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Staying proficient and Current
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Contents:

Judgement; …New pilot; ...Upward Transition; …Practicing Precision; …Old pilot's survival kit; ...Is the Pilot 'Good'?; ...Generic Aircraft; ...Desirable Traits of a Pilot; ...Judgment; ...Proficiency; ...Paper requirements of pilot; ...Carry Passengers; …Passenger information sheet; ...A passenger has no right; ...More than just staying airborne; ...Private Pilot's First Flight; ...Frequency Cards; …You as the Instructor; …Flying at a Higher Level; …What It Takes; ...Flight Review; ...Instrument Proficiency Review; …C-172 Checkout; …

Judgment
The crux of a successful flying career is the use of good judgment. The pilot's omnipresent prerogative is to make selective safe decisions. There are, to my way of thinking, two classes of safe decisions, the first class is in the foreseen future as revealed in preflight planning, preflight, pilot proficiency and aircraft performance. The second class of safe decisions lies with the unforeseen events related to weather, aircraft performance, and pilot capability.

Ideally, every instructor pilot in the past will have exposed his students to the wealth of experience he has acquired along with the accompanying judgmental sequences. However, this is not an ideal world nor does the economics of flight instruction provide the opportunity to adequately cover both classes of 'safe decisions' mentioned previously. Textbooks, videos, ground instruction and flight instruction are primarily directed to the foreseeable needs of the student pilot.

Unfortunately, the unforeseeable class of experience constitutes a vast area of judgmental opportunities for which there is only limited simulated exposure for the general aviation student. What I see as a critical need in aviation training is directly related to the way the FAA and NTSB second-guesses all of the judgment decisions leading to every accident investigated. I read about hundreds of aircraft accidents every year, only a few have fully developed sequential analysis of decisions leading to the accident. The second-guessing should include how variations of the decision making process could have changed the results.

What is needed is a programmed curriculum such as is available in the airline simulators for general aviation pilots. With the latest interactive video and computer technology I see the judgment situation capable of radical improvement necessary. Perhaps, actual flight videos could be made with a network of scenarios to describe how an accident chain grows, how it can acquire branches leading to different results or broken entirely. I can see the potential development be one of multiple screens hydra-heading into other screens where interactive decision making results in multiple decision-making possibilities and unexpected consequences. The greatest single in improvement in flight safety is possible if we can only find a radical way to improve decision-making.

--Recurrent pilot training and seminars can influence Flight safety and decision making.
--We should find a better way to interactively share flight experience.
--Pilots need to find way to share experiences by flying together.
--Pilots should broaden their experiences by flying to new places at different times.
--Pilots should have a continuous reading and learning program.
--Aircraft checkouts should be comprehensive rather than 'sweetheart' rides.
--Learning the right-way the first time should be the only way.
--Unlearning is the most expensive and dangerous way to improve flying.

There is no question that all pilots, organizations, and government agencies need to work on improving decision-making judgment as a critical adjunct to flight safety. We need to utilize newer resources and technology since the human factor has neared its limits of traditional training, proficiency and experience. The economic limits of time, effort and practice constrain traditional methods.

New Pilot
New pilots seem to think that on passing the practical test, they are expected to know everything. Not so! However, you can never again use ignorance as an excuse. A pilot must know the numbers for his aircraft performance. Failure to know the numbers and to have them accessible is grounds for an FAA violation.

Hopefully, you have learned to be an assertive pilot in command. Believe in your instruction. Believe that your survival depends on doing the right thing. Be prepared to question ATC if what is suggested seems beyond your capability. You will be able to survive flying if you do as you have been taught. Stay with one airplane type or manufacturer and instructor if at all possible. Make flying a part of your personality. Do not accept weak training tolerances in airspeed, altitudes, heading, or control of yourself even if the instructor is permissive.

Your mastery of basic skills will make all future lessons more enjoyable. As a teacher I was never 'easy' on my students. As a flight instructor I try to set standards as high as the student can tolerate. Just yesterday I had a student make two superb landings in a C-172. She was as pleased as was I. As we taxied in I told her how pleased I was but added that I would have preferred not being four feet to the left of the centerline. A student trained to accept wide tolerances in procedure and performance is doomed forever to being less than his best.

An instructor can usually point out an area that needs improvement no matter how well a pilot performs. Flying without enjoyment and safety makes fear a backseat passenger. Good preflight instruction removes the fearful surprises that lie in wait for every unsuspecting student. The more you enjoy flying the easier it is to become a frequent flyer. Frequent flying reinforces your learning and skills.

Fear lives in a bucket of misunderstanding under a sink. Knowledge and empathy will work together to remove the bucket and spread its contents into the light. Teaching flying imparts not only education but personal confidence as well. A good teacher gives of himself and his love for his field of education.

After becoming certified, the pilot must continue to keep the big flying picture filled with current data. Failure to stay knowledgeable and current is becoming prohibitively dangerous. The exceptional pilot avoids the exceptional situation that might require exceptional piloting. Exceptional piloting is reserved for exceptionally unavoidable situations.

Besides intellectual activity, flying requires that a pilot learn very specific motor skills. Every maneuver has a complex of specific motor skills. These skills are combined to make a maneuver possible. First the student must perceive the changes in sound, pressures and forces. Perceptions that are repeated enable the mind to acquire muscle memories that makes repetitive creation of the skills possible.

