November, 2009
Vol. VI, No. 11 |
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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.
We're the Best! Hands down . . . the United States has the safest air transportation system in the world. It is also the most pilot-friendly nation on the globe. We have more licensed pilots and registered aircraft per capita than anywhere else and it costs less to fly in the USA than anywhere else in the world! But the road to these remarkable achievements has not been easy. Decades of rule-making, compromise, industry promotion, and tragic lessons learned brought all of this about. People, organizations, and government worked together, sometimes contentiously, to create a public aviation system that operates with remarkable efficiency. This proves, of course, that democracy is hard, but it is far better than any other form of government. But the process is not done yet . . . Despite these remarkable achievements, airline flights still run late and oppressive security measures and tightly packed cabins make airline travel a chore. On the general aviation side, our chronic fatal accident rate, despite aggressive safety efforts, remains significantly unchanged. That's the bad news. The good news is, we are striving to improve. Everybody from the FAA, to the big membership organizations, to aircraft manufacturers, right down to the guys and girls behind the yoke or stick is working hard to make things better and safer.
No more flight school mill graduates with a commercial ticket and just 50 hours of cross-country time and precious little real world experience will be occupying the right front seat of airliners. That's a good thing. Another is the grown-up behavior of AOPA and EAA, GA's largest membership organizations who, for decades, have jealously protected their own respective turfs, are now making signs of working together to make GA better. This, too, is a good thing.
Now for the guys and girls behind the yoke and sticks. Many of us pilots take our flight training and proficiency very seriously. We seek and accept only the best flight instructors. We're enrolled in the FAA WINGS program. We fly frequently and we practice aggressively. We're on the numbers, every time . . . all the time. But sadly . . . major gaps remain throughout our industry. Many of the FARs, particularly those found in 14 CFR Part 61 are so desperately out of date as to be laughable. We still have no objective basis for determining how many hours we GA pilots fly - thus making our fatal accident rate only an estimate, at best.
Our membership organizations, particularly AOPA and its Air Safety Foundation. . . for all the genuine good they do, aggressively play down our fatal accident rate, insisting that we pilots are good and getting better! The sad truth is, we're not. If somebody suggested that an annual flight review be required of all GA pilots, AOPA would likely be first in line to oppose it. So where does all of this leave us? Yes . . . we are the best in the world but, like the best horse in the glue factory, that's not saying much. General aviation is in deep trouble. Aside from the enormous economic pressures we're feeling, over 300 communities a year are turned off to little airplanes because of a fatal airplane crash in their back yards. Do we see AOPA or EAA exhibiting any outrage over this sad fact? Equally perplexing is the fact that only one out of every two new flight students ever make it to checkride. Bad instruction, poor flight school practices, crummy airplanes, and antiquated training curricula are to blame. So where is the outrage? Rather than biting the proverbial bullet and raising the standards, our GA industry is going in the WRONG direction. Want proof? History has shown that it takes a minimum of 40 hours to learn to fly a Piper Cub safely. Today, the FAA requires only 20 hours under the sport pilot program. It normally takes 3,000 hours of on-the-job training or several years of trade school work to become an airframe and power plant (A&P) mechanic. Today, you can become a sport pilot A&P with just 150 hours of training! This reckless relaxation of the rules is not happening in the air carrier industry . . . which is our safest component. As noted above, airline cockpit crew requirements are being stiffened dramatically. Zero-tolerance for errors under Part 121 operations is the rule. Compare that with what we observe happening in general aviation and we can quickly see why we have over 300 fatal crashes every year and over 40 percent of all new flight students quit before check ride. Yes, we are the best in the world. But so was the American automobile industry and the American steel industry. Today, nearly all of the over 100 makes and models of new light sport aircraft are manufactured in Europe and China. Yes . . . GA as we know it is in a steep descent. This means you and me . . . While the big GA alphabet organizations struggle to keep GA alive, there is something each of us pilots can be doing. First, we have to put an end to careless pilot errors that result in senseless accidents. We do this through recurrent training, heads-up flying, and simply paying attention to the numbers . . . . which include, of course, the number of gallons of fuel remaining in our tanks! Participating in the FAA WINGS program is another good way to start. Second, we MUST put an end to second-class flight instruction and the bottom-feeding flight schools and inexperienced CFIs who place more value on profits and logbook hours than on turning out safe pilots. These two efforts alone, if successful, will do more to advance the state of general aviation than everything else being done by our big GA organizations. If successful, we will continue to be the best in the world!
