Mockingbird Flying Club

Back in 1985, when I was in private pilot training, I had a unique opportunity to get my check ride done by my primary instructor. However, I needed to fly five hours with another instructor and get signed off. So I did my last five hours with Dave Card, the SDSU flight instructor.

We flew from Brookings to Sioux Falls to do operations at a controlled airport and taxi over to what was then business aviation for a break.

When I went to start the plane again, every time I flipped on the master, there was static coming through the headphones, and it would stop when I shut off the master. The third time I flipped it on, the static came back, but then the static started laughing. It was Dave making the noise with his mouth, messing around with a naïve student pilot. ... See MoreSee Less

From Sporty’s email “air facts”

Bam!
by David Hughes
As student pilots, we are taught to think about “what if” and we take it seriously. What if you have an engine failure? What if your gear motor starts to burn as you break out of heavy overcast, shedding your last bit of accumulated ice and put the gear down when it is under your seat, next to a large oxygen bottle under 1700 lbs of pressure? That is another story.

Linda and I asked some friends to fly with us to Page, Arizona, and spend a few days on Lake Powell. We decided to purchase food supplies in Page to allow us to take on more fuel from our departure airport in Southern California. At the last minute, the couple called and had to cancel. I asked Linda to stop by the store and pick up supplies, anticipating time savings in Page.

I performed a pre-flight on our Cessna 182 and all was well. Linda arrived, we loaded the groceries into the back seat and launched on an IFR plan to Page. We left Chino, California, at about 2 pm. Just as we pulled out of the LA Basin and leveled off at 10,000 feet, configured the mixture and prop and set the autopilot, BAM! I lost a cylinder.

I cancelled the autopilot, scanned the gauges, looked for oil, and thereafter declared an emergency.

“SoCal, 756 declaring an emergency, we lost a cylinder.”

182
When you climb up to 10,000 feet in a Cessna 182, what happens to atmospheric pressure?
There was no oil anywhere. We scanned the instruments. Rescanned. Nothing was apparent and the plane was flying just fine. What happened?

SoCal answered and asked what our intentions were. I told them we lost a cylinder and needed to land at Apple Valley, about six miles in front of us, well within gliding distance.

They cleared us to Apple Valley, then asked how many souls on board and how much fuel. Then, after some investigation, me on the instruments and looking at the plane, and Linda looking around, she found the culprit.

So, here is the exchange between me (756) and ATC (SoCal):

756: “SoCal, 756, we found the problem, we are fine, and would like to re-join our IFR flight plan.”

SoCal: “756, SoCal, OK you are cleared to Page as filed.”

Pause

SoCal: “756, SO CAL, can you tell us what happened?”

Pause

Pause

756: “SoCal, 756, I would rather not.”

Now we were in the corridor of all the airliners coming into or leaving the LA Basin from the northeast. The radio was strangely quiet.

Slight pause

SoCal: “756, SoCal, you can tell us what happened or you can land Apple Valley and fill out 1,000 federal forms.”

Pause

Pause

Pause

756: “SoCal, 756, ahh, we had a bag of potato chips explode in the grocery bag in the back seat.”

Pause

SoCal: “756, SoCal (boisterous laughter in the TRACON background—however our controller had regained his composure somewhat). Thanks for (laughter) that report.”

Then the heavy metal started talking to ATC, in between their laughter. We are so glad we were able to make everyone laugh out loud that day.

What I find so funny about this story is a friend of mine had a church camp in the Black Hills north of Custer at about 6,000 feet. They would buy groceries in Rapid City and had a bag of chips explode in their car on the way back to the camp. Air pressure changes. ... See MoreSee Less