F T 2013 04 Downmagaz.com

7/28/2019 F T 2013 04 Downmagaz.com

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04.13

GREASED IT!

ON YOUR OWNSETTING PERSONAL

LIMITS p. CROSSWIND TAKEOFFSKEEP IT STRAIGHT AND TRUE

p. 40 OH, NO, DERECHOSUPER SCARY STORMS p. 4 FLYING INTO BIG AIRPORTSACT LIKE A PROFESSIONAL p. 45

ighttraining.aopa.org

Make Perfect Landings Every Time p. 26

AVIATION'S 5 BIGGEST ARGUMENTSWHOSE WAY IS THE RIGHT WAY? p. 36

(FAMOUS LAST WORDS)


http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/f-t-2013-04-downmagazcom 3/60APRIL 2013 FLIGHT TRAINING / 1

CONTENTS

32ON YOUR OWNLower your personal minimums

deliberately and cautiously.

When you pass your checkride,

the responsibility is yours to set your

own standards for good judgment

and safety limits.

By Dan Namowitz

36HANGAR TALKFlight training's ve biggest

arguments—and why they matter.

Valid methods to reach the same goal.

40TECHNIQUECrosswind takeofs.

Keep it straight and true.

By Ian J. Twombly

FEATURES

ighttraining.aopa.orgVOLUME.25 / NUMBER. 4 04.13

COVER STORY »

WITH NEW SKILLS AND SELF-ASSUREDNESS,GETTING IN JUST ALITTLE OVER YOURHEAD NO LONGERPRODUCES ANXIETY AS IT DIDWHEN YOUR FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR WAS

RESPONSIBLE FOR SETTING YOURFLYING LIMITATIONS.—DAN NAMOWITZ

See page 32.

WORRY-FREEGUARANTEEIngredients for

great landings.How do you score yoursel?

On approach and landing

is where we show ourselveshow well we actually fy.

By Budd Davisson

26

ON THE COVER »

Photography by

Chris Rose

.

G R E A S E D I T !

ONY OUR OWNSET T ING PERSONALLIMIT S p .32 C ROSSW IND T AK EOFFSKEEP IT ST RAIGHT AND T RUE p .40 OH, NO, DEREC HOSUPER SCARY STORMS p .42 FLY INGINTOBIGAIRPORTSACT LIKE A PROFESSIONAL p. 45

flighttraining.aopa.or g

Mak e P e r fe c t Land in g s E v e r y T ime p.

AV IAT ION'S BIGGEST ARGUMENT SW HOSE W AY IS T HE RIGHT W AY ? p. FAMOUSLASTWORDS


http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/f-t-2013-04-downmagazcom 4/602 / FLIGHTTRAINING.AOPA.ORG

FLIGHT TRAINING (ISSN 1047-6415), APRIL 2013 (VOL. 25 NO. 4), is a monthly magazine produced and distributed by the Aircrat Owners and Pilots Association. Flight Training membership dues are $ per year. Current FAA student pilot certi

cate holders can receive a complimentary sixmonth Introductory Membership by completely lling out a request orm or by sending their name, address, studentpilot certicate number, and the name and address o their ight instructor and school toP.O. Box , Frederick, MD . Periodicals postage paid at Frederick, Maryland, and additional mailing oces. POSTMASTER: Send address changes toFlight Training, P.O. Box , Frederick, MD . No material may be used or reprintedwithout written permission. Printed in the USA. For change o address: Call 800-USA-AOPA or e-mail [email protected]

23 Flight LessonFamily reunion

By Leslie F. Nixon

24 Accident Report

degrees o separation.

By Dan Namowitz

42 Weather Derechos go mainstream

By Jack Williams

52 Advertiser Index

Aviation marketplace

56 Debrief

James Lipton

4 Right Seat

A diference o opinion

By Ian J. Twombly

6 Centerline

Will y or ood

By Adam Smith

8 Letters

Climbs, descents, and eet

21 Flying Carpet

Lend me an ear

By Greg Brown

10 Get Your James Bond On

12 Success Story

13 How it Works

14 Since You Asked By Rod Machado

15 Tech Tip

Final Exam

16 Flight Training ExcellenceAward WinnerASI News

17 Member Products 18 Membership

20ASI News

45 Little Fish Among Whales By Pete Bedell

46 Career Advisor

By Wayne Phillips

48 Tech Talk

By Jared Dirkmaat

49 The FallibleFlight Instructor By Jamie Beckett

50 Supervising Our Students

By Rod Machado

51 Higher, Faster—and

Harder?

By David Jack Kenny

DEPARTMENTS

PREFLIGHT

CAREER PILOT

INSTRUCTOR REPORT

COMMENTARY

CONTENTSighttraining.aopa.orgVOLUME.25 / NUMBER.4 04.13

45

23

5649



A ne w gene r a t i on mee t s t h e

c ha l l e nge o f a m

o r e u ncer t a i n wo r l d .

www.embryr idd le .edu/secur i tySCAN TO SEE US IN ACTION

As the world’s premier aerospace university,

Embry-Riddle has a unique understanding of

the growing need for global security profes-

sionals. Which perhaps explains why the Embry-

Riddle Global Security and Intelligence Studies

program is practical, hands-on learning. Students

gather and analyze intelligence, study real-world

situations, and learn to speak Arabic or Chinese.

Graduates can then pursue a rewarding career in

the federal government, military, international law

enforcement, and corporate security. Yes, at Embry-

Riddle we aim for the stars. But we always keep

home close to our hearts.



There will come an “aha” moment in

your ying, maybe during training, maybe

ater, when you will realize there are

multiple ways to approach what you do in

the airplane. Nowhere is that more clear

than the one document one would expect

to be ree rom any whims—the practical

test standards. The PTS may appear to

make it clear there is no room or creativ-

ity. But the standards are just that—testing

standards one must meet to earn a pilot

certicate, not the steps to do so.

Steep turns are a good example. The pri-

vate pilot PTS says the applicant must stay

within 100 eet o the initial altitude. Some

instructors teach the application o Up

trim. Some think this is lunacy. The FAA

doesn’t care one way or the other, so long

as you don’t lose or gain too much altitude.

Like many quasi-regulatory documents,

what one must do is spelled out; what one

can do is read between the lines.

How much trim to use in a steep turn isa minnow in a sea o disagreements. Pilots

oten have signicant conicts over topics

as basic as what makes an airplane y.

You’d think we would have gured that out

by now—but we pilots are an opinionated

bunch. Combine a bit o ambiguity, equivo-

cality, and some Type-A personalities, and

the disagreements continue.

It’s probably a good thing that instruc-

tors generally shield students rom these

conversations. Learning to y is over-

whelming enough without having to learn

ve diferent ways to perorm the same

maneuver. But sometimes the uniniti-

ated are let to discover some o these

arguments on their own, which can be

rustrating or embarrassing. In extreme

cases, not being inormed could lead to

wasting money or a breach in saety. This

month we’re tackling ve o the biggest

arguments in ight training (“Hangar

Talk,” page 36).

I doubt we’ll be settling any century-

long debates with the story, but it will

expose you to multiple viewpoints,

techniques, and methods in aviation, not

to mention the mere existence o those

debates. Join in the debate at ighttrain-

[email protected], or catch up with us on the

Flight Training blog (http://blog.aopa.org/

ighttraining).

•••

Welcome AOPA Senior Vice President o

the Center to Advance the Pilot Com-

munity Adam Smith and his new column,“Centerline,” taking the place o AOPA

President Craig Fuller’s column. Craig

believes the unique Flight Training audi-

ence will be better served to learn about

the important work Smith and his team

are doing. However, expect to hear rom

Craig rom time to time on other student-

related initiatives under way at AOPA.

Email Editor Ian J. Twombly at ian.twombly@aopa.

org; Twitter: ijtwombly; and visit Flight Training on

Facebook.

RIGHT SEAT By Ian J. Twombly

A DIFFERENCE

OF OPINIONAVIATION HAS MANY OF THEM

lying has ew absolutes. Gravity, critical angle o attack,runway lengths, and uel burn rate are a ew that come tomind. Our world may seem like one o strict guidelines andunorgiving limits, but there’s more to the story. Behind the

limitations, placards, “musts,” and “shalls” are myriad diferent waysto perorm this or that, or get rom here to there.

Publisher | Craig L. Fuller

Senior VP, Media/Editor in Chie | Thomas B. Haines

Editor | Ian J. Twombly

Editor at Large | Thomas A. Horne

Managing Editor | Julie Summers Walker

Technical Editors | Mike Collins, Jill W. Tallman

Senior Editors | Dave Hirschman, Alton K. Marsh

Editorial and Production Assistant | Sylvia Horne

Administrative Assistant | Miriam E. Stoner

Contributors | Pete Bedell, Greg Brown, LeRoy Cook,

Budd Davisson, Rod Machado, Walter Miller, Dan

Namowitz, Wayne Phillips, Bob Schmelzer,

Jack Williams, Kathy Yodice

Design Director | Michael E. Kline

Art Directors | Elizabeth Z. Jones, Jill C. Benton

Senior Photographer | Mike FizerPhotographer | Chris Rose

eMedia VP | Chris Ward

eMedia Managing Editor | Alyssa J. Miller

eMedia Editor | Sarah Brown

Web Production Manager | Lezlie Ramsey

VP Advertising | Carol L. Dodds

Advertising Production Manager | Brenda D. Ridgley

Advertising Sales and Marketing Manager |

Liz Tarver

Online Advertising Manager | Michael Wilcox

Advertising Coordinator | Donna Stoner Advertising Representative |

The Orison B. Curpier Co., Inc.

East | 732-946-0130

Central, International | 607-547-2591

South Central, West | 214-789-6094

Editorial and Advertising Ofces

421 Aviation Way, Frederick, MD 21701

301-695-2350 / FAX 301-695-2180

email: [email protected]

Copyright © 2013, Aircrat Owners and PilotsAssociation. All rights reserved. No part o this monthlymagazine may be reproduced or translated, stored in adatabase or retrieval system, or transmitted in any orm

by electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, orother means, except as expressly permitted by the pub-lisher; requests should be directed to the editor.

This publication is presented with the understan dingthat the inormation it contains comes rom many sourcesor which there can be no warranty or responsibility bythe publisher as to accuracy, originality, or completeness.It is presented with the understanding that the publisheris not engaged in rendering product endorsements orproviding instruction as a substitute or app ropriatetraining by qualied sources.

Flight Training will consider unsolicited submissions.All manuscripts and contributions should be sent [email protected]. Reasonable care will be takenin handling manuscripts, but the magazine assumes noresponsibility or material submitted.

VISIT OUR WEBSITE!

http://flighttraining.aopa.org

WHAT ONE MUST DO IS SPELLED OUT; WHAT ONE CAN DO IS READ BETWEEN THE LINES.

F



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confidence in your flight

training investment.



Every Saturday, Sporty’s Pilot Shop

serves a ree hot dog lunch at its Cler-

mont County Airport (I69) headquarters

in Ohio. They’ve been keeping count

since the tradition began in 1992, and

it won’t be long beore the quarter-mil-

lionth Sporty’s hot dog is served. Number

200,000 went to British magazine pub-

lisher Ian Seager, who ew a Cessna 182

all the way across the Atlantic Ocean or

his ree hot dog. Pilots will sometimes go

to extraordinary lengths or a meal.

A lot o rec-

reational ying

activity revolves

around ood. On any

given weekend the

aviation calendar

will contain numer-

ous y-in breakasts

organized by an

airport community

group. These are

very popular with

pilots, giving us a reason to go ying—and

a destination to visit with amily or riends.

They also do a valuable job o bringing

ordinary people out to see general aviationactivity at their local airport. Hundreds

o airport restaurants around the country

perorm the same valuable unctions on a

daily basis.

My own avorite destination is Friday

lunch at Iola, Wisconsin (68C), where it’s

not unusual to see 50 or more airplanes

landing at a picturesque grass runway.

There will always be a healthy crowd cri-

tiquing perormances in the spot-landing

contest, with a ree lunch or the winner.

When the snow lies thick in the winter

months there will be several skiplanes in

attendance. Over the years, Friday lunch

became such a success that the airport

association was able to construct an

impressive building to house the crowds.

In other areas there are aviation

breakast clubs, where pilots and aviation

enthusiasts meet up or breakast at an

agreed destination. The South Carolina

Breakast Club has been doing this every

other Sunday since 1938. It publishes its

destination schedule a year in advance.

According to its website (www.yscbc.

com), there are no club rules other than to

“Fly in or drive to the airport, belly up, and

talk aircrat to your heart’s content.”

This sounded like such a good idea we

decided to start a breakast club here at

our Frederick, Maryland, headquarters

or the AOPA sta and anyone else who

wanted to be involved. It has turned into

a great example o how powerul a tool

Facebook has become or social organiza-tion. With just a ew minutes' work we

created the club’s Facebook page, set a

date or the rst breakast, and sent out

a ew invites. Less than two weeks later

more than 80 people had subscribed to

the page, and a healthy contingent o

people and airplanes made the ight

to Lancaster, Pennsylvania (LNS), or a

Groundhog Day y-in breakast.

It was a classic “$100 hamburger” trip.

The destination wasn’t as important as the

pleasure o getting away, doing some han-

gar ying with riends, and looking at neat

airplanes on the ramp. But the ood was

pretty good, too, and it somehow tasted

even better when we learned our servers

were all air trafc controllers!

I was especially pleased to see that one

o the instructors rom Frederick Flight

Center, a local ight school, combined

the breakast run with a training ight or

one o his students. It reminded me that

one o my most memorable experiences

when learning to y was ying or lunch

with my instructor to the wonderully

named Tipsy Nipper restaurant at Glen-

rothes Airport (EGPJ) in Scotland. It was

exciting to have an applied sense o pur-

pose to our ight and gave an important

glimpse o what the uture would hold

when I nally earned my certicate.

Every student gets discouraged at some

point in his or her training, and positive

experiences like this can make an impor-

tant dierence in getting them through.

There’s no law that says we can’t have un

during ight training—in act, I think hav-

ing un should be made compulsory!

I you need some help with “y or

ood” destinations, there are plenty o ree

resources available. Personally I’ve ound

Adventure Pilot (www.adventurepilot.

com) to be a good source o inormationand reviews about airport restaurants. I

also recommend SocialFlight (www.social

ight.com), available as a mobile app,

which is quickly gaining a reputation as a

go-to inormation source or y-in events

such as pancake breakasts. And, o course,

our own website (www.aopa.org).

