Sunday,
January 28, 2007 Vol. IV No.
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Welcome
to the
Over the
Airwaves
aviation journal. This complimentary bi-weekly e-mailing
is being sent to 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.
Dear Pilots and Aviation Enthusiasts:
Recurrent Training There are two words that can produce a dramatic reduction in our worsening GA fatal accident rate. These two words are: "recurrent training." Recurrent training is any form of flight instruction that expands the participant's operating envelope. For the day VFR only pilot, it might include several hours of night instruction. For the non-proficient IFR pilot, it would certainly include several hours in the clag with an experienced CFII. For the cross-country pilot, recurrent includes a flight though busy airspace like the Boston, New York, Atlanta, or Los Angeles TRACONs. For the CFI, recurrent training MUST include recoveries from unusual attitudes! For the instrument instructor, it includes unusual attitude recoveries while in IMC. Let's not be naive' here. This stuff happens in the real world. Making the most of every flight hour!
On the other hand, flights that include a review and confirmation of the aircraft performance tables, simulated engine failures, recoveries from unusual attitudes, slow flight, stall and incipient spin recoveries, flight in IFR conditions, and partial panel work can provide a big boost to any pilot's proficiency. For the instrument pilot, recurrent training includes defensive icing strategies, emergency GPS descents, partial panel work, and unusual attitude recoveries in the clouds. One of my favorite recurrent training exercises is "hands free" maneuvering. This involves climbing to a safe altitude, then reducing power to your slow cruise speed. This is followed by meticulously trimming for hands off straight and level, unaccelerated flight. Once trimmed, climb and descend using power changes only. All turns are made using gentle toe pressure changes on the rudder pedals. This is all accomplished with one hand on your lap and the other on the throttle. Don't worry about uncoordinated flight here as most properly trimmed production GA aircraft will remain coordinated with gentle toe pressures. Next, using the yoke, put the airplane into an unusual attitude. Recover immediately using rudder and power changes only. You'll be surprised how a properly trimmed airplane will quickly right itself using rudder and inputs only. Think you are proficient at this . . . try landing without touching the yoke or stick! Instrument pilots - try doing this under the hood while on the ILS (with a safety pilot, of course). Semi-annual recurrent training
Each of these sessions will likely provide us with one or more piloting tips that could spell the difference between happiness and disaster! For those of us who believe ourselves to be already proficient, consider investing in aerobatic or extreme maneuvers recovery training. Or we can pursue that next rating or certificate level. Not only will our skills improve, our insurance rates may be reduced in the process! A word about costs No discussion of recurrent pilot training is complete without addressing the matter of costs. Sure, this stuff is expensive. The aircraft and instructor costs for each recurrent training session can easily approach $500 or $600.
The hard reality is . . . . those of us who fly have two choices. We can invest in flight safety, which includes recurrent training. Or, we can have a heart-to-heart conversation with ourself about giving it all up.
This is a tough
choice, but there is only one right answer for YOU! Fly safe,
Bob Miller, ATP, CFII Fuel Starvation - Fatal Oversights!
Everything was routine until reaching about 500 feet. Then the engine sputtered! The pilot pressed the mike button and broadcasted the following message: "...I have zero fuel pressure and I'm going in." A friend of this pilot happened to be flying in the pattern at the time this distress call was made. He called the pilot and asked if he had the electric fuel pump on and the pilot responded "Yes." During the emergency descent, the airplane collided with trees and fell to the ground. The pilot was fatally injured. Accident Investigator Findings The following extract from the NTSB report points to the source of the problem.
Not one . . . but two pilot oversights! It is clear from the accident findings that this 1,034 hour single and multi-engine rated pilot took off with the fuel selector positioned on the near-empty right fuel tank. When the engine quit, neither he nor his friend circling above thought to switch tanks! Probable Cause Finding:
Imagine yourself as the friend flying above the distressed airplane. You hear the distress call. You have only seconds to offer a lifesaving suggestion. What would your suggestion be?
