X	"The best glass-cockpit pilots would have an ATP certificate, 20,000 hours of PIC time, and be 17 years old.”                             -- Quoted by Ralph Butcher in AOPA Flight Training Magazine, July, 2005.

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Dear Pilots and Aviation Enthusiasts:

 

Human nature is a strange thing.  It has the capacity to focus our activities in a profoundly effective fashion.  Whether threading a needle, pounding a perfect rivet, or sending a man to the moon and returning him safely to earth, we humans are capable of amazing feats. 

I recall many years back when the U.S. and the Soviet Union were deep in the cold war.  Our government received a tiny package from Moscow containing a drill bit of microscopic size, barely visible to the naked eye.  A note accompanying the package said, "Mr. President, the people of the Soviet Union are proud to send you the world's tiniest drill bit."

Pondering this gift, our nation returned the microscopic drill bit to Moscow . . . with a hole drilled through it!

If we humans have the capacity to do these amazing things, why do we pilots continue to have accidents every year . . . over 300 of which are fatal?

The answer is simple . . . it's because of human nature!  It's human nature that tells us to throw caution to wind, release our machismo hormones, and venture in where angels fear to tread.  I know, because I've been there more times than I care to admit.

What's the Best Way to Combat Hazardous Human Nature?

Answer:  Become the very best pilot you can.  Train regularly as if your life depended upon it.  If airplanes are, indeed, a part of your life, and you are committed to flying them, then commit yourself to a professionally administered recurrent flight training program.  Have your piloting skills critically evaluated . . . then dedicate yourself to a no-nonsense skill enhancement program with the same regularity that you visit your dentist or family physician.

Why?  Because that old human nature will soon be raising its ugly head again. 

So, when you find yourself in weather that's just a little too intense for comfort, you'll have the proficiency skills to maneuver and land safely.  One day, you'll find yourself aloft with fierce crosswinds at all available airports (human nature's ugly head).  With proficient cross-wind skills, landing will be a walk in the park.

We know that 75% of all fatal airplane accidents are due to pilot error (human nature).  Our human natures got us to a place we should not be.  The only salvation is having a piloting skill-set that can safely extricate ourselves from the hazards created by our human nature.  When that happens, we will live a long and comfortable life as a pilot.

Anyway you spell the word "joy riding," when it is performed in an airplane, the results are generally disastrous.  This is what two airline pilots discovered recently when they decided to play around with their Pinnacle Airlines (Northwest Airlink) Canadair CRJ-2 (pictured below in Air Canada colors).

The crew was on a repositioning flight from Little Rock, AR, to Minneapolis, MN for a scheduled flight the next morning.  No passengers were aboard.

The pilot, 31-year old Jesse Rhodes and the copilot, 23-year old Richard Cesarz, started "having fun" shortly after take-off when, according to the flight data recorder, they pulled 1.8 G's in a pitch-up maneuver.  This activated an automatic system designed to keep the engines from stalling.

They pulled up again shortly after that, as the data recorder registered 2.3 positive G's. Then, according to the NTSB, they decided to join the "4-1-0" Club by taking the aircraft to Flight Level 410 (41,000').

You can share their excitement right up to their fatal crash by reading an extract from the cockpit voice recorder transcript below

9:48:44 p.m. Cesarz: "Man we can do it. Forty-one it.'' 9:48:46 Rhodes: "(Unintelligible) baby.'' 9:48:57 Cesarz: "Hundred and eighty knots, still cruising at Mach point six four.'' 9:51:51 Cesarz: "There's four-one-oh, my man.'' 9:51:53 Cesarz: "Made it, man.'' At that point, the engines apparently spooled down in a double-flameout. 9:54:19 Rhodes: "Yeah, that's funny, we got up here, it won't stay up here.'' 9:54:22 Cesarz: "Dude, it's (expletive) losing it.'' (Sound of laughing) 10:14:36 Cesarz: "We're not gonna make it, man, we're not gonna make it.'' 10:14:38 Rhodes: "Is there a road? Tell her we're not gonna make this runway.'' 10:14:46 Rhodes: "Let's keep the gear up. (Expletive) I don't want to go into houses here.'' 10:14:51 Cesarz: (Expletive) "road right there.'' 10:14:52 Rhodes: "Where?'' 10:14:52 Cesarz: "Turn, turn...'' 10:14:53 Rhodes: "Turn where?'' 10:14:53 Cesarz: "Turn to your left, turn to your left.'' 10:14:56 Rhodes: Either: "I see it'' or ``I can't.'' 10:14:58 Warning signal in cockpit: "Too low, terrain, terrain.'' 10:14:59 Rhodes: "Can't make it.'' 10:15:03 Rhodes: "Aw (expletive). We're gonna hit houses, dude.''

