The one-and-one is the minimum required per FAR 61.56, and when you add in the time for brief, debrief, and logbook endorsement, you often go beyond an hour, which makes the CFI late for their next client. It is much better to set aside three hours so you aren’t late—and more importantly—aren’t rushed.

• READ MORE: The One-Time Water Landing

Yet many pilots insist that one hour on the ground and one in the air is all they need, or are willing to pay for. Some pilots expect to be automatically signed off for the flight review, even if they don’t demonstrate the requisite knowledge or fly to the level of their certificate.

It doesn’t work that way. Find a CFI who is up-front about this as the Airman Certification Standards for the certificate you hold are what you should be using.

This particular client had held a private pilot certificate for more than 20 years and flew several times a month. Over the years, he had owned airplanes, but at that time, his aircraft was down for its annual, so he was renting a Cessna 172. He didn’t want to rush the flight review. As he put it, he often flew with his grandchildren and was adamant to take his time in the name of safety.

He was more than 25 minutes late. He apologized—traffic was worse than expected when he left work. As we settled into the classroom for the ground portion of the flight review, he discovered he had left his headset at home. He put new ear seals on it the night before and had left it on the kitchen table.

• READ MORE: The Importance of Following Checklists

I offered to let him borrow a spare headset. Instead, he looked at me apologetically and asked if we could stay on the ground rather than fly because his brain, he said, would not be in the airplane. 

He then told me about a rule he had for himself—the rule of three. If three things delaying the flight were distractions, he made it a rule to cancel. I have heard this so-called rule from many other pilots. Three is a cosmic number, one told me, adding that “things happen in threes” is a cliche for a reason. 

I am a student of the accident reports published by the National Transportation Safety Board. When you read them, the bad decisions are clear as day. Often the pilot is rushed or distracted.  Accidents, especially the fatalities, are often a chain of poor decisions.

Distracted = Dangerous

Flying is one of those things that demands our undivided attention. Any distraction can be detrimental to safety. When and if you are in the cockpit of a jet getting paid the big bucks, we hope you’ve learned how to compartmentalize or recognize your own limitations. There will be some days when you are too distracted to fly.

When you fly as a hobby, the stakes aren’t as high. This is not the last chopper out of Saigon, as my first CFI used to remind me. Yet even student pilots can face a lot of pressure to fly, and it comes from all directions. 

It can be a challenge for a student pilot to cancel a flight, especially when the CFI is pressing for it to happen. As a commercial candidate, I encountered a CFI who argued we could “dodge” the thunderstorms that were approaching the airport. The commercial certificate requires more knowledge of weather than the private certificate, and I had embraced this with gusto. The idea of dodging anything didn’t sit well with me.

• READ MORE: What You Need to Know About Tires When Learning to Fly

I had obtained three weather briefings—one the night before, the morning of the flight, and the last one an hour prior to the flight. On that last one the briefer remarked the cold front that was bringing the storms had “moved much faster” than the weather models had anticipated. Based on this available information, I canceled the flight. 

Dark clouds were approaching from the southwest while the CFI somewhat grudgingly helped me put the cover back on the airplane. As we were draping the cover over the fuselage the temperature dropped like someone had opened a window on a cold day. It started to hail. It came down so hard and fast a line boy ran onto the ramp to help us. I felt good about my decision.

Make It Fair

At all times it should be remembered that flight instruction is not compulsory education, but it is a business. For this reason many schools and independent CFIs have a no-show or late cancellation penalty.

This usually takes the form of a signed contract between the school, or CFI and the learner. This policy should be discussed at the first meeting and expectations established. There is often one “free pass” then after that a penalty is levied, such as the cost of one hour of aircraft rental or an hour of the instructor’s time. If the CFI does not show or is late, they owe the flight student a free hour of instruction.

• READ MORE: Don’t Skimp on Ground Instruction in Flight Training

If the learner at least makes an effort to let the CFI or school know they can’t make it, that goes a long way. One of my mentors who ran a flying club for many years took a very hard stance on this, saying if the learner was not responsible enough to make a phone call or at least send a text letting us know they were going to be late, or were not going to be there at all, they were not responsible enough to be a pilot.

When late cancellations or no-shows become a habit, the CFI and/or the flight school may stop scheduling the student altogether. If you have to consistently cancel lessons, perhaps this is not the time for you to pursue flight training.

You are paying a lot of money and investing a lot of energy in your aviation education, so do your best not to get in your own way. If the deck appears to be stacked against you, such as in the form of “the rule of three,” ask yourself if this is the day for you to be in the air.

As for the client who was there for the flight review, a quick text canceled the aircraft reservation. I assured him I was not angry with his decision not to fly, because when a pilot demonstrates good aeronautical decision making—such as recognizing that their head won’t be in the game —I say learning has taken place.  

