Fly Safe! Bob Miller, ATP, MCFI Master Certificated Flight Instructor Buffalo, NY rjma@rjma.com 716-864-8100

Without question, winter is the best time of the year to fly!The jaw-jarring thermals of summer are all at rest.  Ever-present thunderstorms are in hibernation.  The heat-soaked haze is all gone leaving crystal clear air that enables you to see crisp horizons around the entire compass.

Somewhere, wintertime flying got a bad rap.  Ill-informed graduates of Florida and Arizona flight schools warn, "Don't approach anything resembling instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) above the Mason-Dixon line in winter.  The ice monster will reach out and cripple you with ice.  Then you die!"

Airplanes and Pilots Age Prematurely!

Evidence of this bad rap can be seen at hundreds of little airports in the northern climates that seem to roll up their runways and pad lock their offices until Spring.  Inside their frozen hangars, airplane engines rust, control cables stiffen and pulley hubs dry out.  Five or six months of inactivity adds years of premature age their airplanes . . . and to their owners!

Few things are harder on airplanes than allowing them to sit idle for four or five months at a time.  And don't think you can solve the problem by taking a quick flight around the pattern.  It takes at least an hour or more of continuous flight to burn off any moisture in the engine.

Caution:  Winter flight operations are fun but they require special skills.  Be sure you have them!

The typical flight school response to winter conditions is to cancel training whenever it is windy, snowy, slippery, visibility is poor, and/or when the ceilings drop below 1,000'.  Consequently, entire generations of pilots are being produced who are winter-phobic!   It is little wonder why we see winter flying dwindling to a trickle here in the north.

You can solve this problem by obtaining specialized wintertime flight training.  Learn to maneuver on an ice-covered airport surface.  Learn to use power and rudder to prevent sliding into a snow bank.  Learn to approach and kick out of a 45 degree forward side-slip just as you touch down when your windscreen is frosted over.  Learn what to do when you are carrying a couple of inches of ice on your horizontal stabilizer. 

Yes . . . winter operations, like mountain flying, requires specialized training.  Unfortunately, this kind of training does not come with the private pilot certificate in most cases.  It should, but it doesn't.

You knew them for your instrument check ride . . . but do you remember their significance today?  They are the MEA, MOCA, OROCA, MCA, and the MRA.  They were significant back then, but in the free flight, GPS direct world we operate in today, they are even more significant.

Who knows why this stuff happens, but thanks to a vigilant co-pilot, disaster was averted at Boston Logan's Airport this past June.  Two tower controllers were working simultaneous departures on the afternoon shift.  The east sector tower controller cleared a US Airways Boeing 737-3B7 for takeoff on runway Runway 9.  That aircraft was carrying 103 passengers and a crew of 6 bound for Philadelphia.

Five seconds later, the west sector tower controller cleared an Aer Lingus Airbus A330-301 for takeoff on Runway 15R.  That aircraft was carrying 260 passengers and a crew of 12 bound for Shannon, Ireland.

Airports are hazardous to flight!

Web-based information technology is exploding into the flight training field faster than ever before.  In time, every pilot, from student to ATP, will be logging on to some form of on-line flight training each day before leaving home. 

Leading the pack in this technology has been our own AOPA.  These folks have been pushing the web-based training envelope right to the outer edges.  Below are links to two such web-based training sites:

Many thanks to friend and OTA reader Jeff Myers, AOPA's Executive Vice President -Communications, for sharing these highly effective interactive web presentations with us.

The 180 degree power off approach is one of the most important stick and rudder exercises we can practice.  First, it helps us to develop judgment in estimating distances and glide ratios.  Equally important, this exercise gives us the skill to make a safe emergency landing to any airport or suitable landing area from any altitude.  As such, this exercise should be practiced regularly . . . . including when making the final landing to the airport after a long practice session or following a cross-country flight. 

While not included in the private pilot practical test standards (PTS), the 180 degree power off landing is an effective way to impart necessary emergency landing skills to the pre-solo student pilot.

