Ask a Flight Instructor

Archive for the ‘Flight Stories’ Category

This is great follow-up question to a previous post, “Can you use a q-route below FL180?”. The question came to me after posting a link to that post on my Twitter profile.

So what the heck is a Q-route?

Well.  There are primarily three types of airways:

1) VOR Federal airways – This is the airway system that most pilots are most familar with.  This includes your typical low alitudes “V” airways and the high-altitude “J” routes.

2)  Colored Federal Airways – There are still 49 of these airways still in existence.  LF and MF and they can be found mostly in Alaska.  They are designated by their color names Amber, Blue, Green or Red and then either a one or two digit number, i.e. “A 7″

3) RNAV airways – This is the latest and greatest route system found in our nation’s airspace.  The foundation of the RNAV route system started in 2000 with industry operators requesting the FAA to increase the use of RNAV to help navigate the nation’s airspace.  The advantages of the RNAV system?  Reduced mileage, reduction of conflicts between routes, and additional routes within the same airspace.

There are two types of RNAV routes:

1) Q-routes (high) are available for use by RNAV equipped aircraft between 18,000 feet MSL and FL 450 inclusive. Q-routes are depicted on Enroute High Altitude Charts.

A typical Q-route

1) T-routes (low) are available for use by RNAV equipped aircraft from 1,200 feet above the surface (or in some instances higher) up to but not including 18,000 feet MSL. T-routes are depicted on Enroute Low Altitude Charts.

A typical t-route

So now a good follow-up question would be, “Can you file and use a Q-route below FL180?”  and you see, we the staff at askacfi.com have thought ahead and already answered that one for you and you can read the answer to that question here.

Mike writes in asking:

I am an out of work, corporate pilot who has let his CFI expire . I am applying for a job that requires a valid CFI license. I have not instructed for some time. In your opinion, what is the most cost effective and painless approach to re-instating my license?

Hi Mike.  There are two ways to get your CFI reinstanted:

1) You can call your local Designated pilot examiner (DP) and say that you need to do a CFI reinstatement ride.  They will charge you a fee for the ride, but that is probably the fastest way.  You don’t need to have a sign off from another flight instructor.

2) The other thing to do would be to call your local Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) directly and tell them that you need your CFI certificate reinstated and that you would like to schedule a flight check.  The nice thing about riding with the FAA is that the ride (minus the airplane costs…which you provide) is free.

Mike wrote back asking a good follow-up question:

I haven’t been in a small Cessna in some time. My recent career has been in large transport planes. Do you recommend any type of refresher and is it possible to fail the reinstatement you mentioned.

It is possible to fail the reinstatement ride, especially if you haven’t instructed in a while. Most FAA examiners and DPs will be looking for your teaching ability, not necessarily your rote knowledge about a certain subject area. They will be looking for how you communicate and

educate. Being able to fly and demonstrate the maneuvers correctly from the right seat is also important.

It may not be the cheapest method, but if you want to gain some instructing proficiency I’d recommend taking a CFI refresher / renewal course.

AOPA, Jeppesen, Gleim all offer online CFI renewals. You could also attend a weekend CFI clinic in your area. I personally like the online series developed by AOPA and the ASF (Air Safety Foundation). If you successfully pass this course, it will take the place of the oral portion on the checkride.

(This was originally published for AOPA’s Let’s Go Flying Blog)

One of the enjoyable things about being a corporate pilot is the relationship and conversations I enjoy with my passengers.  Inevitably the question usually comes up in conversation, “So, how did you learn to fly?”  Here is my answer:

I was one of those boys obsessed with airplanes. I loved drawing airplanes, tracing airplane photographs, and building model airplanes. My dad took pilot lessons before I was born and I loved reading through his old pilot manuals and looking at his aluminum E6B wondering what kind of amazing things pilots must calculate with this contraption.

As I got older I pestered my parents for lessons but to little avail. Simply put, we all thought it would be too expensive. I did go on the occasional discovery flight with family friends at our local airport but never seriously pursued lessons.

College came and like most freshman, I was an “undecided” major. I simply couldn’t find anything in the course catalog that appealed to me (no aviation courses). I couldn’t stand the thought of sitting at a desk my whole life and really struggled with what I was going to do with myself.

Pilot Steve Saint flying overhead

Spring break of my freshman year came and I went on a mission trip to Ecuador. I was the college chaperon for a group of high school students from Mansfield, Ohio. We traveled deep, deep, deep into the Amazon rainforest where a group of Huaorani Indians had invited us along with our leader, Steve Saint (whose father had been speared to death by the Huaorani). The purpose of our trip was to help raise support for the Huaorani so that they could purchase their own airplane and bring light to the Huaorani’s incredible story. To travel to their village we had to utilize airplanes (piloted by Mission Aviation Fellowship) and then take rudimentary canoes several hours downstream to their village. The journey and the visit with the Huaorani was amazing. It was a life changing experience.