The post Do You Have the Rule for a No-Go? appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

In a media preview that took place in early September, journalists were given a few hours of early access to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 (MSFS2024) to see just how much more is coming to flight sim pilots on November 19.  

Important to know is that MSFS2024 is a brand-new software entity, designed from the ground up built by more than 800 developers. MSFS2024 will be expandable and more user friendly, with many software components streamed from the cloud, greatly reducing the glacial loading times experienced with MSFS2020. 

With improved aircraft flight models, better aircraft systems modeling, and many other must-haves, here is just a partial summary of the new features, improvements, and systems coming to MSFS2024:

New Aircraft

Returning to your virtual hangar will be all of the aircraft from MSFS2020 but upgraded to take full advantage of the new flight model in MSFS2024.

The development team also added the new aircraft, which have been divided into different packages and available for purchase on November 19. 

New General Aviation Aircraft

• Beechcraft King Air C90
• Cessna 404 Titan
• Stemme S12G
• Cirrus Vision Jet G2
• Mike Patey’s Draco X
• FlyDoo Hot Air Balloon
• Aero Vodochody L39
• Pipistrel Taurus M
• Airship Industries Skyship 600 
• Grumman Hu-16 Albatross
• Air Tractor AT-802
• Archer Midnight
• Cessna C188B Agtruck
• Cessna 400 Corvalis (TTx)
• Aviat Pitts S1S
• DeHavilland CL-415
• DeHavilland Twin Otter
• Dornier SeaStar
• Joby S4
• MX Aircraft Company MXS-R
• Cessna 408 SkyCourier
• Saab 340D
• Pilatus PC-12NGX
• Pilatus PC-24
• Zivko Edge 540
• Zlin Savage Norden

Helicopters

• Erickson S-64 Aircrane
• Robinson R66
• Airbus H125
• Airbus H225
• Boeing Chinook

Airliners and Military

• North American T-6
• Boeing 737 Max8
• Airbus A321 
• Airbus A330
• Boeing 747 DreamLifter
• Boeing 747 Global Supertanker
• Boeing C-17
• Airbus A400M
• Airbus Beluga
• A-10 Warthog
• North American P-51 Mustang

New Aircraft Systems Modeling

To build the most realistic piloting experience possible, all included aircraft underwent extensive system upgrades, including:

• New hydraulics system modeling 
• Electrical circuits with many working circuit breakers
• Mechanical systems, such as engines, will experience oil burn 
• Tire wear 
• Braking system wear 
• New EFB (electronic flight bag) tablet built into every airplane

The systems are not yet persistent across the flight simulator, meaning every time you load into a new free play flight session, the aircraft will be starting as new. However, wear and tear is modeled in parts of the new career mode.  

New Flight Simulation Environment 

Avionics weren’t the only simulator components improved in MSFS2024. The dev team had the goal of “making the ground in MSFS2024 as detailed as the air.”

This improvement began with increasing the ground modeling (or “polygon count” in the language of flight simulation) to be of such high resolution as to allow for undulations in pavement, uneven surfaces and surfaces of different grip level. The result is that aircraft tires will now have higher fidelity interactions with surfaces as varied as sand, pebbles, rocks, boulders and trees, bringing a more varied experience to bush pilots landing on unimproved areas such as river beds, fields, and mountain sides.

Some other detail improvements: 

• New weather engine with new storms and cirrus clouds at high altitude
• Smoke from the ground or engine fires 
• Updates to how standing bodies of water are modeled like lakes and oceans
• Soft surface modeling for full-airframe parachutes and hot air balloons
• Lift in ground effect
• Wake turbulence 
• Snow and snow amounts remodeled
• Fields now grow crops and the vegetation height changes based on the season
• New tree varieties populate the land
• New animal model generates hundreds of species placed in correct regions around the world

Airports and Lighting, Helipads and Gliderports:

As the Microsoft development team continues to bring its focus to details large and small, a total of 160 major airports have been upgraded from their MSFS2020 versions to include:

• Correct line markings on the ground and taxiways
• More variety and regionally corrected on-airport ground vehicles
• New pavement textures
• Airport lighting updated to feature more realistic brightness, intensity, warmth and color, especially at night
• Additional liveries and aircraft types added  
• 100 different airliner models make up the AI-controlled traffic
• All ships around the world that operate transponders on waterways across the world in MSFS2024, updating their position every 30 seconds
• 80,000 official helipads around the world 
• More than 2000 glider ports added

New Career Mode

The MSFS2024 development team built a comprehensive career mode with the goal of lowering the barrier to entry.

For casual enthusiasts who have never been to a real-world flight school, a small airport, or have never sat in a real GA airplane, this mode serves as an introductory pathway to flight training and then the chance to go deeper into a digital flying career.

