Aviation News Talk – General Aviation Podcast

420 Cirrus SR22T CAPS Pull: N39VF Power Loss and Parachute Drag Survival

A Routine Flight Turns Into an Emergency
Max talks with Troy Duck and John Von Fange about their dramatic Cirrus SR22T CAPS parachute deployment in N39VF after a power loss near Chanute, Kansas. What began as a routine flight quickly turned into an emergency when they heard a loud banging noise and lost engine power. Faced with a rapidly developing situation, they attempted to divert toward the airport, declared an emergency, and ultimately pulled the CAPS parachute. The event was unique in that they were able to user their Spyderco Manix 2 pocket knives to cut two of the parachute’s Kevlar attachment harness lines from within the airplane.

As the aircraft descended, they attempted to divert toward Chanute Martin Johnson Airport. Like many real-world emergencies, the situation evolved quickly, and Troy and John found themselves in exactly the kind of scenario that Cirrus pilots train for but hope never to experience. This episode is valuable because it captures not just what happened, but how the decision-making unfolded in real time.

The Decision to Pull CAPS
Max explores how they assessed the deteriorating situation, what they were seeing and thinking in the cockpit, and what pushed them toward the decision to pull CAPS. Their story highlights one of the core safety principles in Cirrus training: if the odds of a successful forced landing are uncertain and CAPS is available, delaying too long can remove your best option.

The episode reinforces the idea that CAPS is not just a last-ditch device. It is a survival tool designed to be used when continuing the flight is no longer the safer choice. That distinction matters. Pilots who mentally rehearse emergency scenarios in advance are far more likely to act decisively when seconds count.

Troy and John describe what it felt like to commit to the pull and what happened immediately afterward, giving listeners a rare first-person account of a real CAPS deployment.

What Happened Under the Parachute
A CAPS deployment may sound like the end of the emergency, but this episode makes clear that it is really the beginning of a new phase. Once the parachute was deployed, Troy and John still had to ride the aircraft down and prepare for impact.

Max talks with them about the descent, their expectations during those moments, and what they recall from the landing sequence. For pilots, this is a useful reminder that survival systems reduce risk, but they do not eliminate it. Even with CAPS successfully deployed, the descent and landing can still be violent, unpredictable, and physically demanding.

Hearing Troy and John describe the event helps translate abstract safety training into a real human experience. Their account gives listeners a better sense of what a CAPS event feels like, not just procedurally, but emotionally.

Dragged Across the Ground After Touchdown
One of the most unusual and memorable parts of this accident happened after the aircraft touched down. Strong surface winds kept the parachute inflated, and the airplane was dragged across the ground. What could have felt like the end of the emergency immediately turned into another dangerous phase.

That detail makes this episode especially compelling. Many pilots think of touchdown as the conclusion of a CAPS event, but in windy conditions the parachute can continue to pull the aircraft, exposing occupants to additional hazards. Troy and John describe the chaos of being dragged on the ground and what that experience was like after already enduring the power loss and parachute descent.

This portion of the episode adds an important training lesson: in any CAPS landing, pilots must be prepared for what happens after impact as well as before it. Wind, terrain, obstacles, and aircraft motion after touchdown can all affect survivability.

Lessons for Cirrus and GA Pilots
Max uses this conversation to draw out lessons that apply far beyond one specific accident. For Cirrus pilots, the message is clear: brief CAPS often, think through deployment criteria in advance, and recognize that waiting too long can turn a survivable event into a fatal one.

For all general aviation pilots, the episode offers a broader lesson in emergency management. Power-loss events are messy. They create time pressure, uncertainty, and conflicting instincts. Pilots naturally want to save the airplane and reach the runway, but sometimes survival depends on giving up that goal early enough to preserve better options.

The story of N39VF is not just about a power loss. It is about preparation, judgment, and the value of having a plan before the emergency begins. Troy Duck and John Von Fange survived because they were faced with a critical decision and made it in time.

Their experience gives every listener the chance to think more deeply about how they would handle a similar emergency. That alone makes this an episode worth hearing.

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419 LaGuardia Runway Collision: Why the Runway Lights Turned Off Before Impact + GA News

LaGuardia Runway Collision and the NTSB Preliminary Report
Max talks about the fatal LaGuardia Airport runway collision involving Jazz Flight 646 and an ARFF fire truck responding to an emergency near Terminal B. The accident occurred at night, in rain and reduced visibility, as multiple airport rescue firefighting vehicles were moving toward an emergency scene and needed to cross Runway 4 at Taxiway D.

Dr. Victor Vogel
Max also gives a tribute to Dr. Victor Vogel, who recently passed away.