Email Senior Vice President Adam Smith at adam.

[email protected]. Learn more about the Center to

Advance the Pilot Community (www.aopa.org/

CAPComm).

CENTERLINE By Adam Smith

WILL FLY FOR FOODHAVING FUN IN FLIGHT TRAINING

couple o hundred years ago the French leader NapoleonBonaparte amously said, “An army marches on its stomach,”to make the point that soldiers need a regular supply o ood in order to keep on ghting. The same principle

applies to general aviation. I you ever want to test the theory, simplylay on some ood at your local airport, and it won’t be long beorepilots start showing up.

A

ONE OF MY MOST MEMORABLE EXPERIENCES

WHEN LEARNING TO FLY WAS FLYING FOR

LUNCH WITH MY INSTRUCTOR.



GET EXPERT ADVICE

You’ve spent time and money to earn your certicate. You don’t need moretime on the ground.

Protect your certicate with legal and medical support rom Pilot ProtectionServices. Get ree tips rom experts, plus one-on-one advice rom our sta.All designed to keep you fying.

And i you do nd trouble, we’ll help you x the damage and get back in theair. Protect your investment or just $39 a year.

Just one o our nationally known experts with advice

to keep you fying.

Visit AOPA.org/PPSstudent to learn more. Watch Video

Dr. Warren Silberman

Former FAA Aeromedical Certifcation Chie

AOPA SERVICESTHE AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSOCIATION s general aviation's advocate and the largest, most infuential

aviation association in the world.

INTERESTED IN LEARNING TO FLY?

Visit AOPA’s engaging website or people who

want to know more about what’s involved in

learning to fy—and what it’s like.

www.LetsGoFlying.com

RESOURCES FOR STUDENT PILOTS

Ask an AOPA CFI | t.aopa.org/ask

Flight Training article archive |

t.aopa.org/archive

Aviation library | t.aopa.org/library

Supplemental training inormation | t.aopa.org/student

Virtual fight bag, including online weather

and airport directory | t.aopa.org/fightbag

PILOT INFORMATION CENTER

Members can receive answers to fight training

and other aviation questions, and join or renew

by telephone, 8: a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time,

Monday through Friday | 800-USA-AOPA

(872-2672)

Via the Internet | t.aopa.org/ask

AOPA AIR SAFETY INSTITUTE

ONLINE SAFETY CENTER

Dedicated to providing general aviation pilot

education and saety programs online.

Via the Internet | www.airsaetyinstitute.org

Call | 800-638-3101

AOPA MEMBER PRODUCTS

AOPA Pilot Protection Services Program |

866-213-8777

AOPA Aircrat Financing Program |

800-62-PLANE

AOPA Insurance Services |

800-622-AOPA

Non-owned aircraft and CFI policies available

AOPA Credit Card Program | 800-523-7666

AOPA Foundation | 800-955-9115

Other products | 800-USA-AOPA

ONLINE GUIDE TO AOPA

MEMBER SERVICES

To join or renew, or or inormation about AOPA

membership, email [email protected] or

Visit the website | www.aopa.org/join

NEW ADDRESS?

Send your new address and membership number to

AOPA, 421 Aviation Way, Frederick, Maryland 21701

Fax | 301-695-2375



LETTERS Talk back

check that one out as well. It is a very

extensive manual and the inormation

there is conicting. On the one hand, the

climb table species climb speed o 96

knots or 110 mph or all weights. However,

the table or takeo distance that imme-

diately precedes that one calls or speeds

at lito and at 50 eet which decrease

with weight, e.g. lito 71 at knots at 3,400

pounds to 59 knots at 2,400 pounds.

Whit Beckett (no relation)

Rochester, New York

USE YOUR FEET

Ian Twombly’s piece on turning power-

on stalls in the February issue was a good

review (“Technique: Turning Power-On

Stalls”). The FAA’s increased emphasis on

stall recovery technique might perhaps

have precipitated more detail on the stall

recovery—particularly the use o rudder

instead o aileron to level the wings during

a stall, as the aileron will be quite ineec-tive in most airplanes during a stall.

Mike Pidek

Owosso, Michigan

CLIMBS, DESCENTS,AND FEETREADERS WEIGH IN ON VARIETY OF STORIES

enjoyed Jamie Beckett’s article on takeo procedures (“Solvethe Takeo Equation Quandary,” February 2013 Flight Train-ing ). However, the statement that V

Y “won’t change with weight

or weather, but will change with altitude” struck me as sus-picious. So I grabbed one o many aircrat manuals lying around thehouse, or a 1974 Cessna 172. At sea level the V

Y speed drops rom 91

mph at 2,300 pounds to 83 mph at 1,700 pounds. I had also grabbed amanual or the V35 Bonanza to look up something else, so I decided to

I

WE APPRECIATE YOURCOMMENTS. Please email lettersto [email protected]. Letterswill be edited or style and space.

8 / FLIGHTTRAINING.AOPA.ORG

HERE TO HELP

I just wanted to say that I read Flight

Training to nd the errors. It never lets

me down. The February issue has a doozy!

There are not our let-turning tenden-

cies except in a conventional tail-wheel

airplane with a standard engine. Even then

they are encountered primarily on takeo.

I am constantly having to “help” stu-

dents, instructors, and other what we can

loosely call proessionals in the aviation

business. With your magazine pooring

[sic] out the errors, I have many, many

years o work ahead. Thanks.

In a standard-engined, Cessna-style

airplane (excludes the pushers), when the

aircrat is pitched up the yaw tendency

rom precession is to the right.

Laury Weitzel

Meadow, Texas

Weitzel’s is the most direct of the many

letters we received about this mistake, for

which we apologize. –Ed.

BLAME THYSELF

I always enjoy Wayne Phillips’ articles. I

How do we get the great aerial images that appear in Flight Training and

AOPA Pilot? Join the Flight Training editors at 3 p..m. Eastern time on Tues-

day, April 2. Our guest chatter is AOPA Sta Photographer Chris Rose. Go

online (www.acebook.com/AOPAFlightTrainingMag), click the Chat icon.

FlightTraining

JOIN THE APRIL FLIGHT TRAINING CHAT

Photographer secrets

Chat with FT



As seen on Flight Training's Facebook page

"NO FLYING FOR ME ON SUPER BOWL SUNDAY, BUT I DID JUST PASS MY PRIVATE CHECKRIDE THIS MORNING. WOO HOO—I'M IN SHOCK,THIS IS SO COOL!" – JAMES ICKES

www.acebook.com/AOPAfighttrainingmag

am a “green” pilot o about one year and

150 hours. I have no intention o ever pur-

suing aviation as a career, mostly because

I make a good living and the investment

would never be worth the return. I do

think an aviation career would be a lot

more enjoyable though!

I wanted to comment on the subject

article in the February issue (“Career

Advisor: Hiring Boom or Bust?”). While

I sympathize with David and completely

agree with his position that ight instruc-

tion can’t possibly be a viable way o

making a living and that getting on to

an airline is quite difcult, I have to say

that he really has himsel to blame or

part o his problem. David says that he

has 1,400 hours and only a two-year

degree. Based on that he does not qualiy

or the proposed new standards. No airline

is going to hire him without attainment

o the minimum proposed standards.

Had David gotten a our-year degree his

chances o being hired would have been

much higher. Once David has his 1,500

hours I would assume his chances will also

increase dramatically. David is correct on

all accounts, but he orgot to point the n-

ger at himsel or some o his problems. I

was also surprised that you didn’t bring

that up as well.

Joel Dubey

Tarpon Springs, Florida

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GET YOUR JAMES BOND ON. TheBD–5J is the baby jet that was own

by stunt pilot Corkey Forno in the

movie Octopussy ; the FLS Microjet

shown here is an updated version o

that early design. The BD–5J was a

showstopper when it frst debuted at

EAA's convention (now AirVenture)

in 1970, but the production company

went into bankruptcy. Ed "Skeeter"

Karnes reengineered the design, and

the FLS Microjet ew or the frst

time in 2011.

WHAT: FLS Microjet (updated BD-5J)

WHERE: North o Oklahoma City,

Oklahoma

PHOTOGRAPHER: Mike Fizer

PREFLIGHT TRAINING NEWS AND NOTES



http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/f-t-2013-04-downmagazcom 13/60APRIL 2013 / FLIGHT TRAINING / 11

DOWNLOAD THIS PHOTO » http://flighttraining.aopa.org



PREFLIGHT »


SIXTEEN YEARS AGO, at the age o 16, I

completed my rst skydive at Fremont

County Airport (1V6) in Canon City, Colo-

rado. I wrote a story about my experience

in a monthly newsletter published by my

home airport’s pilots association, which

was then edited by my maternal granda-

ther—a doctor and private pilot. I wrote,

“Nada habría major que permanecer en el

cielo eternamente.” Nothing would be bet-

ter than to remain in the sky forever.

El Lencero (MMJA), my home airport,

is in Jalapa, Mexico. A ew months beore

that rst skydive, I had soloed over Jalapa

in a riend’s Cessna 150. I obtained myMexican private pilot’s license a year

later, when I was 17. My ather was the

one who taught me how to y. You could

nd me at the airport every Sunday, some

Saturdays, and most Tuesdays when

school was out. I loved to y. When

we were not ying, I also loved sitting

around listening to the pilots’ conversa-

tions, which ranged rom airport gossip to

politics, rom the weather to my granda-

ther’s medical advice.

Ater I let or college, I couldn’t y as

much, but did so any time I went home.

Then my grandather died. My parents

divorced. I moved to Minnesota or grad-

uate school, got married, and had two

daughters. Somehow 10 years went by.

The cabin o the 150 elt so unamiliar

during my rst ight out o Richard E.

Fleming Field (SGS) in South St. Paul,

Minnesota. I was happy to see I hadn’t

orgotten everything I once knew, but I

had a long way to go beore the checkride

or my U.S. certicate. Not only did I have

to become a procient pilot once more,

I also had to learn new rules and regula-

tions and satisy diferent requirements.

There were many rsts: rst landing at

a grass strip, rst night ight, rst time

getting ngerprinted at a police station

(to register as a ight student, since I am

not a U.S. citizen). The pilots at Fleming

are as welcoming and encouraging as I

remember the guys back home, always

quick to wish me a good ight. A year has

gone by since I started ying again.

Recently I ound mysel ying alone on

the way back to Fleming. I saw skyscrap-

ers instead o Marie at age 16, ater her

rst skydive. There were mountains, a

river where the highway would have

been. But the clouds looked amiliar

and, as the radio crackled through my

grandather’s old headset, I ound com-

ort in the thought that we all y under

the same sky ater all. Inspiration struck.

I started writing this story in my head.

Then, as I reported six miles south by the

renery, I wondered whether there is a

pilots association at Fleming Field and

whether they publish a newsletter. I ol-

lowed the river north, and ound my way

back home.

Share your experience on Flight Training’s

Facebook page.

At home in the skyYes, you can go home again—especially if you're a pilot

SUCCESS STORY

Name: Marie Lopez del Puerto

Age:

Event: Conversion to

U.S. private pilot certifcate

Where: Richard E. Fleming Field (SGS),

South St. Paul, Minnesota

Airplane: Cessna 5

AS THE RADIO CRACKLED THROUGH MY GRANDFATHER'S

OLD HEADSET, I FOUND COMFORT IN THE THOUGHT

THAT WE ALL FLY UNDER THE SAME SKY AFTER ALL.



AIRCRAFT ENGINES ARE, or the most

part, pretty simple pieces o equipment

that are built to strict tolerances. The

pistons get all the glory or producing

the power, but it’s the crankshat that

enables them to do the work.

The operation o a our-stroke engine

requires the pistons to move up and

down within the cylinders at specic

intervals. Keeping them going up and

down on a consistent basis is the crank-

HOW IT WORKS

CrankshaftThe engine’s heartbeat

BY IAN J. TWOMBLY

S

T E V E K A R P Since the crankshaft is such a critical component and its failure would mean a complete loss of engine power in most cases,

it is carefully inspected during the engine overhaul. But replacement isn’t mandatory.

ENGINE OVERHAUL

shat’s job. This heavy piece o steel

looks like a long rod that’s been dropped

a ew too many times. It rotates on a

specic point, as a normal rod would,

but swinging out on either end o those

rotations is a series o crankpins or

rod journals—one or each cylinder.

Connecting rods attach the crankpins

to the pistons.

The easiest way to imagine the motion

is to put your hands in ront o you and

pretend you are pedaling a bicycle with

your hands. This circular motion is

similar to the crankpin, which allows

the connecting rod and piston to move

orward and back. The pistons provide

the power, which drives the crankshat,

which is directly attached to the y-

wheel that turns the propeller.

A common crankshat ailure point

is the bearings at the crankpins, which

undergo signicant stress as they are

pulled and pushed back and orth thou-

sands o times a minute.

PLUS See thecrankshaft inaction.



PREFLIGHT »

Lack o landings Student not accomplishing much in the pattern

SINCE YOU ASKED

Dear Rod:

I am a 30.6-hour student (no solo yet),

having spent the past 15 hours in the tra-

c pattern with my instructor practicing

ull-stop landings. At best I can do our or

ve landings (i I’m lucky) in the allotted

lesson time. Is this normal? I’m concerned

about all the money I’m spending.

—Please, No Name

Greetings PNN:

No, it’s not normal in the traditional

sense. I am a very big an o touch-and-

go landings or several reasons, the most

important o which is that they provide

more landing practice. Practice landings

made to a ull stop is a relatively newer

trend whose genesis is the notion that

touch and goes are dangerous. Well, they

are risky i there’s a weak instructor on

board with poor stick and rudder skills. In

almost every single instance that I recall

where a CFI and student bent an air-

plane during a touch and go, the accident

revealed a deciency in airmanship on the

part o the instructor. There’s absolutely

no reason that a competent ight instruc-

tor can’t perorm touch and goes saely

with a student—none whatsoever.

What i the runway is too short to do

touch and goes? Fine. Fly to an airport

with a longer runway. What i noise abate-

ment procedures don’t permit touch and

goes? Fine. Fly to an airport that permits

touch and goes. To do our, maybe ve

landings during one lesson on landings isentirely unreasonable. Ater all, i that

lesson cost you $200 total, then you paid

$50 per landing. Yikes!

