Aviation Mentor

Delivering a New Airplane

2015-12-07T20:22:00.002-08:00

Way Home

Buying a new aircraft usually involves a trip of some length to pick up said aircraft. I recently had the pleasure of helping ferry a DA42-VI from the Diamond Factory in London, Ontario to Fresno, California with the new owners. Crossing the continental US in a light aircraft seems to involve equal parts careful planning and good luck with weather. On this trip we were fortunate to have mostly good weather. That left picking stops along the way the would break the journey into manageable chunks. It's important to pick stops that have good deals on fuel, but long trips are made easier for the pilots when there is good food and pleasant facilities for rest and relaxation. Using ForeFlight to plot a direct course is a good way to start. Then, break the trip into reasonable chunks (probably 3 hours or less) and examine the course for airports that offer the amenities you need.

Into the Cold and Rain

After a tour of the Diamond factory (sorry, photos aren't allowed in the production areas), it was time for the all-important acceptance flight. As the plane was pulled out of the warmth of the factory's final assembly area and into the wind and chill that is Ontario in November, I noticed an interesting coincidence: The large factory door bore the name Richards-Wilcox, a company I worked for in my youth, many years ago.

Making our way on Taxiway Foxtrot

Laurence, the chief instructor for the local flight center, started the engines and soon we were taxiing down the secluded, tree-lined taxiway that leads from the Diamond factory to the official part of the London Airport. I went through a checklist of items to be verified while Laurence performed the before takeoff checks. Soon we were airborne to the local practice area to record engine information and other bits of data. The gusty winds made for a bumpy ride so I eventually decided to just photograph the multifunction display and transcribe the information once we were back on the ground.

After a tasty lunch provided by the kind folks at Diamond, we began preparations for departure. With the eAPIS data filed, I called the CBP office in Port Huron to confirm our arrival details. FltPlan.com came in handy for filing the ICAO flight plan and getting a weather briefing (sorry ForeFlight, couldn't justify the Canadian subscription cost for a single, short trip). Soon we had our IFR clearance and launched into light rain and snow showers, providing a excellent opportunity to demonstrate the DA42's TKS ice protection system to the new owners.

Rain, Snow, and 30+ knot headwinds

The weather gradually improved along the route to the US/Canadian border and Selfridge Approach approved the visual approach into KPHN with gusty winds favoring runway 28. The Diamond factory staff provided several helpful tips to ensure a smooth and efficient border crossing. We arrived within minutes of our ETA and waited in the warmth of the plane for CBP staff to arrive.

Waiting on the Compass Rose

With passports and paperwork verified, we were on our way to KBMI, our first fuel stop. We climbed on top of the clouds, mostly dodging Detroit and Chicago Class B airspace along the way.

Passing MoTown

Somewhere over Indiana

Illinois Moonrise

After landing at KBMI, the kind folks at Synergy provided us with a crew car so we could get dinner while they refueled the plane. It was getting late and the next planned stop was KCBF, so I called ahead and spoke to the friendly folks at AdvancedAir. They would be closed by the time we arrived, but they arranged hotel accommodations. When we arrived even later than planned, Lisa drove out to meet us, let us in to the heated lobby and had already called a taxi for us. Talk about service!

Good Morning, Council Bluffs!

Approaching Centennial

The plan for the next day was to get an early start and end up in Fresno by nightfall with two fuel stops along the way. The headwinds relaxed and the weather was much improved. We arrived at KAPA with clear skies and light winds. After a delicious lunch at the Perfect Landing, we climbed south and turned west to cross the Rocky Mountains only to discover absolutely perfect weather - light winds, clear skies, negative turbulence.

Near Leadville, CO

Descending into Richfield, UT

Time for fuel and a Bio-Break

Departing Richfield after refueling, we made our way across Utah and Nevada, then descended into Fresno just as the sun was setting.

Crossing the Sierra Madre

Proud new owner

A long, satisfying trip. Three days total travel time - one day to fly commercially from KSFO to CYXU and two days flying the DA42. A smooth trip and an excellent introduction to the DA42-VI for the new owners. And I couldn't have asked for better traveling companions.

AoA, EM, and Staying Ahead

2015-10-21T21:08:00.000-07:00

We were going fast as we descended into right downwind. For spacing, the tower controller instructed the pilot to extend downwind, adding that he would tell the pilot when to turn base. Realizing this was not a standard traffic pattern by any means, the pilot began to catch on. He reduced power "to slow things down" and then added flaps. The pilot's chosen downwind heading had us drifting inward and the turn to final was going to be tight. The addition of flaps combined with the reduction in throttle while maintaining altitude caused the airspeed to gradually decay. After the "base turn approved" call came, the pilot realized he was overshooting final. He entered a steep, coordinated turn and the LEDs on his angle of attack (AoA) indicator, which had started to illuminate earlier, suddenly lit up in holiday fashion. Startled by the little string of red lights, the pilot promptly reduced the aircraft's pitch - an excellent choice. After an uneventful landing, I asked him to debrief what happened. The pilot explained the AoA indicator had warned him the wing was close to stall, so he reduced the aircraft's pitch as he continued the turn. He added that he was glad he had installed the AoA indicator since it had just helped him avoid a potentially deadly base-to-final turning stall close to the ground. I couldn't argue with the end results, but wasn't sure he understood how his energy management choices led to him approaching the critical AoA in the first place.

Having flown with a half dozen or so pilots who have installed AoA indicators, it's clear that they can be useful devices. There are annoyances, of course. Listening to them drone on "Too slow, Too slow" while in the landing flare is tiresome and distracting. And some pilots can become fixated on the AoA indicator during approach to landing, trying to get just the right number of LEDs illuminated in hopes of nailing the perfect landing. Yet in spite of their limitations, if AoA indicators help prevent stall/spin accidents then one could argue that they are valuable.

You don't need an AoA indicator installed in the aircraft you fly to cultivate a conceptual understanding of energy management (EM). Energy is what allows an aircraft to fly and keeps it flying. Understanding EM begins with recognizing the total energy currently available, the energy required for the current phase of flight, and (perhaps even more important) the energy that will be required for the upcoming phase of flight.

Energy for flight comes in several flavors: Airspeed (kinetic), Altitude (potential), and Engine power/thrust (chemical). Sometimes we get a boost from nature in the form of updrafts and sometimes nature increases our energy requirements in the form of downdrafts or heavy precipitation. The phase of flight (straight and level, climb, decent, turning, fast cruise, or slow flight) and aircraft configuration (gear, flaps, speed brakes) determines how much energy we need too keep flying. Before a pilot makes any adjustment to their aircraft's energy state, they need to account for the energy available and the energy required to determine if they have a surplus, a deficit, or if things are just about right. Once a pilot grasps their aircraft's current energy state, they are equipped to think ahead: What do you want the aircraft to do next and how much energy will be required to meet that goal?

You don't have to look very far to see that human beings tend to prefer simple answers to complex questions, but you can't reduce EM to a simple maxim or two. To appreciate EM you have to embrace the dynamic interaction between the various forms of energy available for flight, the aircraft's configuration, the load on the aircraft created by turning flight, the angle of attack required for the desired airspeed, and then synthesize a plan for managing the energy so it's just right. It's so much easier to just fly a profile of canned settings or make things up as you go along. Perhaps this explains the distracting pitch versus power debate than so many pilots and instructors seem to be mired in. It's pitch plus power, plus drag, plus configuration, plus load factor = desired outcome.

Back to the starting example. My response to the pilot's self-critique was that the crux of his excess energy problem started several miles and minutes earlier when commenced his descent. Without a reduction in engine power, the act of descending produced a significant energy surplus. That lead him to descend into the pattern with excess kinetic energy (airspeed) and in a clean configuration no less! The controller gave the pilot an extended downwind, perhaps in part to account for the aircraft's excess airspeed. When the pilot caught on and recognized he had an energy surplus, he chose to do two things at once: He reduced engine power and added flaps. The cumulative effect of these two changes was a gradual decrease in kinetic energy. The slower airspeed required a increase in angle of attack, which in turn increased induced drag. That drag, combined with the drag created by the flaps, gradually increased the energy required. He went from having too much energy to not having enough energy.

When a steep bank was required to turn onto final, the energy required increased further and only then did his AoA indicator start barking at him in earnest. The pilot's response to the AoA indicators warning was to reduce the aircraft's pitch, which reduced the load factor, reduced induced drag, and traded altitude (potential energy) for increased airspeed (kinetic energy). The takeaway here is that the AoA indicator couldn't warn the pilot about his earlier, dubious EM choices.

What the pilot could have done differently was, before descending, to take some time to evaluate how much altitude was going to need to be lost to get to pattern altitude, what the airspeed was before entering the descent, and how much time (distance) was available to consume the potential energy. This sort of strategic "thinking ahead" is more complex than deciding it's time to descend, then just pushing the stick or yoke forward and accepting (or ignoring) the consequences.

There's no doubt that AoA indicators have saved lives and will continue to do so. It's pretty clear that they can warn pilots that they are close to running out of energy. These devices also raise important questions for flight instructors. Just how good a job are we doing teaching pilots to conceptualize energy available, energy required, and to plan ahead for what's going to happen next? This is a perfect example of correlative knowledge - taking several variables into account and coming to an understanding of how to manage all those variables. Give a pilot an AoA indicator and they can avoid getting into an inadvertent stall. Give a pilot a conceptual understanding of EM and they'll do more than just stay out of trouble, they'll become a more skilled and safer pilot.