On the flight out of the jungle, I sat in the right seat of the airplane thinking to myself, “This is very cool. This is is real flying! This guy (the pilot) gets to fly airplanes, work outdoors, and make a difference in people lives. Wow. “  I was sold. I had to become a pilot.

As soon as I got back to the U.S., I started investigating flight schools full time. I made a simple determination that nothing was going to stop me from becoming a pilot. As I Iearned more about aviation and flying, I discovered that there were many ways to become a pilot with many different career choices once you got your license (which I learned later were called “certificates”).

To sum it up, I ended up picking a flight school in central Florida and through the generosity of my Grandparents I got my private pilot, instrument and multi-engine ratings. I then went back to my home town in Ohio and worked on my flight instructor certificates.  After becoming an instructor, I worked part-time fight instructing while I finished my undergraduate degree .

The point of my story is this: You should create your own story. You have always wanted to fly right? So make that same commitment to yourself that I did while in Ecuador and then do whatever it takes to reach your goal.

To learn more about Mission Aviation Fellowship and their mission, I would encourage you to visit their website at http://www.maf.org.

Michael writes me asking:

Hi, I am currently working towards my PPL but am still not ready for solo despite having approximately 35 hours of flight time. The problem is the landing – the flare in particular – and I just do not seem to be getting it. Initially, I was not flaring at all and hitting the runway quite hard. Now I seem to flare too much and end up climbing again before finally landing quite far down the runway. I am training in a Piper Cadet and would appreciate any tips you can provide so that I can finally move towards solo flight. Many Thanks, Michael

Thanks for your question. First off, I wouldn’t worry about how much flight time you have accumulated so far. In fact, I’m sure your instructor has told you, “Everyone solos at different times” and that is very true. I’ve had some students who honestly could have soloed at 5 hours and others who I nervously signed off at 40+. There are so many factors that determine when someone is ready (mentally, physically, legally) going to solo.

The MOST important thing to remember when landing is to “RELAX“.  That is not some famous aviation acronym, just some practical advice to take a deep breath, follow your instructor’s advice and land the airplane. I would guess that at this point, you are thinking much too hard about the landing. Because of your insecurities with the amount of time it has taken you to solo, you are overly focused in those last few precious seconds before touchdown. Just RELAX. That doesn’t mean don’t flare or flare slowly (you already knows what happens when you do that) but just be calm and smooth about it. Have confidence, you can do it. The feeling of the flare will come to you, just like it as to many others.  Some of my worst landings happen when I’m trying too hard to get a “greaser” and some of my best landings come when I’m just doing what works. In other words, I perform better on landings, when I’m not thinking too much about it.

On a more practical note, one thing that helped me when I was learning to land was trying to visualize the landing from an outside perspective. I don’t know if you are familiar with flight simulator programs, but in Microsoft Flight Simulator you can select the “S” key on your keyboard and cycle through different views. When you are setting up for a landing, hit the “S” key in your mind and for a brief second, cycle the views till you get an outside view of your aircraft. Visualize the landing gear hanging below your airplane and what the correct pitch attitude would look like in order for the main gear to slowly come in contact with the surface. Visualize your landing and your success.  This is very important to do.  You have to see it in order to believe in it.

Trying Looking at your landings from another perspective

Maintaining the proper airspeed is important

Another thing, and one that I’m sure your instructor has taught you, is the important of a stabilized approach. Every good landing is preceded by a good approach. Make sure you are focused on making standard patterns and that at each stage of the pattern you are precisely where you should be in relation to airspeed, altitude and power.  Know your approach speeds for each setting of flaps and your pattern segment (downwind, base, final).  Good landings are possible out of a unstabilized approach, but not easy. Make it easy on yourself and begin with a stabilized approach to the airport.

Sometimes it is also helpful to fly with another instructor just to break through this kind of plateau. There might be one little instructional nugget that you are missing with your current instructor that another instructor could provide for you. Also, sometimes just hearing a different physical voice in your headset during your landing could be the difference.  A good instructor will not fight you on this request.

Hang in there. Like I said before, every pilot solos at a different times and don’t become preoccuiped with thinking about how it might be taking you longer than someone else. Just relax and fly the airplane.

Fly Safe.

Checkride.

What is your first thought when you hear that word? Excitement? Anxiety? Fear?

A checkride for many pilots can be a wave of varying emotions.  Excited by the prospect of another rating, anxious to perform well for the examiner and possible fear of the consequences of a failed maneuver or demonstration.

Read the rest of this entry »

I was on my way home tonight and had an interesting experience that I thought I would share.

