Our Warrior, N56832
(click the picture for a larger version)

Frequently Heard Questions about "Small Airplanes"

Is it safe?
Yes, it is very safe. There are statistics to prove everything, but most people (including insurance companies - who's business it is to know these things) will tell you it is absolutely safer than riding a motorcycle. And, since over 90% of all airplane accidents are attributed to "pilot error", a cautious, careful pilot can make flying safer than driving a car. On the highway, you have literally hundreds of threats to your safety and most of them are completely out of your control (just look around at the drivers near you; you're putting your life in their hands!). In the air there are really only 3 threats: Bad Judgement (doing stupid things in an airplane is more dangerous than doing stupid things in a car), Bad Weather (good judgement normally keeps pilots out of this), and Bad Luck (every once in a while everybody has some of this)

You must be rich to own an airplane, right?
Not really. None of us is on food stamps, but none of us is what you'd call "rich" either. If you are an avid golfer, you probably spend as much every year on golfing as we do on flying. We bought our airplane for $40,000 in 1999. We each spend about $1,500 per year (some years less and some years more) to maintain it and store it (you can't take it home and they won't let you park it for free at the airport) and it burns about $50 (in 2008) worth of fuel per hour in the air. And none of us golfs, either.

Can you really go anywhere in it?
Our airplane is a relatively low powered "small airplane" (many are much more powerful and faster), but we routinely fly it to destinations that are 1,000 miles away. While it's true that we only go 130 mph, we don't have to arrive at the airport a hour and a half early, we never have "connecting flights" and we can land much closer to where we really want to go (for every airport that the airlines fly to, there are dozens that they can't get to that we can). For instance, I vacation at Gulf Shores, Alabama every year. The closest airline destination is Pensacola, Florida, which is over an hour away by rented car. Also, most of the time, you can't fly from O'Hare to Pensacola direct; you have to change planes in Atlanta, Georgia. The closest "small" airport is only a mile from the beachfront condo I own (Jack Edwards Airport, Gulf Shores, Alabama). The trip takes about 7 hours in our plane, including a stop for fuel around Memphis, Tennesee. The total door-to-door time using Delta Airlines to Pensacola and renting a car to drive to Gulf Shores is over 7 hours. So while we spend more time in the air than airliners do, our "door to door" times are often better than the airlines. And, of course, we always get the "first class" seats with a lovely view out the front. Plus we can leave whenever we want.

1974?? Isn't that awfully OLD for an airplane?
Not really. Airplanes are made of aluminum and don't rust, like your car. Also, they are maintained to a VERY high level, by law every year. There really is not an end to the "useful life" of an airplane as long as it is well maintained.

What about the weather? Can you fly in any weather?
Sort of. The airplane doesn't know the difference, really. But flying on a sunny, clear day is very different than flying at night inside a cloud in the rain or snow. What weather we fly in has more to do with the qualifications of the pilot, the instrumentation of the airplane, and the rules that the Federal Aviation Administration has. Here's the story, simply told: Three my partners are what is called "VFR" (stands for Visual Flight Rules) pilots. That means that regardless of the airplane, they only fly when they can 1. see out of the airplane at least 1 mile ahead of them (3 miles in some airspace) 2. they have to remain, at all times at least 500 feet from any cloud and, 3. most places they must remain at least 500 feet above the ground. This "VFR" rating means that they cannot fly when the clouds are less than 1,000 feet off the ground or when the prevailing visibility drops below 1 mile. (Actually, at our airport, the visibility limit is 3 miles because it is "controlled" airspace. The fourth partner (me) is "IFR" (stands for Instrument Flight Rules) rated. That means that, with the proper instruments in the plane (ours has them), I can fly pretty much whenever I want, except into "known icing" (when there is freezing precipitation at his altitude), but there are many other contraints, both legal and logical. While I can fly the plane safely while only seeing the instrument panel (like while inside clouds), its very hard to do if the plane is also bouncing around a lot, so flying anywhere near thunderstorms is a very bad idea. And while it is legal for me to take off in fog (clouds that are at the ground), it is not possible to land in fog (at some point, you HAVE to see the runway), so taking off would seem foolhardy. Also, while flying "on instruments" I am restricted to "filing a flight plan" with the FAA and following the instructions of ground controllers while enroute. This, of course, is to prevent pilots who can't see out of their airplanes from running into one another in the air - the controller sees all of them on radar and keeps them apart by giving them altitude and heading instructions.