Two airline pilots screwing around like a couple of 16 year olds with their father's car.  They were out for a joy ride in a sophisticated airplane.  As the cockpit voice recording indicated, they were having a blast.

The message here is not to castigate these two particular pilots, but to remind us all that when human nature rears its ugly head . . . watch out below!

 

 

The scenario is all too familiar.  The pilot of a Beech, BE-35 was on the downwind leg to an uncontrolled airport near Stephenville, TX.  As he turned to base, he encountered a Cessna 140 (without a radio) on final.

Witnesses said that the Cessna 140 broke right to avoid the collision, and the BE-35 returned immediately to the base leg.  As he did so, witnesses said the BE-35's "left wing dropped, the aircraft nose went over to what appeared to be a 90-degree angle," and the aircraft "went vertical."  Both the pilot and his passenger sustained fatal injuries.

Classic Stall/Spin in the Traffic Pattern

This sad stall/spin scenario happens all too often and it is nearly always fatal.   While we do not know precisely what happened in this accident scenario, the NTSB report and witness statements can help us piece together what may have taken place.

In this scenario, the BE-35 pilot maneuvered to avoid a collision with another aircraft while on his base to final turn.  Low and slow, the pilot pitched up, mashed in the power, and yanked the yoke to the right in an attempt to turn away from the opposing aircraft. 

As he executed this escape maneuver to the right, all four of the aircraft's left turning tendencies were pulling the nose to the left while he simultaneously applied right aileron. With insufficient right rudder pressure, a massive left yawing moment occurred.  The pilot's sudden pitch up at slow speed resulted in a stall.  When combined with this left yawing moment, the predictable spin happened.   At 400' AGL, there was insufficient altitude to recover. 

Would a Spin Trained, Spin Proficient Pilot have allowed this stall/spin scenario to develop?

There is no debating the fact that a stall/spin at traffic pattern altitude is unrecoverable.  So why bother undergoing spin training?

Answer: Spin trained/spin proficient pilots instinctively understand that a full power pitch up from slow speed requires nearly full right rudder to offset the yaw produced by the four left turning tendencies.  He also recognizes that any sudden pitch up in an airplane at a slow speed, high angle of attack will nearly always result in a stall.

In short, a spin trained/spin proficient pilot in this scenario would have likely initiated an evasive coordinated, level right turn, thus avoiding the stall and worse, the spin.

Suggestion:  Find a spin proficient CFI and climb up to a safe altitude, e.g., 4,000' AGL.  NOTE:  Be sure to comply with any performance limitations published in your POH before attempting this maneuver.  

Reduce to 1.3x stall speed in your aircraft, then simulate a coordinated left turn (as if going from base to final).  Then, as in the accident scenario described above, execute a sudden full power pull up to the right, while continuing to hold slight left rudder pressure.  Watch what happens!!!!!  I guarantee that you'll NEVER let that happen again . . . even to avoid a collision!

Is spin training useful?  You be the judge!

Know your V speeds . . . but beware - several of the V speeds published in your Pilot's Operating Handbook could be WRONG!  We know, for example, that the publish best angle of climb (Vx) and best rate of climb (Vy) speeds are computed at sea level at maximum weight.  Most of us operate at altitudes well above sea level and at less than maximum weight!

More on Vx and Vy . . .

At sea level, the indicated best rate of climb speed (Vy) is a higher number than the indicated best angle of climb speed (Vx). As density altitude increases, the indicated Vy speed decreases, and the indicated Vx speed increases. The amount of change between sea level and a density altitude of 8,000 feet could be as much as eight knots of decrease in indicated Vy speed, and seven knots of increase in indicated Vx.

As density altitude continues to increase, the best-indicated Vy speed and best-indicated Vx will become the same.  It is at this point that the airplane has reached its absolute ceiling.

The same is true with regard to gross weight.  As our weight decreases, our indicated Vy speed decreases.  In some airplanes, this can be as much as 10 knots.

