I swear if I hear another aviation spokesperson say that stall/spin training is not useful, I'm going to punch him in the nose!  Well, maybe I won't do that . . . but I will remind him of a pilot who took off in his C-210 from Tulsa, OK in August 17, 2004.

It seems that this 1,474 hour pilot forgot to replace his engine oil filler cap prior to take off.  You guessed it.  Oil all over his windscreen just as he was on climb out.  He requested and was granted tower clearance for an immediate return to the airport. 

Sudden obscuring of the windscreen by engine oil is enough to cause serious distraction to any pilot, regardless of experience.  But is it enough to permit a stall/spin to occur?  That depends upon one's training and proficiency!

The spin proficient pilot knows instinctively that an airplane must first stall before it can spin.  Ergo, to prevent a spin, don't allow the airplane to stall!  The spin proficient pilot also knows that the stalled airplane must be yawed before it can spin.  He also knows that if the inclinometer ball is centered, the airplane isn't yawed.

Two Basic Spin Prevention Conditions:

1: Airspeed:  While we know that a stall can occur at any airspeed, allowing your airplane to drop below 1.5 times Vs1 in any flight attitude makes it susceptible to a stall.

2. Ball Centered: ALWAYS (unless in a desired slip) keep the ball centered.  If centered, the airplane cannot spin!

Airspeed/ball centered is my mantra anytime I'm making turns in an airplane, regardless of the distractions going on around me.  I do this because of the many startling spins my aerobatics instructor placed me in while flying an Extra 300.  It was that experience that taught me how quickly a nasty, unexpected spin can result from uncoordinated slow flight in any type airplane.

Most pilots cannot develop that sense unless they have experienced at least a dozen fully developed spins!

Yes, spin training is an effective deterrent against sudden stall/spins - whether close to the ground or while circling high above with serious distractions occurring all around! 

Click HERE for the NTSB report of this fatal accident.

Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B) is the latest in in-flight collision avoidance technology.  ADS-B relies on the Global Positioning System to determine an aircraft’s position. The aircraft’s precise location, along with other data such as airspeed, altitude, and aircraft identification, then is instantly relayed via digital datalink to ground stations and other equipped aircraft.

The information is transmitted using universal access transceivers (UATs).  These UATs use the 978 MHz frequency that can move up to four times as much data at about four times as fast as current datalink methods. Unlike radar, ADS-B works well at low altitudes and in remote locations and mountainous terrain where little or no radar coverage exists.

In the air, the digital data receiver on an ADS-B-equipped aircraft opens up tremendous possibilities. An airborne ADS-B receiver will only be able to display signals from other ADS-B-equipped aircraft. But using a traffic information system-broadcast (TIS-B), ATC will be able to uplink surveillance and en route radar data to the aircraft.

In addition, a flight information system-broadcast (FIS-B) will be able to uplink textual and graphical weather information for display on the cockpit MFD.  New developing technologies, like ADS-B, offers ATC a method of accurately tracking aircraft in non-radar environments. ADS-B is a satellite-based air traffic tracking system enabling pilots and air traffic controllers to share and display the same information.

The equipment required to use ADS-B is similar in price to purchasing independent traffic and weather datalinks, but prices are expected to drop as more manufacturers start to produce the equipment, making the switch to ADS-B feasible for more pilots. A big difference is that there are no monthly subscription fees.

Pilots can check the status of ADS-B, TIS-B, and FIS-B services and developments through an FAA-managed Web site

If ever a case could be made for including more ACTUAL instrument flying in the primary pilot curriculum, it is because low ceilings and poor visibility kills more pilots than thunderstorms and icing factors combined!  That is a fact, according to AOPA's Air Safety Foundation!

No reasonably bright, non-instrument rated private pilot would ever deliberately launch into low ceilings and poor visibility.  So why do so many of these private pilots get tangled up in these lethal weather conditions? 

The answer is simple . . . weather is often unpredictable.  It can change in an instant, particularly when the temperature is falling in the presence of moist air.  What was once clear sky instantly becomes thick haze and fog.  The hapless pilot suddenly loses ground contact.  He descends hoping to restore the comfortable feeling of seeing the ground.

