There I Was...

Newly minted instrument pilot Chris Yalanis launches on a long IFR trip in his Sling TSi. ATC issues a clearance that doesn’t match his plan, and a routine climb turns tense when he begins to pick up ice.

Brad Cohen test flies his homebuilt Zenith Zodiac 601 XL. About 20 hours into testing, while working on departure and accelerated stalls, Brad enters an unexpected spin.

Flight test engineer Joey Brown recounts a New Year’s Eve flight in his Cessna 150 with his wife, when their trip is interrupted by violent engine vibration and power loss.

Tony Williams and Ben Taylor prepare to ferry a Cessna 401 that’s been resurrected after almost 25 years in storage. Despite meticulous planning, high-speed taxi tests, and pattern work, a loud bang on downwind reveals a left-gear failure. With support from ATC, the pilots plan a deliberate gear-up landing on a foamed runway.

During a mountain flying trip in a Cessna 172, Doug Tilghman and two companions become dangerously close to fuel exhaustion.

Bob Thomason recounts a tense IMC approach as safety pilot for a friend facing a cancer diagnosis. When his friend panics and fights the autopilot, Bob must intervene to stabilize the aircraft.

Marine Corps Master Gunnery Sergeant Justin Lillie shares the story of an engine failure in his Mooney during an IFR cross-country flight with his family.

Mark Sellers shares the story of a nighttime overwater flight in his Bellanca Viking where a landing gear issue arose during approach.

Mel Rushton recounts a harrowing nighttime IFR flight when the propeller of his Piper Comanche separated mid-flight over Florida.

While departing Tampa Executive Airport in his Thorp S-18, Mujahid Abdulrahim finds himself dealing with severely limited motion in his control stick.

Scott Wright shares the story of a flight he made as a corporate pilot in a B58 Baron with five passengers, during which he had an encounter with icing.

Erick Mahle tells the story of a night flight in his flying club’s Bonanza with his family on board that included a memorable landing and some lessons learned.

While flying in his 1966 Cessna 150F over Arizona, Chris Smith and his father must resort to some creative thinking to breathe life into a sputtering engine.

As a newly minted private pilot, Sara Gagné takes her mother on a sunset flight around the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Not expecting any adverse issues during her very first flight with a passenger, Sara finds herself unable to establish radio communication. NOTE: We realized we omitted a key detail in this episode. When the guest discusses the remedy of shining a phone flashlight against the radio panel to make the display brighter, she is most likely referring to the panel having a faulty light sensor. Some avionics have an auto-dimming feature that uses a light sensor, which adjusts the brightness of the display to coincide with the ambient light level. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

Peter Danzig hears a disturbing banging sound while flying his Bonanza A36 near Paso Robles, CA, and decides to make a precautionary landing at a small private airport. After landing, he must contend with less than ideal conditions in which to depart again.

While flying in his Piper Saratoga over the Mark Twain National Forest en route to Northeast Arkansas, Brent Reddick notices a subtle but disturbing drop in RPM, followed by a complete engine failure.

GA pilot Claudia Gibson recalls a flight on a late October night in Indiana, during her student pilot days. While on an extensive night training flight with multiple stops, Claudia and her instructor have an eerie encounter in the form of an unwanted guest on the runway.

While shooting an IFR practice approach in his Twin Comanche, retired Air Canada pilot Marc Arsenault loses electrical power to his landing gear system. After realizing that a manual gear extension will not work, Marc must resort to creative thinking – and the help of a Swiss Army knife – to get the gear down.

On the final leg of a cross-country flight from Mississippi to California, flight test engineer Joey Brown finds himself unable to maintain altitude in his 1967 Cessna 150G.

Climbing through 6,000 feet after departing Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland, pilot and aircraft builder Steve Gross encounters severe icing in his RV-9. With his indicated airspeed falling to 60 knots and his climb rate dropping to zero, Steve must take quick action.