Assembling a Redbird Simulator

2015-10-11T11:54:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to assemble a Redbird simulator? It is a fascinating process and here are some photos that show the assembly of a CE510 Mustang simulator at the Bay City Flyers site in Hayward.

Delivery truck, in position

Our simulator room, carefully measured many months ago ...

Yokes come off so the console will fit through a narrow doorway

Lot's o' Boxes

Beginnings of the motion platform

Motion platform coming together

The cradle will rock!

Flooring secured

Adding motor, attaching drive belts

Not quite done with the heavy lifting

Bolting console in place

After measuring, adjusting, and tweaking, the motion platform is functioning

Rudder pedals added

Left side panel, O2 mask, and circuit breakers

Right side panel, circuit breakers, seat rails ...

Visual system monitor racks in place

Needs some walls

Fits like a glove

Coming together

Need a roof ...

And a rear wall ...

Looking like a sim

Calibrating and testing

Finished product. Fits perfectly!

Many thanks to Nathan, the hardworking and talented Redbird technician who directed two neophytes in helping to assemble this simulator. Now it's time for Mustang pilots to put it to use for their 61.58 recurrent training.

September 2015 Photos

2015-09-02T12:14:00.004-07:00

I know it's been a while since my last post. Very busy, but here are a few photos until I can get around to a couple of posts I've been meaning to make.

Hold short of taxiway charlie

Well, maybe not that short ...

Playing with EVS

Pinnacles National Park at sunset

Walk into town means crossing the runway. Really?

En route Bellingham

Boiling atmosphere

Over Puget Sound

Interesting weather for CA summer

DA42 Dash 6 near SF Bay

Early morning IFR departure

Stratus and forest fire smoke

Chock it up to experience?

En route KSNA

Dodging TSRA

Passing jet traffic on left, really small

Waiting at St. Louis-Lambert ...

Embedded TSRA

More instability

When FL400 doesn't get you on top ...

Westbound in the flight levels: Headwinds and sunburn

More TSRA ...

More boiling ...

There's a way through or around

Night flight home

Summer Photos, 2015

2015-06-23T08:46:00.002-07:00

I know, I know ... no blog updates lately. Mostly this has been due to time spent on the forthcoming Concise Guide to the Citation Mustang, coming to the iBooks Store by the end of summer. For now, here are some photos that I hope you'll enjoy.

Airport in sight ...

Approaching FERNE

Never realized the Burbank Tower was sooo tiny

Delta sunset

Dazzling sunlight

Distant TSRA

Classic Bay Area Summer

Golden Gate, under there somewhere ...

DA42 wing, 'sall Hollywood ...

Right seat view

Midnight over LA

Bay Area microclimates in action ...

Near Novato

Sunset near Panoche

Look upon the Wx I have wrought and despair!

SoCal flyin'

Young and old

What, you never heard of the Dog Days of Summer?

Watch This

2015-06-01T14:55:00.002-07:00

Thanks to the generosity of an instrument student, I recently got the chance to test drive an Apple Watch for a couple of days. There's been a lot of buzz generated around these devices, created primarily by product scarcity and from Apple fanboys to ardent MacOS/iOS detractors, there has been no shortage of predictions and opinions. With devices beginning to dribble out to those who purchased early on, more opinions are undoubtedly coming. So just how does the Apple Watch fit into the cockpit? Is it a useful device or yet another distraction? What I found out in my short two days of use is that the Apple Watch is a mixed bag.

Out-of-Box

Initially powering on and setting up the device is the standard, straightforward, pretty simple experience Apple customers have come to expect. Prior to my test drive, I had experimented with the Apple Watch at my local Apple Store, but the watches were all attached to a stand. Only when you are able to hold and put on the Apple Watch do you fully realize what an incredible job the designers have done. The Apple Watch is pleasing to look at, the display is quite good, and the finish and tactile experience is about as close to perfect as one could imagine. I confess I had the urge to put the Watch in my mouth to see if it tasted as good as it looked (no, I didn't actually do this). Yes, the design is that pleasing.

Battery

It seems that with smartphones, tablets, activity trackers and the myriad of other devices we all seem to be using, we are forever in search of power sources to recharge these devices. While USB charging seems standard, we still end up festooned with a variety of charging cables and sometimes with special charging needs: Have a device that requires 2.1 amps or will just 1 amp do? Lighting connector or mini- or micro-USB? We shouldn't have to care, but we live in an imperfect world.

Let's get this out of the way: To use the Apple Watch you'll need to own a later model iPhone. The Watch is tethered to your iPhone, usually via bluetooth to save battery power. An Apple Watch that has been configured can connect to a WiFi network on it's own, provided the iPhone to which it was tethered was configured to use that network: The Watch cannot configure networks one its own. If you use the Watch this way (without an iPhone nearby), expect a further reduction in battery life. More information here ...

Once the Apple Watch is up and running, you'll need to use the Apple Watch app on your iphone to delve into adjusting various settings to your liking. More on that later.

Let' get another thing out of the way: The battery life is less than optimal. I considered myself lucky if I got 15 hours per charge. What's more, since the Watch is tethered to and essentially an extension of your iPhone, expect your phone's battery life to be reduced, too. Recharging the Watch requires you to take it off and that leads to the next issue: The watch band.

The black, rubber-like watch band on the model I tested was sleek and comfortable, but I found it clumsy to get the watch on and off my wrist. With all the recharging, the watch band dance is one with which you become familiar and, hopefully, accomplished in performing.

Some have complained about the inductive charging device, saying that it's not obvious which side is supposed to be placed against the back of the Watch for charging to occur. Personally, I didn't find this to be a big issue. If you are annoyed, you can get one of many third-party charging stands for approximately 1/5 to 1/3 the cost of the basic model Apple Watch.

Watch This

As a watch, the Apple Watch is limited primarily by dismal battery life. Then there's the annoyance of having to tilt the watch to get the display to wake up. To make up for these shortcomings, consider that you can customize the watch face and define which fields you want displayed. As a pilot, I wanted to have UTC displayed and that is an option, but to have UTC displayed in 24 hour format I had to go to the Apple Watch app on the iPhone, select General->Language & Region settings, and set the Region Format to "United Kingdom." Odd, but in the end it was successful (thanks Phil, for the suggestion!).

As a busy instructor, I found it helpful to have a convenient display of my day's next appointment right on my wrist.

Calendar

The calendar is a lightweight, but you can display appointments that are coming up right on the watch face. You can also use you voice to dictate a new appointment. The advantage of the Watch is that you don't have to pull out another device or open your computer, plus you have the added advantage of impressing the people around you when you start talking into your sleeve like a Secret Service agent.

Text Messages

Receiving short text messages on the Watch was surprisingly useful (there goes the American English language!) and I found it easy to dictate a response using my voice. Again, this all depends on having your iPhone nearby.

Activity Monitoring

I normally use a Jawbone UP to monitor my daily activity level. I also use Strava on the iPhone with a bluetooth heart rate monitor when I ride my bike. When I tried to use all this stuff at once, Strava on the Apple Watch was DOA. What's more, the heart rate monitor wouldn't connect to my iPhone if the Apple Watch was on my wrist or anywhere nearby. Not sure who's to blame here, given Apple's dismal track record with regard to their iOS bluetooth stack.

ForeFlight

If you want to get basic weather information, ForeFlight on the Watch may be of some use to you. It's handy to get a weather overview of nearby airports of or those in your list of favorites. So if you're sitting in a meeting, obsessing over whether conditions will be VFR, MVFR, or IFR for your flight home, you can annoy those around you by constantly looking at your Watch. Would it be useful to use the Watch in the cockpit during flight? Doubtful ...

Conclusions

If cost is no concern, you most certainly will find the Apple Watch interesting, diverting, or, at the very least, a conversation starter. Judging on how the iPhone and iPad devices improved after the first two generations, it seems safe to predict that the same will occur with the Watch. In particular, the battery life issue has to be addressed and it would be nice if the Watch had the option of pairing with an iPad. It's likely that the current crop of Watch apps will grow in number and features. For now, the Apple Watch is an extremely pleasing slice of tech candy with some useful functions. You'll have to do your own mental calculus to see if owning this Watch will be useful to you, but be forewarned that once you actually handle the Apple Watch, touch it, and wear it, you may find it hard to not be seduced. I only handled one for 2 days and already I'm considering purchasing one.

Kludge + Indirection = Confusion

2015-04-24T09:07:00.001-07:00

Perhaps it was living through The Great Depression that inspired my grandfather to concoct one of his favorite sayings: Patch by patch is neighborly, but patch upon patch is beggarly. And "patch upon patch" certainly comes to mind when considering how the FAA disseminates charts and makes changes to important data. Two examples come to mind: enhanced circling minima and the new cold temperature-restricted airports.

Wagons in a Circle

Consider approach categories and standard circling approach maneuvering radii. First, pilots have to memorize the airspeeds associated with Categories A, B, C, D and E. This isn't a big deal since most of GA flyers use aircraft that fall in category B - approach speeds within 91 and 120 knots indicated airspeed. Where do you find the definitions for approach categories? Why in the front matter of the terminal procedures, of course! There are two problems with this arrangement:

Many pilots now use electronic flight bags, they aren't carrying paper version of the terminal procedures, and locating the front matter to reference this tabular data is not trivial.
Even if you are still using paper charts, imagine the workload required to flip through your binder to locate that data, while flying single-pilot.

