President s Message. Advantages of Night Flying

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1 President s Message Advantages of Night Flying Perhaps it is just an extension of flying IFR (and I have had my IFR rating since 1998; there is nothing more valuable for a pilot than their IFR rating), but I really enjoy night-flying. For some new pilots, night- flying may be intimidating (and clearly one should stay within their level of competence), but from my experience I wanted to point out some of the cool aspects of night-flying. When flying at night, the air is generally calmer (ie. less thermals) and more predictable. The main reason for that is the atmosphere no longer has the sun to provide the energy for the instability of the air. Granted, I have weather radar on my plane, and that helps a great deal (as in no way am I advocating flying into thunderstorms). Additionally, you are not at the mercy of the clock (which might put you flying in the height of afternoon thunderstorm activity). For example, I have flown from Orlando to Greensboro with a 2 AM arrival; St. Petersburg to Greensboro with a 2 AM arrival; Lake Placid to Greensboro with a 2 AM arrival; and Tampa to Knoxville with a 2 AM arrival. (I have never flown between the hours of 2 AM and 6 AM, because there is only so much your president can take without his beauty sleep.) At that time of night, you own the sky. ATC literally lets you fly directly over some of the busiest airspace in the world. For example, I have flown directly over Hartsfield International, and I have cut through DC airspace. Finally, the ground lights are so much more vivid at night. There are few more exhilarating views than picking up the runway environment on final, because the airport environment lights up like a Christmas tree. (I typically ask ATC to turn the lights up). As a result, as new pilots or lesser time pilots get their experience, please know that there is new world awaiting you on the darker side Board of Directors President: Eric Perdew Vice President: Brandon Potter Treasurer: Chris Werling Secretary: Gorkem Baydar Safety Officer: Ron Neal Chief CFI: Jason Thomas (interim) Operations/Events: Ashley Smith Marketing Coordinator: Mike Smith Webmaster: Ramone Hemphill (interim) piedmontaeroclub@gmail.com

2 HKY FLY-IN 02/14 (SEE PAGE 5) Pac monthly meeting 02/19 at Gtcc av3 room Special Guest Audrey Floyd HOMESTEAD FLY-IN 03/15 (SEE PAGE 4)

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6 PAC CLUB PARTY PAC Members! We had a fantastic time at the January 17th PAC Club Party which was held at Spare Time in Greensboro. We had a nice turnout with around 30 people attending. Everyone enjoyed great food from pizza and chicken tenders to a veggie tray and fruit! As you can see from the pictures, we had lots of fun bowling and even had dinosaurs for the little ones to bowl as well! The evening was filled with great tunes that included aviation-themed songs of course! We have lots of great ideas for 2015 so let s look forward to fun adventures ahead! It s time to show your passion for aviation! We challenge you to invite a new friend or acquaintance to join PAC!

7 COMING SOON SELF-SERVE AVGAS TO LANDMARK AVIATION GSO!

8 Exciting news for 2015! Effective January 1, PAC members who have a flying category membership ($25/mo per individual) will receive 15% off aircraft rental at TAA Flight Training. This expands the membership value to flying members in a number of ways TAA offers a larger fleet of aircraft, a Cessna 150, two Liberty XL2 aircraft, two Cessna 172 s, and a Piper Arrow. With the club discount, you can now get in the air for as little as$92.23/hr (all taxes, fees, surcharges included) in a C150, go get a complex endorsement in the Arrow, or fly a C172 at $121.98/hr all in. Depending on the aircraft, you save the equivalent of your membership dollars as soon as you fly between hours each month. It is our hope that this arrangement will give PAC flying members access to an increased variety and number of aircraft, increase the club s flying member count, and reduce costs to get club members in the air more often! What do I have to do to take advantage of the discount? Just be a flying PAC member on January 1, 2015, active PAC flying members will have discounts already applied to their names in TAA s system, and will automatically be applied when you return the aircraft and pay for your rental. Any members that join as a flying member or switch to flying memberships after the 1st of every month will receive the discounted rate starting on the 1st of the next month. Why is the Fuel Surcharge and/or Sales Tax not discounted on my TAA invoice? PAC members receive a 15% discount on the entire aircraft rental (taxes and fuel surcharge Included), but the way it's calculated may not be completely obvious. Due to the way that TAA's billing system works, fuel surcharges and sales tax are automatically added; therefore, the rate on the aircraft is adjusted even lower than 15% to make it calculate correctly. This is why you may see more than a 15% discount on the aircraft rental rate, but no discount where the additional fees/taxes are concerned. If I become a flying member on January 2, when can I take advantage of the discount? This benefit kicks in on the 1st of the next month cycle so, February 1. Does this apply to instruction as well? No, only aircraft rental. TAA s standard instructor rates apply. For Private Pilot instruction, this works out to be ~$5/hour more on average than what club students currently pay. Based on members feedback on membership value, the Board of Directors voted in favor of providing a larger benefit to the majority of the flying membership base (aircraft renters) with a cost for students that remains close to the same they are paying today. Can I keep my PAC instructor and use TAA aircraft? A grandfathering agreement is in place for current PAC club students who may need additional time beyond 2/28/2015, when the club C172 becomes unavailable. CFI s will need to complete a checkout flight with TAA (for those that haven t already), and PAC will help make that as painless as possible. Can my PAC instructor still provide instruction in my own airplane? Yes, absolutely, these changes only affect those who wish to rent aircraft, and instruction for owners still remains an unchanged club benefit as it has been in the past. Will I still need to use the club s flight scheduler to rent TAA planes? No the club flight scheduler will remain active until February 28, 2015 for those renting the club aircraft while it remains available. You can get an online login set up with TAA s system the first time you reserve an aircraft.

9 PAC Club Members, New SIM Regulations Earlier in the year there was a notice by the FAA of a proposed Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) to reduce the number of hours that a simulator, AATD, or FTD could be used towards the accomplishment of the Instrument Rating. The current standard was that we could apply 20 hours of training in the Redbird AATDs towards this rating, of which we have a special rate with GTCC. The FAA was going to reduce this, effective January 1, 2015 to only half of that, or 10 hours. However, through extensive pressure by many aviation organizations, including the AOPA and NBAA, the FAA has not decided to rescind their early decision. This ruling just came out on December 3rd, with effectivity in January that would retain the 20 hours of use of an AATD towards an Instrument Rating, as well as increasing the use of the AATDs for up to 40% of an Instrument Rating under a Part 141 School. Please see below the notice below" Rulemaking Adjusts Training Device Credit for Pilot Certification On Wednesday, December 3, 2014, the FAA issued a direct to final rule that relieves burdens on pilots seeking to obtain aeronautical experience, training, and certification by increasing the allowed use of aviation training devices (ATDs) for instrument training. The rule will increase the allowances under 14 CFR section 61.65(i) to 20 hours for credit in an ATD and allows flight schools operating under part 141 Appendix C to have a 40 percent training credit in an ATD for the instrument rating. Previous allowances for ATD use were capped at 10 hours under part 61 and 10 percent under 141. Due to the sophistication and visual configuration capabilities of ATDs, the rule also removes the requirement to use a view-limiting device. The comment period for the direct final rule will close Friday, January 2, The rule will become effective Tuesday, January 20, 2015, if no adverse comments are received. In concert with this rule change is an update to Advisory Circular A, FAA Approval of Aviation Training Devices and Their Use for Training and Experience, which has been revised to improve guidance for the application and approval of these training devices. The AC also provides additional guidance on ATD use for training and how to properly log the time.

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