ExpertAviator.com

(Note: This is a guest post I wrote for AirTransparency.com a blog created because "It has become an American pastime to hate the airlines." Air Transparency is trying to change that.)

Clear skies, smooth ride, and tail winds means we should arrive at our destination a few minutes early. It is a great day to fly and once again welcome aboard." As I ended my passenger announcement I couldn't imagine a better day to fly. This is going to be a stress free and relaxing day. So I thought.

Just yesterday my friend asked me what the most difficult parts of my job is as an airline pilot. I said "closing the cabin door". He smiled and shook his head in acknowledgement since he was a frequent flyer and understood my statement. Today was going to be one of those difficult days.

Bags on board and pre flight checks complete, we where ready to go until the flight attendant pokes her redden face into the flight deck and says "Captain I'm having a problem with a passenger can you help me".

I knew there was trouble because the flight attendant knows my name and was using it up until this point, so I knew she was frustrated. In a flustered voice she related how a passenger was unwilling to check their bag and it would not fit in the overhead. The person was being rude and she was at her wits end.

I told her to calm down and I would have a supervisor speak with the passenger. Years ago I would go back to talk to the passenger but I have learned some people have no qualms in attacking a flight crew member. Besides, if I was hurt during the process the flight would be delayed even further or possibly cancelled. Supervisors have training in defusing these types of situations and many do so with incredible ease and professionalism.

After the supervisor came on board the situation was quickly resolved and we were on our way with the passenger’s bag safely stowed in the cargo compartment. The passenger seemed satisfied when we told her we would bring the bag up to the gate and she would not have to go to baggage claim to retrieve it. Feeling confident in an easy day ahead I smiled at the flight attendant and said “crisis averted”. Maybe I should have remembered my friend telling me that bad things normally happen in threes.

Pushing back from the gate the flight attendant noticed someone hunched over talking on their cell phone as if no one would notice. I could tell the flight attendant was having a problem because she made the announcement to "turn off all cellular phones and electronic devices" numerous times. Again she poked her head in the flight deck and said we have a lady who is still talking on the phone. I said ok let me see if I can fix this.

I then proceeded to make an announcement to the passengers again reviewing the flight time and weather and then stating that we will be departing the gate once everyone has turned their cell phones off". With some confidence I look at the first officer and said "wait for it".

The flight attendant then came up front with a smile on her face and said "that was great! After I made the announcement everyone turned to look at the lady speaking on her cell phone. The ladies face then turned red and she quickly turned it off." Another minor crisis averted and we haven't even taken off.

Why Airlines Have Flight Attendants

I am amazed at how some flight attendants can take a bad and sometimes volatile situation and diffuse it with ease. I many times find myself saying, I'm sure glad we have a flight attendant on board because they did a much better job than I could have ever done dealing with that passenger.

These situations remind me why we have flight attendants on board. First and foremost the flight attendant is on the aircraft for your safety. There is a reason the FAA mandates we have on board the aircraft a flight attendant for each fifty passengers. In the rare occasion that we have an emergency, the flight attendant will be the first to help and give directions in exiting the aircraft. More commonly there might be a problem with the health and wellbeing of a passenger.

If you have a life threatening medical condition the first person helping you and getting you further medical attention is the flight attendant. One of the first things the flight attendant will do after helping you is inform the captain of the situation. The pilots will communicate with air traffic control and with the airlines operations to speak with the physician on call.

So next time you see a flight attendant helping a sick passenger you should help by keeping the isle clear and allowing those on board who may happen to be physicians or paramedics to get to the passenger.

I remember one day while flying hearing a loud thud thinking something fell from the overhead to the floor. It turns out a lady had passed out on her way to the lavatory.

The flight attendant was able to find a doctor, get her some orange juice, and revive her before she even called us in the flight deck. She said the passenger was fine and that she would fill out the report when we landed. Crisis averted before I even knew about it!

The Instructions Are For Your Safety

I am a passenger on the airlines almost every week since I live in a city over a thousand miles from work. I normally travel in my uniform and have noticed the most common question asked by passengers sitting next to me concerns what the flight attendant is telling us to do before we depart the gate.

On one of my commutes home the passenger next to me leaned over and said "do you mind if I ask you a question". "Of course not" I said. He then asks with a smirk on his face "Do we really have to put our tray tables up and seat backs in the upright position for safety?". I said "yes, because it makes it easier to evacuate the airplane if necessary". He then looked at me with a more serious tone and said "oh, I see."

Again, most of what we do is for your safety. For example most would argue that turning off cellular phones and electronic devices are not necessary because they read that they really don't interfere with the electronics on the airplane. I know first hand that cell phones do at times interfere with our communications. As far as other electronic devices, until we have a definitive answer as to whether they interfere or not with the airplanes electronics, we will still have to turn them off. Personally, I would love to keep my electronic reading device on during taxi and take off but until they say otherwise I'll have to turn it off.

Service With A Smile : How Treating the Flight Attendants With Respect Can Make Your Flight More Enjoyable.

A Flight Attendant is an important job at the airline because they are ambassadors for the airlines they work for and are the person you will be in contact with most during the flight. They must relate all the safety information but they also must be service oriented.

During the flight the attendants normally call us on the flight deck to check on us. I can normally tell if they are having a rough time with the passengers in the cabin. If they sound flustered I usually ask "so is everyone behaving in the back". Then the truth comes out.

"The person in 12C is being rude". My answer always is "do you need assistance or do we need to call someone on the ground to help out?" Normally the flight attendant says "oh no they are just being rude. But I tell you I'm just doing a minimal service so I don't have to deal with that person".

It should go without saying that if you are rude or disrespectful to the flight attendant then you should expect a reciprocal level of service. But in most cases the person gets more frustrated because they notice they are not being checked on as often.

How Disruptive Behavior Affects The Safety Of Flight

Being rude and being disruptive are two different things. When someone is rude they normally hurt themselves but when a person is disruptive enough to warrant a call to the flight deck then this becomes a safety issue.