Lower and lower he goes hoping for improved visibility, but nothing.  Sensing he's in the presence of looming towers or other obstacles, he begins to climb.  Now enshrouded in solid instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), his hands begin to sweat.  Cold drops of perspiration bead up on his forehead.  He fiddles with the radio hoping that ATC can help him out of his plight. 

A very friendly and concerned controller advises him that he cannot help unless he climbs up to the minimum vectoring attitude. 

Sadly, the private pilot - having never been in these conditions before begins to panic.  His body senses are telling him one thing;  the instruments are telling him another thing.  He discards the instruments and believes his body senses.

Unfortunately, this is no simulated exercise.  He cannot toss off his foggles or walk away from the simulator.  And since that was the only instrument training he ever received, he's out of options.

Low ceilings and poor visibility kills more private pilots than thunderstorms or icing factors, yet few student pilots are ever really exposed to these conditions while sitting along side an instrument proficient instructor.  This sort of makes you wonder, doesn't it?

Recognize two things:  First - no amount of urging students to remain well clear of clouds will prevent them from possibly getting caught in lowering ceilings and poor visibility.  The accident data proves that!   Second - simulating IMC conditions with view limiting devices and stationary simulators does not adequately prepare students for actual IMC conditions.  Just watch a student's reaction the first time they encounter actual IMC conditions.

The ONLY effective way to prepare private pilots to escape an unintended encounter with lowering clouds and poor visibility is to provide them with a minimum of five to ten hours of actual instrument flight training.  Yup, this will add between $600 and $1,000 to their total training bill . . . but, then again, maybe not!

Instead, try this. 

Since you have to provide both dead reckoning and radio navigation training (neither of which requires visual contact with the ground), conduct as much of this training as possible in IMC conditions.  You might be surprised how quickly your students become comfortable in the clouds while developing these important navigation skills!  This doesn't cost them an extra nickel!

Existing non-instrument rated private pilots:

Hook up with your favorite CFII and have him or her provide you with several hours or more of IFR training.  Go out and get comfortable in the clag.  Develop an appreciation for the fact that your airplane cannot tell the differenced between VFR and IFR conditions.  It flies just the same in either environment.  The only difference is YOU!

If you can learn to do just two things, you can survive any inadvertent IMC penetration.  First, learn to keep your wings level solely by reference to the instruments.  Second, learn to not panic in the clouds.  Once you get those two things mastered, you will safely survive any accidental IMC encounter!

What's the sense of knowing the accident data if we do not do something about it?

Lowering ceilings and poor visibility kills pilots.  Knowing this, we should alter our training programs to address this sad fact.  Sure . . . VFR pilots have no business flying in the clouds just like we have no business hanging around inside burning buildings.  But if we smell smoke, we had better know the way out!

More great stuff on low ceilings and poor visibility . . .

AOPA's Air Safety Foundation recently posted a terrific website on this very subject.  It is an interactive weather education program than can be completed online in less than 15 minutes.  When finished, you receive a course completion certificate that is creditable towards completion of an FAA WINGS phase.  You can access this site by clicking on http://flash.aopa.org/asf/wxwise_ceilingvis/

This is a new feature that will be run each time a really stupid pilot trick comes to our attention.  This week's stupid pilot trick was experienced first hand by me while conducting flight training at my home airport in Akron, NY. 

My student, Christian Kalmuczak, made all of the appropriate radio calls just before launching into the setting sun on Akron's Runway 25.  After clearing the trees, we spotted the outline of a fast moving single engine aircraft less than 1/2 mile away descending directly into our departure course.  Quick action on our part avoided a mid-air disaster. 

As we cut left to avoid the incoming aircraft, we heard the other pilot call out, "Akron traffic, Mooney Nxxxx, on the RNAV 7 approach, circling to land Runway 25."