The skills required, as in a level turn, are a complex of motor skills that become consistent as to performance and result only through repetition. The ultimate application of a skill-maneuver complex occurs when the student is able to modify performance to a different situation. Modification of a skill-maneuver is a new creation. The student uses consistent skills to achieve a specific result. Only when the pilot can explain in his own words how he does what he does is he on the way to being able to explain, demonstrate and teach what he does.

With our new computer ability to determine consistency of performance there will be a greater opportunity to escape one
on one instruction and move into automated simulation. Performance will be evaluated and diagnosed by computer.

Upward Transition
There are special timing and performance skills that must be re-trained for a new in type pilot to benefit from a higher
performance aircraft. Faster comes at a cost but the effective cost can be reduced by efficient use of the performance
available. Use your speed for as long as you can. Minimize slow speed operations. Practice your short approaches and
long landings.

1. Fly within 20 feet

2. Fly within 1/2 mile

3. Heading within 5 degrees

1. You and the Lemoore Naval Air Station. Has to do with getting local NOTAMS during air show season

2. Made a low approach lately? Don't make low pass at uncontrolled airports…FAA may be watching.

3. Acknowledging an ATC 'point-out' may be the wrong thing to do. You are then forever responsible for avoidance…Just say "looking".

4. Leaving the mixture lean during runup and unintended consequences. May be no mag drop if aggressively leaned.

5. Modesto Flight Watch dead-spot doesn't exist at 135.7. Find out the high altitude Flight Watch frequency for your area

6. Left is best for clearing turns. Following traffic will be passing to your right.

7. Talking beyond ATC…Give altitude when talking to ATC since it warns other aircraft.

8. Altitude avoidance…Fly at 2300, 2800, etc. Avoid 3000, 2500, etc.

9. Popular checkpoint avoidance…Report one north (south, east, west) instead of overflying

10. Checkpoint selection are too large, rivers too long

11. Surviving loss of ALL gyros and compass…Use the course/track numbers of the GPS to keep wings level

12. Safer CCR departures with mini-flight plan. Never straight out, downwind, etc. Always on course (airport).

13. Avection fog escape plan…Know the highest airport in the area.

14. Radiation fog escape plan…Descents can be made from overhead.

15. GCA exists…Navy still has this oral ILS available during emergencies.

16. Radar Surveillance Approach …Ask for one from nearest Air Force facility.

17. Call 689-2077 at CCR…This is local AWOS number. By phoning you can get density altitude.

18. AWOS via FSS… FSS will phone long distance to get you AWOS info before arrival.

19. NORDO procedures… At towered field use non-tower arrival procedure. Watch for lights.

20. NORDO practice…Take off student's headset and have him make NORDO arrival. while you monitor.

21. Changing into a survival mode…Be willing to change radio procedures and flying techniques for safety.

22. http://www.whittsflying… One million on the way…

23. Radio exercise…By prior arrangement have tower give you all that can happen in the pattern.

24. Rio Vista overflights…Know where and at what altitude to expect military aircraft. at 2000'

25. Six ways to Vegas…Two IFR routes at altitude. Four low level.

26. IFR Bay Tour…Not as inefficient as you might think.

27. Clearing the approach course and base…Turn your airplane when holding short of runways or taking off.

28. Is saving your life once enough?

While the basics of flying are the same as from "Stick and Rudder" days, aircraft have changed. Flaps are an integral part of the landing procedure. Slips have been relegated to a minor or at best infrequent role. A marginally adequate rudder inadequately used has replaced the massive rudder of yore. Control forces are often light enough so as not to require trim. Moderate misuse of the controls goes unnoticed. The nose high, three point landing attitude is a rarity.

Before you have reached the runup area an examiner can tell your chances of passing a flight test. The skilled pilot operates with finesse. Changes and corrections are smooth with velvet fingers. Use of brakes and power are equally gentle and in expectation not in reaction. Any use of controls contrary to the foregoing is the instructor's fault. Being rough with controls can compound the effects of turbulence. Three bumps where one would be sufficient. It often surprises a student to find that a light non-reactive touch seems to stop the bumps.

A pilot is more than a skillful 'driver'. A pilot exercises considered judgment developed from a planned series instructional mistakes of non-fatal result. The instructor expanding the experience opportunities can overcome weakness in judgment. Weakness in a pilot's sense of responsibility tends to be a character trait that exists in both automotive and aircraft accidents. Can responsibility be instilled? I'm still trying to find out.

Every flight begins, continues, and ends with a range of requirements, which are coped with in varying degrees by the capabilities of the pilot. All too often when I ask a student about how his flight went he is very pleased and self complementary. All too often, I have been airborne at the same time and have been made aware of deficiencies and problems by what I have seen and heard. I have even had these same pilots indicate to me that they never make mistakes or have problems until I get in the plane.

If for any reason you, the pilot, have a reason to believe that the flight may not go well, cancel. You can't face an in flight emergency if you don't depart. Don't let yourself be hurried. Allow plenty of 'delay' time in your flying. Most importantly, don't fly if you are not 100%. Patience is a quality and virtue of every 'good' pilot.

The 'good' pilot has a highly developed sense of what is 'right' when flying. All aspects of a given situation are being scanned by the senses so that anticipation is preceding events. Once a given anticipation is used another replaces it. The smoothness of a given flight maneuver is caused by anticipation not by reaction. Good piloting is more a matter of what you do with what you know than with just 'knowing'. Being smooth means that your adjustments are almost imperceptible be they of power, trim or control.

