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I can remember vividly my first flight in a Cessna 182.  For me, it was the first step beyond the training airplanes of the Cessna 152, 172 and 172RG.  The Sylane was a “real” airplane, equipped with a 230 horse power engine!  If I’m not mistaken, my first flight in a Cessna 182 was actually in a Cessna 182RG (retractable gear) which made it just that more exciting because it required that I get both a high performance AND complex endorsements.

So in case you’re getting ready for your first flight in a “real” airplane, I am providing for download a scanned copy of a 1979 Cessna 182Q POH.   This is provided for informational purposes only and is only to be used as a flight training reference. And unlike the C172 POH also available for download, this POH contains all the sections including the Airplane Handling and Servicing ( section 8 ) and Supplements (section 9) section for equipment that was optionally installed on this particular serial (which I have erased).

A little information about the Cessna 182Q.  First off, Cessna built 710 Q’s in 1979 alone (that’s quite a testament to how many total airplanes were being produced then).  The 182Q had the Continental O-470-U engine which developed 230 HP.  The Cessna 182Q had a top speed of 148 knots and dirty stall speed of 50 knots.  In 1979, the Cessna 182Q had a standard fuel capacity of 92 gallons which was an increase of almost  31 gallons from the standard tanks on the 78′ Q.  With those extra big tanks, the 182Q could fly for nearly 6.2 hours at 144knots for a range of nearly 900 miles!   I’m not sure when the Little John was invented, but I’m guessing now perhaps in the late 70s or so.

So here you go.  The 1979 Cessna 182Q POH

Takeoff…

Weather not quite as good as I thought.

It isn’t that bad though…

It could get better.

It should get better.

It has to get beter.

It isn’t getting better.

It could be worse.

It is getting worse…

It’s BAD!

It’s very bad – no horizon.

It’s really bad – the ground is gone!

I don’t believe I’m in this…

I don’t want be in this!

SOMEONE GET ME OUT OF THIS!

There is no one to get me out of this…

Grey everywhere!

The engine is speeding up…

Pull back!! Go up!!

The altimeter is going the wrong way!?

Compass and gyro spinning…

Got to go the other way – which way?

Airspeed redline!?

Airplane SCREAMING!!!

There in the grey…

Black trees leaning down above my nose!?

I’m going up into them…

Big snow mounds…undergrowth…fallen branches…chewed up by the prop…

I shouldn’t…

Taken from FAA General Aviation News March – April 1980.  Text by John V. Graff of the National Weather Service.

One of the more exciting things about learning to fly is the day when people start paying you for your pilot services!  I could dedicate an entire site to discussing ways you can get paid to fly, but one of easiest  and most popular ways is by becoming a contract pilot.   As a contract pilot you get paid a fixed pre-determined rate for pilot services rendered.   A popular position for pilots just starting out may be flying right seat in a King Air or another large twin engine aircraft.  In fact, there are many pilots who have found it very lucrative to forgo salaried positions with one company and work as an independent contract pilot for many different companies.  The advantage being of course that you can set your own schedule and negotiate your own rate with each company.  In essence these pilots are working for themselves and providing professional services that they have to market and promote.

I was creating a contract pilot invoice recently and found that they were not any contract pilot invoice templates available online so I created one!   Here is a sample template you can use when filing out your own contract pilot invoice:

A good pilot is always learning right?  Well, I have learned something recently about TAA approaches, procedure turns and how they are charted, especially on the Jeppesen charts.  To begin, let’s take a look at this traditional RNAV / GPS approach:

This is a standard “Basic T” approach that uses a Terminal Arrival Area (TAA) to assist with the transition from the enroute structure to the terminal environment.  You can see how this approach has the  3 standard IAFs (initial approach fix)i to guide you to the intermediate leg, which is the approach leg located between the intermediate fix (IF) and the final approach fix (FAF).  In this case, DEHYY serves as both a IAF and the IF.  If you given DEHYY as your IAF, you will either have to fly the procedure turn (PT) or NOT fly the procedure turn based on your arrival area.    Since the procedure turn is drawn with a black bold line, we know that it is a charted published portion of the approach, again only if the requirements for flying the procedure turn are met.   You’ll notice that if EBEKY or GIMMU were your IAFs, then you are not to fly the procedure turn as it very clearly states in the plan view “NoPT”.  You’ll also notice that in the “straight-in” area that there are two segments or step downs that are defined by the distance to the IAF, in this case DEHYY.   There is a 30 NM, 3100′ segment and a 8 NM, 3000′ segment to DEHYY in the straight-in area.  I have highlighted this straight-in area in yellow on the approach plate above.