Switching fuel tanks is nearly always the solution! Curiously, many airplanes and their crew have met an untimely end due to what appeared at the time to be fuel exhaustion. When the investigators arrived on the scene, they found plenty of fuel in at least one of several other tanks. Worse, they found the airplane engulfed with flames, fueled by gas found in another tank(s). The first thing we do when experiencing a rough running engine Each of us should be "spring loaded" to switch fuel tanks whenever a rough engine is encountered. This will solve the vast majority of rough running engine issues. Turning on the electric fuel pump may help, but only if the rough running engine is caused by a failed mechanical fuel pump. Of course, proper fuel management from pre-flight to cruise, to landing, will prevent a fuel exhaustion scenario. This means departing with adequate fuel, properly distributed among the aircraft's multiple fuel tanks. Obviously, making timely (every 30 to 60 minutes) fuel tank changes goes without saying! "Mushing" Off the Runway
Anxious to keep up with rapid-fire tower controllers' commands, their hapless pilots firewall the throttle and yank their stick or yoke into their belly to get their faithful birds airborne as soon as possible. The nose slowly lifts off of the pavement. The airplane seems to waddle as it climbs in ground effect. Struggling from the adverse effects of maximum gross takeoff weight, oppressively high density altitude, and poor pilot technique, it is a wonder that the airplane makes it over the fence! Enter the world of "Reverse Command"
Airplanes exhibit strange qualities when operating at slow speeds. In fact, if we get them going slow enough, the application of MORE power will cause them to go SLOWER! When this happens, the airplane is said to have entered the "region of reversed command or behind the power curve." Unless the pilot corrects this situation, the results can be disastrous. Looking at the chart (right), the curving orange line represents various power settings of an airplane in level flight. When the airplane is traveling faster than its best endurance speed, the addition of power, when maintained in level flight, results in increase airspeed. This is as we would expect. Note what happens when the airplane is traveling below its endurance speed. Here, the addition of power causes the airplane to fly slower. This is the "region of reversed command." Back to the runway at Sun 'n Fun or Oshkosh . . . The pilot applies maximum power at brake release. Anxious to get airborne, the pilot rotates before reaching the best endurance speed for his or her airplane. Still in ground effect, the airplane slowly "mushes" off the runway. Now in the "region of reversed command," the continued application of full power results in a reduction in airspeed. Moments later, the airplane teeters on the edge of a departure stall. The Solution The ONLY solution our hapless pilot has is to immediately INCREASE airspeed by lowering the nose. He must hold the nose DOWN long enough to permit the airspeed to increase beyond its best endurance speed. When this is achieved, his pitch angle can be slowly increased to produce the desired climb rate. This entire sad scenario can be prevented by not permitting the airplane to ever enter the "region of reversed command." Given the fact that total power is fixed, our only controllable variable is airspeed. We control airspeed, of course, with pitch! Master the Steep Spiral - It could save your life! Of all the in-flight exercises we practice, the steep spiral offers one of the most profound benefits, particularly to the instrument pilot in or above the clouds. Here's the scenario . . . You are cruising along at 12,000 feet. A solid undercast at 9,000' covers the entire sky below you. Then it happens. Your once smooth running engine begins to miss-fire. Black oil covers your windscreen.
Instinctively, you reach over and press the nearest button on your GPS and note that there is a suitable airport just three miles off of your left wing. Pitching to best glide speed, you point your disabled aircraft in the direction of the airport. Still above the clouds, you have got just one shot at the airport. You are uncertain of the wind direction at the lower altitudes. You need time to sort things out. The Steep Spiral Saves the Day!
The idea is to glide directly over the target airport by reference to the GPS screen. Next, adjust the range on the screen so that the position of your airplane over the airport is easily monitored. The remainder of the maneuver is performed just as it was on the commercial checkride. Establish your best glide speed, then initiate a 45 to 60 degree bank turn directly over the target airport. Caution, since this maneuver is performed in IMC, you may wish to limit your bank angle to 45 degrees. Necessary adjustments will, of course, have to be made to remain directly above the airport. The final step in this maneuver is to insure that you arrive at an altitude where you would normally turn from the downwind to the base leg in the airport traffic pattern. This is called the "key point."
There is one additional factor that must be present for the steep spiral to work in this scenario. That factor is . . . the cloud bases over the airport must be at least at pattern altitude!