The smoothness of a 'good' pilot is often thought to be intuitive. Rather it is a matter of being organized. There is a plan for each maneuver and every situation. It may be a written checklist or mental but it allows the pilot to proceed methodically with prior knowledge of what comes next. Even when what is supposed to come next doesn't arrive or happen there is an appropriate fork in the organization to accommodate the problem just as though it was expected. There is an appropriate, no compromise with safety, decision for every situation. The greatest challenge of the student pilot, or for that matter any pilot, is learning to be the pilot in command. The ultimate end of all flight instruction is to create a pilot in command. You make decisions upon decisions upon decisions in every flight. The wrong decisions require corrective decisions. Right decisions are followed by right decisions. The pilot in command takes charge of the situation and accepts responsibility for the outcome. More than just learning to fly is your goal of becoming the pilot in command. You are assertive on the radio, smooth on the controls, and anticipate what's coming

Self-evaluation is very problematic because it requires setting criteria for both judgment and flying. Judgment is the difficult element. One way to evaluate is to have another uninvolved pilot to set up problems to challenge both judgment and flying. Flying tolerances can be set for altitude, headings, needles, smoothness and airspeed. Judgment begins with an estimate of 'attitude' of the pilot and his use of checklists, division of attention, knowledge of local checkpoints and terrain altitudes. Aircraft knowledge is an essential all the numbers related to size, performance, speeds, engine operation, weight, balance and minimums performance numbers at lower weights.

A good pilot never flies to a place his brain has not arrived to previously. The proficient pilot should accept the safety requirement of using a 5% safety margin for all performance for every month out of practice. If such a margin is not allowed it is just possible that the ego is writing checks on an account with insufficient funds. Even the less than proficient pilot must demonstrate a judgment level consistent with his safe application of flying skills. Cancellation or diversion is always the option available to the pilot and more likely to be chosen by the pilot with good judgment regardless of flying skills.

Every pilot can expect to be disappointed by unexpected occurrences or situations. A good pilot is not opposed to putting himself into a hazardous situation. Every takeoff, landing or IMC flight constitutes such a situation. Flying has inherent risks that must be faced to justify the utility standards of knowing hot to fly. Assessing the risks of flying and deciding whether to accept or refuse such risks is called risk management.

The imagination of the inexperienced pilot greatly magnifies apparent dangers. Risks of night flying are no greater for flying at night as in daylight, except that your choices when things go wrong are much more limited. The experienced pilot has climbed a mountain of many risk plateaus. Once attained the next risk plateau beckons. The hazards of the past insulate our concerns so we accept the risk. Our past success experience has given us confidence to take this new step.

From the C-150 through high performance aircraft a landing according to plan can only be achieved after the execution of a precise series of steps. Each plane carries it own flying visual reference points. Once you learn to see and apply the 'point' to a C-150 you have the basics for transferal of reading and application of the 'point' to higher performance planes. You are not learning just to land a C-150. Differing amounts of flaps will vary the visual point. Fewer degrees of flaps will flatten the approach and make judgment more difficult. Holding the nose wheel off the runway will be easier. The best parallel to this is the way we transfer our driving skills from car, to van, to truck.

Know operational procedures as they apply to the aircraft. If you are new to the aircraft, spend enough cockpit time before beginning to become familiar with the POH and all the knobs and switches. Direction and method of movement is just as important as location. Make the operating procedures into a checklist that includes those of the POH adapted to those you usually use. You will be behind the operation of the aircraft if your checklist does not include the information you need to know how to make the airplane do what you want it to do, when you should be doing it.

All the landing and takeoff numbers are based on gross weights, the pilot should know the percentage that his operating weight may be below that gross weight. An aircraft lighter than gross weight will 'float' or land fast when the approach speed is that book speed. The minimum approach speed of your aircraft should be referenced to the 1.4 Vso in the pattern and 1.3 Vso over the threshold. It is usual for these speeds to be based on the actual weight of the aircraft as Vref. If the aircraft is below gross then the stabilized approach speed and stall speed will be slower than the 'book'. Any excess speed will eat up useable runway. 90% of landing accidents are due to excess speed.

Dealing with performance limitations has always been crucial in the art of landing and takeoff. Limitations are determined by the POH at the time of aircraft certification. Aircraft weight, speed, Vso-(Minimum safe operating speed), and placards set these limitations. Airport conditions such as wind direction and velocity, surface conditions, approach corridor, surface conditions, and traffic set other limitations. The last set of limitations are determined by the pilot. Skill in power changes, attitude control (flaps), trim, coordination, speed control, pattern size, and runway alignment set these limitations.

--Acceptance that mistakes will happen and can be safely corrected. Able to take criticism is a necessary part of the learning process.
--Accepts the existence of past, present, and future mistakes and trains to handle difficult situations and increase ability to cope.
--Develop and maintain awareness that mistakes and problems are just waiting to happen. Treat them as learning opportunities.
--Immediate detection of mistakes, first their own, secondly crew members, then of others.
--Make the correction smoothly, uneventfully, with a minimum of effort. The proficient pilot won't let others notice either before or after.
--Advise others in the cockpit of the error and others outside the cockpit when appropriate.
--Has the strength of character required to say "NO" when conditions are marginal. Sees own weaknesses that require instruction and practice. Will learn from mistakes and seeks variety of experience.
--Has the strength of character required in guiding others in saying, "NO".
--Has the ability to make the quick, accurate judgmental decisions required for safe flying. Like go-around, 180, request vectors, etc.

