Flight Training - January 2013 - 41

FLIGHT LESSON

By Rajeev Pandey

FLIGHT LESSON offers the opportunity for pilots to learn from the experiences of others.

the cowling. Looking around at the other aircraft and tarmac, I didn’t see any vapor rising from any other surface. Could I have fried the starter? Or, yikes! Could I have an engine fire? I jumped out of the aircraft—no mean feat, this is a 152 we are talking about—to peer at the air filter intake area and front cowling. The filter intake area was illuminated with flame and crackling sound. The engine was on fire! I grabbed the fire extinguisher, pulled the pin, and discharged it experimentally. It worked! I fired it into the intake. At this point, a flight instructor and his wide-eyed student arrived (the instructor t was Saturday morning. We had just had a very cold night in had heard the engine backfire, looked up, Corvallis, Oregon, which caused me to adjust my flight plans. and diagnosed the issue from afar well beI had walked out of the house to fetch the newspaper about fore I had), along with an FBO line service7 a.m., and, noticing the layer of frost on my truck, moved my man making a mad dash with much larger online reservation from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. By 10 a.m. things were warming fire extinguishers. The instructor invited me to continue emptying the extinguisher up nicely, so the next thing you know I The propeller spun for a while, but the in my hand into the engine compartment, was preflighting 46439, an Oregon State engine failed to catch. I tried again, and and then with a very satisfying “whoosh” University Flying Club Cessna 172. Three goosed the throttle a bit like I’ve seen some settled the matter with the aged but exyears earlier, I had finally fulfilled a lifeof my instructors do. No luck. Dang! The tremely effective large extinguisher he had long dream and gotten my pilot certificate. last time I had this much trouble starting brought. I’m very grateful for all the help Since then, I had challenged myself to was when I was a total newbie and had the I got from those FBO folks; things might do my utmost to be a very safe pilot—I throttle rich/lean settings backwards. have been much worse had they not been had flown every month since gaining my There were wisps of vapor coming off so quick to step in and help out. certificate, completed the FAA Wings LESSONS LEARNED program in each of the three intervening years, gotten a tailwheel endorsement, and was working on an instrument rating. Fly the airplane! From the Don’t over-prime the leading to a fire risk. On the My logbook showed me closing in on 280 moment you pick up the keys engine. earlier models without an hours of total flight time. and book at the FBO’s front accelerator pump, “pumping” I had also had the sad duty of attending desk to the moment you tie Don’t crank the starter the throttle is useless as it a funeral the month before (because of an the airplane down, you are excessively (more than 10 will only cause an excessively airplane crash) of a far more experienced the PIC and need to be very seconds). lean mixture. pilot with whom I had flown a couple of aware of what’s going on. times. That funeral experience had kept “Pumping” the Cessna 152 Trust your feelings; if someme humble (as had some of my landings), Rehearse emergency prothrottle, especially during thing feels weird, it probably and fairly risk-averse. cedures. It could happen to starting, should be avoided is. Don’t ignore the feeling. Let’s see, mixture rich, carb heat cold, you. It happened to me. as the accelerator pump prime as required. Hum, hasn’t flown in a Did you preflight that fire in the carburetor (1980s Fly safe. Continue learning. couple days, give it three shots. Throttle extinguisher? Do you know models and later) can cause Stay humble. Learn from the open a half inch, master on, beacon on, how to use it? fuel to pool in the intake, mistakes of others. propeller area clear!

NOT SOMETHING HE EXPECTED

ENGINE FIRE

JANUARY 2013 FLIGHT TRAINING

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Flight Training - January 2013

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