Practice, Practice, Practice There is only one way to insure that the steep spiral maneuver will save the day in this scenario. That is, the pilot must be proficient in its use. Go out and practice this maneuver under the hood or in IMC (with a block altitude clearance, of course). Be sure to have a safety pilot on board when you do this the first several times. In summary, the practical usefulness of this maneuver for the instrument pilot is so important that thought should be given to including it in the Instrument Pilot Practical Test Standards (PTS) for pilots in airplanes equipped with GPS moving maps. Skiing Adventure - Mont Tremblant, Quebec, Canada One of the real joys of owning your own aircraft is the ability to get up and go just about anywhere you want to go, without booking airline reservations and enduring oppressive security checks. This weekend trip to Mont Tremblant, located about 100 northwest of Montreal, Canada, is the reason this week's issue of OTA was published a few hours late. We made this trip from Buffalo, NY in 1.7 hours. The normal driving time would have been 6 to 7 hours. My wife, Jo, put this trip into my Christmas stocking - hotel, meals, and lift tickets. My only responsibility was to get us there! Pictured below is me and 16 year old daughter, Erica.
Pictured left is my wife, Jo, at the base of Mont Tremblant Village. We aviators have the tremendous privilege of taking to the skies just about anytime we wish. But the real joy comes to those whose spouses have an equal love of general aviation. When Jo accepted my proposal for marriage some 18 years ago, she knew that I came with airplane. If she accepted me, she'd have to accept the airplane and its benefits as well. Jo is a flying fan. She has accompanied me in N4720Y to every major city east of the Mississippi. And she's consented to a somewhat longer trip to Alaska this coming summer. Pilots . . . if your spouse enjoys flying with you, treat that person like gold! It is, indeed, a special blessing.
The Mont Tremblant International Airport is something less than what someone from USA might expect. It is a picturesque log structured facility (pictured behind my Cessna 210 above). It has a single runway (03/21) with a GPS approach. It was -25d C on the ground when we arrived this past Friday morning. Brrrrrr . . . I was able to plug my Tannis heater into local AC power for our three day stay. Again, the freedom to get up an go, anywhere in North America is a privilege that should never be taken for granted! Improper Control Inputs in the Spin! A trauma surgeon recently mentioned to me that if we could remove motorcycles from the highway and achieve mandatory seatbelt compliance, we could close 85 percent of our nation's hospital emergency departments. While pure speculation, the thought is intriguing. Here's another speculative thought. What would be the impact on the fatal GA accident rate if ALL pilots knew how to recover from spins?
We have another short video that provides a dramatic look at the anatomy of a spin. You will see how incorrect control inputs exacerbate the spin. More importantly, you will see how the CORRECT control inputs return spinning the airplane immediately to stable, wings level flight. The key, of course, is to know what those correct control inputs are. Click HERE to view the video, then return here for further discussion. (Note: This video was produced by Fighter Combat International)In this video we witnessed how the application of power and either left or right rudder did nothing but aggravate the spin. View it again and watch the actual aileron movements. Application of the proper control inputs to stop the spin Viewing this video repeatedly, we can see how the correct control inputs instantly recovers the spinning aircraft. Listen carefully to the pilot's words as applies the correct inputs. Memorizing his words could save our life should we ever find ourselves in an unintentional spin. Here is what he said: "Power off; Ailerons neutral; Rudder full opposite of yaw direction; Elevator briskly forward toward neutral." This is known as the "PARE" stall recovery technique developed by Rich Stowell and now used in most aerobatic training programs.
Memorize this technique, then go back and
run the video again, repeatedly, until it is firmly set in your
mind! Air Safety Foundation executive director, Bruce Landsberg, argues that since most stall/spin accidents happen in the traffic pattern where they are non-recoverable, it is unnecessary for pilots to undergo spin training. Regrettably, this kind of "head in the sand" thinking leaves far too many pilots dangerously unprepared to recognize the flight configurations that result in a stall/spin event. Beginning the stall/spin event
While we all know that a stall can occur at ANY airspeed, the typical unintended stall/spin event begins at indicated airspeeds approaching the published Vs (stall speed) of the airplane. Fly slow, stalls are possible. What many of us forget is that Vs (stall speed) increases with bank angle! In the real world, a stall can happen unexpectedly when we slow to Va (maneuvering) speed when encountering turbulence. As our attention shifts from the airspeed indicator to the havoc caused by moderate to severe turbulence, we fail to note a sudden decay in airspeed. We do observe a downward pointing VSI (vertical speed indicator), so we pitch up to regain lost altitude and a stall results! Second, the video illustrates the second ingredient of a stall/spin event. This is the yaw created by uncoordinated flight. The pilot kicked the rudder to the left to produce a left-turning spin while holding back pressure on the stick (as when trying to maintain or regain altitude in turbulence). The result . . . we have a stall which becomes aggravated by uncoordinated flight. If every pilot understood and was able to recognize this fact alone, we could put an end to our over 50 fatal stall/spin accidents that occur every year. Solution . . . While looking at this video and reviewing the aerodynamics of a stall/spin event is helpful, the ONLY truly effective way to master this topic is to engage an experienced flight instructor and practice the PARE spin recovery technique in a spin-certified aircraft. Short of this, go out and practice stalls, particularly accelerated and cross-controlled stalls. Observe how quickly a stalled/yawed aircraft rolls into the first turn of a spin. Do this a few times and your likelihood of ever encountering an unintended stall/spin event will be reduced to zero! The MOST Important Instrument!!!