A passenger’s disruptive behavior or non compliance with the flight crew members instructions becomes a safety issue when it distracts the pilots from the task of flying the plane. There are two people in the flight deck for many reasons but primarily to ensure one pilot is always concentrating on flying the plane. The other pilot, known as the pilot monitoring or the non flying pilot, is working the radios and any other situations that might occur such as mechanical abnormalities, emergencies, and passenger disturbances.

While the Captain is communicating with the flight attendant and trying to assess the situation, the task of both flying the plane and monitoring the frequencies might then be placed upon the First Officer. This then gives the Captain time to communicate with the dispatcher, air traffic control, and decide if the disturbance warrants an emergency or a diversion from the original plan.

Passenger Disturbance

While flying to Asheville, North Carolina we were informed there had been an accident at the airport and they must clear the runway before we could land. Since it was going to take them a long time to clear the runway and we did not have enough fuel to hold we decided to go to Knoxville, Tennessee. On the way to Knoxville we had a failure of one of the airspeed indicators so we began working that problem.

As we approached Knoxville the flight attendant called us and said she had a passenger that was not willing to sit down during landing. I asked if he posed a threat and she said she didn’t think so because he said he had to stand because he was in pain due to a recent injury.

I then asked where the passenger was standing and she said next to the flight deck door. This was not good especially since security on airplanes is a much higher priority these days. I then asked if she could some how get him to sit down or at least move away from the flight deck. In the mean time we where beginning to run low on fuel and we had to land soon.

I then asked the controller if we could go directly towards the runway since we had a passenger that would not sit down and was near the flight deck door and additionally we where beginning to get low on fuel. The fuel was not so low that it could be an emergency but we didn’t want any delays getting to the airport. The controller declared us an emergency because of the passenger in the back refusing to sit down.

After we landed and taxied to the gate law enforcement was waiting for us. After the law enforcement officers boarded I looked at the first officer and said, "you know that was a pretty dangerous situation." We had many distractions, the mechanical issue, the low fuel situation, and then we had to deal with a passenger disturbance.

You never know what we might be doing in the flight deck at the time we must deal with a passenger disturbance. We may be trying to navigate around large thunderstorms or we might be working a mechanical issue, or simply trying to get a short cut to get to the airport sooner.

As you can see a passenger being unruly to the point where the pilots now must work on the disturbance can be a distraction from flying the plane and thus affects safety. A unruly passenger at the gate is very easy to deal with and has fewer implications towards the safety of flight compared to flying through the air at five hundred miles per hour.

Conclusion

Remember this during your next flight. It is true that the airlines have taken away much of your comfort items such as blankets and pillows. They have even started charging you for those items plus food and the extra bags you are carrying. We as flight crew members feel your pain because we also travel as passengers on our own airplanes.

Try to remember that we can’t do much about how the airlines are run. If you feel it necessary to take out your frustration on the flight attendant try to remember they are there for your comfort and your safety. When you make their life miserable you wind up making it miserable for yourself and those around you. If it gets to the point the pilot’s attention must be diverted to dealing with your bad behavior you take my attention away from flying thus increasing the level of safety you and the other passengers expect.

Flight attendants have been tasked with keeping you safe and comfortable during the flight. Most do a wonderful job of defusing problems you or the passengers around you are having, whether it be the wrong seat or being treated poorly by someone during their airport experience. I applaud those flight attendants that can turn a bad situation around and even have passengers laughing and singing their praise as they get off the flight.

My suggestion is that you try and leave what happened to you in the terminal behind and realize you finally are on your plane and are going to your destination. It might even help if you smile and say please and thank you. You might find you are getting an extra level of service you didn’t expect.

Welcome aboard. Sit back, relax, enjoy the flight, and let us provide you with the highest level of service and safety you deserve.

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I'll never forget training to become a flight instructor, not only because it is one of the toughest pilot certificates to achieve but also because of an interesting incident that happened during my training. While taxiing during a windy day I had the flight controls placed in the correct position to counteract the affects of the wind. The instructor turned to me and said you don't need to do that because you are going to become an airline pilot some day and taxiing with your flight controls in the proper position won’t matter.

Having never flown airliners I began to wonder if the theories of aerodynamics did not apply to larger planes. Furthermore, we were not flying a large plane and to prevent the strong winds from picking up one of my wings I needed to place my flight controls properly. My instructor’s attitude and disregard of basic airmanship spoke volumes about how some are training our future airline pilots and why some are having problems with training and flying the line.

Years later while training at an airline some of the pilots were having issues with the basic skills of flying such as straight and level, climbs, descents and turns. I could not believe what I was experiencing because most of the people I thought had come from a general aviation background and should have been able to control the aircraft using basic instrument skills.

What I realized is that while I had been flying aircraft with no automation and little or no advanced electronics, some of my contemporaries where flying highly automated and technically advanced aircraft. Some even joked that they had never seen the old "steam" gages, those that are gyroscopically driven, and would not know what to do if they were forced to fly them.

This is where a problem exists in both our training and our training environment. Pilots are only exposed to automation and electronic flight instruments and are now asked to fly an airliner that does not have electronic instruments or uses old vacuum gages as the backup to the electronic instruments.

When the electronics instruments fails

For example, most of the jets I fly have electronic attitude indicators that tell the position of the aircraft relative to the horizon. If the electronic flight information system fails I have an extra on the right side of the plane. If the second system fails then there is a standby attitude indicator in the center of the cockpit so that both pilots can see them.

The standby instruments are either electronic or the old "steam gages". If you don't have experience using the older equipment you may not be able to control the aircraft properly. This came to light recently when my friend was flying with a Captain at an airline that had traditional standby equipment.

During the flight both electronic attitude and heading reference systems failed on the Captain’s and the First Officer’s, or co pilot’s side. Since the Captain was not comfortable using the older airspeed indicator on the standby instruments he relied on the GPS to determine the approximate airspeed. Unfortunately, this is not an accurate indication of the airspeed and the pilot must make calculations using the current windspeed and direction and then subtracting or adding your ground speed.