Dear Rod:

I’m considering working as a ight

instructor or a local school. I’m a new

instructor (took and passed the checkride

last November), but I ace a dilemma. This

ight school requires that all their primary

students achieve practical test standards

beore solo. My CFI-prep instructor

suggests that this doesn’t comport with

his ight training experience or any that

he’s heard o. Is this a common industry

practice? —J.N.

Greetings J.N.:

This is a recent and unusual trend in avia-

tion, so allow me point out what I believe

to be the reason behind this movement.

Over the past decade, the pedagogical

drit in the ight training community has

led some to use the FAA’s practical test

standards (PTS) as practical training stan-

dards. They are absolutely not the same.

The PTS is a guide to be used in prepar-

ing someone to demonstrate the behavior

the FAA expects to see on a private pilot

checkride. It is not, nor should it be, the

standard o training you require o your

primary students.

When you begin training a primary

student, your personal training standards

should be dened by the goals you want

to accomplish. The very rst goal o ight

training isn’t to prepare a student to

behave as i he or she is being examined

or a pilot certicate. It’s to prepare your

student or solo ight under a very specic

set o conditions (something that has been

done saely by instructors or decades).

This is why the FAA lists two separate sets

o knowledge/experience requirements

in the FARs. One set is or solo ight; the

other or private pilot eligibility—with the

latter being ar more comprehensive and

demanding. Said another way, the FAAneither expects nor requires your student

to have private pilot prociency and capa-

bility in order to solo an airplane.

Soloing students when they’re ready to

do so saely, instead o rst training them

to demonstrate “checkride-like” behav-

iors, oers many benets. It means that

students typically solo earlier and develop

sel-condence earlier, too. Solo also

communicates that you, the instructor,

trust your students to successully apply

the skills and knowledge you’ve provided.



BEND UP A

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YOU COULD

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the policy will take precedence. Premium creditsapply to Direct Approach Non-Owned Insurance PolicyPOL0002 (01/01/2011) and are subject to underwriting

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BY ROD MACHADO

PLUS Should a person meet PTSbefore soloing? Take the poll.

Ultimately, you help your students orge

their aviation decision-making ability ear-

lier by soloing them in the pattern when

they have the skills to do so saely. That’s

the big payo or the traditional solo ight.

Soloing students based on their meeting

the behaviors stipulated in the practical

test standards isn’t common industry prac-

tice. Instead, most instructors use a more

practical training standard or solo ight.

This training standard is based on FAR

61.87 (solo requirements or student pilots)

rather than FAA-S-8081-14B (Private Pilot

Practical Test Standards).

Rod Machado is a ight instructor, author, educator,

and speaker. He has been a pilot since 1970 and a CFI

since 1973.

Visit his blog (www.rodmachado.com).

What requency?Tuning in to ground control

IF AN AIRPORT has an active control

tower, it also has a ground control.

Knowing which requency to call on

the departure is easy. Start with ground

control (or clearance delivery i one

exists) and switch to the tower when youare at the hold-short line o the assigned

runway, ready to depart. Arriving can be

more difcult. Ideally the tower controller

will guide you. He will give a runway exit

direction, and then a directive to moni-

tor ground control (tune the requency

but don’t call), contact ground control, or

monitor tower. Sometimes he'll give the

requency. Ground control requencies

start with 121. I told to "Contact Ground

on Point-Niner," the tower controller is

asking you to tune to 121.9.

1. Clouds, og, or dew will always orm whenA. relative humidity reaches 100 percent.B. water vapor is present.C. water vapor condenses.

2. To minimize the side loads placed on thelanding gear during touchdown, the pilotshould keep theA. longitudinal axis o the aircrat parallel to thedirection o its motion.B. direction o motion o the aircrat parallel tothe runway.C. downwind wing lowered suciently to elimi-nate the tendency or the aircrat to drit.

3. One o the main unctions o aps duringapproach and landing is to

A. decrease the angle o descent without increas-ing the airspeed.B. increase the angle o descent without increas-ing the airspeed.C. permit a touchdown at a higher indicatedairspeed.

4. A slightly high glideslope indication or aprecision approach path indicator isA. three white lights and one red light.B. one white light and three red lights.C. two white and two red lights.

5. During a night ight, you observe steadyred and green lights ahead and at the samealtitude. What is the general movement o theother aircrat?

A. Let to right.B. Same direction as you are travelling.C. The other aircrat is approaching you head on.

6. Floating caused by the phenomenon o ground efect will be most realized during anapproach to land when atA. a higher-than-normal angle o attack.B. less than the length o the wingspan above thesurace.C. twice the length o the wingspan above thesurace.

7. In order to act as pilot in command o a high-perormance airplane, a pilot must haveA. logged ight time in a high perormanceairplane.

B. received and logged ground and ight instruc-tion in an airplane that has more than 200horsepower.C. successully completed a ight test in such anairplane with a pilot examiner or FAA inspector.

8. To lit a typical training helicopter to ahover, depress the (let or right) pedal; to startthe takeof run, the cyclic should be (pushedor pulled); and to are ater approach (add orreduce) power.A. Let, pulled, reduceB. Let, pushed, addC. Right, pushed, add

Final ExamThink you know your stu? Quiz yoursel with these FAA test questions

Answers on page 52

PLUS Take the quiz.

TECH TIP



PREFLIGHT »

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KELBY FERWERDA, owner o RochesterAviation (ar right), and his sta.

OWNER KELBY FERWERDA’S ormula or

the success o 2012 AOPA Flight Train-

ing Excellence Award Winner Rochester

Aviation contains experience obtained in

previous work in business and marketing.

When the school came to Skyhaven Air-

port in Rochester, New Hampshire, a ew

years ago, Ferwerda said there were more

broken airplanes than those that worked.

Yearly growth o between 30 and 50 per-

cent is changing that broken culture.

The key to success is a combination o

community, creating a positive atmo-

sphere, oering value to students, and

engaging students in events. A recent “air

race” was held in August. Participants got

one month to go to ve destinations. Even

stopping there would have been a great

way to drive business and give people a

FLIGHT TRAINING EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNER

A T-shirt spawns success Student engagement a key to this fight school’s winning ormula

BY IAN J. TWOMBLY

reason to y. Participants were required to

buy a T-shirt. The rst to photograph him-

sel at each airport with the T-shirt won. At

the end o the month there was a barbecue

where the winner got a ight bag ull o

stu. Lots more got prizes, and the prots

rom the shirts were given out as a scholar-

ship to the person who wrote the best essay

on what general aviation and learning to y

means to him or her.

Ferwerda admits the “race” increased

aircrat utilization, but it also gave partici-

pants ve great destinations to take amily

and riends within 100 miles. The barbecue

was an opportunity or students to meet

each other, and the school got goodwill

with the scholarship. One student out o 50

has dropped out between rst solo and the

checkride.



800-854-1001

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i

IF YOU DEVELOP a medical condition, take care o yoursel

and do what your physicians recommend is best or your

particular medical situation. Start learning all you can

about what I call the “aeromedical” aspects o your condi-

tion. The AOPA Medical Certication website, the FAA

website, and The Guide to Aviation Medical Examiners are

good resources. Check with the AOPA Accepted Medica-

tions Database to see i your medication is acceptable, or

phone AOPA’s Medical Certication technicians to ask.

I the condition requires you to submit medical records,

evaluations, and testing results, gather them in one bundle

beore you mail it to the FAA. I the condition resulted in a

hospitalization, you need to obtain: the admission history

and physical examination; the hospital discharge sum-

mary; any pertinent X-ray/scan reports; operative reports,

i you had surgery; and pathology reports, i any tissue(s)

were removed. Check with AOPA to see i the FAA has

a mandatory recovery or grounding period. Anything

“current” that the FAA will require to make a determina-

tion cannot be older than 90 days prior to the time that

you mail your case. Whatever testing you need to obtain

should be done exactly as the FAA requests it. I your phy-

sician suggests a dierent test than what the FAA wants

or he/she wants to perorm it a dierent way, do not take

their advice without checking with the FAA rst. Failure

to ollow the FAA’s suggestion may result in a denial and

the necessity to repeat the testing as the FAA desired in

the rst place. The FAA will not review a case unless you

have a current medical examination on le at the FAA. The

medical examination can be or any class.

For more expert advice and proessional assistance with

protecting your pilot and medical certicates, visit and join

AOPA Pilot Protection Services (www.aopa.org/pps).

Dr. Warren Silberman is the ormer manager o FAA Aerospace Medi-

cal Certifcation and a doctor o osteopathic medicine. A pilot since

1986, he is recognized nationally as an expert in aerospace/preventative

medicine.

MEMBER PRODUCTS

Medical certifcate application problems?Prepare your case careully

BY WARREN S. SILBERMAN, D.O.



PREFLIGHT »

belonging to a community o pilots

and aviation enthusiasts that’s nearly

400,000 strong. And it’s about exchang-

ing ideas, dreams, interests, experiences,

and more with other AOPA AV8RS

across the country thanks to social media

(www.acebook.com/av8rs).

Encourage a teen you know to enroll

in AOPA AV8RS. Learn more about the

benets o this ree membership (www.

aopa.org/av8rs).

MEMBERSHIP

Meet the AV8RS Aviation youth program brings kids together

TYLER HOPPE OF Cocoa, Florida, joined

AOPA AV8RS because he wanted to

share his passion o ight with other

like-minded teens. Tyler plans to pursue

aviation as both a career and hobby. He

is a volunteer tour guide at the Valiant

Air Command Warbird Museum in

Titusville.

AOPA AV8RS is about introducing

teens to the many career opportunities

in aviation and aerospace. It’s about

providing them with resources to pursue

their dream o becoming a proessional

pilot, an aerospace engineer, air trafc

controller, airport manager, or aircrat

mechanic—to name a ew. It’s about

DO YOU KNOW a student pilot or some-

one who’s about to get started? Spread

the word about AOPA’s ree six-month

introductory membership or student

pilots!

Student introductory members

receive popular AOPA member benets

including:

• Six issues of Flight Training magazine

• Free access to AOPA’s suite of online

ight planning tools, including the AOPA

FlyQ Flight Planner, Aviation Weather,

and AOPA Airports Online Directory.

• Training support through the AOPA

Pilot Inormation Center helpline where

aviation specialists are available to

answer your questions and address

concerns

• Access to safety quizzes, publications,

podcasts and more at AOPA Air Saety

Institute online

• Money-saving members-only discounts

and services.

Invite someone to enroll today online

(t.aopa.org).

Introduce a student pilot to AOPA



You can’t insure

what you don’t understand.

Find out how we can help protect all that is important to you. Visit aopainsurance.org today.

AOPA offers insurance to cover every aspect of

aviation, all with the membership power of nearly

400,000 aircraft owners and pilots. We know the

traditions, the demands and the unique nature

of aviation better than anyone. Which means our

underwriting is based more on how your world

looks from the cockpit, than on how you look on

an actuarial table. With AOPA on your side, you’re

never really ying solo.



PREFLIGHT »

INTERESTED IN GETTING more

involved with the Air Saety

Institute’s saety initiatives?

Join the more than 5,000

enthusiasts who “Like” the Air

Saety Institute on Facebook,

want to engage with the ASI

community, and stay at the

oreront o its newest saety

products.

Entertaining, even heated

discussions on a variety o aviation-themed topics are oset by aviation humor to keep

you smiling. Feast your eyes on gorgeous aerial photographs while learning a thing or

two about certain weather phenomena.

And, you’ll be the rst to know about new ASI products so you can hone your skills

with the latest quizzes, Real Pilot Stories, online courses, and saety publications.

ASI NEWS

'Like' the Air Saety Institute on Facebook Social media supports saety

THE NEW POLK State College (Florida) aviation program began its rst semester in

January. Training students in the proessional pilot program will be SunState Aviation,

a large-volume school that has specialized in accelerated training. A representative or

the school said there are plans to bring two airplanes to Winter Haven, Florida, or the

program, which has an initial enrollment o seven students. The school plans to take a

unique approach to the training and ocus on human actors rom the start.

SunState Aviation expands locations School will train pilots or Polk State College program

NEWS

Support the AOPA FoundationGet ree AOPA membership or lie

MEMBERSHIP

HAVE YOU CONSIDERED AOPA’s Lie Membership? Through a one-

time donation to the AOPA Foundation o $2,500 you get a lietime

membership in AOPA, a $2,000 tax deduction, a ramed certi-cate, a lapel pin, and a special membership card.

The AOPA Foundation relies on donations to strengthen and protect the uture o

general aviation, so those who y today can do so saely, and those who dream o learn-

ing to y will have the opportunity to make that dream a reality.

The AOPA Foundation’s Air Saety Institute is America's undisputed leader in provid-

ing ree saety training to tens o thousands o pilots annually. The AOPA Foundation

supports a national network o airport volunteers who stand ready to sound the alarm

when a local airport is threatened by budget cuts, noise complaints, or development.

In addition, the AOPA Foundation is combating the huge dropout rate among student

pilots, and helping more student pilots complete their training. With a $2,500 donation,

you’ll not only receive a lietime membership in AOPA, but you’ll be contributing to the

strength and uture o GA (www.aopa.org/orms/oundation/lie_member.cm).



FLYING CARPET By Greg Brown

The next morning I encountered riends

Julie and Bob Millis at the Flagsta

Airport. “Where’s your airplane?” I asked,

noting their empty hangar.

“That’s an odd story,” said Julie. “Lastweekend Bob and I ew to Wickenburg,

where we oten vacation during the win-

ter. Ater parking we learned they were

repaving the airport ramp, and that our

plane would be moved during the process.

But they apparently decided at the last

moment to close and repave the runway,

too. So we had to leave the plane. Bob’s

driving me back next weekend to get it.”

Intrigued at our mutual connection to

the tiny town, I discovered the Millises

would be there during our musical mis-

sion, so we planned a preconcert dinner.

Shortly thereater I ew Julie to Wicken-

burg to retrieve her airplane, saving Bob

the fve-hour round-trip drive. “See you

back here in a ew weeks!” said Julie.Prepaying or the concert and lodg-

ing had its disadvantages. Even as the

weather shaped up nicely or our getaway,

I acquired a nasty cold. “Surely you’ll be

well by next weekend,” said Jean, hope-

ully. Fortunately I indeed elt better by

departure day. Despite bitter cold and the

need to shovel snow rom the hangar, my

head had seemingly cleared and I suered

only a runny nose.

