Ask a Flight Instructor

Archive for the ‘Flight Training’ Category

James was reading a flight training manual that mentions “Flying the Wing” so he writes to ask:

I am in the early stages of learning the art of flying, what exactly does flying the wing mean/entail? Thank-You.

The term “Fly the Wing” (as I understand it) refers to the practice of controlling the airplane with emphasis being placed on the aircraft’s AOA (angle-of-attack) and attitude.

While trying to think of a good way to describe this term, I came across an older book in my library entitled, “Safe for Solo – What Every Young Aviator Should Know”  This book was written by Frederick M. Reeder and illustrated by my new favorite aviation artist, Robert C. Osborn.   There are several wonderful chapters in this book and they describe wonderfully what “flying the wing” is all about.

The definition of “Flying the Wing” from “Safe for Solo” after the break.
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Cloyd Clevenger

I am a sucker for old books, especially related to aviation. I recently purchased “Modern Flight” by Cloyd P. Clevenger. My copy was printed in 1941 but I believe it was first published by Alexander Industries in 1927. Modern Flight is a manual (one of the very first) on “Practical Flying”. Four chapters on everything from “S turns across a road” to “Vertical Reversements”.  I’ve learned a little bit about the author and simply put, he was a stud. Davis Monthan Aviation Field Register has put together some great information about him.  Clev started by flying gliders in high school and then for the next 40 years had just about every flying job imaginable.  He estimated that in his career he flew some 1.3 million miles.

In one of the last paragraphs near the end of this book Mr. Clevenger lists 19 “Don’ts” of aviation.  As I read through them this afternoon I thought how 80 years later these are still very applicable today. Here is the excerpt from “Modern Flight” by Cloyd P. Clevenger:

The greatest part of this book has been dedicated to teaching you the actual art of flying.  However, of equal importance to your flying ability is your knowledge of the “Don’ts” of aviation and your constant use of the good judegement regarding these fundamental laws.  Whether you have one hour or thousands of hours of piloting experience, you should not disregard these “Don’ts”:

1. Don’t fail to inspect the ship for flaws, lack of cotter pins, etc. before taking off for a flight
2. Don’t take off until you have personally checked to see if you have sufficient gas and oil.
3. Don’t take off with a cold motor.
4. Don’t taxi fast.
5. Don’t try to turn back into the airport in the event of motor failure on the take-off.
6. Don’t make a gliding spiral at too low an altitude
7. Don’t bank steeply or climb steeply near the ground.
8. Don’t stall a ship and “hang” it by the propeller close to the ground.
9. Don’t pull the stick back if the ship settles in bad air on the take-off.
10. Don’t fly roughly or handle the motor roughly.
11. Don’t try to stretch out a glide.
12. Don’t skid or slip on your turns.
13. Don’t fail to keep your eyes on the lookout for other ships all around you whether in the air or on the ground.
14. Don’t confuse air speed with motor speed.
15. Don’t stunt unless you are flying an airplane built for acrobatics.
16. Don’t stunt near the ground.
17. Don’t pull a ship out of its dive too sharply in recovering from acrobatics.
18. Don’t fly if you are sick or feel loggy.
19. Don’t forget your responsibility and get reckless.

Wow.  Remember, this was written over 80 years ago but what really has changed? We might have fancier avionics and air bags in our shoulder straps but really, I can’t think of one thing on that list that is not applicable for today’s pilot.  How many pilots lives could have been saved by following these “Don’ts” of aviation?

Thank-you Mr. Clevenger for creating a timeless list of aviation truths.

Fly Safe and Don’t forget the Don’ts!

I received a question last night from Ed and this is what he wrote:

While performing a practice BFR for reinstatement, the P.P. said that current sectional charts are no longer a required item!?  Can not find any reference to this on web or AIM.

This is one of those questions I was SURE I knew the answer to as soon as I read it.  I mean I was positive about my response.  Of course current aeronautical charts are required to be on board, right? Well….