If the Captain had been comfortable using the standby attitude indicator in the aircraft then he could have simply read the airspeed off the standby airspeed indicator and slowed the aircraft down. After landing, the aircraft had to go through a mechanical inspection to determine if the aircraft structures such as the flaps had succumbed to an over stressed condition due to over speeding the aircraft. Again this could have been determined by simply looking at the airspeed indicator.

In some situations such as the Air France 447, all airspeed indications became inaccurate. This is a difficult situation but with practice pilots can learn how to control the airplane without any airspeed indications.

All pilots should have experienced loss of airspeed indications during their initial training . Unfortunately, it could be many years since practicing a loss of all airspeed indications. Next time you are in the simulator or with an instructor ask them if you could practice a loss of all airspeed indications. This should be practiced at all altitudes and airspeeds to avoid both a low speed and an over speed situation. If you fly often this exercise may not take very long since most pilots already know the pitch and power settings that will give them the performance they desire in the aircraft.

When the autopilot fails.

I like automation because it increases our situational awareness, decreases pilot work load, and decreases fatigue by giving the automation the ability to control the aircraft. But even if the auto flight system is controlling the aircraft, the pilot is still flying the aircraft. The pilot must always monitor the systems to determine if they are working properly and are producing the outcomes desired.

When the automation fails we must be able to control the aircraft manually using our flying skills. It is easy to identify those pilots who rely heavily on the auto pilot. When they turn it on they become much more relaxed. Over the last decade airplanes with sophisticated automation include both small and large airplanes. Therefore, you are seeing pilots rely on automation in all levels of flying from private pilots to airline pilots.

You Will Fly Based On How You Train.

We can prevent many accidents by the way we train and how we fly. The ability to control the aircraft properly affects all levels of flying. The airlines are affected as is demonstrated in the Colgan crash in Buffalo, New York. Accidents statistics also point to a high rate of accidents amongst smaller planes due to the pilot’s inability to control the plane during landing or in the clouds.

So how do you prevent yourself from getting into this undesirable situation when trying to control the airplane either manually or using conventional instruments? The answer is both training and practice. I know the government is trying to intervene and attempt to mandate new pilot standards and training standards to reduce the number of accidents, but we as pilots must act based on real world scenarios and not a bureaucrat’s perception of a problem.

The problem with training is more a quality issue than a quantity issue which is why it is important to receive quality training. I feel many of our problems in the aviation industry stem more from a lack of professionalism than from a lack of training. A professional pilot whether flying their own personal aircraft or with many passengers on board must constantly evaluate their level of flying skills. If you feel one of your skills is lacking or is weak you must practice to bring your skills back to a proficient level and ask for additional training if needed.

Pilot instructors must also demand a high level of professionalism and proficiency from their students. Instructors must evaluate the pilot based on their level of skill and not on their personality. Some pilots with inadequate flying skills are pushed through training because they were well liked by the instructor. My feeling is if you truly liked the pilot you would do everything you can to help them become a better pilot for both their safety and the safety of others.

As we have all heard, practice makes perfect. If you are uncomfortable flying with the autopilot off then maybe you should start turning it off and hand flying. If you are at the point that you are having difficulty flying the plane without the autopilot it is up to you to ask for additional training. I'm sure your instructor would admire your level of professionalism and respect your honesty in your self evaluation.

If you fly for an airline, charter, or corporate flight department and wish to get additional training ask a more experienced pilot to assist you in increasing your proficiency. I know many pilots would be hard pressed in doing this for fear of losing their job. If you are in an environment where you have a union, go to them and ask them how to approach the situation. If you have time during your next recurrent training ask the instructor to review something you are not comfortable with. And as a last resort you may want to take the time and money to get additional training on your own.

Conclusion:

Airplanes both large and small have become technically advanced and highly automated. Although this contributes to safety by increasing our situational awareness, and reducing fatigue, it has lead to a degradation in our basic flying skills. These flying skills assist us when the automation or the advanced electronics fails because this is when we must rely on our basic flying skills.

We need to both train and practice flying without the automation and using more conventional instrumentation if installed in the aircraft. This can be done both in changes to training and in pilots taking the initiative of flying without the automation.

So next time your electronic equipment fails and the automation is not available you can do what I did during a flight where this happened to me; fly the airplane! If you are feeling weak in any area of flying then ask an instructor or more experienced pilot for some help in making you a more proficient pilot. This has helped me tremendously in the past.

Safe Flying!

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I know what you are thinking. What does flying and root canals have anything to do with each other. The other day I discovered they had more in common than I realized.

It was the first day of the annual AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. I have always wanted to attend AirVenture and thought I would make it this year, but instead of looking at airplanes I had a root canal. I love air shows because I always increase my knowledge of flying and aviation, but to my amazement I learned about flying in the endodontist’s chair.

It is always a humbling experience when learning new insights about our own avocation from someone who knows nothing about flying but much about professionalism. The endodontist knew I was nervous about having a root canal and as I listened and watched her during the procedure I was amazed at how well she could relate her experience with patients with my flying passengers.

One of the negative effects of being a pilot for a long time is that we learn to be skeptical to a fault because we are concerned about our safety. As pilots we must trust those that keep us in the air but also must verify what the mechanics have done to our airplane or weather briefers have told us about our flight.

How To Instill Trust

As I sat in the chair waiting for the Novocain to begin working the dentist made a very poignant statement. She said that as an airline captain I must normally feel like I am in control but in this situation I am not. She then went on to tell me how she felt a little nervous when she was flying once but then said to herself that she must trust in the fact that the people up front flying the plane know what their doing and that she would have to trust in their ability to fly her to their destination safely.

I said to myself "Wow, this lady sure has a great bedside manner. I wonder what I could learn from this professional and relate it to how I treat my passengers and students." I then began to focus my attention more on her actions than the procedure she was performing.

