AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2021 - 101

RUDDER & WRENCH
As soon as we were aligned, I pressed the joystick to the right, and
nothing happened! The aircraft kept turning left as we descended and
there was nothing I could do.
We took off from Runway 5 and
immediately requested a VFR to the
northwest with a heading of 330 degrees
and an altitude of 4,500 feet, which
we comfortably reached in a few minutes.
The flight was uneventful, and we
spent some time over the Everglades
National Park testing the capabilities of
the SR20 through steep turns and slow
flight. I gave my friend control of the aircraft
for some time so he could compare
the performance with his airplane. He
relied a lot on the iPad and repeatedly
had to adjust the height of the device
over the joystick, because it kept lowering
because of a lack of grip on the main
tightening clamp.
I warned him that he was spending
too much time tinkering with his electronic
gadget and not paying attention
to the aircraft. On two occasions he was
close to a stall, and I had to constantly
remind him to fly the aircraft. After an
hour I called Boca Tower and notified
we were returning to the field from the
northwest and were told to fly straight
into the left base for Runway 5.
I began my slow descent as I
explained to my friend the correct configuration
for landing. The Cirrus has little
drag and therefore it tends to float over
the runway if it is not configured correctly
and the landing speed is too fast.
As we reached the beginning of left
base, 900 feet agl, I configured the aircraft
with 10 degrees of flaps and lights
on while preparing my turn to final continuing
my descent. It was then that we
were hit with strong turbulence from
the mid-day heat emanating from the
ground. We both smiled, having experienced
the same phenomenon hundreds
of times before and thankful for having
no passengers on board.
I pushed the joystick gently to the
left and the Cirrus began a turn to
intercept the heading of 050 degrees of
the runway. As soon as we were aligned,
I pressed the joystick to the right, and
nothing happened! The aircraft kept
turning left as we descended and there
was nothing I could do. I turned to my
friend and yelled, " Help me with the
joystick! " but when I looked in his direction,
I noticed that one of the suction
cups holding the iPad had separated
from the windshield and the large electronic
device was resting on the right
joystick.
Not only was the iPad pressing the
electric trim, but it was also preventing
me from moving the controls to the
right. It was firmly anchored between
the trim button and the window. I
shouted again, " It's the iPad! " He looked
puzzled but promptly removed the gadget
with both hands and I regained
control of the aircraft. At this point we
were barely two miles from the runway
and at 350 feet, so I stabilized the
approach, climbed 50 feet, and saw two
reds and two whites on the PAPI, adding
full flaps and landing without further
issues.
As soon as we exited the runway we
were cleared to the ramp where I turned
off the engine and had our debrief. I
told him about the time he spent on the
iPad and the need to focus on flying the
aircraft and then we talked about the
temporary setup for his iPad. We both
agreed it was not a great location for the
device.
This incident taught me a valuable
lesson: Never allow a passenger to
install anything, even if it is temporarily,
in my cockpit and demand fellow
pilots in my airplane focus on flying the
aircraft. Juan B. Plaza is a commercial
pilot and consultant who specializes in
aviation issues related to aerial photography
for mapping and cartography.
AOPA PILOT / December 2021
101
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2021

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