Being Prepared
It’s impossible to avoid Factor X, but you can plan around it. The fact is, problems will arise with air travel, but these are much more difficult to deal with than those which arise in reference to conventional modes of travel.
Say you’re driving down the road and you lose a rotational belt. Depending on your vehicle’s internal construction, you may be able to replace it by yourself on the side of the road, or you may need to get towed. But either way, you can pull your car over and figure out a solution. If you lose a similar component in the air, it could kill you.
Certainly planes can glide to safety in certain situations; lift is generated by air’s passage over the wings, so loss of thrust doesn’t entirely compel a plane to sink like a brick cement. But thrust meters lift, and when it’s lost, you’re going to start going down. Depending on the kind of plane you’re in, that will happen more or less quickly.
Gliding – Not Always Much Of An Option
An airline aircraft like a 747 is extremely heavy—they don’t glide well. Neither do fighter jets, bombers, or Learjets. Certain private aircraft of the single and dual engine variety have a little more elasticity here; but do you really want to chance it through cheapness? Not if you’re a good pilot.
So you can’t control these things, but you can plan around them. One of the best ways to plan around difficulties in the air is to constantly ensure your operating components are at their highest functionality. You want to check over your engine thoroughly before each flight, replace components that are wearing out, and get your plane tuned up as per regulations.
The FAA is already going to make you get periodic maintenance to remain legally viable; you might as well save time and money by ensuring you upgrade to the latest tech components on your end. When you do this, don’t spare any expense. If you must, it’s better to curtail flying until you can afford the top-of-the-line solution.
Your engine specifically needs to be taken cared of with all diligence and skill. One area where you can really safeguard yourself is through the mounts which hold the engine in place.
According to AeroInStock.com aircraft engine mounts from Hutchinson Aerospace are top of the line: “Hutchinson Aerospace, formerly known as Barry Controls, is among the world market leaders in aerospace engine vibration isolation and shock attenuation mounting systems.”
Avoiding Collateral Malfunction
If your engine isn’t properly mounted, when something goes awry, it will very likely shake things so bad “under the hood” that other flight-critical components are damaged. Your instruments are integral to safe transit. Things tend to snowball when there’s an engine issue. The last thing you need is to lose an engine, then watch all your components follow suit.
Thankfully, with over a century of “modern” aviation under the world’s collective belt, this field of transit is quickly becoming more and more secure. While it’s unlikely that flying cars will be legally viable in the next decade, flying is becoming more accessible to those willing to put in time for their private pilot’s license.
If you have already become a private pilot, you understand how the tech industry surrounding this pursuit soon becomes integral. It’s possible to fly through the craziest storm systems with modern instruments—though this still isn’t recommendable.
Still, getting instrument-rated is a possibility, because instruments today are at such a level they can be trusted in. But this is only possible if they’re properly maintained and upgraded.
