He complained there was something wrong with the airplane. The engine wasn’t producing enough power. He had attempted two takeoffs and wisely chose to abort, as it did not lift off when he expected.

“It pretty much ate up the whole runway!” he said. 

When asked if he had done the performance calculations, specifically accounting for density altitude, he acted like a deer in the headlights. He had not performed the computations because he didn’t think the conditions warranted. The field elevation was approximately 492 feet—certainly not what you would consider high elevation, and the temperature was in the mid-80s Fahrenheit. He was from Arizona, where the temperature routinely topped 100 in the summer, so this was not hot, and it didn’t feel humid out there, at least not by Midwest or Gulf state standards—also places he had been.

“Don’t you need all three to create density altitude?” he asked.

No. No, you don’t.

• READ MORE: The Importance of Embracing Proficiency Culture

He was surprised to learn that a single one of those factors can reduce aircraft performance, which is why those numbers need to be crunched and double-checked before every flight. And I mean every flight.

Of all the skills that go by the wayside after the check ride, determining aircraft performance is right up there next to “obtaining a weather briefing” and “weight and balance.” If you don’t make it a habit to use these skills, they fade—and quickly. I will never forget the private pilot who had her certificate for all of four months yet couldn’t remember how to access a weather report or read a takeoff performance chart and therefore had no idea how long the takeoff roll would be.

Consider what is off the end of the runway as well. If the performance chart says you need 1,120 feet to clear that 50-foot obstacle at the end of the runway, and the runway measures 1,900 feet, ask yourself where could you go if something went wrong? Is there a golf course? An industrial park? A lake? Don’t forget to review the short-field takeoff checklist and review the fine print, especially with regard to leaning the mixture for best power.

Watch the Weight

We can’t control the weather, but we can manage the weight of the aircraft. On warmer days, it is not uncommon to limit the fuel load of an aircraft to adjust for its reduced performance.

Most flight schools that use scheduling software have a place to put notes in the rental reservation where you can leave a remark such as special refueling instructions, such as do not refuel after flight. To be safe you might want to add a Post-it note in the dispatch binder or on it, or a note on a whiteboard in the CFI cubicles can work. This is a belt-and-suspenders and a staple-gun approach, but if your flight school doesn’t have the ability to expediently and safely offload fuel, it can save a flight. 

Don’t forget to note the time to climb in your calculations. It is a bit chilling to have planned for a climb rate of 500 feet per minute to clear a ridgeline but then notice the aircraft is struggling to achieve 300 feet per minute. This is one of those times you will want to fly  a shuttle climb, going back and forth in a confined space.

Protect Pilot Performance

High altitude, heat, and humidity also degrade the performance of a pilot. Most aircraft in the training fleet don’t have the same caliber of environmental controls as modern cars, so pilots, especially flight instructors, have to be creative. (You know it is a hot day at the airport when the CFIs keep the door of the aircraft open during taxi and don’t close it until just before takeoff.)

You can try to work around it by scheduling flights early in the morning or late in the evening but if that is not an option you have to adapt.

• READ MORE: Separation Anxiety: When Your Instructor Moves on, Your Logbook Tells the Story

In the Seattle area, anything over 90 degrees is unusual, and our homes, airplanes, and bodies aren’t used to it. There was one summer where it really got us. I still had to fly, so I scheduled as many of my learners as I could in the cooler part of the day—two before noon and one for when the day began to cool. I had learned that even if I used those products advertised to control sweat and stink and wore a cotton T-shirt under my flight school uniform (a black polo made from a material that nature never knew existed), by midday my shirt was sweat soaked and I felt as though I needed a bath in tomato juice.

I started changing my T-shirt at least twice a day, and when the temperatures reached the 100s, drew upon primacy, drawing upon my days as a teenage girl at slumber parties: I froze my own T-shirt. It’s not quite what we did back in those days, but the principle was sound, and I highly recommend it. Put a clean, dry T-shirt in the freezer overnight. Wear it the next day during the flight. You will be surprised how comfortable it is and how long it stays cool. 

