FLYING LESSONS for December 9, 2010 suggested by this week s aircraft mishap reports

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1 FLYING LESSONS fr December 9, 2010 suggested by this week s aircraft mishap reprts FLYING LESSONS uses the past week s mishap reprts t cnsider what might have cntributed t accidents, s yu can make better decisins if yu face similar circumstances. In almst all cases design characteristics f a specific make and mdel airplane have little direct bearing n the pssible causes f aircraft accidents, s apply these FLYING LESSONS t any airplane yu fly. Verify all technical infrmatin befre applying it t yur aircraft r peratin, with manufacturers data and recmmendatins taking precedence. Yu are the pilt-in-cmmand, and are ultimately respnsible fr the decisins yu make. If yu wish t have FLYING LESSONS sent directly t yu each week, subscribe t mastery.flight.training@cx.net. FLYING LESSONS is an independent prduct f MASTERY FLIGHT TRAINING, INC. This week s lessns: Taking ff shuld always include a plan t land right away. Any number f situatins weather, airplane systems, an pen dr r windw, the need t return fr smething frgtten n the grund can cause yu t at least cnsider returning t the departure airprt, r recvering at anther airprt nearby. Yur departure alternate must have weather adequate fr landing, VFR r IFR as applicable fr yur ratings, currency, and the certificatin f the aircraft yu re in. Smetimes the departure alternate may nt be the airprt yu left, but anther ne clse by. Fr example, fr several years I flew frm an airprt in a hilly area that was served nly by nnprecisin appraches with fairly high minimums because f terrain. A twer-cntrlled airprt served by an ILS with a field elevatin several hundred feet lwer than my hme airprt was less than 20 miles away. Any takeff issue (ther than frgetting smething in the FBO) culd be reslved by landing at the nearby airprt. In fact, since I culd be n the ILS as quickly as I culd have intercepted the apprach t cme back hme, I felt cmfrtable departing when cnditins at the hme drme were belw instrument minimums as lng as weather was abve minimums fr the nearby ILS. Mre imprtantly, yu need t be ready fr the return befre yu ever take ff. Review the runway alignment, wind and lcal terrain. Have the apprach chart ut and briefed if cnditins are Instrument Meterlgical Cnditins (IMC). Lad the apprach navigatin and cmmunicatin frequencies int the back-ups t be ready t activate at the push f a buttn. Assume yu ll be transitining directly t the apprach and landing after takeff, s yu dn t have t add rientatin and apprach set-up t any high-wrklad scenari that causes yu t exercise yur departure alternate. Cntinue en rute nly if cnditins are right. It s especially imprtant t be ready t return if yu re taking ff int dark night and/r marginal weather cnditins. If yu re flying VFR and IMC is pssible, r if yu re IFR and hazards like ice may ccur, it s vital t be fully briefed and prepared fr yur takeff alternate. U.S. Part 91 rules give us the ptin f taking a lk when cnditins are pr. Yu may think flight visibility and clud clearance will permit a Marginal VFR trip, r yu may decide t fly an instrument apprach even if reprted weather is belw minimums. With a gd plan and by adhering t published altitudes and prcedures, taking a lk can be safe as lng as yu knw hw, and when, t call ff the attempt and aim fr imprving cnditins. It s the pilt wh cntinues n the hpe f imprvement, nt abslute knwledge, r wh des nt have a plan ready if cnditins are wrse than needed, that gets int places frm which there may be n safe way ut.