As every proficient instrument pilot knows, having an effective instrument scan is the key to safe flight in the clouds. But what we sometimes do not appreciate is that at any given time, one instrument is more important than all of the others. This is why we refer to certain instruments as primary and others as supportive in any given flight attitude. But what about the VFR-Only Pilot? The notion of primary and supportive instruments is certainly included in the private pilot training syllabus. This important topic, however, is occasionally learned in preparation for the checkride, then soon forgotten. Looking at the above instrument panel, for example, which gauge is the MOST important in a VFR climb? Sure . . . . it's the airspeed indicator. No argument here, right? Next, which two instruments are the MOST important when carrying ice on the wings in IFR conditions? Yep . . . . the airspeed indicator still reigns supreme. The other is the heading indicator. Remember, if the heading indicator is not turning, we are not banking! It's more than keeping the wings level Nobody will argue the importance of keeping the wings level, particularly when in the clouds, at night over unlit terrain, in severe turbulence, or when inside a thunderstorm. Tragically, many a doomed pilot have overlooked the airspeed indicator when struggling to keep the wings level. Thus, the airplane either gets too slow resulting in a stall and possible spin. Or, the airplane gets going too fast and structural damage results! Partial panel exercises should include covering the Airspeed Indicator! Curiously, typical partial panel exercises consist of covering the attitude and heading indicators only. While important, this leaves the hapless pilot unprepared to handle an inadvertent loss of the most important gauge on the panel . . . the airspeed indicator. Next time, try covering the airspeed indicator and see how well you do relying upon other instruments. Hmmmm . . . Which two instruments would you rely upon? One, of course, would be the tachometer or manifold pressure gauge. The other would be the angle of attack gauge. Huh, angle of attack gauge???? Do we have one of these on most single engine GA airplanes? In summary, the airspeed indicator is the most important gauge on our panel. Without airspeed, we cannot fly! Easy Fuel Planning Can Save You BIG Bucks!!
Going to the New York City area? We can spend $7.42 a gallon at Teterboro's Atlantic Aviation or we can hop over to the Westchester Airport (which is equally accessible to Manhattan) and get the same gas pumped for us for $4.04 a gallon. Big difference! Now imagine taking a cross-country flight in your Beech Bonanza, say from Peoria, Illinois to the Orlando, FL area. You can save nearly $50.00 each way in total aircraft operating costs depending upon which enroute airport you select to refuel!! How do you select the cheapest fuel sources? Airnav.com has posted a wonderful website that enables us to plug in the departure and destination points of any flight we wish to make. Click on this site, then answer a few short questions about your airplane and preferred travel profile. Within seconds, this site will direct you to the most economical route of flight with recommended refueling locations. We have posted a link to this site on the Over the Airwaves Pre-flight Briefing link at the top of each OTA issue.Wrong Altimeter Setting Spells Disaster for Cessna 210 Pilot
This 1,860 hour C-210 pilot hauling cancelled checks in the middle of the night learned the answer to this question the hard way. The pilot's duty day began at 6pm with a departure from Cahokia, Illinois. After making his scheduled rounds, he began a descent a little after 4am into the Springfield Regional Airport, Springfield, Missouri. The first link in the accident chain! A baggage handler who helped load the airplane prior to his last leg to Springfield testified that the accident pilot "looked very tired and fatigued." As is often the case with late night cargo runs, the pilot's greatest enemy is fatigue. Likely awake for 12 hours or more even before commencing this night mission, fatigue clearly took its toll on this pilot's mental faculties. The second link in the accident chain! While being vectored for the approach, the Kansas City Center controller called and gave the pilot the weather for the Springfield Airport as follows:
"Three zero two four . . ." The pilot was given and read back the altimeter setting. Did he actually make the necessary change on the altimeter???? The accident investigators reported that even though the pilot was given a 30.24" altimeter setting, the airplane's altimeter still displayed 30.50" in the Kollsman window. This 0.26" difference meant that the pilot was flying 260' lower than he thought. The third link in the accident chain! The reported weather at the Springfield Airport was a 200 feet overcast ceiling with one-half mile visibility in fog. Winds were reported at 150 degrees at 18 knots with gust to 23 knots.The pilot selected the Runway 2 approach, which created a gusty tailwind for this approach to minimums. The fourth and fatal link in the accident chain! Below is the profile view of the Springfield Airport ILS 2 approach. Note the number 2470 printed immediately above the final approach fix (FAF). This is the altitude that should appear on the aircraft's altimeter when passing directly over the FAF with a centered glideslope needle. Had there been a 260' error in altimeter setting, the accident pilot would have noted the error when passing over the FAF.
