May, 2008 Vol. V, No.
5 |
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Welcome
to the
Over the
Airwaves
aviation journal. This complimentary e-publication
is prepared monthly for pilots and aviation enthusiasts around the
world. Its aim
is to promote
flight safety, encourage students and new pilots, and to build
enthusiasm for aviation in general.
Integrated Flight Training At long last, the GA flight training industry is beginning to make changes that will produce better trained pilots in less time and at lower costs. This has all been made possible through the pioneering work of NASA and its Advanced General Aviation Transportation Experiments (AGATE) program, Middle Tennessee State University, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and Jeppesen. Together, these and several other organizations developed a 70-lesson integrated private/instrument curriculum. This program is premised on the notion that instrument training is as important to flight safety as is knowing how to land an airplane. Therefore, why wait until after a person receives his private pilot certificate before pursuing the instrument rating? The answer is simple. Don't wait. Thus is born the concept of integrated private/instrument training where these two traditionally separate and distinct private and instrument curricula are integrated into a single training package. The net result is safer pilots, in less time, and at substantially lower total training costs. But Does it work? I've been combining the private and instrument curriculum for the past several years. As a result, most of my private students go on to complete their instrument ratings with greater ease and at far less time than traditionally trained private pilots. For example, my private students are taught basic attitude instrument flying on day one of their training. We do as much of this in actual IMC as weather permits. We do climbs, descents, and turns solely by reference to the instruments. What better way is there to teach the proper relationship of pitch, power, airspeed, and trim than to have students develop an effective instrument scan early in their primary training? When it comes time to land I have the student enter the instrument procedure into GPS and have them track the final approach course and glideslope to the airport. Remember why 60% of all student pilots quit before checkride!! There is one sad fact about traditional flight training that we seem to forget. That fact is, approximately 60 percent of all new flight students drop out before obtaining their private pilot certificate. Not surprisingly, they drop out for one or more reasons. High on this list of reasons is that their flight instructor managed to destroy their students' joy of flight during the initial training hours. For example, the new student is taken immediately to the practice area where he engages in mindless and repetitive maneuvering exercises followed by takeoff and landings at the same one or two local airports. Over and over, up and down, up and down, the new student trades the thrill of flying for some inane ritualistic air work called for by a 50 year-old flight training curriculum. Rather than integrating the building blocks of flight training into a meaningful whole, the student quickly grows either bored or frustrated. Before long, the unimaginative instructor beats out any last remaining joy of flight from the hapless student. Only the most diehard, internally motivated, self-directed students press on to the checkride. The other 60 percent find reasons not to return to the airport. And we wonder why our GA pilot numbers are falling! There is a solution. Integrating the private with the instrument curriculum enriches the training regimen dramatically. When combined with cross-country flights at the earliest stages of primary flight training, the rate of total learning is enhanced by the sense of adventure that is incorporated in every flight. Reasons for change . . .
It is a well-known fact to frequent OTA readers that our fatal accident rate has remained statistically unchanged since the last century. Sure, the spinmeisters sugar coat the accident data by talking about accident numbers rather than accident rates. Remember, when total GA flying hours go down, accident numbers decrease. The accident rate, however, doesn't necessarily change. Still and all, we manage to log about one fatal accident a day in the United States on average. Hour for hour, GA flight remains 100 times riskier than airline flight. Over 80 percent of all fatal accidents are due to pilot error. This horrible GA fatal accident record speaks volumes about the effectiveness of our faulty traditional flight training methods. It also speaks to the necessity for change in the way we train pilots. With integrated flight training, every GA pilot is sufficiently skilled on the gauges to save his bacon when the weather worsens. He has a keen understanding of the national airspace system and is able to access the system resources to affect a safe outcome every time. Continued VFR flight into IMC, the number one weather-related cause of all fatal accidents, will be dramatically reduced. Second on the
list of GA's major problems is COST. With fuel and
insurance costs, flight schools have been forced to
steadily increase the rental charges on their training
aircraft. Some college-based flight schools are
now charging between $200 and $260/hour for a C-172 with
Doing the math for an "average" student, the total cost to produce an instrument rated private pilot using traditional training methods can easily reach between $20,000 and $25,000 or more. By integrating the private with the instrument rating, the total costs can be reduced to between $14,000 and $18,000. Integrated flight instruction slow to take hold . . . Any changes to the way we
train pilots today will be slow in coming simply
because most flight instructors train the same way they
were trained. They figure that since it worked for
them, it will work for their
This "blind leading the blind" approach is, unfortunately, reinforced heavily by the publishers of flight training curriculum and the flight schools that purchase them. As most flight schools have discovered, it is far easier to follow a pre-packaged curriculum than it is to design their own integrated curriculum. So where does this leave us? So where does this leave us? Caveat emptor (translated: "Let the buyer beware.") In essence, prospective flight students who are fortunate enough to receive integrated flight instruction will have a far higher likelihood of achieving both a private pilot certificate and instrument rating in less time and at lower total cost than those who receive traditional flight instruction. As word of their success spreads, there will be a giant sucking sound of flight students fleeing traditional flight schools in search of a far more enlightened and entertaining approach to flight instruction!