Imagine if you took off lightly loaded from a high density, say 8,000'MSL airport, your indicated Vy speed could be off as much as 15 knots too fast!  Suffering poor performance already, this 15 knot error in your indicated Vy speed could spell real trouble.  In fact, you could experience negative climb speed, e.g., descending!!

Here are the most common V speed definitions that every pilot should know and understand:

Vle	Landing gear extended speed.  The maximum speed at which an airplane can be safely flown with the landing gear extended.
Vlof	Lift-off speed. The speed at which the aircraft departs the runway during takeoff.
Vlo	Landing gear operating speed. The maximum speed for extending or retracting the landing gear if using an airplane equipped with retractable landing gear.
Vmc	Minimum control airspeed. This is the minimum flight speed at which a twin-engine airplane can be satisfactorily controlled when an engine suddenly becomes inoperative and the remaining engine is at takeoff power.
Vmo	Maximum operating speed expressed in knots.
Vne	Never-exceed speed. Operating above this speed is prohibited since it may result in damage or structural failure. The red line on the airspeed indicator.
Vmo	Maximum structural cruising speed. Do not exceed this speed except in smooth air. The upper limit of the green arc.
Vr	Rotation speed. The speed that the pilot begins rotating the aircraft prior to lift-off.
Vso	Stalling speed or the minimum steady flight speed in the landing configuration. In small airplanes, this is the power-off stall speed at the maximum landing weight in the landing configuration (gear and flaps down). The lower limit of the white arc.
Vs1	Stalling speed or the minimum steady flight speed obtained in a specified configuration. For most airplanes, this is the power-off stall speed at the maximum takeoff weight in the clean configuration (gear up, if retractable, and flaps up). The lower limit of the green arc.
Vx	Best angle-of-climb speed. The airspeed at which an airplane gains the greatest amount of altitude in a given distance. It is used during a short-field takeoff to clear an obstacle.
Vy	Best rate-of-climb speed. This airspeed provides the most altitude gain in a given period of time.

Pilots, particularly student pilots, often depend upon rote memory for things like V speeds.  And Designated Pilots Examiners (DPEs) are fond of asking students what the various V speeds are on the airplanes they are flying.  That's fine, but we need to understand that actual V speeds vary by aircraft weight and by density altitude.  More importantly, we need to know WHY and in which direction they vary!

There they were . . . a primary student and an instructor from a neighboring flight school performing a long series of repeated takeoffs and landings in the same direction on the same runway at the Niagara Falls, NY Airport (KIAG).  They must have completed a dozen identical circuits in the hour or so that they were up. 

How boring, I thought, for both the student and the CFI.  Nobody in real life is ever asked to make repeated landings to the same runway, so I wondered why this poor student was being subjected to such rote training.

The Scenario Alternative . . .

I was conducting similar primary training at the same airport while this "rote" training was being performed.  The only difference was, we were using all three different runways (28R/10L; 28L/10R; and 6/24) in both directions (see airport diagram left)!

Following each takeoff, I told the student which runway I wanted him to land on next.  It was then up to him to coordinate this with the tower. 

I selected each subsequent runway in an order that insured that the student would experience both left hand and right hand traffic along with all possible wind directions, e.g., headwinds, x-winds from both directions, and tailwinds.   Friendly and cooperative tower controllers makes this scenario training possible (thanks Janet, John, and David - you're the best of the best)!

This exercise requires quick and effective coordination between the student and tower, particularly when other inbound and departing jet traffic are involved.  In many cases, the tower instructs the student to execute S-turns on final and numerous 360 degree holding turns to accommodate other arriving and departing aircraft.

Advanced Scenario Training . . .

Once my students develop mastery of this scenario-based exercise at KIAG, I bring them over to the far busier Buffalo/Niagara International Airport (KBUF) during the early evening rush-hour airline arrivals (see airport diagram left). 

The challenge here is to have the student negotiate with the tower for repeated touch and goes on the cross-wind runway, in both directions, midst the constant stream of inbound airline arrivals on the intersecting runway.  This takes quick thinking, effective radio communications, and sharp spatial orientation skills to achieve proper spacing between landing and departing jet traffic on the intersecting runway.

Fortunately, the tower controllers at both KIAG and KBUF are highly skilled, very professional, friendly, cooperative . . . and consummately patient to permit this kind of scenario-based training!

Rote Training is Boring and Not Relevant!