As a pilot you are assumed to have good judgment by your non-flying acquaintances. Every successful flight stems from good judgment. 75% of flights that result in accidents are caused by poor pilot judgment. Much of your training has been directed toward developing your judgment in evaluating your attitude of:
--Being a pilot of skill, knowledge, performance
--Knowing aircraft parameters
--Knowing you physical and ego parameters
--Knowing how geography and weather influences flight
--Using before flight time to make every flight a safe flight

You have learned to keep a 'weathered' eye on the weather even when not flying. With practice you can learn the micro-weather of your area from the macro-weather around you. You watch the weather channel and learn to read radar and satellite pictures. More importantly, you learn to see that your judgment can be just as good as the 'cover my behind' presentation of the weather briefer.

As a new pilot you will react to a situation much differently than does an old pilot who has already anticipated the situation. The old pilot has no problem admitting deficiencies of skill or knowledge. He will duck under an overcast before getting caught on top. He will stay upwind of a moving storm and give twenty-mile clearance to a thunder cell. Any pilot regardless of flight time who lets ego jeopardize safety is heading toward an accident. You are not supposed to know everything and you never will. The more skeptical you are about yourself, your sources of information, the system, and your equipment the better. Become a knowledge seeker. Your end desire should be to become an old pilot. Life and flying are much the same; gather all the data you can, select the truth as revealed by the data; select from the available options; lastly, get lucky. Accidents usually follow a situation where the pilot waited too long to make a decision; where the pilot failed to know or find other options; and, where the pilot, had he known but where and how to seek help, would have found it.

Evaluate your go/no-go decisions on whether you see any merit in positioning yourself where you are playing the odds of luck. Is the reliance on luck really worth it? The no-go option is always a viable option and should be part of your pre-flight trip planning. Make arrangements ahead of time on the probability that after a three day
trip you may not be able to return as planned. The trip out may have been fine; the trip back is not necessary NOW. The limiting criteria are ceilings and visibility. If one of the other is a safety hazard the no-go decision reigns supreme.

VFR flight has suddenly become a stressful way to fly. The wrong decision can be the leading cause for an accident. Being an experienced pilot is not an advantage. Experienced pilots just begin by getting deeper into trouble than the inexperienced. The best analysis of whether to make a flight can best be answered by three questions.

1. Is this flight really necessary.
2. What happens if we don't go and for how long will it be significant. 3. Flexibility in making your judgment decisions is essential.

With pilot error causing at least 70% and perhaps as many as 80% of aircraft accidents, it is up to the pilot community to correct in training and post-training flight those pilots whose judgment is lacking. Some pilots are prone to making very bad flying decisions.

Re-treading a pilot who has flown before requires the renewal of a multiplicity of proficiency skills. Some skills are more likely to deteriorate than others. Emergency instrument skills fall the most. It is possible to make an instantaneous improvement in you flying just by carrying with you an attitude of openness and acceptance that you will need some refreshment of your skills.

Failures of equipment, knowledge or skill will happen at the worst possible moment. Participation in a proficiency program on a regular basis puts you into an accident prevention program of proven success. The avoidance of all mistakes is impossible. There are good things to be learned from mistakes if we will only think back and turn it into a learning experience.

Flying is much like other fields, you learn more and more about less and less until you finally know absolutely everything about nothing. The more you know the less certain you become about what you know and realize you don't know anything about what you don't know. Sounds confusing and it is. Flying is a continuous learning process. The mental processes required for flying dominates the physical by a wide margin. Even the four basics are 95% mental and only 5% performance. As you learn new ways and things to do many of your old mental and physical skills will slowly disappear. You must keep a planned renewal program or it will be too late.

Only by flying at frequent intervals (once a week) can proficiency be maintained. Proficiency begins by studying about flying. You must mentally prepare every flight. Don't wait until you climb into the cockpit to think about what you are going to do. Plan ahead. Every flight has potential emergencies. You must pre-prepare for them You need, in addition to the emergency checklist, a "what if" program for every flight situation from takeoff to touchdown. Get your priorities in a line ahead of time. The further you get away from flying with a more proficient pilot or instructor the more likely you are to be exposed to and develop bad habits. The worst thing that can happen in the development of bad habits is to 'get away' with a bad-habit mistake. Unlearning a bad habit is the most difficult learning and instructional problem you will ever face. When you fly by yourself you are the instructor and the student at the same time. Don't fly into a situation where the instructor side of your flight doesn't properly think through what the student side of you should know and do.

Deficiencies are difficult to miss. ATC steps in and covers a slip on your part. A recent example of this is when a new pilot neglected to give his full identification during a radar handoff. ATC responded with his full call sign. The pilot completely missed the significance of the subtle correction until I pointed it out. You aren't where you say your are and should be. You are late in staying clear from a certain airspace. The answer is simple. Ask someone for advice, look up the information and think it through before flying the next time. When things are performed correctly the first time the next correct performance and all after become easier and easier. Now comes the big BUT, when you know you don't know don't hesitate to let those who need to know that you are ready for help.

Good habits seem to be harder to develop than bad habits. Just why, I don't know but it seems to be the nature of things. You should be using every flight to make every maneuver smoother, more accurate and better every time. What you do must be adapted not only to your own flying program and skills but also to the aircraft and time in type. The real problem is that the pilot forgets or ignores once learned skills and develops a false sense of pilot proficiency.