The basic outline sounds simple: a fire truck was cleared to cross an active runway and was struck by a landing regional airliner. But the NTSB preliminary report reveals a much more complicated chain of events involving ATC communications, emergency response workload, runway status lights, ASDE-X limitations, and human factors.

Truck 1 was part of a larger convoy of emergency vehicles. The tower controller cleared Jazz Flight 646 to land, then later cleared Truck 1 and company to cross Runway 4. About 20 seconds before the collision, the airplane was very low on final approach and roughly a quarter mile from the runway. Truck 1 read back the crossing clearance and began moving toward the runway. The controller then instructed Truck 1 to stop, but the truck continued accelerating and entered the runway just before impact.

Why the Runway Entrance Lights Turned Off
One of the most surprising details in the episode is that the runway entrance lights, or RELs, turned off just before Truck 1 entered the runway. These red in-pavement lights are part of the Runway Status Light system, which is installed at only a limited number of airports. They are designed to warn pilots and vehicle operators when it is unsafe to enter or cross a runway.

At first glance, it sounds like the system failed. But Max explains that the lights apparently worked as designed. For arriving aircraft, runway entrance lights illuminate when an aircraft is approaching the runway, then extinguish at each equipped taxiway intersection a few seconds before the aircraft reaches that intersection. That timing supports ATC’s use of anticipated separation, which allows controllers to issue clearances based on the expectation that required separation will exist by the time the clearance is actually used.

That design may make sense when a crossing aircraft or vehicle is stopped at or near the hold-short line. But in this accident, Truck 1 was already rolling toward the runway and reached the runway edge just as the red lights extinguished. Max explains why that creates a serious human-factors trap. To a pilot or driver, red means stop. When red lights go dark, the intuitive message may be that the danger has ended. But with Runway Status Lights, dark does not mean “go.” It only means the lights are no longer providing a stop warning, and an ATC clearance is still required.

Why ASDE-X Did Not Alert Controllers
The episode also examines why ASDE-X, the airport surface detection system, did not generate an aural or visual alert warning controllers of the conflict. The problem appears to involve the way the system detected the group of emergency vehicles.

The responding vehicles were not equipped with transponders, so ASDE-X could not uniquely identify each vehicle. Multiple vehicles were intermittently detected as radar targets, but because they were close together and moving near each other, their radar returns merged and separated in a way that prevented the system from creating high-confidence tracks. At one point, the system displayed only two radar targets where there were actually seven response vehicles.

Without reliable tracks for Truck 1 and the other vehicles, ASDE-X could not correlate Truck 1’s movement with the landing aircraft and predict the runway conflict.

Human Factors: More Than “He Should Have Looked”
Max then turns to the human factors that may have affected the fire truck driver, the controllers, and the pilots. The key point is that this was not just a simple case of someone failing to look. A fire truck driver responding to an emergency is in a very different cognitive state from someone conducting a routine runway crossing.

Emergency response increases urgency but can degrade scanning, patience, and cross-checking. Stress physiology can narrow visual attention and reduce peripheral awareness. Goal fixation can shift the driver’s mental priority from “cross the runway safely” to “get to the emergency.” Time pressure can make someone ask the wrong question: not “Is the runway actually clear?” but “Is anything still telling me to stop?”

Expectation bias also matters. The driver may have believed that tower, the convoy, and the runway status lights were all part of a protected system. When the red lights extinguished, that may have reinforced the expectation that the runway was available, even though the landing airplane was still only seconds away.

The Pilot Safety Lesson
For pilots, the takeaway is direct: an ATC clearance is not a guarantee. Controllers can make mistakes. Automation can have blind spots. Warning systems can be technically correct while still creating misleading cues. And when an instruction or transmission is ambiguous, the safest assumption may be that it could apply to you.

Max emphasizes that pilots must continue to look for traffic before entering any runway, even after receiving a clearance. Likewise, pilots on final approach should build a mental picture of airport surface activity and listen carefully for runway crossings that could affect them.

The LaGuardia collision is a reminder that runway safety depends on more than procedures and technology. It depends on human beings recognizing when a situation is no longer routine, resisting expectation bias, and consciously widening their attention when stress and urgency are trying to narrow it.

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418 New Zealand Flying: Aero Clubs, Milford Sound, and Glowworm Caves + GA News

Max talks with Russell Ladbrook about a chance meeting in New Zealand that turned into one of the most delightful episodes of Aviation News Talk. Max was taking a glowworm cave tour when Russell noticed his Cirrus jacket, struck up a conversation, and soon realized he was talking to the host of a podcast he had followed for years. By the end of the day, the two were sitting down at the Fjordland Aero Club near Manapouri Airport for a conversation about flying in one of the most scenic and demanding parts of the world.