The Wreckage The main wreckage was 379 feet to the right of centerline of runway 02 and .97 mile away (016 degrees) from the runway threshold. The fatal aircraft impacted the ground one mile short of the runway. Sure, had he kept the needles centered, the ILS should have taken him to the runway touchdown zone, regardless of altimeter setting. But what if he was riding a bit below the glideslope needle and had been using his altimeter for altitude guidance? That could have been the scenario that got him! Lessons for all of us . . . This tragic wreck contains lessons for all of us. The first, of course, is our brain. This wonderfully created organ turns much of itself off whenever we are sleep deprived. Normal things that we depend upon our brain to resolve are often missed. Second, our altimeters increase in importance the closer we get to the ground. This is certainly the case on any instrument approach to minimums. On the ILS, the instrument procedure designers provide us with an exact altitude that we should be at when crossing the FAF with a centered glideslope needle. If that number varies from our altimeter display by more than 50' or so, something is amiss. Go around!!!
Every pilot since the Wright Brothers looks at the sky and asks the following question: "Should I go?" Is it too windy, are the clouds too low, do I have sufficient visibility? For instrument pilots, this question is more difficult to answer. Am I likely to accrete ice on the climb-out? What is the probability to encountering embedded thunderstorms? Can I punch through sub-freezing clouds in hopes of reaching warmer air above? Where are my back doors? The infamous "Go/No Go Decision." The decision to go or to remain on the ground is arguably the most important decision any pilot can make. The annals of aviation accident history is replete with examples where the pilot made the wrong decision. These pilots bet the farm on the "Go" decision, then lost the farm!
Low time pilots could then contact this call center prior to departure, describe the weather conditions at our departure airport. A highly experienced call center volunteer pilot would make the "Go/No Go" decision for them. Before contacting the call center, they would, of course, sign a liability release form to protect the volunteer should he or she make the wrong choice. Hat's off to Mr. Locke! Jacob Locke deserves our kudos for his creative thinking. The airlines have used the call center concept for decades to help resolve complicated in-flight aircraft maintenance problems. A quick call to the company's maintenance base puts the crew in immediate touch with the experts who have all of the manuals, procedures, and experience to help diagnose and resolve nearly any in-flight maintenance issue. Routing around weather questions? Here again, the airline guys have a dispatch department to work out their flight planning for them. Why couldn't we GA pilots make this concept work in making "go/no go" decisions? So what is wrong with a "Go/No Go Call Center concept?" On the surface, having a "Go/No Go Call Center" makes very good sense. It makes good sense because of major shortcomings in our flight training system!
Yep . . . the most important decision an instrument pilot can make is not even addressed in the Instrument Pilot PTS! Sure, there is passing reference to aeronautical decision making and risk management assessment. But there is nothing pertaining to "go/no go" decision making. Since there is no such reference in the PTS, most skills and independent CFIIs do not include "go/no go" decision making in their training syllabi. Since most CFIIs come up through these same training programs, they too lack even basic "go/no go" decision making skills. Thus, the only effective way to develop sound "go/no go" decision making skills is through experience. It's either that, or Mr. Locke's suggestion to create a "Go/No Go Call Center" (which doesn't exist)! Pretty grim, right? Developing effective "Go/No Go" decision making skills Forget about the "Go/No Go" call center. It will never happen! And it's not likely we'll be seeing any changes to the Instrument PTS anytime soon, flight schools won't be adding "Go/No Go" decision making to their training syllabi either. Thus we're left with two options. The first is to live long enough as a pilot to acquire the real world experience to hone our "go/no go" decision making skills to our repertoire. The second is to become a student of effective "go/no go" decision making skills. I like the latter option. So let's begin . . . The basis of all "go/no go" decision making is the principle of the "back door." Simply put, if I make the wrong decision and elect to launch, where can I safely go if things go wrong? Look at the following METAR report for the Buffalo/Niagara International Airport. You are flying a TKS-equipped Cirrus SR22. Would you launch?
