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Friday, September 24, 2004
Vol. 1 No. 11 |
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Friday, September 24, 2004
Vol. 1 No. 11 |
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Welcome to the
Over the Airwaves
aviation newsletter. This irregularly published e-mailing is
being sent to members of the E-Pilots listserv.
The aim of this
e-publication is to promote flight safety, encourage students and
new pilots, enhance pilot awareness of upcoming events, and to build
enthusiasm for aviation in general. AOPA President Phil Boyer Addresses Aero Club of Buffalo
Who would think that a single word in a law could have such a damaging effect on general aviation. That word is "shall" (vs. "may"). This was one of the many issues addressed by Phil Boyer at last night's monthly Aero Club meeting. In detailing this issue, Boyer said that Congressional lawmakers came within a whisker of passing legislation that would prohibit U.S. citizens from completing flight training - including flight reviews - without some type of TSA check! This would require CFIs, starting next month, to send new students as well as experienced pilot friends down to the local police station for a criminal check before they could provide any training to them! AOPA and other GA industry groups lobbied hard to replace the word "shall" with the word "may," thus eliminating the requirement to require criminal checks on all U.S. pilots. Another more potentially disastrous legislative outcome was avoided when AOPA and other aviation groups ganged up on a Brooklyn congressman who recently introduced legislation requiring all passengers, airline and GA alike, to undergo TSA screening before boarding an airplane and which would have prohibited GA aircraft from flying over any city with a population of 1 million or more! Imagine having to set up x-rays and luggage conveyor belts at the Clarence Aerodrome! Boyer's points were all on target! General aviation represents the largest, but most fragile segment of the aviation community. If somebody with voter muscle like AOPA doesn't stand up for the private pilot and GA aircraft owner, we will find ourselves severely limited in what, where, who, and how we can fly . . . if at all! The photo above [click on it to enlarge] shows Phil Boyer (center) seated between Aero Club president, Tom Kopera (right) and vice president , Richard Brox (left). Current Flight Training Methods Under Review
Forum participant, Arlynn McMahon, VP and training manager of Aero Tech - a Lexington, KY based flight school, said that "Most CFIs have no practical experience outside of the PTS (Practical Test Standards) tasks." She adds, "When they come to us for a job, we tear down their previously learned concepts and get them to teach what makes a safe pilot." John King, of King Flight Schools offered a good example of this. Students on dual cross-country flights should rarely land at the flight planned destination. They should actually divert and land at an alternate. That requires student to make decisions and execute them so they know the consequences. It also teaches them not to always expect to complete each flight as they originally planned it. On a related issue, people talk about the escalating cost of aviation insurance. "We don't have an insurance problem," said Martha King. "We have an accident problem." She insisted that it's obvious from the accident accounts that stressing risk management skills will prevent accidents. If we don't fix this problem, insurance rates will price general aviation right out of business. So what's going on? General aviation is racing down two different directions simultaneously. The Sport Pilot/Sport Airplane regulations is for those pilots interested in flying strictly for fun . . . the $100 breakfast crowd. That's one direction. The other direction is preparing pilots to fly high-performance piston singles and the emerging mini-jets on long cross-country trips. It is no longer a one size fits all type of primary flight training that is addressed in the Practical Test Standards. Pilots should figure out which direction they are in . . . and address their training needs accordingly. A good time to do this is at the bi-annual flight review (BFR). If you fall into the "fun flying" category . . . get your CFI to run you through basic maneuvers training. On the other hand, if you use, or are planning to use, an airplane to get somewhere, find an experienced CFII who will take you away from the practice area and into the system, in real weather, in busy airspace, where you can experience reality-based training that builds decision making and risk-management skills. This will not only make you a safer pilot, but will save your bacon when the unexpected happens. Transcontinental Flight in a Piper Archer !!!
