There is a lot to be said for training at polite airports, far from the crowds.  There is a casual attitude on the radios.  Each call is prefaced with "please" and ended with "thank you."  

The procedures are familiar;  voices are the same;  runway layouts never change.  Ah . . . . the sweet comforts of flight training.

Then there is the real world!  This is the "take no prisoners" attitudes displayed by professional air traffic controllers speaking at machine gun pace. 

These dedicated men and women create and orderly flow of international and domestic arrivals and departures into and out of the busiest airports in the world.   They have no time for missed radio calls, inattention to instructions, or inability to respond quickly to rapidly changing ATC traffic movement strategies.

The JFK - Newark - NYC Hudson River Corridor Flight Training Exercise

Instrument students wanting a true character-building experience as well as seasoned GA veterans wanting to stretch their IFR and VFR skills should pursue the JFK/Newark/NYC Hudson River Corridor exercise.  This three hour whirlwind workout is not for the timid pilot who enjoys casual Sunday afternoon flights through the friendly skies!

I took instrument student, Dennis Porebski, through this exercise a couple weeks ago.  It proved to be a real "eye-opener" for him, so I decided to share the experience, including photos, with my OTA readers. 

So here goes . . .

We departed the Buffalo/Niagara Falls International Airport (KBUF) at 9:30am local on an instrument flight plan.  Our requested routing of " . . . direct DNY, KJFK via the Pawling Two Arrival" was approved as requested. 

After a thorough pre-flight and a couple of quick button pushes on the Garmin 430 to load the plan, Dennis advanced the throttle, raised the gear, and the Piper Arrow climbed effortlessly through partly cloudy skies to our cruising altitude of 9,000' MSL.

As depicted on the map (right), our route took us east toward Albany, then south via the Pawling Two STAR (Standard Terminal Arrival Route) to Bridgeport, CT, then southwest across Long Island Sound. 

The JFK ATIS advised that the Runway 31L ILS was out of service and to expect the ILS Runway 31R.  Upon checking in with the NY TRACON, the controller told us to expect the visual for Runway 31L.

Hmmm . . . we advised the controller of our preference for the ILS to Runway 31R. 

"Ah . . . it will take me a while to sequence you between heavy jet traffic for 31R," replied the busy controller.

"That's okay, we'll wait," came our quick reply.  And with that, we were given a series of delaying vectors for about 20 minutes.  This gave us opportunity pay close attention to the fast speaking controller speaking with a thick New York City.  Miss a call here and a pilot could wind up 100 miles out to sea!

Finally cleared for the ILS 31R, Dennis executed a near perfect, needles centered approach and landing, followed by a tricky four mile taxi through a complex array of taxiways to GA parking located near the departure end of Runway 31L.

Lunch at JFK, then on to the next phase of training.

We downed a couple of sandwiches and cold water at JFK's only GA terminal, paid our $25 landing/parking fee, then returned to airplane for the most challenging phase of training. 

Dennis called JFK clearance delivery and requested a VFR departure to the west below 1,100' MSL, along with flight-following up the Hudson River.   Our request was approved and we received taxi and takeoff clearance from Runway 13R.

We climbed to 500' then banked right to 180 degrees.  This took us out over the ocean. 

After switching over to the NY departure controller, we were instructed to follow the Long Island shoreline by Coney Island direct to the Verazano Bridge that spans the NY City harbor. 

The view of the harbor as we passed barely 500' above the bridge was nothing short of spectacular.  We passed directly over the Statute of Liberty and Ellis Island. 

Departure Control handed us off to LaGuardia Tower as we started up the Hudson River.  

I advised the tower of our intention to fly north along the river to the George Washington Bridge at the northern end of Manhattan Island, then back down the river to the Statue of Liberty, then over the Newark Airport for landing.

The ride up and down the Hudson River and the view of the City from 1,100 to 1,500 AGL is indescribable. We were eye-to-eye with the building rooftops located less than 1/2 mile to either side of us!

Over to Newark and the final phase of our training exercise.

