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.

Look for our daily Aero-Tips segments, coming each day to you through the Aero-News Network.

Aero-Tips 12.21.06

I used to fly a Beech Baron from just north of Chattanooga, TN, on occasional trips into Charlotte, NC's airline hub, Charlotte/Douglas Airport (KCLT). It always seemed like my arrival was at a busy time, with a steady stream of jet arrivals streaming in.

My departure airport was about 50 miles southwest of the Volunteer VOR, near Knoxville; my route of flight was about due easterly toward KCLT. The first few times I flew the one-hour hop I filed like many pilots do -- GPS direct to KCLT. And I'd get that clearance on departure. It was only when I was handed off to Charlotte Approach, within about 40 miles of destination, that controllers would try to fit me into the transport-category flow. Invariably they did so by sequencing me onto the Shine arrival (see figure), with an amended clearance via Shine intersection. From a position almost due west of KCLT, at 40 miles out it took a turn of greater than 90 degrees, back toward the northwest, to get to Shine. It added a lot to time (and twin-engine fuel burn) to the flight, and just "felt" inefficient.

I got wise. And I got a little tricky. I thought about simply filing "Direct Shine, Shine 5 arrival" on my next flight into Charlotte, and heading northeast toward Shine from the very beginning of each flight. But it sure looked a lot more efficient to me to head almost due east to Fosse intersection, also on the STAR (Standard Terminal Arrival), and enter the arrival from that point. So I tried it, and it worked: "Direct Fosse, direct" in the flight plan route did what I wanted (an efficient, near-direct flight to destination) while doing what the controllers needed also (a known entry point onto the STAR for airplanes inbound from the west). All I needed to give Approach was a little communication and predictability to get most of what I wanted.

Aero-tip of the day: Flying into a busy airport? Look for STARs that may be in use, and instead of filing the airport as the final fix in your route use an intersection on the STAR. It may be a good compromise with Air Traffic Control.

FMI: Aero-Tips