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yourself that it feels as if the car knows its own way to the office. I’ve got to stay more focused and maybe stop go- ing to Florida. The battery in my C-150 overheated near TPA; I had a near mid- air between my Cherokee and two F-4s in South Florida; I had to jettison some malfunctioning, inert F-16 ordnance off the coast of MIA; and I sucked a bird down the intake between MIA and the Avon Park bombing range. The right engine of my MD-80 blew up at gear retraction in MIA (see “Issues,” T &T September 2010), and I allowed my FO to bust an altitude on approach into MIA. Now I’ve committed an unforced error by forgetting to arm the GS mode which dictated a go-around – also in MIA. I’m seeing a sunshine state trend. We were still 20 minutes early at the gate, but I was disappointed in myself for the mistake and the lie.
The Spirit of Pancho Barnes
The malfunctioning 500-pound Mark-82 bombs and the MD-80 engine failure were not my fault, nor was the
C-150 battery malfunction, the near- midair nor the bird-sucking event. And a go-around for any reason is not a mis- take. But the ILS switch error made me feel like a student pilot and not at all superhuman – like an unfocused, let- the-car-find-its-own-way pudknocker. To err is human indeed, but I didn’t like the smirk that I imagined on Pan- cho’s face as she shook her head and called me a (expletive) pudknocker.
But I’ve learned that a stable ap- proach ranks right up there with not stalling the airplane, not hitting any- thing with the airplane and not run- ning the airplane out of gas. Flying a stable approach is one of the most important things that we do. Many of us are just now getting back into the saddle after the COVID lockdown, and we’re once again flying in some serious rain, snow and gloom of night – OK, maybe not snow yet. Stay fo- cused and stay ahead of the airplane, my fellow peckerwoods. The spirit of Pancho Barnes is watching.
Author’s Note: Since mid-June when I wrote this article, I’ve added another reason to avoid Florida. It looks like the positive COVID test I received on June 29 was a result of time in MIA. Mine was a “relatively” mild case (102.9 temp, lost 15 pounds in 7 days, no smell or taste, flu-like pains and quarantined/off work for three weeks) but even still – I strongly recommend following CDC guidelines. And yes, I was wearing a mask con- stantly except when in the cockpit.
Kevin Dingman has been flying for more than 40 years. He’s an ATP typed in the B737 and DC9 with 24,000 hours in his logbook. A retired Air Force major, he flew the F-16 and later performed as an USAF Civil Air Patrol Liaison Officer. He flies volunteer missions for the Chris- tian organiz tion Wings of Mercy, is em- ployed by a major airline, and owns and operates a Beechcraft Duke.Contact Kevin at dinger10d@gmail.com.
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August 2020 / TWIN & TURBINE • 29