The procedure begins on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern.  Abeam the runway numbers, power is reduced to idle.  This power reduction location is called the "Key Point."  It is at this point that the powered aircraft is instantly converted to a glider!   Descent speed is controlled solely by pitch with some help provided by flaps and slips, if necessary.  See the illustration below: 

The real value of the 180 degree power off landing technique comes when it is combined with a high altitude, power off descent over the airport.  This scenario simulates an engine failure while at cruise altitude.  Here, the pilot positions himself directly over an airport or a suitable emergency landing area.  He then descends in slow 360 degree circles until reaching the same "Key Point" used in the 180 degree exercise above.   

Try this exercise while in simulated or actual instrument conditions!

The skills learned in the high altitude 360 degree descending turn enables the pilot to make a safe emergency GPS descent while in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC).  Obviously, engines fail in instrument as well as in VFR conditions.  Yet little, if any, engine failure training is provided to the instrument pilot.  This exercise provides this training.

Here's how it works . . .

Use your GPS to position yourself at least 5,000 feet above an airport while in simulated or actual instrument conditions.  Reduce the throttle to idle, then commence a standard rate turn directly over the airport solely by reference to your GPS moving map.   In most "for real" emergencies of this type, you will break out into VMC conditions at or immediately above the "Key Point."  From there, proceed visually to a safe power off landing.

Obviously, if you are going to practice this maneuver in actual instrument conditions, pick a day when the cloud bases are above the minimum vectoring altitude (MVA) for your airport.  Be sure to obtain the proper ATC block altitude clearance, of course. 

Go ahead and make a night landing at that unfamiliar, non-towered airport confident that you have complied with the full meaning and intent of 91.103 (requirement to have all available information).  

Ripping off your landing gear!

Remember, however, it is no fair blaming anybody else for your ripping off of the landing gear and striking the prop on the asphalt as you rolled out over an open trench in the runway you landed on!

Apparently you missed this little runway closure (D) NOTAM in your pre-flight planning.  Okay, so nobody was hurt (seriously) and there were no witnesses, so you escaped FAA enforcement action under FAR 91.13 (careless and reckless operation).  You do have an obligation, however, to notify the NTSB since the damage easily exceeded $25,000.

Tree branches smashing against your wings!

Let's say you get that all straightened out and go on to fly another day.  On your very next flight, you make an instrument landing to minimums at another unfamiliar airport.   You descended through the clag right down to published minimums and as you did, you hear the terrifying sounds of tree branches smashing against your wings. 

Hmmmm . . . this time you failed to check FDC NOTAMs for the temporarily higher MDA (minimum descent altitute) on the approach you used.  Seems trees grow fast around that airport!  The news is good, this time.  Just a little bit of lost paint and several dents in the leading edge that can easily be pounded out.  

Fighter escorts over Ft. Campbell, KY!

Everything is all fixed now.  You decide to file GPS direct from Memphis, Tennessee back to Buffalo, NY.  You receive a standard briefing, then proceed on your merry way home believing your IFR clearance will keep you away from restricted airspace.  Only one little wrinkle.  It seems that your flight took you directly over Ft. Campbell, KY.  Quite naturally, the feds don't want you flying directly over their nuclear arsenal. 

"Nobody ever told me about the Ft. Campbell TFR (Temporary Flight Restriction) and, besides, I was on an instrument flight plan," you say in incredulous disbelief.  Better call your favorite aviation attorney because the FAA will be sure to go after your ticket this time!

Three NOTAM Busts in one year!!!!

Fortunately, not every NOTAM related incident results in serious injuries or FAA enforcement action.  Imagine, if local FSDOs had to pursue every such NOTAM related incident, they wouldn't have time to do anything else.

It is a sad but true state of affairs for pilots these days.  The FAA spews out hundreds of new NOTAMs every day, buries them in coded language and hides them in obscure publications, then expects us to decipher each one prior to every flight we make.

Latest Pilot Game is . . . NOTAM Roulette!

We pilots have two choices.  We can either get serious about checking NOTAMs before every flight or we can play "NOTAM Roulette" and simply launch in blind faith that we will not encounter any.  Unfortunately, "NOTAM Roulette" makes as much sense as playing the Russian kind.  The odds are about the same and the end result may be surprisingly similar!

It is no secret that the NOTAM system (if there is a system) is a real mess.  One would think that you could provide the FSS specialist with the date, time, and route of your flight and he or she, in return, could supply you with all of the pertinent NOTAMs, both old and new.

