114. ATC: service provider or life-saver

VFR Traffic Advisories, also known as “flight following,” is a service that is provided by ATC, workload permitting. But it can also be a life saver. In today’s episode, we’ll hear how controllers assisted a pilot who needed help when his engine started running very roughly and he began to lose altitude over terrain that was not at all conducive for a forced landing. The pilot was grateful for the help controllers provided. Sponsored by Avemco Insurance

Join Rob Reider on episode 113 of Flying Magazine's I Learned About Flying from That podcast as we meet a pilot who, fresh off earning his commercial certificate, accepted his very first flight for hire: ferrying an early, "very ragged" Cessna 150 from Connecticut to Florida. What seemed like a straightforward job quickly devolved into a tale of significant lapses in aeronautical decision-making. Bob Kamm shares just how ragged the plane was, what he had to overcome to make the flight, and what he learned about ADM!

Join host Rob Reider for episode 112 of I Learned About Flying From That with John Price, who, nearly 40 years ago, embarked on his first solo flight into Class C airspace as a student pilot. This cross-country journey became an indelible experience, despite challenging conditions like clouds, an unfamiliar airport, and situational confusion. Though family finances prevented John from earning his private pilot's license, his story is packed with invaluable 'back to the basics' lessons for all aviators. Discover how a moment of "right pavement, wrong direction" shaped his understanding of flight, proving that some lessons are learned best through experience. This episode is brought to you by Avemco Insurance.

Join host Rob Reider in Episode 111 of I Learned About Flying From That, featuring acclaimed air show pilot Anna Serbinenko, the "sky dancer". Anna recounts a harrowing incident during her Canadian Arctic Aviation Tour in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. After a successful performance, her routine post-landing 360-degree bow with air show smoke turned into an "oh sh*t moment" due to gusty, shifting winds. Anna shares the critical lessons learned, including the importance of never relaxing too soon and the need for counterintuitive control inputs in unexpected situations. This episode is sponsored by Avemco Insurance.

Host Rob Reider interviews Pete Egan from Ireland about a harrowing flight. Pete was in the backseat of a plane not certified for instrument flight, scud running along the River Shannon from an airport near Dublin to Limerick. Despite a weather briefing recommending against VFR flight and the departing airport reporting less than VFR minimums, they took off. What they almost encountered could have cost them their lives. Discover how this incident taught Pete crucial lessons about aeronautical decision-making and the dangers of "get there-itis". This episode is sponsored by Avemco Aviation Insurance.

In I Learned About Flying from That, Episode 109, host Rob Ryder features experienced pilot Mark Brooke, who recounts a harrowing incident from August 1979 during his air taxi days, when a seemingly easy flight from a grass field near London to Leeds became a "nailbiter". Mark, then an instructor building hours for his commercial license, faced a series of converging "holes in the Swiss cheese lined up scenarios". His predicament stemmed from fuel mismanagement – opting not to take on more fuel initially and later skipping refueling at Leeds due to cost and a belief he had enough for the return trip. This was compounded by deteriorating weather, including a warm front with a dropping cloud base and persistent rain that Mark initially underestimated, changing winds that created a strong headwind on the return flight, and a late departure causing darkness to set in quicker than expected. Low on fuel, in worsening weather, and unable to get radar assistance from a closed air force base, Mark found himself "boxed in" with no easy diversion options, lacking an "out". The tense situation culminated in an emergency landing at White Waltham Field, a World War II-era grass airfield with no lighting, where a dedicated club member, Paul, arranged for cars to light the runway with their headlights. Mark's critical takeaways from this experience include the importance of never passing on an opportunity to take on fuel ("with fuel you got time and with time you got options"), being aware of the "dangerous time" for PPL accidents around 500 hours where pilots can become overconfident, always respecting the weather, and crucially, always leaving yourself an out in airmanship. This episode is sponsored by Avemco Insurance

Welcome to episode 108 of Flying Magazine's I Learned About Flying From That podcast, featuring Jose Acevedo, a private pilot and military aircraft mechanic stationed at Travis Air Force Base, who holds high performance, complex, and commercial ratings despite a "circuitous route" to his private pilot ticket due to military deployments and training inconsistencies. Jose shares two critical "I Learned About Flying From That" incidents: the first involved a flight to Lake Tahoe in a TV20 Trinidad where he faced severe density altitude issues at the 6,200+ foot elevation airport on a hot day, resulting in an extremely close takeoff from an 8500-foot runway and teaching him the importance of better planning and avoiding "get-home-itis". The second incident, on a return flight from Monterey in a Piper Archer 3, saw him encounter an isolated, unexpected cloud covering his home airport (Oscar 88) as civil twilight ended, leading to a denied landing request at Travis Air Force Base and his subsequent decision to declare an emergency at a more complex airport, Concord. This experience taught him the vital lesson of being assertive with air traffic control for assistance, an act which, without FAA repercussions, even led to a change in standard operating procedures at Travis AFB allowing aero club aircraft to land there in emergencies. Host Rob Reider emphasizes that changing weather—whether winds, temperature, or clouds—is often the root of such stories, underscoring the necessity for pilots in command to be aware and make informed go/no-go decisions. Sponsored by Avemco

