by Dave Weiman
Published in Midwest Flyer Magazine June/July 2024 Digital Issue
It was July 3, and I was waiting for my flight instructor to arrive at my airport once the fog lifted at his airport to give me my biennial flight review. While I waited, I reviewed some performance data for my Cessna 182, including emergency and short-field takeoff and landing procedures, best angle and rate of climb speeds, etc. It was a good review, and you never know what your instructor might ask you. Of course, when my instructor arrived and I told him what I had reviewed, he didn’t ask me any of those things. He concentrated instead on stuff he was certain I was not familiar with, so I would learn something new. Little did we know that we would be faced with several problems to solve over the course of the day.
It was a Tuesday, and the wind was calm – ideal whether for aerial applicators (i.e., crop-dusters) to get work done.
There were three turbo Ag Cats operating, and several support vehicles parked nearby. One by one each aircraft took off and within 20 minutes, they would return to refill with chemicals.
Before my flight instructor arrived, I messaged him to make him aware of the crop-duster operations at the airport. I messaged him a second time to let him know that the dusters were using whatever runway was most convenient for them when taking off and landing. All the while I was hoping the pilots were making announcements in the pattern, but I knew they oftentimes do not.
When my instructor landed his Bonanza, I introduced him to a friend who happens to have great notoriety in and out of aviation, who just happened to fly in to refuel his brightly yellow painted Aviat Husky. One thing led to another, and there was talk that they may now go floatplane flying together in my instructor’s J3 Cub. How cool is that? We can never have too many friends in the world of aviation and elsewhere.
My instructor and I then boarded my Cessna 182, and rather than do my runup by my hangar which I thought would be frown upon, I backtaxied the active runway to do my runup there, as there is no parallel taxiway. As I taxied into the runup area, I noticed an aircraft on short final, and the pilot was not making his announcements on unicom. At the same time, the pilot of a Cessna 195 on the far end of the runway announced his intentions to back-taxi for takeoff. I then informed him of the aircraft on short final, and suggested that he hold short, which he did. I then proceeded to do my runup and complete my pre-takeoff checklist. When the inbound aircraft landed, we saw that it was one of the crop-dusters. Anxious to takeoff, the C195 pilot again announced his intentions to back-taxi, even though space was limited in the runup area. I announced that I was completing my runup and would advise on takeoff. The C195 pilot then expressed concern with overheating his radial engine, so I announced that we would wait so he could back-taxi. Of course, that required that we wait for him not only to back-taxi and takeoff, but also to clear the area before we could takeoff.
The biennial flight review went well, which included doing some stalls; 45-degree bank turns 720 degrees to the left and right without losing 100 feet of altitude; time under the hood and an instrument approach and hold; and some tips on programming my Garmins. We then entered the pattern at my home airport, made our announcements, landed, and after a review, I got signed off for another two years.
That evening, I read up on C195 operations and learned that pilots are advised not to operate at busy airports which oftentimes require long taxis and delays such as the one that occurred that day. While our airport can be classified as “rural,” that does not mean it’s not busy. In addition to the crop-duster operations, the airport sees a lot of cross-country traffic, corporate jets and freighters stopping in to buy fuel which is reasonably priced. Obviously, that’s why the C195 pilot had flown in… to buy cheap fuel!
Once my instructor signed my logbook, he wanted to fuel his Bonanza before flying home, so together, we completed that task amidst the crop-duster activity on the ramp. I needed fuel as well, but right behind my instructor, another C182 had just landed to fuel, followed by a C172. Finally, about a half-hour later, it was my turn. I fueled and taxied back to my hangar to wash off the bugs and put the plane away for the day, hoping to fly again later in the week.
The moral to this editorial is fourfold: 1) Despite the time restraints and necessary work aerial applicators do, they should be making the same traffic pattern announcements as everyone else. That day at least one of the three pilots was not, which could have resulted in tragedy had the C195 pilot backtaxied when first announced. 2) Owners of C195s should be selective in the airports they fly into to fuel and avoid busy airports. In this C195 pilot’s defense, however, he flew in that morning during the week, when the airport usually isn’t that busy. 3) While it may be advised that it is best to complete your runup in the hold area after taxiing to the active just before takeoff, one needs to consider the amount of activity at the airport and maybe do your runup before taxiing. You can still do a final check of your flight controls just prior to takeoff. 4) Like when driving your car, mentally, you need to be flying the other person’s airplane at the same time to avoid an accident, and maybe to save lives.
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DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this column is the expressed opinion of the author. Readers are urged to seek the advice of others, including flight instructors, licensed aircraft technicians, airport managers, fixed base operators, and state and federal officials. Neither the author, Midwest Flyer Magazine, Flyer Publications, Inc., their staffs, employees or advertisers assume any liability for the accuracy or content of this editorial or any other column or article published in this publication.
