Ask a Flight Instructor

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Flight instructors are taught the importance of using visual aids when preparing a lesson.  Statistically, most people are visual learners.  There is nothing more frustrating than trying to teach a certain concept to a primary student and not having a good airplane model around to use as a visual aid.

A good friend suggested that I take some time to read the “Civil Pilot Training Manual”, which I am doing now.  This manual, developed by the Civil Aeronautics Administration in 1941 is the template that every pilot training manual and textbook in existence today is based upon! And that is no exaggeration.   In this book, on page 102 I stumbled upon “Figure 73 – Plan for Demonstration Model”.  One of the reasons I like this model is because it has markings for flaps, elevator and rudder. It would be a great aircraft to teach about the three axis of flight (longitudinal, lateral and vertical) and the basic aircraft structures.

I scanned the template in, enlarged it slightly (the one in the book is much too small) and saved it as a PDF that is available now in the download section of askacfi.com.

My recommendation would be to make the demonstration model a little robust by making the airplane out of some heavy cardstock. You can do that by:

1) Printing the template out on normal paper. Make your own carbon paper by taking a lead pencil and heavily shading the outline on the reverse side of the paper

2) By tracing and heavily pressing on the outline you can easily transfer the template to your own chosen cardstock paper.

3) Cut where indicated and fold where directed.

Download the template here:

Aircraft Demonstration Model Template

p.s. it doesn’t fly very well (at least for me).

This is a question about a question!

Pilot Mike writes:

Thought I’d throw this one over your way to see what your thoughts are. Hangar flying this question has yielded several different answers from both IR pilots and CFIIs… You are departing an airport on an IFR flight plan; the route is “direct” to your destination. Upon climb out, ATC gives you radar vectors around arriving traffic at another airport. After about 15 minutes away from your filed route, ATC asks, “What is your on course heading?” Which heading do you provide back to ATC? Some different answers I’ve been told: 1. The heading direct to your destination from your present position 2. Heweeading to intercept your original filed route. 3. The original on course heading as filed. What is the appropriate response to ATC?

The appropriate response to give ATC is your heading that you would need to fly from your present location to the fix as specified in ATC’s request.  Why would controller need this information?  Well, I forwarded this question to Paul from FAAfolies.com and here was his response:

There are a variety of reasons the controller might need to know the heading; you’d think it doesn’t matter since the a/c has direct nav capability but it might be to see what the winds are, or there might be traffic to parallel, or other reasons.

I also called my local approach control facility and their answer was that many times the destination or next fix is defined to ATC in terms of lat/long coordinates.  You can only imagine how difficult it would be for a controller to know the on-course heading difference to a place that is 39N 34 55 versus 40N 05 10.

So what I do when ATC asks me? Well, to be honest, I just normally look at my GPS or FMS PFD and find the BRG or DTK field:

Colin ProLine DTK Field

The course in that field, is the number I usually respond to ATC with.  Any technically it isn’t a “heading” and it doesn’t help ATC know what the winds aloft are but I haven’t gotten any complaints yet.  Again, the feeling I got from ATC was that they are just looking for a general idea of which way your going to turn to proceed to that fix.  If they need left or right of that course for traffic sepeartion, they are going to tell you to turn.

Thanks for your question Mike and….

Fly Safe.

Freddie wrote me to ask:

Hi Paul. I have waited my entire life to finally get to this point where I am able to make flight teaching my one and only. My wife has taught high school for 25 years, and that helps a great deal so now I can devote my heart, soul and mind into becoming a CFI. I will not go any further up in the career ladder. My heart is set on the intimacy of teaching. So my question is, where would be a good start for me? Where would I be needed most? Ex: Hometown? Or when I finish will I be able to teach in one or multiple airports? Thank you.

Well first off, BRAVO!  That is awesome, and I am excited for you and the career choice that you have chosen.  I wish there were a lot more pilots and people like you who value general aviation flight instruction.

One of the interesting aspects about becoming a CFI is that once you are an instructor you automatically become a small business owner.  And as in any business, you now have products to sell.  The products are 1) Aviation and 2) Yourself.  As the owner of this business you also have complete control over the development of this business.  You can decide, How many clients do you want?  What flight training market do you want to develop? and Which sales region do you want to establish your business in?

As I travel around and talk to people, it seems the area hurting the most for good quality instructors is the smaller local hometown airports.  Instructors at these airports seem to be the ones most likely to be lost to either regional airlines, corporate outfits or larger flight schools at bigger airports.  A smaller airport also has a harder time providing enough demand to keep a instructor on the field “full time”, especially if the airport is located where flying weather is very seasonal. Because of these factors, these airports are the ones most hurt by pilot shortages and lower regional airline experience requirements.

