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Keep Learning, Keep Current

April 5, 2013/in Tips and technique/by studentpltnews

All too often I see excited pilots after they’ve earned their license with big plans to put it to good use. Maybe they want to take business trips to make work more efficient, or perhaps they learned to fly to vacation at more remote destinations. Unfortunately, what’s also common are busy schedules that interfere while time begins […]

You Can Fix Stupid

March 27, 2013/in Tips and technique/by studentpltnews

Keep Learning, Keep Current

April 5, 2013/in Tips and technique/by studentpltnews

You Can Fix Stupid

March 27, 2013/in Tips and technique/by studentpltnews

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Keep Learning, Keep Current

April 5, 2013/in Tips and technique/by studentpltnews

After some cancelled flights for a variety of reasons, pilots feels less confident about their flying abilities and find themselves a year or more later, having only made a few flights, most of which were taken right after they earned their license. No longer current to carry passengers, or comfortable flying themselves, they may even stop flying all together, but the promises continue.

These same pilots promise themselves they’ll get back to flying when spring comes or work slows down, but never seem to take that next step. They may even be at a loss for where to turn. They may consider turning to a flight instructor, but perhaps embarrassment from letting the license sit idle so long leads them a different direction. However, seeking out a flight instructor is always a good decision.

So how do you get back to flying?

My favorite suggestion is to keep learning. A Recreational or Sport pilot could begin training toward a Private certificate and a Private pilot could begin work on the instrument rating. If you’re an instrument rated pilot with no aspirations of obtaining a commercial license, you could work on lowering your personal minimums for ceilings or visibility.

If you don’t have the time or money to dedicate to another license, try a fun, less expensive flying adventure. Seek out an instructor to learn about the challenges, pitfalls, and exhilaration of mountain flying. With your instructor’s help, plan a few trips into and over more challenging terrain. In addition to being a lot of fun, you’ve also added new skills and confidence in managing this type of flying on your own.

You might also consider adding a high performance and/or complex endorsement – a great way to make your business trips quicker. Flying a faster airplane will generally be more expensive by the hour, but may result in a break-even investment given the time savings. Add to this some high altitude flight training with the use of supplemental oxygen and you’ve allowed for even more flexibility in your flight planning as you may be able to take advantage of more favorable wind or the ability to climb over (versus around) weather.

Find a flight school with access and the knowledge to teach turf runway operations. Flying from a grass runway is another thrill that will enhance your “feel” of the airplane. Some of these same flight schools may offer tail wheel training or even glider flying. Even if you don’t plan to add a glider rating or tail wheel endorsement, the training alone makes you a better stick and rudder pilot. Soaring flight requires planning descents while considering vertical and horizontal air movement which is sure to provide confidence flying the airplane in a real engine-out emergency.

Aerobatic training is not only fun, but teach you the very crucial aerodynamic understanding and ability to recover from stalls and spins. Training is accomplished in aircraft rated for spins and aerobatic flight. For a few hundred dollars and a fun weekend, you walk away not only a current pilot, but with new skills to keep you safe.

Given all of these options, still the best way to get back into flying and keep current is to keep your instructor’s number handy. Add a recurring quarterly alert on your smart phone to remind you to schedule a lesson.

In terms of what to accomplish with your instructor is up to you. Ask your instructor to create a syllabus that offers flexibility to grow and evolve. Items to consider would be emergency and abnormal procedures, landings (especially crosswind), and anything else that you believe could use practice. Don’t be shy about tackling what you know to be weaker areas. I personally have several students, each at various experience levels, who fly with me every few months to be challenged. No matter the skill level it’s beneficial and it keeps you coming to the airport.

You Can Fix Stupid

March 27, 2013/in Tips and technique/by studentpltnews

Comedian Ron White has a famous stand-up routine where he explains that modern plastic surgery can “fix” almost any perceived flaw with the human body. From butt lifts to tummy tucks, nose jobs to hair replacement, whatever we want bigger, smaller, shifted or enhanced, surgeons (for a price) can fix it. Then he makes his point that when you are looking for a partner, if they have some physical flaw, it can be changed. But he admonishes the audience to beware if a potential mate lacks mental capacity because, “you can’t fix stupid.”

But I believe, as pilots, we must fix stupid because too many incidents/accidents happen as a result of poor decisions, inattention and stupidity. A perusal of AOPA’s Safe Skies, a ten year study of GA accidents reveals we, as GA pilots, kill ourselves and others for stupid reasons. The results for individual years vary but on average, 7% of the fatalities were caused because the engine did not have fuel! 7% may not sound like much but that should be 0%!

Almost every airplane these days has at least a portable GPS on board providing time to destination, so the unforecast headwinds can no longer be an excuse. A recent accident which fortunately did not result in a loss of life, resulted when an SR22 may have run out of gas after only 30 minutes of flight. A review of the basics reminds us that airplanes move forward on thrust. Propellers provide that thrust, engines turn propellers, and engines need fuel. Taking off with inadequate fuel is not only against regulations (30 minute reserve on landing), but simply defies common sense.

More than 20% of fatal accidents occur during a catch-all category called maneuvering flight. While this category may include trying to return to the runway after an engine failure and the dreaded stall/spin on the base to final turn, it also includes low passes (buzzing), poorly executed aerobatics and high load turns. In other words, showing off.

Too many pilots in an attempt to impress friends or others, try some maneuver that exceeds either their own or the airplane’s ability to recover from the resulting inertia or stall. As pilots, we learn that the wing stalls when relative wind exceeds a critical angle and that can theoretically happen at any airspeed and any attitude (even upside down). The reality is during normal flight (less than 30 degrees of bank and 10 degrees of pitch), the aircraft will likely stall only when airspeed decays below the stall speed. Resisting the urge to show off and leaving the aerobatics to air show pilots will add life to both the airframe and occupants.

All flights terminate with a landing. Although this phase of flight accounts for the highest percentage of accidents (about 33%), it usually results in very few fatalities (probably because the aircraft is traveling slowly, is close to the ground and by design, there are fewer hard things to hit near runways). The stupid thing pilots often try to do is “save” a bad landing. The smarter pilot will reject a bad landing (the sooner the better) with a go-around. The pilot who is still trying to save the landing after the third bounce or after half of the runway has passed under the wing will probably experience a bad outcome.

Although weather only accounts for less than 5% of the accidents, it accounts for 15% of the fatalities. When weather deteriorates, or is worse than forecast, it can be easy for pilots to convince themselves to press on with the thought that the weather will probably get better just ahead. As this video, 178 Seconds to Live chronicles, VFR into IMC is likely the stupidest pilot trick of all.

So as the days get longer, the weather warmer and blue skies beckon us to commit aviation, let’s resolve to fix stupid as we grasp the controls. Fully 75% of all accidents and over 30% of aviation fatalities can be prevented by a) making sure we have enough fuel in the tank b) resisting the urge to show off c) rejecting bad landings with a go around and d) not flying into weather for which we are not equipped.

If we don’t regulate ourselves, rest assured the NTSB will do it for us. We CAN fix stupid!

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

Keep Learning, Keep Current

You Can Fix Stupid

Keep Learning, Keep Current

You Can Fix Stupid

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Keep Learning, Keep Current

You Can Fix Stupid

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