2 In a wrst-case scenari dn t hesitate t bust a rule t keep yurself (and yur passengers) safe. Find yurself in IMC ringed in by cluds r terrain? Put the airplane in a climb t get t VFR cnditins. Wedged beneath a ring f cntrlled airspace, r in a clsing crridr between the surface and Class B? If yu have t d it t stay alive, intentinally bust the cluds r airspace, then immediately cntact cntrllers, declare yur emergency, cnfess yur sins, and accept whatever cnsequences afterward. Any regulatry repercussins are far preferable t the alternative. Cmments? Questins? Tell us what yu think at mastery.flight.training@cx.net. Thanks fr supprting the delivery f FLYING LESSONS with a dnatin at Thank yu! Debrief: Readers write abut recent FLYING LESSONS: Reader Alan Kellum writes abut last week s guest editrial n a Piper Seminle fuel starvatin event: Tw f the ccupants (brthers) lived a few miles frm my residence. The lcal newspaper (The Memphis Cmmercial Appeal) carried the stry abut the crash and the tragic deaths f the fur ccupants. Needless t say, the lss f these yung men mved the cmmunity t share in the family's lss. As a pilt fr 18 years, and the wner f a Piper Lance, I t, was angered abut the reprt that the fuel selectr switch was apparently in a psitin that prhibited the prper flw f fuel t the left engine. The Lance's fuel selectr switch, munted n the flr under the cntrl panel between the tw frnt seats, can easily be mved by ne's ft, if nt careful. I was intrduced t this pssible situatin with my first plane, a Cherkee Six. Having carelessly kicked the selectr handle myself, I always check the switch during my final check befre taking the active runway. I am well aware that cmplacency in the cckpit can ruin yur day. As an lder pilt (63), I always enjy taking my "baby" up fr a ride. Hwever, as much as I am familiar with my plane, I always use my checklists in all phases f my flights. I had excellent instructrs ver the years and we my cautius apprach t flying t them. I hld Airplane Single Engine Land, and Sea, and Airplane Multi-engine Land, with Instrument Airplane privileges. I pursued the ratings t make me a "better" pilt. Plus, I hpe t becme an instructr, smeday. I dn't get t fly as much as I used t, due t the high csts. I have always subscribed t publicatins such as AOPA's Pilt, EAA's Sprt Aviatin, IFR and IFR Refresher, alng with n-line reads. I enjy yur FLYING LESSONS and lk frward t each editin. Dianne White, FLYING LESSONS reader and editr f Twin and Turbine magazine, cntinues the discussin f slips in high-wing Cessnas: I enjy yur FLYING LESSONS each week. I always learn smething. I was intrigued by the cnversatins n slips. I was taught by a WWII instructr wh felt slips were an essential part f a pilt's skill set. In fact, up until sl, he didn't let me tuch the flaps in my made me use slips fr speed/altitude cntrl n final. Anyway, when I bught the turb Skylane [182], Kirby Ortega frm Cessna tk me up and demnstrated a full-flap "pitch pulsing." I thught it felt mre like a wild bucking Mustang! Nt fun! As a result, I dn't slip the Skylane, but I d ur 172. See Interesting, Dianne. Shrtly after earning my Private certificate I t had an instructr wh had taught in WWII. He taught me a lt abut slips, which I ften had t d in the n-flap Cessna 120 I wned at the time. As yu knw, t this day slips are a required Task item n the FAA Private Pilt practical test.

3 I received a cuple f nice ntes frm readers this week. Mark Briggs wrte: Yur cmments abut the labr hurs yu spend in publishing this newsletter drive hme a strng message abut yur dedicatin t aviatin safety. I find FLYING LESSONS t be an excellent educatinal resurce and appreciate the pprtunity fr learning which it presents. Please DO keep up the excellent wrk, and please knw that yur wrk brings real benefit t yur readership. Safety is n accident but rather the result f a lt f hard wrk and dedicatin! Thanks very much, Mark. I fully intend t keep FLYING LESSONS ging, and appreciate yur supprt. Mark submitted an item that will be a Questin f the Week sn. Bill Catn, an early supprter f FLYING LESSONS, attended the third annual FLYING LESSONS Safety Day last weekend in Dentn, Texas, and sent this brief review: That was an incredible seminar yu taught yesterday. I feel we culd have talked fr hurs abut any ne f the tpics presented. Thank yu, Bill. Glad yu enjyed it. See: Frm the AOPA Air Safety Institute: Icing: Am I legal, am I safe? Unless yur particular airplane mdel and system has been certificated fr flight in icing cnditins, the answer is N. Read mre abut ice prtectin systems in the Air Safety Institute s Aircraft Deicing and Anti-icing Equipment Safety Advisr and find ut what the difference is between FAA-certificated systems fr flight in icing cnditins and s-called nnhazard systems. D yu knw if yur airplane is apprved fr flight in icing cnditins? Dwnlad the advisr. See Share safer skies. Frward FLYING LESSONS t a friend. Questin f the Week Last week we asked fr reader experiences n the value f using a Flight Training Device (FTD), PC-based Aviatin Training Device (PC-ATD) r simulatr fr certificate/ratings and recurrent training. One reader replied: Certain situatins can't be simulated bth safely and realistically in the aircraft. Engine failure just after takeff is ne example (especially in a twin); thers wuld include pneumatic-system failure in IMC and airframe icing in an unprtected aircraft. If yu believe that practicing fr these emergencies is better than nt practicing, a full-mtin simulatr is really yur nly ptin. [Simulatin] als lets yu explre situatins yu'd try never t get int in real life. Want t see hw yu'd d flying a single-engine, partial-panel apprach t minimums at night in freezing rain? If yu're in the simulatr, why nt give it a try? This might als help yu keep yur cl in a real but less desperate emergency. Anther vlunteered: I'm active in an annual [Beech] Barn recurrent training prgram, using a simulatr. I very much fr the sim, as it allws us t d things that wuldn't be safe in the plane, and it's mre efficient. Als, fr type-specific training, like I d, it's really nice t have a type-specific trainer, with the panel layut, knbs and perfrmance like the real plane. Hwever, just fr practicing air wrk and instrument prcedures [a] generic trainer wrks well. I'm anxius t hear yur cmments.