I was on a very (very) short reposition flight to airport that was located about 10 miles away from my departure airport.   After takeoff I climbed up to 3,000 feet (my initial and final altitude) and almost immediately after my initial contact with departure control I heard the words “Cleared direct to DEHYY, maintain 3,000 until established, cleared for the GPS RNAV Runway 28 approach.”  Ok, no big deal, I’m doing the full approach on my own.  I loaded the approach in the FMS and proceeded direct to the initial approach fix (IAF) of DEHYY.    Like I said, this was a short flight and I was pretty busy with the after takeoff, descent and approach checklists.  Never mind that I had to double check my Vref speed, set the VNAV minimums in the autopoilot and obtain the latest weather on ASOS!  I had just enough time to glance down at my Jeppesen approach plate and read the notes associated with using DEHYY as the initial fix.  I saw the “1″ and “2″ and quickly determined that because I was at 3,000 feet and within 8 miles of DEHYY, the procedure turn IS required because I don’t see the words “NoPT” like I did see for the 30 miles and 3100′ transition or the north (GIMMU) and south (EBEKY) transitions.  I WAS WRONG!

I started the procedure turn outbound and heard approach ask, “Are you headed eastbound?”  “Yes,” was my response.  All I heard as a response initially was quiet….that’s not good.  “Ok, call us inbound”  “Roger”, I replied.   “Oh, and if you wouldn’t mind please calling me when you get on the ground too”  Oh boy, that’s definitely not good.

Make a long story short, after calling approach and contacting the Jeppesen charting office, I learned something very important about how transitions and procedure turns are charted. When there is a common transition to a fix, the “NoPT” is only added to the first leg of the transition. (please read that twice).  For instance, if you look at the above approach plate, you can see that the words “NoPT” are placed next to the 3,100′ and 30 NM transition but not to the 8 NM and 3,000′ portion.  Although it is not explicitly stated, the procedure turn is NOT authorized for that leg of the transition as well!  Did you know that?  I sure didn’t.

Now that some time has passed and I’ve thought about it, it makes a lot of sense that I didn’t have to do the procedure turn.  However, at the time, all I knew was that I didn’t see the words “NoPT” beside my transition, so I thought that the procedure turn was required.

I took a look at the NACO chart for the same airport, and to be honest, the NACO chart makes it a little clearer that a procedure turn within that 8 mile, 3,000′ transition is not required but it leaves some room for question.  Here is the same approach:

On the NACO chart you can see that “NoPT” is added for that entire straight-in transition area (187 ° through 007°) and by the way that it is drawn it does a little better job of implying that that procedure turn is not to be flown while in either steps of this transition (3,100′ and 3,000′).

Do you know when else you are not required to do the Procedure Turn?

1) When the symbol “No PT” is depicted on the initial segment being used

2) When receiving radar vectors to the final approach course

3) When conducting a timed approach from a holding fix

4)When ATC specifies in the approach clearance “Cleared Straight-In (type) approach”

5) When a teardrop procedure turn is depicted and a course reversal is required, this type turn my be executed.

6) When a holding pattern replaces a procedure turn, then the holding pattern must be followed (unless you meet one of the above rules)

7) When the procedure turn barb is absent from the plan view

These limitations all come from FAR 91.175 and AIM Chapter 5-4-9.

Here is the summary (which is also explicity stated in the AIM):  Anytime you have any question about whether a procedure turn is to be flown you should “immediately request clarification from ATC”. I could have saved myself a lot of grief (and some time & fuel) by just taking a second (despite my workload) to say “Just want to clarify, are you expecting me to fly the procedure turn?”   You should never be so busy as to not have time to request a clarification from ATC.

Well, I hope you learned something from my mistake and that it keeps you from doing something similar.    I’ll be honest, I don’t like confessing when I’ve messed up (even though I do it all the time) but I really hope that at least one other person comes away from this having learned something about procedure turns and how they are charted.

Fly Safe!