New circling minima on some instrument approaches were announced a few years ago and the motivation seemed both sound and simple: A given indicated airspeed results in a higher true airspeed as altitude increases, that leads to larger radius of turn, and so the existing circling minima were not adequate for ensuring required obstacle clearance while circling at some high-altitude airports. The FAA's solution was a classic engineer's solution: A complicated set of gradually increasing radii based on airport elevation that was simply too involved to commit to memory. One proposed implementation, described in the minutes from the Aeronautical Charting Forum minutes, would have been put the actual circling radii right there on the approach chart! Imagine that: An excellent idea that, unfortunately, was abandoned.

There is actually plenty of room to put both the airspeeds and radii right there on the plate. Why not?

The final implementation was a classic FAA kludge: Look at the approach chart, notice the C , refer the terminal procedures front matter to locate the chart to determine how close you need to be to the runway environment while circling-to-land based on an approach category that you've memorized. Luckily, there's a simple solution: Look at approach chart, find the circling minima for your aircraft category, note the minimum visibility on the chart, and stay within that distance from the runway environment while circling. Geez! Circling approaches are hazardous enough. Come on Aeronav, toss us a bone here!

From Hot to Cold ...

While teaching an instrument student recently, I needed to locate a representative chart to illustrate the C symbol and expanded circling minima. That's when I noticed something new: A white snowflake symbol on a black background and a temperature. This symbol is not defined in any of the FAA's Aeronautical Chart User's Guides (at least I couldn't find it).

Persevere and you find this NOTAM: Cold Temperature Restricted Airports which explains that if the altimeter in your aircraft does not correct for cold temperature and you're flying into one of the 272 cold temperature restricted airports, you'll need to apply a cold temperature correction on one or more segments of the approach procedure in order to have adequate obstruction clearance. Here the FAA has outdone themselves because you need 3 pieces of disparate information:

The instrument approach chart
ICAO Cold Temperature Error Table (found in the AIM, section 7-2-3)
A copy of the aforementioned NOTAM

Then, near as I can tell, the corrections are actually quite simple ...

Get the surface weather for Truckee
Look up Truckee in the NOTAM to determine which segment(s) of the approach need to be corrected based on the currently reported temperature
Subtract the altitude(s) from the field elevation to determine height above airport (HAA)
Locate the HAA in the top row of the ICAO Cold Temperature Error Table
Find the reported temperature in the left column
Locate the correction (you'll probably have to do a 4-way interpolation if the altitude and temperature fall between the values in the chart)
Add the correction to the affected altitudes on the chart
Round up to the nearest 100 feet
Fly those indicated altitudes instead of the altitudes charted

There are some definite advantages to flying glass panel aircraft, because Garmin tells me that if you fly a G1000 aircraft, then the air data computer will automatically compensate for cold temperatures.

The FAA certainly faces ongoing challenges because when they have to make a change to charted information, they have a large base of "customers" and a lot of existing charts. Still, there's got to be a better way to get information critical to flight into the hands of pilots.

And don't get me started on ADS-B!

Flying in the Raw

2015-02-05T05:00:00.000-08:00

A pilot pointed out recently how a G1000-equipped aircraft with a current navigation database did not have an approach into the airport he happened to be visiting: Pearson Field in Vancouver, Washington (KVUO). There's only one approach into Pearson, so why would the G1000 not know about it? Had an error been made when the database was created? It's been a while since I've written about a particular G1000 behavioral oddities, so now consider the oddity of an approach procedure missing from the G1000 database. If you fly into Pearson regularly you may already be familiar with the reason, but even if you are familiar with this situation it nevertheless points out an important skill that instrument pilots need to acquire and practice: Flying raw data.

DO NOT USE FOR NAVIGATION!

A voicemail left with the Jeppesen navdata folks eventually led to a return phone call and explanation: Yes, the KVUO LDA-A approach is not contained in the G1000 database (or presumably in any other GPS receiver's database) because this is the only case in the US where a localizer installed at one airport (KPDX) for an ILS is used to implement an LDA approach at another, nearby airport (KVUO).

DO NOT USE FOR NAVIGATION!

The approaches even have two approach fixes in common: BUXOM and TRAYL. Unfortunately, the programming language used to code approaches for the GPS database and executed by GPS receivers, ARINC 424, does not allow a localizer established for an ILS at one airport to also be used for an approach at another airport. So Jeppesen chose not to include the KVUO LDA-A in the navigation database, even though the LDA approach is the only instrument approach into Pearson. This means users of the G1000, and presumably other GPS receivers, may want to know how to set-up and fly an approach the old-school way.

Raw Data

Tune NAV1 to the localizer manually, verify the Morse code ID is correct, and ensure the front course is set on the HSI (or CDI #1 for non-G1000 installations). Tune NAV2 to the Battle Ground VOR, verify the Morse code is correct, and set bearing pointer #2 (or CDI #2) to use NAV2. When you've joined the localizer, use the tail of the bearing pointer (or adjust CDI #2) so you'll know when you've passed the BTG radials that define the step-down fixes on the approach. If this sounds awkward, you are probably a Child of the Magenta Line who needs more exposure to the way instrument flying was done for decades.

The Instrument Rating Practical Test Standards requires applicants to demonstrate the ability to fly an approach without reference to the primary attitude and heading instrument. Perhaps applicants should also be required to demonstrate flying an approach without using the GPS. Selecting an approach with the G1000 does much of the work for you, sets the primary navigation frequency, sets the navigation course, and may prevent you from acquiring understanding and correlative levels of knowledge with regard to radio navigation.

A Little Less Old School

Now if you fly into Pearson on a regular basis, there's another way to prepare for this approach, though the set-up work is best done on the ground or during low workload while in flight. You can manually create a flight plan that defines the sequence of fixes that make up the approach, which is similar to what you'd see if the LDA approach was defined in the GPS's aviation database and you selected the approach. I'm going to illustrate using screen shots from Garmin's GTN Trainer app for the iPad, but the process is essentially the same in a G1000 or most any other GPS receiver.

You're still going to fly the localizer and you'll need to tune it manually, verify the Morse code, and verify the front course of 103˚ is set on the HSI (or CDI, if so equipped). In your GPS flight plan, add the fixes BUXOM and TRAYL. ZEZJI and QEHBY are not included in the GPS database (Hey Jeppesen, toss us a bone here!), but you can enter them as user-defined waypoints. Simply insert a fix named ZEZJI, your GPS will say that no such fix exists, and give you the option of creating a user-defined waypoint. Accept that option and define ZEZJI on the 283˚ radial and 4.7 miles out from IVDG localizer. Then repeat the process for QEHBY on the 283˚ radial and 2.9 miles out.

Create user waypoint? Yes, please!

Rho-theta using IVDG localizer

Enter theta (radial is opposite of front course), then rho (distance) on the next screen (not shown)

If you want, you can define these waypoints by entering the latitude and longitude for ZEZJI and QEHBY, but more numbers and user input steps are more complicated and error prone. Lastly, insert the BTG VOR into the flight plan since that's where you'll be headed if you end up flying the missed approach segment and you should see something like this.

In both options remember that you'll be flying the localizer, not the magenta line. In option #2, you have the luxury the GPS flight plan sequencing appropriately so you'll know where you are on the profile view of the chart. You can even combine both options and use the cross-radials and the GPS to verify your position.

If you're old enough to remember VOR/DME RNAV approaches, which seem to have all been replaced with RNAV (GPS) approaches, you'll recall it was standard procedure to enter each approach fix in a VOR/DME RNAV approach as a VOR radial and distance into a unit like the Bendix-King KNS-80. I'm getting all misty just thinking about it ...

The venerable KNS-80 VOR/DME RNAV receiver

Legal?

Now you may be asking yourself "Is it legal to define your own flight plan for an approach?" I'm not a lawyer, but let's use the tried and true method of testing an argument by prefacing it with "Your honor" and see how it sounds.

Your honor, since IFR-certified GPS is a legal substitute for DME, and since I defined the ZEZJI and GEHBY correctly using rho-theta from the IVDG localizer, and since I was flying the localizer, I believe my procedure to be both legal and safe.

This argument sounds pretty good to me, but the first option (flying the localizer and displaying the cross-radials) seems easier from the get-go and involves less head-down time: There are times when flying raw data is less distracting than trying to bend the G1000 to your will, provided you're one of those increasingly rare pilots who actually knows how to fly raw data.

January 2015 Photos

2015-01-31T05:00:00.000-08:00

Sonoma County

Cross DAWNA 13,000

Montecito Sunset

Reversionary mode practice

North SF and San Pablo Bays

Quiet New Year's Day at SMO

West LA view from KSMO

ABBAS (another beautiful Bay Area sunset)

The Type-Rating Experience

2015-01-27T17:18:00.001-08:00

Direct Seal Beach, when able ...

"70 knots ... V1." My right hand moves from the throttles to the control yoke. "92 knots, rotate." Hauling back on the yoke, pitching up 12 degrees, I notice the primary flight display has suddenly gone dark. To add to the confusion, the plane is now pointed pretty much straight into the blazing, late afternoon sun. The standby instruments are hidden in shadows and trying to fly with the co-pilot's PFD seems a dubious choice, at best. I'm certain the designated examiner is watching every move, but I'm oddly calm because crap like this has been occurring with alarming regularity over the past week. "Screw the display failure checklist, for now ..." I think to myself as I press the red reversionary mode button, transforming the MFD into a PFD. "Positive rate, gear up ..." This is a single-pilot operation, so at 700 feet AGL I transfer autopilot control to the co-pilot's PFD, the autopilot is engaged, passing V2+10 knots the flaps are retracted, set climb power, and within seconds the aircraft is accelerating through 150 knots and climbing like a stripped monkey. I change heading to comply with the departure, acknowledge the tower's handoff, then check in with departure, and only then does the display failure checklist come out. Aviate, navigate, communicate ...