How aero clubs keep flying affordable

Russell explains that aero clubs fill a role in rural New Zealand that would often be handled by a flight school or FBO in the United States. In smaller towns, there may not be enough demand to support a traditional aviation business, so clubs become the way local flying survives. The Fjordland Aero Club has about 85 members, a hangar, and club-owned aircraft, along with privately owned airplanes brought in by members.

What makes the model especially interesting is the economics. Russell says the club rents its aircraft wet for about 150 New Zealand dollars per hour, plus GST, and that includes fuel. The airplanes are microlights rather than larger certified aircraft, which helps reduce costs. Even more striking, much of the labor is donated. Club members help with maintenance, instruction, and field work. Russell himself mows the runway, and the club also earns revenue by mowing airport property and baling hay from the surrounding grass. It’s a practical, community-based approach that makes flying accessible in a part of the world where a normal commercial model might fail.

Flying near Milford Sound

The conversation then shifts to the geography of New Zealand’s South Island and the challenges of flying there. Russell describes the area around Te Anau and Manapouri as farmland on one side and steep mountains on the other, right on the edge of a huge national park. The terrain is beautiful, but it also makes aviation more demanding. ADS-B coverage can be spotty because mountains block signals, some aircraft operate without transponders, and local knowledge matters enormously. Russell gives an example of a nearby valley where 4,500 feet might provide a smooth ride while 3,500 or 5,500 feet can be rough.

That local knowledge becomes even more important around Milford Sound, where tourism flying is a major part of the aviation scene. Russell says many of the flights into Milford use Cessna Caravans from Queenstown, and that it is not unusual to see dozens of aircraft lined up there. Helicopters are also everywhere, supporting sightseeing and practical work in remote terrain. Russell talks about helicopter flights into the mountains, helicopter barbecues in remote valleys, and the many ways rotary-wing aircraft are woven into daily life in the region.

Weather, waterfalls, and helicopter work

One of the strongest parts of the episode is Russell’s description of the weather around Milford Sound. He confirms that many planned flights never happen because low clouds, wind, avalanche danger, and poor visibility can shut things down completely. He describes Milford as one of the wettest places in New Zealand and says it can receive astonishing amounts of rain, with conditions that may be dramatically different only a short distance away on the other side of the mountains. On wet days, entire mountainsides fill with temporary waterfalls, while only a few permanent waterfalls remain visible when the rain stops.

Russell also explains that helicopters in New Zealand do far more than scenic flights. They recover deer, resupply backcountry huts, and haul waste out of remote wilderness areas where it would be impractical to carry supplies in and out by hand. That operational detail gives the episode a more grounded feel. This is not just a postcard version of New Zealand. It’s a working aviation environment where flying is both practical and essential.

Glowworm caves and an unexpected connection

The final section of the episode brings the story back to where it started: the glowworm caves. Russell says his first full-time job in the mid-1980s involved both flying Cessna 172s and working as a cave guide, and that decades later he is once again guiding visitors through the same cave system. He explains that glowworms are tiny insects that live in dark, damp spaces and use light to lure prey into sticky threads. The cave tour includes a boat ride, narrow walkways, an underground waterfall, and a final passage through deep darkness where the glowworms shine overhead.

Russell’s description of guiding the boat through the cave is especially memorable. He compares it to a kind of cave IFR, navigating in darkness by feel and by markers on chains overhead. It’s a funny comparison, but also a revealing one. The whole episode is built on that same blend of aviation mindset, local knowledge, and sense of wonder. Russell also shares his own story of returning to flying after doubting himself for years, and the joy he now gets from taking others aloft, especially children seeing aviation up close for the first time. That gives the episode a strong emotional finish and makes it about more than scenery. It becomes a story about community, confidence, and how aviation creates connections in the most unexpected places.

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News Stories

Mentioned on the Show
Buy Max Trescott’s G3000 Book Call 800-247-6553
NTSB News Talk #13 – NTSB Member Graham Interview
Garmin Service Alert – Use of Advisory Vertical Guidance (+V)
NTSB News Talk #26 – LaGuardia and Losing Friends in Aircraft Accidents
Fjordland Aero Club website
Fjordland Aero Club Facebook page
Wings and Water Fiordlands by Seaplane
Over the Top – Helicopter Tours

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417 Cirrus SR22, SR20 & Vision Jet Design with Mike VanStaagen

Max talks with Mike VanStaagen about the design philosophy behind the Cirrus SR20, SR22, and SF50 Vision Jet, and how Cirrus rethought what pilots and passengers should experience inside an airplane. Mike explains how his architectural mindset helped him bring together competing ideas at Cirrus and turn them into aircraft that felt modern, spacious, intuitive, and comfortable.