Dumb and Dumber
Let's take the case of two student pilots, perhaps wishing to save a few bucks on their rented C-152. We all know, of course, that "solo flight" means going up alone. These two fellows apparently didn't understand this and elected go on a "solo" cross-country flight together, at the same time, in the same airplane. Upon return to their flight school after the flight and not wishing to have their misdeeds discovered, they taxied the aircraft to a distant parking area. The student pilot occupying the right seat quickly exited the aircraft and ran forward, into the still spinning propeller. You can imagine the rest.
How much of this tragic accident was the fault of the student pilots verses the flight school that was allegedly supervising them will be left to the courts to decide. The question is what, if anything, can be done to prevent dumb accidents like this from happening in the first place. Sometimes nothing!
Night Operations
Are we ready for the many unique
challenges night flying present? If there is any doubt, take
a few minutes to review several of those challenges below: Night illusions Visual Autokinesis: This occurs when the pilot stares at
light outside the cockpit. For some strange reason,
that light appears to move around, perhaps like a passing
aircraft. Solution: Don't stare at lights.
We need to keep our scan moving around. False Horizons: That strange glow in the sky known as the
northern lights often mimic a false horizon that, in turn,
can produce an unwanted turn or bank and resultant departure
from our planned course. Solution: Trust our
instruments. Flicker Vertigo: Flickering lights on the panel or the
pulsating lights of wing-tip strobes or anti-collision
lights, if continuous, can cause physical reactions
including
nausea, dizziness, grogginess, unconsciousness, headaches,
or confusion. Solution: We should try to
eliminate any light source causing blinking or flickering
problems in the cockpit. The Black-Hole Approach: A black-hole approach occurs when we land
over water or non-lighted terrain and the runway lights are
the only source of light. Without peripheral visual cues to
help, we may have trouble orientating ourselves relative to
the ground. The runway may seem out of position (downsloping
or upsloping) and in the worse case, we land short of the
runway. Solution: If an electronic glide
slope or visual approach slope indicator (VASI) is
available, it should be used. If navigation aids (NAVAIDs)
are unavailable, careful attention should be given to using
the flight instruments to assist in maintaining orientation
and a normal approach. If at any time we are unsure of our
position or attitude, we should institute a go-around.
Things we can do to make night flying
safer:
It requires about 30 minutes for our eyes to adapt to night conditions. Avoid looking into any bright lights prior to night flight and always allow several minutes prior to a night takeoff for our eyes to adapt to dim lighting conditions. Supplement Oxygen: If oxygen is available, use it during night flight. Remember, significant night vision is lost at cabin altitudes as low as 5,000 feet. Flashlight Challenge: I'll offer OTA readers a free subscription if they can find any FAR that requires a flashlight in the cockpit during night operations. Despite this absurd omission in the regulations, no pilot should ever launch at night without a working flashlight and extra batteries nearby. When the alternator toasts at night, try seeing the instruments without a flashlight. [Note for our aviation legalists: Anybody who places their aviation safety solely in the hands of the regulations is a fool.] Dumb and Dumber . . . Part II Dumb pilot tricks are not limited to apprentice aviators. Here, we'll take a look at the ghastly actions of a 1,755 hour pilot and his pilot-rated right seat passenger. Imagine standing on the ramp and looking straight into the torrent of a thunderstorm situated just one mile off the departure end of the runway. Us mere mortals would have secured our airplane then hastened into the FBO for cover.
One witness stated the airplane wings
were rocking back and forth and the pilot appeared to be
having difficulty controlling the airplane just before it
went out of view. Five to ten minutes later, after the
storm moved past, smoke was seen rising approximately one
mile west of the airport.
A review of collected weather data indicate a thunderstorm moved west of the airport within one mile at the time of the accident. NEXRAD radial wind velocity images depicted a divergent wind pattern over the accident site with a shear of greater than 60 knots between the inbound and outbound wind components. Most experienced pilots have found themselves wondering whether or not to beat out some incoming weather. They look skyward, assess the urgency of their mission, then make a decision. That's what these two pilots likely did. Unfortunately, they made the wrong decision.
Lessons learned . . . The lessons in this sad scenario are profound. First, thunderstorms move swiftly and they wreak atmospheric havoc for 20 miles or more in all directions. Second, when tossing the dice on weather as these pilots apparently did, losing means everything! Those Wonderful Constant Speed Propellers! More and more of us are flying behind constant speed propellers, but do we really appreciate what they do for us? In a word . . . . constant speed propellers provide us with optimal power efficiency during ALL phases of flight.
