AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2021 - 91

RUDDER & WRENCH
FLY ING SMART /
Fly it like you
bought it
Treating aircraft with care
BY CATHERINE CAVAGNARO
on the ramp was certainly flung their
way. Just a bit of planning can save these
airplanes from such abuse.
At the beginning of another practical
exam, the candidate started up the
airplane and completed his pre-taxi
checklist. After pushing in the throttle,
he checked his brakes without ever
retarding the throttle and asked if I
would like to check mine while we taxied
away from the tiedown spot. After
confirming that I would, he immediately
released the controls and said,
" Your airplane! " My heart raced as I
retarded the throttle and found the
brakes just in time to avoid taking
out a line of parked Diamond DA40s.
There are two additional steps to the
flight controls exchange procedure for
a reason.
Teaching aerobatics in my own
Cessna Aerobat Wilbur, I must remind
even seasoned pilots that heels should
be on the floor during taxi. Applying the
brakes without idle throttle is not only
inefficient but it's uncomfortable for passengers
and exacts unnecessary wear and
tear on the brakes.
I always say that you often can tell
NAILING THE POWER-OFF one-eighty is a
source of pride for aspiring commercial
pilots. It's a precision maneuver done
with throttle closed on the downwind
leg of the pattern abeam a designated
touchdown spot on the runway, often the
1,000-foot markers. An acceptable landing
falls not before and within 200 feet
beyond the spot; otherwise, it's a practical
exam bust.
All too often, candidates focus on
planting the aircraft in that narrow window
and forget about landing with any
sort of grace. Such carrier landings may
be appropriate at sea, but they have no
place as a normal procedure because they
exact an unnecessary toll on the aircraft.
I think to myself, " If these folks owned
the aircraft and paid for the maintenance,
they would strive for better
landings, spot be damned. "
As a designated examiner and a flight
instructor, I regularly get a front row
seat to see the care, or lack thereof, with
which pilots treat aircraft. At the end of
one commercial practical exam, the candidate
taxied to the end of a long row
of Cessna 172s to park in the last spot.
Instead of swinging the tail all the way
around to the right to avoid blasting the
parked airplanes, he added power and
stomped on the right rudder to maneuver
the tail toward his spot. The other
airplanes swayed, and any loose gravel
the difference between an owner and a
renter on the landing roll. A renter will
more likely slam on the brakes to take
an early taxiway, but an owner usually
will touch down at a lower speed,
employ aerodynamic braking, and then
make lighter use of the brakes to slow
and turn off the runway. The only counterexample
I ever found to this is a friend
who routinely slammed on his brakes to
make an early taxiway and explained that
his pride is worth more than brake pads.
Mine most definitely isn't.
Early in my aviation career I was
guilty of similar lapses, but my flight
instructors encouraged me to clean up
these and other bad habits. Treating aircraft
with care on the ground and in the
air instills confidence in passengers. It
just takes a bit of extra thought and planning
to do so.
Even after 20 years of aircraft ownership,
it turns out that my own education
continues. Last winter, I swapped airplanes
with my friend Michael Moore
from Michigan so that my Beechcraft
AOPA PILOT / September 2021
91
PETER AND MARIA HOEY
AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2021

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