The Artful Use of Flaps
Let's take a look at the TWO different ways that flaps impact the way our airplanes fly:
How much flaps to use when? Understanding the varying aerodynamic effect of various flap settings can make a big difference in our overall pilot proficiency. Rather than randomly lowering flaps as we descend to the runway, we can use specific flap settings to achieve more desirable results. The first desirable use of flaps typically occurs as we enter the downwind leg of the airport traffic pattern. Our goal is to begin slowing the airplane from high to low cruise speed while maintaining proper pattern altitude. This can be achieved by a reduction in power followed by a 10 or 15 degree flap extension. A bit of practice here is required to produce the desired airspeed reduction causing a "ballooning" effect. The proper use of flaps also offers a major advantage when executing instrument approaches. Our goal here, of course, is to begin slowing the airplane on the final approach course without causing major trim setting or altitude fluctuations. Again, a bit of practice is required when timing flap extension with power reductions to achieve a desired airspeed reduction while maintaining a stabilized approach. The second desirable use of flaps occurs when turning on the base and final legs of the pattern. Here, we want to keep the traffic pattern in tight to the airport. (Note: Large airline-type traffic patterns not only slow things down, they increase flight risks because of the difficulty of seeing others in the pattern.) Tighter patterns require steeper descents. This is where 30 degrees or more of flaps work to our advantage. By adding more drag than lift, full flaps enable us to make the required steep descents without a corresponding increase in airspeed. Review the following illustrations . . . Study carefully the effect various flap settings have on runway touch-down points and on descent angles with constant power and airspeed. Having this awareness will make us all far more proficient pilots.
In summary, flaps are a powerful tool in the hands of a proficient pilot. When used properly and consistently, they can transform an otherwise unpredictable descent and landing (or takeoff) into predictably good outcomes every time.
Simulated instrument training can kill!! Every instrument rated pilot has had his hands full at one time or another with a flight that just wasn't going right. Such was the case with this Cessna 182 pilot with 3 passengers aboard. He was enroute from Dare County Regional Airport (MQI), Manteo, North Carolina to Shelby Municipal Airport (EHO), Shelby, North Carolina. The pilot checked in with Charlotte Approach Control at 6,000 feet. He was asked what type of approach he wanted at Shelby and if he had the current weather. The pilot responded, "Ah we do the GPS RNAV Five," and stated he did not have the current weather. The pilot was then instructed to descend to 5,000 feet and to inform the controller when he had the weather. He was then told to fly a heading of 250 degrees. Shortly after, the controller said, "November nine zero sierra say ah heading." The pilot responded, "Ah, my heading is way off I'm banking back I am now tracking 305 trying to get back." The controller instructed the pilot to turn left to a heading of 250. The pilot acknowledged the instruction; however, he did not turn the airplane to the assigned heading. The controller subsequently issued additional vectors to assist the pilot and instructed him to check his altitude after observing the airplane to be 400 feet low. After observing the airplane continuing to the wrong direction, the controller asked if the pilot was doing alright. The pilot responded, "I'm struggling a little." Over the next 60 seconds, the airplane continued its right turn, eventually heading south. The controller issued several vectors to the pilot to assist him in turning back to a westbound heading. The controller then informed the pilot that he was again drifting to the southwest and was issued a heading of 280 degrees. The pilot acknowledged the transmission. The controller issued another vector of 270 degrees. The pilot again acknowledged the transmission.