A pilot needs to fly at least once a week to keep skills and judgment honed. There are continual changes both local and national that must be constantly adapted to your flying. Meeting the basic legal requirements is not the same as being current and proficient.

Re-treading a pilot who has flown before requires the renewal of a multiplicity of proficiency skills. Some skills are more likely to deteriorate than others. Emergency instrument skills fall the most. It is possible to make an instantaneous improvement in you flying just by carrying with you an attitude of openness and acceptance that you will need some refreshment of your skills.

Moving on to a higher performance aircraft requires that you have sufficient basic experience to recognize that increased complexity and speed will require a corresponding ability to plan and think further ahead of the aircraft. Get the best most experienced instructor you can and don't go out on your own until you know all you can know about the aircraft. You can't configure an aircraft without seeing ahead just where and when any changes are required.

A pilot new to a complex, high performance aircraft is a pilot most likely to be overloaded when things go wrong. Just by positioning the hand to conform to the orientation of a switch a pilot can improve his chances of confirming that the proper switch will be used. Every cockpit panel has the potential for some misuse of controls. A complex aircraft has a multiplicity of way things can go wrong.

The pace that you use in going from control to control has as much to do with correct selection as does the order or selection. You must be able to do what must be done, in order, and before a real or mental deadline poised by what comes next.

Proficiency
You know you are not proficient when…
--someone remarks that you are not flying well
--you become disoriented during a procedure
--you do not hold heading or altitude when looking for a charted intersection
--you have not recently practiced partial panel
--you prefer vectors to own nav

Proficiency will improve if…
--You recognize how perishable instrument skills are
--fly one hour a month of partial panel
--keep a log record of your airwork and partial panel practice

1. Pilots certificate
2. Current medical
3. Radio license if out of U.S.
4. Currency Items:

Carry Passengers
FAR 61.113
Private pilot can carry passengers provided he receives no compensation for hire nor can the passengers by carried for
compensation or hire by the airplane. Giving flight instruction in the course of the flight is a marginal operation unless done
legitimately. Commercial and ATP cannot be PIC unless it is a Part 135 operation. Passengers can assist by reading
maps, using the radio, looking for aircraft and assisting with light maintenance.

Day- 90 days - three landings
2. Night 90 days - three landings to full stop
3. When carrying passengers:
4. Have a seat belt for everyone.
5. Show everyone how to use the seat belt and doors.
6. Explain survival aspects of ELT, radio, and flight plan
7. Describe effects of turbulence, crosswind landings.
8. File a flight plan.
9. Passengers have a right to know:
10. That you are licensed, rated, and current for the flight.
11. That the aircraft is within weight and balance limits.
12. That certain aspects of the flight may be dangerous.
13. That they can opt out.

Welcome aboard Whitt Airlines flight 0001 departing Buchannan Field and, with any luck at all, planning to overfly the area and perhaps visit a nearby airport. Please make sure your seatbelt is on and that your seat is securely fastened to the fuselage. At this time, any personal items should be stowed securely in the trunk of your car, since there is no overhead compartment or space beneath your seat, to speak of. Please turn off all portable electronic devices, and keep them off until we have landed safely, or for the duration of the flight, whichever comes first.

Smoking is not permitted inside the cabin; smoking outside the cabin should be reported to the captain immediately. There is no beverage service during the flight, however, heavy drinking prior to takeoff is encouraged. In-flight entertainment will consist of watching the pilot’s desperate struggle to control the plane.

We’ll be flying at an altitude of 2700 feet today, in theory; should the plane’s altitude drop precipitously, please check to ensure that the pilot is awake and in an upright position. Lavatories are located at either end of the flight. As we prepare for takeoff, please take this opportunity to locate the exit nearest you and, if you have any sense at all, avail yourself of it before it’s too late. In a moment, the pilot will begin handing out the release forms in preparation for takeoff. Be assured that in all his time aloft the pilot has never lost a passenger; however, your results may vary. Now sit back, relax, and enjoy your flight. This information brought to you via rec.aviation.student of the newsnet.

A passenger has no right to:

--Expect the pilot to fly out of weight and balance limits.
--Expect the pilot to fly lower than safety or FARs allow.
--Enter weather that is unsafe or contrary to FARs.
--Take risks that are avoidable.
An informed passenger becomes a coordinated crew member. He/she becomes a participant capable of getting something from behind the pilot, holding, opening, closing, and moving. Every pilot needs a helpful and reliable flight companion.

As a pilot you must be aware that just being capable of keeping the aircraft in the air is not enough. You must be capable of performing when something unusual happens. This would be an occasion where you are distracted to such a degree that any deficiency in proficiency appears obvious. Your ability to deal with a distraction while still performing all the requisites of flying is the true test of skill.

Pilots who rush to get off the ground without adequate preparation are vulnerable to problems leading to accidents. Any time you are rushed in an airplane you should heed the inner voices that warn you. Being in a hurry is as common a factor as ignorance in the failure of pilots to plan a flight. Haste is a road to a major problem.

A note about the relative importance of what you learn. There are certain basics that can never be replaced by technology. The stall warner, engine gauges, and flight instruments are being replaced by electronics and monitors. The feelings, sounds, and sensations related to flying can never are replaced by these and other devices. Your basic perceptions can be deceived by false indicators, stress reactions, and illusions. Your basic skills, kept proficient, will not fail you when most needed; however, technology, can and will fail, often at the most inopportune moment. The first priority is always aircraft control.

