Max Trescott Aviation Trends Aloft

How will it Read in the NTSB report?

2013-03-31T17:47:30-07:00

When in doubt about a possible course of action, I think about how any subsequent NTSB report might read. Recently, a student and I had already started the engine, but the ATIS reported a direct crosswind gusting to the aircraft’s maximum demonstrated crosswind capability. The student was ready to go, but I stopped him and we terminated the flight.

This ties in directly with my earlier tip about purging the word “probably” from your flying vocabulary. In all probability, the wind would not have reached a peak gust at the exact moment we took off, and we would not have had an accident. However, to proceed would have been to take a gamble. While I’d like to think that I’ll always be lucky, that’s a self-delusionary thought. Realistically, no one can be lucky all of the time.

I’d also think to think—perhaps as you do—that I’m an above average pilot and can rely upon my superior flying skills if there were a problem. But that is also delusional thinking. Surveys consistently show that more than 80% of pilots rate their skills as above average. The logical conclusion is that pilots are a confident bunch and we overrate our abilities. We may also have poor math skills, since only 50% of pilots could be “above average!”

With the high crosswind takeoff, we were dealing with compound probabilities. To take off would be to hope that the wind didn’t exceed the aircraft’s capabilities, but if it did, to hope that our superior skills would extricate us from that situation. That’s a lot of hope and candidly, I never want to have to fly a plane on hope alone.

After we shut down the engine, I asked my client, “if we had had an accident, how would we have explained it to the Chief Pilot?” The most honest answer I could think of was “that we were stupid.” I’m real glad I didn’t have to have that conversation!

Julie Clark Event - November 9 Hiller Museum, San Carlos

2012-10-31T23:18:13-07:00

Generally, I don't write about local events, but this one is so special I'm making an exception. Get yourself however you can to San Carlos, California on November 9 for a night to remember. That's the night the Aero Club of Northern California will honor air show pilot Captain Julie Clark at their annual Crystal Eagle Award dinner. And it's all for charity. Tickets just cover the price of dinner, but the Silent Auction...well that's where the action is at. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Anyone who's an air show fan probably knows Julie Clark. But if not, go to Julie's web site for all the details about this wonderful lady. She was one of the early female airline pilots and she now spends her time flying air shows. And if you attend the dinner, you can say hello to this remarkable pilot.

But don't just say hello...bring your checkbook! The silent auction will have lots of great aviation headsets, avionics, training materials, AvGas, Oil, rides in interesting airplanes and seaplanes and other things only a pilot could love! Silent auction items were donated by many of the nationally known aviation companies plus lots of local companies too. Last year, the silent auction raised over $7,000, funding the three $2000 scholarships that will be awarded at the dinner to college students in Bay area aviation programs.

To get a flavor for what's been called the premier aviation event in the Bay area, check out this video from the 2011 dinner.

You can print the dinner reservation form and mail it in. Sorry, no reservations at the door! Dinner is $60 for members and $75 for non-members. And you can join as a member to get the discount. Dinner includes wine and beer.

Come join us for a night to remember!

Podcast: Building a Career as a Flight Instructor

2012-10-06T00:15:02-07:00

Carl Valeri is an airline pilot who produces the Aviation Careers Podcast, which is dedicated to helping people achieve their aviation career goals. He has over twenty years of flying experience and currently flies as an airline captain and flight instructor. For over ten years, he has assisted pilots in finding jobs and obtaining airline interviews. He also writes the aviation blog ExpertAviator.com.

He recently interviewed me for a podcast and provided this introduction:

“Many look upon the flight instructor position as a stepping stone towards another career goal while earning poverty level wages. Other instructors are able to command six figure incomes and pursue a fulfilling career helping create knowledgeable and safe pilots.

“One of the misconceptions in the aviation industry is that flight instructors will always make less than minimum wage and will live in poverty until they obtain a better flying job. Today I want to debunk this myth and help you become a successful flight instructor who has many students and is able to make a great living teaching.”

Carl asked me about how I became a pilot and my passion for aviation. We then talked about becoming an expert in a niche and building a flight instruction business. When Carl asked me how successful CFIs should market themselves, I mentioned Greg Brown’s The Savvy Flight Instructor: Secrets of the Successful CFI. Greg should know: he’s the 2000 National Flight Instructor of the Year and a contributor to AOPA’s Flight Training magazine.

You can listen to this podcast here.