That was the pilot's
last transmission.
One witness stated that it sounded as
if it was "going up and down, searching for altitude."
He added that the airplane then appeared through the cloud
deck in a "nose-dive." The witness said he saw
the right wing separate from the airplane as it continued to
travel downward at a high rate of speed. He said the
airplane then disappeared behind trees. Shortly afterwards
the witness heard the sound of an impact. The pilot and three passengers died in this crash. NTSB Probable Cause Finding
Is there a lesson here somewhere? The lesson in this tragic scenario isn't evident until we look at this pilot's flight training experience. According to the NTSB Report, he had received his instrument rating about 15 months prior to the accident. He logged a total of only 4.8 hours of actual instrument time during that training. The remainder was all simulated instrument time! This is a classic example of where the lack of actual IMC training experience leaves pilots dangerously under-prepared for the real world of IFR flight. As in this fatal scenario, instrument-rated pilots having little or no experience in actual IMC conditions can easily become overwhelmed by the strangeness of their surroundings. Even the simple task of turning to an assigned heading or maintaining altitude in the clag can become a daunting task, as this accident pilot discovered. Simple distractions that divert one's attention from the attitude indicator can quickly result in a steep, descending turn that leaves the pilot disoriented and unable to make the proper corrections. When that happens, the game is over . . . for eternity. A word to the wise . . .
Okay, so some areas of the world such as Arizona and New Mexico do not receive a lot of instrument meteorological conditions within which to train. If that's where you live, travel somewhere else for your initial or recurrent instrument training.
It's your money and your life. If more than 70 percent of your instrument training was simulated, I'll risk a lot of angry mail and claim that your instrument ticket is like a loaded B-B gun. It's something to hold in your hand, but not very effective against the wild animals that populate the real world of IFR flight!
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Over the
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and for pilots all over the globe. Kicking the Tires ! !
There is something about airplanes,
particularly older models that spend most of their time tied
down in the wind, rain, and snow, that strongly suggest we
do more than a "kick the tires" pre-flight
inspection. Water . . . For example, water can penetrate the fuel
tanks, either through filling cap leakage or condensation.
Not surprisingly, some of this water hides in the creases of
bladder-lined tanks and in the crevices of aluminum tanks.
After a bit of in-flight sloshing around, sufficient amounts
of this water can find its way into the carburetor.
Think: sputter - sputter! Foreign matter . . . Sediment and other foreign matter can be an
even more serious problem as aging tanks, fittings, filters,
and fuel lines shed microscopic-size particulates that, when
combined together, form contaminates large enough to inhibit
fuel flow to the engine. Again: sputter -
sputter! Rust . . . Okay, so aluminum doesn't rust, but it can
corrode. When important things like aileron and
elevator hinges and cable and pulley fittings corrode,
things begin to break. Dry Rot . . .
These are just a few of the many examples of
the "hidden" things that cause airplanes to stop
flying properly. While only 1 in 10 fatal accidents
are caused by mechanical failure, it does happen with
sufficient frequency to give us all reason to do a
compulsively thorough pre-flight inspection of any aircraft
that either sits outside or hasn't flown recently. It only takes another few minutes to get
inside and look at things a bit more carefully. Then,
if you find something suspicious, get an expert to look at
it. Better yet, don't fly the airplane until the
offending item gets cleaned, repaired, or replaced. The Road to Perfect Landings . . . Every
Time! Truth be told . . . every pilots'
ultimate proficiency is not measured by how well he or she
holds altitude or heading or airspeed. It is not
measured by mastery of instrument flying, or if he can
perform a perfect snap roll. Nor is it measured by his
aeronautical decision making and risk assessment abilities. No, a pilot's proficiency, rightly or
wrongly, is judged by his landings. Do they
bounce or are they "greasers." Ask any flight instructor about what
concerns him most when his students depart on their first
solo. Yep . . . . it's the landing. Can
the fledgling pilot get the airplane back on the ground with
out taking out a couple of runway lights, striking the
prop, or worse? How's your landings? Curiously, most of us would rate our own
landings at about 7 or 8 on a scale of 10. Stand along
side the active runway at Sun 'n Fun or Oshkosh and you'll
see most landings dropping below 3 or 4 on the same scale! Okay, so what can we do to improve our
landings? Answer: Hover taxi! Find a nice long runway somewhere, make
your normal descent, then just before touching down on the
numbers, add enough power to keep the airplane flying just
a couple feet above the entire length of the runway at the
edge of stall speed. In fact, a properly
working stall warning horn should be sounding throughout
this exercise (see illustration below).