Sorry, Charlie, it's not going to happen!  As said above, the FAA buries them in the most stilted language, then hides them in obscure publications.   Then, they violate you for not complying with them.  Yep, it is a mess. 

So what is a girl supposed to do?

The best thing you can do is keep a few websites real handy.  Bookmark or plug the following websites into your favorites:

The NOTAM mess we have been experiencing is slowly getting resolved.  While there is a very long way to go, the day is coming when we will be able to plug our planned route into our Internet browser and, voila', all pertinent NOTAMs will appear!

It was a classic botched landing.  The student pilot of a Cessna 152 was trying to land at the Greenville Downtown Airport, Greenville, SC back in January, 1996. 

According to statements taken by the NTSB, the pilot "had difficulty lining up on the runway due to the effect of a strong quartering tailwind which existed above the surface."

According to the accident report, "The aircraft ballooned during the flare, and the pilot executed a go-around."  With full power and carburetor heat off, the pilot raised all 30 degrees of  flaps, and the aircraft settled. Next, the aircraft's nose was raised and it yawed to the left and stalled.

The aircraft impacted the runway with the nose and the left wing first, approximately 90 degrees to the left of the runway.  The pilot sustained minor injuries.  The airplane was substantially damaged.

Just as the lowering of flaps increases lift (thereby enabling you to make a steeper descent without a corresponding increase in airspeed), the raising of flaps in flight can cause a momentary decrease in lift.  This is apparently what happened with this accident aircraft. 

In commencing his go around from a botched landing, the student pilot elected to retract all 30 degrees of flaps at once as he was lifting off of the runway.  When he saw himself suddenly settling back to the runway, he pitched the nose upward in a futile attempt to regain lost altitude. 

With the airplane rapidly approaching a stall, ineffective rudder control produced a giant yaw moment.  This caused one wing to drop and strike the runway edge and the nose to be forced down into the concrete runway.  Ouch!!

So many instructors attempt, unsuccessfully, to teach students how to land by "feel."  They say, "Watch me.  Do what I do."

And with that, the hapless student tries to remember what his or her instructor did.   This sort of "monkey see, monkey do" teaching method explains why it takes so long to master landings!

Consistently good landings never happen until the pilot understands what is going on aerodynamically around the airplane as it settles down over the runway.  Unless the pilot understands the relationship between declining airspeed and lift, he has no way of intuitively knowing how to maneuver the controls!  Then, when he maneuvers these controls improperly, a landing accident such as the described here nearly always occurs.

If a go around is necessary and the flaps are all hanging out, one of two actions is immediately required.

1. If you are still on the runway, retract the flaps before lifting off.

2. If you are airborne, do not retract the flaps until you have achieved a positive rate of climb, then retract the flaps 10 degrees at a time. 

We stare at our information-giving instruments often without thinking twice about what's going on behind their faces.  Not only do we stare at them, we place our lives in their hands (no pun)!

The Vertical Speed Indicator (VSI) is one of the most responsive of the six flying instruments in our panel.  A quick glance at the VSI will tell us almost instantly if we are going up or down and how fast, in feet per minute.

Here's how the VSI works . . .

The VSI consists of an air tight case containing a simple diaphragm.  The diaphragm is attached to a linkage arm that, in turn, is connected to the indicator needle on the face of the instrument.

The diaphragm is connected directly to the static line in the pitot-static system.  The case is also attached to the static line via a restricted orifice (calibrated leak).

It is all a matter of differential air pressure

As the airplane climbs (or descends), the air pressure within the diaphragm instantly changes relative to the pressure in the surrounding case thereby causing it to expand (increasing pressure) or contract (decreasing pressure).  This expansion or contraction movement is transmitted to the indicator needle on the face of the instrument by the connecting linkage.

When the pressure in the surrounding case equals the pressure inside the diaphragm, via a calibrated leak, the indicator needle returns to zero.  It's as simple as that!

In other words, when the airplane climbs or descends, the pressure inside the diaphragm changes immediately, but due to the metering action of the surrounding case's restricted passage, the case pressure remains higher or lower for a short time, causing the diaphragm to contract or expand. This causes a pressure differential that is indicated on the instrument needle as a climb or descent. When the pressure differential stabilizes at a definite ratio, the needle indicates the rate of altitude change.