Whether we are taking passengers flying or students up for their first lesson we must gain and maintain the trust of the student or the passenger. Integrity and a high level of professionalism is very important.

The first step in instilling trust is relating to the student or passenger before the flight our qualifications and experience. When I walked into the doctors office I noticed all the plaques she had on the wall. The wall full of graduation certificates and other professional qualifications was a good indication this person has the qualifications to work on my teeth.

As an airline pilot it is assumed that I have the qualifications to fly because I'm the one wearing the Captains uniform, but when I am at the airport flying my friends in my airplane or while instructing I can show my qualifications in other ways. I visit flight schools and fixed based operators all over the country. I also visit friends homes and hangars at various airports.

Many flight schools display the qualifications and any special awards or accomplishments on the walls and in the offices. If you are an instructor and have achieved the Master designation then display that in the lobby or your office.

If you are a pilot who takes up passengers on a regular basis, then display all your accomplishments on your wall at home or in the office. If you are involved in the FAA wings program, print and display your wings certificate. If you have accomplished any training display these also. You never know who your next passenger might be and displaying your flying certificates and accomplishments might instill more trust in your skills.

Dress For Success

As the doctor came into the room she had a mask below her chin and scrubs as if getting ready for a medical procedure. This put me at ease because in my mind this is how a doctor should dress and fit my preconceived notion of what she should look like.

It is amazing how important it is to present a professional image to the public and how we psychologically judge people based on what they are wearing. I remember an airline that experimented with allowing their pilots to wear polo shirts and slacks. But the majority of the passengers did not like it very much and began questioning whether they were real pilots.

The uniforms we wear as pilots are more for our passengers than for us. As a pilot taking someone for a ride in an airplane for the first time, I find you can instill trust and your level of professionalism if you arrive neat and clean. Of course what you are wearing doesn't make you a better pilot but it does put your passengers at ease because they will relate your appearance and professional attitude to the way you are going to fly the airplane.

Words Have Consequences

During a follow up procedure with the dentist and before she started she said "I should be ok, and not feel any pain." Maybe she noticed I was paying attention to everything she was saying because she then immediately said that she must be careful of what she says because people might interpret this statement differently. Boy was she right.

One day while preparing for a flight I didn't notice a passenger hearing me talking to our dispatch and what I said really made the person nervous. All the passenger heard me say was "I don't think we are going to make it there". What the passenger didn't realize is that I was looking for another alternate because the one chosen by the dispatcher was forecast to be worse than expected. So I had to explain this to the passengers and as my bad luck would have it we had to divert.

Unfortunately in the back of the passenger’s mind, she still remembered what I said to the dispatcher and when I saw her later she said "I guess you where right about us not making it". She then went on to tell me she was teasing but what if someone had heard what I said without the explanation.

Words are very important when we are briefing passengers. It is very important to brief the passengers on the emergency equipment and how to exit the aircraft but we must be careful how we brief our passengers. I nearly jumped out of my skin one day when I heard a friend briefing his passengers. He started off by saying "In case we crash you should open the door....." The word "crash" should never be used around an airport let alone a briefing.

There are some great words as substitutes to get your point across without terrifying your passengers. One example is to use the word "bumps" instead of "turbulence". And for those doing a safety briefing concerning exits the best way to start the briefing is "in the unlikely event of an off airport landing, the exits work this way...."

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

As the dentist proceeded with the procedure she would tell me when I might feel something or hear a noise that was foreign to me. Then when I heard the noise I was not scared by the sudden change in my environment. When we take someone flying for the first time or if we are teaching stalls I have found it is a good idea to talk through the whole maneuver in a very calming voice telling them what is about to happen.

During a passenger’s first flight let them know you are about to turn and that you will be slowly lowering the wing because this is how a plane turns. When you begin the turn do it slowly and with as little bank as necessary. After a while of informing your passenger what you are doing and then actually doing it you will gain the trust of your student or passenger.

With some of the planes I fly, the stall horns are loud and it scares the passengers when it comes on especially during landing. Right before we land I will let my passengers know that they will hear a horn right before we touch down and that this is normal. When it goes off they see there is no reaction from me and that this must be the normal horn I was talking about.

Know Your Planes Noises

Before your next flight think about all the unique sounds your plane makes and make a list. Next try to explain each of these noises as if you where talking to someone flying for their first time. I’m sure passengers will appreciate your placing them at ease.

Post Flight

After my root canal was finished I said to myself that wasn't bad at all. Heck I have had gas pains worse than that experience. Before I left the office the endodontist then explained what had happened during the procedure, what I might experience as far as any discomfort, and what medicines I must take before my next visit.

As a pilot flying someone for their first flight or a flight instructor finishing a lesson it is important to include a post flight conversation. For the person who has flown the first time just ask them if they have any questions or comments about their experience. It is important to make them feel comfortable about asking you questions and that you will not ridicule them no matter how simplistic they feel the question is. Just like the dentist giving me simple instructions after my procedure we cannot assume that everyone even remotely knows even the basics of flying and they should feel free to ask.

As an instructor this is one of the most important parts of the lesson since the student will have the lesson fresh in their mind. Also, when you give them an assignment for the next lesson you have a chance to show them the importance of homework and how it relates to this lesson and the next.

Conclusion

Although I missed Oshkosh because I had to get a root canal, I was able to get a lesson on flying and professionalism from a unsuspecting source, my endodontist. It is humbling to learn from someone who is not even associated with your industry but has valuable insights. There are always opportunities to learn in life especially from professionals in other industries. What can you learn from people you respect in other industries and how can you apply their level of professionalism to your flying?

Safe Flying!

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In this episode, Victoria explains how she hired a flight instructor and aircraft on a daily rate in order to complete her Commercial Certificate flight training, Rick did his very first flight review and shares the full story in detail, Carl tells us how you can avoid doing a flight review ever again by substituting other training and proficiency courses, the FAA Wings Program, Special Use Airspace, our Picks of the Week and much, much, more!