You will soon discover that this is a far
more difficult exercise than you might imagine.
Mastery of this procedure requires consummate pitch and
power control. Remember, too, to keep the nose
pointing directly down the runway (good use of rudder pedals
is critical here.) Look out the side window! With the nose pitched up in this slow
flight condition, it is impossible to see the runway while
looking straight ahead in most airplanes. Therefore,
do what our tail-dragger friends do. Learn to perform
this hover taxi exercise by looking out the side window
only. Judge your position over the runway and your
altitude by reference to the passing runway edge. Do it in a crosswind!
Therefore, find a day when gusty winds
are blowing directly across the runway. Learn to "lean
into the wind" (bank in the direction the winds are
coming from), then use opposite rudder inputs to keep your
airplane perfectly aligned with the runway centerline.
Do this until you can perform the maneuver effortlessly.
Flight
instructors can stop being concerned about his students'
first solos if, first, his students' master hover taxiing!
Better yet, don't even begin to teach your primary students
how to land until they, first, learn to hover taxi smoothly. In summary, smooth landings ARE the sign
of a proficient pilot. Practice hover taxiing
frequently and you'll soon be receiving 10s by all others
who score landing!
"Keys to Good Landings" is the latest in a series of podcasts I have been doing with Aero-News.Net's Paul Plack. You can hear, or download for later listening, these 15 minute interviews and any of the previously conducted podcasts by clicking on the titles below: Podcast Titles[Click on desired titles - several minutes may be required to download.] Titles in RED are new since the last OTA. By the way, Aero-News.Net is a FREE daily online publication that is packed with aviation related news. It is the first thing I read every morning. You can log on to Aero-News.Net and subscribe for your free subscription by clicking HERE. The Deadly Over-bank . . .
What is it about us pilots that like to over-bank an airplane when making turns to a desired heading? When flying in VFR, this problem is serious. When flying IFR, it could be deadly! Could it be the "steering wheel effect" that we inherit from driving automobiles? We grab the wheel and yank it around like a New York City cabbie dodging pedestrians and other traffic! So what's the big problem with steep turns?? There's nothing wrong with making steep turns when performed properly (coordinated) and with adequate outside visual references. In VFR conditions, the problem comes when we're operating low and slow. In IFR, over-banking can lead to sudden disorientation and loss of control. Reference to the above drawing illustrates how the outside wing in a turn travels faster than the inside wing. More speed translates to more lift and more lift translates to more drag. The end result is a "yawing" effect opposite the direction of the turn. The steeper the turn, the greater this yaw effect. Yaw combined with stall equals spin!
This is illustrated on the accompanying graph. Observe that as bank angle increases, the stall speed increases as well. The deadly duo! As the bank angle increases, uncorrected yaw increases as does stall speed. The steeper the bank, the closer the airplane comes to its stall speed. When STALL and YAW occur at the same time, the airplane spins. When this occurs at or near pattern altitude, there is not sufficient time to recover. Should a YAW and STALL occur in instrument conditions, it is likely unrecoverable at any altitude! In summary, the only time a steep bank may be necessary is to avoid an imminent mid-air collision. Other than that, banks beyond 30 degrees should seldom be necessary. Stay within that limit and we should never get in trouble. Oil . . . the life blood of our engines!