Sadly, far too many primary, instrument, and commercial students are seldom given the opportunity for truly exciting, challenging, and realistic scenario-based flight training opportunities.  This could be one reason why their aeronautical decision-making and risk management skills are weak.

Rote training such as that described above could also be a reason why nearly 50 percent of all primary flight students quit their training before receiving the private pilot certificate. 

Most importantly, rote flight training could also explain, in part, why 75 percent of all general aviation fatal accidents are officially attributed to "pilot error!"

Buyer Beware . . .

If you are a victim of boring, rote flight training, discuss the matter with your flight school or independent flight instructor.  If he or she refuses to change or offers simple-minded excuses why rote flight training is being conducted, go looking for another flight school or independent flight instructor! 

Scenario-based training provides the same basic flight maneuver skills as rote training, but it does so in the context of real-world, in-the-system flying.  It is here where both maneuvering skills AND effective aeronautical decision-making, risk management skills are honed.

The summer season brings out the best and the worst in pilots.  From the "best" perspective, summer brings out the recreational pilots.  It gets them off of the couch and into the airplane, perhaps for the first time in many months.

From the "worst" perspective, gusty summer winds can leave the rusty, taxi-challenged pilot with a handful of airplane moving in undesirable directions. 

Know Where to Position the Controls

Lots of fancy diagrams have been created to illustrate the proper position of the controls when taxiing on a windy day.  You can visualize these diagrams as you taxi, but I like keep things simple.

"Dive down and away from the wind."

Whenever taxiing with a quartering or direct tailwind, simply "dive down and away" from the wind.  In other words, push forward on the yoke and turn it away from the oncoming wind.  Works every time! 

Keep the Exposed Control Surfaces Pointed Down

Another way to address winds while taxiing is to keep all wind-exposed control surfaces pointed downward.  This prevents the wind from getting under the control surfaces and lifting the attached wing as likely happened with the Cub pictured below.

In Summary . . .

Landing and taking off in high winds seldom equals the risks of taxiing in high winds!  Airplanes are designed to fly, not taxi!

Like everything else in aviation, it takes careful instruction and lots of practice to achieve proficiency in high wind ground operations.  Find an experienced CFI and go out and practice taxiing in high winds!

 

Nothing is more revealing to the pilot examiner than a student pilot's short and soft field take-off and landing proficiency.  Each of these high workload maneuvers requires consummate skill to perform correctly.  In truth, candidates for ratings right up through ATP (Airline Transport Pilot) still have difficulty performing these maneuvers correctly.

Why?

One reason why these these "checkride busting" maneuvers are difficult is because the pilot fails to fully understand the aerodynamics associated with each.  In the short field takeoff, for example, the enemy we are trying to beat is induced drag (drag created by lift).  We know that induced drag is inversely proportional to airspeed (it is highest at low airspeeds). 

Therefore, our aim is to prevent any lift (induced drag) while accelerating to rotation speed (Vx in this case).  This requires increasing forward pressure on the yoke or stick as the airplane accelerates.

We also know that lift increases in relation to the square of airspeed (as airspeed doubles, lift quadruples).  Thus we want to keep the airplane on the ground until reaching Vx speed.  This speed, in turn, produces the greatest altitude gain in the shortest distance (to clear obstacles at the end of the runway).

While Vx gives us the best angle of climb, this speed is not very efficient in terms of fuel burn, engine cooling, and time to reach cruise altitude.  Therefore, once the airplane clears the runway obstacle, the pilot lowers the nose slightly in order achieve Vy (best rate of climb) speed.  See illustration below:

Common Errors When Performing Short Takeoffs:

1. Failure to adequately clear the area. 2. Failure to utilize all available runway/takeoff area. 3. Failure to track the runway centerline. 4  Failure to have the airplane properly trimmed prior to takeoff. 5.  Premature lift-off resulting in high drag. 6. Holding the airplane on the ground unnecessarily with excessive forward elevator pressure (rotate precisely at Vx speed). 7.  Inadequate rotation resulting in excessive speed after lift-off. 8. Inability to attain/maintain best angle-of-climb (Vx) airspeed.

What About SOFT Field Takeoffs?

Our aim in soft field takeoffs is a bit different.  Here, we want to reduce the parasitic drag and friction caused by a soft, wet, or muddy field.  Since parasitic drag INCREASES with airspeed, we want to break free of the ground as early in the ground roll as possible. 

We do this by lifting off in ground effect only.  Once free of the ground, we push the nose down to build sufficient airspeed to safely climb out of ground effect (see illustration below).