They discuss why Cirrus focused so heavily on easier entry and exit, better visibility on the ground and in flight, and a roomier cabin than traditional GA airplanes. Mike describes how ideas borrowed from the auto industry shaped the Cirrus cockpit, from the pilot-centered layout to the center console and cleaner instrument panel design. He also shares the story of how a tiny clay model helped convince Cirrus leadership to move away from a conventional flat panel toward the now-familiar Cirrus interior.

The conversation then turns to the Vision Jet, including the secret garage project where the concept first took shape, why the aircraft ended up with a distinctive V-tail, and how hours spent inside an early mockup led to key design breakthroughs. This is a fascinating look at how thoughtful design changed modern personal aviation.

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BeechBash in Kentucky
The Flight Academy Adventure Tours
+V Advisory glide slopes with less than 250 feet clearance from obstacles

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416 Airline Pilot Career Path: Part 61 vs Part 141, R-ATP & Getting Hired (Jason Blair)

Airline pilot career path roadmap with Jason Blair: Part 61 vs Part 141, R-ATP, and what matters most for getting hired. Max talks with Jason Blair about building an airline pilot career path that gets you to the right seat faster—without expensive detours. If you’re comparing Part 61 vs Part 141, wondering whether R-ATP changes your strategy, or trying to figure out what actually helps with getting hired, this episode is a practical roadmap.

Jason explains how to think backwards from your target job (regional, major airline, charter, corporate) and make training decisions that protect your timeline and seniority. They start with the gatekeeper: the FAA medical. Jason shares how to “preflight” potential medical issues, avoid self-inflicted paperwork delays, and choose the right AME strategy.

Then they break down training options: where Part 141 structure can reduce total hours and accelerate progress, and where Part 61 flexibility makes more sense for career changers balancing work and family. Jason also clarifies restricted ATP (R-ATP) pathways and a common mistake that can eliminate eligibility if you do training in the wrong order.

Finally, they cover the hiring reality: why airlines are becoming more selective again, how checkride failures and training history show up, and how to present your story like a professional. They close with the unglamorous stuff that wins careers: clean logbooks, backups, and smart training finances.

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Jason Blair’s website
Jason’s Books:
An Aviator’s Field Guide to the Pilot Career Path
Private Pilot Oral Exam Guide
Instrument Pilot Oral Exam Guide
Commercial Pilot Oral Exam Guide
Flight Instructor Oral Exam Guide

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415 Log IFR Instrument Currency in an FAA-Approved Simulator + Redbird Factory Tour

Max talks with Josh Harnagel, COO of Redbird Flight, about the most overlooked “cheat code” for instrument pilots: using an FAA-approved simulator to log IFR instrument currency and stay proficient with less cost and less risk. Then Josh takes Max on an audio factory tour of Redbird’s facility to show what goes into building, wiring, testing, and shipping modern training devices.

Log IFR instrument currency without burning avgas

Instrument currency is the core reason many pilots buy an FAA-approved training device. Josh says plenty of owners use a simulator to stay current and sharpen skills—especially because some tasks are hard to practice consistently in the airplane. Holding is the classic example: you might not get much real-world holding, but the FAA still requires it for currency, and a simulator is an efficient way to keep it from becoming a rusty, stressful event every six months.

Josh also describes a smart habit: shooting an approach in the simulator before flying it in the airplane—particularly if it’s unfamiliar. Max agrees and shares how he uses simulator time before recurrent training to re-expose himself to the “little gotchas” that can bite you in IFR: procedure flow, automation surprises, and exactly how the system behaves when you’re busy.

FAA-approved simulator vs “just a computer”

Josh breaks down Redbird’s lineup from entry-level desktop trainers to larger full-size devices with optional motion. The key distinction for this episode is what’s FAA approved. Some products are designed as turnkey “plug it in and it works” computers and are popular for schools and STEM programs—but they are not FAA-approved devices for logging currency.

For logging IFR instrument currency, the conversation centers on Redbird’s tabletop devices that are FAA-approved as Basic Aviation Training Devices (BATDs). Josh explains that these allow you to log instrument currency without an instructor present, which is exactly why they’re so attractive for proficiency-minded pilots. They also discuss how much simulator time can count toward ratings, and why many pilots use these devices as a realistic, repeatable way to practice approaches, holds, and instrument procedures without the risk and overhead of doing everything in actual IMC.