Upon returning over the Statue of Liberty the second time, we advised LaGuardia Tower of our intention to land at Newark.  They handed us back to NY Departure who told us to expect Runway 29 at EWR.

Newark was handling simultaneous arrivals and departures on their parallel Runways 22L and 22R.  The tower told of their intention to squeeze us in on intersecting Runway 29 between arrivals.  

The end result of this approach for me was a new appreciation for the word "squeeze."  I do not believe that I have ever been closer to a converging aircraft in flight as we were with a UAL 777 on short final to Runway 22L as we were crossing the threshold to Runway 29! 

We landed, taxied over to Signature Flight Support, refueled, had a another cold drink, and relaxed for a few minutes before heading back to Buffalo.

Unlike our quick departure from JFK, leaving EWR proved to be a bit more challenging.  Clearance delivery gave us a full-route clearance to the west via the East Texas VOR (ETX).  We plugged the numerous fixes into the GPS, then taxied to Runway 22R for takeoff.

The tower put us in position, then quickly instructed us to return to the taxiway due to a last minute routing change.  The tower gave us the new routing which was north via the Sparta VOR (SAX).  We made the changes in the box and we were re-cleared for takeoff.

As we switched from tower to departure control on takeoff, the Departure Control advised us of our THIRD routing change due to a line of developing thunderstorms to the north.  Again, we made the changes in the box, then we motored happily home.

It was a great day of training.  Dennis did more radio work and ATC coordination in one day than many GA pilots get in a full year.  He performed masterfully.  More importantly, Dennis gained the confidence to operate safely in the IFR environment in the busiest airspace in the world.  Yes, he learned to swim in the deep end and he is a much better pilot for it.

Now for the best part - PHOTOS!

You can call it what you like, but "gouging" seems to fit Atlantic Aviation, Teterboro, NJ fuel prices!  As such, pilots would be well advised to think twice before taxiing up to any Atlantic Aviation FBO!

Have you ever wondered just how many landing accidents could have been avoided if pilots actually knew the direction and velocity of the surface winds? 

Answer:  Plenty!

Wind related accidents are not specifically tracked though they may be listed as a contributing factor.  What does get recorded, however, in wind-related accidents is "pilot factor."  This is a nice way of saying that the pilot screwed up!

Determining the winds . . .

Given the preponderance of wind direction and velocity information, it would seem unimaginable that a pilot would not have this information prior to landing!  It is obtainable from in your pre-flight weather briefing or in flight from the ATIS/AWOS/ASOS.  

You can call the airport unicom frequency and obtain a wind report.

Absent all of these sources, you can fly directly over the airport, at least 500 feet above the TPA (traffic pattern altitude), and look down for a windsock, wind tee, or tetrahedron.

Between these many sources, no pilot should ever have a wind related accident assuming he or she has sufficient crosswind landing skills!

An important lesson learned to late for this Cirrus SR22 pilot!

This past March 9th a commercial and instrument rated Cirrus SR22 pilot attempted a landing at the Scottsdale Airport in Arizona.  As he worked to bring the airplane to a stop, it began to veer to the left side of the runway in the gusting winds.

We pilots are generally good citizens.  We respect our airplanes and we respect other airmen in the sky.  But some of us could be doing more in this regard!

One thing that ALL of us could be doing is keeping our transponders on and switched to Mode C operation (altitude encoding).  No, we do not have to check in with ATC, though that is always a good idea.  Just keep the transponder turned on with the little switch turned to "alt".

What happens when we squawk altitude?

Two wonderfully beneficial things happen when we keep our transponders on and squawking altitude.

Active transponders with Mode C operating  provides air traffic control with an enhanced image of our radar target on their screen.  Rather than a dubious primary return which could be a flock of birds, the controller is able to confirm that we are, in fact, an aircraft.  In addition, the Mode C feature of our transponder transmits our altitude.

Together, these pieces of information enables ATC to relay our position and our altitude to other aircraft in the area. 

