Our meeting at Stinson was well attended and much enjoyed. Thanks to Marty, Stella and Kay for all your help. Stella was standing by to provide transportation, but no one could fly in due to the low ceilings (again!). Patty held a great first meeting of her chairmanship. Lots was accomplished, as you can see by the minutes. Then we took the tour and met for lunch at the airport cafe.Our next meeting is August 11th, 10:00 AM. Casarita Restaurant, 2895 Thousand Oaks, (northwest corner Thousand Oaks and Jones Maltzberger, Ph 210-490-2726).
Other meeting dates, refer to the August minutes. Be sure to mark your calendars.
I talked to Marty yesterday. Tex came home from the hospital on Thursday. His blood is back to normal. He is still having pulmonary problems. He is trying to walk, do a little more, and regain his strength. He will go back into the hospital (date unknown) for a second round of chemo to make sure that they got all the cancer. Prognosis is looking good at this point. ~ Kay Renfrow
Welcome, Jenny Benjamin, FWP-soon to be PP!
From AOPA ePilot 7-27-07: Pilot was killed when plane crashed shortly after takeoff. The pilot had logged 1,300 hours of total time, 113 of which were in Piper Seneca and Beechcraft Duchess multiengine airplanes. He held a commercial pilot certificate as well as flight instructor certificates for single-engine land, multiengine land, and instrument instruction. No record was found to indicate that the pilot had ever flown a Cessna 340A prior to the day of the accident.
The NTSB determined the probable cause of this accident was the pilot's in-flight loss of control due to a "somatogravic" illusion and/or spatial disorientation. Factors included the dark lighting conditions and the pilot's lack of familiarity with the airplane.
A somatogravic illusion occurs during a rapid acceleration or deceleration. Acceleration creates the illusion of being in a nose-up attitude, which, in turn, can lead the pilot to push the yoke forward into a dive attitude. Deceleration has the opposite effect, possibly causing the pilot to pull back on the yoke and precipitate a stall. Somatogravic illusions are intensified when the pilot has no outside visual references, such as at night or in instrument conditions. Many pilots treat operations in dark night conditions the same as instrument conditions because of the lack of outside references.
The best way to overcome sensory illusions like these is to trust and rely on the aircraft's instruments in all low-visibility conditions - IFR or VFR. Start with the attitude indicator, then cross-check the airspeed indicator, vertical speed indicator, and the turn coordinator.
See you August 11th.
- Gloria