"Huh," I said to myself!  This guy apparently elected to ignore the other VFR traffic moving in the opposite direction in the pattern over Akron on this beautiful VFR day!  Rather than transitioning to the downwind leg and blending into the traffic pattern as required, he chose to scatter the flock and blast through the middle of pattern enroute to making a tight base turn for his landing on Runway 25. 

Subsequent conversation with this errant pilot revealed that he and his flight instructor (a retired FAA guy) had elected to conduct a practice RNAV 7 approach to Akron with a circle to Runway 25 because of the prevailing winds out of the west.  When asked why he didn't announce his attentions on the CTAF frequency, he replied, "I couldn't because the Approach Controller didn't turn me over to the local advisory frequency until I was on short final!"

The old "blame it on the controller" trick, I thought to myself. 

I queried, "Didn't you have another radio to monitor Akron's CTAF frequency early in your approach?  If you did, you would have heard our departure announcement!  You could have also announced your intentions on your second radio as you continued to talk with the Approach controller."

Hey . . . why was I talking with the student when it was his instructor (former FAA guy - but maybe he had special privileges!) who presumably was in charge up there?  The instructor didn't say a thing!

Sadly, this is an all too common occurrence . . . students practicing instrument approaches to non-towered fields in VMC conditions.  If the instrument approach happens to in the opposite direction to traffic already in the pattern, serious (very serious) problems can occur. 

It is on these occasions that careful radio coordination is required with all aircraft in the area.  It also requires HEADS UP on the part of the instructor or safety pilot.  Look out the window!  If you see traffic in the pattern and you can't blend in, break off the approach and go away!

And remember, IFR arrivals to an airport have NO automatic priority or "right of way" over other VFR traffic approaching or already in the pattern!

It's a wonder AOPA president Phil Boyer gets any sleep at night given the absurdity of what he has to deal with regarding the "risk" of general aviation to national security.  For example, the link below will take you to a video clip of an interview he had recently with a Massachusetts television station. 

Opposing him in the discussion was a self-proclaimed lady counter-terrorism expert putting forth the risks posed to national security by small airplanes.

You will witness, for example, her statement that "not only the big Class A airports (where the airlines operate) pose a risk, but the smaller Class B airports, and particularly the little Class C airstrips with just a windsock pose significant risk as well."  

Bravo, Phil.  If that were me dealing with this ineptness, I would have puked right there on live TV!

Click on the link below, then scroll about one-half way down to the segment titled "Boyer - Big Security Won't Fit at Small Airports."

http://www.boston.com/news/necn/Shows/news_night/

Thanks to reader Allan E. Pomeroy for sharing this with us.     

If you want to start a colorful debate among flight instructors, ask them if primary student pilots ought to be given actual in the clouds instrument training experience - or if the minimum of three hours of simulated IFR training would suffice.   Or, ask them if instruction should be cancelled when crosswinds begin to approach the demonstrated crosswind capability of their training aircraft.

I posed these questions recently among a group of CFIs and, frankly, their responses surprised me.  Regarding the IMC training for primary students, one CFI emphatically stated, "If you teach your students to remain well clear of clouds, they will not need IMC flying skills!" 

Another CFI added, "By training primary pilots in the clouds, you are in fact giving them a false sense of security which they could abuse!"  I wondered if this guy had ever given a sex education talk to his teenage children!

Regarding crosswind training, one youthful CFI insisted that the best way to impart crosswind flying skills was by "Encouraging students to have enough fuel remaining in their tanks to find a runway more aligned with the winds."

In other words, these CFIs insisted that the best way to impart flight safety skills among new pilots is to teach them to avoid the hazards that could hurt them.  Don't fly in marginal VFR conditions.  Park the airplane anytime the surface winds exceed 15 or 20 knots.

No debate here . . .

No debate here!  One cannot argue with the wisdom of teaching pilots to remain well clear of any condition that threatens the safety of their flight. 

Unfortunately, this "don't" approach to flight instruction fails to consider the vagaries of weather and man's inability to accurately predict enroute and destination weather conditions.  While building a healthy respect for flight conditions that can hurt new pilots, the "don't" approach leaves them dangerously under-prepared to deal with the unexpected.