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I love telling people I have the world’s greatest office view.  The only bad part about my office and the incredible view is the occasional lack of space. Cockpits can be pretty cramped spots to begin with and then when you add sectional charts, plotters, calculators, E6Bs, AFDs, sunglasses, pens, etc. well…it can get pretty messy pretty quickly as is the case apparently with Mark.

Mark wrote me asking:

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Before Takeoff Checklist
Throttle: 1700 RPM
Magnetos: Checked
Carb Heat: On
Carb Heat: Off
Throttle: Set-800 RPM
Flight Instruments: Set
Takeoff Briefing….huh???

A common problem that I see in many of my students (both primary and advanced) is the failure to adequately brief the takeoff and departure segments.  This is a critical and common mistake with many pilots.  Richard C. Cushing summarized the importance of planning when he said:

Always plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.

This quotation really summarizes the purpose of a good takeoff briefing.  A takeoff briefing should clearly state your plan-of-action for both when everything goes as planned and “when it starts to rain”.    Because as the proverb says:

He who fails to plan, plans to fail

So then, what should you include in a takeoff briefing?  I think a good takeoff briefing is one that answers questions. Questions like:

• Who will perform the takeoff? Student or Instructor?
• Which runway are you departing?
• What type of takeoff is going to be performed? Normal, rolling, short field, soft?
• What will I do if I lose an engine during the takeoff roll? What about a engine loss at 50 feet? 500 feet?
• What are the critical V speeds for this particular aircraft? Vx, Vy and Best Glide.
• What are the departure instructions? Is there an obstacle departure procedure that I need to be aware of? Does my departure clearance include a SID?
• Which airport would I go in case of an emergency and the airplane was still flyable?  Sometimes the departure airport isn’t prepared to handle an engine fire or has a runway long enough to deal with a complete hydraulic failure.

Do you see now the importance of including a pretakeoff briefing before each and every flight? This is not a procedure just for the first-flight-of-the-day.  A takeoff briefing should be performed if you’re staying in the pattern, departing on a cross-country and with or without an instructor present.  Every takeoff is unique and each requires a different course in the case of a malfunction.  It should also be noted that a verbal (as in out-loud) briefing should be performed in both single pilot and crew pilot configurations.  Just because you don’t have a pilot sitting in the cockpit listening to you doesn’t make the exercise without merit.  Verbalizing and listening to your own voice through the intercom / headset is a good way to solidify and commit your intentions to memory.

Here is a a sample takeoff briefing that I would use in a single-engine aircraft:

This will be a normal takeoff.  We will departing on runway 24 with an initial altitude of 3,000.  Vr is 50 and Vy is 67.  If we have any problems before rotation or with adequate runway remaining after liftoff, we will abort.  Standard emergency procedures will be used in the event of engine failure without adequate runway remaining.  Best glide is 65 KIAS.  We won’t even think about returning to this airport unless we are at 1,000 AGL.  Any questions or comments?

As you graduate into more advanced aircraft, you’ll notice that your takeoff briefing will have to be adapted to match the performance of that airplane.  For instance, here is a sample takeoff briefing for a light jet aircraft:

This will be a rolling takeoff with flaps set at 10 from runway 23.  We will abort for any reason below 80 knots.  After 80 knots we will only abort for engine fire, engine failure or  failure to maintain directional control.  After v1 we’ll handle it as a in-flight emergency and continue the takeoff roll.  Memory items will be as required and hold all checklists till 1,000′ AGL.   If we have to return, we’ll request a left downwind for 23 and pattern altitude is 1,500′. Departure instructions are the Airport 5 SID which has us making a left turn to 210 deg at 500 feet.  Standard calls. Any questions?

I’ve provided these as a basis for you to develop your takeoff briefings.  I’ve warned you about the dangers of not using a pretakeoff clearance but there is also a danger in “rote” recitation where you can just say the words, without really giving them the thought they deserve.

I don’t have to rehash the accident statistic rates here, but I’m sure you know how a large majority of aviation accidents and incidents occur during takeoff and landing phase.  That is why it is so crucial that we plan for a emergency before they happen.  Playing defense against an emergency, without a clear cut plan, is much harder than playing an offensive maneuver that has been rehearsed and discussed.

Fly Safe (and brief those takeoffs!)