1. Lubrication: It's no secret that oil lubricates. Loss of lubrication of moving parts results in metal destruction and sudden stoppage. 2. Cools: Combustion produces heat. Some of this heat is transferred to the oil which is dissipated as the oil passes through the oil cooler. 3. Cleans: Take a look at your fireplace after a winter of burning logs. Lots of soot, right? Engine combustion produces similar soot that is picked up by the oil and is quickly removed by the oil filter. Take a close look at the simplified illustration below. Find the oil pump and note how the oil travels from there through a filter and oil cooler before being sent back through the engine. It finally settles back to the bottom of the crank case where it starts the process all over again.
Oil requires more than checking before each flight. It requires changing every 50 hours of so (25 hours if there is no oil filter). Clearly, one of the best things we can do for our engines is to: (1) ensure adequate oil volume before every flight, and (2) make regular oil changes. Lastly, check the evidence . . . Oil can be a tremendous diagnostic tool for the proficient pilot. As a scavenger, it often contains evidence of emerging engine problems. As such, we should do two additional things following each oil change:
What's happening at BMFT? Somebody recently asked me how things were going at Bob Miller Flight Training, Inc. My reply came without hesitation. "I created a monster!" While certainly not complaining, the combination of great weather, beautiful G1000-equipped glass cockpit airplanes, and an unquenching demand for non-traditional flight instruction from both local and out-of-town pilots have produced explosive growth in this Buffalo-Lancaster Airport-based flight school. Remember, what's good for flight schools is good for their airport hosts as well! Adding to its success has been the popularity of our NYC Class B Airport and NY Adirondack/Vermont Mountain training flights.
Proving out what I've been writing about in OTA for the past four years, the place to produce meaningful change in general aviation is at the primary flight training level. It is here where people either get excited about flying or they quit in frustration.It is also here where, in addition to airmanship technique, the proper foundation of sound aeronautical decision-making and effective risk management skills are developed. If we manage to do the job correctly at this level, our long-term GA safety record will improve dramatically. Upcoming plans . . .
Also, in an effort to attract increasing numbers of young people into aviation BMFT is working with area high schools and colleges in developing specially designed in-school flight training programs.
Thus, as you can see, we've been busy putting into practice many of the things addressed in Over the Airwaves over the past several years. It will take some time to produce measurable results, but when we do my hope is that other flight schools around the world will follow the example. As for remaining challenges, finding quality flight instructors with extensive "in-the-system" experience tops the list. If you know anybody in this category, please send them to me!
While at Sun 'n Fun this past month, I had the distinct privilege of spending some quiet time with Van's Aircraft legendary founder, Dick VanGrunsven. I asked him, "What's your take on the proficiency of today's general aviation pilots?"
Next question . . . why does this happen? "The problem can be traced right back to faulty flight instruction. Today's flight instructors are not spending enough time teaching their students how to fly slow . . . I mean REALLY slow." Dick went on to say that he learned to fly as a teenager, mostly in J-3 Cubs. As he progressed through his ratings, he would typically bring his airplane in over the trees at just five knots above stall. "My flight instructors would scream at me, saying that I was flying too slow. The instructor would push the throttle in, we'd go around, then he would demonstrate how to land his way . . . . 25 to 30 knots above stall speed!" "This problem is worsened by flight instructors who use the Practical Test Standards (PTS) as their training curriculum instead of spending time really teaching their students how to fly," added Dick. He went on to say, "There is a lot of pressure by flight schools to get their students through the checkride in the shortest possible time. Thus, their training curriculum gives their students only minimum instruction in stalls, and most omit any real cross-control and accelerated stall training." How can we fix the problem? Dick didn't hesitate to suggest ways we can fix this problem. "We need to spend much more time teaching students how to fly at the slow end of the airplane's operating envelope. For example, before teaching landings, we need to have our students fly at the edge of stall just two or three feet above the entire length of the runway. This kind of experiences instills a far better understanding of the relationship between pitch and power required for landing than having them repeatedly bounce off the runway." He went on to emphasize that cross-control and accelerated stalls must be mastered rather than just talked about. "We need to allow students to experience just how suddenly a stall can turn into a spin." "Think about it, Bob. The typical GA pilot drives his airplane into the air, drives it along in cruise, then drives it back down to the runway. When does he ever learn how to fly slow?" Dick's very evident point is that if every pilot was truly proficient at the slow end of the operating envelope, we could dramatically reduce our fatal accident rate. Lessons for all of us. First, for pilots . . . the more proficient we become in slow speed flight, the less likely we will experience maneuvering mishaps. Let's all go out, climb to a safe altitude, pull the power back and spend several hours operating at the bottom end of the green arc on the airspeed indicator. Try a few turns, pull the airplane up into a stall, and watch what happens. Caution!!!!! If you are a bit rusty with slow flight, bring along your favorite flight instructor. Have him take you through the entire stall series including, of course, cross-control and accelerated stalls. Note: Not all CFIs are comfortable performing these slow flight maneuvers. Shop carefully. Second, for flight instructors . . . we are required to teach EVERYTHING that's included in the FAA's Airplane Flying Handbook, not just what's included in the PTS! If you are not comfortable performing REAL cross-control and accelerated stalls, get the training required to acquire that comfort level! All in all, Dick VanGrunsven's wisdom regarding pilot proficiency is something we should all take to heart. If we do, our fatal accident rate will plummet. Bob
Miller, ATP, CFII 
Goings On About Town . . . Please make note of the following events where Bob Miller will be speaking on the topic of: “Pilot Proficiency – Top Ten Keys to Safe Flight!”