 

Common Errors When Performing Soft Field Takeoffs:

1. Failure to adequately clear the area. 2. Insufficient back-elevator pressure during initial takeoff roll resulting in inadequate angle of attack. 3. Failure to cross-check engine instruments for proper operation after applying power. 4. Poor directional control. 5. Climbing too steeply after lift-off. 6. Abrupt and/or excessive elevator control while attempting to level off and accelerate after liftoff. 7. Allowing the airplane to “mush” or settle resulting in an inadvertent touchdown after lift-off. 8. Attempting to climb out of ground effect area before attaining sufficient climb speed. 9. Failure to anticipate an increase in pitch attitude as the airplane climbs out of ground effect.

Shorts and softs are high workload maneuvers that quickly display pilot proficiency (or the lack of it).  The best way to develop these important skills is fly away from those big, wide concrete runways and search out a quite little grass field with real obstacles on both ends.

Compute your takeoff and landing distances from the tables contained in your POH.  Then find a short/soft field proficient CFI and go out and practice!

While many of us do not travel much by conventional airlines, reader Kurt Lebo shares with us what we might expect the next time we do.  Click HERE to view (sound required)!

There are a lot of basic truths in aviation.  One of the most significant of these basic truths is, "The key to a good landing is a stabilized approach."  In other words, nail the approach and you'll have the landing in the bag!  Another basic truth is, "A Proficient Pilot Always lands Directly on the Runway Center Line."

Lancair 400 Pilot Fails to Apply These Basic Truths . . . With Fatal Consequences!!

The Lancair 400 pilot with two passengers was attempting to land on a 2,206' long and 40' wide runway in Northern Idaho. The weather was  reported as clear skies, visibility of 10 miles and winds variable at 3 knots.

The pilot held a commercial certificate with airplane single/multi-engine land and instrument ratings. He also held a flight instructor certificate and his most recent Class II medical was without waivers or restrictions.  He should have known what he was doing!

Tragically, the aircraft landed very hard and far right of centerline with the left wheel within 3 feet of the south edge of the pavement and the right wheel on down sloping gravel. The aircraft then veered further right off the runway as the pilot applied power for a go-around.

The aircraft struck conifer trees growing 30 feet south of the runway's edge."  The pilot and rear seat passenger were killed.

Surviving Right Seat Passenger Tells What He Saw . . .

The surviving (front right seat) occupant reported that the pilot over-flew the landing site northbound and made a left downwind entry preparing the aircraft for landing. Immediately after crossing the west end of the pavement the survivor perceived the aircraft's altitude to be "excessively" high, and the pilot initiated a flare.

The flare (pitch attitude) continued to increase to a "...very nose high, uncomfortable attitude..." and the survivor sensed the aircraft drifting right as the pitch attitude continued to increase. 

The aircraft landed very hard and the survivor reported the aircraft continued drifting right leaving the runway and eventually impacting trees. The survivor also remarked "...Immediately after crossing the approach end of the strip, I peripherally viewed our height above the ground to be "excessively" high..." and "...After the nose dropped..." "...we were indeed right of centerline..."

A Ground Witness Adds Insight . . .

A witness on the ground reported observing the aircraft at a higher than expected altitude and with a higher than expected nose attitude just prior to the accident and indicated the aircraft was not centered (too far right of the runway centerline). He also reported the aircraft touched down, bounced and then settled after which there was an application of power followed by the sound of tree impacts.

A Sad Lesson for All of Us . . .

The Lancair 400 is a sleek, high performance, glass composite single.  Putting this aircraft down safely on a 2,206' x 40' runway with obstacles at both ends requires consummate short field landing skills.  The entire process begins with a rock-solid approach profile, with stabilized speed and descent rate.

The next step is to cross the runway threshold directly over the centerline, with one's hand on the throttle . . . spring loaded for immediate go around if things are not just right.  This is no time to be making ground tracking corrections.  Again, if things are not just right, go around! 

There is a nasty tendency by many pilots to always try and salvage a bad approach and a bad landing.   If things do not look just right when crossing the runway threshold, go around and try it again!

Any writer appreciates receiving feedback from his or her readers.  I am certainly no exception.  I carefully read each of the many e-mails I receive following each bi-weekly electronic distribution of "Over the Airwaves."