2. TCAS Alerts:

All airliners, most business jets, and increasing numbers of GA aircraft are equipped with various forms of traffic collision avoidance systems (TCAS).  These systems interrogate the transponders of all nearby aircraft, then display the resultant information on a cockpit display screen.

They only work, however, when other aircraft have their transponders turned.

Remember, of course, FAR 91.215 requires an operating transponder with Mode C in Class A, B, C airspace, within 30 miles of Class B, and above 10,000' MSL.    Similarly, if your airplane is equipped with a transponder, it must also be turned on when in Class E airspace.

Flying recently with the pilot owner of one today's fast glass composite high performance aircraft left a lasting impression with me about pilot dependence on the autopilot! 

It had been about eight months since I had signed the owner/pilot off to solo his new aircraft.   In boarding the aircraft with him for the first time since that signoff, I was confident that this owner/pilot had substantially improved his piloting skills over the ensuing months.  He had taken several solo trips to New York, Atlanta, and other large city airports, so I figured that he had pretty well mastered his machine.

Master he did . . . but it was the autopilot, not his piloting skills!

I watched this pilot as his fingers flashed across the glass instrument panel.  His mastery of the buttons was impressive.  He played the panel like a piano! Man, this guy was good and I was certainly impressed with the progress he had made.

As we were climbing effortlessly at 1,500 feet per minute up through the clouds, I suggested we disengage the autopilot and fly the airplane by hand for our planned two hour training flight. 

What happened next was nearly tragic.

I clicked the autopilot kill switch on the right hand side stick just as we were approaching our assigned cruise altitude.  As I did so, I watched in amazement as we overshot our assigned altitude by 600 feet.  Reminding the pilot/owner to descend immediately, he pushed the stick forward while still in climb power configuration.

Fumbling with trim, he then allowed the airplane to roll nearly 60 degrees in a nose down attitude while still in and out of the clouds.  We were quickly entering a spiral dive and approaching red line speed in this very sleek airplane!

I grabbed the throttle and immediately pulled it back to idle and leveled the airplane.    Once straight, level and on course, I gave the controls back to the owner/pilot and suggested we change our planned training regime.

It was clear in those brief few seconds that all of the previous experience my friend had in this airplane since I signed his solo endorsement was on the autopilot.  The only hand flying he had done was the first 500 feet after each takeoff and the last 500 feet before each landing.  "George" had done all of the other flying for him!

Aircraft factories are partially to blame!

I have flown with several new aircraft owners in recent months who have told me that their respective factory trainers instructed them to turn on the autopilot immediately after takeoff and to leave it on until on short final.  Apparently these factories have more faith in their autopilots than they do in their pilot customers!

While these factory trainers could very well be right in terms of autopilot vs. customer piloting skills, this practice can have disastrous consequences later on.  As was evident in the above described flight, continuous sole dependence on the autopilot leaves the pilot dangerously non-proficient when hand flying.

Autopilots are marvelous devices, but beware!!

Most pilots are fascinated by the marvelous workings of a properly functioning autopilot.  With altitude pre-selects and localizer/glideslope coupling mechanisms, these electronic wizards reduce the pilot load to a casual ride in an over-stuffed easy chair. 

Autopilots do earn their keep during long cross-country flights and on instrument approaches in nasty weather conditions.  They magically lock on to the final approach course and steer us home.

But . . . and this is a very big but.  As my owner/pilot discovered, dependence on the autopilot robs the pilot of the proficiency he or she needs to safely hand fly the airplane.  Allow too many flights to go by using the autopilot and a hapless pilot could find himself with more airplane than he can fly by hand.  That spells danger with a capital "D".

If ever there was a time when the entire GA industry worked tirelessly together, it is at Oshkosh!  Everybody from air traffic controllers to the port-o-potty movers ratchet up their finest demeanors to make the entire AirVenture celebration a memorable event for even the most timid pilots.

Far too many fatal GA accidents occur simply because the pilot was unaware of the stalled condition of the wing!  And for many pilots, this results from improper primary flight training!