Launching on a crystalline Saturday

morning, we skimmed snow-rosted pin-

nacles o the Red Rock Secret Mountain

Wilderness, photographed the old Mingus

Mountain mining town o Jerome, and

threaded the Bradshaw Mountains south

o Prescott. Just 50 minutes later, we

descended into the warm Sonoran Desert.

Wickenburg Municipal Airport lies at

2,400 eet, my lowest elevation since drop-

ping Julie there weeks earlier. Our riends

greeted us at the tiny territorial-style

terminal.

“How was your ight?” asked Julie.

“Spectacular!” I replied. The only nui-

sance was my newly plugged right ear, not

particularly surprising when landing 4,600

eet lower than our takeo airport. Surely

it would clear in a ew minutes.

Bob and Julie dropped us at Los Cabal-

leros. The buildings were utilitarian, but

the resort’s desert landscaping, colorul

urnishings, and Western décor proved

unique and welcoming. Hand in hand,

Jean and I wandered the grounds, paus-

ing to pet horses at the ranch corral. This

was indeed romantic, as verifed by Jean’s

glowing smile. My ear, however, remained

plugged. I hoped it would clear by dinner.

We met the Millises that evening in the

resort dining room. Over wine and good

ood, we learned more about our riends—

o our common Illinois childhood roots,and how Bob’s physics degree had led to

an astronomy career culminating in direc-

torship o Flagsta’s acclaimed Lowell

Observatory, where Pluto was discovered.

Julie detailed her teaching career, and

described how an Alaska sightseeing ight

had inspired her to become a pilot at age

61 and earn her instrument rating at 67.

Julie is especially ortunate to enjoy a

supportive and participating nonpilot

spouse. Together they y the Southwest

in their Cessna 172.

LEND ME AN EARROMANTIC FLYAWAY TURNS QUIET

usic ranks close behind ood, clothing, and shelter among things humans most value. So when a pair o avoritecountry and bluegrass perormers scheduled a concert

within Flying Carpet range, I booked tickets two monthsin advance. The perormance would take place in Wickenburg, 60miles northwest o Phoenix. The small desert town is renownedor its Old West character and would oer warm respite romFlagsta’s cold mountain winter. Sensing the opportunity or aromantic “yaway,” I reserved rooms at Rancho de los Caballeros,one o Wickenburg’s historic dude ranches.

M

HISTORIC JEROME, Arizona, on MingusMountain between Flagsta and Wickenburg.

G

E N E S C H I L D M E I E R

PLUS View the slideshow.




FLYING CARPET »

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With my ear still clogged, however,

I was challenged to hear everything in

the bustling restaurant and had to glean

details rom Jean aterward. “I hope this

clears beore the concert,” I whispered

to my wie. But it didn’t. We arrived to

a ull house, and when the music began

I determined that an earplug in my let

ear somewhat equalized hearing with

my plugged right ear. That’s no way to

enjoy a concert, although the peror-

mance proved a pleasure despite the

circumstances.

I tossed and turned that night, wor-

rying i I’d be able to y home the next

morning. While ear congestion is less

concerning ying to a higher elevation

than a lower one, I didn’t want to take

any chances. In my dreams I ew endless

alternate routes home seeking the lowest

possible en-route altitude. But, given our

7,000-oot home-feld elevation, none

could save more than 500 eet.

Thankully, my ear had fnally cleared

when we awoke. Much as we’d antici-

pated horseback riding, Jean elt we

should depart promptly to preclude any

urther problems. I took an approved

decongestant and we launched home-

ward. Soaring over snow-sparkled spires,

Jean and I agreed that even a plugged

ear hadn’t drained the delight rom our

romantic getaway. And happily, CDs

we’d purchased would allow me to relive

the concert with both ears back home.

However, Jean said, “About next week-

end’s Caliornia ight—I think we should

postpone it until you’re 100 percent well.”

We did.

Greg Brown is an aviation author, photographer,

and ormer National Flight Instructor o the Year.

Visit his website (www.gregbrownfyingcarpet.com).

JEAN AT the WickenburgMunicipal Airport terminal, Arizona.



FLIGHT LESSON By Leslie F. Nixon

FAMILY REUNIONCROSSWINDS AND GET-THERE-ITIS

y husband and I decided to y rom Ormond Beach,Florida, to Gwinnett County-Briscoe Field Airport nearAtlanta to attend a amily reunion. I had passed the privatepilot checkride two years previously and had around 300

hours. Somehow, late in lie, I had been bitten with the ying bug, andmy husband was happy to indulge me. We owned a 1977 Cessna 172,

and we tried to get up in the air every weekend. Naturally, or the amilyreunion, we wanted to y or three and a hal hours rather than driveor eight and a hal. Visiting with the in-laws was not my avorite thing,but i it involves ying I’ll do just about anything.

M

FLIGHT LESSON ofers theopportunity or pilots to learnrom the experiences o others.

It was late spring, and on the day o

our ight it was windy—so windy that my

sister-in-law in Atlanta said we shouldn’t

y. I, however, knew more about ying

than she did. Winds were 10 knots at our

home base, but predicted to be 15 knots

with gusts up to 25 knots at our destina-

tion. Light turbulence was orecast atvarious altitudes along the route. I was still

having trouble with crosswind landings,

but I believed I was getting better. I like a

challenge, and I didn’t want to be a wimp.

We took o in early aternoon and

encountered moderate turbulence almost

immediately. The headwinds had been

reported to be the weakest at 3,000 eet,

so I ew there. But the conditions were

dicult. I had a tough time keeping the

airplane at a constant altitude. As we got

close to Atlanta, I heard other pilots ask-

ing to divert because o the high surace

winds. Hmm, I thought. Well, maybe it’s

not so bad at LZU . But it also was report-

ing 20 knots with gusts to 28 knots. Winds

were rom 300 and we would be landing on Runway 27. A quick calculation showed

that to be a possible 14-knot crosswind

component. That was within the limita-

tions o the airplane, but I was not sure i

it was within my limitations. Logic told me

to fnd an alternative airport, but logic lost

to passion and get-there-itis. I entered a

let base or Runway 27, doing my best to

remain in control o the airplane.

I turned to fnal and put in 10 degrees o

aps. I ought it valiantly all the way down,

screaming and making very unladylike

utterances. Everything ell o o my lap—

notebook, pens, charts—but I ocused on

staying level and trying not to y into the

ground. Just when we were about to set

down, however, a big gust hit the little

airplane and sent us back up into the air.

Now what? I couldn’t imagine what it

would be like to have to fght the winds

again. There was plenty o runway let, so

I decided to just go ahead and land, which

somehow I did. When we touched down,

we were slightly crooked and had a lot o

speed. But I was too exhausted rom the

dicult ight to brake and steer properly.

Plus, it seemed that i I braked too hard,

the airplane would topple over. There was

a nice sot green patch o mostly level grass

ahead and to the let, and I just let our

airplane go there. We taxied roughly in the

tur or about 20 yards and came to a stop.

We were on the ground and alive, and had

no damage to us or the airplane.

The eeling o relie soon gave way

to extreme embarrassment. The tower

radioed to see i we were OK. When I told

them we were, I was shocked to hear next

the dreaded words: “Please call the tower

ater securing the plane.” Distraught rom

the treacherous ight and landing, and

having lost my writing materials on the

oor o the airplane, I had to request “Say

again?” three times beore I could copy

down the phone number. My heart sank: I

was going to get in deep trouble or what I

did, or being so stupid and stubborn.

We taxied to the FBO. Ater parking, Icalled the tower phone number and waited

to hear my punishment. But the controller

just wanted to fnd out what happened. I

explained how dicult the ight was and

how I got in over my head with the winds

on landing. He seemed satisfed with that

and let me go. I have since established

personal minimums or landing conditions

and plan to abide by them. In addition, I

will ditch the macho attitude and listen to

other opinions about ying—even i they

do come rom my sister-in-law. S

A R A H H

A N S O N


PLUS Read how crosswinds and too much airspeed made a bad combination

in this NTSB report.



TAKEOFF and landing mishapsaccount or 50 percent o allGA accidents.

ACCIDENT REPORT By Dan Namowitz

Learning how to maintain aircrat con-

trol at ap settings rom zero to ull isn’t

the drill’s only goal. Another is to recog-

nize, by interpreting the ight attitude, any

indication that the ap setting you have

may not be the one you think you have.

A pilot who can sense an excessive sink

rate caused by inadvertent ap retrac-

tion—or recognize that extended aps

are preventing an aircrat on a go-around

rom climbing—has a better chance to

correct the problem without trouble.

That chance to save things passes quickly,

because ap changes usually come into

play when you are close to the ground,

ying at a higher-than-normal angle o

attack and a slower airspeed.

Despite that common denominator in

ap incident scenarios, observation o

pilots conrms that most tend to make

their ap changes with a quick, hal-

attentive ick o a lever. Coupled with a

distraction, that haste is a well-known

cause o landing accidents and stalls

during go-arounds—many amously asso-

ciated with aircrat such as older Cessna

singles equipped with ap switches and

position indicators that demanded thepilot’s ull ocus and careul management

o ap retraction.

On April 5, 2012, that distraction was

a bounced landing when a Cessna 172M

touched down in Pottstown, Pennsylva-

nia. The pilot decided to go around. “He

applied ull power and inadvertently raised

the aps rom 30 degrees to zero degrees.

As the pilot increased the pitch o the

airplane to perorm the go-around, the air-

plane drited of the let side o the runway

and settled into a grassy area. The airplane

struck a tree and sustained substantial

damage to the wings and horizontal stabi-

lizer,” the National Transportation Saety

Board accident summary said.

It characterized the mishap as result-

ing rom “the pilot’s inadequate recovery

rom a bounced landing, which resulted in

a loss o control.”

Thirty degrees o ap retraction in a

single step will elicit a rather pronounced

sink response in a 150-horsepower Cessna

172 as both drag and lit experience a tan-gible decrease. That’s educational at 3,000

eet in the practice area. At ground level,

ater a bounced landing, it can bring the

quickest recognition o a miscongured

aircrat.

As the Cessna single-engine aircrat

lines evolved, electric ap systems were

redesigned rom model to model, engi-

neering out such quirks as ap switches

that were easily jostled into the ully

extended or ully retracted position.

Switches in Cessna 150s and pre-1977

Cessna 172s were replaced with a design

adding a detent—a eature that helps a

pilot assure that the desired position has

been set. (The truly curmudgeonly ight

instructors out there would point out here

that clunky old Johnson bar-based manual

ap systems, which predated electric

aps, required no such nesse o design.)

It’s expected, and required, that train-

ing emphasizes systems knowledge as a

means o preventing a distraction such

as a bounced landing, or getting too

low on nal, rom starting an accident

sequence.

But once the error has been made,

typical training isn’t so straightorward

when it comes to ofering a remedy.

That’s unortunate, because only quick

and practiced recognition o a cue about

aircrat misconguration ofers anychance o avoiding the error’s conse-

quences—but it’s a good chance.

Once the cue is recognized, all that

needs to happen is or the pilot to check

the ap position indicator or—how’s this

or a radical idea?—check the aps them-

selves. Shouldn’t we be doing that every

time anyway?

Dan Namowitz is an aviation writer and fight

instructor. He has been a pilot since 1985 and an

instructor since 1990.

30 DEGREES OF SEPARATIONLEARN FLAP MANAGEMENT FAR FROM THE GROUND

student pilot is perorming a slow-ight drill, maintaining level ight with aps ully extended and the stall warning steadily sounding. Abruptly, the student’s instructor retractsthe aps, causing the trainee to make quick adjustments

to maintain the assigned airspeed and altitude. As the drill proceeds,the instructor continues to add and subtract aps—sometimes a little,sometimes a lot—with the student reacting as required.

A




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There is no wayto guarantee agood landing every time. The

medium in which we yis entirely too uid and

unpredictable to guarantee

anything. However, totally

ignoring the points that

ollow here will guarantee

a less-than-satisactory

landing, and possibly a

bad one.

What does “good

landing” mean? Which

ingredients o the landing qualiy it as being a “good”

one and elevate it above a

simple, survivable return

to Earth? And we should

strive or “good,” not just

“acceptable.”

GUARANTEE

» Cover story

WORRY-FREE

INGREDIENTS FOR GREAT LANDINGS

» By Budd Davisson

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS ROSE



Here are some o the universally

agreed-upon actors that separate a good

landing rom a not-so-good one:

• Touch down on or near a predetermined

spot in the rst quarter o the runway.

• The speed at touchdown is the mini-

mum that is practical.

• Touchdown is on the mains (assuming a

tricycle-gear airplane), with the nose held

o until it’s purposely lowered.

• There is a minimum of oat, which

means the speed at are must have been

correct.

• First, last, and always, it is a graceful,

smooth maneuver.

A GOOD TOUCHDOWN STARTS ON

DOWNWIND. Has anyone not heard the

old-school cliché? It’s one o the rst

phrases out of a CFI’s mouth. What does it

mean, and how does it aect the landing?

While there are dozens o actors involved

in a proper setup on downwind, the most

important is consistency. When the power

reduction is made opposite the end o the

runway, whether or a power-o land-

ing or an extended power-on approach,

the process always occurs in the same

place, at the same speed, and in the same

manner.

What this does is establish a datum—

a stable point o reerence rom which

everything else can be judged. I the

height, position, and speed vary rom

landing to landing, then we have nothing

on which to build our landing experience.

I nothing ater the initial power reduc-

tion is the same as on our last approach,

we don’t know what to adjust to make our

landings better.

AIRSPEED CONTROL IS EVERYTHING.

Every airplane ever produced has gone

through an extensive ight test program

that established a best approach speed or

the airplane and presented it in the pilot’s

operating handbook. I we’re aster than

that number, we won’t glide as ar and

we’ll oat more in are. I we’re slower,

we won’t glide as ar and we'll have much

less oat in ground eect—possibly none.

So, we stand the chance o hitting the

runway really hard.