With a fixed pitch propeller, red-line RPM can only be achieved AFTER the aircraft accelerates down the runway and begins to aerodynamically unload the propeller. With a constant speed propeller, on the other hand, maximum rated power (red line on the tachometer) can be achieved by decreasing blade angle of attack while the aircraft is still motionless. Thus, maximum rated horsepower is achieved the moment the throttle is advanced. In the climb and cruise phases of flight where lower power is required, the blade angle of attack in a constant speed propeller is automatically increased to achieve optimal power efficiency. This, of course, is not possible with a fixed pitch propeller. How does it work? A remarkably simple system enables the propeller to maintain a constant speed, regardless of most throttle settings. The pilot adjusts the prop control knob to produce the desired RPM as read on the tachometer. This prop control knob is connected to a propeller governor in the propeller hub that, in turn, uses somewhat boosted engine oil pressure to change the propeller blade angle. See illustration below:
Enter high altitude flight High altitude flight in a piston-powered aircraft requires a turbocharger to compress the ever-thinning air into the cylinders as the aircraft climbs into the upper atmosphere. This "packing" of the air enables the engine to develop and maintain sea-level power throughout its climb.
Hmmmm . . . . if the engine maintains constant sea-level power as it climbs up through ever-decreasing air density, how would a conventional fixed-pitch propeller engine-driven aircraft react? Sure . . . the engine/propeller speed would steadily increase in relation to the ever-thinning air, much like pulling a spinning electric cake mixer out of the thick batter without first turning it off. The constant speed propeller, on the other hand, compensates for the ever-thinning air as the aircraft climbs by automatically increasing its blade angle of attack - thus maintaining the same RPM through the climb. In summary, several notable achievements down through the history of aircraft designed made modern flight possible. One was wing flaps, another was monocoque (unibody) fuselage construction, and the third was the constant speed propeller. Air Work This is a new OTA series devoted to a review of the fundamentals of flight. Going "back to the basics" is a tool often used by flight instructors when pilots, whether students or rusty veterans, begin to exhibit signs of poor piloting technique.Remember, air work is to the pilot what a tune-up is to an engine. It affords us opportunity to re-build our basic airmanship skills. And like engine tune-ups, air work should be performed at regular flying intervals. The source reference for our discussion of air work is the The Airplane Flying Handbook, FAA-H-8083-3A. We'll begin this by reviewing the essentials of SLOW FLIGHT. Slow Flight Dick VanGrunsven, founder of the remarkably successful Van's Aircraft Company, the industry's most popular manufacturer of home-build "kit" airplanes, said to me once that the greatest deficiency of all GA pilots is their inability to maneuver their airplanes safely during slow flight. He added that this fact, alone, is singularly responsible for most GA accidents.
There are several definitions of slow flight, but the most accepted definition is shown in the text box below:
Achieving proficiency in slow flight operations enables us to operate safely in flight attitudes other than cruise flight. These include takeoffs, climbs, descents, and landings. Thus, slow flight air work is something we all should be doing on a regular, ongoing basis. Let's look at the objective and elements of slow flight
Slow flight at approach speeds should include slowing the airplane smoothly and promptly from cruising to approach speeds without changes in altitude or heading, and determining and using appropriate power and trim settings. Slow flight at approach speed should also include configuration changes, such as landing gear and flaps, while maintaining heading and altitude. Our Helpful Sponsors
If you have an aviation-related product or service you would like to promote and help underwrite the continued publication of Over the Airwaves, please send an email to rjma@rjma.com.Aero-News.Net Features OTA in Podcasts
