It’s Only Funny After You Land
Top 13 Most Stressful Aviation Events in a Piper PA-46 Aircraft. If you have been flying for a while, you know by now that the really stressful stuff only happens during the most complicated conditions. Very rarely do we have an equipment issue arise when it's great weather, and we are 10 minutes from a reputable PA-46 service center.
Please note: we spare no money when it comes to maintaining our aircraft. We have top notch professionals working for great service centers on relatively new airplanes, but stuff still happens. Especially as "software" becomes more integrated into the actual flying activities.
That all being said, we try out very best to train regularly in a variety of modalities. Online, sim, in-person, and general bench-flying with our friends and colleagues in the air. Special thanks to Fred, Dick, Larry, Jeremey, Sol, and all the great folks at Legacy. Appreciate you folks.
OUR TOP 13 MOST EXCITING FLYING CHALLENGES IN A PIPER PA-46 (Malibu Mirage, M350, M600)
We've flown a good bit. Last year, ForeFlight told us that we'd flown enough miles to fly around the Earth ... twice!
When you fly as much as we do, there's gonna be things that pop up that must be dealt with in real-time under real-world conditions.
Top 13 things that got our attention while flying, and we didn't laugh until we were safely on the ground inside the FBO! Possibly using a little extra time to clean our drawers. Keep in mind, we have ALWAYS had the best maintenance support from Piper, SkyTech, and their partners over the decades. All these folks are AWESOME and provide the absolute highest level of service. However, things happen.
Lost Cylinder #1 50 Miles Off the NYC Shoreline
It was early morning flight from Boston, sun was up and the view of NYC was awesome. Without warning, the vibration was immediate and undeniable. When 1 cylinder goes dead leaving 5 to do the work, it's hard to miss.
Auto Throttle Stuck on WIDE OPEN on Take Off
Auto Throttle is awesome until it ain't. Software bug made it so as you advanced the throttle to start you roll, the throttle went FULL FORWARD which was quite thrilling.
Alternator Fails 350 Miles from Shoreline in Gulf of Mexico
It's not a big deal until the second one fails for the same or different reason as Alt1 cut out. You got 30 mins of flying time on battery power if everything non-essential is properly turned of ... and headwinds aren't too strong.
Left Main Tire Blew After Landing on Roll Out
We grade every landing A, B, D, F ... and when you are in the A category, it's hard to not get a little excited. On this particular day in KANQ, I started talking shit about hitting the mark, landing like butter, and then BAM! Hard pull to the left and the old familiar "rotation" of a flat tire on your high school car.
Jet Fuel Pours Out of Both Wings
Normally, if gas expands due to hot sun, the extra gas finds its way out of overfill hose. If the tanks are overfilled after a cold flight ... THEN comes a really hot day, the only way for the jet fuel to escape is through the gas caps on TOP of the wing. Thus Jet A positive full runs down the wing on the de-icing boots and under the plane. No smoking ain't a joke ... Fire Chief pays a visit.
Oxygen Warning at 28k Feet in Rough Air
Turns out rough turbulence can shake a pen loose under the middle right passenger seat. Indicating that there is something wrong with OXYGEN SYSTEM. Maybe it's just the pen, MAYBE it's not?
Hydraulics Warning on Landing
Brand hammer new airplane on first trans-continental flight. Apparently during break-in flights, the reservoir for hydraulics fluid wasn't sufficient to work the landing gear. Gear got down, safe landing, and had a great meal while they topped us off.
Prop Heat Failure in Icing Conditions
It's 10k feet just outside of KAVL on our way to KBNA ... in IMC with light icing. Who's betting the ice won't build up on prop?
GPS HDG Went Out on PFD1 and PFD2
It was early, dark, and raining. IMC below 11k and icing above it. The definition of Instrument Flight Rules. Short answer ... be thankful for the backup HSI!
Battery Died Over Cascade Range
We started out of Seattle Washington, and the plane started ... but you couldn't deny it struggled to turn over. When we landed in Boise, ID, the battery was dead. Useful life on a batter in a PA-46 ... call it 5 years.
Mud Dobber Stuck in Pitot Tube
We started out of KAUS, and the everything was fine until PFD1 airspeed went to 0. We landed in College Station. Clear as can be, a bee had got stuck in the pitot tube. Sucked it out and flew home.
After Windshield Replacement, Rain Water POURED into Cockpit
It was a IMC day, heavy rain, in the middle of the summer flying from KNBA to KJQF. Just over KAVL, we got stuck in a heavy down pour at 6k feet. Apparently the seals weren't properly installed around the glass.
GUMPS is for Everyone Every Landing
An instructor was ferrying the plane back to base airport. He knew there was something wrong with the GPS equipment during instruments approaches. While he successfully identified the GPS issue, he forgot to put down the landing gear. #GUMPS #MUFASA
Tony McLean Brown
A Western NC hillbilly through and through, Tony McLean Brown was born in the small town of Enka-Candler outside of Asheville. His parents re-named him when he was 3 years old to Tony (a nickname provided by his grandfather) McLean (middle name of his Uncle Michael) while retaining his legal surname Brown.
Throughout his career, Tony McLean Brown worked as a farmer, computer programmer, and management consultant – in his adventurous years – author, song-writer, bass player, poet, pilot, mountaineer, certified scuba diver, and competitor in professional bull riding, NASCAR late model racing, Toughman boxing, Crossfit Open, Ironman, pole vaulting, marathon and ultra-marathon running, as well as parenting.
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