Student pilot Kelly Brannen and I embarked last week on what should have been an uneventful flight from the San Francisco Bay area back to Buffalo in Kelly's newly purchased 1999 Piper Archer. After all, it was late summer and a crossing of the continental divide should have been a walk in the park. But it was far from uneventful. Here are a few of the unexpected events we encountered. We were called upon by Stockton Approach to perform a search and rescue mission in the San Joaquin Valley of a recently downed Cirrus. We encountered unforecast weather that required a 900 mile re-route. We experienced a rough running engine over the mountains in IMC necessitating an emergency landing in Elko, Nevada. We flew through rain, snow, and ice! We even had to declare a low fuel advisory over central Kansas as unforecast headwinds bit into our reserves. Other than that, it was an ordinary cross-country training flight! I'll be sharing the details and lots of photos of this remarkable trek in the next issue of Over the Airwaves. You can be sure that I'll emphasize how and why traditional PTS-based training, alone, does not prepare pilots for what we encountered along this 25 hour flight. Photo was taken on the climb out from Elko, Nevada (click on it to enlarge). "Don't Spill the Drinks . . . "
This is bad business for airlines. It's even worse for the private pilot who wants to get their reluctant spouse to enjoy flying with them! Okay, most reasonably proficient general aviation pilots are not ham-fisted . . . but many are not providing their passengers with the smoothest ride possible. Just take a look at their left hand as it is wrapped around the yoke. Their knuckles are white as they apply a death-grip squeeze around this sensitive little control device. Look at their feet . . . planted squarely on the cockpit floor instead of on the rudder peddles as the tail yaws left and right. My Supreme Piloting Compliment . . . My wife once paid me the very best piloting compliment possible when she said, "Bob, if your actions around the house were performed as smoothly and gently as you fly airplanes, we'd both be a lot happier." (I don't have to paint pictures here!) You see, none of us are ever too old to learn . . . Question: Okay . . . So How Do I Learn to Fly More Smoothly and More Gently? Answer: Pursue Your Commercial Rating! One of the major goals of the commercial rating is to learn how to fly simple maneuvers in a smooth, coordinated fashion. In the process, your passengers will become eternally grateful! The commercial rating is a FUN rating . . . and can often be completed within a month or two. No, you do not have to contemplate flying for hire to pursue and secure your commercial rating. All you need to have is the desire to realize each of the following benefits:
These are three pretty good reasons for making an appointment with your instructor to begin working on your commercial rating!
What's Wrong with this Picture? If the problem this hapless pilot found himself in doesn't jump right off the page at you [click on photo to enlarge], you might want to review standard airport markings and signage! Scroll to the bottom of this issue to see what the problem was. Whose Plane Is It Anyway?
Western New York recently suffered the tragic loss of a highly experienced pilot (who was also a fight instructor and an FAA designated pilot examiner). While we do not yet know the cause of this accident, nor is it appropriate at this point to speculate, a nagging question exists in the minds of all who are familiar with this case. That is, with so many corn fields and other wide open spaces in the area of the crash, why did the plane impact a tree before striking the ground? [From the NTSB Report: The initial impact point was in a tree about 45 feet above the ground.] The NTSB Report stated that " the pilot announced that he had "lost" an engine and requested vectors back to Batavia. At 1332:20, the pilot said he could not reach Batavia and opted to land at the Ledgedale Airport (7G0), Brockport, New York. It is clear from the radio transmissions that the pilot was attempting to land the disabled airplane at an airport, first one, then another. Sadly, his plan to return to an airport did not work. Would things have turned out differently if the pilot had abandoned his notion of trying to reach an airport and, instead, simply landed the disabled airplane in an obstacle free, open corn field? Who knows? The weather at the time of the crash was near perfect - sky clear, visibility unlimited. Winds were light and variable. Even if he chose to land the twin engine Navaho gear-up, he would have likely skidded to a muddy stop with little chance of serious injury. Sure, the airplane would have sustained damage, perhaps even totaled . . . but chances are he would have walked away to fly another day. When the engine started to sputter, who owned the airplane?. Answer: The insurance company. So why should the pilot heroically try to reach an airport to land? Countless hundreds of pilots and their passengers have lost their lives through valiant but vain efforts to stretch the landing of a disabled airplane to reach a distant airport instead of descending into a suitable, nearby off-airport landing area. Open fields, interstate highways, local roads, golf courses, and even large parking lots can make satisfactory emergency landing sites for most general aviation airplanes including light twins. Again, nobody knows precisely what really happened in the above referenced crash, nor do we know all of the options facing the pilot. But we do know that no single event causes an accident. Instead, it is usually a chain of events, referred to as the "accident chain." The sooner we can break this chain, such as landing a disabled airplane in a suitable off-airport site, the better our chances of surviving. The message here is simple . . . ALWAYS be on the lookout for a suitable off-airport landing site at EVERY stage of flight. Know where your "backdoors" are. This is particularly true when flying over large bodies of water. If you know you cannot reach land in the event of an engine failure, at least fly from boat to boat! If there are no boats, be sure you have a life raft on board. This is what risk management and critical decision-making skill development is all about. Sharp stick and rudder skills are important, but ultimately it is the decisions we make and when we make them that will keep us alive and well. One last note. Lest you think I am being unfair to the insurance company by suggesting we NOT attempt to reach an airport, the insurance company in this case just may have suffered a far lower loss had the pilot successfully landed in a corn field . . . without being exposed to personal injury and/or death benefit payouts. Low Fuel . . . Really?