The accident data proves the point!

The number one weather related killer of pilots is, "Continued VFR flight into IMC conditions." For the most part, this scenario involves a VFR pilot who somehow strays into the clouds or scud and is unable to execute a 180 degree out of it.  He panics, his brain freezes, he becomes disoriented . . . and crashes.

The number one non-fatal accident occurs during the landing phase.  Pilots balloon, bounce, and skid off of the runway . . . often because of gusty wind conditions.  They walk away from the accident with bruised egos, maybe some bent metal, but no broken bones or bloodshed. 

What went wrong?

Do these all-to-frequent accidents result from poor judgment (I shouldn't have been flying on that day) or because of poor flying skills?  One can argue either side of that question.

Let's take a look at a typical scenario.  Marvin, a 100 hour private pilot who received his flight instruction from a "don't" CFI, receives a thorough weather briefing from the local FSS.  He and his wife are planning a 300 mile flight from Massachusetts to Buffalo, NY in a rented Piper Warrior.  Forecast weather along his entire route of flight is clear skies and a million miles of visibility.

So excited about the great weather forecast, he neglects to consider what the briefer told him about a cold front containing lots of moisture and hazy conditions moving slowly northward from Pennsylvania.  His ETA at KBUF will be just as the sun is setting over Lake Erie immediately west of the airport.

Got the picture?  Unbeknown to the briefer (and Marvin), the cold front begins to pick up speed, thus reducing visibility over Western New York to less than six miles.  Our pilot, now just 75 miles from his destination still has excellent ground contact.  There are no actual clouds for over 100 miles in all directions.

Buffalo Approach Control steers Marvin to the west of the airport for a landing on Runway 5.  This takes him just three miles out over Lake Erie.  He looks down and sees water, then he glances up and to the west where the bright sun obscures view of the horizon.  Blue/gray water below and blue/gray sky above.  It's all one great big mess of scud.  No clouds, just scud!!!

ATC gives him another vector.  He's confused.  His wife comments, "Marvin, I can't see anything at all!"  Her voice trembles.  Suddenly, Marvin's attitude indicator displays a 70 degree bank angle and his vertical speed indicator (VSI) is pointing straight down.  Marvin pulls on the yoke, vainly trying to regain lost altitude.   This action causes Marvin's airplane to enter a steep spiral.  Tragically, you know the rest!

Did Marvin comply with his instructor's admonition NOT to fly in the clouds? 

Absolutely!  His weather briefing was everything he could hope for.  Unfortunately, it was wrong!

Another scenario . . . Bob and his wife are the proud new owners of a C-172.  He recently completed his private pilot certificate from another "don't" CFI.  On this particularly day, they decide to fly to the Great Valley Airport (N56) located just 40 miles south of Buffalo, NY.  The weather this day is beautiful.  A high pressure system is dominating over the region.  Winds at Buffalo are 240 at 6 knots.  Not a cloud in the sky.

The only possible wrinkle in Bob's planning comes when he learns that the Great Valley Airport doesn't have any weather reporting.  But located fairly close to Buffalo, he figures he won't have any problem.   What he also doesn't realize is that N56 lies in a long valley.   Winds in that valley are somewhat unpredictable.

Bob is coming in on short final.  Suddenly his left wing lifts and his nose yaws to the left.  Wanting to bring his nose back to the right, he yanks his control wheel to the right which causes the nose to pitch upward.  Wanting to get on the ground fast, he chops the power.  High angle of attack, still badly yawed, and sudden reduction in power.  You know what happens next, right?

Yup.  He's in a stall just 30' above the runway threshold.  The nose suddenly drops.  He's late getting the power in.  His nose wheel gets buried in the turf runway.  Surveying the damage, he sees his propeller bent into a pretzel.  Fortunately, he and his wife survive to fly another day . . . in a rental airplane!

Did Bob comply with his instructor's admonition NOT to fly on windy days? 