Complete Episode 6 Details:

- Flight Reviews
- About the Garmin G1000 Glass Flight Deck
- Flight Review Substitutes
- The FAA Wings Proficiency program
- Navigating Special Use Airspace

Picks Of The Week

Carl – AirNav.com iPhone App
Victoria – Women in Aviation International Flight Scholarships
Rick – Brightline Flight Bags
Len – iFlightPlanner.com

Thanks for listening to the Stuck Mic AvCast and don’t be bashful, help us spread the love by Liking Us on Facebook! As always, you can submit your questions and feedback via blog comments, Twitter, Facebook, or email and we’ll be sure to answer them on the air!

Listen To The Podcast:

[audio:https://expertaviator.com/podcasts/Stuck_Mic_AvCast_-_Episode_6_-_Flight_Instructor_Day_Rates-Flight_Reviews_And_Substitutes-Flying_Scholarships.mp3]

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As is typical in the busy New York area I was waiting near the gate for my flight to arrive. One of the ramp workers saw me in my uniform and excitedly announced he was getting started with flight training soon. His excitement was contagious and I could not help getting excited for him and his dream of becoming an airline pilot.

After we began talking I mentioned I still fly general aviation aircraft and share his excitement about flying every time I get in the air. He then turned to me and asked if there was any advice I had for someone starting flight school and are there any books he can read to better prepare for class. I said I sure did have advice.

Be Prepared

To make your flight training more productive and less expensive you should do two things, prepare yourself and prepare your friends and family. Preparing yourself means becoming immersed in all that is aviation, such as reading this blog, and reading any materials the school sends you before you get to class.

Flight training can be intense and progress at a fast pace especially if you are enrolled in an accelerated training program. While you are training you will need to concentrate on your studies and your flying. Your days can be up to twelve hours long including flight training sessions, simulator sessions, ground school, and studying.

The first person you should talk to concerning this is your family and friends. Explain your dream of learning to fly and that you will need to concentrate on your studies. This may mean missing out on certain family functions or holiday parties. It also includes not being able to hang out with your friends as often as you would like.

It is also important to let your family and friends know your unavailability is only a temporary situation. You may even ask them to help you by having them check up on your progress and ask for words of encouragement.

Before you arrive at the flight school you should read all materials they send you and study everything you can before you arrive. Many times the training materials will include items to memorize. One of the best ways to get ready for training whether flying a 747 or a single engine aircraft is to have all numbers and procedures memorized before you arrive at training.

What to Read : Blogs, Books, and Magazines.

I recommend becoming an avid consumer of all things aviation. You will find the more you read the more you learn. It is amazing the many new formats of educational learning materials. Now wherever we go we can learn something about aviation.

Free learning

There are many commercially available materials that are wonderful in teaching you how to fly. If you are preparing to attend a flight school they may provide books and training materials in advance of your first lesson. If not there are some great free learning opportunities on the internet some of which you can download.

There are many free websites that include free information about flight training and careers. The site you are reading right now is one of them. Many of these websites also have podcasts so that you can listen on your mobile device. If you subscribe to many of the educational aviation newsletters, websites, podcasts, and YouTube channels you will find yourself becoming immersed in all things aviation.

Of course I endorse podcasts since I am cohost of the Stuck Mic Avcast where we talk about learning to fly, loving to fly, and living to fly. There are also many other podcasts out there that share their knowledge and all you need to do is click here to see the aviation podcasts available for free on Itunes.

There are also some free books for download that I feel every pilot should have. They are available on the FAA website and include the Airplane Flying Handbook, Federal Aviation Regulations, Aeronautical Information Manual, and the Pilots Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge.

Books and Magazines

All these free books are available in a more readable format and can be purchased as a hard copy or an electronic book. Here are the books I suggested as listed at Amazon.com:

Magazines are also a great way to keep up with current events and learn flying techniques from knowledgeable instructors. One of my favorites is Flight Training Magazine and if you go to their website you might be eligible for a free six month subscription. Other magazines I read which increase my flying knowledge include, AOPA Pilot, EAA Sport Aviation, Flying Magazine, and Aviation Safety. There are many more that I read, however for techniques in mastering the basics of flying these are my favorite.

Conclusion

If you are getting ready to start your training to become an airline pilot I congratulate you because you are obviously a person who is not afraid of a challenge and taking the initiative to start flight school is commendable. You will find you will learn lessons during flying that you can use in your every day life especially concerning decision making.

There are many things you can do to prepare yourself for your upcoming flight training. Most importantly you should prepare your family and friends letting them know you are about to embark on a challenging journey towards obtaining your pilot certificate. The next most important thing to do is prepare yourself by learning as much about flying as you can. Below is a list of links to sites I feel are the most helpful towards your preparation for flight training.

Welcome to the amazing and magical world of flying!

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There was a time not long ago when we began talking about this “new” technology that would not rely on ground based navigational facilities. It would let us fly anywhere and depict our position with amazing accuracy. This new technology was called Global Positioning System or GPS and is now used by everyone from parents driving their children to sporting events to children finding the closest game store using their smart phones.

When GPS was first conceptualized most did not realize the many ways it could be integrated into our everyday life. As we know the FM based Non Directional Beacon (NDB) is not always reliable and the least accurate type of approach to use. Those of us flying at small out of the way airports thought the NDB was a God send because we could get home even if it wasn’t VFR.

Due to inaccuracies of NDB’s I often found myself having to land at an alternate airport even thought the ceilings may have been 800 feet. With GPS and WAAS, Wide Area Augmentation System, I can now fly a precision approach down to 200 feet to airports in areas that five years ago I could not get into. Now I ask “What would I do without GPS?” when a few decades ago I never heard of GPS.

Similar to the development of GPS many of us don’t really understand  ADS-B and how it can benefit us. I think you will find, as I did, that when ADS-B is fully operational we will find both safety and operational benefits.