Understandably, few things capture a pilot's attention (or ATC for that matter) faster than the sudden awareness that you're running low on fuel. After all, what could be more humiliating to a proficient pilot than to actually run out of fuel in flight? Similarly, what could be more damaging to an air traffic controller's career than for him to ignore a pilot's request for expeditious handling due to a low fuel warning? Proper fuel management is one of those risk-management items that seldom receives adequate attention in the typical primary flight training program. About all that many student pilots receive from their CFI is: (1) be sure we have enough gas to go; (2) switch those tanks every 30 minutes or so; and (3) never trust Cessna fuel gauges. So the dutiful student calls for a "top off" and launches with five or six hours of fuel . . . which should take care of his planned one hour flight lesson. Therein lies the extent of his fuel management training! So what's the problem? The problem is, fuel management-related accidents continue to occur . . . and the causes are many. They include:
You can probably come up with many more reasons . . . . but the outcome is always the same - gravity wins! So what is the proficient pilot supposed to do? The typical prevention is to pack up those tanks to the brim before every flight. Hey, if people managed their diets in this way, we'd all weight 400 pounds! The solution to not running out of gas is NOT to turn your airplane into a flying tanker. Rather, like everything else we do in aviation, it is to MANAGE our (fuel) resources. Remember, for every excess pound of fuel we carry, we give up passenger and cargo capacity, we give up speed, and we give up dollars!
Want to be a more proficient pilot? Want to read something other than dry flight training materials? Want to read about real, in the system flying? Belvoir Publications has been putting out some of the best current writings on the practical side of aviation around. I particularly like IFR Magazine, Flight Safety Magazine, and IFR Refresher. These fast-reading publications come in the mail each month. Each issue contains a good deal relevant information often not found in other flight training materials. AOPA has struck a deal with Belvoir Publications to make these monthly newsletters available to members at a discount. Click HERE for details. The Lifesaving Control Surface . . . the Lowly Rudder! It happened again this month! I conducted a checkout flight in a Cessna 172 and discovered the pilot, who was trained in another state, to be totally unprepared for the exercise I put him through. It wasn't that his skills were rusty because he had just received his private pilot certificate less than a month earlier. The exercise was quite simple. I had him climb to a safe altitude configure the airplane for slow flight. I then asked him to maintain altitude while I retarded the power to idle. As it slowed to Vso plus 3 knots, I gave a quick tug on the yoke to snap it into a stall, then I kicked hard on the right rudder. The right wing dropped instantly and the airplane entered a spin. "It yours," I said. "Recover!" The pilot yanked the yoke in the opposite direction as the plane passed through its second revolution - nothing happened. He then pulled back on the yoke which deepened the stall/spin. The ground, now filling the windscreen, was spinning faster and faster as he tried to save the situation. By now, his face was ashen white! "Step on the left rudder and push on the yoke, I shouted. As he did this, the earth stopped spinning, the blaring stall horn silenced, and the airplane quickly returned to level flight. "You didn't tell me we were going to do that," he exclaimed.