For example: 

• Careers start at a flight school location of the pilot’s choosing and progress through flight school activities and short practical exams that open the pilot into wider career choices driven by selecting different available missions.
• Training is led by a virtual flight instructor. 
• Once the minimum training is completed, pilots can select varied missions, such as banner towing, aircraft ferrying, crop dusting, search and rescue, executive transport, and cargo flights. 
• Used airplanes in the career mode will feature wear and tear and require occasional repair paid for by successfully completing missions. 
• There are over 3 million different potential missions in career mode, and missions change every day, keeping the game mode very fresh.
• A new challenge mode will offer pilots the chance to compete against each other with an emphasis on fun and performance, with short two-to-10-minute engagements designed to be fast and interesting. 
• A new world photographer mode offers the chance to try your hand as an air-to-air photographer with your images scored based on how many requested elements make it into your photo submission. 

MSFS 2024 Packages

Much like MSFS2020, sim pilots will have the option to purchase the following packages that come with different loadouts of new aircraft, upgraded aircraft, MSFS2020 payware aircraft, and upgraded airports. The higher-end packages will be available in a physical game box.

• The standard package includes 70 aircraft (30 new MSFS2024 aircraft and 40 upgraded MSFS2020 aircraft) and 150 upgraded airports. 
• The deluxe package includes 80 aircraft (35 new MSFS2024 aircraft and 45 upgraded MSFS2020 aircraft) and 155 upgraded airports. 
• The premium deluxe package includes 95 aircraft (45 new MSFS2024 aircraft and 50 upgraded MSFS2020 aircraft) and 160 upgraded airports. 
• New for MSFS2024, the aviator package includes 125 aircraft (45 new MSFS2024 aircraft, 50 upgraded MSFS2020 aircraft and 30 payware aircraft that were available for MSFS2020) and 160 upgraded airports. 

The MSFS2024 development team built features for all flight sim pilots, allowing the experienced users to go deep into the virtual world, and provided engaging flight sim experiences for the pilot who wants the structure and excitement of career mode, letting them choose their own adventure.

And casual users can enjoy the simulator by doing short sightseeing flights and using the new photography mode.

MSFS2024 seems to have effectively lowered the barrier to entry as well, funneling new users into the career mode to help them have fun and learn more about real-world flying. 

With meaningful improvements made to the user experience, pilots will have interactions in the air and on the ground that should feel more real. Forcing bush pilots to really evaluate their landing zone for large objects and modeling the real-world hazard of wake turbulence has appreciably increased the realism. 

It is easy to forget how far and how fast technology has moved in the years since Microsoft Flight Simulator’s launch in 1982. But based on the leap forward that is MSFS2024, the Microsoft leadership team has shown that it is prepared to do even more, bringing the digital world of flight even closer to the real one.

The post ‘Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024’ Preview: Advanced, Audacious Leap Forward appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

“This approval marks a critical milestone in Sterling’s strategic expansion and reinforces its commitment to delivering exceptional aviation education across multiple locations,” flight school officials said in a statement.

Benefits of Part 141 Programs

Having an FAA Part 141 certification enables the Tallahassee campus to offer a more structured curriculum, “designed to provide an accelerated path to a professional pilot career, meeting the highest standards of safety and efficiency,” according to the company.

“The FAA’s approval of our Tallahassee location for Part 141 training is a testament to our unwavering commitment to excellence in aviation education,” said Wayne Heller, CEO of Sterling Flight Training. “This expansion not only strengthens our ability to train the next generation of pilots but also enhances our capacity to serve the aviation needs of the Tallahassee community and beyond.”

School officials said the 141 program at the new location is designed to complement Sterling Flight Training’s Jacksonville, Florida, operation, which has been providing both recreational and career-oriented flight training for years. Certificate options include remote pilot (drones) through college degree programs and airline careers.

The post Sterling Flight Training Receives Part 141 Certification appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

“We are incredibly excited to partner with Aerodynamics and contribute to their growth and fleet innovation,” said Walter Da Costa, Tecnam chief sales officer.

The delivery date for the aircraft was not released.

According to Tecnam, Aerodynamics Academy is one of the fastest-growing flight schools in Europe, with some 200 students.

The versatility and ease of use of the Tecnam P2008JC’s single-engine, high-wing design makes the aircraft attractive in the training environment, according to the company. The design sports a carbon-fiber fuselage, and metal wings and tail. This combination produces an airplane that is more fuel efficient and quieter than all-metal designs.

Aircraft at flight schools have to fill many different roles, from primary, VFR training to instrument flight.

Tecnam said the P2008JC MkII does this by means of a redesigned instrument panel and glareshield, which allows the use of Garmin’s innovative G3X Touch display.