Like those who have gone before (and those who will undoubtedly follow), I had wondered just what it would be like to train for a type rating in a turbojet aircraft. With the experience fresh in my mind, here are observations on preparing for, and successfully managing, the type rating experience, from the first day of training through to the practical test.

Different, Not the Same

Four days earlier the training process began in a simulator that is remarkably similar to the actual aircraft, but like all simulators it is, nevertheless, just a simulation. For the next two days it will be what I'll be using for training, mostly. The first sim session involves checklist familiarization, engine start procedures, normal takeoff, and VFR maneuvers. There's a slight delay in the simulator's visual system, which I chalk up to this particular simulator's charm. My first experience in a level D simulator many years ago taught me that there's no future in fighting the machine. Complaining can be fun, but it's more productive to learn the simulator's quirks, adapt, and move on.

Being on the opposite side of the instruction equation a good experience for a seasoned instructor. It's something we should do on a regular basis, I think. Spending a lot of time evaluating, explaining, and observing other pilots makes it all too easy to forget how it feels to be a student. Ambiguous language, overuse of indefinite pronouns (this, that, it ...), poorly worded questions, and not understanding the student's perspective are daily challenges that all instructors face. My instructors did a fine job, but I had to remind them that, despite the compressed nature of my training, taking time to repeat a task and incorporate feedback in the moment can be more productive than pressing on. Repetition is especially important for an old dog like me. Or perhaps I'm still wearing my instructor's hat by observing and critiquing other instructors!

Half of the second day is spent in the sim, but then I have a commercial flight to catch to Denver to take advantage of a repositioning flight. I'm happy to get more time in the actual aircraft. It takes a while to get from KDEN to KAPA, it's cold in Denver, and I'm not really wearing the right clothes. Luckily I'm not wearing my trademark shorts, but I have no jacket, just a lightweight sweater. The delay on the ground in minimal and the instructor with whom I'm flying offers to do the outside items on the Quick Turn checklist so I can stay inside where it's warm. Note to self: When flying a jet in the winter months, best to bring several layers of clothing, just in case.

We depart into a gray sky, threatening snow. Engine anti-ice is on and there's a bit of ice accumulation on the boots, but in just a few minutes we're on top. Flying through and on-top of weather instead of plowing through it: Now that's something I could get used to!

While cruising en route, there's plenty of time to review system operation and the various quirks of said systems. I'm accompanied by a knowledgeable instructor and I'm determined to make good use of his expertise.

Prepare

The third day is spent in the aircraft and that session started with the preflight inspection. There are a number of things to check and I discover that both engines need just a smidgen of oil before we depart to reposition this aircraft to the Bay Area. We navigate to KSBP, of all places! I do the RNAV approach to a landing with simulated flap failure, which eats up a lot of runway. We roll out to the last turn off. My wife meets us at the FBO and we all go have lunch.

On departure, there's a V1 cut just as the main wheels leave the ground. We slowly claw our way at V2 up to 1500 feet AGL, then accelerate to Venr and the flaps come up at V2+10. A Skywest Brasilia is climbing out behind us and normally we'd be long gone, but on one engine the Mustang is slowly limping its way to altitude. Luckily, Skywest turns southwest toward the Morro Bay VOR before climbing through out altitude.

Next come maneuvers. I still seem to know how to do steep turns. Stalls are done three ways; a turning departure stall, autopilot-induced stall, and approach-to-landing stall. Recovery begins at the imminent stall condition because, well ... this isn't a Citabria. Fully stalling larger aircraft is something advanced pilots are expected to avoid.

Next up: Unusual attitude recoveries, an emergency descent, and a single-engine ILS with a circle to land at KSNS. The circle-to-land was challenging because I felt compelled to keep the airspeed above Vapp, but had to stay below 120 knots in order to remain in category B. My landings have been fine so far, but I still have a tendency to pitch down too much on final. I chalk that up to a negative transfer of learning from propeller aircraft to a turbojet aircraft. I also realize my seat height is too low. Why Cessna didn't put a seat height gauge in the Mustang is a bit of a mystery.

Expedite descent? Not a problem ...

We depart to the Bay Area and after landing I realize I left my overnight bag (which I needed) at the FBO at KSBP. Oh well. I check into the hotel, then it's off to buy some long pants and a jacket. Inadequate clothing seemed to be a recurring theme. At the conclusion of day three, I'm a bit apprehensive that I won't be ready for a check ride on the fifth day. I'm more proficient and confident, but still doing some boneheaded things from time to time. I decide to sleep on it. Next morning, it is an early commercial flight back to SoCal and more time in a different aircraft.

Most of day 4 is spent doing a mock check ride: All the VFR maneuvers, then a bunch of approaches, some to a full-stop landing, some to a missed approach (often on one engine). At the end of day 4, we jump into the simulator to finish up some emergency procedures including the Mustang's Emergency Descent Mode (EDM) - an emergency descent that is automatically initiated when the aircraft is above 30,000 feet and the cabin altitude exceeds 14,500 feet. The autopilot turns the aircraft 90 degrees and initiates a descent at Vmo down to 15,000 feet. The pilot just needs to don the oxygen mask, reduce power, extend the gear and speed brakes, and hang on!

Know Thyself

Before I describe my practical test experience, let me point out the ancient Greek maxim is a good place to start on the road to advanced and/or intensive flight training. Ask yourself why you want a type rating. You can get a type rating just for kicks, but maintaining your privileges (14 CFR 61.58) requires regular proficiency checks. The cost and time involved with recurrent training tends to winnow out the pilots who are just messing around.

Acquiring knowledge, skills, and habit patterns on a compressed schedule requires you to know and respect your personal learning style. Don't be bashful about communicating your specific learning needs to your instructors. If an instructor's approach isn't working for you, let them know: Remember they work for you.

Knowing how to manage personal demons (we all have them) is crucial if you want to keep your training on track. Significant external pressures, whether they be work or family pressure, need to be managed or eliminated (at least temporarily). If you're going out of town to do training, the separation can actually be an aid. One of my own shortcomings is expecting perfection from myself, which is unrealistic at best. I've learned to accept short-term disappointment in my performance and wait. With time, things improve and I tend to lighten up on myself.

The FAA's Airline Transport Pilot and Aircraft Type Rating
Practical Test Standards for
Airplanes are used to evaluate type rating applicants, so acquiring and reading that PTS is obviously a good idea. If you want to get your ATP while you're at it, by all means do so. You'll need to have met the requirements of 14 CFR 61.515 and hopefully you passed the ATP knowledge test prior to last summer, when the requirements became pretty onerous for the average, aspiring pilot.

I perform best when I receive the training materials in advance and set time aside to study on a regular basis. Dry flying with a cockpit poster helped me memorize the flows for normal, abnormal and emergency situations so I didn't have to spend as much time learning the flows while sitting in an expensive simulator or in the aircraft. Short study sessions several times a day is the most effective way for me to cement procedures: Midnight cramming just doesn't work for me.

Memorizing facts and procedures (rote learning) may be the lowest level of learning, but you'll need to do a lot if it for a type rating. Flash cards are a proven way to memorize stuff and a high-tech version is Flashcard Machine. The web site works with a smartphone app for iOS or Android, allowing you to create and display flashcards on your phone or table which lets you turn wasted time standing in line at the grocery or cafe into productive study time. I find brief, regular, flashcard sessions lead to the best retention. The Flashcard Machine apps keep track of areas items you have missed answers so you can focus on what you need to learn instead of what you've already learned. Here's a link to flashcards I created for CE510 Emergency Memory Items.

When you get to the simulator, expect things to go sideways: Emergencies, high workload, strange panel layouts, and unfamiliar approach procedures can and will get you flummoxed. You'll make mistakes, so take a breath, slow down and prioritize: Aviate, navigate, communicate. As a DPE I know likes to say "Nothing good happens fast."

Takeoff planning and handling of emergencies are different from what you're used to in a piston twin. Engine failures and emergencies after V1 (takeoff decision speed) are handled in the air because the aircraft should have the necessary performance if you did your homework: The performance planning you do in advance should ensure that you can climb to a safe altitude. It takes a while to embrace the mindset of taking an emergency (such as an engine fire) into the air, but you've got to believe.

Checklists will become your constant companion: Normal, abnormal and emergency. And there will be memory items. More complex systems lead to more complex checklists and sometimes just locating the correct checklist is a challenge. If I had it to do over again, I would have gotten my hands on the physical checklists before beginning my training.

In the simulator, you'll experience cascading failures with interdependencies that create possible (though unlikely) nightmare situations. A dual generator failure leaves you on emergency power, which means you only have engine anti-ice, no windshield de-ice, and no de-ice boots. Oh, and you'll have to perform a manual gear extension, make a no-flaps landing, remember to dump the cabin pressure before landing, you won't have anti-skid braking and will have to use the emergency brake. Combine that with a high field elevation or a short runway ... well my palms are sweating just thinking about it!

Staying relaxed during training is determined in large part by how you manage your time outside of training. I find eating good meals, making time to exercise and getting plenty of sleep goes a long way to keeping me performing at my best. There's no shame in taking a nap after a particularly stressful session and, in fact, learning theory posits that this sort of rest can actually help you enhance learning by preventing retroactive interference.

The fast tempo at which events occurred in a jet is challenging, especially in the beginning. The first few minutes right after takeoff is a good example: Once the wheels leave the runway and the gear is up, the rate of acceleration is astounding. Just as I was getting used to the speed of events, the failures started occurring, such as the dreaded V1 cut.