But what I am reading can be pretty scary.  Without mentioning sources, I am receiving messages like . . "Thanks for bringing me in touch with topics I haven't reviewed in years!"  Or, "I wish my flight instructor taught me crosswind landings."  Or, "My instructor never emphasized rudder usage." 

This is the scariest of all, "I'm an instrument-rated pilot who never saw the inside of a cloud." 

Messages like these are received every week!  This leads me to wonder what we've been teaching (or not teaching) pilots! 

And YOU are the folks who are reading this.  I wonder about the pilots who have stopped learning, stopped reading, and simply bumble on year after year with nothing more than a one hour flight review every two years.  These are the folks who are a danger to themselves and to others!  And when they do hurt themselves, our insurance rates go up and the public perception of "little" airplanes takes another plunge.

If you are a general aviation pilot with limited time and money (pretty much all of us!) and you want a quick course on how to reduce your probability of experiencing a serious accident, I would suggest you develop mastery in each of the three pilot skill areas listed below. 

The best place to begin would be to include each of these areas in your BFR (Biennial Flight Review).

1. Stall/spin Recovery:  This goes well beyond spin awareness training.  Instead, it takes the pilot into at least the first full turn on a spin.  In setting up the training scenario, the CFI should have the pilot begin in a power off stall (from a safe altitude, of course).  As the airplane slows and the noses pitches up, power should be added to maintain level flight.  When the full power-on stall occurs, full left rudder is applied to accelerate the stall and produce the first turn of a spin.

This maneuver is repeated until you achieve mastery in the proper stall/spin recovery technique.  In the process of developing mastery, the conditions that create a spin will become engrained in your head!

2. Basic Level Instrument Competency:  Throw away the view limiting hood - it's ineffective in IFR training, in my opinion.  Instead, hold out for actual instrument meteorological conditions (IMC).  Engage a proficient CFII and go deep into the clouds or scud.  Become comfortable in safely finding your way out without becoming disoriented.  This applies to both VFR-only and rusty IFR pilots!  Even better, practice unusual attitude recovery (again, with a proficient CFII) in the clouds.

3. Safe Recovery from Ballooned, Bounced, and X-Wind Landings:   I worry about pilots who make perfect, greaser-type landings every time.  In fact, whenever I see one of my students about to make a perfect, greaser-type landing, I deliberately give a surreptitious tug on the yoke right at the last minute.   This produces a "ballooned" landing.  If I want to simulate a cross-wind at the same time, I also kick the rudder, right or left, just as the airplane touches down.   My aim, of course, is to assess how effectively my student recovers from these "botched" landings! 

Practice the same maneuvers with a proficient CFI on board.  Have your CFI deliberately upset your airplane immediately before setting down.  Keep doing this until you become proficient at ground level upsets!

Becoming proficient in each of these three areas will go a long way in inoculating you against the three most common accident scenarios!

How Serious is the Problem?

The problem is very serious!  My experience administering numerous BFRs and insurance check-outs reveals that very few pilots perform well in these scenarios! 

It's not that they haven't been taught (though this is sometimes the case).  The real problem is a lack of proficiency.  They simply have not experienced these common accident-producing scenarios in several years or more!

There's no question about it.  If you want to ride smoother through those summer thermal currents and cumulous bumps, climb up above the cloud tops and ride on a silver carpet of smooth air.  To do so, however, may require an IFR clearance up through the turbulent clouds.

One thing that summer flying offers that winter flying, for the most part, does not, is bumps.  These bumps are created by upward currents of moving warm air called thermals.  They result from the sun's unequal heating of the earth's surface.

Plowed ground, rocks, sand, and barren land give off a large amount of heat; water, trees, and other areas of vegetation tend to absorb and retain heat. The resulting uneven heating of the air creates small areas of local circulation called convective currents.

Convective currents cause the bumpy, turbulent air sometimes experienced when flying at lower altitudes during warmer weather. On a low altitude flight over varying surfaces, updrafts are likely to occur over pavement or barren places, and downdrafts often occur
over water or expansive areas of vegetation like a group of trees.  The net result - bumps!

Another Reason for that IFR Ticket!

Here, again, is another reason to pursue that instrument rating.  You may never intend to launch into hard IMC conditions.  You may be a homebuilder who flies his treasured RV-6 to breakfasts or occasionally to the next state to visit relatives.  Remember, if you want your spouse to enjoy those trips, you have to keep your flights nice and smooth.  And smooth is what you often find above the cloud layer(s).

