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Winter weather flying refresher

December 21, 2015/in Tips and technique/by studentpltnews

As the season transitions from fall to winter and the temperature is consistently below freezing, unique challenges are presented to pilots. Flight training doesn’t need to stop in the winter though; in fact the colder months provide some great opportunities to expand your knowledge on weather and aircraft operations in less than ideal conditions.

The one tip that finally helped me land better

November 27, 2015/in Tips and technique/by studentpltnews

Making great landings consistently is easier said than done, and it’s easy to fall for the latest “miracle cure.” I won’t offer any of those, because good landings result more from practice, discipline and hard work than quick fixes. But sometimes the right visualization is the key: if you can truly understand all the interrelated events that happen during landing, it’s easier to make the correct control inputs.

Winter weather flying refresher

December 21, 2015/in Tips and technique/by studentpltnews

The one tip that finally helped me land better

November 27, 2015/in Tips and technique/by studentpltnews

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Winter weather flying refresher

December 21, 2015/in Tips and technique/by studentpltnews

Here are some winter weather tips to consider as the temperature gets colder:

Always carry winter weather gear – This first tip may seem like common sense, but I can’t stress enough the importance of carrying cold weather gear when the temperature gets below freezing. Most modern training airplanes provide a comfortable, warm cabin up in the air, even as the temperature approaches 0° F outside. This can cause a false sense of security and lead you into thinking that you may not need the extra clothing layers, gloves, hats, etc. But you have to always be prepared for an emergency landing, which could leave you in cold conditions for hours or even days. And the most important piece of cold weather gear? A cell phone of course.
Don’t rule out frost after you land – Most flight schools and aircraft owners are very conscious about frost forming on the airplane when left out on clear nights when the temperature is close to or below freezing. If your flight needs to get out early in the morning, the airplane should be hangared overnight and pulled out just before departure. There’s another time when frost can sneak up on you though, causing a delay if you’re not prepared. Let’s say you takeoff just before sunrise and head to another airport not too far away to visit the airport diner. When you come back to your airplane 30 – 60 minutes later, there’s a good chance you’ll find a fresh layer of frost on the wings and tail.
Practice takeoffs and landings on contaminated runways – Just because the runway at your airport has residual snow or slick spots doesn’t mean you have to cancel your flight lesson. In fact, ask any Alaskan bush pilot and they’ll probably tell you that landing on snow-covered runways is the norm rather than the exception in the winter. After a winter storm passes you’ll want to wait for the airport maintenance crew to clear the majority of snow from the runway. Then determine the braking action from the published NOTAM or from airport officials, which will be described as Good, Fair, Poor or Nil. If you and your instructor determine runway and braking conditions are suitable, continue on with your lesson. You’ll quickly learn the importance of speed control on final approach and how to make real-world use of the soft-field takeoff and landing techniques. Just be sure to taxi at slower than normal speeds and keep an eye on the wings when maneuvering near tall snow banks.
Review cold weather procedures for your aircraft – There’s probably a good chance you haven’t reviewed your aircraft’s cold weather normal and emergency procedures since last year (unless you had an FAA pilot checkride over the summer). I like to make it a habit each fall to pull out the POH for each aircraft I fly and review cold weather starting limitations, normal procedures and emergency checklists pertinent to cold weather ops. You should commit to memory temperature and battery limitations, starter duty cycle limits and the first few items in the checklist for an engine fire during start.
Recognize aircraft and engine limitations in cold weather – When the temperature is below freezing you’ll want to be more cautious about how you operate the aircraft engine. A good procedure is to avoid making sudden power changes as temperatures drop below 20°F and below. This means staying away from maneuvers like touch-n-gos, simulated engine failures and stall recoveries when the temperature is that cold.
Call ahead for cold-weather airport services – This tip is one to remember during your entire flying career. If you’re making a cross-country to another airport in the winter months and need some type of service from the FBO, call ahead first to verify it will be available. Don’t assume that because a particular FBO is at a large airport that they will have hangar space, engine pre-heat or other cold-weather service instantly available to you.
Make reports about the conditions you experience – In my flying experience the best weather reports don’t come from the National Weather Service, but rather from the pilots currently in the air and reporting the weather conditions they’re experiencing. These pilot reports (PIREPs) will provide you with actual temperatures aloft, cloud coverage and tops, and turbulence and icing reports, all packed into just a few lines of data. As an instrument pilot in the winter, I pay close attention to the icing reports (or lack thereof) to help determine cruise altitudes and where there might be moisture-free air between cloud layers. Make it a point to contribute to the system and relay your flight conditions to ATC when time permits. And don’t get in the habit of only making PIREPs when you experience unfavorable conditions — some of the most useful PIREPs are the ones describing flight above the cloud layers in smooth air.

