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The Last of the “Old Written” ATPs

August 22, 2016/in Career/by studentpltnews

Back in July of 2013, the FAA implemented a new set of rules for the multiengine ATP. July, 2014, was the last month to take the old FAA knowledge test without having to take the then new ATP-CTP course. Prior to 2014, there were typically 6-8000 ATP written tests given each year. The first half […]

How to spot nearby traffic like a pro

August 8, 2016/in Tips and technique/by studentpltnews

During the early stages of flight training you’ll learn that keeping an eye out the window looking for traffic is a big priority as you learn to fly the airplane. Here are 7 tips to boost your collision avoidance skills and make sure you don’t mix aluminum with another airplane in the sky.

The Last of the “Old Written” ATPs

August 22, 2016/in Career/by studentpltnews

How to spot nearby traffic like a pro

August 8, 2016/in Tips and technique/by studentpltnews

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The Last of the “Old Written” ATPs

August 22, 2016/in Career/by studentpltnews

Prior to 2014, there were typically 6-8000 ATP written tests given each year. The first half of 2014 saw a huge increase in the number of tests given with over 27,000 pilots taking the old version of the test before the July 31^st deadline. After the deadline, there was a sharp drop off in testing with 60 pilots taking the new version of the test during the rest of the year.

While the FAA statistics don’t break down the months, the calls to our flight school would indicate that the majority of the pilots we spoke to, had taken the test during July. I say this because the end of July, 2016, is when written exams taken in July, 2014, would expire and a lot of pilots were looking to upgrade their certificates under the old testing system.

While the statistics won’t be out for several months, it will be interesting to compare the number of Multiengine ATP certificates issued during 2016 to other years. I don’t believe that it will be anywhere near 27,000 but I suspect that it will be double or triple the average of previous years.

flt school 3 Our flight school saw over a 1000% increase in the number of clients coming here to prepare for and take their ATP practical exam when compared to a typical year prior to the rule change. During June and July, we had to turn potential clients away due to a lack of aircraft and instructor capacity as did many other flight schools. Planning for and timing 100 hour inspections was a challenge but our excellent maintenance crew did a great job on both scheduled maintenance and the inevitable unplanned repairs.

June was the busiest month ever on our Piper Aztec. July was also busy but there was a break in the middle of the month for a 100 hour/annual inspection that was due.

Our last ATP client under the old testing rules finished his checkride on Saturday, July 30^th, after some weather delays earlier in the week and an unexpected primary flight display failure that occurred on Friday (Thank you Aspen Avionics, FedEx, and Cincinnati Avionics for fixing that issue by Saturday morning), he left with his new certificate in hand.

Now that we have reached the month of August, we are servicing a backlog of non-ATP multiengine clients that did not have a July 31^st deadline.

Moving forward, we expect to see a return to a slower pace of ATP clients but not as slow as it was before the ATP rules were changed. Let’s face it, the ATP is now a requirement for the right seat of an airliner and it is likely that more competitive pilots will opt to obtain the ATP before applying.

Foreign pilots that want a US ATP certificate also like to book the ATP-CTP with our ABX Airlines partners then spend an extra few days getting to know the Aztec and passing the ATP practical exam so that they can return to their home country with an FAA ATP certificate. Can you blame them?

How to spot nearby traffic like a pro

August 8, 2016/in Tips and technique/by studentpltnews

At the beginning of my flight training I remember reviewing the lesson objectives with my flight instructor and what he wanted to cover during those first few hours. Most of the tasks made sense, as they were the building blocks from which more advanced concepts would be based. They included things like flight instruments, airplane controls, checklists, pitch/power, climbs, descents, and collision avoidance.

Wait, collision avoidance? I was really looking forward to doing all of the other flight maneuvers until that topic came up, which brought to mind an image of twisted metal in the sky. Yes sir, I remember thinking, I would like to do whatever it takes to avoid collisions in the sky.