My advice to you would be to grow your business at a local “hometown” flight school.  I mean, really take control of it from top to bottom.  Work hard to create new pilots and grow your business by word-of-mouth.  A good first step would be to create a PP ground school program, advertise it heavily locally (your investment) and bring in as many new student pilots to the airport.  A ground school is a cheap and easy way for people to try out aviation.  Try and get as many of your ground school students to flight train with you as well.  Once these students have passed the private pilot rides. Simply repeat and recycle this process again.  You’ll soon have more primary and secondary clients.  You’ll also have about as much flying and business than you can stand.

I know I’m simplifying things quite a bit but I’ve had some great success using this method.  It works really well enticing a lot of non-pilots out to the airport and keeping me busy for months until I was ready to start the next ground school.

I know I’ve mentioned this book before, but I really can’t say enough about, “The Savvy Flight Instructor” by Gregory Brown, if you want to learn how to approach flight instruction as a business endeavor.  So many pilots simply look at flight instruction as a career stepping stone and not as the business of selling and promoting aviation.

I wish you all the best in becomming a CFI.  If you have any questions about flight training or aviation, you know where to ask and as always…

Fly Safe!

This question comes from David:

How do you find an intersection that is off the airway your on without GPS/loran or a vector from ATC.  For example, let’s say your over PXN (cental california) cleared to the Oakey intersection.  Once I set up my radials to identify the fix, how do I estimate my ETA at Oakey without knowing the exact distance?

Thanks for your question David. To answer you question, I created a video tutorial showing you how to use a easy to remember rule of thumb that works especially well if you course is north-south (such as it is in your case).   I hope this helps.  Let me know if you have any other questions and remember to…

Fly Safe!

By the way, if you are curious about the desktop ruler I used in the demonstration, it is available at:

http://www.askacfi.com/tools

I don’t know why, but I have noticed a lot of songs lately on the radio talk about flying private jets. That got me to do some research about airplane songs. Airplanes are featured in a LOT of songs! I found this great post at “Dictatorship of the Air” that suggested 10 songs about airplanes. I took those songs, some of the ones suggested in the comments of that post, plus some of my own favorites and created a iMix for iTunes. I simply entitled my mix “Airplane Songs” Here is my iMix. What do you think? What songs would you like to add or remove?

Before you even get started reviewing this mix, I have to defend the first selection. The reason it was added is because in the chorus he sings about leaving with a girl on his “G-V”. Maybe this mix will make a great soundtrack as you are driving to the airport for your flight lessons or work. Enjoy.

I was stumbling this afternoon and discovered an amazing collection of shots from the cockpit of aircraft around the world. You have to appreciate the lanyard around the pilot’s neck in photo 9 (the A320). Let me know what you think about these pictures. I think my favorite is the picture from the cockpit of the Boeing 747-200. What’s yours?

read more | digg story

This question came from Josh:

I have flown with two different instructors, and both demonstrate and teach slow flight in different ways. What is the proper way to do this that is in the private pilot PTS and is what the DPE will look for?

Thanks Josh for your question. Yes, many instructors will have different techniques for the same maneuver. This can be very frustrating for students. In fact, your DPE may even have his own preferred way of performing this maneuver. Here’s the good news: as long as your perform the maneuver to the PTS standards during your checkride, you should be ok.

So what does the PTS (practical test standards) say about slow flight?

First of all, I would recommend buying a copy of the Private Pilot Practical Test Standards so you can read it for yourself. I’d also recommend keeping this with you in your flight kit during your entire training, review it often. You can also download a copy from the FAA website. The PTS states that the objective of the manuever is to determine that you:

1. Exhibit knowledge of the elements related to maneuvering during slow flight. (you understand the aerodynamics of the maneuver)
2. Select an entry altitude that will allow the task to be completed no lower than 1,500 feet (460 meters) AGL.
3. Establish and maintain an airspeed at which any further increase in angle of attack, increase in load factor, or reduction in power, would result in an immediate stall.
4. Accomplish coordinated straight-and-level flight, turns, climbs, and descents with landing
   gear and flap configurations specified by the examiner.
5. Divide attention between airplane control and orientation.
6. Maintain the specified altitude,+/-100 feet (30 meters); specified heading,+/-10° ; airspeed,+10/-0 knots; and specified angle of bank,+/-10°.

In other words, you should be able to maintain a attitude (and associated airspeed) that if you pitched up (or got any slower) you would almost immediately start to feel the effects of a stall. The examiner is looking to see if you can safely control the airplane at the lower end of the performance sprectrum.

Here is the method that I teach my students, but please don’t take this as the last word. You should always work closely with your instructor for their methods for your particular aircraft and always consult your POH. Here is what I teach when flying an older Cessna 172 with a carburettor.