FlightLink – Lightspeed’s Cockpit Voice Recorder App

2012-10-02T16:40:18-07:00

One of the best surprises I found at AirVenture 2012 in Oshkosh this summer was FlightLink, an iPhone/iPad app for the Lightspeed Zulu.2 ANR headset. I was surprised, as I couldn’t imagine what kind of app one might create for a headset. Fortunately the people at Lightspeed were more imaginative than I and they created FlightLink, an app for recording cockpit audio on your iPhone or iPad.

FlightLink is free from iTunes, though after you start the app, you need to register your headset serial number. Set-up is easy. Just connect the Zulu.2 headset to your iPhone with one of the cables that comes with the headset.

FlightLink has a simple user interface, making it easy to use. Three icons let you choose the recording page, the library page for playback of older recordings, or the settings page. I needed to go to the settings page to set the Recording Volume to the maximum. Otherwise my recordings were low in volume. From the settings page you can also choose to limit the number of minutes for each recording, if you’re trying to conserve memory space in your iPhone or iPad.

I’ve found FlightLink useful in a several ways. Recently, when flying with a client working on his Private certificate, I made a series of short recordings as I demonstrated each of the maneuvers required for the Private checkride. Each recording was less than two minutes, resulting in individual files that were less than 10 MB in size that I emailed to the client afterwards. He found them useful in reviewing the steps required for each maneuver prior to flying with another instructor for a pre-solo phase check.

FlightLink also does a great job of letting you play back a recent transmission, while it continues to record new audio. A VU meter graph continually displays the past two minutes of audio. To start the playback, just drag your finger on the iPhone screen to the desired starting point on the VU meter graph and remove your finger.

FlightLink also works as a digital voice recorder, even when you’re not using the Zulu.2 headset. So for example, anytime you want to record audio, such as an idea you don’t want to forget, start the FlightLink app and talk into your iPhone.

I also recorded an hour-long flight of a San Francisco Bay Tour with a newly minted Private pilot. Since much of his training was conducted out of state, I figured the recording would be a good way to review procedures for flying in the Class B and also remind him of the various landmarks that I pointed out along the way. The recorded file was 312 MB in size, but I was able to easily shrink it to a 21 MB MP3 file using Audacity, a free audio editor for Macs and PCs. That made it small enough to email.

Lightspeed tells me that an hour of audio can be as large as 500 MB if you have on background music or there’s continual chatter on the radio. File sizes are large since FlightLink records using the .caf format, one of the few formats permitted for Apple iPhone/iPad apps. I’m guessing Apple doesn’t want people recording music on their iPhones in popular formats like MP3 files. If you’re worried about memory space on your iPhone, you may want to start and stop FlightLink to record just important parts of a flight.

If you’re a heavy user of your iPhone in flight to play music or make phone calls (yes, the FCC does prohibit that), you may want to use FlightLink on a separate device like an iPad. For example, if you were to listen to music with your Zulu.2 headset via the Bluetooth interface to your iPhone and you plug in the cable for FlightLink, music and cell phone via Bluetooth is lost.

There is one DIP switch setting you’ll want to check. Open up the battery door of the headset’s controller and remove the battery to find the switches. Switch 6, labeled “Leave Off” in current models, needs to be in the ON position if you want to record everything you hear including the radio and other passengers. In the OFF position, just the headset microphone is connected to the recorder and it’s unsquelched, meaning you’ll hear plenty of background noise when you’re not talking. But with the switch ON, recordings are excellent and identical to what you hear in your headset.

I’ve been a Lightspeed user for more than ten years, and have continually traded in my older headsets for newer versions under the Trade Up program. If you have the original Zulu headset as I did, you’ll need to trade-up to the Zulu.2 headset. And if you owned a Zulu.2 headset prior to the FlightLink app launch in late July, you’ll need to pay $69 to get your headset upgraded to a newer version of the Zulu.2 that works with the app.

Overall, FlightLink is a winner! Have fun recording your flight.

Dealing with the Marine Layer – Having a Plan B

2012-07-18T09:50:12-07:00

Aircraft accidents aren't evenly spread across the terrain. Often they form clusters. Around 2005, I analyzed all of the fatal accidents, about 100 of them, that occurred in the prior 10 years in the S.F. Bay area, which I defined as the area from Petaluma in the north, to Salinas in the South and Tracy to the east. That's a huge area, yet fully 50% of all night and weather related fatal accidents were clustered in one spot: the Livermore Valley.

The reason is obvious. The Livermore Valley is completely surrounded by mountains. PIlots fly in and out of this area using passes at Castro Valley, Sunol and Altamont. But as the picture above of the Sunol Pass shows, these passes used by pilots to get home are the same ones that the marine layer moves through as it reforms on most nights. Any time you cannot clearly see through one of these passes, you need to make a 180 degree turn and land at Livermore, Stockton, Modesto or some other airport where it's clear.