The post Spanish Flight School Expands Fleet With Tecnam Aircraft appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

After starting up, calming my nerves, keying the mic, and receiving my taxi clearance, I joined the slow parade of aircraft taxiing up to the departure point of Runway 27. This looked startlingly familiar to the long lines of aircraft I’ve seen for years on the taxiways at KOSH during the real AirVenture.

Fond memories returned to me of short breaks taken beside the taxiway watching aircraft, a northerly breeze keeping the summer heat in check, puffy white cumulus clouds rolling softly over the field as innumerable one-of-a-kind, rare, and well-loved GA, warbirds, antique, and homebuilt aircraft slowly roll by on their way to go flying.

Although I’m in my home flight simulator, I am excited to be trying this bucket list flight simulator activity, knowing that landing at KOSH this afternoon will be a test of concentration and flying skill as I join my fellow sim pilots in attempting to traverse the famous Fisk arrival. 

Snapping out of this momentary reverie, I receive my clearance from the tower to line up and wait on Runway 27, and then: 

“November 3-8-3-Romeo-Sierra, cleared for takeoff, Runway 2-7.”

• READ MORE: Earning Your Winter WINGS

Then, with as much calm in my voice as I can muster: “Roger, 383RS, cleared for take-off, runway 2-7.” 

Ahead of me, another Cessna 172 is on the upwind, a safe distance ahead. On either side I can see many more GA aircraft waiting their turn to launch, propellers all spinning in anticipation. We are 12 miles due south of KOSH, but my heart rate is up, left hand on the yoke, push the throttle forward, and the takeoff roll begins. A quick glance at the oil pressure, it is in the green, and my airspeed is alive: 30, 40, 50 knots, but no faster—something’s wrong. 

I can hear something is not right with the engine. But this is near impossible as I thought I had turned off major failure modes for the event. Another check of oil pressure—still green. A bit exasperated and running out of runway, I contemplate what it will feel like to botch this takeoff in front of 30 other sim pilots who are probably watching and listening on the radio.

If I don’t figure this out, I will need to abort the takeoff. I have only a few seconds to make the decision when I look across my sim cockpit and spot the culprit of the engine trouble. I leaned the mixture on the long taxi to the takeoff point, and it was still at roughly 50 percent. I jammed the mixture full forward, the engine responded, and the 172 returned to normal acceleration, up through 70 knots. I pulled back on the yoke and cleared the end of the runway to my upwind climb. Certainly an inauspicious start to the most exciting live flight sim event in which I have participated.

Having failed to double-check the mixture, I made a silent promise to myself—no more big mistakes. After all, this is the big live event of the summer for sim pilots. 

With my heart rate settling back to normal and Fond Du Lac fading into the distance behind me, it was time to get ahead and stay ahead of the aircraft. One of my goals for the flight was to hand fly it, which was made easier by the calm weather programmed into the flight simulator. 

I turned the heading bug on my Real Sim Gear G1000 PFD CDI and steered my 172 in a south-westerly direction over the small town of Waupun, Wisconsin. I set my altitude bug for 1,800 feet, per the arrival instructions, and trimmed to maintain the altitude.

• READ MORE: Highlights From FlightSimExpo 2024

Just like in the real world, twins and faster aircraft could opt for the 2,300-foot altitude arrival, but I purposefully chose the slower single-engine piston Cessna 172 Skyhawk, knowing that it would still provide plenty of challenge. Once I reached Waupun, I would turn the aircraft in a north-westerly direction toward the Fisk arrival Transition starting point. This would be revealed as soon as I checked the ATIS, which functioned in this SimVenture event exactly as it does in real-world flying. 

There were a few important differences between the real-world EAA AirVenture Oshkosh arrival and the SimVenture version. To coordinate the same flight sim environment for all participants, pilots were asked to set their simulator weather to CAVU skies, calm winds, and standard pressure altitude of 29.92 on the barometer. This assured that all pilots were flying at the same altitude and that there were no major crosswinds, given the high density of live aircraft in the simulation.  

The most interesting and compelling similarity to the real-world AirVenture experience was the fact that real Oshkosh ATC were controlling all pilots participating in SimVenture. Some of the participating controllers were even using SimVenture to warm up for the real AirVenture environment just like some pilots use simulators to fly routes in advance.

Having some of the real-life KOSH air traffic controllers join the flight simulation community to provide the ultimate full-immersion experience made it a can’t-miss event. Working from their own homes, the controllers were provided with software and access so they could see the activity on their screens and control the sim participants effectively. As soon as I tuned into the ATIS to learn which Fisk arrival transition was in use, I recognized the familiar voice, having watched numerous real-world arrivals on YouTube as part of my preparation.