As a pilot, you have acquired or will acquire, a very special right, power and privilege. How you use this prerogative determines what kind of pilot you are. Every flight offers us an opportunity to test our skill, knowledge, cockpit management, and judgment, of some other element of flight proficiency. If circumstances do limit the options, gather all available information. Make a considered choice. Good judgment is difficult to learn. It can best be taught by a gradual exposure to ever more challenging circumstances.

As a new private pilot you have suddenly acquired responsibilities and possibilities that a year ago were merely dreams. Now you can take close friends and family for rides. I would urge you to restrain this initial urge and take up pilot friends or acquaintances who are familiar with flying. Use them as sounding boards to check your competence to fly with the inexperienced. I recommend that all first flights go to another airport that has something of interest to do.

The FARs have a very limited view of passengers. Passengers wear seatbelt. That's it. The pilot is well advised to do considerably more. Staying out of the way during preflight is a basic. Where to step on getting in is another. Opening and shutting the doors are another. A pilot who fails to use his passengers to the maximum is not playing with a full deck.

More advanced input should include how to ventilate the cabin and use the environmental controls of the control panel. Opening the windows should be a very limited pastime. Except for the blind, all passengers
should be advised where to look for other aircraft. On the horizon aircraft get bonus points, especially if they are approaching at an angle from behind. You can now let passengers practice their English airplane talk on the radio. No license required. Make sure they get plenty of practice. In an emergency an emergency talker can be handy.

A smart pilot will avoid airsick passengers by recommending that they look as much as they can as far as they can. Avoid reading or looking inside the airplane. passengers should have a piece of ginger candy before entering the plane. the pilot should have a garbage bag as part of his flight kit. A non-mesh baseball cap will work and tends to be usually handy.

Speaking of emergencies, its a good idea to show them the ELT and mention that there is an ON switch in case the landing is soft. A survival kit might be a good idea. Doors tend to jam when twisted in a crash, Windows can always be kicked out.

After a poor initial flying experience you are very unlikely to get a non-flyer into the airplane again. The way you say things to a flyer should be quite different than to a non-flyer. Have the aircraft ready to go before the passenger arrives. Send them to the bathroom. Carry a plastic barf-bag in your pocket but don't show it. Airsickness can be reduced by keeping the passenger interested and busy looking into the distance. Keep the air vents open. Be efficient and casual during the start and runup. Keep a simple running commentary going as to what and why you are doing what you do. Returning to the airport for landing is a tension period for the passenger. Give simple explanations as to why you communicate, slow down, add flaps, or will land on one wheel in a crosswind.

Always pick a perfect VFR day and make the flight simple and short. Avoid the airport busy hours. Morning flights are best. Stay high. Show your passengers where they are and what they can see at every opportunity. After you gain experience sunset flights are the prettiest. You can avoid any "compensation" problems and make them "sharing" by telling your passengers that you are going on the flight anyway. Any passengers must offer to share the expense without being asked.

As a pilot you should never stop being a student. Your new license is nothing more than a license to learn. There is a great different in the way you accumulate experience. 100 hours of flight time can be 10 x 10 hours or 100 hours. Plan your flights to improve your abilities and knowledge. Personally, I did not cross the Sierras until I have over 300 hours. I made several flights across with instructors before I felt capable of meeting likely situations.

Any time you sense that a flight may be stretching your capability, take along a CFI. Don't hesitate to try different CFI's. You will learn to discriminate differing qualities of instruction. Make each flight hour an improving experience. Flying frequently is more important than a few long flights. Go some different directions to places beyond fifty miles so that you will accumulate cross-country experience. Find someone to share your flight costs and experiences.

As a student or new pilot you are prone to making s slip of judgment or a mistake in judgment. Training accidents are more frequent than pilot accidents but the probability of a fatality is low. Fatal accidents usually occur after the student gets his pilots' license. 25% of pilot accidents occur during the performance of maneuvers deemed illegal or unauthorized.

It is a good idea for you to make a sequential list of frequency settings from takeoff to landing for every flight. Initially the same one will be used but as flights proceed to other airports and even multiple airports a new sequence card should be used from takeoff to landing. Later on, the Nav side of the radio will be included.

When you begin to fly by yourself, it is very important that you begin to take an instructor's view of each flight. If you don't, there will be a gradual but perceptible decline in your skills and performance. By taking an organized and preferable written plan to each flight you can use the PTS standards to gauge your performance. Your standards of direction, altitude, airspeed, radio usage, anticipation and situational avoidance can come up for review. The expense of learning a skill is partially wasted if the skill is not maintained. You are the most responsible person for your retention of flying skill.

When you don't use your flying skills, you lose them. The brain will help you forget those areas of weakness. The unpleasantness of poorly mastered crosswinds will be repressed into forgetfulness. Those areas in which you are concerned and avoidance prone will get further and further out of awareness. This is where the importance of a plan can force you into the needed situations and review. You will not avoid doing those things in flying where you feel comfortable and competent.

When you begin to fly by yourself you will find that you will confuse similar situations and skill requirements. First to go in this area will be your radio skills. You will lose the timing required to say the right thing at the right time. Your flare will lose its approaching finesse. Firmness of touchdown becomes increasingly more firm. These conceptual weaknesses will interfere one with the other. Confusion reigns when you enter one of the aforementioned areas of discomfort.