On those hot days, I learned to carry frozen bottles of water in the airplane. Put the bottle in a clean tube sock to absorb the condensation. Sip from the bottle in between maneuvers, and in particular before landing, as dehydration can manifest as fatigue and slow down your reaction time. Also, you can be dehydrated without being thirsty. You may find it useful to take a few sips off water bottles as part of your before-landing checklist, as it increases alertness.

The Difficult Conversation

Using deodorant and daily bathing is not a universal thing. This was explained to me by a colleague who had some bad experiences with learners from other cultures, to the point her flight school added a page on hygiene information to its welcome-to-our-school packets. The CFIs told stories of using air fresheners in the cockpits and classrooms and using lemon-scented polish on the aircraft windows to try to mask the odor.

It is particularly awkward when it is a co-worker who needs the talk. I was forced to do a Redbird training session with a CFI who was a heavy smoker, and frankly smelled like a cross between an ashtray, a latrine, and a skunk. I’d been warned, but that did not do the situation justice. My eyes were watering, and I cut the lesson short—then promptly went to the gym around the corner, showered, and changed my uniform.

I had two more learners that day, and I wanted the focus to be on flying—not fragrance.

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

The post How to Beat the Summer Heat When Flying appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

I am coming up on 21 years as a CFI, and there are stumbling blocks I’ve seen freshly minted CFIs trip over. Here are 12 suggestions to help make your journey as an educator a smooth one for both you and your learners:

1. Use a syllabus

Even if you were not trained with a syllabus, or the school you are working at is Part 61 and doesn’t require it, please use one, be it paper or electronic form. It will help you stay organized and deliver lessons in a logical order. Make sure your learners have a copy and bring it to lessons.

Pro tip: If your learners don’t have a copy of the syllabus, you’re not really using one with them. They need to have a copy for best results.

2. Introduce FAA certification standards on Day 1

The Airmen Certification Standards (ACS) is required reading for both the CFI and learner. A learner can’t perform to standard unless they know what those minimum standards are. The ACS spells them out quite clearly.

Don’t wait until just before the check ride to bring them out and apply them. Use the ACS in the pre-brief so the learner knows the metrics for which they are aiming.

• READ MORE: The Importance of Embracing Proficiency Culture

3. Stress the use of a checklist

This starts with the preflight inspection. Have the checklist in hand. Teach to the premaneuver, cruise, and of course, prelanding checklists as well. Emergency checklists should be memorized.

Bonus points: Show the learner the pages in the pilot’s operating handbook or Airplane Flying Handbook from which the preflight checklist was derived. Teach them to use that if the checklist disappears— as it often does at flight schools.

4. Teach weather briefing and aircraft performance

Teach the learner to obtain and interpret a weather briefing and to calculate aircraft performance from Day 1. Discuss weather minimums and how their personal minimums will change as their experience grows.

If the learner does not want to fly in certain weather—such as especially turbulent days or if the weather starts to go bad during a lesson—be ready to terminate. Flight instruction is about teaching good decision-making in addition to flying skills.

5. Manage your schedule for the learner’s benefit

While it is true that most CFIs are building time to reach the airlines, do not overload your schedule at the expense of the learner. The learner should be able to fly at least twice a week, though three times is optimal for best results. Manage your student’s load so you are flying six to eight hours a day—that’s a hard stop at eight hours.

Be ready to go at least 10 minutes before the learner arrives. That means scheduling lessons so the aircraft is on the ground at least 15 minutes before the next lesson so that it can be serviced if needed and you can take care of the debrief and logbook of the previous client. Be sure the person who does the scheduling understands the limitations of scheduling, such as when you timeout at eight hours.

Pro tip: The quickest way to lose a client—and possibly your job—is to disrespect a learner’s time. There will likely be a time when you miss a lesson or are late. Apologize and make it up to the learner by giving them a free lesson, even if it means you have to pay your employer for the use of the airplane and your time. You won’t like it, but it’s about character and doing what’s right, especially if the school has a “no-show, you-pay” policy for the learners.