The speed that an aircrat is carrying as

it crosses the threshold speaks volumes

about what is going to happen next. I ast,

the aircrat is going to skate along on top

o ground eect, giving any wind just that

much more time to mess with it. Excess

speed makes controlling the are more

difcult and greatly increases the likeli-

hood that the aircrat will balloon back up,

then drop in hard.

In general, the airspeed isn’t consistent

or adequately controlled when the pilot is

not controlling the nose attitude in rela-

tion to the horizon. In a reduced-power

situation, as on landing, the nose attitude

is the primary speed control. Unor-

tunately, too many o us think that the

airspeed indicator controls the nose, when

just the opposite is true. While the two are

linked together, the changes in airspeed

are rst indicated by an attitude change.

So, we control speed by rst setting a nose

attitude, letting the indicated airspeed

stabilize, and then make small attitude

changes to adjust the airspeed as needed.

The most common problem in con-

trolling the nose attitude is that a pilot

“looks” over the nose but doesn’t actually

“see” what’s out there. So, we pick a

eature on the nose—maybe the top edge

o the spinner or a row o screws on the

cowl—and make small adjustments in

the space between that and the horizon.

Once the relationship between the nose

and the horizon is rmly entrenched

in our visual memory, speed control

becomes second nature.

KEEP THE SCAN GOING. All the time thatwe’re ying, we should have a continual

scan going that ties together all the actors

we’re trying to control. Most instructors

have a short mantra that they use. Maybe

it’s chanting rpm, altitude, attitude, pat-

tern (ground track) or using the acronym

PAST—power, altitude, speed (another

way of saying attitude), track (our path

along the ground).

The mantra is a way o instilling a scan

that is constantly in action. Our eyes

and our attention are continually scan-ning through the windshield, then across

PRECISION OVER THE THRESHOLD

500-800 feetThreshold

IF YOU ARRIVE over the threshold at 15 to 20 eet above the ground, you can be assured o

landing 500 to 800 eet down the runway.

20 feet



the panel and back again. It’s a circular

motion in which we’re relating the nose

attitude and what we’re seeing around it—

and our path across the ground—to what

is seen on the instrument panel.

The scan is in motion every instant that

we’re in the airplane, but when we’re y-

ing the pattern and making a landing, the

ingredients o the scan become that much

more important.

DON’T USE THE THROTTLE AS A CRUTCH.

Yes, the FAA likes to see a stabilized,

power-on approach; however, when we do

an approach like that, we have to ask our-

selves, “What would this same approach

look like i the engine were to quit?”

There’s a tendency to set up landing

approaches so that power is required,

which obviously makes that approach

easier. However, i there is even just a little

power on during nal, it changes the glide

ratio considerably. Sometimes just a ewhundred extra rpm more than doubles the

distance the airplane will glide compared

to a power-o approach. I all landings

are made that way, we never develop the

visual reerences or skills needed to make

a completely power-o landing. So, i we

suer an engine ailure, we’re on a test

ight and have no idea where the aircrat

will wind up.

At least a percentage o all landings

should be power o, right rom the down-

wind. Enough should be made that weknow exactly what to expect i the engine

should quit.

PICK A SPOT AND USE IT AS A REFERENC E.

The runway is not a reerence. It is a desti-

nation. “Reerence” denotes a given point

on the runway and, i we expect to have

any accuracy in our landings, we need a

reerence point on the runway. It’s the

location toward which we point the glide-

path. However, without realizing it, when

on nal and getting close, some pilots stoplooking at their reerence point and begin

THE STICK or yoke controlsnose attitude, which afectsspeed and landing position.

SPEED CONTROL



looking at the runway itsel. Until we’re in

ground eect and aring, we should con-

tinue to use whatever specic reerence

point we selected. Once we’re in the are,

we’re looking down the runway, trying to

gauge height and position.

There are several schools o thought as

to what we should be looking at during

the are. Some say to xate on the ar end

o the runway. Some say to look several

hundred yards ahead. I avor looking a

hundred yards or so ahead (that’s about

two runway lights) and try to glance

at both sides o the runway, switching

ocus rom one side to the other. It gives

better depth perception and alignment

inormation.

As or the runway reerence point

used—on nal, use the numbers. Or the

threshold. Or a distinctive eature, such

as a dip or discoloration, i the runway

does not have normal markings. What-ever it is, we ocus on that point during

the approach and, i necessary, adjust

power so that point appears to be neither

moving up the windshield (or appears

to be moving away rom us), telling us

that we’re low, nor down the windshield

(appears to be coming toward us) and

we’re going over it. We want to keep it

stationary.

We will not land on that point. The

glidepath will be pointed at it, but we will

land beyond it when the are and oatcarry us down the runway.

KNOWING THE distance of various runway signs, lights,and markings can help you

judge landing position andperformance.

PICK A SPOT

Threshold

Runwaytouchdown

zone markings

Runwayaiming point

markings

Lightsmax 200 feet

apart

1,000 feet

500 feet

Threshold markings

The gap70-80 feet

Centerline stripe120 feet

THE SLIP FOR FINE TUNING.The orward

slip is the best tool in a pilot’s toolbox or

landing on a predetermined spot on the

runway. And, no, slips are not dangerous

(assuming the POH doesn’t prohibit them

with aps extended). Most landings ben-

et rom a slight adjustment to glidepath,

and the slip provides that. It’s an efcient

altitude eraser and is perect or correct-

ing glidepaths that are slightly high.

PRECISION OVER THE THRESHOLD. The

speed and height over the threshold deter-

mine where the aircrat will touch down.

Almost regardless o the airplane type, i

we come over the threshold at a reason-

able height (15 to 20 feet) and on speed

(not fast), we will always touch down 500

to 800 feet down the runway. So, we’ll be

down and rolling when we hit the 1,000-

oot markers. I we do that every time, we

can count on needing only slight braking toturn o with no more than 1,500 to 1,800

eet o runway behind us. Most single-

engine aircraft only need 500 to 750 feet

o ground roll, so the trick is to avoid being

too ast and oating down the runway.

ADVERSE YAW CHANGES WITH ANGLE

OF ATTACK. A good landing is one where

the airplane is traveling straight, with no

lateral drit, when it touches down. This

is difcult to do i we’re maneuvering in

ground eect with aileron only. Adverseyaw increases as the airplane slows down—



so remember to use your eet and stay

coordinated when maneuvering in are.

HOLD IT OFF. Control the touchdown bycontinuing to hold the aircrat o until it’s

just about out o speed. And then, don’t

just let it op down. That’s ugly. Put a little

grace in it and, as the mains touch, xate

on the nose attitude; use just a little more

back-pressure to hold the nose there. Then

slowly let it down as the speed bleeds o.

CONTROL YOUR NOSE ATTITUDE DURING

FLARE. With most modern airplanes, it’s

easy to just level in the are and let the

airplane make the landing itsel. However,part o ying is being proud o your skill—

and nowhere is that skill more evident

and needed than in the are. Those last

ew seconds beore the airplane touches

down are the most critical, and that’swhen our ability to control the nose really

comes into play. The image o the nose

painted against the runway edges, the sky,

and horizon contains every element hav-

ing to do with the touchdown.

We want to clearly see the nose as it

relates to the edges o the runway, because

that’s how we’re going to keep the aircrat

straight. Also, as the airplane settles and

the runway edge tries to visually climb up

the side o the nose, that’s how we’ll know

we need to gently increase back-pressureto hold it o.

The image o the nose against the

horizon is what gives us our deck angle/

attitude inormation. As the airplane

touches down, it’s that image that lets ushold the nose-high touchdown attitude

or a ew seconds beore we purposely

(and gracefully) let the nosewheel touch.

An approach and landing is where we

show ourselves how well we can actually

y. Each landing should be the latest entry

in our sel-scored contest to do better

than we did last time.

Budd Davisson is an aviation writer/photographer

and magazine editor. A CFI since 1967, he teaches

about 30 hours a month in his Pitts S-2A. Visit hiswebsite (www.airbum.com).



OWN

» By Dan Namowitz

ILLUSTRATION BY PAUL GARLAND

LOWER YOUR PERSONAL MINIMUMS DELIBERATELY AND CAUTIOUSLY

t’s a breezy morning with broken clouds in multiple layers. The

surace wind is 15 knots with occasional higher gusts, and there’s

a healthy crosswind component. There was a time during your

student pilot days when a solo in a two-seat trainer would have

been prohibited under these conditions—and you would have been content

to wait or a better day.

PLUS See the Air Safety Institute'sRisk Evaluator Tool.

I

on your



Not anymore. The call is yours now,

and the our-seat cruiser that you have

stepped up to ying is preighted and

ready. You are pleased, and a little sur-

prised, at the calm condence with which

you nd yoursel preparing to take on

the day’s mission.

Condence, but not cockiness. There

is still a lot to learn, as there always

will be. But the nice thing about having

learned how to think in three axes is

that your piloting has become a smooth

aair, ree o the constant, atiguing

error-and-correction sequences. With

new skills and sel-assuredness, getting

in just a little over your head no longer

produces anxiety—even a sense o

guilt—as it did when your ight instruc-

tor was responsible or setting your

ying limitations.

The perennial hazards—instrument

meteorological conditions, thunder-

storms, reezing rain—will still demand

just as much respect and avoidance

as ever. But i the winds come up on

a nice day, or the weather begins to

trend downhill, you will be on top o

the situation and respond as neces-

sary. I orecast light turbulence at your

planned cruise altitude progresses to

moderate, you won’t just sit there and

suer (or turn back in discouragement).

Using a combination o winds-alot

inormation, pilot reports, and your

grasp o the big picture, you will try to

ind an altitude that’s more comort-

able, especially or any passengers. I

there’s no help there, rerouting over

smoother terrain might help. Some-

times you just have to tighten up that

seatbelt and shoulder harness, slow toturbulence penetration speed (maneu-

vering speed), and tough it out. So

here’s the question: I your skills have

taken you beyond the limitations gov-

erning ceilings, visibility, and wind that

were inscribed in your logbook beore

you earned your pilot certiicate, what

limits should replace them?

You can compose a new set o nite

limits, or you can ask the advice o more

experienced pilots whose experience

you value. But it all boils down to this:Provided that you comply with regula-

tions and any limitations on the use o your aircrat (such as a rental

agreement or FBO policy), the decision is up to you.

Consider today’s conditions. Those broken clouds at 2,500 eet areorecast to dissipate as a rontal system departs the area, taking the

gusty surace winds with them. Your planned ight is toward improv-

ing weather, so it should not be jeopardized. However, you will keep an

eye on the weather trends to avoid being taken by surprise. I you had

planned a ight toward the departing low pressure—with its lingering

showery precip, turbulence, and occasional mountain obscuration—your

plan would have seemed dicey. So there’s one new element o a personal

minimum denition: Stronger winds and lower ceilings are acceptable

when ying toward an area o improving weather.

The destination also presents a new set o piloting considerations. It’s

an airport with a single 1,800-oot grass runway that has trees on one

end, power lines on the other, and no on-eld weather reports. Challeng-ing. But you landed there several times during training. The experience



let you eeling comortable with short-eld landings, and your check-

ride perormance vindicated the work.

It might be a good idea to call ahead or a report on early spring eld

conditions. They could range rom hard-packed plowed snow, to rozen

ground, to mud (which might be good to avoid). So you will assess the

report you receive, and make a decision. On arrival, overy the trafc

pattern and give the windsock some careul scrutiny or wind speed,

direction, and variability.

Stepping up, careully. The privilege o having responsibility or set-

ting your own boundaries is the reward or earning your pilot certicate.

You are becoming a prudent manager o risk and pitalls.

Here is one: When you step up to a more capable aircrat, don’t con-

clude that your mere presence in its cockpit makes you a more capable

pilot. Just as when you were a student pilot, wait until you are completely

comortable with the basic characteristics and operation o the new air-

crat beore you put it to the test under challenging conditions.

It may be hard to resist the temptation to load up people and baggage

or a week o skiing ater that heady checkout in a bigger, aster aircrat.

But the extra power and speed o a high-perormance aircrat, and the

systems management o a complex aircrat, are best approached gradu-

ally, in easy weather and on amiliar runways.

So here’s a standard or ying this type o aircrat ater acquiring the

required endorsements: Be condent that you won’t “get behind the air-

crat” in busy airspace or tricky weather. Many pilots bring a CFI along

on the rst ew longer trips. That’s also a chance to log some experience

toward an instrument rating, i you ponder that kind o upgrade.

It’s common or the crowd in the FBO to describe the capabilities o

aircrat—speed, payload, ice protection, short takeo and landing opera-

tions, and so orth—as i they existed independently o the pilots ying

them, but this is dangerously misleading. It is only when you observe that

a new-to-you aircrat is reducing your workload during both routine and

unusual ight circumstances that you should consider yoursel as much

in command o it as you now eel about the aircrat you have been ying.Also, pilots ying an unamiliar aircrat model tend to spend more time

with their eyes inside the cockpit checking instruments, managing uel,

or locating and tuning radios. That means your situational awareness and

collision avoidance scanning will be compromised until you become more

at home in the new cockpit. Resolve to stay vigilant.

Weather detection capability is a triumph o technology, but it only

works as intended i the pilot uses it to reduce—not increase—a ight’s

risk. Don’t make the mistake o taking an aircrat with advanced

weather-detection equipment into or near weather that you would have

otherwise avoided. There are plenty o accident reports that illustrate

how pilots got in trouble trying to sneak through bad weather. Far better

to let that wonderul weather technology on your panel lead you awayrom the bad stu instead o into it.

Better weather detection capability is

not a license to snip away at the margins

o saety with which you eel comortable.

Another complacency conundrum

arises when a pilot who has only own

aircrat with basic navigation radios rst

experiences the thrills and inorma-

tion deluge provided by satellite-based

navigation. Don’t retire your plotter and

ight computer just yet, or stop keeping

track o your uel burn in ight. Track-

ing the magenta line on the screen o

your GPS, and reading groundspeed and

estimated time o arrival rom a display,

reduce workload and provide certainty

o position. But the box won’t take you

where you want to go i you enter GRE

(Greenville, Illinois) as your destination

when you want to go to GMU (Green-

ville, South Carolina). I the database is

slightly out o date, you could ollow it

blindly into an airspace incursion.

