What would you have done?

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From NASA’s Aviation Reporting System, CALLBACK

Flying…on an IFR flight plan last night, it was overcast at 12,000 feet and very dark.… I had descended from 8,000 feet and was level at 3,000 feet. I was heading 290 degrees getting vectors for the ILS approach.… Approach told me to turn left to 250 degrees. During the turn, I noticed bright lights ahead and at first, thought it was an airplane very close above me at 12 o’clock flying in the opposite direction.… I ducked my neck down and tilted my head back to look up 45 degrees out the windscreen to look directly at the lights. Immediately, I thought I was flying with a very nose high, pitch up attitude and immediately realized [the lights] were not an airplane!

I must have pushed on the yoke to get the nose down. I turned my head left to look out the side window hoping to make sense of what I was seeing, but the pitch blackness with only a couple lights was of no help. I immediately looked at my G5 [attitude indicator], and what I saw made my head spin! For a split second I questioned whether my G5 had malfunctioned.

approach lights

I focused on using the attitude indicator to get wings level and control the airspeed.

What would you have done?

Thank God all my training kicked in, and I immediately disregarded the thought that my G5 was broken. At that moment, I realized I was experiencing overwhelming spacial disorientation. So, I focused on using the attitude indicator to get wings level and control the airspeed. I was in a bank of approximately standard rate. I leveled the wings first. I did not notice the horizon, so I did not immediately perceive my pitch attitude. After getting wings level, I…focused on the airspeed. The airspeed indicator was moving fast…and the numbers were increasing! I do not remember whether or not I reduced power. Before this happened, power was set at about 1,700 rpm, and I had been flying at 135 mph. Now airspeed was passing through 190 mph fast!

I immediately pulled back on the yoke to reduce the airspeed and recover the airplane.… The horizon came back into view, I stopped the descent, added power, and began to climb. As I started to climb, the Controller came on the radio and stated, “Aircraft X, I got an altitude alert. Check your altitude.” I could hear the Controller’s alarm going off. I didn’t try to communicate. I only focused on completing the recovery and controlling the airplane. I had gotten 400 feet or more off my assigned altitude. Although it felt like slow motion, this all occurred in a time span of less than 10 seconds. I got back to 3,000 feet and a heading of 250 degrees.… After a minute of silence, the Controller gave me a vector to intercept and cleared me for the approach.

I’ve thought a lot about what happened last night and realize that a slight disorientation accelerated rapidly into extreme disorientation.… My head movements in the cockpit trying to figure things out were counterproductive and actually were a significant contributing factor to the magnitude of my disorientation.

 

 

How to identify airport runways and traffic patterns (video tip)

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A standard traffic pattern is normally flown when setting up to approach and land at an airport. In this video, we’ll take a look at the standard ways to both enter and depart a traffic pattern, as well as look at how runways are identified based on their location and orientation.

This video clip below is from Sporty’s complete Learn to Fly Course.

Accelerated Stalls: Sporty’s Flight Maneuver Spotlight

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An accelerated stall is a stall that occurs at a higher airspeed than a 1G stall and can be caused by an aircraft making abrupt control inputs such as too much back pressure during a banked turn. As you may recall a stall can occur at any airspeed or attitude, as long as the wing’s critical angle of attack is exceeded and the accelerated stall demonstrats this fact.

accelerated stall

This video and maneuver description is from Sporty’s Learn to Fly Course, which includes knowledge test prep, flight maneuvers, oral exam tools and a comprehensive aviation library.

Video: landing at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2024 Starts Monday

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Family fun in Wisconsin at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh

Action, excitement, education,and everything in between make EAA AirVenture Oshkosh your perfect, affordable summer destination! The world’s largest airshow starts next week, July 22, 2024. For seven days from sunrise to well past sunset, your Oshkosh day is filled with thrilling displays of aerobatics, informative programs and hands-on workshops, diverse aircraft spanning all eras of flight, evening programs, and much, much more. Plan your trip now!

As usual, Sporty’s will be at AirVeture in a big way with a massive exhibit located in Outdoor Space #260, just outside of Exhibit Hangar B. Sporty’s Aviation Gifts will be exhibiting inside Hangar B, Booths 210-212. Sporty’s will also be presenting seminars throughout the week.

Sporty’s tent is an essential stop at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh:

  • Show specials – save big on headsets, iPad gear, flight bags, and much more
  • Compare headsets side-by-side, with honest advice from Sporty’s team of pilots
  • Talk to our flight instructors about learning to fly or getting current
  • Learn about the newest products: Bose A30 Headset, L6 COM Radio, Flight Outfitters bags, and more

Learn more at https://www.eaa.org/airventure.