• READ MORE: Separation Anxiety: When Your Instructor Moves on, Your Logbook Tells the Story

6. Don’t spend too much time on the controls

This is a hard habit to break. Try holding a writing implement in your hand while you hold your other arm across your body. If you are going to fold your arms on your chest, tell the learner it’s to show them you’re not on the controls.

Some people interpret this posture as being angry, so make sure you say something up front.

8. Eliminate the ‘pretty good’ metric

“Pretty good” is not a pilot report on weather conditions or an assessment of the learner’s performance. Teach them to be precise on weather observations, such as “light winds, ceiling at 3,000 feet,”, and for learner performance use metrics, such as “altitude within 200 feet,” for performance review.

Ask the learner how they would like feedback on their performance—in the moment or at the end of the lesson in the debrief. Some learners prefer the CFI to sit there quietly while they flail around with the controls. Others prefer real-time correction, such as “your heading is off by 10 degrees,” which allows them to fix it.

9. Don’t pass up the opportunity to teach a ground school

That is when you really find out if you really are a teacher of flight or a time builder. Teaching in the classroom and demonstrating something in the airplane involve vastly different skill sets.

Reading slides off a screen or material out of a book is not teaching. To be an effective teacher, the CFI needs to get the learners engaged in the material. The best teachers are memorable.

• READ MORE: Make Flight Reviews for CFIs Worthwhile

10. Allow the learners to make mistakes

Mistakes are part of learning. In aviation, they happen quite a bit, and as long as no metal is bent, no one is physically hurt, there is no property damage, or broken FARs, allow them to happen.

If things go badly and the learner is upset, the worst thing you can do is tell them to sit there while you fly back to the airport. This can destroy their confidence. Instead, try having the learner review and practice a maneuver already learned. Strive to always end the lesson on a positive note.

11. Plan for poor weather or mechanical delays

Always approach each day with two plans for each learner—flight or ground. Let the learner know in advance what the plans are: “If we fly, we will do this; if we cannot fly, we will do that.”

There is the option to cancel if the flight cannot be completed, but you should be prepared to teach. For example, if the weather is below minimums or an aircraft is down for maintenance and the shop rules permit it, take the learner into the hangar and do a practical pointing using the aircraft engine or cockpit instruments.

12. Make time for your own proficiency and currency

Protect your flying skills. You can do this in part by demonstrating takeoffs and landings or by asking the learner if they are OK with you doing a few at the end of the flight with the understanding you will be paying for that aircraft time and will adjust the bill accordingly.

Don’t neglect your instrument skills either. Use the advanced aviation training device (AATD) if the school has one and shoot a few approaches and holds a couple times a month, or pair up with another CFI during off-peak hours to do some real-world IFR flying.

An instrument rating is part of the requirement to be a CFI, so make sure you keep it ready for use.

This column first appeared in the Summer 2024 Ultimate Issue print edition.

The post Ultimate Issue: First Few Hours of Being a CFI Are the Hardest appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Anatomy of a Flight Review

According to FAR 61.56, the flight review consists of a minimum of an hour of ground instruction, including a review of the current general operating and flight rules of Part 91, and one hour of flight with a “review of those maneuvers and procedures that, at the discretion of the person giving the review, are necessary for the pilot to demonstrate the safe exercise of the privileges of the pilot certificate.”

Flight instructors who have renewed their certificates within the preceding 24 calendar months need not do the hour of ground. That means for the active CFI the flight review will consist of an hour of flying to satisfy the regulatory requirement. Pilots are expected to fly to the level of their certificate as determined by the airman certification standards.

Carefully Plan the Flight

The FAA recommends referring to advisory circular (AC) 61-98D for guidance on administering an effective flight review and encourages the flight instructor administering it to work with the pilot to develop a plan of action around evaluating the pilot’s knowledge and flying skills, rather than focusing on meeting the regulatory minimums.

