Blog Post #4 Aspen Arrival

What I thought of the accident? I thought it was sad. The pilots clearly were under a lot of pressure from "the boss" (who is an A-hole btw). I think passengers think that they are invincible and that the pilot can get them wherever they need to go safely no matter what the conditions are. What they don't realize is that we are not all Hunter Villarreal and there are circumstances where we should make a no-go decision, even if it means missing a really expensive dinner.
The accident chain started from the very beginning when the passengers decided to stand around talking in a parking lot instead of sitting around talking on an airplane. Had they taken off earlier they might have missed the bad weather. The pressure from "the boss" made them continue the approach even after they had heard multiple aircraft go missed. I didn't get from the article whether or not the pilots actually did see the runway when they initially continued past minimums but they were very clearly not centered and had to make an unsafe bank to make it there.
I think the pilots should have told their pretentious, snotty passengers too bad they weren't gonna make their dinner. They didn't get to go anyway because they crashed. Their alternate had great weather and they probably could have driven to Aspen in a decent amount of time (just under an hour and a half according to google maps).
If I genuinely believed that a disaster was possible because a passenger was pressuring me to do a flight I was uncomfortable with, I would probably tell them so. You are the professional and in the end you have the last say. My job won't ever be worth my life. It might cause issues for the company but if you decide to go and end up crashing, you're gonna cause problems for the company anyway, might as well be alive to watch, right?

Blog Post #3 SPIFR

I had never considered whether or not I would fly single pilot IFR.  I know people that would have no problem with it but I think personally, at this point in my training, I would not.  Maybe if it was an emergency of some sort.  But I wouldn't just go out for fun and play in ridiculous clouds.  The chart in the article that shows a pilot's confidence compared to his or her competence I don't think is very accurate. I think mine might be opposite (I have higher competence usually than confidence).  I don't feel that I would be able to handle all of the tasks that are required of a pilot in IFR conditions alone. 
I thought the article had really good tips about flying SPIFR:

• Plan well before the flight.  
• Always watch weather trends and go over charts again and again.  
• Make sure all maintenance and inspections have been done on time 
• Be comfortable with the type of aircraft you are flying 
• Keep very well organized in the plane 
• Get clearances, load GPS, radios, Nav aids etc while you are on the ground
• Monitor weather while in flight
• Maintain positional and situational awareness 
• Stay ahead of the aircraft. Always be thinking of the next step
• Give yourself more than enough time to brief approaches 
• Stay current and proficient

These are all things that I think we learn in our training but may not think about when we find ourselves in actual IMC.  So, basically, maybe someday I would consider flying SPIFR, but definitely not soon. 

Blog Post #2 Electrical Fires

This article was pretty brief.  It gave basics of what to do in the event of an electrical fire.  It made a point of telling the readers to find an immediate place to land, to do whatever you can to locate the source of the fire.  I don't know if I would be able to do this if it actually happened to me. I know that the most important thing is to first fly the plane and find an appropriate place to land but in all honesty, I would probably be pretty focused on trying to put out the fire first.  (I should work on that).  I know it's probably common sense to not try to reset a circuit breaker if you suspect that it could cause a fire but I'd never really thought about it specifically before. 
Currents take the path of least resistance.  If there is any damage to the wire the current will continue to flow through whatever the nearest conductor is. The current can eventually exceed its rating and causing a fire.
The procedure for our Seminole checklist is pretty much the same as what the article suggests.  Our procedure is obviously more specific to our aircraft.  Basically you want to turn off anything electric because that is where the fire is coming from. There was a tip in the article: "If there’s smoke in the cockpit, you may need to open a door, window, or vent to let in fresh air. Or not." Our checklist tells us specifically not to open vents.
Hopefully I will never have to experience an electrical fire but there's probably a good chance that I will. I feel fairly confident at this point in my training that I would be able to follow the checklist and land safely without completely freaking out. I remember talking with an instructor about the different smells of an engine fire and electrical fire. I think it's hard to explain but hopefully I would be able to recognize one over the other as it was happening so I could do the correct procedure (I'm kind of bummed the article didn't go into that).