Wings

I’ve been knocked down with RSV for almost a week - I just discovered Wings is on PlutoTV for free. Wish I would have found this like 5 days earlier. Side note - Producer David Angell and his wife were on AAL11 on 9/11
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I have always been interested in the Cessna 411 - a maligned airplane that more than I person told me "That's a DEATH TRAP!!1!" which just made me more interested. So @SteveC or @SurferLucas or any others - explain the Cessna 411 to me and why it is either good or terrible.
 
I have always been interested in the Cessna 411 - a maligned airplane that more than I person told me "That's a DEATH TRAP!!1!" which just made me more interested. So @SteveC or @SurferLucas or any others - explain the Cessna 411 to me and why it is either good or terrible.
I flew a 401. From Wiki:

The Cessna 401 and 402 were developments of the Cessna 411. One goal for the Cessna 401/402 was to improve upon the very bad single engine handling of the Cessna 411. Another goal was to avoid using the somewhat expensive and maintenance prone geared engines of the Cessna 411.”

The C411 had 340 hp geared turbocharged Continentals. The 401/402 had 300 hp turbocharged Continentals.
 
I have always been interested in the Cessna 411 - a maligned airplane that more than I person told me "That's a DEATH TRAP!!1!" which just made me more interested. So @SteveC or @SurferLucas or any others - explain the Cessna 411 to me and why it is either good or terrible.
Lots of left turning tendencies and not enough rudder for it. There was an expert in a courtroom that testified that Cessna fudged the 150lbs of force for single engine.

The 421 was fun to fly, but you had to baby those motors more than the 414’s. (411-421 both had GTISO’s)
 
I flew a 401. From Wiki:

The Cessna 401 and 402 were developments of the Cessna 411. One goal for the Cessna 401/402 was to improve upon the very bad single engine handling of the Cessna 411. Another goal was to avoid using the somewhat expensive and maintenance prone geared engines of the Cessna 411.”

The C411 had 340 hp geared turbocharged Continentals. The 401/402 had 300 hp turbocharged Continentals.
The 402C's at 9K had 325hp 520VB engines (heavy duty crankcase and hd crankshaft) and I *think* they'd worked it out with the FAA for something like a 2400 hour TBO, but it's been over 12 years so I wouldn't testify under oath to that.
 
The 402C's at 9K had 325hp 520VB engines (heavy duty crankcase and hd crankshaft) and I *think* they'd worked it out with the FAA for something like a 2400 hour TBO, but it's been over 12 years so I wouldn't testify under oath to that.
I thought I remember hearing it was something crazy like 3000+. At that point the only original things left might be the crank, case, and cam, but still not an overhaul
 
<---- Me flying a 320


RAM converted 310R is still my favorite airplane. So much to fly. Tough to believe looking back at it that I was allowed to fly those things around the country more or less unsupervised in my early 20s.
 
I love that show, but I also think it's the reason why many current pilots feel as if A/Ps are dumb. Lowell was made to look like an idiot.

I've been doing some of the "owner-assisted-wrench-turning" lately, all I've learned is that whoever writes the Garmin manuals is an idiot, or paid by the word, or both. With a bonus for year's old typos that have still have material consequences. The younger A&Ps don't seem to be much smarter, OSHA posters waiting to happen mostly. Anyway, listen to the old, and usually, grumpy foul mouthed ones that still have all their fingers.
 
I've been doing some of the "owner-assisted-wrench-turning" lately, all I've learned is that whoever writes the Garmin manuals is an idiot, or paid by the word, or both. With a bonus for year's old typos that have still have material consequences. The younger A&Ps don't seem to be much smarter, OSHA posters waiting to happen mostly. Anyway, listen to the old, and usually, grumpy foul mouthed ones that still have all their fingers.
This is why I have always been a proponent of the phone numbers on the backside of the title page. Just call Tech Ops if you're flummoxed trying to fix something. With an almost certainty I'd suspect if you call whatever manufacturers hotline and you have the model and serial number of whatever is troubling you they'll help, except Bombardier, their tech ops always seems offended if you don't speak French and you'll spend a lot of time saying "What? Can you repeat that?". But Americans are • right?
 
I've previously written about the newest A/Ps I've encountered. Some are probably going to make a career of it because they understand that despite that card in their pocket they really don't know what's going on and want to learn, and then you have the other folks that think they know everything because they have that card in their pocket. I have to assume as pilots drag themselves up from the bottom of aviation they encounter these same sorts of personalities. There are still good pilots and mechanics out there. The really crappy ones from either career become apparent pretty quickly. Always beware of the interviewee that brings pastries to an interview, bagels are better. I've been fooled by a silver tongued devil. Talks a big game, gets out on the floor and disrupts the natural hierarchy of the place and continually steps on his quickly fading phallus. There are good A/Ps out there who love airplanes and want to make them run properly because it gives them a sense of accomplishment if they come back with no issues. I still have all my digits but I'd be lying if I said it hasn't taken a toll and I have no business working on small airplanes. True story.
 
I've previously written about the newest A/Ps I've encountered. Some are probably going to make a career of it because they understand that despite that card in their pocket they really don't know what's going on and want to learn, and then you have the other folks that think they know everything because they have that card in their pocket. I have to assume as pilots drag themselves up from the bottom of aviation they encounter these same sorts of personalities.

It's a tough job, that requires learning a lot, for relatively low pay. And I think that the regulatory structure is long overdue to be modernized. There should probably be an electrical and avionics component on par with airframe and powerplant. Piston and turbine should probably be a different class of certificate. So should the wood and fabric stuff than 99% of the world isn't ever going to touch.
 
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