• READ MORE: Who Is Teaching? Low Time and Social Media Make for a Bad Combo

The AC suggests that regardless of the pilot’s experience, maneuvers considered critical to safe flight include takeoffs, stabilized approaches to landings, slow flight and stalls, recovery from unusual attitudes, operating aircraft by sole reference to instruments under actual or simulated conditions, and operation of aircraft automation. You won’t find a minimum number of takeoffs and landings, nor does it suggest emergency approaches without engine power, but you’d be wise to include them.

Perhaps you could be under the hood for the flight to the practice area (many CFIs don’t get much IFR experience), go visual, and do a chandelle up to altitude for slow flight and stalls, followed by an emergency descent, then back to the pattern for specialty takeoffs and landings.

Last-Minute Scramble

You may have to schedule your flight review around your regular hours at the flight school, but sometimes your plans can be thwarted by aircraft scheduling, maintenance issues, or weather.

Talk to the chief CFI or owner of the school in advance—if you have to fly during regular business hours to avoid turning into a pumpkin, they will be losing two instructors for at least an hour that day, and if you work at a small school, this can be very challenging.

Add a Rating

Many CFIs opt to add another certificate or rating to satisfy the flight review requirement. If this includes a check ride, make sure the designated pilot examiner (DPE) understands you intend this to be a flight review and make sure they are OK with that. The same goes for endorsements, such as complex aircraft, high-performance, or tailwheel.

• READ MORE: Practice Crosswind Landings Whenever You Can

Checkouts in aircraft with new-to-you avionics are also a popular option. If you are a round-dial pilot, get some time behind a glass cockpit design. If you’ve never flown anything but the Garmin G1000, find a round-dial panel and suitable instructor and see what you’ve been missing.

When a CFI Needs a CFI

The CFI administering the review needs to observe the rating limitations of FAR 61.195, which states that the instructor must hold a flight instructor certificate with the applicable category and class rating. FAA Advisory Circular AC 61-98D states: “For aircraft in which the flight instructor is not current or with which he or she is not familiar, he or she should obtain recent flight experience or sufficient knowledge of aircraft limitations, characteristics, and performance before conducting the review. In any case, the flight instructor must observe the rating limitations of 61.195.”

The phrase “sufficient knowledge of aircraft limitations” can send you into a gray area. What if you have never flown a Cessna 170 before? It is single-engine land, and if you have that on your certificate, you should be OK, right? There are CFIs who may be asked to administer a flight review for a tailwheel pilot even though the CFI does not have that endorsement or is not tailwheel current. According to the FAA, this can be done legally provided “the person receiving flight instruction pursuant to a flight review would have to be current and qualified under Part 61 [including 61.31(i)] and must act as pilot in command [PIC] during that flight.”

Is It Instruction?

Ask that question in front of a pack of CFIs and you may get divergent answers, possibly stemming from the fact the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) endorsement that CFIs are required to give to new people seeking instruction is not required for flight reviews, leading some to conclude a flight review isn’t instruction.

According to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) guidance on the TSA endorsement, “flight reviews and instrument proficiency checks do not fall under the TSA definition of flight training as the TSA has also interpreted the definition of recurrent training to

‘not include any flight review, proficiency check, or other check to review rules, maneuvers, or procedures, or to demonstrate a pilot’s existing skills on aircraft with a MTOW of 12,500 pounds or less.’”

However, the FAA tells FLYING, “a flight review is considered flight instruction and is referenced in [FAR] 61.56. Flight training and flight instruction are considered synonymous when meeting a regulatory experience requirement under Part 61. Section 61.56(a) states, ‘a flight review consists of a minimum of one hour of flight training and one hour of ground training. Additionally,

FAR 61.193, Flight Instructor Privileges, notes a person who holds a flight instructor certificate is authorized within the limitations of that person’s flight instructor certificate and ratings to train and issue endorsements that are required for…a flight review, operating privilege, or recency of experience requirement of this part.’”