Motion, training value, and who it’s really for

Redbird became known early for bringing motion into GA simulation at lower price points, and Josh explains how motion fits today. Motion can be genuinely helpful for new pilots with limited cockpit time—especially for disorientation and learning cues—and it can also be a differentiator for flight schools. But Josh is blunt that a high-time airline pilot doesn’t “need” motion the way a newer pilot might. The bigger point is training value: repetition, good scenarios, and a device that lets pilots practice the procedures and decisions that actually matter in IFR.

GIFT, remote instruction, and avionics realism

The episode also touches Redbird GIFT (Guided Independent Flight Training), a structured, maneuver-based practice system for private and instrument training that provides real-time coaching and grades performance against ACS tolerances. Whether or not someone searches for “GIFT,” the underlying idea is highly relevant to currency and proficiency: targeted reps, objective scoring, and shorter practice sessions that reduce cost while increasing consistency.

They also discuss remote instruction—an instructor can connect over the internet, run scenarios, change weather, and inject failures while talking to the student on video. Josh notes the practical question that always follows: what’s loggable, what counts as supervision, and how the FAA treats novel training models when precedent is limited.

Finally, they get into avionics emulation. High-fidelity avionics behavior is central to useful simulation, but licensing and hardware costs are complicated, which is why many simulators emulate look-and-feel rather than running exact certified avionics software. The goal is to keep training realistic and affordable without making the device cost explode.

Redbird factory tour: how FAA-approved sims get built

The second half is a walk-through of Redbird’s production workflow. Josh starts at the end of the pipeline in finished-goods outbound shipping, where large simulators leave in multiple crates and pallets. From there, they move into assembly, where Redbird has shifted toward a “single-piece flow” approach—building units start-to-finish rather than in batches—as part of a quality push.

Next is fabrication, where Redbird forms honeycomb aluminum sheets into strong, monocoque-style shells. Josh explains the advantages and the quirks of working with the material, including the way manufacturing constraints shape design decisions. You’ll also hear about new in-house capability: CNC cutting for panels and a UV printer for durable labeling—tools that help speed iteration and reduce dependence on outside vendors for small-batch production.

The tour continues through inventory and staging for aircraft-specific simulator builds, then into the wire room where harnesses, switch panels, and motion-control wiring are assembled. From there, they step into PCB/solder work, where boards are assembled and stocked to support a wide range of aircraft configurations—even for products that might only ship occasionally.

They wrap in completions and testing, where large sims are configured, verified, and QA’d before delivery. One memorable detail: the sim’s cooling/airflow system is designed for the human in the box, not just the electronics—because these devices get run hard, sometimes in hot environments. The episode ends in engineering, where Josh explains why co-locating engineering with the shop floor helps product quality and keeps feedback loops tight.

If you fly IFR—especially in mountainous terrain—treat LNAV+V as a stabilized descent tool to the MDA, brief the notes, know what your autopilot will do at minimums, and deliberately transition to a level-at-MDA mindset unless and until you truly have the runway environment and can land normally.

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Mentioned on the Show
Buy Max Trescott’s G3000 Book Call 800-247-6553
Video Simulation of Epic E1000 Crash at Steamboat Springs, CO on Patreon
Helicopter VR Flight Simulator Training podcast: Loft Dynamics

Free Index to the first 282 episodes of Aviation New Talk

So You Want To Learn to Fly or Buy a Cirrus seminars
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414 Epic E1000 N98FK Crash at Steamboat Springs: LNAV+V Advisory Glidepath Trap

Flying an RNAV (GPS) approach with LNAV+V can look and feel like flying an LPV: centered needles, a glidepath diamond, and an approach mode that looks “fully coupled.” The difference is protection. LPV and LNAV/VNAV guidance is evaluated and obstacle-protected down to a decision altitude. LNAV+V is advisory vertical guidance. It can be a great stabilized descent aid to the MDA, but it is not a guarantee of obstacle clearance below minimums.

In this episode, Max analyzes the crash of N98FK, an Epic E1000, near Steamboat Springs/Bob Adams Field (KSBS). The flight came in at night into mountainous terrain with a lowering ceiling. Minutes before the accident, reported conditions still showed good visibility but broken cloud layers, and the altimeter setting was 30.16. That combination—night, terrain, and marginal weather—is exactly where “looks right on the PFD” can be a lethal trap.

KSBS has three instrument procedures. The VOR/DME-C is not authorized at night. The RNAV (GPS)-E is aligned with runway 32 but publishes only circling minimums because the descent from the last fix to the runway would require an unusually steep path. The RNAV (GPS) Z RWY 32 is the only procedure that publishes straight-in LNAV minimums, but its minimums are higher and the chart includes important restrictions and warnings that matter to this accident.