What Is ADS-B

Mode C Traffic Advisory on Steroids.

Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast, ADS-B, service is being implemented in the national airspace system and as its name implies it relies on input from aircraft. Properly equipped aircraft will transmit their position, velocity, and altitude approximately every second. This data is then transmitted or broadcast to all aircraft.

ADS-B equipped aircraft will be able to read this data and display the position of other traffic. Similar to Mode-C equipped aircraft ADS-B is not dependent of ground based facilities. An ADS-B equipped aircraft near another ADS-B equipped aircraft can read this data directly from the other aircraft’s transmission.

This is like having a Mode-C traffic advisory software on steroids. Of course this information is only advisory in nature but it sure widens our traffic awareness. It has been proven in tests that we see traffic quicker if we know the direction and altitude of the traffic before we begin scanning the horizon.

Traffic Alert Collision Avoidance Systems, TCAS, are great tools for avoiding collision between two aircraft in flight. A large drawback of TCAS is the fact it is very expensive and is normally only installed in small jets and airliners. TCAS has limitations as to its range from the receiving aircraft.

TIS was the next best relatively affordable option for smaller aircraft in that it required the instillation of a Mode-S transponder and is now integrated into much of the new avionics packages. One shortcoming of TIS through Mode-S is that it is available in terminal areas and only those that have the capability. But eventually these will go away.

Through the Next Generations Air Traffic Control System, NextGen, ADS-B will be made available in a much wider area including almost the entire United States. Furthermore, with ADS-B you will be able to see aircraft many more miles away than any of the current traffic information systems.

With the ability to know an aircraft’s position many miles before it comes into our field of view, we can now begin looking in the direction of the other aircraft and begin planning accordingly many miles before a potential conflict. ADS-B will make looking for traffic much easier.

Free Weather All The Time

Another wonderful benefit of ADS-B is the weather broadcast over the Flight Information System, FIS-B. Free of charge the system currently transmits Aviation Routine Weather Reports (METARs), Special Aviation Reports (SPECI), Terminal Area Forecasts (TAF), and NEXRAD Radar Maps.

A New ACARS System or Text Messaging For The GA Pilot

Most air carriers and some other operators use a communications system that can send text messages between the aircraft and the company’s flight operations personel. The system is referred to as the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System. The ACARS system can be set up to automatically send and receive information such as time of takeoff and landing, weather information, and send aircraft system status information.

With the new Flight Information System Data Link, FISDL, commercial vendors can provide their customers with data such as customized weather and other tracking information such as the ACARS system used today. Since the communication system is provided by the government, many different vendors can supply data along the same network. This will give the user the option to retrieve their weather from various sources such as is available with many GPS devices today.

Limitations

The NextGen air traffic control systems will provide some valuable enhancements to safety and communications with the pilot in command but there are some limitations. First, and most importantly the current system of traffic avoidance is for informational purposes and will not provide for any avoidance maneuvers but it sure is nice to know who is out there.

Weather and other textual information can be provided through the Flight Information System (FIS-B) implemented by the FAA within ADS-B but there is a line of site limitations. There are two methods of data transmission Universal Access Transceiver, (UAT) and 1090 ES.

The Universal Access Transceiver (UAT) is part of the ADS-B network and operates on 978 MHz which is a line of site frequency. Stations are being installed throughout the United States to transmit FIS-B information but complete coverage will be a few years coming. The UAT is intended for aircraft operating below twenty four thousand feet.

For aircraft operating above eighteen thousand feet a 1090 MHz extended squitters are being installed. Again these are line of site devices. For the pilot operating the aircraft the system essentially operates similarly and will not require action by the pilot to use either system.

Conclusion

ADS-B when it has been fully implemented is definitely for me. Two of my favorite features while flying general aviation will include the ability to receive weather and traffic information that is not only radar dependent. Both of these will increase situation awareness and safety. After the demonstration given by the FAA on NextGen and ADS-B I am optimistic this will be large leap forward in the enhancement of safety.

After researching ADS-B and having the FAA sell me on the system I find myself asking two questions. Why didn’t we do this sooner and how much is it going to cost me to install it in my aircraft?

With a 2013 schedule nationwide coverage of the Flight information service and the anticipated decrease in the cost of the equipment in my aircraft, I am now looking strongly at replacing XM weather with the new flight information system. I hope to have a better understanding in a future article as to the cost and capabilites of FIS-B in comparison to XM weather.

As someone who enjoys all things technical I was excited to see ADS-B advertised for use on the Ipad. Now that gets me excited about the future of ADS-B and its various implementations in our cockpit.

Safe Flying!

For More Information:

FAA ADS-B Website

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Episode #5 was all about you, an entire episode of answering listener mail. We had some great questions and submissions and really enjoyed taking time to answer them. Please continue to submit your questions and feedback via blog comments, Twitter, Facebook, and email and we’ll be sure to answer them on the air! And remember we have 2 flight instructors that can answer your flying questions, too.

In this show we chat about:

1. Using MotionX GPS iPad app for uncontrolled airport taxiway reference
2. Flying with the Anywhere Map GPS & Weather handheld
3. The Southwest Airlines Stuck Mic Tirade
4. All about Scenario Based Training
5. Flying Stabilized Approaches
6. A recommended NOAA weather service
7. Buying and flying turbo charged airplanes

Picks Of The Week – each of the co-hosts shares an aviation related product, service, and/or website that they’ve found useful

Victoria – Adventure Pilot
Rick – Hand E Holder
Carl – AirNav.com
Len – NFlightCam+

Listen To The Podcast:

[audio:https://expertaviator.com/podcasts/Stuck_Mic_AvCast_-_Episode_5_-_Stuck_Mic_Tirades_-_Scenario_Based_training_-_Stabilized_Approaches.mp3]

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It was a clear VFR day, winds were light and variable with a maximum speed of six knots. This was a perfect day for golf in a mountain resort in North Carolina. But what was to be a fun golf outing ended in tragedy. While landing at the fly-in community the plane bounced twice and attempted a go around. The plane then departed the runway destroying three airplanes and damaging two others. All aboard perished. My friend was to golf with them that day but fortunately he decided not to go.