In such cases, pilot victims likely never experienced a full stall break in the primary training.  Instead, their CFI brought them to incipient stall phase (center graphic below) where the stall horn began to chirp, then instructed them to make an immediate recovery before the full stall occurred.  

Regrettably, these improperly trained pilots seldom experience the kinesthetic feeling of a total loss of lift and resultant sensation of falling.  So when this full stall inadvertently happens in real life, the sudden unfamiliar feeling of the floor dropping out from under them leaves them waggling their yoke or stick in vain hope of keeping their wings level. 

Not working because in aerodynamically ineffective ailerons, the hapless pilot rolls into a spin which, likewise, he or she has never before experienced.   Given enough altitude, he may recover.  Closer to the ground, however, spin-induced confusion may eat up the time that he needs to make correct control inputs.

Having difficulty full stalling training aircraft?

One logical reason for improper stall instruction is the inherent difficulty of stalling most training aircraft.  Inherent, built-in stability (to protect the inexperienced pilot) makes it difficult to achieve a sharp full-stall break.  Instead, the trainer tends to "hang" in an incipient stall phase pitch attitude with the stall horn blaring.   This condition is more prevalent in the power-on versus power-off stall.

Solution:

Overcoming the built-in stall resistance in a training aircraft requires a more aggressive pitch up with sufficient airspeed to carry the wing beyond its critical angle of attack. 

Care, of course, must be used to not produce a "whip" stall which actually allows the airplane to slide backwards (much like a hammerhead maneuver) before the nose drops.  Here again, proper training is required to produce the desired outcome!

With proper stall training, inadvertent spins can be avoided!

The first thing a pilot may experience in his or her full stall break is the inherent difficulty of keeping the wings level.  Simple fuel weight imbalances in the wings and/or left turn tendencies in a full break power-on stall will cause the airplane roll aggressively in one direction or the other.  When this happens, the spin results.

When properly trained, pilots learn to keep their eye "glued" to the slip/skid indicator ball located inside the turn coordinator (in most modern setups).  Using the rudder pedals exclusively (not the yoke or stick) to achieve this is the key to spin prevention.

Designated Pilot Examiners - Take Note!

Given the continued frequency of fatal stall/spin accidents, be sure your pilot candidates demonstrate proper recovery from a full stall break rather than from an incipient stall only.

Spouses . . . do you wish you could track your partner's travels as he or she moves around the country in an airplane?  Do you wish you had a graphic record of the last dozen or so flights you made?

You can do this on http://flightaware.com/.  Simply log in (it's free), enter the tail number or airline flight number.  You will be able to track the flight live, or review the previous flights graphically.

Rightfully concerned over the 58 percent reduction in annual new pilot starts since 1979 and the rapidly aging condition of our current ranks of GA pilots, AOPA has reinvigorated its 10 year old "Be a Pilot Program."  Operating under a new name, "AOPA Project Pilot," the aim of the program is to encourage AOPA member pilots to recruit new pilots into the system and then serve as their personal mentors.

Clearly from the design of AOPA's preliminary program studies, the "AOPA Project Pilot" target population is brand new people, the proverbial man and woman on the street who has dreamed of one day learning to fly.  There is nothing wrong with that.

While bringing new, non-pilots into the system is always beneficial, the real problem is and has always the fact that nearly 40 percent of each year's 80,000 to 90,000 new student pilots NEVER earn their private pilot certificates!  The math is simple!  Between 30,000 and 36,000 people who receive a student pilot certificate are lost to the system each and every year.

Here is where the AOPA Project Pilot Program can have its greatest benefit.

Imagine if each of our current crop of 80,000 to 90,000 individuals who sign up each year for primary flight training had a personal mentor.  Our pilot ranks would swell dramatically without every having to go out and recruit new people off the street. 

This would happen simply by helping each new student pilot locate the very best flight instructors in their community.  This act alone would have the dual effect of insuring that new students connect with the very best instructors in their community AND it would help to drive the weakest instructors and flight schools right out of business.  In so doing, local competitive forces would be put to work to optimize the flight training industry.

The benefits continue . . .