Flying new aircrat, and gaining new

condence in your growing skills, inevi-

tably expands the range o altitudes at

which you may y. That’s true at both the

high end and the low end o the altitude

range—a act that raises the most impor-

tant personal piloting standard o all:

Pledge now to set a sae oor or your y-

ing at all times. Then, or your own sake

and or the sake o anyone you welcome

into your aircrat, never violate it.

There will be times when some-

one asks you i you can get just a little

lower, to take a photograph or or other

reasons. But then throw in a distraction

that leads to loss o control, or ailing to

see an unmarked obstruction, and the

risks soar; so decline the invitation.

When you passed your checkride,the FAA granted you the privilege to

use what you learned about saety and

judgment to set your own limits. That

responsibility awaits you on every ight

rom now on.

Set standards within your limits, not

at their ringes. Then add in some saety

margins to help you deal with the unex-

pected.

Dan Namowitz is an aviation writer and fight

instructor. He has been a pilot since 1985 and aninstructor since 1990.

WHEN YOU PASSED YOUR CHECKRIDE, THE FAAGRANTED YOU THE PRIVILEGE TO USE WHAT YOU LEARNED ABOUT SAFETY AND JUDGMENT TO SET YOUR OWN LIMITS.



PLUS Watch the debates

among AOPA staff.

H A N G

A R

T A L K

F L I G H T T R A I N

I N G ’ S F I V E B I G G E S T A R G U M E N T S — A N D W H Y T H E Y M A T T E R

» By Flight Training staff ILLUSTRATION BY JAN FEINDT



1.PITCH

VERSUSPOWER This is the Democrat versus Republican

o ight training arguments. Does pitch

control airspeed and power control

altitude—or is the inverse true, and power

controls airspeed and pitch controls alti-

tude? Proponents o the ormer believe

that on nal approach, or example, one

should maintain the approach speed by

pulling back to slow down and pushing

orward to speed up, and pulling power

back to descend and adding power to

climb. Those in the latter camp think

this is heresy, and pilots should use the

controls as they were intended—power

or airspeed and elevator, or pitch, or

altitude.

Like many o ight training’s biggest

arguments, this one will never be solved,

partially because there are merits to both

methods. “Pitch or airspeed, power or

altitude” is easy to explain to a student

pilot, and a change in any control gets a

quick response. But disciples o the othermethod claim it can lead to poor airman-

ship, such as wild pitch changes close to

the runway to chase an airspeed number

in gusty winds.

One o the biggest implications o this

argument is the act that each instruc-

tor has an opinion on this point, and will

require the student to y by his or her

rules. A change in instructors, whether

during primary instruction or ater, can

lead to some conusion.

2.TO SPIN

OR NOTTO SPIN One would think that an FAA-mandated

training maneuver that was struck rom

the requirements in 1949 would lay to rest

any lingering arguments. But the debate

over whether spin training should be a

requirement or a private pilot certicate is

hotter than ever, in part because o recent

high-prole accidents that can be traced

to basic airmanship. The argument against

spin training is simple—it was deleted as a

requirement because it was believed that

more people were dying in training than

were being saved in subsequent ying.

Many also believe spin training has the

potential to scare of otherwise eager stu-

dents. Those in avor o it have an equally

simple argument: It’s a great learning

opportunity that can save lives.

The implications o this argument are

serious. No doubt there are instructors

teaching students today who believe spins

are necessary, and they teach them with-

out their own solid knowledge or propersaety precautions. Conversely, good spin

instruction is probably in the top three o

the most important and efective types o

specialty ight instruction. But a maneuver

that causes people to drop out because o

ear when it’s not a necessary maneuver

probably doesn’t serve the community well,

either. This argument could be solved with

some good data on the risks associated with

perorming spins during primary training.

Unortunately, that data is not likely

to appear.

3.CONVENTIONAL

OR GLASSThe debate over whether it’s best to train

in a conventionally equipped airplane or

one with electronic ight displays—or glass

cockpits—is turning into the next pitch-

versus-power debate. It’s a debate that

seems to go largely along generational lines.

Those who trained in an airplane with a six

pack o steam gauges believe it produces

a superior pilot who relies on hard-ought

scanning and interpreting skills, while the

newer (although not necessarily younger)

generation sees value in the incredible

amount o inormation presented on a

glass display.

This argument is raught with dis-

tractions about market orces, claims o

laziness, and more. Boil it all down and the

basic question is this: Would the same stu-

dent have a better experience on one or the

other? That remains unanswered, although

certain aspects to the question seem valid.

It appears to be easier to go rom six-pack

to glass rather than the other way around.

Glass has been shown to have some saetybenet, and there’s no question that newer

airplanes with more modern instrumenta-

tion attract a new student pilot base. O

course, those new airplanes also cost more,

which can drive away others. Ultimately it

appears to be a personal choice between the

student and instructor.

light training is lled with disagreements. Which airplane is best? Should we use trim in a steep turn?

Do you initiate a descent during a power-of stall demonstration? Many o these persistent arguments

are noise—nothing more than two valid methods to achieve the same goal. But some do matter. Some

have saety or monetary consequences that linger, which is likely the reason they have remained argu-

ments or so long. Here, in no particular order, are the ve biggest ight training-related arguments as we see them.

We couldn’t resist throwing in a ew o the biggest arguments that don’t matter. Some may surprise you.

F



4.ACCELERATED

TRAININGVERSUSSTANDARDMany ight students are accustomed to

the routine o scheduling ight lessons

while keeping ngers crossed that the

weather, the aircrat, and even their per-

sonal lives cooperate. But there is another

way: accelerated training. It’s more

commonly used to knock out advanced

certicates and ratings, but can work or

the sport and private certicates as well.

The principle goes like this: Arrive with

a knowledge test and some ground study

under your belt; a week, or 10 days, or two

weeks later you leave with your new cer-

ticate. You’ll y many hours per day and

absorb knowledge in a ashion that most

reer to as “drinking rom a re hose.”

Accelerated training can save you

thousands in training dollars—provided

you are able to retain what you learned.

And that is a big disclaimer. It can be a

good solution or someone who’s beenkept rom the nish line by schedules,

weather, or airplanes out o service. On

the other hand, training at your home

airport means you’ll work with a ight

instructor whom you’ll come to know

and trust; you’ll y airplanes that you’ll

continue to rent ater the checkride; and

everything—well, almost everything—is

done on your schedule

LET IT GO Sometimes the argument just doesn’t matter.

Here are our top four not worth a debate.

Pattern entry. There are those who say

you must enter the pattern on a degree

angle to the downwind because that’s what

is recommended in the Aeronautical Infor-

mation Manual. Then there are those who

enter any number o ways, rom crosswind

to straightin. Pilots will never stop using

all dierent kinds o entries—nor will air

trac controllers at towered airports.

We might as well keep our eyes peeled or

aircrat in all directions and remember that

local customs usually overcome compul

sions to ollow the AIM.

Low wing versus high wing. This is quite

possibly the most useless question that

comes up during ight training. It simply

doesn’t matter. Every airplane has dierent

ying characteristics, regardless o wing

placement. Just fnd one you ancy and get

on with it.

Crab or slip. Maintaining the runway’s

extended centerline on fnal approach dur

ing a crosswind can be done with either a

sideslip, meaning the nose points orward,

or a crab, meaning the airplane maintains

coordinated ight and points into the wind.

The crab crowd says passengers preer

their method. The slip crowd says their

method gives you more time to establish

the landing control position. Both are

equally valid. Pick one and learn it well.

Best training course. This is one o the

most common questions among new

students. It makes sense—they want the

best groundschool course or their money.

But all the major players make wonder

ul courses. Consider the delivery ormat,

price, and style that suit you, and buy

your selection. You won’t be disappointed,

whether it comes rom ASA, Gleim, King

Schools, Sporty’s, our own Rod Machado,

or others.

5.SCENARIO-

BASEDTRAINING ORTRADITIONALMETHODS

You may not have heard about this, but the

FAA is undergoing a undamental shit in

the way it recommends pilots be trained.

Instead o a standard building-block

approach that takes a bunch o seemingly

unconnected tasks (to the student, at least)

that bind together towards the end, the

FAA now recommends a training curricu-

lum at least partially based on scenarios.

It’s called FITS, or FAA-Industry Train-

ing Standard, and the reason you may not

have heard o it is because many instruc-

tors don’t buy in to the philosophy. The

program is a way or the FAA to accept

a training curriculum that ocuses on

scenario-based learning, and risk manage-

ment. Some instructors love the ocus

o a more practical and direct training

program, while those not in avor o FITS

lament the loss o stick-and-rudder skills.It’s too early to know which side is cor-

rect. The implications to this argument

are big. I the FITS crowd is correct, pilots

will become saer because they know their

airplanes, themselves, and the environ-

ment in a way that allows them to reduce

risk. But i they’re wrong, as the anti-FITS

crowd contends, saety will go down as we

experience more accidents related to poor

ying skills.


LEFT TO RIGHT: . Martha King . John King . Amelia Earhart .Louis Blériot . Howard Hughes6. Burt Rutan 7. Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger 8. Otto Lilienthal 9. Orville Wright0.Rod Machado . Wilbur Wright . Bill Kershner . Wolgang Langewiesche . Daniel Bernoulli. Charles Lindbergh 6. Leonardo da Vinci

12 3 4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

1213

14

15

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CROSSWIND LANDINGS get most o our attention, but being able to execute

a proper crosswind takeo is equally important. Not only is the takeo the

pilot’s opening act and the chance to set the tone or the rest o the fight, it’s

also a time when we carry lots o energy close to the ground. That means we

should try our best to get crosswind takeos perect every time.

» By Ian J. Twombly

CROSSWIND TAKEOFFSKeep it straight and true

TECHNIQUE

ILLUSTRATION BY CHARLES FLOYD

» WINDSOCK WISDOMMost airport windsocks are rated at 15

knots, meaning they point straight out

starting at that point. How much faster

than 15 knots the wind is can be obtained

from the weather report.

PLUS View the video.




» PRACTICAL TEST STANDARDSIV. Takeofs, Landings, and Go-Arounds

To determine that the applicant:

NOTE: If a crosswind condition does

not exist, the applicant’s knowledge of

crosswind elements shall be evaluated

through oral testing.

1. Utilizes procedures beore taxiing

onto the runway or takeo area to

ensure runway incursion avoidance.

Veriy ATC clearance/no aircrat on

nal at nontowered airports beore

entering the runway, and ensure that

the aircrat is on the correct takeo

runway.

2. Exhibits satisactory knowledge o

the elements related to a normal and

crosswind takeo, climb operations,

and rejected takeo procedures.

3. Ascertains wind direction with

or without visible wind direction

indicators.

4. Calculates/determines i crosswind

component is above his or her ability

or that o the aircrat’s capability.

5. Positions the ight controls or the

existing wind conditions.

6. Clears the area, taxies into the

takeo position, and aligns the

airplane on the runway center/takeo

path.

7. Retracts the water rudders, as

appropriate (ASES), and advances the

throttle smoothly to takeo power.

8. Establishes and maintains the most

efcient planing/lito attitude and

corrects or porpoising and skipping

(ASES).

9. Rotates and lits o at the

recommended airspeed and

accelerates to VY.

10. Establishes a pitch attitude that

will maintain VY

plus 10 and minus 5

knots.


1. Aileron into the wind. Start

the takeo roll with the aileron

deected ully into the wind.

Do this regardless o the wind

strength. It’s a good way to

mentally commit to the correct

control input.

2. Reduce aileron as speed

increases. As the aircrat

moves aster, the ailerons will

become more eective. As they

do, reduce aileron input slowly

toward neutral. How much to

reduce it will depend on the

wind speed and the airplane,

and can be determined through

experience.

3. Keep straight with rudder.

Since you’re still on the ground,

the rudder pedals will control

steering. Keep the airplane

straight with those.

4. Level the wings ater

litof. One wheel may come

o the ground rst. That’s OK,

so long as it’s the downwind

wheel. Ater all three lit o,

level the wings with aileron

and allow the airplane to crab,or weathervane, into the wind.

Keeping the airplane straight

with rudder and aileron into

the wind will result in a drag-

inducing slip.



WEATHER By Jack Williams

A DERECHO has winds that are 57mph or stronger and follows a path240 miles long.

ilots have been learning about—and worrying about—squall lines since the1920s. Nevertheless, many still haven’t heard o the super squall line calleda “derecho.”

That surely changed in June 2012. A derecho killed 22 people as it spreaddestruction rom the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic on June 29 and 30. It let millionswithout power and let thousands to cope with damage caused by high winds andallen trees.P

DERECHOS GO MAINSTREAMA WEATHER PHENOMENON TO AVOID

I nothing else it should give pilots a new respect

or squall lines—lines that can be more than 300

miles long—o powerul thunderstorms. It also

should reinorce the idea that a pilot can’t stay too

updated on the weather.

FORECASTING DERECHOS ISN’T E ASY.Many pilots

like to take a look at the National Weather Service

Storm Prediction Center’s (SPC) rst “Day 1 Con-

vective Outlook” on the mornings o days they’ll

be ying to see whether thunderstorms could be a

problem along their route.

When the SPC issued its rst Day 1 Outlook at 2

a.m., chances o high winds in Maryland and Vir-

ginia were less than 5 percent. As the day went on,

however, new observations and predictions rom



A

P I M A G E S

KNOWING THAT A DAY'S THREAT IS FROM A SQUALL LINE INSTEADOF AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM IS IMPORTANT.

computer models indicated that a derecho

was brewing. By 2:30 p.m. the derecho was

going strong in the Midwest, with 91-mph

gusts in Indiana. The SPC increased the

risk o high winds in the Washington, D.C.,

area; local NWS oces and news media

orecasters began issuing alerts.

The lesson or pilots is this: Early-

morning orecasts aren’t the last word or

the day—especially when thunderstorms

are involved.

SQUALL LINES AND DERECHOS. Any squall

line moves across the countryside with

damaging winds, rain, hail, and some-

times tornados. As the line moves, usually

toward the southeast or east, some storms

die out as new ones sprout and grow.

Most squall lines come and go in a

day, usually starting in the late morning

or aternoon and zzling out sometime

ater dark. Any squall line is dangerous,

with the usual thunderstorm hazards

o extreme turbulence and icing in the

clouds, heavy rain, hail, strong winds

that blast down rom the clouds to hit the

ground and spread out or miles, and the

threat o tornados.