I recently overnighted at Livermore. As I was paying my $6 parking fee the next morning, the guy collecting my money mentioned a student pilot he’d just met who had bought a Bonanza. Asked why he would buy a Bonanza, the student pilot replied, “So that I can stay ahead of the weather.”

That’s wishful thinking for sure. And if that’s the full extent of the pilot’s contingency planning, someday he’s going to encounter weather and have to make up a plan on the spot for dealing with it. Unfortunately, that type of last minute contingency planning is often fatal. Why? It’s hard to explore the full range of options when you encounter unexpected weather and have seconds to make a decision. It’s far better to plan your alternatives ahead of time from the comfort of your easy chair while you’re relaxed and more likely to make better decisions.

All pilots flying in the S.F. Bay area need a Plan B for dealing with the marine layer. To not consider alternatives ahead of time is reckless: the marine layer is a fact of life and if you fly long enough, eventually it will impede your flying.

If you’re instrument rated in an instrument capable airplane, you have more options. Recently I was returning from having spent the day on Don Pedro Reservoir in my non-instrument capable seaplane. So flying an instrument approach into Palo Alto was not an option. Instead, I executed one version of a plan B I formulated decades ago and have taught to many of my students: I landed at Livermore and walked to a nearby motel. It was simple and easy with a guaranteed safe outcome.

Years ago, I developed the plan by investigating which airports in California have motels on or close to the airport. These became my “go-to airports” if I’m tired or weather intervenes. Scoping these airports out ahead of time makes in-flight decision making easy. For example, given the choice of staying overnight at Stockton or Modesto, I’d choose Modesto, which has many more motels within a couple of miles of the airport. Some airports with motels on or adjacent to the field are Fresno, Visalia, Santa Maria and Concord.

One of the scenarios I developed for my Night Flying presentation goes as follows: You’re flying through the Livermore Class D at 1600 feet on your way home to Palo Alto. There’s an overcast above you and it’s just after sunset so it’s not totally dark. As you look toward Sunol Pass, you can’t tell if you can see through the pass over I-680. If you’re non-instrument rated, what should you do?

In most cases, the best option is to land at Livermore and then phone a friend to come get you, or to take a 5-minute walk to a nearby motel and spend the night. I always tell clients that they can call me and I’ll pick them up at Livermore…but it won’t be a free ride!

For instrument rated pilots, the scenario answer is the same: land at Livermore. Why? Because at 1600 feet, you’re way below NorCal’s MVA (minimum vectoring altitude) which is 4,000 feet above the Livermore Airport. So if you try to get a pop-up clearance, NorCal will ask you if you can maintain your own terrain clearance until you reach 4,000 feet. It’s much safer to just land at Livermore, then file IFR on the ground and fly the IFR clearance you’ll receive, which involves a departure procedure that climbs you to point where NorCal can see you and issue vectors.

A series of things delayed my return from Don Pedro to Palo Alto Airport. Over Oakdale Airport around 9 PM, I learned that the last ATIS for Palo Alto was 900 feet scattered. As I approached Livermore, I could see a nearly solid marine layer, so I queried NorCal. Oakland and Hayward were both below VFR minimums, and San Jose International was overcast at 1,400 feet. ATIS reports for RHV and PAO were both more than an hour old. The odds of going on top and finding a hole at PAO seemed remote. When Hayward is reporting a ceiling at 1,000 feet, it’s highly unlikely that the Sunol pass is flyable. So with clouds forming in front of me and Livermore reporting 1,600 feet overcast, it was a no brainer: descend prior to the clouds and fly the last 6 or 7 miles to land straight in on runway 25R.

I was careful not to descend until I was over the lighted portion of the Livermore Valley. Descending over the dark hills of the Altamont Pass at night could have been fatal. If I had doubt at any time, I would climb and fly to Modesto, as the entire central valley was clear.

Spending the night at Livermore was easier than I imagined. After tying up the plane, I checked my iPhone and saw that the Extended Stay America was the closer of two motels. It cost $72 plus tax. If you want to stay at the fancier Hampton, you’d need to walk to the north side of I-580. It was a 5-minute walk to the Extended Stay, and it took us right by a Starbucks, 7-11 and a Carl’s Junior.

As we walked back to the airport the next morning, we stopped in the Starbucks, which fueled us for the trip home. Livermore was overcast at 1,800 and we had no trouble getting through the Sunol Pass—which was much easier to see in the daytime. After tying up the plane, I still had a few sips of my Grande left for the drive home. Not a bad way to start the day!