"Dumb and Dumber" is the latest in a series of podcasts Bob Miller has 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. What's New at BMFT . . . Proving once again that general aviation can thrive during these troubled economic times, Bob Miller Flight Training, Inc. (BMFT) continues to expand its operations. We're expanding our fleet of new and late model Cessna 172SPs, each equipped with G-1000 glass cockpits along with our Nav 600 light sport aircraft. Similarly, we're continuing our search for only the most qualified, real-world experienced flight instructors to serve our growing list of flight students. Reasons for our growth: 1. New Aircraft with 21st century technology: People today leave their homes in the morning with iPhones in hands, drive to work in GPS-equipped automobiles, and come home to personal computers with high-speed internet access. They simply do NOT want to train in older airplanes with antiquated avionics. Once they see our new aircraft training fleet, each equipped with autopilots, flight directors, and glass panels, prospective customers enroll on the spot. More importantly, new aircraft with the latest technology means safer flight operations. 2. Cessna Flight Training Program: As a Cessna Pilot Center (CPC), our customers have access to Cessna's remarkable interactive online training program. Developed by Cessna in cooperation with King Schools, this is the only online scenario-based, FITS (FAA/Industry Training Standards) in use today. 3. Professional Flight Instructor Staff:Let's face it, the vast majority of today's youthful CFIs teach to build logbook hours to qualify for what they perceive as better airline jobs (with a huge surprise awaiting those who eventually make it). They work for peanuts and display an attitude that reflects their pay! BMFT instructors, on the other hand, are experienced veterans of the national airspace system who love to teach and their attitude reflects this love! 4. Aggressive Marketing and Community Awareness Building: BMFT is out there on the radio, on television, in podcasts, and in the print media, nearly every day with provocative messages that ignite the unfilled dream to fly that lies dormant in the hearts of young and old alike. Curiously, even negative publicity works as was demonstrated by the many people who came to know of us through the widely publicized complaints of our several noise-sensitive airport neighbors! 5. Personal Service and a Caring Attitude: Each customer deserves our full attention . . . and they get it. From birthday cards to frequent pats on the back, each prospective and active customer along with our growing list of training alumni receives our very best - every day! 6. Unique Flight Training Opportunities: BMFT has done away with the traditional "practice area" and replaced it with scenario-based training that takes our customers to a different airport each time we fly. For example, our advanced instrument students spend a day with us flying between the New York City Class B airports (LaGuardia, JFK, Newark, and Teterboro). Our primary students often spend as much time landing on grass as they do on hard surface runways. All of our students, primary and instrument alike, receive training in REAL IMC weather, summer and winter. We've thrown away the view-limiting devices and spend our time in the clouds where REAL learning takes place. We believe that no simulation, short of a full-motion simulator, can adequately prepare a pilot for the real world challenges of actual instrument conditions. Lastly, we offer a unique array of accelerated training programs. Customers have come from all over the world to participate in our 14-day instrument course. Others come for defensive icing strategy training and other specialized advanced training. 7. Strong Airport and Aircraft Maintenance Support: No flight training program can hope to be successful without the enthusiastic support of the host airport ownership and management. Our airport leadership team has gone out of its way to provide BMFT with the best logistical support possible. Similarly, if we cannot keep our training fleet in the air, we cannot be successful. Our aircraft maintenance operation, headed up by George Ezzo, A&P IA, is available 24/7. Lost flight operations due to maintenance issues is a rarity at BMFT thanks to George. Bragging or Sharing? This may sound like bragging, but the simple truth is . . . any other flight school could (and should) be doing the same things that we are. Frankly, we're succeeding because other flight schools are NOT doing these things. If they did, we would have to work even harder to maintain our competitive advantage. Yep, BMFT is succeeding, not because we're good, but because we care about our customers by affording them the finest flight training opportunities available anywhere! It's Up to You to Fly Away - "Lake Como, Italy"
Join with John and Connie Bouck as they share their adventuresome getaway weekends to romantic places around the globe. Whether in their Cessna 210 or Cessna 180 on floats, the Boucks make the best of general aviation. You can too! Click HERE for your trip to Lake Como, Italy!!!!Read earlier "Fly Away" stories by John Bouck. Click on the links below:
Memphis, TN John and Connie just returned from a month in Europe with lots of seaplane flying on famous Lake Como in Italy. Stay tuned!
The old saying that "What goes around comes around," is certainly at work in today's modern aircraft cockpits. We've managed to achieve such a high level of cockpit technology that the pilot is (almost) not necessary any longer.