If you follow my tweets very much, you might know by now how I am a huge fan of Fltplan.com.  I think they easily have the best and slickest flight planning services available on the web.   From aviation weather to NOTAMS to approach charts, this is really a one-stop shop for planning and filing flight plans.  You can tell that the owners of the site really have a deep understanding of what pilot’s need when it comes to an online flight planning tool.

One of the features of Fltplan.com that not many people are familiar with is the  ability to file and submit your eAPIS notifications.  APIS is the Advanced Passenger Information System used by the Customs and Border Protection (CBP).  This is the system that collects and stores international traveler information for use both going in and out of the United States.  eAPIS is the system that collect and passes the passenger and crew manifest information to the APIS system electronically.    In May of 2009, the US government required all general aviation pilots to provide aircraft, pilot and passenger information at least 60 minutes prior to departure.

Fltplan.com was the first company to be approved and certified by the Customs Border Protection for general aviation eAPIS notifications.  Here are some of the features:

• Easy to use interface allows you to create an APIS Manifest in less than one minute (using stored aircraft, crew and passenger data).
• Easily print general Declaration forms and Customs Form 178 with your information already pre-filled.
• Accessible from any internet connected computer
• Uses https:// SSL secure technology encryption to protect your data and ensure privacy.
• For use with both IFR and VFR flights.
• You can use FltPlan.com’s eAPIS system for flights to and from Europe. (works outside the flight filing coverage area)
• Designed to be used by all pilots from single-engine piston owners up to multiple jet aircraft flight departments.
• Calculates Border crossing locations and time very accurately using your flight plan data.
• 1 annual fee for unlimited eAPIS manifests and support (most companies charge per notification)

In order to show you just how quick and easy it is to create the eAPIS manifest using fltplan.com I put together a short eAPIS tutorial.  Here are the steps covered in the tutorial:

1) Create a international flight plan

2) Create the eAPIS manifest

3) Click Submit

It really is that easy.  Just watch this short video below to see a demonstration.  If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment or contact fltplan.com for more information:

As reported in this morning’s AvFlash news, the FAA is soon going to implement a change from “Position and Hold” to “Line Up and Wait” in order to conform with international phraseology standards.  This change is expected to occur in mid-year 2010.  In fact, if you fly in and out of Canadian airspace you know that this particular phraseology has already been in use for sometime (since about March of 2008).

For those who are new to this phrase, here is a basic primer on this new phraseology:

Current Phraseology:

“Taxi into Position” or “Taxi to Position and Wait”

New Phraseology:

“Line Up” or “Line Up and Wait”

Definition: Used by ATC to inform a pilot to taxi onto the departure runway in takeoff position and wait (hold). It is not authorization for takeoff. It is used when takeoff clearance cannot immediately be issued because of traffic or other reasons.

I think short term this might be a change some may grumble about I think overall this is a good change.  I believe that standards only work when applied universally across the board.  The more exceptions that are made to a standard the better chance you have at injecting confusion and error into the system.   This not only helps U.S. pilots flying internationally but also helps reduce confusion from foreign pilots who are flying domestically within the U.S.

What are your thoughts about line up and wait?

With Paul’s recent post on the VFR day and night equipment mnemonics, I figured it would be a good opportunity to start collecting some more. If you’re working on your Instrument rating, you’ve probably wondered if there are any mnemonics for the IFR required equipment dictated by §91.205.

GRABCARD is the classic memory tool:

• Generator or alternator
• Rate of turn indicator (turn coordinator or turn & bank indicator)
• Altimeter, sensitive (Kollsman window)
• Ball (inclinometer, the ‘level’ component of a turn coordinator or turn & bank indicator)
• Clock (digital display or sweep second hand)
• Attitude indicator
• Radios as required for navigation and communication
• Directional gyro or heading indicator

Of course, the applicable VFR day equipment always applies as well, and if you’re flying IFR night you’ll need the VFR day and night equipment.

Have you got alternate mnemonics for any of the §91.205 required equipment? Let us know in the comments and we’ll add them!

Here is a question from Joe who asks:

How’s it going? I’m a CFI/CFII getting ready to work on my MEI. I’m was just wondering if you had any easy ways to teach 91.205. I have ways to easily teach equipment required for IFR flight and VFR Night. I just don’t have a easily remembered acronym for necessary equipment for VFR DAY. Any ideas?

