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Scenario-Based Training

November 9, 2012/in Tips and technique/by Studentpltnews

When I was in high school, I did a project which involved interviewing military veterans. There were four veterans I interviewed – two who were in the Vietnam War and two in Korea (one was my grandfather). The main focus was to interview them about their personal experiences, and about combat. To do this I had to […]

Use your iPad to help with weight and balance calculations

October 22, 2012/in Tips and technique/by Studentpltnews

Scenario-Based Training

November 9, 2012/in Tips and technique/by Studentpltnews

Use your iPad to help with weight and balance calculations

October 22, 2012/in Tips and technique/by Studentpltnews

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Scenario-Based Training

November 9, 2012/in Tips and technique/by Studentpltnews

My project was successful and I learned a lot, mainly to honor our veterans for what they did. Each veteran was interviewed separately and they did not know each other. However, they all had one experience in common. They told me that their rigorous boot camp training was a major reason why they survived combat. During a firefight, their training with various weapons and scenarios was key to overcoming the potentially crippling fear of combat. When their adrenaline was rushing, hearts pounded, and overworked lungs were burning, their training took over almost like they were on autopilot.

As pilots, there are lessons to be learned from this description. Unless we are flying low over moonshine country, we have no one shooting at us, but these veterans also said their time in service involved very long periods of extreme boredom, followed by short periods of extreme chaos and fear. As pilots, we experience long periods with little to do but monitor instruments and equipment and take in the views (cruise flight), and short periods of high workloads (takeoff and landing). We shouldn’t experience fear unless something goes wrong, or something breaks. We should expect that our training will take over and guide us through a particular event. If you were to experience a real emergency, do you feel confident your training has prepared you to handle it?

The PTS (practical test standards) book for every license spells out what’s expected from the student. It also spells out what’s expected of the examiner. The examiner is expected to, whenever possible, ask scenario based questions. They ask these during the oral, or give scenarios in flight for the student to work through. This shows the examiner that the student knows this task to the highest level of learning — correlation.

We all learn at different levels. The first level is rote learning. Examples of this level of learning would include memorizing aircraft V-speeds or limitations. Knowing why we use Vx to clear an obstacle or Vbg (best glide) in an engine-out emergency is the next level of learning — understanding.

The third level, application, is putting any knowledge to use in the airplane. The highest level of learning is when you realize how all the different areas of aviation (systems, limitations, weather, performance, regulations, etc.) relate to each other. You take everything into consideration when making decisions. This is called correlation. Scenario-based training encourages this highest level of learning to help you make safer decisions.

Scenario-based training should be a major part of your lessons, whether you’re a student or an instructor. For example, instead of reading and understanding the electric fire/failure checklist, practice it in the air. Once you secure the simulated fire, turn off the master switch (when in a non-congested area and not under a mode C veil), take off your headsets and work the problem to the ground (have a radio and speaker on for collision avoidance). Does your airplane require electric for flaps or gear when landing? Were you talking to ATC at the time? Now do this scenario at night, what changes? How does the workload increase? What about engine failure/fire to a forced landing?

Instead of taking the plane to 500 feet about the ground, try doing this by a runway or suitable grass strip and take the plane all the way to the ground. Talk about differences coping with abnormal or emergency procedures at night, over mountainous terrain or over an overcast layer. What about something slightly less dramatic like high oil temperature, a stuck throttle, a door opening in flight (if not a limitation)? Do this and watch you or your student’s confidence grow.

There are many different scenarios that can be created, mostly based around the aircraft’s emergency section in the operating handbook. There are also many scenarios that can occur that the manufacturer does not provide a checklist for. It’s valuable to work through the less likely scenarios as well, but always with an instructor and never compromise safety. This type of training should be done prior to the checkride. Not only to pass the examiner’s scenario-based questions and tasks, but for your personal growth and safety. Moreover, scenario-based training is the best preparation for after you receive your license. It keeps you current and safe and ensures you’re always learning.

If something goes wrong while flying and your adrenaline is rushing and your heart starts pounding, scenario-based training will be crucial to help get you over your fear, and work the problem to continue flying safely and to the nearest airport. Keep your instructor’s number close by to enlist his help and experience.

Use your iPad to help with weight and balance calculations

October 22, 2012/in Tips and technique/by Studentpltnews

Aviation W&B Calculator makes it easy to precisely the load the airplane

There are many ways to calculate airplane weight & balance with an iPad, but the best method we’ve found yet is with the Aviation W&B Calculator app. Available for $9.99 in the app store, this app makes it a breeze to perform routine weight & balance calculations. After instantly calculating takeoff/landing weight and center of gravity, the app also plots your center of gravity (CG) on an aircraft envelope. The app is especially useful when trying to maximize an airplane’s utility, allowing you to experiment with various loading configurations and instantly display the results on a CG graph.

Entering aircraft data

When you open the app for the first time you’ll see an extensive list of aircraft weight & balance templates, including those for most Cessna, Piper and Cirrus aircraft. The templates include all of the data needed to perform normal calculations, including the standard aircraft arm locations, weight limitations and each aircraft’s unique CG envelope. Don’t worry if your aircraft isn’t listed – there’s an option to ‘Build Your Airplane’ and create a custom template and CG envelope based on the numbers from your POH. And if your aircraft is similar to one of the included templates, you can quickly modify it and create a new template. You’ll also find additional templates for download on the app developer’s website created by other pilots with the app.

The next step is to enter your airplane’s unique data into the aircraft template. The app will prompt you for the tail number, basic empty weight & arm, and an optional value for start & taxi fuel burn. Each template includes the standard aircraft arm for each station measured in inches, and you can adjust these if necessary based on your particular configuration. One thing we really like here is that the app forces you to save this data, which is a big time saver for the next time you need to perform a calculation for that particular airplane.

The Large graph clearly displays CG location

Performing a weight & balance calculation

After saving your aircraft’s empty weight & CG, it’s time to enter the weights of the pilot, passengers, baggage and fuel. The app instantly calculates the zero fuel weight, ramp weight, takeoff weight and CG, and uses red/green color coding on the values to indicate whether or not they’re within limits. The Envelope feature brings up the aircraft’s CG graph, and plots your center of gravity on the grid. A helpful summary screen displays both the the CG graph and weight calculations, along with a small table listing max weights for the aircraft and any applicable baggage limitations. The data here is nicely organized, and you’ll find shortcuts at the top of the screen to email, save or print the information (useful for sharing with a copilot).

When you return to the app for a new calculation you can use the the Tail Number Quick Search function on the home screen to access your saved airplanes. After a few button taps you’ll be at the data entry screen again where you can adjust the weights for that day’s flight. The one feature that seems missing on the home page is a favorites list, where you could select a saved tail number and go right to the weight entry page.

The Aviation W&B Calculator is a must-have for pilots, useful for a wide range of aircraft from single-engine piston airplanes to corporate jets. It makes quick work out of weight and balance calculations, and displays the results on clear, easy to read graphs. And at $9.99 it’s a great deal too. Download the Aviation W&B Calculator app here.

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Scenario-Based Training

Use your iPad to help with weight and balance calculations

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Use your iPad to help with weight and balance calculations

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Scenario-Based Training

Use your iPad to help with weight and balance calculations

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