It helps to use a written item by item performance list for any weak areas. Organize your review flight. One form of flight organization is making a list of questions about your performance parameters with a specific aircraft. By asking the right questions of yourself you can practice toward the safe proficiency levels in the PTS. There is a saying; "Any road will take you, if you don't know where you're going." You must plan for what you need to know. Keep your plan simple and under an hour of flying.

Flying at a higher level
The pilot who knows the 'why' as to the reasons regulations are as they are is more likely to obey them. The pilot who knows the 'why' behind aerodynamic theory in the design of an aircraft and its components is more likely to limit performance inside the design envelope. The pilot who understands the 'whys' of safe flying will accept reasonable limits on his maneuvers. There is a wide range of pilot ability to utilize knowledge and understanding.

A pilot who knows what to do may have difficulty in the actual performance. This problem in performance is most likely to arise when skill applications are in an unfamiliar situation. Spin recovery is an example. The recovery skills are not all transferable. The application of transferable knowledge is the highest skill level for a pilot. Doing this in a unique flying situation is premiere piloting.

A cross-country can be planned to a higher level just be having your alternatives ready before you depart. Where will you go for fuel, to avoid weather, for lunch, to sleep and a kidney stop? The accessibility of places to go in any such cases will make a world of difference to the flight. If existence of instrument conditions are a possibility, do your preparations before leaving. Preference should always be given to precision approaches.

Recently had a former student call regarding a distant flight. The basic questions was just when to fly to the distant place and back home. One of the flights would be at night. My immediate recommendation was to make your arrival at the least familiar place in daylight. You will be much more comfortable coming into your home field at night than a place surrounded by unfamiliar terrain.

The highest level of piloting occurs when decision making is so planned that the choices are instantaneous. Your planning has prepared you to recognize the arrival of a problem and your decision is already in place. The previous student was expecting to need a fuel ad food stop in each direction. I recommended different routes for the day and night trips. Day trips can be into smaller airports but night trips are best made where the facilities are more likely to be both open and available.

In the day trip the shortest route was recommended. The night flight was longer but provided an airport vicinity route. The night route provided airports that were nearby in the foothills should the lower airports become fogged in.

What it takes
Practice makes perfect...Practice of the right kind makes perfect...Recent practice of the right kind makes perfect... You take your pick; my pick is that recency of practice is the critical element. The further in the past your ability to perform a flying feat, the less likely it is to be well performed. Regardless of past excellence in making landings, the personal benchmark is based on your last one. The consistency of excellence is mandatory.

Certain critical skills must be maintained at a high level. A weakness in any one area can lead to an accident. The pilot who avoids training and practice in a known or suspected weakness is becoming ever more vulnerable. A pilot with a penchant for avoiding given situations is unable to face reality. The reality of flying is that a pilot cannot afford any acceptance of weaknesses.

Weaknesses are most likely to occur as a result of first taught/learned situations. The relearning/unlearning process is the most difficult any pilot will face. First comes the recognition. This is most difficult for the pilot. It may mean that all you have learned and done in the past was wrong. After recognition, comes acceptance. This is a huge ego blow. The pilot must go back to square one to learn. This, with the very real realization that any emergency response under duress will still be the way the procedure was first learned. Primacy rules.

Primacy rules but can be tamed by repetition. The more you run through a procedure the more ingrained it will be come. The more ingrained it becomes the more comfortable you will become in doing it. The less uncertainty a pilot feels the more ready he will be for a success experience.

Flight Review
References
AC 61-98A Currency and additional qualification requirements for certificated Pilots.
FAR 61.56
AC 61-98 Record keeping
61.56 requires ground instruction on part 91
AC 61-10A Refresher Courses of Private and Commercial Pilots.

Question
1. If convicted of a motor vehicle action, when must you notify the FAA in writing?
2. When must you notify the FAA of an address change?
3. What are the currency requirements for carrying passengers?
4. What is the class and expiration date of your medical?
5. What is required for you to be PIC?

6. What are the required inspections for this aircraft as used?
7. When is it legal to fly without operating navigational lights?
8. What is the lowest VFR altitude than can be flown over a 2850-foot hill?
9. What are the minimum fuel requirements for VFR?
10. What are the flight clearances required about a filled stadium?
11. When must passengers wear seatbelts?
12. What is required information for a non-local flight?
13. What is the flight time limit for alcohol consumption?
14. What are the 'always required on aircraft' documents?
15. Who is the responsible party for determining airworthiness?

16. What is the legality of a straight-in to a non-tower airport?
17. What right of way is given by a clearance to taxi to a runway?
18. How do you depart following a Lear jet?
19. What are the symptoms of CO poisoning?

20. What non-charted frequencies are monitored by an FSS?
21. How do you find what frequency to use when the tower closes?
22. How do you determine if a transponder is required at a given airport?
23. What are VFR minimums for flight into a Class C airport?
24. At 1600 feet AGL over a non-towered airport, what are the VFR minimums?
25. Describe communications requirements for all classes of airports?

26. How can you find all available information about an airport?
27. Where can you find all available frequencies on a sectional chart?

28. Why is a slip presumed to be safer than a skid?
29. What is the difference between Va and Vref?
30. Why do older American planes tend to turn left while English planes turn right?
31. If you apply too much left rudder in a left turn where is the ball?
32. What is the basic spin recovery procedure for this aircraft?