At times, however, squall lines such

as the one in June 2012 begin producing

a series o downbursts with 57 mph or

stronger winds hitting the ground at sev-

eral places along a path that was at least

240 miles long over a period o hours.

This makes it a derecho—pronounced

deh-RAY-cho.

While many weather-wise pilots have

never heard the term, it’s ar rom new.

Gustavus Hinrichs, a physics proessor

at the University o Iowa, introduced the

term in an 1888 scientic journal article.

He decided to use the term derecho to

connote strong, straight-line thunder-

storm winds to diferentiate such storms

rom tornados with their rotating winds.

Derecho is a Spanish word that can mean

“straight ahead.” Hinrichs believed, as

some still do, that the word “tornado”

comes rom the Spanish word “tornar,”

which means to turn.

The word derecho ell into disuse and

orecasters ignored it until 1987, when

Robert Johns and William Hirt—meteo-

rologists with the predecessor o today’s

Storm Prediction Center—published

an article in a meteorological journal

describing the term’s history and how it

was used. The article inspired meteorolo-

gists to begin using the term again, and

they developed the criteria to separate a

derecho rom an ordinary squall line: 57

mph or stronger winds along a path at

least 240 miles long.

KNOW THE THREAT’S NAME. In a way,

or a pilot it doesn’t matter whether he

or she runs into a derecho or the only

severe thunderstorm over Kansas on a

particular day. It’s important to stay well

away rom any type o convective weather.

But, knowing that a day’s threat is rom

a squall line instead o isolated thunder-

storms is important.

I you’re planning a ight across the

Midwest and the orecast is or isolated

thunderstorms, you could be sae taking

of as long as you can be sure you’ll be

able to see any thunderstorm in time

A SQUALL LINE

moves in (left) andbrings damagingwinds, rain, hail,and sometimes

tornados, such asthe case of the

derecho, thatstruck Washington,

D.C., in June 2012.



WEATHER »

to change course and stay at least 20 miles away rom it. On the

other hand, i a squall line is orecast to be across your route, you

should begin looking into the possibility o diverting around one

end o the squall line. Don’t even think o trying to y through any

gaps between individual storms in a squall line. A new thunder-

storm could rapidly grow up to ll the gap, engulng your airplane

as it grows.

I the squall line has become a derecho or is orecast to become one,

and it’s headed your way, you should nd a sturdy hangar or your

airplane or tie it down as securely as you can. Then you should start

looking or a strong shelter where you can wait out the storm saely.

ALMOST ALL DERECHOS HIT EAST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.

The area where the borders o Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and

Arkansas meet can average our derechos every three years. The

main derecho season is rom May through August, but they can

occur just about any time o the year. During the summer, derechos

are most likely to occur in the Midwest. During the rest o the year

they most oten target the lower Mississippi Valley. As with the

June 2012 derecho, heat waves make them more likely.

Jack Williams is an instrument-rated private pilot. His latest book is The AMS

Weather Book: The Ultimate Guide to America’s Weather.

WHERE THE BORDERS OF

KANSAS, OKLAHOMA,

MISSOURI, AND ARKANSAS

MEET IS A PRIME SPOT FOR

DERECHOS.



CAREER PILOT is designed to helpyou get your ying career of to thebest start (ww w.aopa.org/careerpilot).

CAREER PILOT Landing your dream job

A

P I M A G E S

“SKYHAWK FOUR-FOUR-NINER, you’re six miles

in a trail o a Boeing 777, cleared to land Runway

One-Nine Center. Keep your speed up as long as

practical, you have a Learjet our miles in trail

showing a 60-knot overtake. I need minimumtime on the runway,” said the tower controller

at Washington’s Dulles International Airport

with an air o nervousness in his voice. Ater all,

he’s probably thinking, “What yo-yo is behind

the yoke o this Cessna 172, anyway?” For all he

knows, it’s an 80-hour private pilot about to seri-

ously screw up his operation at a very busy time.

Not to sound arrogant, but the controller didn’t

need to be nervous. I am an airline pilot who

is based at Dulles and know the airport and its

operational nuances like the back o my hand.

I was ying my amily’s Skyhawk, the airplane

in which I learned to y and with which I was

intimately amiliar.

Far ahead, I watched the 777 land with a pu

o smoke marking the point at which I did not

want to land beore because o wake turbulence. Ikept my speed around 120 knots slowing to about

90 knots at around a hal-mile nal. The Lear was

catching up quickly and the controller reminded

me again that he needed minimum time on the

runway. He was getting very concerned.

“I’m only going to be on the runway or about

ve seconds,” I assured him. I touched down ater

the spot where the 777 had and just prior to its

high-speed exit o the runway. Most high-speed

exits are designed or large airplanes to angle o

the runway while still rolling at 40 to 60 knots.

That's about the landing speed o a 172, and soon

LITTLE FISH AMONG WHALESSmall airplane ops at big airports

» By Pete Bedell

Some o aviation's worst

accidents happen on the

ground. Learn how to avoid

runway incursions with the

Air Saety Institute course

Runway Safety (www.aopa.org/

as/runway_saety).

ASI'S RUNWAY SAFETY COURSE


http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/f-t-2013-04-downmagazcom 48/6046 / FLIGHTTRAININ G.AOPA.ORG

CAREER PILOT »

ater touchdown, I was exiting at

the same high speed. “Skyhawk

Four-Four-Niner, thanks or the

quick exit, contact ground point

niner,” the tower instructed.

Flying into big airports is an

important part o ight training and

shouldn’t be avoided because o

intimidation. The key is to prepare

and be ready or any number o

things that can happen. On your

end, the best thing you can do is

study the airport diagram, know the

layout o the taxiways, and gure

out your taxi plan. Telephone the

TRACON or tower that controls the

airport you’re planning to use. They

can tell you when the best time

is to come and go as well as what

to expect in terms o routing and

landing runway based on weather

conditions. They can also give you

the requencies o all the sectors

you expect to converse with.

The FAA’s heightened awareness

o runway incursions has put a mag-

niying glass on general aviation,

as pilots o light aircrat cause the

majority o these inractions. We

all have skin in this game, and i GA

continues to blunder operations at

large airports, get ready or the cries

to banish the little guys.

Much o what you can expect to

occur at a large airport can be prac-

ticed at your local, less-busy airport.

CAREER ADVISOR

FROM MILITARY TO PRIVATE SECTORWhat are the corporate hiring prospects?

» By Wayne Phillips

» Q: I plan to retire this summer rom the

U.S. Air Force with 4,000 hours o ight

time, most o which is in jets. I’m trying to

decide what direction in aviation to take.

Corporate ying appeals to me based on

the premise that you are ying to dier-

ent places all the time and, in general, it is

more interesting ying than the airlines. I

have been told that it is very hard to break

into that industry and usually requires 500

hours in type to get hired. Is this true, and

can you provide any advice? Also, I’m hav-

ing difculty determining the typical pay

range. I don’t expect to make as much as

the majors, but I do need to make enough

to support my amily. Thanks!

» A: You are a blessed man! Some 4,000

hours, mostly in jets, should be your

ticket to just about any proessional ying

career that suits your ancy.There are essentially three ways to

satisy your goals o ying business jets:

traditional corporate ying, a career with

jet management companies, or ractional

ying. You are certainly correct that

breaking into a corporate ight depart-

ment with high-end jet equipment—and

a salary that goes with it—isn’t easy. An

ATP and time in type are musts. The

essential strategy is networking, which

also can provide inormation on hiring

minimums.

Think about it. I you are the aviation

director o a sizeable corporate ight

department, turnover is probably quite

low. When someone does leave or retire,

that manager will ask his pilots, “Say, do

you know anyone who is a good stick?”

Sure, it may be a long shot that your

résumé will be retrieved rom the stack,

but knowing someone is a good thing or

career advancement. Perhaps some o

your Air Force buddies are now ying the

big iron and can help. But, also consider

downsides such as being on call when

the boss gets the urge to y; long layovers

while the brass tends to business or days

at a time; jets become expendable when

prots deteriorate.

The next possibility is ying or a

large jet management company. Stop

by any big general aviation airport such

as Oakland County International inPontiac, Michigan, or Van Nuys Airport

in Van Nuys, Caliornia, and you will

nd several companies with a stable o

jets. Typically, these aircrat are owned

by wealthy individuals or companies—

when they are not transporting owners

and execs, in many instances those same

airplanes are being used in FAR Part 135

charter ying. Here, pilots are employed

by the management operator, have a

airly predictable schedule, and y more

oten because o charter business. Your

résumé may have a better chance o

oating to the top i you don’t have any

internal connections.

Finally, there are the large ractional

companies such as NetJets. Flying or

this kind o company would be my

personal rst choice. NetJets pilots y

great equipment, have very predictable

schedules, and get into a wide variety o

airports. They y oten; they can live just

about anywhere; and they interact with

the rich and amous. Certainly, hiring

at these companies has peaks and val-

leys, but as the economy improves, the

demand or this type o personal travel

should increase.

As or salaries, much like the airlines,

pay truly is a caste system based upon

the size o equipment own. Certainly,

pay can be well into six gures or

tenured captains on large machines,but or rst ofcers, these are typi-

cal: Falcon 2000—$65,000; Gulstream

G200—$52,000; Lear 31—$38,000; King

Air 300 (captain)—$52,000. The Internet

is ull o inormation on corporate y-

ing, including job postings and salary

surveys. Dig in!

Wayne Phillips is an airline transport pilot with

Boeing 737 and Falcon 20 type ratings. Send your

career questions to [email protected] and we’ll

publish the best ones here.



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You can y approaches at higher

speeds and gure out how much

time and distance it will take to lose

that speed with respect to land-

ing gear/ap-limiting airspeeds.

I ound that I could maintain 90

knots in the 172 all the way to the

middle marker (about a hal-mile

rom the runway), and still get it

slowed enough to land in the touch-

down zone.

Brush up on wake avoidance

techniques such as staying a dot

high on the glideslope and a dot

upwind on the localizer to avoid a

potential upset. Practice spot land-

ings and note how much runway

your airplane really needs and how

much actual time you’ll be on the

runway, given the availability o a

high-speed turno, or example.

I your radio communication

skills are subpar, that’s a deal

breaker. Controllers will be talking

in rapid-re mode, and missing

more than one call can cause

aggravation on a requency where

seconds count. Know the requen-

cies o ATIS, tower, and ground by

heart so you don’t have to umble

looking or them on a chart in the

heat o battle. Larger airports have

multiple tower and ground requen-

cies, so know which one you’ll get

based on your location on the eld.

Once clear o the runway, get an

idea o the taxi plan to your FBO o

choice. These airports are oten a

maze o taxiways, and conusion is

easy. One aid that helped me was

the advice to taxi around the sign

that signies your next taxiway—

don’t turn beore it. Although it’s

nice to get a close-up look at the

big jets, give them a wide berth so

you don’t get blown like a lea by jet

blast when taxiing behind them.

When ying into big airports,

knowing your capabilities as well

as those o your airplane is hal

the battle. Do the research and

study the charts and requencies.

Successul ights to and rom big

airports are proo that the knowl-

edge you’ve gained in training will

carry you through to the proes-

sional level.

Pete Bedell is a pilot or a major airline and

co-owner o a Cessna 172 and Beechcrat

Baron.

THE KEY IS TO PREPARE AND BE READY FOR ANY NUMBER OF THINGS THAT COULD HAPPEN.



ORIGINALLY DEVELOPED IN the 1970s, the

ground proximity warning system (GPWS)

became a requirement or all large turbojet

aircrat ollowing several accidents involv-

ing controlled ight into terrain (CFIT).

GPWS provided ight crews with audio

and visual warnings when terrain closure

rates indicated the possibility o ying into

terrain or an obstacle. These warnings

were derived primarily rom the aircrat’s

radio altimeter, which provided actual

height above the ground. This system

revolutionized terrain awareness and

CFIT prevention, but it lacked the ability

to look ahead o the aircrat to predict ris-

ing terrain.

Enhanced GPWS, or EGPWS, was

developed in the late 1990s. Improving

on the original design and utilizing GPS

location and a worldwide terrain data-

base, EGPWS was able to provide extra

time to respond to terrain alerts. Instead

o relying only on actual aircrat posi-

tion and height above terrain, the system

was capable o predicting unsae aircrat

48 / FLIGHTTRAININ G.AOPA.ORG

altitudes. Beore the aircrat begins alert-

ing o actual terrain closure, it utilizes the

terrain database to warn the ight crew

o impending conict.

In addition, situational awareness is

enhanced while operating in areas o

rising terrain with displays that show sur-

rounding terrain height in relation to the

aircrat. This allows ight crews to easily

see where the terrain threats are in order

to make quick decisions should terrain

clearance become a actor, such as when

an engine ailure is experienced and climb

perormance becomes insufcient.

EGPWS provides other saety alerts. For

example, it gives warnings that indicate

the landing gear and aps are not properly

congured or landing, as well as i the air-

crat begins to lose altitude during a climb,

or develops excessive rates o sink during

descent and landing. In addition, EGPWS

can provide warnings or wind shear that

can help ight crews react more quickly

to a loss o aircrat perormance caused by

wind shear.

CAREER PILOT »

TECH TALK

PULL UP!The system that warns when terrain is too close » By Jared Dirkmaat

SITUATIONAL AWARENESS IS ENHANCED WHILE OPERATINGIN AREAS OF RISING TERRAIN.



INSTRUCTOR REPORT A good instructor is always learning

UNTIL THAT MOMENT IT HADN'T OCCURREDTO ME THAT I WASEVERY BIT ASUNPREPAREDFOR THE FLIGHT

AS MY STUDENT HAD BEEN.

INSTRUCTOR REPORT oersinsights or students and tips or CFIs.

FLIGHT INSTRUCTORS HOLD a unique

position in the hierarchy o aviation. We

are proessionals who take great pride in

our work. We are oten the go-to, walking-

talking-reerence-guide pilots on ourhome elds to whom others go or advice.

We’re also the rst contact with aviation

or many people.

The truth is, being a CFI is pretty awe-

some. It’s important or CFIs to keep in

mind, however, that we are human. Some-

times we make mistakes. Consider the Boy

Scout motto: Be prepared. That’s a lesson

we work hard to drill into our students.

Yet it applies to us, too.