This is an example of scenario-based training that introduces the student to the unexpected. Traditional training, on the other hand, follows a syllabus that says to the student, "Today, we're going to learn spin prevention." The student psyches himself up. He's ready, waiting . . . and spring-loaded to do exactly what his CFI, minutes before, told him to do! This is no different than slapping instrument covers on the attitude and heading indicators, then telling the student that his vacuum pump just failed. Neither of these traditional teaching methods bear any resemblance to the real world! Or how about the CFI who hands his student a pair of foggles and says, "Bob, you've just entered the clouds . . . " With unavoidable peeking outside, the student calmly displays his IMC prowess and saves the day - and quickly becomes armed with the confidence that he can fly safely on instruments! And we wonder why VFR pilots die in the clouds! Real stuff happens by surprise . . . sometimes insidiously like a for-real failed vacuum pump. Or like an unexpected wake-producing heavy jet passing immediately in front of you. Or like an instantly spawned thunderstorm on a hot summer afternoon. Some of this kind of scenario-based training can be accomplished in an approved general aviation flight simulator, but not spin recoveries. These, and many more, must be done in an airplane. What was the training weakness experienced by the above pilot? He forgot, or was never told, that the rudder is the most important control surface on the airplane. Remember, a rudder can perform the ailerons' job but the ailerons cannot perform the rudder's job. It's a sad but true fact that had this private pilot experienced a sudden, for-real upset without an experienced CFI on board, he may not have seen tomorrow! NOTAMs - Definitely Worth Looking At!!!
This photo [click to enlarge] illustrates what happens when pilots elect to either not heed or ignore local NOTAMS such as the one that embarrassed this USAirways B-737 crew several years ago at the Rochester Airport. The applicable NOTAM warned of "snow piles along the south edge of Charlie." For some reason, the pilots elected to taxi on down this partially blocked taxiway resulting in considerable damage to the right engine. Airport surface accidents are far more numerous that we might expect. They can be as simple as allowing a main gear to sink into the soft grass along side of a paved runway . . . resulting in a prop strike. Or they can be far more disastrous such as failing to hold short at an active runway - with tragic consequences. We hear and read a lot about multi-tasking, e.g., doing two or more things at once. Taxing is one time when we should devote 100 percent of our attention to controlling the airplane. After landing, exit the runway, then stop to "clean up" the airplane instead of performing these chores as we roll into the ramp. . Had these U.S.Airways guys focused solely on their taxiing duties, it's unlikely that they would have plowed into a snow bank!
Wrong Way in the Traffic Pattern! I sat with my heart in my mouth as I heard radio calls from two different airplanes announcing their imminent arrival to Akron Airport's Runway 7. One guy was announcing his left base entry to Runway 7. The other guy was announcing his right base entry to the same runway! The bright late afternoon sun and haze reduced the visibility to less than five miles. Neither pilot indicated hearing the other's position report. I stood helplessly in front of the fuel pumps waiting for the sound of crunching metal over the populated area immediately west of the airport.
The FARs do not have a lot to say about traffic patterns, but they are clear on this one point: FAR 91.126(b)(1) clearly states that when approaching to land at an airport without an operating control tower in Class G airspace - each pilot of an airplane must make all turns to the left unless the airport displays approved light signals or visual markings indicating that turns should be made to the right. Why does such a thing happen?
What should be done about it? Unfortunately, I did what just about everybody else does when they see stupid things like this . . . I shook my head, then kept my mouth shut as the guy taxied by to his hangar. People are very sensitive about criticisms of their flying skills. Some take such criticisms as a personal attack against their very character, their moral fiber, and their inner-being. So, unless he's reading this, he (or perhaps she) isn't even aware of the errors of his (or her) ways . . . and the near tragedy that was avoided. Time to Speak Up! Don't make the mistake of remaining silent like I did. Find a way, tactfully, to discuss the situation with an errant pilot . . . not on the radio, but on the ground like adults. Timidity is easy; uncorrected pilot behavior can be lethal. There's not a whole lot of rules about flying into and out uncontrolled airports . . . but what rules there are ought to be adhered to.