Here is an easy enough question that came in from Dennis:

How do I calculate a headwind or tailwind?

This calculation is very easy using a mechanical flight computer such as an E-6B . The E-6B is a circular slide rule that has two sides: the computer side and the wind side.  The computer side which contains several scales and windows is used to solve ratio problems such as time-speed-distance, fuel and several other conversions.  The wind side is used to find both a aircraft ground speed and WCA (wind correction angle).

To help guide you through the wind side of the E-6B, I’ve created a short video tutorial showing how to calclate a tail wind or headwind for a particular flight plan.

This has been a pretty busy week for me as I am currently in Wilmington, DE at my yearly recurrent training event at Flight Safety.  My recurrent training is something I definitely look forward to each year.  It is a wonderful opportunity to not only re-learn the things I have forgotten since last year but also a chance to sharpen my procedures and flying skills within the safety confines of a flight simulator.  A little plug here…Flight Safety Int’l is a top-notch organization and over the years, I have had nothing but the best experiences with the instructors, administration and staff.  They are absolute pros at professional flight training.  It is no wonder, they are the leaders in their industry.

Unfortunately, because of my training and my flight schedule, I’ve fallen a little bit behind with some flight training questions here but I just received a question from Andrew that I’d like to answer.  Andrew asks:

I have a rotorcraft private and i would like to get my Single engine private. How many hours do i need in single engine to get my rating?

Hi Andrew,

You want to look at 14 CFR 61.109 – Aeronautical experience private pilot.

As a rotorcraft private pilot I’m guessing you already meet the 40 hour requirements, so now all you have to do is

Flight Training

meet the specific time requirements for airplane single engine.  These requirements are:

• 3 hours of cross-country flight training in a single-engine airplane;

• 3 hours of night flight training in a single-engine airplane that includes 1) One cross-country flight of over 100 nautical miles total distance; and 2)10 takeoffs and 10 landings to a full stop (with each landing involving a flight in the traffic pattern) at an airport.

• 3 hours of flight training in a single-engine airplane on the control and maneuvering of an airplane solely by reference to instruments

• 3 hours of flight training in preparation for the practical test in a single-engine airplane, which must have been performed within 60 days preceding the date of the test

• 10 hours of solo flight time in a single-engine airplane, consisting of at least 5 hours of solo cross-country time; One solo cross-country flight of at least 150 nautical miles total distance

So it kinds of depends on how you divide up the lessons with your flight instructor, but you know that you’ll need at least 10 hours of solo and probably another 20-25 hours of dual given from an instructor.  You’ll use this time with the instructor to prepare you for your solo, cross country training and then of course the checkride test preparation.  I’d budget at least 35 hours of flight training for your private pilot single-engine add-on.

Again, reference 61.109 for more information and here is the link to that CFR:

http://tinyurl.com/rb2b5k

You also might want to reference the private pilot PTS:

http://www.faa.gov/training_testing/testing/airmen/test_standards/pilot/media/FAA-S-8081-14A.pdf

Look on page 26 of this pdf.  On that page, you’ll see an “Additional Rating Task Table.”  That task table is useful for knowing what specific tasks you’ll have to complete on your checkride given your current ratings and certificates.

Thanks for stopping by the site and let me know I can be of any further help.
Fly Safe.

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.

From Mark, we have another question about Sport Pilot:

Does a current Private Pilot have to get a Sport Pilot rating as part of the requirements of being a CFI-SP Sport Pilot flight instructor?

Mark, the FAA has a table (pdf; it’s hard to track down!) that lists all the requirements for various SP certificates. CFI – Sport Pilot lines that are relevant to your question are here:

Training requirements:

• 150 Hours – Total
• Additional flight training requirements for each category and class.
• Sport Pilot certificate or higher
• Category and class privileges or rating

Testing requirements:

• CFI Recommendation - Knowledge test – Practical Test

So, you have to have at least 150 hours total time, and hold at least a sport pilot certificate with the appropriate category & class for the type of aircraft you will be teaching in. Aside from that, you’ll need to get a CFI endorsement and pass the knowledge & practical tests.