In this episode of Flying Magazine's I learned about flying from that podcast, host Rob Reider speaks with Tom Bevard about a terrifying in-flight incident in his Cessna 140, which had been modified with Cessna 150 seats. Tom recounts how his adjustable pilot's seat, despite a pre-flight check, slid to the full aft position during takeoff just as he was about to rotate, causing the aircraft to shoot up at a high angle of attack and low speed, rapidly approaching a stall. Fortunately, his vernier throttle remained at full power. With the seat all the way back, Tom could no longer reach the rudder pedals, a critical issue, especially in a taildragger. Rather than attempting a ground loop with limited control due to a slight crosswind, he made the quick decision to continue the flight, get to a safe altitude, and then unbuckle, slide over, and re-buckle his seatbelt in the co-pilot's side. Being comfortable flying from the right seat, he was able to safely land the plane. This near-disastrous routine flight underscored the importance of a very good and thorough pre-flight inspection, particularly checking the seat by moving it front-to-back, side-to-side, and up-and-down to ensure the clips are properly over the rail's lip; conducting a solo local flight after any maintenance work before taking passengers or going cross-country; being proficient at flying from both seats (left, right, or tandem) as a crucial skill set in unexpected situations; and understanding Airworthiness Directives (ADs) related to seat rails, given the potential for catastrophic results if seats fail at critical phases of flight.

In this episode of I Learned About Flying From That, host Rob Reider speaks with Terry Fagg from Queensland, Australia, who shares a compelling story about a significant equipment failure during a solo glider flight in 1979. Terry was just 15 years old at the time, with about 30 total flying hours. He was flying an ASW15, a high-performance competition glider known for being state-of-the-art but also having some quirks that made it "not real easy to fly". While climbing to altitude in a strong thermal, Terry noticed the stick was progressively getting further forward until it became stuck full forward. This left him unable to push forward to descend and flying dangerously close to a stall speed at around 7,000 feet. Finding himself in "deep deep strife" with virtually no pitch control, Terry spent about two hours at altitude, floating in thermals and figuring out how to fly the glider in this precarious state. Standard stall recovery procedures were impossible with the stick stuck forward, and radio assistance was unavailable. He managed to return to his gliding club's field and executed a challenging "long low slow circuit," making a difficult landing by basically "flopping in" close to the ground. Initially criticized by the duty instructor for his landing, the severity of the emergency was revealed when, while examining the stick, the damaged elevator link strut – a metal control rod that had failed due to fatigue – finally snapped off completely, showing the elevator was no longer connected. Terry later learned that he was the only person known to have successfully landed an ASW15 with this specific failure; other instances had resulted in serious crashes. The incident profoundly taught him at a young age that flying, despite being enjoyable, is also a "dangerous business" where unexpected events can occur. He learned the critical importance of trusting his gut feeling when something feels wrong and adhering to aircraft manual procedures. This episode is brought to you by Avemco Insurance.

In this episode of Flying Magazine's "I learned about flying from that" podcast, host Rob Reider speaks with Tim Kurrek about a truly challenging incident that occurred over 20 years ago. Tim, a longtime instructor with extensive tailwheel and glider experience, was on what should have been a routine flight in IMC in his trusted Cessna 180 when the engine suddenly and unexpectedly quit. With no autopilot and the gyros spooling down, Tim was immediately thrust into a situation requiring proficient hand flying and quick thinking. After declaring the engine failure and contacting NorCal, he began troubleshooting while maintaining his best glide speed. However, battling heavy rain and downdrafts, Tim realized his descent rate was higher than expected, and he wouldn't make the initial airport NorCal vectored him towards, which was surrounded by suburbia. This critical realization forced a rapid decision and a change of course towards what he hoped would be more suitable terrain. Breaking out of the clouds at a low altitude, he faced the daunting task of selecting and landing on an unconventional off-airport site under challenging muddy and crosswind conditions. The landing, while successful in preserving life and aircraft integrity, presented its own immediate set of problems with the aircraft sinking into the mud. What followed involved navigating interactions with a gruff local farmer, law enforcement, and the FAA, all while trying to understand the mysterious engine failure. Ultimately, the cause of the engine issue was identified, and the challenging process of recovering the aircraft from the field, with the farmer's reluctant assistance, became another chapter in the story. Tim shares the powerful lessons learned about the importance of aircraft knowledge, maintaining pilot proficiency, critical situational awareness, and the absolute necessity of pre-planning flights, even IFR ones, with VFR charts to understand the ground below. His experience vividly illustrates astronaut Frank Borman's quote: "A superior pilot uses his superior judgment to avoid situations which require the use of his superior skill".