A recent review o an old logbook

conrms that my rst irtation with this

phenomenon was 20 years ago. I was

scheduled to y with a pilot who hadn’t

own in 17 years. He knew a lot more than

the average new student. But he didn’t

know as much as a current, procientpilot should, and that became a problem

at times. He assumed that he was just

about to be signed of or his ight review,

when he was in act still lacking in some

important areas—planning being one o

the more obvious deciencies.

We were scheduled or a ve-hour

block o time and a cross-country ight.

He planned the ight entirely by himsel,

at home, using nothing more than index

cards to note requencies and VOR radials

that intersected with his planned destina-

THE FALLIBLEFLIGHT INSTRUCTORLessons learned the hard way

» By Jamie Beckett

D

A V I D P

L U N K E R T


http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/f-t-2013-04-downmagazcom 52/6050 / FLIGHTTRAINING.AOPA.ORG50 / FLIGHTTRAINING.AOPA.ORG

INSTRUCTOR REPORT »

tions. He believed that details such

as wind-correction angles and

groundspeed calculations were

an unnecessary waste o time. He

wasn’t buying my encouragement

to establish visual checkpoints

along his route either.

Clearly, this was going to be

an interesting ight. I didn’t see

anything but rustration and

annoyance in my client’s uture,

so I encouraged him to cancel the

cross-country and y with me in

the local area to work on other

tasks. He reused. He’d planned

or a cross-country ight, and

he intended to make a cross-coun-

try ight.

Feeling stuck, I decided to let

this ellow nd out rsthand how

disorienting a poorly planned

cross-country ight can be.

Basically, I was willing to let

him get lost.

That was mistake number one.

What I ailed to recognize was that

not only was my charge unpre-

pared or the ight, so was I. The

majority o my ight time had been

accumulated in Florida. Now, I was

committed to launch on a triangu-

lar jaunt through a sizable chunk

o New England without ever

having seen any o the destinations

mysel.

We launched, and as I had

expected, my client was lost well

beore we arrived at our rst

planned destination. In act, he was

unable to nd it at all and had to

nally succumb to the indignity o

his ight instructor guiding him to

the airport.

Surprisingly, I was still unable

to convince him that continuing

the ight was a waste o his time

and money. He assured me that

he’d identied his problem and

would get back on track on the next

leg. I relented, and we took of or

Nashua, New Hampshire.

That was mistake number two.

Not long ater departure, my

client became totally lost. I took the

airplane as he experienced what it’s

like to be overloaded and unable to

think clearly. I calmly and patiently

explained how poorly prepared he

WHAT DOES IT mean to properly super-

vise a student during and ater solo

ight? When I ask that question o ight

instructors, it becomes clear that we don’t

all agree and we’ve lost an understanding

o the responsibility we hold to guide and

monitor our students.

For example, one instructor told me

that once he is satised his students can

y solo saely, he lets them come and go

to y solo as they please, without having

to notiy him o the act. Really?

As I see it, there’s nothing a primary

student does or will do that shouldn’t

be done under the careul supervision

o his or her instructor. Nothing! That

means either direct supervision (as in

supervising a rst solo ight) or indirect

supervision (as in listing requirements

or solo).

I list a minimum o 10 separate require-

ments or solo ight in a student’s logbook.

The most important requirement reads,

“Student must obtain CFI’s (my) permis-

sion at least 24 hours beore any solo

ight.” No permission, no solo. Period. I

want to know the exact “when and where”

o each solo, and so should you.

Unortunately, some o us mistake

supervision with being strict, mean,

and demanding. Younger instructors in

particular seem to worry about being

considered a chump by insisting that

their students be careully supervised.

There is, however, nothing strict, mean,

or demanding about supervising your stu-

dents when you are the one responsible

or their well-being. Ater all, it’s yourname on their student pilot certicate

and in their logbook. You have an obliga-

tion to careully supervise them.

The benet to you is that your legal

liability is reduced while you gain an

enviable saety and training record. The

benet to your student is that he or she

learns that ying saely is based on a set

o standards. While those standards will

change over time, the idea that there are

personal limits to be honored is a worthy

behavior to transmit to your charges.

SUPERVISING OUR STUDENTSIt’s not a part-time job

» By Rod Machado

THERE IS NOTHING STRICT, MEAN, OR DEMANDING ABOUT SUPERVISING YOUR STUDENTS WHEN YOU ARE THE ONE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR WELL-BEING.

In cooperation with the National

Air Trac Controllers Association

(NATCA), the Air Saety Institute

has prepared more than 15

scenarios—such as when to ask or

fight ollowing and how to deviate

rom weather—in online videos.

These scenarios will help you eel

comortable asking ATC or assistance

when you are conronted with any

o the commonly asked questions in

fight. Visit the website to view the

questions and see the accompanyingvideos (www.aopa.org/as/askatc).

GOT QUESTIONS? 'ASK ATC'



was or the ight. I asked him to

honestly evaluate his perormance,

and he nally agreed that he had

been woeully unprepared.

I ollowed the VOR radial he had

planned or while talking to Boston

Center. As I reminded my student

o the importance o knowing our

limitations, and careully planning

or each ight, I caught a glimpse

o my intended destination and

canceled ight ollowing with

ATC. I called the tower at Nashua,

announced that I was 12 miles out,

inbound with the inormation, and

was pleased to get a straight in or

Runway 32. On a two-mile nal the

tower advised I wasn’t in sight, but

I was cleared to land. I assumed my

landing light was out. I was wrong.

My ocus was on my student’s

error, and now that I was ying the

airplane, I was concentrating on

the landing. It wasn’t until I was

rolling out on the runway that I

noticed all the Army helicopters.

That was when mistake number

three became apparent.

I didn’t know that U.S. Army

Base Fort Devens was on my route

o ight, or that Runway 32 at

Devens looked remarkably similar

to Runway 32 at Nashua. That

similarity was even more convinc-

ing when viewed through the og

o poor preparation. Until that

moment it hadn’t occurred to

me that I was every bit as unpre-

pared or the ight as my student

had been.

Switching requencies to thenumbers stenciled on the side o

the tower, I made a quick radio

call to announce our arrival

and our intended destination.

The tower said, “Is there a

ight instructor on board?” To

which I responded, “Yes, sir. A

very embarrassed one.” Lesson

learned—the hard way.

Jamie Beckett is a writer and fight instruc-

tor who lives in Winter Haven, Florida.

HIGHER, FASTER—AND HARDER?Landing mishaps come in diferent orms

» By David Jack Kenny

IT’S NO GREAT secret that student pilots

sometimes have trouble landing. So do

the rest o us—bungled landings make

up about a third o all xed-wing GA

accidents—but it’s a particular challenge

or students. Over the past decade, more

than 55 percent o all accidents during

student solos were bad landings; the

total was 20 percent higher than the

number o landing accidents in all dual

instruction combined, including com-

mercial, multiengine, et cetera.

I you think about how much time

your students spend ying solo com-

pared to ying with you, it’s clear that

the additional risk is substantial. But

o course those rst solo landings are

perhaps the most essential step toward

becoming a pilot.

What’s not as well known is that

student landing accidents aren’t justmore o the same. Student pilots actually

seem to do better at putting the air-

plane between the arrival and departure

thresholds. Short landings and overruns

accounted or 13 percent o non-instruc-

tional landing accidents and 16 percent

o those on dual ights. On student solos,

they were barely 2 percent—on average,

just one per year.

Losses o directional control are a

problem across the board. Solo or dual,

instructional or otherwise, about hal o

all landing accidents arise rom pilots’

inability to keep an airplane tracking

straight. The consequences range rom

excursions into the weeds to ground

loops, gear collapses, and cartwheels.

The percentage is actually a little lower

among students, but that slightly smaller

share o a much larger whole translates

into signicant excess risk o getting

sidewise beore slowing to taxi speed.

The data suggest that one o the two

best ways to reduce the chance o your

students sufering embarrassment (or

worse) while trying to kiss the pavement

is to enorce rigorous standards o longi-

tudinal alignment.

The other, o course, is ne-tuning the

are. The glaring diference between the

way in which students and certicated

pilots botch the return to Earth is that

ully hal o student prangs are hard land-ings or stalls. Among certicated pilots,

that gure is 20 percent. Beore either

has become second nature, ocusing on

alignment makes it easy to are too early

or too late…while concentrating on the

are makes it harder to notice drit. Some

simply can’t do two things at once—but

can still learn to switch between them

ast enough to make it work.

Commercial pilot David Jack Kenny had terrible

trouble learning to time the fare.



PREFLIGHT » ADVERTISER INDEX Aviation's marketplace

Page Advertiser Internet Phone

FINAL EXAM ANSWERS

Continued from page 15

1. The correct answer is C. 100 percent relative

humidity and the presence o water vapor do notnecessarily guarantee the ormation o clouds,og, or dew. However, one, two, or all three willorm when water vapor condenses, as that isan absolute. (Pilot’s Handbook of AeronauticalKnowledge, Chapter 11)

2. The correct answer is A. Whether landing ina crosswind on the upwind main wheel, or withno wind on both main wheels, it is important tokeep the longitudinal axis o the aircrat parallelto the direction o motion. This will ensure theaircrat touches down with no side load orces.( Airplane Flying Handbook, Chapter 8)

3. The correct answer is B. Extending wing aps

creates drag that allows the pilot to increase thedescent angle without a corresponding increasein airspeed, and allows or slower touchdownspeeds compared to no ap use. (Pilot’s Hand-book of Aeronautical Knowledge, Chapter 5)

4. The correct answer is A. A typical PAPIsystem uses our lights to show landing ap-proach status. Too low is our red, slightly low isthree red and one white, on path is two o each,slightly high is three white and one red, andtoo high is our white. ( Aeronautical InformationManual, Section 2-1-2)

5. The correct answer is C. Position lights are

steady burning and airplanes have a red positionlight on the let wing tip and a green positionlight on the right wing tip. I you see both lights,with the red light on your right, you are observ-ing the other aircrat approaching you head-on.Deviation in heading or altitude, or both, may berequired. (Federal Aviation Regulation 23.1385)

6. The correct answer is B. Ground efect ismost noticeable when the aircrat is approxi-mately hal its wingspan in altitude above thesurace. For most small GA airplanes, this wouldbe about 15 to 20 eet. (Pilot’s Handbook of Aero-nautical Knowledge, Chapter 4)

7. The correct answer is B. To exercise PIC privi-leges, a pilot must have received and logged bothground and ight training in a high-perormanceairplane, and receive a one-time endorsement inhis logbook by the instructor who provided thetraining. The training must be done with a ightinstructor. Simply having logged ight time is notenough. (FAR 61.31[])

8. The correct answer is B. With a counter-clockwise-rotating rotor system, let pedal isrequired to lit to a hover. Pushing the cyclic con-trol orward will start the helicopter acceleratingor takeof. Descending into the are, power andup collective are added to reduce the descentrate. (Rotorcraft Flying Handbook, Chapter 9)

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52 / FLIGHTRAINING.AOPA.ORG



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LIPTON is a recurringcharacter on Arrested Development.

DEBRIEF

STARTED FLYING… I volun-

teered or the armed services

and I qualied as an aviator.

Since it was peacetime and it

cost a lot o money to train us,

they came to us and said Look,

you have to sign on for four

years. Well, that was a long

time. I thought I was going

to be a lawyer and go to law

school. So I got out o the ser-

vice and I came to New York.

I started acting as a means o

paying or my education.

INTO THE COCKPIT…I got

my ticket in 1980 at the Cessna

training center in East Hamp-

ton Airport. I trained primarily

in the Cessna 152 and 172.

PILOTS ON YOUR SHOW…

When we get anyone on the

show who’s a pilot we bore

people with it—Angelina Jolie,

Harrison Ford, Tom Cruise,

John Travolta. Once I get them

up on the stage we just orget

about the audience and talk

about airplanes. I don’t have to

tell you it’s a passion.

FIRST SOLO…My instructor

and I had just practiced landing

and he said, “Let’s make it a ull

stop.” He got out and said, “Are

you OK?” I said, “I thought you

would never go.” I was never

so happy as when I departed

that runway. I looked down

and he was lying on his back in

the grass. It was the rst time Ididn’t have anyone in the right

seat. It’s a wonderul eeling.

ADVICE TO STUDENTS… Do

the homework, do the paper-

work, do the groundwork. I

think or the written exam a 70

passes. I made mysel a promise

that i I got anything lower than

90 I would give it up. I got a 97,

so I passed that exam with fy-

ing colors.

Floating quietly amidst the dregs o TV’s Jerry Springer Show, Hell’s Kitchen, and the

Real Housewives is a quietly brilliant little program called Inside the Actors Studio.

Each week host James Lipton interviews actors—not about dalliances and plastic

surgery and drug abuse—but about the crat o acting. You won’t nd out much about

Lipton himsel unless a Harrison Ford or John Travolta is a guest; then it turns out

that Lipton has logged more than 1,000 hours as pilot in command. Each interview

he concludes with a ew standard questions he’s written on blue index cards, such as

What is your favorite word? and, If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say

when you arrive? For Lipton, we asked a ew questions o our own.

A pilot's perspective

JAMES LIPTON

INSIDE A PILOT'S HEART


WHO: James Lipton

OCCUPATION:

Television host, writer,and actor

HOURS: 1,000-plushours in 30 years o recreational fying

RATINGS: Liptonalways wears his AOPAlapel pin—he’s been amember or more than30 years—and comedianRobin Williams amouslymade a joke o it onLipton’s show.

C HR I S R O S E

PLUS View a video interview with James Lipton.



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/DFNLQJDFWXDO,0&ÀLJKWWLPH"$YLDWRUHQFRXUDJHVÀLJKWVLQWR,0&:HRSHUDWHDÀHHWRI%HHFKFUDIW'XFKHVVWKHPDMRULW\RIZKLFKDUHIXOO\HTXLSSHGZLWKZHDWKHUUDGDU*DUPLQ+6,'0(DQG,QWHUFRPV)OHHWRIDLUFUDIWDUHQRZEHLQJFRQYHUWHGWR(),6V\VWHPV³*ODVV&RFNSLW´

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100 HOURS TIME BUILDING +

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6SHFLDO $GG,QVWUXFWRU5DWLQJV³&),&),,0(,´

Prices Starting at +5

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F T 2013 04 Downmagaz.com

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