I fly often between Springfield, Ohio and Chicago, Illinois.  This is a pretty regular trip and I am familiar with how much fuel I can depart with out of Springfield, make the round trip to Chicago and still have plenty of fuel by the time I return. In fact, I can tell you that if I top off in Springfield before I leave, I’ll land with about 1000-1200 lbs of fuel when I land (depending on routing and the wind).

Well, I was about half way home on the last leg of this familiar round trip, when I looked up and noticed that something wasn’t making sense. Instead of the 1000 pounds I normally land with, the on-board FMS was calculating I would only have 600 lbs. It was also calculating nearly an hour of flight time left, when it should have been closer to 30 minutes. A little more investigating revealed that it was calculating the flight distance at 433 NM when the flight is only about 260 miles. Something wasn’t making sense.

Read the rest of this entry »

The FAA has just released a new web tool / service called “Lessons Learned” and it is worth checking out.  The idea behind the site of course, is learning lessons from aviation accidents.  And although the site focuses mainly on commercial transport category accidents, there is still something to be taken away for even an ultralight pilot.   Think of “Lessons Learned”  has “I Learned About Flying From That” but with a airliner theme (and online instead of in print).

http://accidents-ll.faa.gov/

Here’s a good example.  Take for instance Eastern Airlines Flight 401 that crashed into the Florida Everglades when the autopilot was accidentally disconnected and went unnoticed as the flight crew tried to diagnose a unsafe landing gear position indicator.  The FAA website now breaks this accident snyposis down so that we can see the chain of events that lead to this horrific accident.  For instance, a lesson learned would be “false assumptions” regarding who (or what) is flying the plane.  At the time of this accident, there was no CRM (or crew resource management) training given by any airline.  If there had been, it might have addressed procedures and policies for this kind of malfunction and delegated who had responsibility for flying the airplane while another crew member focused on the problem.

I’d encourage you to visit this new website and let me know what you think.

Stories like these remind us all that we need to work hard to…

Fly SAFE!

How many times have you said that to yourself?

Last night was one of those nights. There was an amazing strong thunderstorm that passed through Chicago last night around 7:30 P.M. Right after it passed through, there was an amazing scene that I feel fortunate enough to witness. Picture this…dark clouds on the right, orange sky on the left, double rainbow in the middle, the airport lights on full bright, and propagating lightning surrounding the whole scene. (that’s where the lightning appears to crawl through the sky). Yeah, words definitely don’t do it justice. It was simply amazing. And all I could think of, was “Man, I wish I had my camera!”

So for today’s trip, I bring my camera. And lucky enough for me, there was this beautiful turbine converted DC3 sitting on the ramp. Of course, my camera memory card was almost confiscated during an ugly incident with a customs official that was clearing this aircraft but that is a different story….so enjoy the photo because I went through a lot to get it.

I think my camera is now officially part of my flight kit. Fly Safe.

Funny story for you with humor that only a pilot may understand. I was checking the ASOS at my home airport on the way in tonight and I heard something interesting on the radio:

Automated weather, time 2156 zulu, winds 290 at 9, visibility 10, sky clear, light rain, temperature 22, dewpoint 16, altimeter 30.22

Sky Clear and Rain? I’m confused. I’m not sure where the rain came from? I sure didn’t see any. Now here is the really funny coincidence, as I was listening to the radio on the way home, Creedence Clearwater Revival came on singing, “Have you ever seen the rain?” Now if you aren’t familiar with the lyrics, let me quote the chorus for you:

I want to know, have you ever seen the rain?
I want to know, have you ever seen the rain?
Comin down on a sunny day?

No, CCR, I haven’t seen the rain come down on a sunny day, but it sure wasn’t for the lack of trying.

Now, to turn this into an educational experience, I’m going to add a quick lesson. How do you seriously know when an ASOS might be reporting inaccurate or corrupted data? You can look for a “$” sign at the end of the METAR report. Here’s an example:

260256Z AUTO 19007KT 8SM FEW080 22/19 A3002 RMK AO2 56010 T02220194 LTG DSNT NW-NE SLP158 $

You know from the $ sign at the end of the report that maintenance is needed on the weather station system making this report. That is the station’s way of saying, “I’m in need of some attention.” You don’t know what is broke but you know that something may be inaccurate. I would recommend trying to find another surface observation in the area and compare it to the other to make sure they are reporting somewhat similar weather.

Fly Safe.

I just saw this video and had to share it. Apparently, a Cessna 150 landed on a highway in Florida after one of it’s cylinder’s seized up. After making repairs, the owner got FAA permission to take off on the highway! The owner told police that he would need 600 feet for takeoff. I bet some instructor his proud of his short field takeoff instruction!

Here is the link to the story: http://www.wesh.com/news/16634189/detail.html