PilotEdge delivers the integration of the live ATC service with participating sim pilots connecting to the event through their software client. For SimVenture, PilotEdge designated one of the four runways at KOSH for each day, providing incentive for sim pilots to fly the Fisk arrival all four days of the event. For those pilots wishing to be surprised, the runway information can be picked up when listening to ATIS or from the announcements of the approach controllers. Trying to preserve that element of surprise and realism, I briefed all four runways as part of my prep work and felt reasonably prepared for each. 

I experienced some trepidation about how much of the critical scenery I would be able to see out my left window, even at 1,800 feet. Spotting the railroad tracks at Ripon, for example, and picking up Fisk Avenue over the town of Fisk were both critical details. So, a few days before SimVenture, I took a practice flight on my sim from Ripon to Fisk, trying the Fisk Avenue transition first, and then looping back to try the railroad track transition over the gravel pit second.

• READ MORE: Here Are 2 Quick VFR Flights to Try on Your Home Flight Simulator

My justification for this practice flight was simply that I would use my home simulator to do the same thing if I was flying the arrival in real life, so why not get a quick familiarization ahead of the big event? Also, I knew how task-saturated I would feel on the day of SimVenture, and I wanted to ease that a bit. 

I was 10 miles south of the start of the Fisk arrival now and dialed in the SimVenture ATIS, confirming that Puckaway Lake was the selected transition starting point and that Runway 27 was the active arrival runway for the day at KOSH. I then tuned to the Fisk Approach frequency and started to listen to the controller providing a series of directions to aircraft far ahead at the RIPON checkpoint. For now, I turned my attention to the aircraft forming up over the lake. Whatever aircraft I could form up with would become the loose formation that would make the run up the railroad tracks to the town of Fisk, and then on to landing at KOSH. 

When I arrived over Puckaway Lake, the informal formation of aircraft had the organizational qualities of what I remember my middle school dances looking like— a few parts of chaos and a lot of improvisational choreography as we danced with two left feet—trying to find an aircraft of similar size and speed to fly with. It was a group assembly en masse, like a murmuration of starlings but with much more function and a lot less beauty. 

Aircraft of all varieties were moving generally eastward but at a wide range of altitudes and speeds. I counted no fewer than 30 aircraft and did my best to join a small group near the southern edge of the lake. There was a concerted effort among us to order ourselves, with some jockeying for position. I slowed down to 82 knots momentarily to set myself in the back of the flying-V formation that was beginning to take shape. It wasn’t pretty, but we were Oshkosh-bound.  

The next transition point ahead of us was Green Lake. Per the notice, we had until the town of Ripon to form a single file line, and this had to be completed without talking to each other on the radio. All of us were doing our best to balance the many simultaneous tasks of navigating visually, watching out for nearby traffic, holding altitude and airspeed, and listening to the controllers. The leg from Green Lake to RIPON isn’t more than 10 miles, so there wasn’t much time to make it all work. It was odd to be so close to other aircraft but with no direct way to communicate with them. The flying-V shape was holding on the right side, but there was a bevy of aircraft that still needed to sort themselves into order off to my left. 

Farther ahead, the radio was alive with the Fisk Approach controller turning around a group of sim pilots that couldn’t get themselves into a single file. They were receiving the “turn back” instructions, which meant the whole group had to enter a left turn counterclockwise and fly over the northern shore of Green Lake, then fly nearly 20 miles back to the transition point on Puckaway Lake and try the entire process again. In my group, we had 6 miles to go until RIPON and we still had some work to do.  

I used the hat switch on my yoke to move the camera view to my left and right so that I could read our position and progress towards single-file-ness. Satisfied with my relative position to the other aircraft, I clicked the button to return my camera view to straight ahead out my windscreen, and without warning, another single-engine piston aircraft flew directly in front of me from the left, giving me cause to wonder if I would feel the prop wash in sim.

If it had been real life, it would have been a nerve-wracking close call, and I suspect that I could have seen the other pilot’s eye color. I immediately corrected more to the right and tried to slow down by a few knots, wanting to avoid the accordion effect of stacking up the sim pilots behind me. Not an ideal situation, but one I probably should have been expecting given all of the traffic. By now, the frequency was alive with activity from the Fisk Approach controllers, who were exercising equal parts patience and directness. 

Soon we were on the doorstep of the RIPON transition, and I began looking for the railroad tracks that would lead us to Fisk. I was confident that I could see the tracks from 1,800 feet, having run the practice flight a few days before. I was glad I had done so since Route 44 runs closely alongside and can be visually mistaken in the sim environment if glanced at casually.

Our informal gaggle of aircraft formed a decent single-file line of four, and we made it to RIPON without getting sent back to the end of the line. The others in our group had pressed ahead, probably at faster than 90 knots. No matter. I double-checked my altitude, airspeed, engine instruments, fuel remaining, and that I was still tracking correctly over the railroad just out of my left window.