Two Different Types of Information

The vertical speed indicator is capable of displaying two different types of information:

• Trend information shows an immediate indication of an increase or decrease in the airplane’s rate of climb or descent.

• Rate information shows a stabilized rate of change in altitude.

For example, if maintaining a steady 500-foot per minute (f.p.m.) climb, and the nose is lowered slightly, the VSI immediately senses this change and indicates a decrease in the rate of climb. This first indication is called the trend. After a short time, the VSI needle stabilizes on the new rate of climb, which in this example, is something less than 500 f.p.m. 

The time from the initial change in the rate of climb, until the VSI displays an accurate indication of the new rate, is called the lag. Rough control technique and turbulence can extend the lag period and cause erratic and unstable rate indications.

A couple of my students recently returned from the Cessna factory with a brand new glass cockpit Turbo 182.  When I asked them about their factory training, they said, "The factory guys told us that upon reaching 500' AGL punch on the auto-pilot and leave it on until you are on short final."

Curiously, the Columbia Aircraft factory instructor intimated the same thing to me earlier this year when Ravi Bansal and I picked up his new Columbia 400.   Apparently both factories have more confidence in their autopilots than in the skill levels of their average customer!

There is no question about it.  Today's new breed of airplanes can carry us deeper and deeper into hostile environments with more built-in information and safety devices than in years past.  This is good!

But there is a bad side, too. 

Button pushing dexterity is rapidly replacing the stick, rudder and basic navigation skills we learned as primary students.  We are seeing primary students with incomplete stick, rudder, and navigation skills stepping right into this new breed of airplane. 

Equally distressing, many experienced pilots are cashing in their stick, rudder, and navigation skills as they grow increasingly dependent upon this new button pushing technology.  I know, because it happened to me.

When I acquired my T-210, I was quickly seduced by the dual moving maps, coupled auto-pilot, and its "known ice" certification.  It did not take long, however, to discover that things break - often at the worst of times.  "Known ice" capability doesn't mean much when your pitot heat quits in icy clouds!  Think about the challenge you face when accumulating ice and only the left wing boots work.  The word "yaw" takes on a whole new meaning!

Autopilot coupled approaches are fun and easy, particular when the clag is right down to minimums.  Couple up on every instrument approach for a year, then try to perform one by hand when the autopilot tanks.  I discovered that experience the hard way.

Stuff really does happen!

I am a great believer in new technology.  I've embraced nearly every new flight enhancement that has come down the road.  But experience has also taught me that basic stick, rudder, navigation, and even aeronautical decision-making skills can never be replaced by a button.  

There will be a day when each of us will experience a total electrical failure at the worst possible time.  Despite government assurances to the contrary, some terrorist or disgruntled postal worker will one day get his (or her) hands on the GPS master switch and immediately send 5,000 PICs aloft over the United States searching for VOR frequencies! 

One thing that some of our newer airplanes that go real fast do is burn lots of gas.  Allow that gas to run out, you will find yourself immediately in a very expensive glider.  If there is one thing that all glider pilots have, it is stick and rudder skills.   Or fly your fully functioning glass composite airplane down the final approach course in a 30 knot gusty crosswind.  You'll wish you spent less time on the buttons and more time on the rudder!

How about the nastiest of all stuff.  You suffer a bit of disorientation in the clouds just as your autopilot makes an uncommanded descending roll to the right.  After punching the autopilot disconnect button you give a tug on the stick.   Your airspeed peels off to Vso minus 10 while still in the clouds.  Your altimeter suddenly unwinds.  You pitch up more aggressively.  Now in an ever-tightening spiral, you plea for help as your attitude indicator, turn coordinator, and even your wet compass are all screaming life-saving signals to you.  You never see them!  Down you go in a media-capturing event that leaves your family in despair.

What stick and rudder proficient pilots know . . .

Stick and rudder proficient pilots require only needle, ball, and airspeed to remain safely under control.  You can take away their autopilots, their glass panels, their uplinked weather, and their ice protected airframes.  Just leave them with the basics and they can generally save the day.

The important point to remember is . . . know your limits and know the limits of your airplane!!

Fly Safe! Bob Miller, ATP, MCFI Master Certificated Flight Instructor Buffalo, NY rjma@rjma.com 716-864-8100