Ask a Flight Instructor

Posts Tagged ‘Flight Training’

James asks the following question:

During some ground time my CFI talked briefly about TURN and BANK being different but combined. Is there any readings or thoughts as to the clarification on these terms/manuvers?

Jason Schappert was named AOPA's Top Colligiate Flight Instructor in 2008 and is the editor of MzeroA.com

Awesome question James! Turn and bank are concepts that many people just assume are the same, because they really do go hand in hand. However, the concept behind each is actually quite different.

Turn specifically refers to the “rate” of a turn while bank refers to the “lateral attitude” or roll of an airplane.

For example we know a standard rate turn is 3° per second, the reason why a 180° turn out of the clouds takes 1 minute at standard rate. This requires a bank angle that varies based on airspeed.

Part of this misconception comes from before the turn coordinator came along. The previous instrument, the turn and bank indicator, simply displayed your “rate” of turn. Bank was never displayed on the face of the instrument and the only place you can truly determine your bank in degrees is the attitude indicator.

For more reading, check out the Airplane Flying Handbook (Chapter 3) and the Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (Chapter 7).

Turn Coordinator

Turn and Bank Indicator

I know very little about this flight training video except that 1) it was developed by the USAF and 2) it is one of the best videos I have ever seen on collision avoidance tips.   I think the background to this movie is that it was developed for GA pilots who flew in and around Southern California but the advice that is contained is applicable to any pilot flying anywhere.  Read the rest of this entry »

This video is courtesy of the FAA’s Runway Safety Office. This video, entitled “Initial Briefing” is designed to showcase a sample flight crew initial flight briefing. This video was included as a bonus from “Was That For Us?” as part of the FAA’s Runway Safety Collection DVD.

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.

Scott writes:

I have the following certificates/ratings: ATP MEL, commercial helicopter, instrument helicopter, private SEL, and CFI helicopter. I am wanting to add a commercial or ATP to my SEL certificate, followed by my airplane CFI and MEI. 1st question: When I take my commercial checkride, does it have to be in a complex aircraft? 2nd question: I understand getting my ASEL CFI would be considered an add on. It is not clear to me what the requirements are for an add on. Any insight? Thanks.

Scott, the first place to look is the current ATP Practical Test Standards, FAA-S-8081-5F (pdf). There is no aircraft type requirement listed, and one of the CFIs I work with did her initial ATP checkride in a Skyhawk with fixed prop and gear. If you take a Commercial checkride, it must be done in a complex aircraft. The Commercial PTS, FAA-S-8081-12B (pdf) requires that if you add an ASEL rating to your Rotorcraft – Helicopter, you must do almost the entire checkride.

As far as the Instructor, Airplane addition goes, again we have to go to the CFI PTS, FAA-S-8081-6C (pdf) on page 36 of the pdf:

Adding an ASEL instructor rating to a RH instructor certificate.

For the addon checkride, most of the tasks have you refer to the notes under each area of operation. I won’t break it down task by task, but hopefully this will help you get started on the right path towards your new ratings.

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 »

One of the questions I am often asked, especially when they learn that I fly a jet single-pilot, is, “What do you think about all these new VLJs?” This question is often followed by additional questions such as, “Do you think there will be a rash of VLJs accidents?” or “How are they going to train inexperienced pilots to fly a jet airplane?” I usually answer these questions as politely and aviation friendly as possible. “I think VLJs are a logical step for many pilots” and “The VLJ manufacturers are making sure pilots are trained and prepared” and “The insurance companies act as a natural filter”. Here’s the problem, I don’t necessarily believe all of that. As a pilot of a very fast single pilot airplane (a Beechcraft Premier), I know first hand the requirements, challenges and pressures that many new VLJ pilots are going to face. And to be honest, it does worry me thinking about many of the non-professional aviators who may operate these aircraft. Are jet aircraft inherently more dangerous just because they are faster? No. Flying a jet can actually be easier than many complex multi-engine airplanes. However, in order to fly a jet single-pilot you have to have a mindset about flying and safety that completely permeates the way you operate. I sat down recently and made a list of some of the things that I do that helps me fly a single-pilot Beechcraft Premier in and out of high density IFR environments. Click the read more link to see some of my recommendations.

Read the rest of this entry »

AOPA recently released a video that contains the audio and video showing the radar on March 21 when on March 21, 2008 a F16 pilot apparently tried to successfully scare the absolute living daylights out of two general aviation pilots flying a Pilatus PC-12 and a Beechcraft Premier. Both aircraft were equipped with a TCAS II system which alerts the pilots and if necessary, provides the pilots with TAs (Traffic Advisories) and if necessary, RAs, or Resolution Advisories. If you have never had the privilege of hearing these sounds, I have provided a sample of what a TA and RA sounds like:

Traffic Advisory

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Resolution Advisory

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So the question is, which one takes precedence? A Resolution advisory or an ATC clearance?

According to FAR 91.123:

When an ATC clearance has been obtained, no pilot in command may deviate from that clearance unless an amended clearance is obtained, an emergency exists, or the deviation is in response to a traffic alert and collision avoidance system resolution advisory.

Another question? Is it ok to fly through a MOA? Let’s take a look at our AIM 3-4-5. It says:

Pilots operating under VFR should exercise extreme caution while flying within a MOA when military activity is being conducted.

Another interesting point about this chapter in the AIM concerning MOAs. Did you know that the military aircraft operating in a MOA can be exempt from at least two rules 1) Aerobatic Flight and 2) Speed *they can operate above 250 knots below 10,000 feet* So, although it might be LEGAL to operate in a MOA, doesn’t sound like a real bright idea.

I uploaded the video to my youtube channel (http://www.youtube.com/askacfi) but you can’t watch it here too. (thanks to AOPA for the video)

Fly Safe (especially in a MOA)