This feature first appeared in the July/August Issue 949 of the FLYING print edition.

The post SimVenture Adventure Doesn’t Disappoint appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Three miles out from the airport, the pilot of the C-340A announced he was doing a straight-in. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined the larger, faster airplane was not configured for landing as its approach speed was 180 knots. The published flap extension speed for the C-340A is 160 knots, and the landing gear extension speed is 140 knots.

Muscle memory, checklist use, and procedures often go hand in hand. Had the pilot of the C-340A flown the traffic pattern for the airport beginning with maneuvering for 45-degree angle entry on to the downwind at midfield, he might have remembered to slow down the airplane and configure it for landing.

NTSB reports are full of similar but thankfully mostly non-fatal events that can occur when the pilot on a straight-in forgets the landing gear—often at a non-towered airport. 

At a towered airport, the controllers often contact the pilot and advise them that their gear is not down with a simple “check gear” query. NTSB investigations into gear-up landings often include a statement from the pilot, who note that the straight-in, devoid of the usual cues such as turning on to the 45 or downwind, resulted in forgetting to run the checklist, which included the action of lowering the landing gear with the phrase “gear down and locked.”

Many instructors, myself included, advocate for at least three gear checks: downwind, base, and final. In the faster aircraft such as a twin, the landing gear is often deployed on the 45 as a means to help slow down the aircraft.

In a fixed-gear airplane you don’t have to worry about the landing gear position, but checking the position of the gear if possible (like looking out the window in the high wing aircraft) is a good habit.

Verbalizing the checklist on each leg of the pattern is also a good habit. There may be things that are “deferred,” such as putting the propeller to full as one does on final in a complex airplane to facilitate a go-around if needed.

My U.S. Air Force Academy-trained instructor beat this into me—and recitation had to end with “check list complete” in my authoritative pilot voice.

On a straight-in approach, you miss the cues for aircraft configuration changes, such as power reduction and addition of flaps.

Here’s a teachable moment: dropping all the flaps at once can potentially bend metal if the aircraft is outside of V_FE, and will trigger a pitch change that catches many novice pilots by surprise. The natural reaction is to take all the flaps out in one movement, which makes the bad situation worse.

I demonstrate this to the learner at an appropriate altitude and at a flap-friendly speed in the practice area just so they know what it feels like and what it does to the airplane and why it is not something you want to mess with when you are close to the ground.

We then discuss how the incremental deployment of flaps prevents the pitch surprise, as does following the prelanding checklist on each leg of the pattern to achieve the published speeds for each leg as recommended by the manufacturer.

Poor Approach, Poor Landing

One of the first lessons to be taught to the novice pilot is that a poor approach results in a poor landing. If you are behind the airplane, as in slow to reduce throttle, start the descent, deploy flaps, that landing will be ugly. This can happen during straight in approaches as the legs of the pattern are a reminder to the pilot to run the checklist and reconfigure the aircraft.  Instead, the pilot relies on experience and knowledge of the aircraft performance to determine when to do configuration changes. This experience is best gained with a seasoned CFI next to you and flown in an appropriate environment, like at a towered airport when the pilot requests and ATC grants a straight-in approach.

Straight-ins at non-towered airports are especially dangerous as we learned by the Watsonville collision. When an aircraft comes bombing into a pattern already occupied by other aircraft, it is very much like running a red light. There may be someone closer than you think on a collision course. You can’t slam the brakes on an airplane in the air. Entering the pattern on the 45 at pattern altitude provides better situational awareness as it gives the pilot more of an opportunity to scan for traffic, see and avoid it.

It is for this reason many instructors discourage their learners from doing straight-in approaches. While I agree they are not a good idea at a non-controlled airport, they should be, at the very least, briefed and the scenario flown in the practice area so the learner knows when to refer to the checklist, when to reduce power, when to lower the flaps, etc.

Outside a request from a tower, there are times when a straight-in is called for, such as when a magneto fails a few miles outside the traffic pattern and the airport is the closest suitable runway.

This is the scenario I use with my learners, as I experienced it in the real world as a learner. My CFI demonstrated the proper technique, troubleshooting the issue to no avail, calling my attention to the diminished engine power available and sight picture, and ensuring that we had the runway made before applying flaps and reducing the power to idle.

Many years later, I was the CFI and had this happen. The straight-in and landing was a nonevent. The chief mechanic brought me fragments of metal that had been the left magneto to show my ground school class.

Another scenario where a straight-in is appropriate is when the weather that was VFR or MVFR drops to IFR and you, the noninstrument-rated pilot in the non-IFR-equipped aircraft need to get down quickly.

Don’t Be That Pilot

There are pilots who, when they hear another pilot on the radio state they are planning to do a straight-in approach, will scold the pilot or even threaten to call the FAA on them. This is not a discussion to have on the radio.

