Stupid pilot tricks, anyone? Here at the magazine some of our test aircraft for sending portable products through the wringer are Cessna 150s and 152s—seemingly the best combination of budget-friendly economy, durability and simplicity. Flying and filming the Faro Stealth headset in the 150 for the field report in this issue got me thinking about the hard-as-steel insurance market, and how we bust airplanes. Even simple Cessna 150s.
The photo down below is a tailcam capture of yours truly putting the airplane down for the day after a headset testing session. Forget that I’m off the centerline. The smoke plume coming off the left main is my size 10 day-hiker resting on the left toebrake as I plopped the Cessna on the pavement, lips narrating on camera and a left leg draped with headsets. Add to the mayhem the MyGoFlight camera mount that lost its suction and came crashing down in the flare. I now understand why pilots who’ve flat-spotted a new Michelin to the point of blowing it out (I didn’t, thankfully) are dumbfounded as they watch the tug pulling the airplane off the runway and to the nearest maintenance hangar.