As outlined in AC 61-98D, 4.4.1, the flight review is not a check ride. Therefore it is not a pass/fail situation. However, “if the review is not satisfactory, the flight instructor should log the flight as ‘dual instruction given’ and not as a ‘failure.’” In addition, the instructor administering the review should offer a practical course of action—be it flight training, ground training, or both for the pilot to regain proficiency and return to the standard.

Many CFIs will go out and practice on their own before a flight review. They don’t want to take a chance on an unsatisfactory grade. Frankly, when you are a busy CFI, flying for yourself is particularly enjoyable. Get out there!

This column first appeared in the January-February 2024/Issue 945 of FLYING’s print edition.

The post Make Flight Reviews for CFIs Worthwhile appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

During the summit, I shared a table with David St. George, designated pilot examiner and executive director of the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators. St. George noted that most flight instructors teach for about a year before they move on. They often train through accelerated programs, where the goal is to meet the requirements and pass the check ride in as little time as possible. This “hurry-up-and-get-it-done” model is repeated by these instructors. Stereotypical behavior includes “check-the-box instruction,” where the flight is performed to meet the certificate requirements. Other behaviors include a minimum of ground time spent with the learner and pushing weather boundaries and learner fatigue levels to keep the Hobbs meter running.

The aviation community has been buzzing lately about a fatal accident in Kentucky in September that took the life of a 22-year-old instructor and an 18-year-old learner. The event gathered a lot of attention online because the CFI, who had a pronounced social media presence, chronicled the flight through Snapchat in a series of public remarks demeaning the learner. The CFI’s last post documented the line of thunderstorms they flew into that ultimately tore the aircraft to pieces.

According to the preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), on September 27, CFI Timothy McKellar Jr. and private pilot candidate Connor Quisenberry intended to fly a Piper PA-28-161 from Owensboro/Daviess County Regional Airport (KOWB) on a VFR flight plan to Bowling Green-Woodhurst Airport (KBWG). The Snapchat story begins with McKellar talking to the camera and shaking his head along with a caption disparaging the student. Then the camera angle reverses to show Quisenberry, flashlight and checklist in hand, performing the preflight inspection of the Warrior.

• READ MORE: Practice Crosswind Landings Whenever You Can

McKellar shows himself drumming his fingers on the outside of the airplane and expressing impatience with Quisenberry who “wanted to have a conversation” when McKellar wants to get the flight over with because he has to be up at 4:30 a.m. The time stamp of the Snapchat shows 8:39 p.m. as McKellar is heard saying, “C’mon.” They have a three-hour flight ahead.

McKellar’s comments, along with FlightAware’s capture of nine takeoffs and landings at the destination airport, seem to indicate this flight was intended to meet the night training requirement for the private certificate. The NTSB report did not indicate if either McKellar or Quisenberry obtained a weather briefing prior to the flight. A review of TAFs and METARs from the area shows a probability of convective activity, including warnings of lightning “in all quadrants.” Given this information, the decision to make the flight at all is puzzling.

According to social media posts, McKellar did most of his training at ATP, the largest accelerated training program in the U.S. He held CFI, CFII, and MEI certificates. Some graduates of accelerated programs may not know how to teach beyond the test because that’s how they were trained. They exhibit rote learning rather than understanding and application. Correlation—the level of learning that requires the learner to perform real-world tasks and exhibit in-depth knowledge—is often missing in these cases.

The Snapchat video continues showing the night takeoff and some moments in cruise flight. McKellar’s decision to record the takeoff—one of the critical moments of flight—also raised a few eyebrows among experienced instructors because that’s when things can go wrong quickly.