As more and more AOPA Project Pilot mentored students find their way to only the best instructors and flight schools in their communities, the quality of training will increase dramatically.  This, in turn, will produce safer pilots.  And safer pilots have fewer accidents.  And fewer accidents will improve the public perception of general aviation.

As this public perception of GA improves, due primarily to reduced perception of risk, a "snowball effect" of new pilot starts will begin to roll!

In summary, it does little to recruit new pilots into a system, then subject them to much of the same deplorable training experiences that drives over 50 percent of them to quit before receiving their private pilot certificate. 

Let's all get out and support this program!

Some might call it a "Hobbs Choice" (a no win choice), the unsavory choice of deciding between hitting the trees or pitching up into a stall and resultant spin happens to pilots more times than we might imagine.

Such was the case with the pilot of a American Aviation Corp. (AAC) AA-1A (stock photo left) who lost his life while attempting an emergency landing near Levittown, Pennsylvania on May 28, 2005.

A witness, who observed the final moments of the flight, stated that the airplane's engine "just stopped." The airplane was then seen to travel across the Delaware River, westbound.

At approximately 1305 hours, the airplane was observed by another witness to be paralleling a road at low altitude with the propeller rotating at low rpm.  "The propeller then stopped rotating. The airplane then banked to the right and struck trees in a nose down, inverted attitude."

If we made every takeoff the same, the risk of (1) controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) and (2) stall/spins on takeoff could be eliminated. 

What the airlines and corporate world call "standardized procedures," we in the GA community call "fly by feeling!"  That is, we mash the throttle, rotate when it sort of "feels" read to fly, and pitch to an attitude that seems sufficient to clear the obstacles.

In short, many of us do fly by the seat of our pants!

Let's standardize our takeoff speeds!

All takeoffs follow a standard profile.  They begin with full power and brake release.  Next comes rotation, followed by obstacle clearance, and ending with cruise climb. 

Imagine what would happen if we assigned specific indicated airspeeds to each of these takeoff phases.  This can be easily accomplished by using the V speeds published in the aircraft POH.

At brake release, we call out the increasing airspeeds until reaching Vr (rotation speed).  Our initial climb is set precisely to Vx (maximum angle of climb) until clearing obstacles. 

Once clear of obstacles, we commence our initial cruise climb by reducing pitch slightly to achieve Vy (maximum rate of climb).   The final cruise climb phase is the only variable simply because V speeds change with altitude (Vx goes up/Vy goes down until reaching absolute altitude).

When combined with performance data published in the POH, every takeoff should require precisely the same ground roll, every time.  This should be task of every proficient pilot!

Ask any pilot if, given the opportunity to either simply pass the flight test OR learn to fly safely, his or her answer would likely be the latter.  Yet, if  you examine the logbooks of any newly minted pilot, you'll likely conclude that his or her preparation was designed by his instructor or flight school solely to pass the test!

Proof of this was revealed to me recently as I was reviewing the logbook of an instrument student I inherited from a nearby flight school.   This flight school provided him with all of his primary training and about 30 hours toward his instrument ticket.

Here's what the logbook revealed . . .

This flight student's primary and initial instrument instruction consisted of landings and instrument approaches at just a couple of nearby airports.  This certainly provides opportunity to gain sufficient experience to pass the check ride.

If you were to examine a sectional chart covering a 100 mile radius (excluding Canadian airspace to the north and west, you would count 29 different hard surface airports, and about 14 public use grass strips of 2,700' and longer.  These are all within a one hour flight.

Each of these 29 hard surface and 14 grass strips provide unique operational challenges. Most are very narrow, often sloping up or down hill.  Many have obstacles and/or surrounding rising terrain.  Several have right hand patterns.  Most have no weather reporting, nor attended Unicom frequencies.  Each has its own unique traffic pattern arrangement.

Students who are taken to each of these 43 airports throughout the course of their primary and instrument training pass the checkride, too.  More importantly, they learn how to fly!!

The difference between just passing the checkride and learning how to fly could save your life!