If said anything other than "no," let me respectfully suggest that you lock your airplane in the hangar until July. Okay, so that was an easy one. Below is the METAR for Pittsburgh. This time you are piloting a Cessna 172. Would you launch?
Hmmmm . . . . This one has possibilities for the proficient instrument pilot. A normal temperature lapse rate would put the 3000' temperature at about +6d F. A check of the winds/temps aloft chart could confirm this. We'd need to know what the MVA (minimum vectoring altitude) along our planned route of flight is. Much more, of course, would go into this "go/no go" decision, but you get the idea. Who makes your "Go/No Go" decision? If you are a student pilot or you are working on your instrument rating, the "go/no go" decision should be made by YOU, not your instructor! Once you make your decision, explain the basis for your decision to your instructor. If your instructor thinks you are being too conservative, he or she should explain why. If you are being too aggressive, your instructor should explain why. This is the only way you will develop effective "go/no go" skills. The most important aspect of effective "go/no go" decision making skills is that you base it upon objective factors. In every case, your decision will include golden "back doors" should your decision prove to be incorrect!
Click HERE to view what other readers have had to say about "Over the Airwaves."
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
HERE
to open any previous issue(s) of Over
the Airwaves and to search for any past articles. Technical Assistance I would like to thank the following technical assistance contributors for their valuable help in producing OTA every two weeks: Barry McCollom, Kerrville, TX; Thom Riddle, Buffalo, NY; and Jay Rolls, Macon, GA.
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Fair
weather Saturday morning flights to the next town
for breakfast, that $100 hamburger, or repetitive
flights around the home-drome have a certain amount
of entertainment value. They are also useful
for the infrequent flyer who needs to be
occasionally reminded of where to insert the
ignition key.
One
of the best ways to maintain or build our pilot
proficiency is to make an appointment with an
experienced flight instructor every six months.
Invest two or three hours going through each of the
exercises summarized above. 
This
is not chump change for even the most well-healed
pilot. The cost of flying is a challenge for
all of us. But the cost of non-proficiency
goes off of the chart, particularly when it results
in mishap.
The
pilot of a Piper PA28-181 (Archer) took off in good VFR
conditions from the Moraine Airport in Dayton, Ohio.
Sure
. . . . switch fuel tanks! Had our man switched his
fuel tank selector, he would likely be alive today to tell
about his near-death experience!
One
of the most fascinating places to learn about aerodynamics
is along side the departure runway at Sun 'n Fun or
AirVenture in Oshkosh. Here, you will observe heavily
loaded airplanes literally "mushing" themselves into the air.
One
of your four or six cylinders just self-destructed following
its ingestion of an exhaust valve. You pull the
mixture to idle cut-off and you turn the fuel valve to off.
The sudden quietness of the engine is deafening!
While
nothing new to the pilot who recently completed his or her
commercial checkride, the steep spiral is the perfect
solution to this in-flight emergency. The only
difference is that in this scenario, the maneuver is
performed solely by reference to the GPS moving map.
Remember, the guy was above or in IMC when the engine
tanked.
Getting into the cockpit for a look
Returning again to the video, we see how
the stall/spin event began. First, the pilot put the
airplane into a stall. Without a stall, there can be
NO spin. Thus, the earliest warning sign of a
stall/spin event is any flight attitude where the wings' angle
of attack approaches the "critical" angle of attack.
One of the major oddities about general
aviation is the enormous range of fuel prices. Right
here in Western New York, we can get avgas pumped into our
tanks at the Buffalo/Niagara International Airport's Prior
Aviation for $5.10 a gallon or we can travel 12 miles over
to the Akron Airport and do it ourselves for $3.45 a gallon!
What
happens when we forget to update our altimeter setting
before commencing an instrument approach to ILS minimums?
OTA
reader, Jacob Locke, a 250 hour instrument pilot recently
wrote OTA
and suggested that a good way to prevent wrong "go/no go"
decisions would be to create a "Go/No Go Call Center"
manned by experienced IFR pilots.
Sadly,
most low time instrument pilots have NOT been provided
workable "go/no go" decision making skills. One
reason for this is because the
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