• READ MORE: When You Go Back to Flight School, Don’t Lose What You’ve Learned

At 22:15, approximately one hour after takeoff, McKellar posted an annotated weather image from a mobile-device-based aviation navigation tool. The image shows the airplane’s position northwest of Bowling Green, along with the planned route of flight back to KOWB. Radar imagery was also displayed in the image, marked with a circle around the flight track and nearby returns, and a comment from McKellar about the storms approaching like “pissed-off hornets.” The storms are approximately 15 miles away.

The NTSB report includes a screen grab of the post with attention called to the location of the approaching storms, airplane’s position (blue airplane icon), planned route of flight (magenta line), and depicted imagery with the storms circled in red on either side of the route line.

ATC warned of heavy to extreme precipitation to the aircraft’s 9 o’clock. ADS-B data showed that the airplane continued its northwesterly course, and FlightAware displayed some extreme altitude fluctuations. About two minutes later, McKellar requested an IFR clearance. ATC told them to head east. McKellar advised ATC that the airplane was “getting blown around like crazy.” The airplane’s flight track showed a turn to the northwest, followed by a right circling turn. The controller reiterated the heading of 090 degrees. McKellar replied that they were in “pretty extreme turbulence.”

There were no further comms. The last ADS-B position was recorded at 22:49 at an altitude of 2,200 feet. The wreckage, described by the NTSB as a “debris field,” was spread over 25 acres in a hilly, densely wooded area. The aircraft was torn in half with the forward fuselage, including the cockpit, engine, and right wing, located together in the most westerly portion of the debris field. The stabilator was torn chordwise just outboard of the hinges, with the right side located 1,500 feet away from the fuselage. The NTSB did not uncover any preaccident anomalies or malfunctions.

McKellar’s family has defended his actions, saying he was joking with the learner and that he demanded excellence from the pilots he flew with. CFIs are supposed to model professionalism for their learners. Posting on social media during a flight, especially demeaning your learner, is not demonstrating professionalism. Nor is recognizing approaching thunderstorms and flying into them.

All CFIs become frustrated with their learners from time to time, especially when they fail to meet expectations, but good CFIs focus on ways to help them improve. It may mean developing a different approach to the task or even suggesting a change of instructor. Shaming the learner on social media is not how to do it.

The Kentucky accident will likely become a lesson in hazardous attitudes (macho, invulnerability, etc.) and risk identification for future aviators. It is too bad that two families had to lose their sons for this.

At most colleges and trade schools, the instructors have spent years in the industry they are teaching. They often have decades of experience in the field before they step into the classroom. In the aviation world, it is backward. We expect someone with the least amount of experience, often approximately 300 hours, to teach the next generation of pilots.

The question now is how do we encourage more instructors to teach longer so they have a chance to build experience? More money is my first thought, but if the CFI doesn’t enjoy teaching, it will be the students who suffer.

One of the sobering messages from the NAFI Summit was if we continue to have the less experienced, less committed instructors training the bulk of future pilots, we can likely expect more accidents caused by failure to identify and mitigate risk in pursuit of hours.

This column first appeared in the December 2023/Issue 944 of FLYING’s print edition.

The post Who Is Teaching? Low Time and Social Media Make for a Bad Combo appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Logging time in actual conditions isn’t a requirement for the certificate. Nowhere in FAR 61.65 does it say that the applicant is required to register time in real instrument meteorological conditions—it can be either IMC or simulated IFR under a view-limiting device—but I wanted the experience of actual IFR without a view-limiting device. Most people don’t fly that way, except within the training environment.

For this reason, you may want to invest in a view-limiting device that is easy on, easy off—the type that flips up to allow you to see outside as well as the panel without removing your headset are best.

The Disorientation Factor

The first time you fly into a cloud, there is a bump— you are going from an area of relatively warmer air into cooler air. It sort of feels like tripping when going up a flight of stairs. Then the cockpit gets darker, and the horizon disappears.

Focus on shifting your gaze—not turning your head from outside to inside—and focus on the flight instruments. Aircraft loss of control often happens in those first few seconds when outside visual references are stripped away, and the pilot falls prey to spatial disorientation and inflight illusions.