Curiously, the problem is not limited to large airliners. Nearly all four-seat piston aircraft manufactured since 2005 come equipped with autopilots, flight directors, and large glass screen primary flight displays (PFDs) and multi-function displays (MFDs). Whether an Airbus A320 or a Cessna 172SP, a couple of button pushes during the pre-flight process is all that it takes to set the course, climb rate, level-off altitude, cruise, top of descent point, initial approach fix, instrument approach procedure, and decision altitude. Other than a few tweaks of the throttle, the pilot is simply along for the ride. Some, like our friend Bruce Landsberg, President of AOPA's Air Safety Foundation, say that increasing cockpit technology is good for general aviation. He points out that regrettable events like fuel exhaustion accidents are reduced because of low fuel warning annunicators. Aircraft manufacturers tout their autopilots as great work-load reducing devices. Even the "buttons" we're now pushing are being removed with Garmin's new "touchscreen-controlled integrated flight deck" in its G3000 package. The end result . . . The end result in all of this is, in a word . . . complacency. Like the cockpit crew of NWA 188 that curiously over-flew their Minneapolis destination, we're only along for the ride. Out come the newspapers, the magazines, and, yes, the laptop computers and iPhones, while our airplane drones along on autopilot controlled course with XM music being piped through our headsets. Nobody, including me, who flies behind a technically advanced aircraft (TAA) can't say they haven't done this. But the magazines and laptop computers in the cockpit, as bad as they are, are not the real problem. The REAL problem is our vulnerability to sleep, because when we're asleep in the cockpit, unlike when reading a magazine or tapping on a laptop computer, we do not see or hear what's going on around us. That, my friends, could have been the REAL problem on NWA 188! By taking the pilot out of the active flight controlling role, we've removed the mental stimulation that is our only defense against unwanted sleep. Couple this with a three or four hour cross-country flight where we cannot stand up and move around, and we've created a sure-fire formula for trouble. Throw in an already fatigued pilot, some soft music through our headset and, perhaps a co-pilot or buddy who "promises" to keep his eye on things and, voila', two states, and maybe our destination, have passed by below unnoticed. Has cockpit technology come too far? A quick look into the cockpit of the upcoming generation of very light jets (VLJs) reveals what general aviation is coming to. A single side stick, a two-speed power control handle (stop and go fast) and a touchscreen glass panel is about all there is. Climb on, strap in, close the door, and go. It doesn't get much simpler than that. Like the sands of time, we pilots are not going to stop progress. Our airplanes will continue to become easier to fly as new cockpit technology emerges. But we can take steps to defend against the associated problems, like complacency (and unwanted sleep) that they bring. We can do what we do at our flight school. Turn the stuff off! Hand fly the airplane. Cover up the glass panels and fly on the back-up gauges. Turn off the autopilot and and center the needles with toe pressures and gentle nudges on the yoke. Become what pilots were 10 or 15 years ago. Become active participants in the flying process. If we all did this from time to time, we'll not only keep our basic airmanship skills sharp, we'll also discover a mighty effective way to stay awake on those long, lonely cross-country flights!
Bob Miller, CFII, ATP
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The FAA, for example, is
forthrightly attacking inherent weaknesses in the
regional air carrier industry. H.R. 3371, the
"Airline Safety and Pilot
Training Improvement Act of 2009," which recently
passed in the U.S. House of Representatives, will
require that all pilots, captains and first officers
alike, hold an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate
and have at least 1,500 hours of flight time to fly FAA
Part 121 commercial
aircraft. 
As for aircraft manufacturers,
Cessna's new on-line flight training program, which
incorporates the FITS (FAA/Industry Training Standards)
model, scenario-based training, and learner-centered
grading, is arguably the most significant improvement in
flight training in over 60 years!
Did you know that every public
school bus driver in NY State is required by law to
receive 8 hours of ground instruction and pass two
driving performance tests every year to retain
their driving certificates, yet we GA pilots
can get by with one hour of flight and one hour of
ground review every two years? 
Yes
. . . it is poor form to indict a dead pilot but, on
occasion, one must wonder which end of the body some of use
to make decisions.
This
is the time of year when many of us in the northern
hemisphere will be spending more time flying at night than
during the day. 
Not
these two intrepid fellows, however. They climbed into
their Maule MXT-7-180A and taxied out to the runway and made
an immediate intersection takeoff. According to
witnesses, the airplane appeared to climb to 150 to 200 feet
above the ground before disappearing from view in the storm.
According
to the NTSB report, a special weather observation taken at the
airport showed winds from 300 degrees at 14 knots, gusting
to 31 knots, 10 miles visibility, broken clouds at 6,000
feet, overcast at 25,000 feet. It further reported a
thunderstorm within 10 miles northwest of the airport moving
northeast at 35 miles per hour. 
Looking
at takeoff, for example, maximum rated power can only be
achieved when the engine is turning at maximum RPM (red-line
on the tachometer). 
The
recent case of Northwest Airline's Flight 188 over-flying
its Minneapolis destination is a prime example. 