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 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.