Inflight Illusions

The Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge has details on these illusions. Some may overlap or feel similar—all can lead to serious spatial disorientation.

The leans—the most common illusion during flight— is caused by a sudden return to level flight following a gradual and prolonged turn. Leveling the wings can create an illusion that the aircraft is banking in the opposite direction than the original turn. The pilot tries to correct for this by leaning in the direction of the original turn. You may have to remind yourself to sit up straight.

The somatogravic illusion happens during rapid acceleration, such as during takeoff, where the disoriented pilot thinks the airplane is in a nose-up attitude and pushes the airplane into a dive, or pulls back on the throttle to stop the acceleration. Don’t do this.

The Coriolis illusion occurs when the pilot has been in a turn long enough for the fluid in the ear canal to move. When the turn is stopped, the fluid continues to move, creating the illusion of turning or accelerating on a different axis. Trying to correct this illusion, the pilot may apply a correction that is the opposite of what should be done. For example, the airplane is in straight and level flight, but the pilot thinks it is in a banked turn and when they ‘straighten the airplane out,’ they put it into a bank. The Coriolis illusion may happen when the pilot reaches down in the cockpit for a dropped item.

The graveyard spiral happens when the pilot is flying in a prolonged, coordinated, constant-rate turn and begins to feel that the aircraft has stopped turning. When the pilot stops the turn, there is a sensation that the airplane is turning in the opposite direction.

The inversion illusion begins during an abrupt change from climb to straight-and-level flight, which can create the sensation of tumbling backwards, causing the pilot to push the nose of the aircraft down.

The elevator illusion happens during abrupt vertical acceleration, such as when the aircraft encounters an updraft, creating the illusion the aircraft is in a climb. The pilot may push the nose down.

As the PHAK notes, “A pilot can reduce susceptibility to disorienting illusions through training and awareness and learning to rely totally on flight instruments.” In short, learn to read those instruments, know what they are telling you, and act accordingly.

Learning how to properly scan and interpret the instruments is a skill. To be able to do it without the benefit of a view-limiting device is a discipline. Practice this by getting a CFII, opening an IFR flight plan, and going in and out of the clouds sans the view-limiting device. It will be disorienting (at first), but it will do wonders for your confidence.

One of the maneuvers to practice in the clouds is the 180-degree turn. At the appropriate altitude, trim the airplane for level flight, then—using your feet only—make a left turn (obstacle permitting) at half standard rate using rudder only. Begin by noting the aircraft’s heading, then start the turn. Focus on maintaining half standard rate all the way around. The turn will happen faster at full standard rate, but it can also lead to over-controlling as the bank angle increases, then there is a loss of lift, and the aircraft begins an uncom- manded descent.

The Challenge for CFIs/CFIIs

Although possessing an instrument rating is a requirement to be a flight instructor under FAA regs, some CFIs have logged very little actual instrument time. This is particularly true if they were trained in accelerated programs geared toward taking several check rides in a short time—or they fly in an area where actual IMC is a rarity.

The first time they take a learner into the clouds, it can be a wake-up call for the instructor to be in the right seat, sans view limiting device, focusing on the instruments and the learner at the same time. Also, CFIs may find it challenging to maintain their IFR proficiency because most of their flying is done with learners in VFR conditions.

Some schools recognize this and do not charge their CFIs for the rental for currency and proficiency.

It is often said that the instrument rating is the most challenging to get but also the most useful. Make the most of yours.

This column originally appeared in the May 2023 Issue 937 print edition of FLYING.