Max then walks through what the ADS-B ground track and barometric altitude data show. Laterally, the airplane flew a clean inbound path that closely matched the RNAV (GPS) Z RWY 32 final course. Vertically, the profile started out “textbook.” After correcting the baro altitudes for the 30.16 altimeter setting, the airplane crossed the FAF MABKY essentially overhead and only about 90 feet above the published at-or-above altitude (10,800 feet). It crossed the stepdown fix WDCHK essentially on altitude as well, only about 15 feet above the published at-or-above 9,100 feet (the MDA).

And then it didn’t level off. Instead of holding 9,100 feet until the runway environment was in sight and the pilot was legally and safely able to continue, the airplane kept descending. The last recorded point was around 8,240 feet—roughly 860 feet below the MDA—near terrain that tops out around 8,250 feet on Emerald Mountain. The descent angle stayed remarkably consistent from the intermediate segment through impact, with no sign of an MDA level-off. That consistency fits a common scenario: the autopilot was coupled to the LNAV+V advisory glidepath and simply kept flying down the path.

That leads to the legal and practical heart of the episode: when can you descend below an MDA on a nonprecision approach? Max reviews the three requirements in 91.175(c): the required flight visibility, at least one specified visual reference for the intended runway distinctly visible and identifiable, and being continuously in a position to land using normal maneuvers and a normal rate of descent. Until those are true, you level at MDA. Full stop. “But I’m on the glidepath” is not a criterion.

Max also explains why pilots get surprised by +V. Many expect the autopilot to capture altitude at MDA. But if you’re coupled to any glidepath, many autopilots will continue down the path unless you command a level-off. If you want to stop at MDA, you must actively select a vertical mode that holds altitude at the right time. That’s a systems/automation issue layered on top of the fundamental decision-making issue: don’t descend below minimums without the required cues and clearance.

Finally, Max decodes a chart note that many pilots gloss over: “Visual Segment – Obstacles” and, on some charts, “34:1 is not clear.” Those are warnings that obstacles penetrate the visual segment evaluation surface. In plain English, the visual segment may not be clear of terrain if you descend below MDA before you have the runway environment and can maneuver visually. Max discusses how the FAA’s 34:1 and 20:1 concepts relate to obstacle evaluation in the visual segment, and why these notes matter most at night and in mountainous terrain, when you may not see the hazard until it is too late.

To drive it home, Max recounts flying the same RNAV (GPS) Z RWY 32 in a simulator and hitting the same mountain when the autopilot was coupled to the advisory glidepath. He also explains why moving-map “relative terrain” may not save you: alerts can come late, and the colors can lull you into thinking you’re protected when you’re not.

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413 Cirrus G3 Vision Jet: CPDLC Datalink + 6-Adult Cabin (Matt Bergwall) — AOPA President Job + GA News

Max talks with Matt Bergwall, Executive Director of the Vision Jet Product Line at Cirrus, about the just-announced Cirrus G3 Vision Jet—and before that, he offers an unusually personal look at what the AOPA President’s job actually requires.

Max opens by explaining that he interviewed for the AOPA President role twice and uses that experience to outline what makes the position difficult and consequential. In his view, the job is not simply “being the public face of GA.” It demands relentless travel to connect with members, lawmakers, regulators, and stakeholders—while still maintaining a strong day-to-day presence at headquarters to lead a sizable staff. He also emphasizes the fundraising reality: membership dues matter, but major donors increasingly drive what’s possible, especially as traditional advertising revenue has eroded across media. Max argues that regardless of opinions about leadership changes, AOPA’s advocacy work and member services—like the hotline—can be meaningful to pilots, and he encourages continued support for the organization. He also describes the way top roles like this are typically filled: boards often rely on executive search firms and closed candidate pipelines rather than a standard “job posting” process.

Then the focus shifts to the Vision Jet G3. Matt explains the G3 changes through a pilot-centric lens: what’s different in capability, how it affects workload, and what it feels like in real use. One headline upgrade is cabin practicality. Cirrus designed the G3 so six adults can fit comfortably, while still maintaining seven seat belts. That might sound like a simple seating tweak, but Matt describes it as a serious engineering effort that required deep iteration with mockups, real-world body sizes, and attention to the small geometry problems that make the third row either tolerable or miserable. The end goal was not only more capacity, but a better experience for passengers in the back—especially when the airplane is used as family transportation rather than a four-person luxury machine.