Remember the Benefits of Flying High?

1. Smoother Ride:  There are fewer convective currents at the higher altitudes. 2. Better Visibility: Visibility-restricting haze decreases with altitude. 3. Better Radio Reception: Com & nav radio waves travel by line of sight. 4. Greater Gliding Distance: Engine out glide distance increases with altitude. 5. Higher Wind Speeds:  Beneficial when operating with tailwinds.

 

1. Fly over the "Cone of Silence." 2. Toss Brick Overboard. 3. Follow Brick Down in Tight Formation. - - Standard Operating Procedure for P-47 Instrument Approach.  (Reprinted in One Foot on the Ground by Paul Roxin.)

Given the preponderance of navigation equipment available on today's general aviation airplanes, it remains a deep mystery why pilots continue mess up instrument approaches.  And sadly, when they do mess up, it typically produces fatalities.

Take the April 23, 2005 crash of a 2001 Cessna 172R in Armonk, New York, for example.  Here, a certificated flight instructor (CFI) with a 31 hour student pilot aboard impacted trees one mile short of runway while on the ILS approach to Runway 16 at the Westchester, NY Airport (KHPN).  Both the instructor and student were killed.

A weather observation taken at the airport, at the approximate time of the crash reported: wind from 190 degrees at 12 knots, gusting to 16 knots; visibility 1/2 statue mile in fog; ceiling 200 feet overcast; temperature and dew point both 12 degrees C.

The Controller Issued a Low Altitude Alert. . .

The only hint that the pilot was having trouble with the approach came when, at 800', the controller issued a low altitude alert and gave the current altimeter setting, which the pilot immediately acknowledged.  That was last transmission received from the doomed aircraft.  The aircraft continued to descend down to 600' before falling off the radar screen.

According to the NTSB, the debris path measured about 150 feet long and was oriented on a magnetic course of about 145 degrees.

Latest Equipment, Appropriate ATC Services, Typical Low IFR Day, CFI Onboard . . . So What Went Wrong?

So what went wrong?  Nobody knows (yet).  It was a typical low IFR day.  ATC was issuing appropriate services.  It was a late model aircraft with a recent annual.  It was being piloted by a CFI who reported 168 hours of total flight experience on his most recent application for an FAA second class medical certificate.  The flight school for whom he worked (American Flyers) reported that he had about 900 total hours at the time of the accident.

This Stuff Shouldn't Happen . . .

This stuff shouldn't happen.  Leastwise, that's what the attorney's for the deceased student pilot's estate inferred in court papers when they filed a $50 million lawsuit against the flight school.

The attorneys are correct!  This stuff shouldn't happen . . . but it did and it continues to happen.  Unfortunately, the entire general aviation industry suffers as a result.  If the plaintiffs prevail, this case will have serious repercussions throughout the entire GA community, and specifically in the flight training arena.  And perhaps it should!

A Time for Change!

Perhaps it is time for the GA industry, specifically the FAA, AOPA, other industry advocacy groups . . . and the many flight schools across the nation that prepare CFIs to sit up and take note of the fact that the time has come to re-examine the initial training, recurrent training, and currency requirements for the instrument rating and CFI certificate. 

Realistically, this isn't going to happen anytime soon.  The regulatory trend is going in the other direction - a direction which is easing IFR currency requirements.  The fact that CFIs need only attend a two day, classroom only flight instructor refresher course (FIRC) to renew his/her two year certificate is, frankly, pretty scary!

But the Insurance Industry WILL Bring About Change

The insurance industry pendulum has already begun to swing with regard to high performance/complex airplanes and the emerging very light jet (VLJ) fleet.  This pendulum will soon swing toward the flight training community.  And when that community gets hit, flight training as we know it will come to an agonizing end!

With the End of Flight Training, General Aviation Will Die!

Does this sound like an alarmist talking?  Perhaps, but when the day comes when no flight school or independent flight instructor can obtain affordable insurance (as has occurred for low time pilots wishing to fly high performance/complex airplanes), flight training will stop!  When that occurs, few if any new pilots will be entering the system.

Solution:

There really isn't any . . . other than to let the insurance industry begin setting flight training standards for all of us (because we cannot do it ourselves).

Maybe there is hope, however.  Maybe we pilots and CFIs should begin to take our recurrent training more seriously.  If that happens, all will be well.  If it doesn't, the insurance industry will rule.

 

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