Hi Joe, thanks for your question.

Actually I do have a mnemonic that I was taught to help remember the equipment required by § 91.205.  I’m not sure which mnemonic you are using for VFR night so I’ll give them both to you.  So here is a mnemonic to help you remember the required equipment for VFR day (paragraph b) and the required equipment for VFR night (paragraph c).

VFR Day:  TOMATOE A FLAMES

• Tachometer (for each engine)
• Oil Pressure Gauge
• Magnetic Direction Indicator (magnetic compass)
• Airspeed Indicator
• Temperature Gauge for each liquid cooled engine
• Oil Temperature Gauge
• Emergency equipment (beyond power off gliding distance over water) pyrotechnic signaling device, flotation device
• Anti-collision Lights
• Fuel Gauge for each tank
• Landing gear position indicator
• Alitmeter
• Manifold Pressure Gauge for each engine
• Emergency Locator Transmitter
• Safety Belts and Shoulder Harnesses

VFR Night:  FLAPS

• Fuses
• Landing light, if operated for hire
• Anti-collision light (beacon and/or strobes)
• Position Lights – Nav Lights (Red on the left, Green on the Right, White facing aft)
• Source of electricity (battery, generator, alternator)

Disclaimer: Several of the items are only required if you meet certain conditions and several of the items also have additional descriptions listed in the actual regulation.  Take for instance the M in FLAMES.  If you look at § 91.205, you will learn that a manifold pressure gauge is only required if you have an “altitude engine” (an engine capable of developing rated takeoff power to a certain altitude).  So feel to pass this list on to your students, but make sure you follow it up with a good discussion and reading of the actual reg.

Here is a link to the official reg: FAR §91.205

Melody asks an (increasingly common!) question about Sport Pilot upgrades for instructors:

I was told by an examiner that I could get a CFI Sport Pilot rating, then add on a CFI-SE Airplane. Is this accurate?

Whenever you’re looking into adding on a rating – any rating, whether it’s adding multi-engine privileges to a private ticket, or seaplane privileges to your commercial – the first stop should be the appropriate Practical Test Standards guide. However, in this case, I pulled up the latest CFI Airplane PTS (FAA-S-8081-6C, 1.4 MB) from the FAA’s website and flipped to page 1-xi, the Additional Rating Task Table.

Of course, it says nothing about Sport Pilot, which I suppose is not that surprising; the last revision to the PTS was 2006, when Sport Pilot was still in its infancy. What’s most likely, then, is that even if you held a CFI-SP rating, you’d need to meet the aeronautical experience and certificate requirements (ie Commercial) for a normal CFI Airplane rating. At first glance, it seems like it makes more sense to just go the “standard” route and work directly on meeting the requirements to become a CFI.

Rather than spend all day trying to find the answer on Google, I called up the AOPA hotline (1-800-872-2672) to see what they knew. The person I spoke with had the same thoughts – the full CFI requirements are necessary as there is no PTS additional rating information – although he very wisely pointed out that as a CFI-SP you would be earning money and logging time, while if you were simply working towards the CFI requirements there would be no income aiding the process.

Hope you can decide on a good path, and fly safe!

Also, if any readers have first-hand information on the topic, please let us know!

James asks the following question:

During some ground time my CFI talked briefly about TURN and BANK being different but combined. Is there any readings or thoughts as to the clarification on these terms/manuvers?

Jason Schappert was named AOPA's Top Colligiate Flight Instructor in 2008 and is the editor of MzeroA.com

Awesome question James! Turn and bank are concepts that many people just assume are the same, because they really do go hand in hand. However, the concept behind each is actually quite different.

Turn specifically refers to the “rate” of a turn while bank refers to the “lateral attitude” or roll of an airplane.

For example we know a standard rate turn is 3° per second, the reason why a 180° turn out of the clouds takes 1 minute at standard rate. This requires a bank angle that varies based on airspeed.

Part of this misconception comes from before the turn coordinator came along. The previous instrument, the turn and bank indicator, simply displayed your “rate” of turn. Bank was never displayed on the face of the instrument and the only place you can truly determine your bank in degrees is the attitude indicator.

For more reading, check out the Airplane Flying Handbook (Chapter 3) and the Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (Chapter 7).

Turn Coordinator

Turn and Bank Indicator