The V1 cut is, quite simply, an engine failure just after you're reached the computed speed at which you are committed to takeoff. In a real aircraft, it usually is simulated just after the main wheels have left the pavement. You learn to continue the takeoff, accelerate to V2, get the aircraft climbing, get the gear up, and climb, climb, climb, slowly climb to 1500' AGL (a TERPs-derived altitude). The engines' close proximity to the aircraft's longitudinal axis gives you less adverse thrust and that makes the aircraft a bit easier to handle. You use the flight director from the start of take off and you can usually use the autopilot with an engine failure once you're at a safe altitude. After a while, a V1 cut is not unlike a crosswind landing: Once you've seen one, you pretty much seen them all.

What's it like to land a jet? I found the Jacobson Flare worked quite well with the Mustang. I calculated the correct cutoff distance and landings were never an issue. I did struggle a bit with the sight picture during approach to landing. On final approach to landing, the Mustang has a slightly pitch-up attitude that I'm still adjusting to.

Another negative transfer from propeller aircraft to turbojet aircraft is the delay between the time you adjust power and when that adjustment takes effect. If you're practiced at flying a stabilized approach in propeller aircraft, that will pay big dividends when flying a larger aircraft. Chop and drop approaches to landing can be a blast in a small aircraft, but they can lead to serious, maybe even deadly consequences in a jet.

Perform

Check ride day arrived and I reminded myself that a type rating check ride is pretty much just like any other check ride. Arrive prepared, know your systems, and do your best: No one can ask any more of you. If you mess something up during a type rating check ride, you don't get another chance. But, hey, no pressure! If you impress the examiner during the oral, the flight portion is more likely to go well, too.

The examiner is a thorough, but very practiced at getting candidates to relax. He asks me the usual questions and mostly he's unable to stump me. So he pulls out the stops and asks me more arcane stuff. It turns out my instructor has prepared me very well because I'm answering all the questions.

Something I learned during my check ride is that if an applicant for a type rating already holds a ATP certificate (which I do), the examiner has the discretion to waive some of the tasks in the PTS. The relevant section, found in the PTS introduction, is entitled Removal of the “Limited to Center Thrust” Limitation or Initial ATP/type rating Airplane Multiengine Class Certificate.

Hold short, landing traffic ...

Oh, that landing traffic ...

After the aforementioned display failure during takeoff, the flight portion of the check ride went very well. I don't make any of the mistakes I had been making and the various simulated emergencies come and go in a relaxed sort of blur. I loose track of the number of approaches and suddenly I'm doing a circle to land for a full stop. After engine shutdown, the examiner reaches out to shake my hand, offers his congratulations, and says something about how he got tired of writing "excellent." Ah, shucks ... He particularly liked my handling of the display failure after takeoff, but lest you think I'm walking around with a big head remember that as a newly-minted jet pilot with single-pilot authorization I'm like any other dedicated pilot: I'm always learning.

Success!

December 2014 Photos

2014-12-28T09:30:00.002-08:00

As 2014 draws to a close, a brief look back at a busy month spent in Northern California, Southern California, and in between. I wish all a happy and prosperous 2015!

Over the Petaluma River

Approaching LA

4 Mile Final, Santa Rosa

Over Long Beach, Vectors Santa Monica

Rain over Treasure Island, SF Bay

East of Santa Barbara

Filtered Sunlight, San Pablo Bay

Beneath a sheltering sky over Marin County

Over Hayward, vectors Sausalito

ABLAS - Another Beautiful LA Sunset

Simple Things

2014-12-19T10:23:00.001-08:00

Whether it's wrist watches, iPads, flash lights, kneeboards, or ADS-B receivers, pilots love gadgets. We love the features our smart phones, tables, and GPS units have to offer, but complexity comes at a cost and at the end of the day, simple things often serve us best. Here's my list of simple, yet effective tools I like to keep in my flight bag.

Pen (or Pencil) and Paper

Writing on your iPad or tablet can be very handy, but cockpit resource management solutions tend to be intensely individual: What works for one pilot can seem unworkable to another pilot. The truth is that sometimes you just need to write something down on paper, dammit! An ending tach or Hobbs time, a phone number, or just a reminder. The low-tech answer is often a pen and pad of paper, both of which are easily acquired from most any FBO or hotel. I've yet to try it, but the ArmBoard™ looks like a interesting solution for cramped cockpits or aircraft with a control stick that makes it difficult or impossible to a standard kneeboard. Heck, with a little ingenuity and the right size of PostIt™ notes, one could easily concoct their own personal solution.

The Best Hood

At many points in your flying career you're going to need a view limiting device for simulated instrument flying. Pilots often dread flying with a view limiting device, but the good news is there are a bunch of options. The bad news is that many hoods and foggles are not only uncomfortable enough to belong in a medieval torture museum, they can interfere with your hat, eye glasses or headset.

In my opinion, the best view limiting device is prosaically named "The Best IFR Hood." It's cheap ($5), foldable, and it fits over/under/on top of ball caps, headsets and glasses. Looks can be deceiving because this puppy is extremely lightweigh, but effective. I buy them by the dozen and regularly distribute them to pilots I train. The first reaction is often one of skepticism, but after 10 minutes every pilot who has tried it is sold. Buy two, write your name on one, and stick it in your flight bag, and you'll have it when you need it. It truly is The Best IFR Hood.

Flashlight

The old saying is a flashlight is a container used by pilots to store dead batteries, but with highly-efficient LED flashlights and head lamps this is no longer true . You can always use your smartphone as a flashlight, but you may get reduced talk time and I personally prefer a dedicated flashlight. You can find inexpensive headlamps at your local hardware store. My favorite is an older Petzl e+Lite headlamp that offers white or red LED illumination. The newest e+Lite model weighs in at less than one ounce, but it costs quite a bit more than my old model. All LED flashlights are much more energy efficient and likely to have excellent battery life and endurance.

Adhesive Bandages

Nothing is worse than scraping your knuckles or getting a cut on your finger during preflight and not having something to bandage the wound. You could go whole-hog and carry a full-blown first aid kit, but just a few alcohol wides and a dozen bandages in your flight bag could be all you need.

Food and Water

The Law of Threes says we can survive three minutes without oxygen, three hours without shelter, three days without water, and three weeks without food. No one can blame you for not wanting to carry a tent in your flight bag, but food and water are fairly easy to check off that list.

Whether you invest in a BPA-free stainless steel model or simply grab a disposable water bottle at the FBO, having water on hand can be a very good thing. Long flights at higher altitudes with low relative humidity can lead to dehydration. Pilots often don't realize they're dehydrated so it's best to sip water regularly. An added advantage is than an empty bottle can come in handy should you need to ... um ... heed the call of nature while in flight.

Food comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. You can pack one of a dizzying array of energy bars. For my money an apple, a bag of peanuts, and some turkey jerky are quite satisfying during a long day of flying.

Microfiber Cloth

An absorbent cloth can be a very handy thing to have in flight and I like to carry a microfiber cloth. They can be bought cheaply by the dozen and are good for cleaning eye glass, wiping condensation off the inside of a windshield, removing smudges from glass panel displays, and a host of other uses. Another advantage is that microfiber cloth is washable and dries quickly.

Sinus/Headache Remedy

Flying at altitude and breathing supplemental oxygen can cause sinusitis, headaches, even painful sinus block during descent. There are several approved OTC (over-the-counter) medications pilots can use, but most of the ones on the drugstore shelf are not very effective. The best remedy for my money is Advil Cold & Sinus, a combination of ibuprofen and pseudoephedrine. In the US, medications that contain pseudoephedrine are pseudo-regulated: They're kept behind the pharmacy counter, require you to show your driver's license, and the sale is logged, but that inconvenience is small when compared to the relief this active ingredient offers. Keep a few tablets in your flight bag and it will be there if and when you or your passengers need it.

Sick-Sack

You never expect a passenger to be affected by motion sickness, but when it happens it can come on unexpectedly. Nothing is worse for a passenger than feeling like they need to barf and not having a suitable receptacle in which to hurl. You can purchase ultra-effective sick-sacks containing absorbing gel, but a lightweight zip-lock bag or a simple plastic grocery bag works, too. Plastic bags are good for host of other uses, too. Why not keep a few in your flight bag, just in case?

UV Protection

A recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association Dermatology describes a study showing that a one-hour flight at 30,000 feet exposes pilots to the UV radiation equivalent to a 20-minute tanning bed session. Yikes! You don't have to fly in the flight levels to have significant UV exposure and to fight back, you can wear a cap or hat and apply sunscreen. Hats can be problematic for pilots who use conventional headsets, but for those of us using in-ear headsets like Clarity Aloft it's less of a problem. Regardless of your headset preference, applying sunscreen is a good way to reduce your risk of skin cancer. My favorite sunscreen is Ultra Sheer® Dry-Touch Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 100+ by Neutrogena. Some might say SPF 100 is overkill, but then those folks probably ride a bike without a helmet while chewing tobacco, too.

What Else

I've covered a few things I find indispensable, but if there's something in your flight bag that you find useful, yet simple and inexpensive, feel free to post a comment.

Did I leave something

November 2014 Photos

2014-11-30T19:34:00.002-08:00

Night approach, Hayward

Beneath a Tupperware sky

Between layers, near Healdsburg

CFI's lunch, Crixa Style!

Cruising on a whole different level

Night approach over the East Bay

During egine out practice, smiling is optional

Adjusting to a new work environment

Holding as published at REBAS

Instrument practice with The Best Hood™

Approaching KANAN, LDA 19R

Monterey Sunset

Sacramento Delta

On TOP of the weather, for a change ...