Wilbur put his finger on the major reason why the vast majority of all aviation accidents occur . . . and he wrote this three years before the birth of heavier than air flight. He also put his finger on the major shortcoming in the way we've been teaching people how to fly! Traditional flight instruction emphasizes skill development, primarily stick and rudder skills. Traditional CFIs teach one maneuver and after another and they don't sign off students to take their check ride until they master those maneuvers - all of which are neatly described in the Practical Test Standards (PTS). What happens when a newly minted pilot becomes adept at these maneuvers? Perhaps he becomes a bit over-confident. The accident data for pilots with less than 200 hours total time are enlightening. They include:
Sure, this stuff happens to high time, experienced pilots as well, but it happens to these guys because they are products of the same training deficiencies that newer, low time pilots are encountering. While it's easy to blame the Practical Test Standards (PTS), the real problem lies with many flight instructors themselves. Good CFIs are well aware of the recent changes in the National Airspace System, the newer, technically advanced aircraft (TAA) that are entering the market, and the post-9/11 threats to general aviation. These good CFI's are taking their students into the system and into the weather to see, first hand, what the world outside the PTS really looks like. The remainder of the CFIs will continue to emphasize maneuvers-based training, will keep their students in the practice area, and will shut down flight training when the visibility dims, the ceiling lowers, the winds kick up, and the clouds get cold. Over 100 years of accident statistics prove that the message underlying Wilbur Wright's statement to be correct. When this message reaches into all flight training departments, the GA accident rate, in my opinion, will drop dramatically.
What's Wrong with this Picture? Answer: This Malibu pilot elected to taxi down an airport service road instead of a taxiway, then struck a sign! [Click on photo to enlarge.] There's not a pilot among us has not done at least one dumb thing in an airplane [my own piloting foibles are too numerous to list here]. This particular mishap is evidence of what experienced pilots (hey, if he's flying a Malibu, he better be experienced) can do when they're not paying attention . . . particularly on airports where a lot of construction is underway. Whenever operating on an unfamiliar airport, let the ground controller know. S/he'll be happy to provide you with progressive taxi instructions to wherever you wish to go.
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the Airwaves" out with the trash
Over the Airwaves is not intended to be your typical training, official news, or club-type social journal. Instead, its intent is to stimulate thought, enhance aviation critical thinking skills, to encourage the strong pilot, and to disturb the weaker pilot. With this breadth of scope, Over the Airwaves will evoke a number of reactions. Please feel free to share these reactions with me by clicking HERE.
Past Issues of
Click on any of the links below:
Vol 1, No. 1 - May
28, 2004 Wonderful World of Flight Homepage Safe Flying,
Bob Miller, CFII |
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If
the airplanes of tomorrow are being flown by pilots with yesterday's
training, then it's obvious the training - or at least the areas
that we've traditionally emphasized - has to change. This
observation was made by Mike Radomsky, president of the Cirrus
Owners and Pilots Association at the FAA General Aviation Research
training forum held in June at the University of North Dakota's
Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences. In discussing the
continuing problem of why pilots, flying perfectly good airplanes,
continue to crash, Bob Wright, division manager in the FAA's
Flight Standards Service said that "the training emphasis
today is on passing the knowledge and practical test and not
necessarily in operating in the national airspace system."
"Don't
spill the drinks"
is the mantra that every airline and corporate flight department impresses upon
their pilot crews! We all know that passengers don't like to
be jostled around in airplanes. Any proficient pilot riding in back
can feel when some ham-fisted pilot is at the controls.
They yank and bank, skid and slip as the passengers sit helplessly
feeling their stomachs swinging back and forth and watching their drinks slide across their tray tables.
When
the engine begins to sputter in flight, one of the first things a
pilot has to ask himself is, "Who Owns This Airplane?"
The answer to this question often determines whether or not
the pilot and his passengers will survive the ensuing event.
The following
statement was taken from a recently submitted NASA Aviation Safety
Reporting System (ASRS) form:
Hmmmmm
. . . I asked him if sudden upsets leading to stall/spins often come
with a warning?
My
thoughts went into "fast forward" mode. I imagined the worst.
It would be bad enough that an innocent guy on the left base, flying
by the rules, would meet his fate at the hands of somebody flying
the wrong way in the traffic pattern - but to have this tragic
accident happen overhead the noise-sensitive neighborhoods that have
been giving Akron Airport such grief would be the final blow!
The public outcry calling for the closing of Akron Airport would
likely spell the end to this wonderful facility . . . particularly
if there were injuries or fatalities of people on the ground.
All because somebody wasn't flying by the rules.
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the Airwaves" . . . . .
