Airplanes

[Suvorov]

Oh - the year I spent cutting my teeth Navajos and Chieftains over the Sierras every day. Moderate was a daily occurrence and severe was alway ready to pounce. But hey I was making $16000 a year and the experience made up for my lack of demographic desirability when it came to landing my first airline job.

Good times……

In serious respect - this article was written about a colleague of mine: https://www.flyingmag.com/pilots-pla...-owens-valley/

RIP Captain Ahn.

[GJM]

Another area that can be quite nearly is the Wind River range in Wyoming. There is an airway that goes over there at 16,000 that has fataled a number of single engine turbocharged aircraft departing from Jackson.

Narly not nearly

[David S.]

Lynx?

IIRC, those were the nice, new, Q400’s.

No, we flew beat up old 200s.

[GJM]

Another area that can be quite nearly is the Wind River range in Wyoming. There is an airway that goes over there at 16,000 that has fataled a number of single engine turbocharged aircraft departing from Jackson.

This is the area in WY -- first the VFR sectional and then the low airways.





And a story on a plane that had a fatal there:

https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/ne...tal-wyo-crash/

[DC_P]

More days than not, I would rather go around than over the Rockies at altitudes below 35,000!

And with more than one engine.

[entropy]

Stories like the above are so sad. And frustrating. Taking off in a single engine airplane, under IFR in snow and icing, in mountainous terrain is like playing Russian roulette with one empty cylinder. The odds are slim. We have a local guy up north who flies a TBM around quite a bit as part of his (I assume) business. Being more or less directly inline with the single N/S runway at the small, uncontrolled airport he keeps it at, I often see him scud running in weather that would get my attention in a transport category jet. Just because you have wing boots and an electric prop doesn’t make you invincible. Descending into SEA the other day, we picked up a good 3/4 of ice on the windshield wiper nut in about a minute and a half. It happens that fast. “Approved For Flight Into Known Icing” is a sliding scale.

[rkittine]

I love getting my Instrument Students up into icing on days when it is safe to do it. They get a solid and early respect for Ice and Performance, regardless of how many engines you have and what type there are. I certainly would rather be HARD IFR in a TBM with deice than say my C-310 without.

[GJM]

Stories like the above are so sad. And frustrating. Taking off in a single engine airplane, under IFR in snow and icing, in mountainous terrain is like playing Russian roulette with one empty cylinder. The odds are slim. We have a local guy up north who flies a TBM around quite a bit as part of his (I assume) business. Being more or less directly inline with the single N/S runway at the small, uncontrolled airport he keeps it at, I often see him scud running in weather that would get my attention in a transport category jet. Just because you have wing boots and an electric prop doesn’t make you invincible. Descending into SEA the other day, we picked up a good 3/4 of ice on the windshield wiper nut in about a minute and a half. It happens that fast. “Approved For Flight Into Known Icing” is a sliding scale.

I recall a venture capital guy out of Boston who fataled in a TBM in ice. One problem with turboprops is they live in the 20's, where lots of ice also lives. The booted Caravan has a terrible icing record.

[rayrevolver]

To continue this somber path, I just found out last night my old coworker and his wife passed back in May. I used to see his posts on Facebook but its hard to notice when the posts stop from certain folks.

Sounds like they were flying a Comp Air 8 Turbine and ran into a fuel leak and lost the engine. This happened near Grasmere, ID.

Rest In Peace Monte and Marisol.

http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2022/0...-accident.html

[Suvorov]

Stories like the above are so sad. And frustrating. Taking off in a single engine airplane, under IFR in snow and icing, in mountainous terrain is like playing Russian roulette with one empty cylinder. The odds are slim. We have a local guy up north who flies a TBM around quite a bit as part of his (I assume) business. Being more or less directly inline with the single N/S runway at the small, uncontrolled airport he keeps it at, I often see him scud running in weather that would get my attention in a transport category jet. Just because you have wing boots and an electric prop doesn’t make you invincible. Descending into SEA the other day, we picked up a good 3/4 of ice on the windshield wiper nut in about a minute and a half. It happens that fast. “Approved For Flight Into Known Icing” is a sliding scale.

Agreed. In my case it was what needed to be done to get the experience one needed (back in the day) to get into the cockpit of an airliner. With a touch of Gann And Saint-Exupery I and other like us just resigned ourself to the fact that this was one of the hurdles we had to clear on our way. Exploitation it was, but it was what was expected and not really an option depending on what the hiring cycles were. To do this as a PPL voluntarily has always stuck me as foolhardy, even in modern single engine airplanes.

Now that an aspiring airline pilot has a seniority number at the regional of their choice (and sometimes even a major) before they reach 500 hours, I wonder what the future will hold when airline cockpits are filled with pilots who have never developed a healthy respect (fear) of the dragons that live near the rocky places? I guess Europe already knows….