On the performance side, Matt notes that Cirrus increased the airplane’s MMO by 0.01 Mach, which equates to roughly 7 knots of additional true airspeed in certain cruise conditions and can also help during descents and arrivals. He frames the gain as less about bragging rights and more about flow: small speed margins can matter when mixing with faster traffic in busy terminal environments. He also explains the “why” behind the change: rather than a dramatic redesign, the team “sharpened their pencils,” did additional flight testing, and validated that the aircraft had enough performance and safety margin to raise the limit. Max asks whether that might also yield a slight range improvement, and Matt says it can—though it’s hard to quantify cleanly—while still being a meaningful, felt benefit on colder days when the throttle might otherwise need to pull back.

A major avionics headline is CPDLC / ATC Datalink. Matt describes it as a system long familiar to airlines, increasingly available in U.S. centers and at many larger airports for text-based clearances. The practical advantage is removing the most error-prone part of IFR communication: copying down complex clearances and route changes while juggling frequency congestion. With datalink, pilots can receive clearances as text, review them at their own pace, and—in many cases—push the routing or frequency changes directly into the avionics instead of re-typing and re-verifying everything manually. In flight, the system can reduce “did ATC call me?” uncertainty: messages arrive with a clear alert and are hard to miss. Max and Matt also touch on D-ATIS and planning advantages, including how having information in text can reduce repeated listening and make it easier to configure the airplane early.

They also cover a string of real operational refinements that make the G3 feel more modern day-to-day: improved taxi situational awareness features, taxiway routing guidance, and more capable visual-approach tools that help pilots set up patterns beyond the common “straight-in” workflow. Inside the cabin, Matt describes seat mechanism improvements that make entry and adjustment easier and more intuitive, plus passenger comfort refinements aimed at making the airplane more usable across a wider range of missions.

The result is a G3 that’s less about one giant breakthrough and more about a stack of changes that compound: a truer six-adult cabin, modest but useful speed flexibility, and datalink and avionics upgrades that reduce friction during the highest workload moments of an IFR trip. Max closes with the practical ownership layer—what this means for buyers thinking about price and programs—so listeners can translate “new features” into real-world value.

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412 Cirrus SR22T N17DT Stall Crash: Flaps Retracted on Low-Power Approach + GA News

Max talks with Rob Mark about the fatal crash of Cirrus SR22T N17DT near Shelbyville, Indiana, and why this accident is so instructive for any pilot who flies approaches at low altitude with high workload. The NTSB’s probable cause centers on inadequate airspeed and an aerodynamic stall, but the real value is in the flight data that shows how the airplane got there: low power held for an extended period, repeated stall warnings, multiple ESP interventions, and flaps that ultimately remained retracted until impact.

This episode matters because it’s rare to have this level of detail. The NTSB recovered onboard data that captures dozens of parameters multiple times per second—far more than you usually get from ADS-B alone. Max describes how the NTSB published extensive graphs and also released a spreadsheet of recorded parameters. The spreadsheet didn’t include position data, so Max combined it with ADS-B track points and interpolated the missing locations to create a second-by-second reconstruction. The result is a cockpit-style view that shows airspeed, pitch attitude, power, flap position, stall warning activations, and ESP engagement together—so you can see the chain of events, not just the endpoint.

The key factual finding: the engine was operating normally. The “partial engine failure” theories that circulated right after the crash don’t hold up against the final report and recorded parameters. Instead, power was pulled back to a very low setting—about 15%, roughly 10–11 inches of manifold pressure—and held there. That’s close to a landing-power setting, which means airspeed and energy must be managed carefully to avoid drifting toward stall, especially if configuration changes.

The second key finding is configuration. The flap record shows the flaps briefly at about 50% and then transitioning to 0%. Later, the data shows the flaps again toggling, but ultimately the airplane ends up with flaps retracted and stays that way until the crash. That detail is not cosmetic—stall speed is strongly affected by flap setting. In a low-power approach, retracting flaps increases stall speed and requires a different pitch picture and energy plan. If the airplane is flown as if it has more lift available than it actually does, airspeed can silently bleed away.

As the airplane slowed, the recorded data shows repeated stall warning activations in the final minute, and ESP (Envelope Stability Protection) engaging multiple times. ESP is designed to help discourage pilots from exceeding the envelope by nudging pitch and roll back toward safer values, but it can’t create airspeed or altitude. It’s a guardrail, not an autopilot that can save a low-altitude slow-speed situation once the margin is gone. In the reconstruction, stall warnings and ESP engagement cluster around the periods when the airplane is slow, pitched up, and operating near the edge of the envelope.

Witness observations align with a low-altitude stall sequence. A driver on a nearby interstate described the airplane as very low, appearing to “hang,” then making a sharp turn. The witness observed a wing drop and rapid rocking from one wing vertical to the other before the aircraft disappeared behind trees and a fireball was seen seconds later. The NTSB’s recorded data similarly shows the airplane slowing near stall speed followed by a loss of control consistent with a stall at low altitude.