Recreational
Aircraft Association - Niagara Meeting Saturday, June 14 at 11:00am
Williamsport
Regional Association of Pilots Note: Also speaking at the Williamsport Fly-In will be J. J. Greenway, AOPA Chief Flight Instructor (at 1pm), who will be addressing radio communications, and Ian Walsh, Textron Lycoming Engines VP & General Manager (at 2pm), who will be talking about the future of the reciprocating engines. Niagara Frontier Aviation and Space Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies Also, please join with me as I and several other Western NY aviators will be inducted into the Niagara Frontier Aviation and Space Hall of Fame.
Joseph's Country Manor and Grove
|
Aside
from our deplorable student pilot dropout rate, we have
other serious problems in general aviation.
Top on the list is RISK. 
instructor!
students.
Of all the control
surfaces, flaps are arguably the least understood by a vast
percentage of today's GA pilots. When landing, many of
us extend the flaps without really understanding what's
happening aerodynamically.
Want
a tip that can save your life? Here it is . . .
"simulated" instrument flight using a view limiting device
is about as effective as going bear hunting with a B-B gun.
It simply does not work, and those flight schools and flight
instructors who claim otherwise are, in my opinion, guilty
of perpetuating a dangerous myth.
For
those of us who reside in less sunny environments, throw
away those view limiting devices. If enrolled in a
flight school that refuses to train in low IFR conditions,
quit . . . and find a school or CFII who will provide you
with the training that will keep you safe in the clag.
Alternator
belts, fuel line connectors, and tires and inner-tubes
deteriorate with age even more so than through normal wear
and tear. Tiny cracks begin to appear that can easily
escape inspection and before long the material begins to
decompose. 
It's
one thing to hover taxi in calm or slight headwinds.
It's quite another to do it effectively with a crosswind
component reaching the demonstrated crosswind capability of
your airplane. 
Never solo a student until he can
master this exercise dual!
Similarly,
the steeper the bank, the greater the load placed on the
airplane. The greater the load, the higher the stall
speed.
All
pilots, proficient or otherwise know to check the oil before
launching, but do we really understand the vital roles oil
performs in our engines?
Recognizing
the value of proven products, BMFT will soon become a Cessna
Pilot Center (CPC). Through a contractual arrangement
with Cessna Aircraft, BMFT will have the benefit of the
latest flight training materials combined with an extensive
network of aircraft and flight training support.
Lastly,
BMFT will soon be operating under Part 141 as an
FAA-approved flight school. This step will add
an important quality check to BMFT while at the same time
enabling college students and other adults to receive higher
education federal and state financial aid to help underwrite
their flight training.
His
response was slow and deliberate. He said,
"Most of the accidents we see are a result of losing
control while maneuvering at slow speed." He
added, "It wasn't the airplane's fault;
instead, the pilot simply allowed the airplane to stall,
yaw, and sometimes spin. When that happens, the
pilot dies and his passenger dies."