I have witnessed this at nontowered airports. I tell my learners not to engage that person. Focus on flying the airplane. If you are the pilot doing the straight-in for any of the above mentioned reasons—weather, a mechanical issue, or perhaps even an airsick passenger that necessitates getting on the ground quickly but not declaring an emergency—wait until you get on the ground before you get into a “discussion” with the other pilot. 

The post Why Straight-In Approaches Aren’t So Straightforward appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The event is scheduled for October 15-17 on the campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida.

“Last year’s summit was successful because of the strong technical program delivered by industry leaders and experts. This year will be the same,” said NAFI president Paul Preidecker. “But instead of addressing six themes as we did last year, this year we decided to bring more focus by supporting three very important ones: training the trainer, mentorship, and peer support, and pilot health and well-being.”

The event—which has the slogan, “Come to NAFI Summit, go home a better CFI”—is an opportunity for instructors of all levels and varying backgrounds to meet with their peers and discuss educational techniques, learner challenges, and opportunities to enhance their careers.

There will be 28 educational sessions during the two days. Among the topics to be discussed will be specific strategies instructors can use to “reach” their learners, as well as more technical topics such as the appropriate uses of autopilot during IFR and teaching emergency procedures in the most effective manner.

According to NAFI, there will be 21 exhibitors at the event, including Sporty’s Pilot Shop, King Schools, Avemco Insurance, and Redbird Flight Simulations. Several online training courses will be represented, as well as manufacturers of safety wearables, designed to enhance the educational experience.

Celebrity guests are also expected, and include keynote speakers Dr. Susan Northrup, FAA federal air surgeon, and Bruce Landsberg, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association senior safety adviser and recently retired National Transportation Safety Board vice chairman.

Northrup will be discussing the FAA’s rulemaking committee report. Instructors are tasked with knowing the rules and where to look them up and teaching this practice to their learners.

Landsberg will focus on how instructors can best teach fundamental aviation concepts to their learners.

On the evening of October 16, a dinner will be highlighted by aviation educators and instructors John and Martha King. The Kings have more than 50 years experience as aviation instructors. 

Registration for NAFI Summit is $350 for nonmembers and $300 for NAFI members. Further discounts exist for Master CFIs and DPEs, as well as active military attendees.

There is also reduced pricing for flight schools that sign up as a group and bring at least three instructors or a maximum of 10 to the event.

Additional information, including how to register, may be found here.

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A member of Whirly-Girls will benefit from a scholarship sponsored by Coptersafety, an independent helicopter pilot training provider that specializes in simulator training for H125s, H145s, AW13s9, and AW169s. Training is done at Coptersafety’s facility near Helsinki Airport (EFHK). The independent training provider offers instruction for certification around the world.

The scholarship provides an opportunity for one Whirly-Girls member to complete an FAA H145 initial training and/or ATP training course, including technical ground training, full-flight simulator training, and practical tests.

The training is done using Level D full-flight simulators. 

Applications are open until early October, and the scholarship will be awarded in 2025. 

This is Coptersafety’s second scholarship sponsorship with Whirly-Girls, as earlier this year the company sponsored two FAA AW139 type rating scholarships.

“At Coptersafety, we recognize the importance of increasing diversity in the vertical aviation industry,” said Matt Presnal, chief theoretical knowledge instructor at Coptersafety. “We are proud to continue our collaboration with Whirly-Girls International. By investing in women in aviation, we not only promote gender equality but also cultivate a stronger, more inclusive workforce for the future of vertical aviation.”

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According to Sporty’s, the partnership integrates Infinite Flight’s scenario-based training with Sporty’s Learn to Fly Course, which bridges the gap between online aviation training and advanced flight simulation.

When paired with Sporty’s online ground schools, Infinite Flight allows the users to practice concepts “in the virtual cockpit.” The scenarios presented are those used in the training environment. With the push of a button, users can transition from watching instructional videos to flying a maneuver in a virtual Cessna 172 Skyhawk.

The system includes an evaluation of the user’s performance and also offers feedback.

Infinite Flight allows users to virtually fly to and from thousands of airports around the world while integrating popular electronic flight bag apps like ForeFlight and Garmin Pilot just as they would in an actual aircraft. The platform also gives users the ability to experience varying weather scenarios and aircraft performance.

For the learner who is struggling to keep up in the cockpit, or who is apprehensive about getting lost during cross-country flights, Infinite Flight allows them to “practice” the flight before they get near an aircraft. 

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As I pulled into work the announcer came back on, sounding surprised as she said a second airplane had struck the other tower at the WTC. 