More layers ...

Approach preparation

STAR preparation

Frying without a Skillet

2014-11-03T17:42:00.002-08:00

There has always been (and probably always will be) a group of less proficient pilots who key the mic and take up valuable air time as they natter on, collecting their thoughts as they go, talking to ATC in an oddly conversational style. And there's another group, desperate to belong, who insist using non-standard/hip phraseology, putting their assigned transponder code "in the box," the altimeter setting "on the meter," and responding "with a flash" to ATC requests to "ident." Of course there are pilots who respond to traffic calls saying they have the other aircraft "on TCAS" or "on the fish-finder," apparently not understanding or caring that the controller needs to know whether or not they actually see the other aircraft with their eyes. One can complain all day, but it's unlikely this behavior will change anytime soon. The caravan passes and the dogs bark ...

A recent addition to the list of radio communication annoyances is an increasingly prevalent vocal mannerism, usually in younger pilots and controllers, where the speaker's voice trails into a low, gravely register. People who study voice and speech disorders have a name for this type of phonation: Vocal fry.

Vocal fry is a form of phonation, characterized by a distinct laryngeal vibratory pattern, distinct acoustic features, and a distinct vocal quality. Vocal fry has been referred to as pulse register, creaky voice, stiff voice, or glottal fry. ... in psycholinguistic research, the terms “glottalization” or “irregular phonation” are the preferred terms to describe this mode of phonation.

It used to be that vocal fry was considered a clinical voice disorder, most often related to contact granuloma on the vocal cords. Then in 2011, researchers at the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Long Island University published the results of their research: Habitual Use of Vocal Fry in Young Adult Female Speakers. 34 female college students, aged 18 - 25 years of age who were native speakers of Standard American English (SAE) were studied. The results showed that roughly two-thirds of the women habitually used vocal fry, that it was most likely to occur at the end of sentences, and that it appears the use of the vocal fry register may now be common in some adult SAE speakers. Before you cry foul and raise accusations of sexism, another study showed a similar, but a less common use of vocal fry in young males.

So what? Younger people think it's awesome to talk like Millhouse. What's the big deal? Well, aside from the use of vocal fry hurting your chances of getting a job during an interview, this type of vocalization does not carry very well over a two-way radio. Start with a bad radio, then add some static, a crowded radio frequency, and a pilot or controller with a tendency to mumble and you get a messy sort of verbal stew. Throw vocal fry into the mix and things only get worse.

Why younger people, especially young women, tend to use vocal fry is a topic of debate. One theory is that there may be a perception among these speakers that vocal fry makes them sound disaffected or relaxed. Another theory is that a low vocal register represents the speaker's lack of conviction in what they are saying, like ending every statements with a question inflection? Or could it be that the decimation of music programs in primary and secondary schools that started in the 1980's spawned a generation of young people who didn't learn to sing and missed out in learning how to use their breath in a way that would support their voice during speech.

I've trained several pilots recently (mostly male, by the way) who exhibited the habitual use of vocal fry while speaking on the radio, but not while talking directly to me in conversation. I pointed out to them that the controllers were constantly asking them to repeat their requests and that the reason was vocal fry just doesn't transmit very well. The best antidote to a tendency to use vocal fry on the radio is to become aware of the habit and then take the encouragement I offered one pilot:

"Use your high voice."

Late October 2014 Photos

2014-10-30T10:33:00.001-07:00

Direct Pomona

Artsy Sunset

First storm of Autumn Season

Autopilot On, Nothing much to do ...

Dueling Winglets @ KACV

Engine-out ILS: What a zero sideslip looks like on the G1000

On top, near Fortuna

Right crosswind, Byron ...

Over Sears Point ... er, I mean Infineon Raceway

Vectors Oakland

Descent into LA Basin

Another long drive home ...

September 2014 Photos

2014-09-27T17:18:00.000-07:00

On top, near ALTAM

Vicinity of FOOTO

Accidental photo of aviation "giant"

Dodging Cloud Tops

Engine-out Practice near KCCR

Found some shade ...

Looking for shade ...

Vectors KLVK ILS 25R

Knowing When to Fold

2014-09-16T14:40:00.000-07:00

Few myths are more enduring than the beleaguered, sleep-deprived pilot who laconically accepts the aircraft he or she is given and, without worry or fear, takes to the skies to have curious adventures. Something Dr. ATP mentioned a few weeks back combined with my own recent experiences to make me want to remind pilots that it's absolutely okay to decide to not fly an aircraft. We're not Jimmy Doolittle or Chuck Yeager and for good reason. We're civilian flyers and safety should be our goal, not proving our courage and fearlessness. As student pilots we learned to do a thorough preflight, but after we earn our certificates and ratings it's all too easy to breeze through the preflight inspection. Most of us arrive at the airport spring-loaded to fly and we may have passengers who are anxious to fly, too. Adding to the mix are aircraft owners/operators loath to address discrepancies as they walk the razor fine line between affordability and safety. Let's not forget our friends at the FAA who don't want us to do anything stupid, but lack the staff to do regular enforcement and rely instead on making examples of those caught breaking the rules. The real challenge for GA flyers is to look beyond the myth and mystique, keep these issues in perspective, and sometimes to conclude we will not fly an aircraft.

Airworthy

You learned in your primary training that to be airworthy, all of an aircraft's inspections must be current, all the required documents must be on board, all the items on the aircraft must be present and functioning properly or properly deactivated/removed and placarded. Yet as soon as the ink is dry on your temporary airman's/airwoman's certificate you begin to hear tall tales from more experienced pilots, stories about the chances they took, the risks they faced, and how they flew a plane that wasn't airworthy as if it was something to brag about.

If a required inspection hasn't been done, if maintenance has been performed but no logbook entry made, if an incorrect maintenance logbook entry was entered, if an airworthiness directive has not been complied with, or if inoperative equipment has not been properly handled, the plane is not airworthy. This fact may rain on your parade, but no amount of wishing, magical thinking or optimism can change the situation. Only appropriate action by an authorized mechanic can make an aircraft airworthy again.

An often asked question is "Do you take the word of an owner/operator that a rental aircraft's inspections are current or do you ask to see the aircraft logbooks?" The cases that have gone before the FAA/NTSB would indicate that it is the pilot's responsibility to check that the plane is airworthy, including examining the logbooks. If something goes wrong, the FAA will hold both the owner/operator and the pilot-in-command responsible, so you best ask to see the logs. If the owner/operator is not willing let you see the aircraft logs, you've just learned something very important. On a few occasions I flew an aircraft without inspecting the logs, taking the owner/operator at their word, only to learn the plane wasn't airworthy. And I'm not bragging either. Each time I chided myself for not being more thorough and thanked my lucky stars that nothing bad happened.

We all remember the acronym AROW, but how often do you actually look at all the documents? Do you remember that the airworthiness certificate is supposed to be visible to anyone boarding the aircraft (14 CFR 91.203)? And now that aircraft registrations expire every three years, the chance is introduced that you could fly with an expired registration. These may be technicalities that don't make the aircraft unsafe for flight, but not paying attention to technicalities is the slippery slope down which many a sloppy pilot will slide.

Required Inspections

What inspections are required? A popular acronym is AV1ATES:

Annual inspection every 12 calendar months
VOR check every 30 days (for IFR only)
100 hour inspection (if for hire)
Altimeter, Transponder test every 24 calendar months
ELT functional test every 12 calendar months (and battery replacement as placarded)
Static system (every 24 calendar months for IFR)

Some owner/operators will forego the pitot-static system inspection if the plane is not operated for IFR, which is allowed by 14 CFR 91.411. The transponder inspection required by 14 CFR 91.413 is not an option if you're going to use a transponder with ATC radar.

Airworthiness directives are important and problematic because they identify safety issues that must be dealt with, but determining whether or not an AD applies to a particular aircraft or if that AD has been previously complied with (PCW) can be difficult and time-consuming.

Equipment

If a piece of equipment is not functioning, that's not necessarily a deal-breaker if you follow the rules on handling inoperative equipment. If you go to fly a rental aircraft and notice the panel is festooned with "INOPERATIVE" stickers, this should give you pause.

Many aircraft owners like to add stuff to their plane and that can affect airworthiness. I'm not talking about fuzzy dice hanging from the magnetic compass or a yoke mount clamped to the control column, I'm referring to stuff that is "permanently attached" (screwed, bolted or welded to the aircraft, or wired to an aircraft system) without a supplemental type certificate (STC).

Seat covers not approved for aviation are something pilots get dinged for when being ramp-checked by an FAA inspector. If your seats are tired and you install sheepskin covers, be sure you get documentation on the flammability of the material used.

If you travel with your dog or with a bike, you may choose to temporarily remove the back seat(s). If you do, you just changed the aircraft's equipment list as well as the weight and balance. Why not have an authorized mechanic make you a temporary weight & balance so you're covered?

Condition for Safe Flight

All of the inspections can be current, all the documents present, and all required equipment accounted for and functioning, and the aircraft may still not be in a condition for safe flight. It takes experience with a particular aircraft type to know the kinds of things that break or wear out, but uncovering discrepancies is easier if you just take time to look. An overall view of the aircraft will usually speak volumes about the owner/operator's maintenance philosophy. If the paint is cracked and peeling, if there's significant corrosion, or if the windshield looks like a shower curtain, you may want to ask yourself what else could be going on with the aircraft, underneath the covers.