Absolutely!  The winds were well within safe limits when he departed Buffalo. Since his destination was just 45 miles to the south, how much different could they be?  He guessed wrong!

Two Unexpected Scenarios and Very Little Skill

Above we see examples of the two most frequent accident scenarios:  (1) continued VFR flight into IMC conditions, and (2) approach to landings. Neither Marvin nor Bob received the kind of flight instruction that could have saved their bacon on those fateful days.

In summary, it's always very good advice to remain well clear of the flight hazards that can hurt us.  However, like the Boy Scouts' marching song . . . "Be Prepared!"  Get the training you need to fly safely from IMC to VFR and to land in gusty, often unpredicted, crosswinds!

Flight schools and instructors . . . let's stop saying "don't" and start giving our students the skills they need to extricate themselves from those conditions that can surprise any pilot. 

Did you ever notice the difference in the way GPS waypoints are depicted on approach charts and on STARs and Departure Procedures (DPs)?  Take a closer look and be sure you know this difference!

Fly-by waypoints are used when an aircraft should begin a turn to the next course prior to reaching the waypoint separating the two route segments. This is known as turn anticipation and is compensated for in the airspace and terrain clearances.  See illustration below:

Fly-over waypoints are used when the aircraft must fly over the point prior to starting a turn.

Below is the approach chart for the RNAV (GPS) RWY 6R approach to the Anchorage International Airport.  Note the use of fly-by waypoints.

There is something invigorating about mixing it up with the big dogs in the nation's Class B airports that is good for the pilot soul.  Perhaps it is the feeling of "having arrived" as an aviator.  Maybe it is the vicarious feeling of performing in the big leagues that attracts we pilots of little airplanes into the playgrounds where the big kids play.

I do not know all the reasons why we do it, but I do know this - we better be at the top of our game!

Big Airports require professional pilot skills . . .

Navigating on the surface of KJFK, KORD, KLGA, KBOS, KMIA, CYYZ and other behemoth airports requires first rate map reading skills, sharp radio listening acuity, instant reaction times and, in most instances, two qualified pilots. 

Single pilot taxiing on large, unfamiliar airports can be a nightmare for the novice pilot.  Speaking of nightmares, taxiing around large airports at night can be, well . . . an even bigger nightmare!

Every primary student pilot should experience Class B operations . . .

A CFI friend of mine once suggested that flying a primary student pilot two to three hours  to a Class B airport was nothing more than a "license to pad" my instructor fees!  He insisted that Class B operations are no different than operating in and around our local tower controlled aerodrome. 

Is this true, I wondered?

Let's examine what makes big airport operations different than your typical Class C or D towered airport:

1. "Give me your best forward airspeed":  Since piston singles represent the smallest segment of aircraft types operating at Class B airports, controllers have to stay on their toes to keep us in sequence with jet traffic.  This often requires us to make fast, slam-dunk descents to the final approach course.

2. Rapid fire, "take no prisoner" approach controllers:  Let's face it, controllers get real busy during the late afternoon "push."  Toss in a bit of weather and a long shift, you could have a controller with very little patience with pilots who "don't listen up."  No missed radio calls allowed here!

3. "Switch to Ground Point Seven": Transitioning from flight to ground taxi on an unfamiliar airport with no first officer to point the way can be a real challenge.  Good luck getting "progressive taxi instructions."  Sometimes there simply is no time for hand holding.  "Zulu-Alpha-Bravo, hold short of November-Alpha, cross behind the United seven-four-seven, then Bravo, X-ray, Quebec to the ramp." Get out the airport diagram, keep moving, watch out for runway incursions.

4. "No delay crossing Runway xxx": Ground and tower controllers work closely together in moving airplanes from the gates to the departure runways.  This highly choreographed effort requires we pilots to be on our toes.  Miss a call and we could bring a sudden halt to their plans, then find ourselves in the penalty box.

5. "Intersection Delta departure, be ready":  Finding runway departure ends on an unfamiliar airport can be challenging.  Looking for runway intersections can be even more challenging! 