The post When VFR Turns Into IFR appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Back at my home airport in Daytona Beach, Florida (KDAB), I’d mastered all the visual navigation aids that had come to serve as cues for my flying. For example, to fly the RNAV Runway 16 approach at that airport, a local hospital positioned 5 miles north of the airport was my signal to establish a steady, 500 fpm descent with 10 degrees of flaps—which would take you right in. If you wanted to circle-to-land on Runway 7L, here’s what you’d do: You only had to wait until you were adjacent to the Daytona International Speedway, at which point you could make a turn left and fly towards I-95 south until the nose of your airplane touched the road. With Daytona’s 10,500-foot primary runway now on your left—provided that you leveled off well at your circling altitude—you’d gradually bring the power almost to idle, confirm that your gear and final flaps were down, and you’d be right on the numbers. With the visual cues guiding me along the way, my rehearsal worked every time, whether day or night. Whenever I had to teach that sequence to students, I was like a drill sergeant training recruits how to march in step.

Now, imagine doing that circle-to-land procedure at another airport and—compounding the level of complexity—doing it at night. You might feel the urge to look for similar cues, but it is unlikely you’d get the same results since very few airports are built alike. So, I used to find myself approaching a new airport in the air while under visual flight rules, and instead of being able to focus on the approach phase, I’d end up behind the airplane, figuring out where I was. And it was easy to lose my way if the airport had multiple runways and air traffic controllers issued instructions that required me to report from a particular reference point to be configured for the traffic pattern. Plus, pilots know all too well that the simplified rendering on sectionals and airport diagrams by themselves never completely do the job of allowing you to get up to speed ahead of time.

I know I am not alone here. As an instructor, I’ve seen students at all levels display the same patterns of confusion, regardless of experience. If you’ve recently purchased a new or new-to-you airplane and have set off to explore the world, it will only be a matter of time before you run into this problem. How can you overcome this? Here are some best practices I’ve discovered that quickly orient me to new surroundings and help me get configured for landing in a timely manner.

The rise in satellite imagery available on many commercial products allows you to see photo-quality images of the world as it appears in real life. This tip I discovered when I had to fly into a private airport for a check ride and needed to figure out what visual cues I would use for my traffic pattern. Using Google Earth, I could set up the point of view as if I was at a reasonable altitude and looking forward. Using this perspective, you can see the world as you’d see it from an airplane. I could follow the path I’d expect to fly and learn the surroundings.

To apply this, I suggest positioning yourself 20 nm away from the airport and role-playing what ATC might assign you for headings and altitudes during normal operations. Determine how you would join the pattern for various runways. Think about what you’d need to do if the pattern was full and you needed to turn around without causing a problem for someone in trail. More importantly, figure out where the highest obstacles are. Compare it with your sectional to watch for nearby airspace and establish visual cues to keep you from violating any that you’re not cleared to enter. Consider what you’d do in low-visibility conditions, or at night. 

In hindsight, I was surprised it took me so long to use this, but it has proven to be a helpful idea for preflight planning. By talking about how the airplane should be reasonably configured as you fly along and using visual markers as guiding points, you can ensure that by the time you actually make the trip, you know what to expect. It sure beats what I’ve seen other CFIs try to do, e.g.: holding up an airport diagram and spinning it north to figure out where they are. Whenever I’ve shared this Google Earth tip with new students, I’ve seen their eyes light up as they know they now have a workload-relieving tool that improves decision-making and situational awareness. And here’s another tool: You can use ForeFlight’s 3D View after selecting an airport to get a similar bird’s-eye view of your approach to any airport in their database. Pretty slick.

Once you get on the ground, you also need to have a plan. In the past, I’ve let my guard down—just being happy to have safely landed—only to be bombarded with taxi instructions from controllers that sound like a foreign language. Did they say cross this runway and then hold short of the next taxiway, or was it the other way around? Familiarize yourself with the airport diagram beforehand to help mitigate this potential confusion—better yet, a copy of the diagram at your fingertips. Airport taxiways and runways are usually organized in an orderly fashion and have typical flow patterns that pilots at the airport follow. You can also call the tower ahead of time on a mobile phone, or talk to other pilots to figure out those best practices and save yourself some trouble. 

In every situation, even with your best efforts, don’t be ashamed to ask for help. However, forming good habits can ensure you enjoy exploring new locations and continue to fly safely.

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