Missing cowl screws, a broken wheel faring, leaking hydraulic fluid, nicks in the propeller, broken door handles, primary flight controls that creak and groan when moved, rudder cables that rub or bind, elevator trim linkages installed upside down, leaking propeller seals, aluminum skin that pops or oil-cans when you apply pressure to a wing or horizontal stabilizer, a gear warning that sounds continuously should all give you pause. Rather than being brave and optimistic, ask yourself "What's the absolute worst that could happen?"

Two Heads, Four Eyes

Borrow a phrase from our security friends at the TSA: If you see something, say something. When you uncover a discrepancy, find out if it has already been reported. If it was reported several months ago, find out why hasn't it been addressed? Find a mechanic and ask them to assess. Talk to the owner/operator and find out what they know. Involve others in your decision making, learn from their expertise, but trust your gut.

If you have a bad feeling about an aircraft, listen to your gut. Honing your awareness may make us uncomfortable, maybe even wary. That doesn't make you any less brave than the risk-taking pilots, it makes you smarter. In aviation, as in many walks of life, it's good to be smart. A positive safety culture is one in which people are not criticized for pointing out discrepancies and problems. A positive safety culture, like aeronautical decision-making, takes in all available perspectives and arrives at the best, safest course of action.

Dare to Grow Old

An often repeated phrase is "There are old pilots and bold pilots, but no old, bold pilots." Have standards about the condition of the aircraft you're willing to fly. You may not make friends when you tell an owner/operator that you don't want to fly their aircraft, but be polite, be firm, stick to your guns. Accrue thousands of accident/incident free hours by making safety your primary goal and you'll likely grow to be an old pilot.

Concise Guide to the DA42

2014-09-09T14:33:00.001-07:00

After countless hours of gathering photos, writing text, editing, re-photographing, and re-writing, the Concise Guide to the DA42 is now in the hands of the iBooks reviewers and should be available for download by September 15. You can download a sample or order the book now. This is the fourth aviation iBook I've published and in many ways, it was the hardest for a number of reasons.

The TwinStar and the DA42NG are at the top of my list of favorite aircraft and I wanted my book to be comprehensive. That meant lots of photographs of components and descriptions of systems: While the DA42 is pretty easy-to-fly, there's a lot going on behind the scenes. I wanted this to be a guide that would be truly useful to DA42 flyers or owners and I hope I've succeeded.

If you are planning to learn to fly the DA42, have always wanted to fly one, already own one, or simply want to know more about this fascinating aircraft, I hope you'll have a look at my latest book.

RNAV OBScurities

2014-08-28T16:54:00.000-07:00

A few years back the editors of the Aeronautical Information Manual changed the well-written overview of GPS, which was a shame because that concise description laid the conceptual framework pilots needed to understand waypoint sequencing, turn anticipation, and how and when to suspend waypoint sequencing. For their part, instructors are so busy teaching pilots how to wrestle with crappy GPS receiver user interfaces that a conceptual understanding of GPS often falls by the wayside. Many pilots have memorized the series of button pushes and knob twists that will accomplish their goal, but fewer actually understand the goal. Even if you consider yourself a GPS black belt, there are advantages to acquiring a deeper appreciation of three key GPS concepts:

Waypoint-based navigation
Automatic waypoint sequencing
Turn anticipation (illustrated above)

Direct-To Limitations

Most pilots grasp how to use the GPS Direct-To button and some pilots never move beyond that feature because Direct-To is simple: Input one waypoint, dial in the desired track on the Omni-Bearing Selector (OBS) or if you're lazy, just find a heading that keeps you on magenta line on the moving map. If your aircraft has an electronic HSI, it will set the desired track for you - Even better! Heck, you might not have to interact with the GPS for the rest of the flight. Yet simple answers to complex problems can themselves be problematic.

Indiscriminately flying Direct-To can take you to all sorts of places you don't want to go, such as into restricted/prohibited airspace, weather your aircraft is incapable of handing, or obstacles and rising terrain, as shown below.

Finding your Legs

Entering a sequence of waypoints is time-consuming and can be frustrating, but once you learn how to create a flight plan you'll find there are lots of advantages. You can create a sequence of waypoints that keeps you clear of the aforementioned bad stuff and you'll be the beneficiary of two GPS design features that many pilots take for granted: Turn anticipation and automatic waypoint sequencing. Simply put, as you approach the current waypoint, the GPS will anticipate the turn, tell you when to turn, and then automatically sequence to the next waypoint. If you don't have an electronic HSI, you'll have some work to do - set the course pointer (or Omni-Bearing Selector) to the new desired track. Many pilots skip this step, and that's a shame.

As you start creating flight plans, you introduce another concept that you'll need to understand: Leg-based navigation. A leg is simply the straight line between your last waypoint and the current waypoint. If you wander off the current leg, or are vectored off by ATC, you may need to re-intercept the leg or intercept the next leg in your flight plan. This is where many pilots jump to their old standby - Direct-To - and don't fully understand the desired goal of activating, and then intercepting, a leg rather than proceeding direct to a waypoint.

Let's say you're departing Franklin Field and have entered this flight plan.

By default, the active leg is from Franklin (F72) to the Sacramento VOR.

Let's say you actually want to fly a 250 heading and intercept V334, the leg between SAC and VISTO. Proceeding direct VISTO is not the answer. Instead, select VISTO and you'll have the option of activating the leg between SAC and VISTO.

Note that when you activate a leg on the G1000, the SUSP soft key will appear on the PFD. Many pilots see that SUSP key and mistakenly think something isn't right or that they need to press the SUSP key. Don't worry, everything is fine. It is normal for SUSP to appear when a leg has been activated, but not yet intercepted. And no, you don't need to do anything - just continue flying, intercept the selected leg, and the SUSP key will disappear.

OBS: When and Why

Another concept to understand when you use flight plans is how to select your own desired track to the current waypoint and suspend waypoint sequencing. A few examples:

You are flying under instrument flight rules and instructed to hold over the Current Waypoint
You want to select your own desired track to the current waypoint to avoid terrain

The first question is "Why is that button called OBS?" The name seems to have an OBScure history. You dial in a VOR radial using the Omni-Bearing Selector (or OBS) so some engineer (or committee of engineers) got the bright idea that the function that allows you to select your own desired track to the current GPS waypoint should be called OBS. Whatever the genesis of this convention, the important thing to remember is that the OBS function does two things:

Lets you select your own desired track to the current waypoint
Suspends waypoint sequencing

Traffic Pattern Entry

Many newer GPS receiver (and iPad apps) let you display extended runway center lines at an airport to help you visualize your entry into traffic pattern. You can do the same thing with your GPS by pressing OBS and dialing in the magnetic course of the runway as the desired track. Let's say your inbound to Lampson-Lakeport from the northwest.

Note that this example uses the Garmin GTN Trainer for the iPad which requires you to input the desired track when you press OBS since there's no Course Deviation Indicator (CDI) or Horizontal Situation Indicator (HSI). Select the desired track for runway 28 (your desired runway at 1O2).

After selecting 280˚ as the desired track, you now have a magenta line on the GPS moving map that depicts the approximate final approach to runway 28. Remember that the waypoint for an airport is usually the surveyed center of the airport so this magenta line approximates the final approach course. Despite the funny name, OBS can be useful for situational awareness and planning your traffic pattern entry.

OBStacle Departure Procedures

Let's say you have an IFR clearance to depart runway 31 from the San Andreas/Calaveras Airport via the published Obstacle Departure Procedure (ODP). The raison d'être for ODPs is to provide a description of one or more routes that will keep you from running into terrain or obstacles while departing an airport under instrument flight rules (IFR).

Since most GPS-equipped aircraft also have VOR receivers, you could just use tune the LIN VOR and use that to intercept the desired radial, but wouldn't it be nice to have the moving map on your GPS match the ODP game plan? The first waypoint in your flight plan is LIN and your GPS defaults to a direct leg between the airport (KCPU) and the LIN VOR. This is not the route described by the ODP and for good reason: It takes you right toward rapidly rising terrain. Duh?!

So press OBS and dial in the 029˚ radial FROM LIN (029˚ + 180˚ = 209˚ TO LIN).

You've successfully set the desired track to LIN, but the course after LIN no longer follows V113: It is just a white straight line directly opposite the desired track you just set, indicating that waypoint sequencing has been suspended. If you forget to press OBS again before reaching LIN, the GPS won't sequence to the next waypoint in the flight plan. Bummer!

With newer Garmin GPS receivers, you can press OBS a second time and this will not only retain the desired track that you selected to LIN, it will reenable waypoint sequencing, too. Awesome!

Asking yourself "Why?"

So that's a brief description of the GPS concepts of waypoint-based navigation, automatic waypoint sequencing, and turn anticipation. Now it's up to you to decide if you want to be one of those pilots that always uses Direct-To, or just memorizes button pushes and knob twists, or if you want to actually understand the underlying concepts.

ForeFlight adds Weight & Balance

2014-08-23T12:21:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, I had a discussion about flying an aircraft over gross weight and the person I was talking to seemed to be saying "It ain't no thang ..." I begged to differ since there are serious hazards associated with flying an aircraft over maximum takeoff weight or out of the CG envelope. And so I was pleased to see the addition of Weight and Balance calculations to ForeFlight, though one has wonder just how many more features can be added to ForeFlight as it continues to mature. So far the developers have done a decent job of adding features in a logical fashion, but there is a tipping point for software products, a point where efforts to increase/maintain sales or market share and generate income required to support a growing company can eclipse good design philosophy and ease-of-use. Draw your own conclusions about how robust the feature count can become before a product begins to become less usable: That's another topic, perhaps for another day. The task at hand is to review ForeFlight's new weight and balance feature.