The practical lessons are direct and transferable to any airplane, not just a Cirrus. First, treat any stall warning on approach as a command—not a suggestion. You don’t troubleshoot while the airplane is approaching the critical angle of attack. Your first move is to reduce angle of attack (unload) and regain airspeed. Second, make configuration errors harder to commit and easier to catch. Flap position is not a “set it and forget it” item when workload is high. Use callouts, verify indications, and confirm the pitch picture matches the configuration you think you have. Third, recognize that “low-power” plus “slow” plus “turning” is the classic trap. Bank increases stall speed, and when you’re low, you don’t have the altitude budget to recover from a stall break and wing drop.

Finally, this episode reinforces a mindset: the accident wasn’t one bad second; it was a sequence of small choices and small drifts that added up to zero margin. The data shows multiple warning opportunities—stall horn and ESP events—before the final loss of control. The goal for listeners is not to judge the pilots. It’s to build habits that make this chain harder to start, easier to detect, and easy to abandon early. When the airplane is telling you it’s running out of margin, believe it—then reset the approach while you still have altitude to spare.

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411 Vision Jet SF50 Landing Gear Collapse: Wrong Lever After Touchdown +GA News

Max talks with Rob Mark about a classic “simple mistake with big consequences” scenario: a pilot who possibly raised the landing gear handle instead of selecting flaps up during the landing roll in a Cirrus Vision Jet. The event looks minor on the surface—no injuries and the airplane stayed on the runway—but it exposes a human-factors trap that can bite any retractable-gear pilot, especially when you’re trying to be quick and efficient right after touchdown.

The discussion centers on the NTSB’s final report for a Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet that landed at Watsonville Municipal Airport (Watsonville, California) on August 9, 2024. The pilot reported a normal approach and landing. Before touchdown, he had the flaps set to 100% and saw three green landing gear indications. Touchdown itself was uneventful. But during the landing roll—right about when braking began—the nose landing gear collapsed.

Max and Rob walk through what the data showed. On short final, the airplane was properly configured: flaps at 100% and the landing gear down and locked. During rollout, both weight-on-wheels switches were briefly “unloaded,” and the landing gear handle was raised and then lowered. That sequence unlocked the nose gear and allowed it to collapse. The main gear also unlocked, but it re-locked before collapsing. The probable cause boiled down to an inadvertent control selection: the pilot likely moved the gear handle instead of selecting the flap switch to 0%.

From there, they unpack why this kind of error is so believable. The flap selector switch sits below the landing gear handle, and many pilots develop a post-touchdown habit of “cleaning up” quickly. Some of that comes from short-field technique: retracting flaps can put more weight on the wheels, increase braking effectiveness, and reduce stopping distance. But the exact moment you’re tempted to do it is also the moment you have the least spare attention. You’re still fast, directional control still matters, braking is being modulated, and you’re managing the transition from flight to rollout. Add fatigue, distraction, or a slightly different cockpit flow than usual, and a wrong-control grab becomes completely plausible.

A big takeaway is that landing isn’t over at touchdown. Many pilots subconsciously relax as soon as the mains touch, as if the hard part is done. In reality, the landing roll is when you still have a lot of kinetic energy and limited margin for distraction. Looking down, changing configuration, or reaching for cockpit controls before you’re stabilized is how small errors turn into big repair bills. Max and Rob emphasize that “post-landing tasks” are optional until the airplane is clearly under control and slowing.

So what should pilots do differently? Their answer is intentionally boring: slow the flow down. On most runways there is no operational need to rush flap retraction during rollout. Keep your eyes outside, keep the airplane tracking straight, and let speed decay. If you choose to retract flaps on rollout, treat it like a checklist item, not a reflex. Touch the correct control deliberately, verify what you’re touching, and use a short verbal callout (“flaps zero”) before you move it. Better yet, tie configuration changes to safer triggers—below taxi speed, after exiting the runway, or after stopping and running the after-landing checklist—so you’re not doing “extra tasks” while still managing high speed and directional control.

They also discuss building habits that are resistant to error. If your technique is “as soon as I touch down, I do X,” you’re training your hands to move before your brain has finished verifying the right target. Replace that with a pause that forces confirmation, or a flow that keeps critical controls physically and mentally separated in time. The goal isn’t to be fast; it’s to be consistent and correct.

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Video of the Week: Max’s video showing ADS-B data for NASCAR driver crash

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“Go Around” song used by permission of Ken Dravis; you can buy his music at kendravis.com

If you purchase a product through a link on our site, we may receive compensation.