6. No Time for Wake Turbulence Holds:  As much as we'd like to delay our departure behind a B-747-400 or a B-757 for wake turbulence, there are tower controllers whose job it is to keep things moving.  Be polite, but firm.  Don't launch if you're not comfortable, but be prepared to be sent to the back of the line!

No, Virginia, Class B airports are not simply extra-large Class C airports as some would have us believe.  The only way to know this is to experience them . . . particularly during the Friday night push!  But be sure you have an experienced instructor with you.  This is no place for the nominally trained, low time private pilot!

You may think you are up there all by yourself, but somewhere at the other end of that mike button is a huge team of professional air traffic controllers whose sole mission is to keep you from running into other airplanes.

But they assure far more than aircraft separation.  With the big picture they enjoy, controllers can tell you about weather, give you ride reports, and provide vectors to your destination. 

There is one thing air traffic controller are not.  They are not air traffic police!  They do not lay in wait behind the bushes hoping to nab and give you a ticket!  That's not what they are paid to do.

The other member of your cockpit crew . . .

Air traffic controllers can be called upon for any number of cockpit duties.  They can be called upon for navigation assistance, weather advisories, and emergency assistance.  They can even provide a friendly conversation on a lonely night cross country flight while the rest of the world sleeps.

The National Airspace System accommodates more than 5,000 airplanes aloft at the same time. The more we know and understand about ATC, the more we can take advantage of their many fine services. 

The Air Traffic Control System:

Below is a quick summary of the major ATC system components as taken from the FAA's Instrument Procedures Handbook:

Those were purportedly the first words spoken by famed aviator Charles Lindbergh as the crowds rushed his airplane after his record-breaking flight back in 1927.  Did he really know he landed in Paris or was he just guessing?

How many of us REALLY know where we are at any given moment in flight?  Sure . . . those of us with glass cockpits and moving map displays think we know precisely where we are.  But what about the rest of us who are still slogging along VOR radials or NDB bearings?  

What about that ATC issued vector you accepted?  Do you know precisely where that is taking you?  Are you really sure?

Think about this . . .

You've just intercepted the final approach course for the ILS to Runway 6 at the Smallville Airport.  The localizer needle is centered but the glideslope hasn't come alive yet.  You assume you are below the glideslope, but you are not certain?  You know you can descend to the published DH (decision height) just 200 feet above the runway.  Your glideslope suddenly slides from the top of the indicator to the bottom.  What happened?  Did you fly through it?  Questions arise in your head.  False glideslope, perhaps.

Suddenly Mr. Lindbergh's question doesn't sound so dumb!

You're "behind" the airplane.  Things are happening more quickly than you like.  You forgot to flip on the Marker Beacon switch.  Did you pass the FAF (final approach fix)?  Dang!  You're lost on the approach . . .

Guess what, the latest glass cockpit technology may not be helping to solve the problem!  I've been fortunate to fly in some of the newest birds around . . . some with screens larger than my micro-oven door.  I've also watched their instrument rated owners use this technology, coupled to sophisticated autopilots, to shoot perfect ILS approaches right down to published minimums.  Amazing stuff!

Occasionally, I'll ask the proud pilot to tell me what his indicated altitude was when he passed over the final approach fix. 

"Huh," comes his reply?

My response: "Because that altitude call out confirms that you've got the correct altimeter setting cranked into to your $30,000 display unit!"   After all, we instrument pilots know that at a 0.2 inch error in the Kollsman Window translates to a 200' altimeter error . . . and when you're descending in the clag to just 200' above the ground, that error could result in disaster.

Charles Lindbergh had a compass and a sextant . . . and he found Paris after 33 hours of flight.  Pilots today have more computing and navigational capability in our portable GPS than the first space shuttle had in its entire cockpit!  Yet we continue to lose precise position awareness. 

The message is simple.  Regardless of the information technology we have onboard our airplanes, we still need to check, re-check, then check again precisely what our position is at any moment in time.  If we leave it all up to the little black boxes to tell us, we could still be wondering if it is the Smallville Airport that we're actually landing at!