Wanting to better understand the accident, I attempted to discuss the situation with my friend. I did not get very far due to the emotional pain which resurfaced when either the pilots name or the accident was mentioned, so I did my own research into the accident. After reading the NTSB report I discovered this was a go around accident, many of which end in a fatality as it did for my friend’s golf partner.

Landing Accident Is Safer Than A Go Around Accident

(click image to enlarge)

It comes as no surprise that the highest number of accidents occur during landing while transitioning from a three dimensional environment to a two dimensional one. In 2009 29.5 percent of all accidents were during landing. Even though these are the most numerous types of accidents, landing accidents only have a 1.7 percent risk of a fatality. Much of this is due to the aircraft speed being relatively lower and the aircraft control maintained until the impact.

Go arounds on the other hand are much different. Go arounds accidents although few in number, result in a 20 percent chance of fatality because of the uncontrolled nature and speed at which many of these crashes occur. So why don’t we practice more go arounds? Maybe because the number of go around accidents are very rare with only three percent of the total accidents attributed to go arounds. Or maybe we don’t realize that doing a go around improperly may not cause an accident but can cause damage to the airplane and an expensive maintenance bill.

Why we need to practice go arounds.

Even though few fatalities result from go arounds we seem to be doing a poor job when we execute a go around, especially in complex aircraft. This speaks volumes to both training and towards recurrent training. Don’t feel bad because airline flight crews also have difficulty performing go arounds.

I spend much of my time going between a jet and a single engine aircraft. Most of the go arounds I see in single engine aircraft have been better and I think it might be due to the fact that single engine pilots do more go arounds per hour flown. In the jet I might fly a thousand hours between go arounds but in the single engine it might happen every fifty to one hundred hours. And when I’m instructing they happen almost every day.

I find the more complex the aircraft and the more crew members involved in flying the aircraft, rejected landings have a lower probability of being performed properly. For example, I was flying a jet into Newark Airport in IMC, instrument meteorological conditions, and we where told to go around because we were to close to a Boeing 757 in front of us.

I pushed the thrust full forward and pitched up. I then asked the monitoring pilot for flaps retraction to the takeoff position. It is here that the person I was flying with froze. I could tell he was angry that we had to go around and knew he was now disengaged from flying the airplane.

As I called out the procedures for the monitoring pilot to perform I had to do most of the task myself until I finally said to him, listen don’t worry about why ATC made us go around, let’s fly the plane. Afterwards, we retracted the flaps and gear on schedule as the plane climbed and received vectors back to the airport for landing.

It not only is the pilot monitoring in a multi crew situation that can get in trouble. The flying pilot’s job is to control the plane. But as you will see the flying pilot can also become disengaged from the task of flying as is demonstrated in my next example.

On approach to Houston I was the monitoring pilot. On the ILS at about two thousand feet above the ground we were told to go around because we were too close to the 757 in front of us. I noticed the flying pilot doing nothing so that is when I said go around . Still he did not do anything but he did call for maximum thrust and to retract the flaps.

The only problem is we were still pointed towards the ground and a jet at maximum power with the nose down accelerates very quickly. So that is when I turned to him and said in a calm but direct voice, “could you please just point the nose up so we aren’t heading towards the ground”. I think this finally broke his translike state and he finally pointed the nose upwards.

How To Perform Better Go Arounds

As you can see pilots of all skill levels have problems with rejected landings so don’t feel bad if you might be experiencing a problem with the go around maneuver. To better prepare yourself I have a few suggestions. First, practice your rejected landings from all altitudes and positions during your approach to landing. Second, never expect a landing always expect a go around. Third, practice your procedures at home with a simulator or by visualizing the maneuver. By the way if you decide to practice while parked in your car you might want to look around and make sure no one is looking. They might think it is strange that you are calling for gear up. Oh and definitely don’t make those cool airplane noises, that always gets people’s attention.

Practicing Go Arounds

The more we practice a maneuver the more likely we will accomplish it correctly. Many times we practice a go around at the same altitude and airspeed, especially during instrument training. Typically we fly to a few hundred feet above the ground with the airport in front of us and then practice our go around. Although this is a great place to start we also need to practice the go around maneuver in other situations.

Next time you are practicing a rejected landing do it from many different altitudes and airspeeds. For example, practice go arounds after you put the first notch of flaps in for the approach prior to alignment with the runway. In this scenario I find many people forget to bring the flaps up until they realize the plane is not accelerating.

You should also be proficient in go arounds before the flare, as you pull the power to idle before landing, and as the wheels touch down.

For a complex aircraft you should practice go arounds in all configurations to include wheels down on final and just prior to putting the landing gear down. The procedure should be the same for all configurations. As a matter of fact there are three things I do in all airplanes that I fly so as not to forget anything.

Go Around Procedure

No matter what plane you fly you will need to complete three primary tasks:

Power Up- bring the power to full by moving the throttle or thrust lever forward. If you are not producing full power you may not have completed your before landing checklist so verify that the mixture and propeller controls are also full forward.

Pitch Up - make sure you are not heading towards the ground and rotate the airplane to a climb attitude. Don’t over rotate because you might stall but make sure you are climbing.

Clean Up - bring the flaps to the proper go around position. This will normally be around 10 to 20 degrees on most airplanes but consult your airplane operation handbook for the proper setting. After you are climbing this would be a good time to also get the gear up. Once climbing and at a safe altitude you will need to retract the remainder of your flaps. As you can tell this is a three step process in a complex airplane. Many instructors teach this procedure as Flaps, Gear, Flaps. The second flap retraction may also include opening the cowl flaps if you have them installed.