33. What is aircraft fuel grade, capacity, useful and hourly consumption?
34. How do you clear a flooded engine?
35. What are minimum/maximum oil temperatures?
36. How do we know of the existence of carburetor ice?
37. How many fuel sumps does the aircraft have?

38. How do you determine true airspeed?
39. What is meant by maximum demonstrated crosswind component of this airplane?
40. Pick a temperature and airport and figure density altitude. What is required to takeoff over 50'?
41. Name as many V-speeds for this aircraft as you can. Now use the POH.

42. With us in the aircraft and full fuel, how much cabin weight remains to reach gross?

Endorsement
I certify that (Full name) (Certificate #) has satisfactorily completed a flight review of FAR 61.56 (a) on (date)
Signed etc.

Instrument Proficiency Review
1. Make a takeoff/landing distance chart covering three different density altitudes.

2. Fly different approaches every month.

3. Take charge of your program.

C-172 Checkout
Just wanted to drop you a quick note and say thanks for having such an easy to navigate and informative web site! Here is my 30-second story on why I like it and how I found you...

Saturday, I went for an insurance check out ride in a brand new Cessna 172SP at FAT. I have 135 hours, and feel I am a safe and efficient pilot. I also have 14 hours in 172s. But this check ride went south fast, and I ended up doing two major things wrong...which resulted in not being approved for the aircraft.

First, when the CFI told me to go to Madera for landings, and since 90% of my hours are in the San Joaquin valley, I assumed the wind was as it always is...290 at either calm to 10. Here in the SJV, every little airport has their "calm wind" rules, 33 in the afternoon, 15 in the morning.

Going in, she was showing me the GPS nav system, and how it couples with the autopilot. I became distracted with the lesson, and then near MAE just assumed left downwind traffic for 30, same as all summer afternoons around here. As I was about to enter the pattern on a 45, she asked if I should be listening to AWOS, and of course I said yes. As I was looking at my chart and tuning the navcom, a CITATION jet (rare for Madera) calls on long right downwind for 12 Madera. Sure enuf, the wind per AWOS was 150 at 5, so 12 was indeed the active. I immediately high tailed it our of the pattern (with the oncoming Citation somewhere off my 12 o'clock), and beat feet out to the west to set up for a 45 entry to right downwind 12 Madera behind the jet.

Landings went OK, but I am a Piper guy, so they were typical stall horn blaring Cessna landings. Then returning to FAT, the main radar was OTS, so basically the field reverts to class delta airspace. It was very, very busy, and I had some guy who would have been roughly six o'clock up high behind me call with a vacuum pump failure and a request for immediate clearance to land, which he got. I am plodding along at 120 kts, and he was flying a turbo Centurion out of 7000, flying straight up my back. So since I was not under radar service, I move my route about a mile to the west to make extra room. This safety maneuver extended my entry into the pattern, which made the ATC guys call and ask if I was really "landing Fresno Air Terminal" or Chandler, which I was now almost on top of. I told then FAT, and they cleared me into a left downwind 29L FAT.

On downwind, they had at least five planes, none on radar service, on some kind of final for either 29L or R. The CFI was talking a blue streak, and also the squelch on the intercom was nearly in-op and was chopping off words with a way to adjust it. ATC cleared me to land 29L, and I began base and final turn, with a military C-23 (some kind of small Air Guard cargo ship) on short final for 29R...and I had him in sight. While the CFI was explaining something, I didn't hear ATC switch the C-23 to 29L (I was already behind him), so when I lined up for 29L, the C023 was down and rolling. But he came to a complete stop, and was in no hurry to exit the runway at about the 2/3 mark (@5000' mark of a 7000' rwy). CFI swears she heard a go-around call for me, but either she was talking or I was going deaf, cause I didn't hear it. When ATC called go-around again, he was serious this time, and I reached for the throttle.

Here is where things get ugly. I haven't practiced a go-around in 4 years since getting my license. I know how wrong that was now. I pushed in power, but only about 2/3 power, and not used to the notched system on the new Cessna, flipped the flaps switch up once like the old toggle switches, thinking I was "milking" about 20 degrees off. But on the way down on the "toggle", the handle got stuck in the off position, so the flaps were coming up all the way with 2/3 power applied. I was under control and gaining altitude, and the CFI reached over and applied the rest of the power.

I went around, landed well, and was through with a suck trip up. At first I was pissed, but that night realized one thing. This was not a bad check ride, but a great session of emergency procedures dual instruction!

(Did I mention that on my engine out during the check ride, I forgot to immediately set best glide, and then at 1000' when she said to go thru the checklist, I forgot every word, so she told me to use the printed checklist, found somewhere in the "book" they use in these new Cessnas. Needless to say I flubbed the emergency engine out landing).

As a CFI, you can appreciate this story, I hope. I changed a negative into a big BIG positive, because this wasn't a case of an over-zealous CFI not issuing me a sign-off, but a vigilant CFI who dug up some serious flaws in my own personal currency training. Instead of ruining my day, maybe she saved my life?????

The next day, I went on the web as I always do and found your very good site. I downloaded info on go-arounds, emergency landings, and then formulated my own strategy for entering a new uncontrolled airport (F-O-R-D= Frequencies, Option to overfly, Runway numbers, Determine active). I have studied them to death, and now know the importance of reoccurring emergency procedures training.

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