Ask a Flight Instructor

Archive for June, 2008

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?

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This question comes from Clayton:

I am a commercial pilot, single and multi engine ratings with instrument privilages. I am also a CFI single engine land.I recently received my CFI ticket and I’m confused on if the CFI ride counts as a biannual. Regs say that any additional rating qualifies as biannual but since the CFI is a different certificate will I still have to have a biannual?

To start let’s review the regulation that discusses flight reviews, 14 CFR 61.56. If you look at paragraph (d) it states that a “pilot who has passed a pilot proficiency check does not need to accomplish the flight review required by this section.” So does a CFI checkride count as a pilot proficiency check?

The answer is No. Why? Well, because the FAA specifically says so. Not in the regulation of course (that would be too easy) but in this recently released request for interpretation on 14 CFR 61.56(D) They specifically state that:

The answer is that a successful completion of a flight instructor practical test within the preceding 24 calendar months does not automatically relieve a pilot of the requirement to complete §61.56 flight review. A flight instructor practical test is not a pilot proficiency check for a pilot certificate, rating or an operating privilege, or any other acceptable substitute for a flight review specifically listed in § 61.56(d). A flight instructor practical test is not primarily focused on piloting skills but rather on one’s instructional skills. Thus, prima facie, it does not constitute a pilot proficiency check adequate to substitute for a flight review, as specified under § 61.56(d).

One way around this however (and the FAA ruling says so) is to request from your DE that your BFR and CFI checkride be done in conjunction. Acoording to the regs, a flight review requires one hour of ground and flight training. I don’t know about you, but my CFI checkride lasted A LOT longer than one hour on both the ground and flight portion of the practical test. Just be sure that your DE puts in an additional endorsement in your lookbook that attests to the fact that you have met the requirements of 61.56.

Congratulations on your CFI. Hopefully this helps you some.

Here is the link again to this FAA interpretation.

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 don’t know about you, but an ICAO flight plan can be rather confusing and intimidating at first glance. However, once you go through it a couple of times, it really isn’t that bad. There are a couple of fields that are different and take a little explanation but that’s why I’m here!

In order to help you, I’ve created a short video tutorial describing and explaining the fields found on a FAA form 7233-4 or International Flight Plan form. I have to add a disclaimer. This is not a authoritative all encompassing, everything but the kitchen sink video. This is a very basic, here-is-how-I-did-it, kind of video. I ask that you check, use and consult all references provided by the FAA (not me).

Here are some links to references to use while watching the tutorial:

FAA Form 7233-4 International Flight Plan Form (pdf)

FAA Letter to Airman concerning the change (pdf)

Advisory Circular 90-100A – U.S. RNAV Operations (pdf)

Flight Services – ICAO Flight Plans (the FAA printed version of this tutorial)

Roger’s Runway – If you have a Garmin 430/530 there is some more information here pertaining to RNAV capability

Doc8643 – ICAO Aircraft Type Designators

Information about what to put in Box 18 when filing RNAV

This question comes from Mike:

I am a 60 year old comercial pilot with instrument rating with over 1200 hours. I have been a teacher and I have been working on my CFI for a year. My instructor keeps putting off my check ride for one reason or another. At what point do you fire your instructor and get another? I am fed up with the delays and the constant, “We just need to do a little bit more.” What would you advise? A finish up school or another instructor?

My first flight instructor was a Frenchman named Fredrick. Fredrick and I, let’s just say, did not see eye to eye. Believe it or not, he did not solo me because he thought I was talking to the school administration about the fact that he was dating a student (I wasn’t). I fired him and soloed within a day.

When I first started as a flight instructor, I had a older student who thought that I was being too picky, spoke too fast and that I talked down to him. He fired me. It was the first time I had been cut by a student and I had to work hard not to take it personally but as Sonny & Tom Hagen in Godfather says, “It’s business, not personal.”

