Ask a Flight Instructor

Archive for November, 2007

Well..that time of year has come. Time to review icing procedures and courses for icing. Already this season, I’ve already had a few icing encounters, fortunately all light with mixed rime. During a preflight weather check about a month ago I saw an PIREP from a CRJ experiencing severe icing. According to my 2008 ASA FAR / AIM Severe Icing means that “the rate of accumulation is such that deicing/anti-icing equipment fails to reduce or control the hazard. Immediate flight diversion is necessary.” Knock on wood I haven’t experienced that yet. I wondered if it looked something like this when it landed

Every year I try and watch the NASA videos as well as read over my aircraft flight manual or POH for the type of aircraft I am flying. NASA has produced a great online icing course. I was also able to find the NASA icing video on google and share it below. This video is a classic when it comes to aircraft icing. Every corporate, charter and airline operator that I have ever worked for makes this required viewing. Warning it takes a while to watch and load but worth every second. The title of this video is Icing for Regional and Corporate pilots but don’t let the title fool you. It has a lot of practical advice and tips that would apply to anyone.

Nasa also produced a good tailplane icing video:

Here is a good book entitled simply Aircraft Icing. A summary:

In this straightforward, how-to handbook for pilots at all levels, weather professional and Gold Seal flight instructor Terry Lankford gives you a critical overview of one of aviation’s most dangerous and hard-to-grasp threats. For the first time, Aircraft Icing provides both the nuts-and-bolts understanding and the hands-on strategies you need to prepare yourself for icing conditions, whether you fly a single-engine Cessna or a jumbo 777.. “

This is available for $29.36 from mypilotstore.com

I found this great article at Wikihow and wanted to share it with you:

http://www.wikihow.com/Choose-a-Flight-Instructor

Here are some highlights from the article

1. Airports usually have a Fixed Base Operator (FBO). The FBO manages the airport and hosts (or may own) flight schools. Flight schools have Certificated Flight Instructors (CFI) with training aircraft for rent.
2. If no one has recommended a CFI, the school will assign one to you.
3. Some questions you might want to ask:
   • What is your schedule and general availability?
   • What is your training philosophy?
   • What is your billing policy?
4. After the first couple of flights you’ll get a feel for how the training is going. Ask yourself if you feel the CFI is: too laid back, too stern, genuinely concerned about your learning, or distracted. Hey, its your money! If it doesn’t feel right request another CFI.

I have recently added a blog feature to the site.  This is so I can share flying tips and tricks with you and you can respond with your ideas and thoughts.

As always, this site still has a great forum that I hope you check out and register.  What is better than talking about aviation?

Hopefully soon you’ll see some other additions to the site. Features such as:

• A FAQ section of the site
•  Flying terms and glossary

Be sure to check back soon, as we add these features.

Thanks for stopping by and look forward to seeing your questions soon.

Several years ago I bought a book that has now become a staple of my flight kit. It comes with me everywhere. If you haven’t heard about it, it is called The Captain’s Atlas and it is indispensable. It is a standard United States road atlas with aviation navigational aids (VORs, Airways, etc.) over laid. When the weather is beautiful and you can see for miles, I always have at least one passenger, who will ask me, over a random area, “What lake is that?” I guess I should take it as a complement that the passenger thinks I’m smart enough to know every single lake in the country but rarely do I know the answer but this book is my cheat! I simply look up the state (hopefully I at least know that) and find a nearby VOR on the atlas, do a little triangulation and viola! I can usually tell them the name of the feature they are requesting. You will look like a hero!

You can see more details here