Aero-Tips!
A good pilot is always learning -- how many times have you heard
this old standard throughout your flying career? There is no truer
statement in all of flying (well, with the possible exception of
"there are no old, bold pilots.")
Aero-News has called upon the expertise of Thomas P. Turner,
master CFI and all-around-good-guy, to bring our readers -- and us
-- daily tips to improve our skills as aviators. Some of them, you
may have heard before... but for each of us, there will also be
something we might never have considered before, or something that
didn't "stick" the way it should have the first time we memorized
it for the practical test.
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Aero-Tips 08.28.06
I have a student who is checking out in a high-performance,
single-engine airplane. He recently finished his Instrument rating
in a late-model Cessna Skyhawk, so he's up to speed on GPS
operations and using an autopilot, with a KLN 94/KAP 140
package.
The airplane he'd checking out in boasts a Garmin GNS430 with an
MX20 multifunction display (MFD), another step up from what he flew
in the Cessna. The KFC 150 autopilot is also more complex, and
includes an altitude preselect function. I'd already logged over
six hours with him in this airplane, reviewing the basics of this
particular airplane type and the usual turns, stalls, takeoffs and
landings. We were scheduled for another after-work flight in which
I hoped to practice a bit more maneuvering and the procedure for
manually extending the retractable landing gear in the event the
primary system failed.
When my student showed up for the briefing, however, he told me
he really wanted a little more familiarity with the avionics in his
airplane, and he had taken the initiative to file a short IFR
cross-country flight to give himself the opportunity. We had had
bad weather all day, but the skies were clearing and I thought,
"why not?" An avionics familiarization session was in our near
future anyway, so I was fine with a little diversion in our
checkout regimen if it would make him more confident and capable in
his airplane. We'll get back to the more mundane training
later.
Avionics familiarization
There was a time not very long ago when the radios in one
airplane worked pretty much like the radios in all others. That day
is gone. Checking out in a modern cross-country airplane is going
to take some time devoted solely to figuring out how all the radios
work, and how they interface with each other. My student's
instincts were spot on-take a short trip, in the IFR system but in
good weather, to get a feel for "real-world" use of the GPS, MFD
and autopilot. We took our short flight and we both learned more
about the specific equipment in his airplane, flying a departure,
en route and an ILS to a full stop, and then retracing our steps
with a GPS approach at home base. As we taxied in to parking upon
return to our departure airport he felt a lot more in tune with his
airplane, and I was gratified that my student was much more capable
in his airplane for having taken this short flight. It was the sort
of "Line Oriented Flight Trianing" (LOFT) scenario common in
airline training and coming to the forefront in FAA/Industry
Training Standards (FITS) philosophy.
Aero-tip of the day: Take the necessary time
for avionics familiarization, so vital in the modern cross-country
cockpit.
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