I've always felt that a good (perhaps the best) way to evaluate user friendliness is to dive in, start using the product, and see how far you get. Tapping on "More ..." led me to the new weight and balance feature. So far, so good.

Entering the registration number for a DA42NG I fly regularly, I encountered my first snag: Seems that ForeFlight uses the FAA's database to look up the aircraft type in an attempt to automatically configure the stations and arms. Unfortunately, ForeFlight was confused by the serial number it retrieved for the DA42NG registration number I entered. The assertion that the serial number for a DA42 NG should begin with "42.N" or "42.NC" is, as the British say, "A bit silly." You see, many DA42 TwinStar owners who had trouble with the notoriously unreliable 1.7 engines took advantage of an offer Diamond made: Since Thielert hadn't yet emerged from bankruptcy, these owners took their aircraft back to the factory and had them converted to a DA42NG. The aircraft kept the same serial number, but they were no longer a "TwinStar" and even the badging on the aircraft was changed to "DA42NG."

Not understanding the intricacies of DA42 serial numbers, ForeFlight's valiant attempt to be super user friendly took a wrong turn: I now had to enter pretty much everything: Arm for each seat, baggage area, fuel tank, deice reservoir, and so on. Being a loyal ForeFlight user and what some might call "hard-headed," I persevered.

That's when I realized there was an error of some sort because the CG was out of range. An email to ForeFlight support received an extremely quick reply with the solution: Since all the other fields I needed to define required a station (or arm), I hadn't noticed that FF requires you enter the aircraft's empty weight and moment, not the CG. Shouldn't it let you choose whether you want to enter the empty CG or moment? In fact, in other areas, the app offers just this sort of flexibility: Fuel tank loadings allow you to enter pounds or gallons and ForeFlight will calculate the field you didn't enter. Personally, I'd rather enter a 4-digit number for empty CG rather than enter a 7-digit number for empty moment. Tisk, tisk ...

Most common aircraft types will be automatically configured without fuss. By the way, if you see an option for configuring Normal or Utility category, you best choose the Normal category because ForeFlight doesn't seem to be able to simultaneously display both envelopes for aircraft that have been certificated in both categories. A nice feature is that ForeFlight will notify you when it has made choices for station distances for things like seats that move so that you can adjust them to your liking.

The Setup feature also allows you to name and define frequently carried items, such as your SkyOx system that weighs 6 pounds, but you have to associate it with a particular location, such as AFT SEATS. When you use the Load feature, simply tap next to the item to include it or remove it from your planned flight. It would be nice if frequently used items could be defined and then dragged and dropped into different locations. That way you could see changes in the CG by relocating Uncle Bob to the back seat whenever Aunt Alice is coming along for a ride.

I don't know if there is an exhaustive list of the aircraft types that ForeFlight can automatically configure, but this is an ambitious design choice. Based on trial and error, here are a few types that seem to be supported for automatic configuration:

BE76
C172
C182
DA40
DA42 (sorta)
M20
P28A
P28R
SR20
SR22

A few unsupported types requiring manual configuration that I randomly discovered include:

C152
C206
C208
GA7
PA34
PA46
PA44
PC12
TOBA

If you own an aircraft or rent just two or three aircraft, the overhead of defining your aircraft's weight and balance could be very low or it could be a headache. If you're an instructor or a pilot who flies a bunch of different aircraft, you might find this a bit frustrating. Pressed for time, a frustrated pilot might be tempted to rely on Kentucky windage instead of doing the actual calculations.

There are other weight and balance solutions out there, such as Excel or Numbers spreadsheets. Apps like Gyronimo and Cirrus Perform are easier to use because they are designed for specific aircraft types and they do performance calculations, too. Oh, geez! I mentioned performance calculations. Now I hope the fine folks at ForeFlight don't try to add that feature because being everything to every pilot just isn't practical, nor is it user-friendly.

As St. Francis of Assisi said, "Do few things, but do them well ..."

Up the Down Staircase

2014-08-13T12:39:00.000-07:00

"Mooselips Approach, Cessna 12345, 3000 feet, request practice ILS 30 at Bison, published missed, information tango."

"Cessna 12345, Mooselips Approach, Bison altimeter 3002, unable ILS 30, runway 12 in use at Bison, did you have another approach request?"

If you haven't yet had an exchange like the one, it's likely that you soon will because the FAA has decided that opposite direction approaches into towered airports are no longer allowed. To the uninitiated, practice approaches to a runway when there's opposite direction traffic may seem inherently dangerous, but it is something that's been done safely at many airports for as long as anyone can remember. One example in Northern California is Sacramento Executive where all the instrument approaches are to runway 2 and 90% of the time runway 20 is in use.

At KSAC, the procedure for handling opposite direction approaches is simple and has worked well (and without incident, to my knowledge): The tower instructs the aircraft inbound on the approach to start their missed approach (usually a climbing left turn) prior to the runway threshold and any traffic departing the opposite direct turns in the other direction.

For areas like the California Central Coast, the restriction on opposite direction instrument approaches has been in place since I arrived in June and it has serious implications for instrument flight training since the ILS approaches for San Luis Obispo, Santa Maria, and Santa Barbara are likely to be opposite direction 90% of the time. For a student to train to fly an ILS in a real aircraft, you need to fly quite a distance. Same goes for instrument rating practical tests that require an ILS because the aircraft is not equipped with WAAS GPS and/or there's no RNAV approach available with LPV minima to a DA of 250 feet or lower.

There currently is no formal FAA Order (to my knowledge) that describes this restriction, though one hopes that will change: Everyone from students to instructors to controllers would like to see this rule codified. As it stands, this restriction seems to have been passed down from on high to TRACONs in the US. Some exceptions may be allowed when there's an "operational need" such as for FAA flight checks of instrument procedures. You may be able to call your local TRACON on the phone and make prior arrangements if you need to do an ILS for an instrument rating check ride or for practice. And waivers may be issued for some airports with a high volume of training. Then again, your request might still be refused. Your tax dollars at work.

You're a Professional CFI if ...

2014-08-09T21:14:00.000-07:00

You have memorized most of Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations without ever intending to do so.

When asked a question, you can provide three different answers, all of which are correct.

Pilots seek you out to ask your advice, then they ignore it.

You can send a plane into maintenance simply by touching it.

A dog groomer earns more per hour than you.

You know seven different ways to explain a complex topic.

When your student finally gets what you've been trying to tell them, they say "Why didn't you tell me this before?!"

A dog walker earns more per hour that you.

You spent your entire last vacation passing your ATP check ride.

Part-time CFIs ask you "What kind of plane do you own?"

Rich aircraft owners never pay on time and argue about how much you've charged them.

You spent your entire vacation budget passing your ATP check ride.

Pilots who can barely afford flight training always pay you on time and never complain about how much you've charged.

You feel compelled to maintain an aviation blog, but then fill it snarky posts.

Staying Concise, Staying Solvent

2014-07-10T22:14:00.002-07:00

Flight instruction has been a bit SLOw for me over the last month, but the good news is that gave me time to get to some neglected writing projects. Loyal readers may recall that when I released my first iBook a little over two years ago, I mentioned plans to do a whole concise series. So after several long days, and with some help from my friends (who proofread and helped to smooth the rough edges), The Concise Guide to the Diamond DA40-180 is now available on the iBooks store. And kudos to the Apple iBooks review team, who examined and approved my submission in a matter of days.

The late John Ciardi once pronounced "May you stay solvent by whatever means are available to you." Being a professional flight instructor may not actually involve a formal vow of poverty, but sometimes it sure seems that way. If you have purchased one or more of my books in the past, please accept my heartfelt thanks. I appreciate your support and hope that my books have been useful to your aviation endeavors.

With more time on my hands for the foreseeable future, I just may have another book or two up my sleeve. So stay tuned ...

No news is ...

2014-06-19T09:09:00.000-07:00

Greeting from the California Central Coast!

The dust is beginning to settle from our recent move and rumor has it I'll begin instructing at the San Luis Obispo Airport later today. Any airplane flies the same way regardless of your location, but the environment is different here. A fairly busy Class D airport as opposed to Oakland's Class C and already I miss the rapid pace (if not downright surly) interactions with NorCal.

With a bit of down time there was a chance to finish the fifth edition of The Concise Guide to IFR, which is available now on the iBooks store. It incorporates recent FAA changes regarding “climb via” and “descend via” phraseology as well as enhancements to the preflight section on weather charts and symbols.

There will be changes in the types of aircraft I'll be flying. Not much in the way of glass panel aircraft here and apparently no multi-engine instruction. Just aren't enough rooftops to support that sort of thing. Not that I'm complaining, just observing what an airline pilot friend pointed out: One can expend considerable time and effort to claw one's way up the aviation mountain, but the slide back down can occur in the blink of an eye.

So I'm beginning a new journey, but still with plenty of Bay Area connections and friendships. There are several Northern California pilots with whom I'm flying, preparing for check rides, but the number is shrinking. Congratulations go out to Jim on a successful check ride and on becoming the Bay Area's newest CFI! A couple of more check rides to go, and then Oakland and the East Bay become a distant memory?

Time will tell ...

May 2014 Photos

2014-05-25T10:37:00.000-07:00

Expect fewer than average posts over the next few weeks as I prepare to move to the CA central coast. For now, here are some recent photos ...

Departing Ukiah

Mt. Diablo at Sunset

Flying the Eastern Sierra

En route San Diego

Heading South

Hold at KACBY

Lee Vining

Mono Lake

Approaching Mono Lake

Near Lake Mendocino

Over US 395

Eastern Sierra Turbulence

Over ~~Truckee~~ Carson City