After you have powered up, pitched up, and cleaned up the airplane it is important to perform the after takeoff checklist. The checklist will catch the items you might have forgotten during the go around. I use a checklist but also back it up with an after take off checklist I have been using for years, the GIFT checklist. Gear, Indicated Airspeed, Flaps, Transponder and Throttles. You can read more about this check list by clicking here.

There are some common mistakes made during go around. First is not verifying full power. Maybe you have not pushed the mixture control or the propeller control all the way in. Some people as a habit push all controls forward. Most of the time this will work but at high altitude airports full rich mixture may not produce full power.

The second most common mistake I see is the pilot not reconfiguring or “cleaning up” the aircraft after initiating the go around. I spend much time in aircraft with 40 degrees of flaps and if you don’t retract the flaps to at least 20 degrees the airplane will not climb especially on a hot humid day. Also, after climbing I see many pilots forget to retract the flaps completely and then they overspeed the flaps. At the very least leaving the flaps down will burn extra fuel.

The same problem we have with flaps we also have with landing gear. Forgetting to bring the gear up may be a bigger problem because with many airplanes the gear must be retracted at a lower speed since the gear motors may not have enough energy to overcome the wind resistance. This is an awkward position to be in but if you find your speed above the gear retraction speed then you will need to slow and get the gear up.

Conclusion

The majority of airplane accidents are during landing and very few result in a fatality, whereas go around accidents have a much higher fatality rate. To reverse this trend we need to practice more go arounds, especially if you fly complex aircraft. This is true for pilots of all experience levels.

I encourage you to review your go around procedures in all the airplanes you fly. Afterwards, practice your procedures at home then take the plane up with an instructor and practice go arounds. You may be surprised at how difficult the maneuver is especially if it has been years since you practiced a go around.

Safe Flying!

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I haven't had a flight review in over ten years but I fly almost every day. Before you get on the phone to the local FSDO to report me for a violation of the regulations remember there are many activities that can substitute for a flight review.

I was reminded of this when my friend Rick Felty told me that he did well on his recent BFR. What he was referring to was what we used to call the Biennial Flight Review and has now been changed to the term Flight Review.

The FAA changed the name of the BFR to Flight Review but many still use the term BFR because old habits change slowly. The term Flight Review reflects a more accurate description of the type of recurrent training required for proficiency and promotes more frequent training.

The regulations under 61.56 require a flight review to have been accomplished in the 24 months prior to your acting as pilot in command. There are substitutions for the flight review which will make you a more competent pilot, learn more, and in some cases it will cost you less than a regular fight review. Before we go into that lets review what a flight review is.

The flight review must:

Be given in an aircraft for which that pilot is rated and by an authorized instructor.

Include logbook endorsed from an authorized instructor who gave the review certifying that the person has satisfactorily completed the review.

Include a minimum 1 hour of flight training.

Include a minimum 1 hour of ground training.

Include a review of the current general operating and flight rules of part 91.

Include a review of those maneuvers and procedures that, at the discretion of the person giving the review, are necessary for the pilot to demonstrate the safe exercise of the privileges of the pilot certificate.

Substitutions:

Glider pilots may substitute a minimum of three instructional flights in a glider, each of which includes a flight to traffic pattern altitude, in lieu of the 1 hour of flight training required.

Flight Instructors who have completed a renewal of a flight instructor certificate under the provisions in Sec. 61.197 need not accomplish the one hour of ground training.

How To Never Do A Flight Review Again

Additional training has proven to make you a safer and more competent pilot. The FAA recognizes this and allows us to substitute certain training for the flight review.

Substitutions for the flight review:

Be a student pilot undergoing training for a certificate and have a current solo endorsement as required by 61.87.

Pass a pilot proficiency check conducted by an examiner, an approved pilot check airman, or a U.S. Armed Force, for a pilot certificate, rating, or operating privilege need not accomplish the flight review.

Satisfactorily accomplished one or more phases of an FAA sponsored pilot proficiency award program.

Pilot Proficiency Check

Thinking of getting that instrument rating or excited about flying on the water and think sea planes look like fun. Once you get your new rating or pilot certificate this can substitute for the flight review. In addition you can use your passing the exam as credit towards your FAA Wings.

Not in the Wings program? It is simple to sign up for and is fun and educational. Read more about the Wings program below.

For those who must pass a proficiency check for the operator you work for, be it an airline or charter operation, you can substitute this check for a flight review. The proficiency check will also count towards the FAA Wings Program.

FAA Wings Program

The FAA Pilot Proficiency Program, or Wings program, is one of my favorite FAA sponsored activities. The FAA along with the aviation industry has realized recurrent training reduces the accident rate dramatically.

The Wings program includes both learning activities and flight tasks to be accomplished for credit towards obtaining one of the levels in the Wings program. After completing a level of the Wings program you may substitute this completion for the flight review.

It is easy to sign up for the program and is free. The FAA safety seminars count as credit towards obtaining a level of the Wings so if you have been participating in these seminars you should sign up so you can get credit.

I encourage pilots who fly charter or for the airlines to also become involved with the program especially if you are planning on getting back into general aviation. Your proficiency checks can be used as credit towards the Wings program.

To learn more about the FAA Wings program go to FAASafety.gov. And click on register. I will also be producing some instructional videos on how to use and navigate around FAASafety.gov.

Conclusion

The flight review is the minimum requirement set forth by the FAA. Using the substitutions for the flight review I have described above will make you a more proficient pilot, in some cases cost less, and most importantly you will be constantly learning.

At a minimum I hope you will sign on to the FAASafety.gov website and set up a profile with the Wings program. If you have any questions concerning the Wings program please feel free to contact me. Look for future blog posts on how to use the Wings program and their website.

Safe Flying!

For More Information:

Section 61.56 Flight Review

AOPA’s Pilot’s Guide To The Flight Review. Click To Download PDF.

FAA Wings User Manual. Click To Download PDF.

FAA Guide To Conducting An Effective Flight Review. Click To Download PDF.

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