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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?

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

From all of us at askacfi.com, ‘Happy holidays to all, And to all a safe flight”

From FAA Aviation News Nov / Dec 1980

A couple of months ago, I shared with you some illustrations that I found on the back cover of some older FAA Aviation News. These illustrations were done by the illustrator and cartoonist Robert C. Osborn. Little did I know that finding and preserving more of these illustrations would turn into my new hobby.

Since my first Osborn post, I have learned a great deal about the artist and his other work. I’ve learned that Osborn contributed to FAA Aviation News for nearly 25 years from the early 60s to the mid 80s. I’ve also learned that Robert Osborn was the creator of the first and original “Dilbert” cartoon character. Osborn drew nearly 2,000 safety posters for the Navy during WWII that featured “Dilbert the Pilot” and “Spoiler the Mechanic”. Dilbert and Spoiler were both the ambassadors of carelessness and recklessness. “Don’t be a Dilbert” was a popular phrase used among pilots to encourage others to think about safety continuously.  Did you know that the popular comic strip Dilbert actually borrowed it’s name from the Dilbert drawn by Osborn?  According to Scott Adam’s blog, the name Dilbert was given to him by a co-worker who later confessed that he saw the name on some of his dad’s military memorabilia.

As I promised earlier, here are some more Robert Osborn illustrations from the FAA Aviation News. You’ll notice a theme with these particular illustrations…winter flying! Unfortunately, that season is upon us and it’s time that we all started thinking about the dangers and complications of flying in icing conditions.   This would be a great time to grab that POH and look over cold winter operation notes and any other limitations that colder weather may pose to your upcoming flights.

Fly Safe (and enjoy)

Flying in a new or different airplane is always fun.  Such is the case with Jacob who had the joy of flying in his friend’s Mooney.   Unfortunately, the technique that his friend used to start the Mooney’s engine left him a little confused about starting techniques so he writes in asking:

I was flying in a friends plane the other day, a Mooney Ovation 2gx. When he started the airplane he had full mixture, with his hand on the throttle and the ignition. I didn’t ask him why the plane starts that way. I fly a 172. Whats the difference? Why do you start the 172 the way you do(prime, mixture lean, then upon starting full rich)? Would a “mixture full rich” start work on a 172?  Just curious.

Hi Jacob,

Aren’t Mooneys great? I’ve had the opportunity recently to fly a Ovation 2GX once as well. Man, was it a FAST airplane. Mooney’s really do seem like the “Porsche” of the general aviation fleet. Very slick.

There are obviously a lot of differences between your airplane, a Cessna 172, and your friend’s Mooney (as I am sure you noticed). However, I am a little curious about the starting technique that you use in the Cessna.  I’m going to assume for a second that you have a carburetor equipped Cessna and every carb equipped Cessna I’ve ever flown in you DO start with the mixture in full rich.  I am sure your instructor or FBO has a good reason why you start your particular airplane leaned out, but without further information about your particular model 172,  I can’t really tell you much more.  The only exception to a full rich start that I know of is a hot start or when attempting to start at an high altitude airport.   In both cases, you want the engine leaned out to prevent flooding due to the decreased density of the ambient air.

If in fact you are not a high altitude airport or conducting hot starts, then I’m a little worried about the condition of your carburetor.  It might be worth checking out the condition of your float.   The FAA just released a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin on October 16, 2009 that addresses this exact issue.  You can check out the Airworthiness Bulletin for yourself at FAA.gov.  The service bulletin is NE-10-05 and the subject is “Control/Reciprocating Engine – Float-type Carburetors”.    This bulletin recommends that pilots “examine the engine area for evidence of fuel leakage.  During engine start be alert for carburetor flooding or the need for excessive leaning.  Hard starting might be an indicator of a deteriorating or damaged carburetor float”   The service bulletin also warns that “improper metering of fuel or fuel leaking from the carburetor…can lead to complete loss of power or engine fires.” I’m not saying that there is something wrong with your engine (especially if you are at higher altitudes or practice a lot of hot starts) but it might be worth checking out.

Feel free to respond with any particularities that might help us figure out why your aircraft engine starting technique is a little different.

UPDATE: Shortly after posting this article I have received several comments about the starting procedures on the newer fuel injected Lycomming engines.  I haven’t flown one in a while and forgot that yes, you do indeed start with the mixture leaned and slowly increase the mixture during the start sequence.  Why Lycomming and Continentals have different starting techniques is inherent to the design of the engine.  I’m still looking up specifics and will post this information when I find out more.  Still, if you have a carb equipped C172 and are starting full lean, you might need to get something checked out.

Fly Safe.