Given the fact that most GA accidents occur in and near the traffic pattern, it seems reasonable that primary flight students should be exposed to as many different airports in their training as possible. 

Each training flight should include a different airport.  In this way, the student is exposed to the hazards of unfamiliar terrain, the challenges of peculiar crosswinds, the challenges of narrow, slopping runways, and the unique layout of wind tees, socks and other wind direction indicators.

Adding grass runways to the training mix provides REAL experience with soft fields, undulating runways, and nearby trees and other obstacles.

This all adds up to preparing flight students for the many challenges that await them AFTER their checkride.  In short, it teaches students how to fly rather than to simply fulfill the prescribed training requirements of a Part 141 syllabus or the listed elements in the Practical Test Standards.

What should I do if my instructor will not take me to other airports?

The best place to start is to open your local sectional chart and have a conversation with your instructor.  Identify ALL of the airports within 100 miles of your home airport.  Indicate your desire to land at least once at each of these airports sometime throughout your training. 

If your instructor refuses, ask why.  If his explanation does not make sense from a "learning to fly" perspective (rather than just passing the checkride), find a new instructor or flight school.  After all, it is YOUR time, money, and life that's in play here!

More importantly, you will become a more a proficient pilot and have a great time doing it!

There are three events or circumstances capable of dismantling even the largest airliner in flight.  One is a mid-air collision, another is controlled flight into terrain (CFIT).  And the third is a thunderstorm.  As powerful as they are, however, thunderstorms are among the least understood of all flight risks!

Many GA pilots lock the hangar door with the airplane inside whenever they see thunderstorms in the forecast.  Others view thunderstorms as a field icebergs that can be easily circumnavigated.  Still others depend upon onboard spherics and radar to help them knit a course through a line or wide area of air mass cells.

Short answer . . . see and avoid.  Unlike icing conditions that exist where you find them, thunderstorms are generally very easy to spot.  The sky darkens, towering cumulous clouds soar high into the heavens with menacing protuberances and glowing lightning strikes.   The best piloting solution is, don't go there!

Similarly, thunderstorms are easy to predict.  You do not have to be a professional meteorologist to know that when the dew point temperature reaches 21d C. or 70d F., there is enough moisture and heat in the atmosphere to kick off a thunderstorm.  

Add to that the abundance of weather information products from convective airmets and sigments, to prog charts, and to NEXRAD depictions, the weather-savvy pilot knows precisely what he or she will be dealing with before commencing any flight.

Today's well-equipped GA aircraft has a stormscope, live radar, and uplink weather depictions.  Supporting them is an air traffic control system that, for the most part, has NEXRAD weather superimposed over their radar screens. 

Given today's technology, if a pilot bumbles into a thunderstorm, he was sleeping at the switch.  Even the most insidious of all weather phenomenon, the dreaded imbedded thunderstorm (masked in surrounding clouds), is easily identifiable in aircraft with stormscope and radar.

So why is it then that we continue to encounter thunderstorm related accidents.  Why is it that even the big guys, like the Air France Airbus A340 captain who chose to land at Toronto's Pearson Airport midst a violent thunderstorm last summer, continue to have t-storm mishaps? 

One word . . . impatience!  The one true fact about thunderstorms is, most are short-lived.  Wait 20 minutes and they will either dissipate or move out of your way. 

The second true fact is that they do kill.  Jump inside an active thunderstorm in a light aircraft and the chances of survival are poor to nil.

The more we know about thunderstorms, the better our chances of becoming old pilots.   Also, the more we know about thunderstorms, the less time we spend waiting them out on the ground.  The common element is knowledge.

No, there is no automatic need to park your airplane in the hangar when thunderstorms are predicted along your planned route of flight.  Given enough fuel and time, you can nearly always circumnavigate a line or field of thunderstorms.

Nor is there good justification for launching into IFR conditions in the presence of imbedded thunderstorms.  The ultimate decision rests on your ability to see and avoid, with your eyes, with spherics and radar, and with ATC assistance. 

You are the PIC.  Be sure you make the right call!

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