Mike, you are working on your CFI and as a CFI there are going to be times when you don’t get along with a student. It is going to happen. I don’t care how nice you are, or how great your people skills are, it is a fact of life that not everybody can get along with everyone all of the time. How you deal with this challenge is very important. Let’s not forget something here: flight instruction is a business and the flight student is the customer. Flight instructors have to work to keep the client / customer satisfied even when things aren’t going as planned and as a client, you should demand that you are satisfied with your training that you are spending a lot of money on.

So how do you fire your instructor?

Talk to him. You said that he knows how you feel but maybe it is time to just say, “This isn’t working for me, could you recommend someone else?” A professional flight instructor will realize where you are coming from and do his best to keep you happy, even if it means, losing a student. If he isn’t so accommodating, then talk to his boss whether that is a chief instructor or flight school owner. This is one advantage of a FAR part 141 flight school being that you move to another instructor pretty easily. If you don’t have that luxury than just ask around the airport for a recommended CFI.

This isn’t easy. You obviously spent a lot of time together and are probably friends on some level. Try and use this as a learning experience and make the best of it and let me know what happens and always…

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

This question comes from John:

My 17 year old son, who last summer was working on his glider license, is now thinking about his private pilot airplane certificate. He didn’t get his glider certificate yet because he hasn’t taken the written knowledge test. Should he take the written for the glider first, or should he get his private pilot airplane and then get a glider add on?

Thanks John for your question.

My recommendation would be to go ahead have your son get his private pilot single engine AIRPLANE first before the glider. The reason? If you have a private pilot airplane certificate you DO NOT need to take the a written knowledge test for the glider add-on. However, if you have a private pilot glider certificate you will have to take an additional knowledge test for the private pilot single engine airplane. So if you get the airplane certificate first you will only need your son to study for one test, not two.

Hopefully this helps and tell your son to…

Fly Safe!

This question comes from Josh:

I’ve had a little confusion with cross-country planning. It is with the magnetic and true courses. Can you tell me if this is right. When I plot the route and use my plotter, the course I get is a TRUE heading. I then add or subract the variation degree which converts it to MAGNETIC. Now, I need to put in the wind correction. The problem here is I do not know whether the wind I get from Flight Service is in magnetic or true. Could you please possibly explain this to me, sorry if my question sounds a little confusing.

Sure Josh, I’d be happy to help. I think the best way to help you is to define the terms we are dealing with a little better. I put these in the order that you would use when planning your cross country flight. We refer to this kind of navigation as dead reckoning. A lot of pilots don’t trust dead reckoning, but remember that dead reckoning is all that Charles Linbergh, Amelia Earhart and many other famous pilots had when planning some record breaking flights.

1) True Course (TC): This is the course measured from your navigation plotter when you plot your flight on your map. Remember that because of the projection of the map, it is best to read this course in the middle of the leg.

2) True Heading (TH): Now that you have a true course, we need to correct for winds which will give us a true heading. You can use a E6B or similar flight computer and forecast winds aloft to correct your true course to determine a true heading. To answer your other question, Forecast Winds and Temperature Aloft charts (FD) are given in reference to true north.

3) Magnetic Heading (MH): The difference between true north and magnetic north is known as variation. Lines of variation are shown on a sectional chart as dashed magenta lines and called isogonic lines. By adding or subtracting variation from your true heading you will get your magnetic heading.

4) Compass Heading (CH): Items from inside the airplane can actually affect the performance of the compass. Aircraft technicians take account for this and will place a placard beneath the compass displaying the errors for certain headings. These errors are referred to as deviation. By adding or subtracting deviation from your magnetic heading this will give you a compass heading. A compass heading is the direction you could turn the aircraft to that has been corrected for winds, variation and deviation. In an ideal world, this would have you following your true course perfectly that you had plotted earlier on the map.

So in review:

Course: Is always the line drawn on the chart

Heading: The direction which the airplane is pointed

Hopefully these definitions will help in the flight planning process. Most navigation logs have this laid out pretty well to help you keep the terms straight.

Thanks for the question Josh. Good luck with your training and cross country trips and…

Fly Safe!

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.

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