The one tip that finally helped me land better

November 27, 2015/in Tips and technique/by studentpltnews

It seems like every pilot is obsessed with making better landings, and why not? No matter how safely we conduct a flight, our passengers will judge us based on the final five seconds. Plunk it on and you’re a bad pilot; gently kiss the runway and you’re an ace. It’s unfair, but it’s reality.

Early in my flight training, I was really struggling with landings – like most student pilots. The takeoff went fine, the pattern was smooth and the initial approach was stabilized. But the last 25 feet was all over the place, often ending with a balloon and then a hard landing.

My flight instructor told me it was perfectly normal, but that didn’t make me feel much better. He offered a number of tips you’ve probably heard: fly a stabilized approach, focus on the end of the runway, make smooth control inputs. All of these are good tips, but they weren’t enough for me to consistently grease the landing.

Then one day he hit on the concept that made it all click for me. I was trying to do about five things simultaneously, in a matter of a few seconds: stop the descent, increase angle of attack, bleed off airspeed and stall the wing 2 inches above the runway. That’s a lot to ask of any pilot, especially one with 10 hours. Instead of this hopeless effort, my instructor suggested I break the landing into three distinct phases: final approach, roundout and flare.

To an experienced pilot, that may sound embarrassingly obvious. But to me, it was a breakthrough. While these three phases happen in quick succession, they are separate and the goal of each is different.

Final approach: be stabilized by 500 ft. AGL (on glide path, at proper approach speed and descent rate less than 700 fpm) or go-around and try it again. It is exponentially harder to make a good landing if you don’t cross the threshold in the right “energy state,” meaning at the right speed and altitude. Too little energy and you’ll stop flying too soon and plunk it on; too much and you’ll float or balloon.
Roundout: you can’t land without first arresting the descent, so don’t be in a hurry to start pulling back and getting the wheels on the ground. As you cross the threshold, gently pull back to slow or even stop the descent and get stabilized over the runway. This was the phase I was really missing, as I went right from the approach to touch down. It really helped my landings to focus on rounding out before I started to flare. It may only take a second or two, but it matters.
Flare: now for the part most student focus on, where you increase angle of attack and gently touch down. Since you are already stable over the runway and your descent has been slowed, you can carefully feel for the runway – no need for quick control inputs. And the tip to look at the end of the runway is really important here, since it will offer the proper visual cues.

An important corollary to this tip is to be patient: just set the right pitch attitude and wait. Don’t keep pulling back on the yoke if the wheels don’t hit the runway immediately, as that’s a great way to balloon. In a typical training airplane, a 4000 ft. runway is plenty long, so wait for the final few knots of airspeed to bleed off as you feel for the runway. Forcing it on never works.

In larger airplanes, this tip can be modified slightly – and bush pilots may scoff at such a slow motion landing. But for most pilots on most runways, breaking the landing into three phases and being patient will go a long way. It may even be enough for your passengers to clap.

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Winter weather flying refresher

The one tip that finally helped me land better

Winter weather flying refresher

The one tip that finally helped me land better

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Winter weather flying refresher

The one tip that finally helped me land better

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