• Select altitude that will allow recovery no lower than 1500 feet AGL
• Clear Area (two 90 deg. clearing turns)
• Carb Heat On
• Reduce Power to 1500 RPM
• If instructed, extend flaps when below flap operating speed
• As airspeed decreases, adjust pitch to maintain altitude. When airspeed approaches 60 KIAS, gradually increase power between 1800-2100 RPM to maintain altitude. The RPM depends on many things including
  configuration and altitude.
• Once you’ve stablized at the recommended speed (57 or 60 KIAS) keep the pitch stabilized and make
  small changes in power as necessary to hold your altitude.
• To recover, smoothly apply full power and adjust your pitch to maintain altitude as airspeed increases.

I hope that this helps some. The key is to work with your instructor (whichever one you pick) and make sure that his / her method conforms to the PTS so you won’t have a problem with your checkride.

Good luck and be sure to let us know how it goes and as always…

Fly Safe!

For many people who want to learn how to fly, overcoming the financial hurdle is perhaps their biggest obstacle. But there are ways to minimize the costs. Here are some practical suggestions from aviation.com and Fred Simonds.

read more | digg story

As we all know, on May 22, the FAA NOTAM system went down. There is an interesting interview / article at Computerworld.com about why it happened. According to the article, it was a hard disk failure. Here’s a question? Why was the entire FAA NOTAM system dependent on one hard drive? I know it was a server with multiple hard drives but hasn’t the FAA ever heard of RAID? Isn’t that the whole point of having multiple hard drives in a server box so that if one of them fails, the system won’t be compromised?

read more | digg story

I’ve had the unfortunate opportunity lately to learn a lot about Prist. I say unfortunate because my learning opportunity revolved around a misfueling incident with the corporate aircraft that I fly. When I say “Prist” I am actually referring to “fuel system icing inhibitor” or FSII. Prist is one of the most commonly used brands so FSII is commonly referred to just as “Prist”. Kind of in the same way that everyone refers to common bandages as “Band-aids”.

Why do we use FSII?

Jet aircraft fly at very high altitudes where it can get very very cold. I routinely, even in the summer, can see -54 deg. Celsiuses, that’s cold. Jet fuel naturally has a small amount of suspended water. To help protect the water in the fuel from freezing, aircraft manufacturers usually will add some kind of fuel / oil heat exchanger to cool the engine oil and heat the jet fuel. They also will sometimes add heater elements in the wings to help keep fuel warm. As an added protection, some manufacturers also require that FSII is to be added to the fuel. There is a specific ratio for this mixture which is usually .10% – .15% by volume.

So exactly is FSII and how does it work?

The brand “Prist” is manufactured by Prist Aerospace Products of Conroe, TX. Besides making anti-icing additves, Prist Aerospace also makes a window cleaner that a lot of people use. So when you hear someone say that they need “Prist” on their windows and “Prist” in their gas, it is the same company, just a different product. Prist is
manufactured to meet military specifications, or MIL-J-85470.

The main ingrident in the Prist brand of FSII is DEGMME or diethylene glycol monomethyl ether. When this stuff is mixed in with jet fuel it migrates to the small amount of water in jet fuel and lowers the water’s freezing point to -46 deg F. According to Tom Burr of Arrow Energy, it does this by actually surrounding the water molecule to keep it from freezing. It is important to note that FSII has to be added to the fuel while fueling and cannot be added afterwards. The reason for this is that FSII is heavier than fuel and will sink to the bottom of the tank and not mix in with the fuel you are trying to treat.

The brand Prist also has some biocidal and pesitcide properities. That means it can help kill bacterial growth in your fuel tanks. We all know that bacteria likes to grow in damp dark places. And nothing is as damp and dark as a fuel tank. DEGMME is a pesiticide, although the manufacturers of Prist say on their website that it has not be certified by the EPA as such (just a guess, but it is probably cost inhibitive).

How and when can Prist be added?

As mentioned before, Prist must be added at the time of fueling. When you buy JetA from Phillips66 it is pre-mixed. That means, the fuel already has the FSII in it. This is usually done either at the loading dock when the fuel truck in uploading the fuel or done when the fuel truck is dumping the fuel to the storage tank. Prist can also be added at the time of fueling or even by spraying it into the fuel stream with an aerosol can.

Most FBOs or fueling centers are required to check for the proper mixture of fuel to Prist daily. This is done using a B2 Test Ki which contains a refractometer. A refractometer is a instrument by which you can take a small amount of fuel, place it on the end of the refractometer and then hold it up to the light. You can then read the specific gravity and the salinty which looking at a corresponding scale will tell you how much FSII is in the fuel.

As always, be sure to consult your POH or AFM for more information on your aircraft requirements for FSII. This can usually be found in your limitations section (section 2) under fuel limitations.

Fly Safe (and if you need it..with FSII!)