I rushed into the break room and turned on the television just in time to see the video of the second airliner hitting the second tower. When the announcer came on saying that the FAA was grounding all aircraft—calling it a “ground stop all aircraft”—I immediately called my father to let him know I was safe. I was a week out from my commercial check ride and flying quite a bit. Dad addressed me by my full name (when you hear the middle one, it means business) and ordered me to stay on the ground.

If you were old enough on September 11, 2001—especially if you were in aviation—that day is probably etched in your memory as well. Airline crews were diverted and not told why until after they landed. People gathered around radios and televisions to listen for information. It was a time of great uncertainty.

Temporary flight restrictions popped up over military bases and other potential targets. Barricades were put up at some airports. Ramps became crowded with transient aircraft that landed wherever they could. It was eerily quiet. I live near a U.S. Air Force base and even they weren’t flying.

There was a 30 nm no-fly zone around Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (KSEA). Basically, if your airport was under the Mode C veil, you stayed on the ground or took a risk far greater than getting in trouble with the FAA. Weather briefings stated that “deadly force was authorized.”

In the weeks that followed, we learned a “new normal.” We filed IFR flight plans on VFR days just for the privilege to head out to the practice area and back. On the day of my commercial pilot check ride, I was using a pink highlighter to color in the newly created TFRs over Port of Bremerton, Washington, and Naval Submarine Base Bangor on a brand-new sectional when I was ramp checked. It was early Sunday morning, and the FAA inspector wanted to know what I was doing out there so early.

Within two weeks of the attack, the number of CFIs at the airport doubled. It was the boomerang effect as those shiny new airline jobs they had all reported to a month earlier were gone, as so many airlines shut down or scaled back.

A few weeks after the attack, CFIs were allowed to fly and some flight schools allowed something called “supervised solo.” It seemed odd that students were allowed to fly and the certificated pilots could not unless they were with a CFI or instrument rated, current, and on an IFR flight plan. And you had to have current approach plates and sectionals appropriate to the mission because ramp checks were still happening.

This created a challenge when we needed to move the company aircraft 14 nm to another airport so it could undergo its annual inspection. My employer was definitely not IFR current, but I was, so technically I was to be PIC on this flight. We didn’t have a current IFR sectional. I had my certificates with me but not my gear bag, which was still at home, and we had to move this aircraft because of a tight weather window.

While he preflighted the aircraft, I ran into the local FBO to see if they had the sectional we needed. The guy behind the counter laughed and said no, so I had better turn into a CFI right quick.

I ran across the parking lot to the newly opened pilot supply shop. It had what I needed, and because there was just a week left before the sectional expired, Tom, the fellow that ran the supply shop, didn’t change me for it.

A few years later, I would be working at that school as a CFI, and Tom would become a friend.

Flight School Fallout

Following reports that the terrorist hijackers trained at U.S. flight schools, there were people who called for them to be shut down for good. The anti-airport types decried aviation as a threat. Thank goodness the hysteria died away after a few weeks, although a few years later we did get the requirement to verify a trainee’s citizenship and prove we had done this by giving them the TSA endorsement.

The endorsement requires verification of the applicant’s citizenship. For those born in the U.S., the FAA approved language reads: “I certify that [insert student’s name] has presented me a [insert type of document presented, such as a U.S. birth certificate or U.S. passport, and the relevant control or sequential number on the document, if any] establishing that [he or she] is a U.S. citizen or national in accordance with 49 CFR 1552.3(h). [Insert date and instructor’s signature and CFI number.]”

A record of the endorsement is made in the instructor’s logbook or other means used by the instructor to document flight student endorsements. CFIs are required to keep these records for five years.

In lieu of this, the FARs said the flight training provider “may make and retain copies of the documentation establishing an individual as a U.S. citizen or U.S. national.” So photocopies of their passports or birth certificates may be on file at their school.

In May the TSA tweaked those rules. TSA awareness training is now required every two years, instead of annually. 

The rules for training foreign pilots were also adjusted as now foreign nationals can use TSA Precheck and Global Entry in lieu of going through the old TSA approval process. In addition, a security coordinator must be named for a Part 141 school. If the training is under Part 61, the CFI who gave the endorsement is considered the contact person.

My fellow CFIs, please find out what method your flight school utilizes. I say this because I recently encountered a batch of freshly minted CFIs who insisted “no one does the TSA thing” anymore. I was pretty sure something got lost in translation.

It turns out the schools they attended—larger academy types—did not do the individual endorsements in logbooks. They had never heard about the CFI providing the endorsement. They were surprised when I told them how we did it “back in the day.”

I can’t help but be concerned that the aviation world may be lowering its collective guard as we get further away from 9/11. The things we were taught to watch for, like people who also wanted to know how to do cruise flight but not take off and land, or who presented large amounts of cash and wanted concentrated training—like six a hours a day—may now be viewed as an opportunity rather than a red flag.

I just hope the aviation industry doesn’t forget what we learned so many years ago.

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