Extremely strong wind is another consideration in a small plane. Gusty winds (more than 25 miles per hour) can make flying a small plane unconfortable. Strong winds at altitude can make flying agianst the wind slow and tedious. Remember that a 40 mph wind at 8,000 feet is not unusual and if it's blowing "your way" you can add the wind speed to your speed (nice!), but if you're going the other way you have to subract it from your speed (not so good). The plane flies the same in either case, but it runs out of fuel in the same number of hours, whether or not you've gotten where you're going.

You only have one engine. What happens if it quits?
A pilot asks himself this question all the time. Most of the time we have a very good answer. The airplane won't quit flying if the engine dies, it will glide. Ours will glide about  3/4 of a mile for every 1,000 feet of altitude we have. The airplane is completely controllable while gliding, except that you can't make it go "up". So, if the engine quits while we're at 6,000 feet, we have to find a place to land that's no more than about 4 miles away. Since our "little" plane requires only a very short distance to land, all kinds of places are good "landing" spots. Farm fields, football fields, big parking lots (unlighted ones without "bumper stops"), even roads (as long as there aren't any power lines) will do. Of course, an airport would be better and it is possible to plan your flight so that you are always near airports. The wise single-engine pilot never flies farther out over water than he can glide, so we go around Lake Michigan, not over it. A dead engine is definitely an "emergency" but, fortunately, engine failures are extremely rare (most pilots never experience one in a lifetime of flying), and of those that do occur, most do not cause injury to anyone.

Honestly, Is a small plane "good transportation"?
Honestly? Sort of. There are two main problems; airports and weather. Airports because that's the only place you can land (conveniently), so you can only go to places that have them. When you get there, you have to rent or borrow a car to get anywhere else. Most little airports have a "courtesy car" (usually a 1975 Cordoba or something, but hey, it's free) and are happy to let you use it for an hour or two as long as you bring it back full of gas - do you know how much gas a '75 Cordoba burns? Alternately, even the littlest airports can rent you a car if you call ahead. The weather also limits the usefulness of small airplanes. A sunny day trip from Chicago to St. Louis is a sort of care-free joyous occasion, while most pilots would think twice about making the same trip on a cloudy, rainy night. And preparing the plane for flight in the middle of January outdoors in 0° blowing snow is pure masochism. Even a properly rated, very experienced Instrument Pilot would not be able to fly our plane on a 5-day a week schedule - because of weather (and prudence) he might be able to go 85% of the time. Also, we can "only" go 130mph (or so), so going from New York to LosAngeles would be a ridiculously long trip (plus the Rocky Mountains pose a considerable impediment at the altitudes we fly). So, the answer is: A Piper Warrior will never replace the family car and United Airlines still gets some business from us.

Why do I hear so much about airplane crashes? It seems they happen all the time.
That's easy. TV news reports virtually EVERY lightplane crash that happens within a several STATE area because they are NEWS. A video of a crumpled up airplane is vastly more interesting than a video of a crumpled up car - and look how we all slow down to look at THOSE on the road. Also, the general public and even most newsmen have deep misunderstandings about aviation. They almost EXPECT planes to crash. If the TV stations reported car crashes (even if they just reported the ones that resulted in serious injury or death) with the same enthusiasm they report airplane accidents, the nightly news would be 4 or 5 hours long every night, with no other news.

How long did it take to get your pilot's license? Was it hard?
The FAA issues pilot's licenses in several "grades" or "levels". A Private Pilots License (which allows you to fly single engine airplanes, that weigh less than 12,500 pounds, as long as you don't fly in the clouds and don't charge anyone to fly) takes about 45 to 65 flight hours. It can be accomplished in a summer if you stick to it. It is not so much "hard" as it requires you apply yourself to it. It is not done casually. The Instrument License is a different kettle of fish. I graduated from college with a Bachelor's Degree, I have run my own business for over 20 years and getting my instrument license is the accomplishment I am most proud of. It was hard. It was daunting and it was long. 40 hours of flying around with a view-limiting hood on your head consistently putting your instructor and the airplane where it is supposed to be is just plain difficult.

Once you have your instrument license, you need to practice in order to stay legal and safe. Piloting an airplane without being able to see is a rather unnatural pursuit and if you don't practice fairly often, it becomes disorienting and dangerous. I ride with my instructor twice a year to stay legal, and these days don't take trips that will intentionally involve hours of flying in the clouds (although I have done them).