveat Mentor
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - 23
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - 24
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - 25
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - ASI News: Champion of Public Benefit Flying
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - CFI Tools: Airspace "On the Go" with e-Flash Cards
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - Chief's Corner: Focus on What's Important
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - 29
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - 30
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - 31
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 3 - Pilot Safety Announcement: V.A.C.A.T.I.O.N.
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