4 Thanks, readers. Many f yu may knw I have a backgrund as a simulatr (actually, FTD) instructr fr high-perfrmance single-engine airplane and light twins, s my views may seem a little biased. Then again, they are the result f teaching literally hundreds f pilts f all experience levels, s they are backed with a least subjective data. I submit that FTDs (I ll use the term generically fr FTDs, PC-ATDs and true simulatrs) can be tremendusly effective teaching tls fr pilts f all experience levels. The biggest advantages f FTDs ver actual aircraft are the ability fr the instructr t: cmpletely cntrl the learning envirnment, including weather, traffic, Air Traffic Cntrl and pace the f training present scenaris that cannt be safely r accurately replicated in actual aircraft, including (but nt limited t): engine failures electrical failures instrument failures, including the critical identificatin and transitin phase autpilt/trim failures emergency descents place the pilt in realistic decisin-making scenaris, where the student must deal with the chices he/she makes t a cnclusin teach the smetimes highly cmplex peratin f advanced avinics systems freeze and reset the actin when the student is having difficulty In my pinin mst FTDs are nt used effectively. Prbably resulting frm lack f experienced simulatr-instructr mentrs, mst CFIs that use FTDs emply them fr repetitive instrument appraches (flwn exactly as if in an airplane), and fr unrealistically heaping mre and mre prblems n the hapless student until he/she can take n mre. Althugh there may be sme limited benefit in determining just hw much status a pilt can handle, I ve persnally fund the mst elegant, mst effective sim lessns were thse that started with a realistic flight plan, presented ne, usually small prblem alng the way, and allwed the student t wrk thugh a series f decisin pints until the airplane was n the grund. Sim -ilarly (frgive the pun), I smetimes used actual mishap investigatin reprts as the basis f a FTD sessin, t let the pilt learn what he/she might have dne under similar circumstances, and hw he/she might recgnize the scenari building in his/her wn flying thus breaking the accident chain. If I currently had access t a FTD t give instructin that s hw I d persnally mst like t use it t prvide the pilt first-hand experience with the critical decisin-making skills that are the rt cause f mst aviatin accidents. A recent article in Flight Safety Australia magazine, pg. 20 (sent by the reader wh psed last week s questin) delves int the apprpriate use f simulatin as a flight instructin tl. What d yu think? Let us knw at mftsurvey@cx.net. See This week we ll ask anther reader-submitted Questin f the Week, which takes a different slant n persnal flying: What's the best way t intrduce friends and family t aviatin? I want anyne flying with me t have a psitive and fun experience leaving them wanting t g again. Send yur ideas and experience t mftsurvey@cx.net.

5 Fr pistn Beech pilts The Beech Weekly Accident Update is nw psted. See Fly safe, and have fun! Thmas P. Turner, M.S. Aviatin Safety, MCFI 2010 Natinal FAA Safety Team Representative f the Year 2008 FAA Central Regin CFI f the Year FLYING LESSONS is 2010 Mastery Flight Training, Inc. Fr reprint permissin see r cntact mastery.flight.training@cx.net.

PBN Route Structure Alaska Sub-Committee AACA Co-Chair Dennis Parrish

PBN Route Structure Alaska Sub-Committee AACA Co-Chair Dennis Parrish ALASKA AIR CARRIERS ASSOCIATION 2301 Merrill Field Drive A-3, Anchrage, Alaska 99501 907-277-0071 www.alaskaaircarriers.rg PBN Rute Structure Alaska Sub-Cmmittee AACA C-Chair Dennis Parrish d.parrish@cp.cm