Video Tip: How to land a tailwheel airplane (wheel landing method)

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Most pilots learn to fly and earn their pilot certificate in a tricycle gear airplane, often referred to as a “nosewheel” airplane, like a Cessna 172 or Piper Archer. After spending some time at just about any airport, however, you’ll also see a variety of tailwheel airplanes, which were designed and built decades before the first nosewheel airplane ever flew. While there aren’t many differences when flying tailwheel and nosewheel airplanes in the air, taking off and landing are a different story.

This week’s tip explains how to land a tailwheel airplane by using the “wheel landing” method. To learn more about how to fly tailwheel airplanes, check out Sporty’s Tailwheel Checkout Course with Patty Wagstaff.

checkride

Excuses to Proceed with a Checkride (You Probably Shouldn’t be Using)

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checkride

Sometimes, there are pretty obvious cues that it isn’t the day for your checkride. As a DPE, I hear all kinds of justifications for why someone is choosing to go forward with the test on a particular day. In too many instances, the logic of the justification should be a pretty good cue that rescheduling would actually be a better choice.

Here are a few I heard over the past 12 months used as justification for “I’m gonna do my checkride today no matter what.”

If I don’t get the checkride done today, I won’t be able to fly my family on the vacation we have planned for tomorrow.

I can’t help but think that if you are trying to force your checkride on a marginal weather day or if you aren’t really ready yet but are going to give it a try just because you have a trip planned to fly your family the next day, it might be time to hit pause. It might even be an indicator to the DPE that you are going to make such pressured decisions after the checkride also.
Get-there-itis also applies to checkrides, not just your flying after you are certificated. But if you are willing to let it affect your checkride, you are probably pretty likely to let it affect you in your flying later as well.

My parents say I have to have this done today.

Are you really ready to be the PIC if you are having your parents make the decisions for you about flying? I get it. Parental pressure to get your training done can be strong, but the DPE is there to see if you are ready to make good PIC decisions, as the pilot, not your parents.

If your parents putting pressure on you to get the test done is forcing you to do the test in conditions that are not suitable, you should be having a conversation with your parents about what you have learned about making good go-no-go flying decisions instead of telling the DPE that your parents really want you to take the test today.

I don’t have anywhere to live here if I don’t get this done today.

This reason to do a test has been given to me more times than it should have been! People who have already moved out of their apartment or house and generally are out of time and who have to go “back home” right after the checkride fall into this category.

Good pilots always have an “out” planned—an alternate option. I have on numerous occasions had people try to do their checkrides with all their belongings packed in their car or moving van just because they left it to the last minute and now had to move out. Give yourself extra time if you have an upcoming checkride to deal with schedule changes, bad weather, or other unforeseen delays.
This pressure point can be especially present when you are traveling to complete training. Be ready if you are doing this to stay longer, return at another time to complete training, or find a test back where you are from if you run into training delays.

I already told a job I have a commercial pilot certificate and start tomorrow, so I need to do it.

Well, telling the DPE you lied to your next employer isn’t really a great way to start off the checkride. And it probably wasn’t a great way to start off that job, either. Especially if anything at all delays you from getting that practical test done.

Putting the pressure to do a test as a make-or-break moment for your next job puts a lot of pressure on your practical test.

I’m out of money. All I have left is enough to do my checkride.

I get it, flight training is expensive. The good news is that the career path repayment on the investment in aviation as a professional career is one of the best out there. And with recent hiring booms, it is even faster than ever with higher pay and big signing bonuses. But that doesn’t solve the immediate problem if someone has no access to additional funds to finish their training or checkride. Delays in training, staying current while waiting for a checkride, and weather delays are just a few of the potential hiccups that can delay, extend, or expand training footprints. With that many times comes extra cost.

In some cases, folks end up pausing their training before they can finish up. We all hope that isn’t necessary, but that might be the best choice sometimes instead of trying to take a checkride when you aren’t really ready. That can result in added costs also.

I’m not telling you that everyone that used one of these justifications didn’t pass. Some did, some didn’t. But I know that the passing probability will not likely increase with added pressures. There is enough of that already in the fact that you are taking a test.

If you do proceed forward with a test with any of these or other handicaps already identified, you will get a fair shake from a DPE. However, they can’t stretch the standards because of conditions or circumstances. You will have to perform to the same standards despite any outside pressures as you would if you did it on a day when these pressures were not present.

I will always encourage any practical test applicant to do their test on a day and in conditions they are confident that they will be able to perform within ACS/PTS standards. Don’t leave passing your test up to luck. If you find yourself on a day where the weather is questionable, the aircraft is experiencing any challenges, or you aren’t feeling up to the IMSAFE checklist, perhaps it’s time to push the pause button and reset for another day.

The pressure to get a checkride done can be significant. Show the examiner that you will make good PIC decisions before you even start by not starting when you shouldn’t.