I of course soon learned he was using the FAA/industry buzzword for the process of keeping your eyes out the window and looking for other traffic, but at that time it seemed like a lot of pressure to put on a zero-time student pilot who was still getting used to late afternoon turbulence while trying to maintain altitude. Shouldn’t my experienced CFI worry about making sure we don’t run into anyone while I concentrate on flying the airplane?

Of course this concern quickly passed after 2 or 3 lessons as I started to feel comfortable at the controls, and realized looking out at the window was way more productive than staring at the instruments to control the airplane anyway. I was glad that he taught me this habit early on, and following the law of primacy, it was something that I took seriously on every flight going forward.

Fortunately the odds of ever getting into a mid-air collision are low, as there are on average only about 10 cases per year. The big sky theory is in your favor here too, meaning there is way more empty space out there than aluminum flying around. There are times though that you should be extra cautious, as data shows that about half of the mid-air accidents take place within five miles of the airport when at low altitudes. This makes sense, as it’s the place where the most airplanes are likely concentrated in the airspace system.

This presents a challenge to student pilots though, because it’s also the time when you’re most task-saturated. You’ll need to juggle the steps to configure the airplane for landing, run before-landing checklists, make radio calls, and oh yea, keep an eye out for other airplanes that may or may not be reporting their position in the pattern. This will soon all come naturally to you, but it’s a lot to get used to during the first few lessons.

Fortunately there are some things you can do to give yourself an advantage when it comes to collision avoidance and spotting other traffic:

Fly visually – This first tip is the most important of all listed here. You should be learning to fly the airplane by looking out the window and maintaining various pitch attitudes by the relationship of the airplane’s nose to the horizon. Not only will it make you a better stick and rudder pilot, but it’ll keep your eyes out the window always looking for traffic too.

Don’t get caught up in the FARs – If a potential traffic conflict arises, don’t get too caught up with right-of-way rules to the point that you freeze up and do nothing. Take the course of action that puts the most space between you and the other airplane and save the debate for later.

Clean the windshield – during summertime flying it doesn’t take more than a few hours of low-altitude flying to fill the windshield with smashed bugs. Not only are they annoying to look through, but a bug-filled window makes it increasingly difficult to spot nearby airplanes.

Be methodical and don’t “scan” – Many CFIs and training resources use the term “scan” when describing the method look for nearby traffic. To me scanning involves constantly moving your eyes back and forth, in the same motion that onboard radar sweeps the sky looking for precipitation. This tends to blur the vision and can work against your efforts. Instead follow the FAA’s guidance and concentrate in 10° increments of the sky, and let your eyes rest still in each of those sectors to see if any traffic is in that area.

Light up the airplane – with today’s LED light bulb technology taking the place of the old life-limited incandescent bulbs, there’s no reason not to have all the lights turned on in the pattern and when maneuvering in the practice area, even during the day.

Visualize each radio call – when operating in and around the airport environment, make it a habit to visualize the position for every other aircraft that calls in, even at fields with an ATC tower. With practice you’ll find this will become second-nature and you’ll automatically develop a mental view of the aircraft nearby, making it easier to spot them out the window.

iPad traffic awareness – Technology is also playing an important role in collision avoidance. The NextGen air traffic control system includes a traffic component, that sends out the location of other airplanes via an electronic datalink. You must be equipped with 2 components to receive this traffic data: an ADS-B out transponder, and an ADS-B in receiver and display. The second half of the equation can be as simple as a portable ADS-B receiver and iPad.

Apps like ForeFlight can also display visual and aural alerts on the iPad when a potential traffic threat arises, which will help to limit heads down time starting at the iPad. Here are some more tips for using the traffic feature in ForeFlight on iPad.

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Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

The Last of the “Old Written” ATPs

How to spot nearby traffic like a pro

The Last of the “Old Written” ATPs

How to spot nearby traffic like a pro

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The Last of the “Old Written” ATPs

How to spot nearby traffic like a pro

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