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 12.30.06

I don't fly aerobatics, or scud run beneath cloud layers, or flight plan for six-hour, maximum aircraft endurance flights arriving at destination fatigued and with absolute minimum fuel. But despite my prejudices (and some might say, fears) I try not to condemn pilots who choose to take risks that I myself do not... so long as they adequately plan for those risks and always keep that "solid gold out" in mind.

Sometimes it's very hard to maintain this objectivity, especially since I read every FAA and NTSB accident report that hits the Internet.

With the right equipment and within prescribed limits, though, many things I choose not to do in airplanes are perfectly legal, and if approached properly can be safe. The beauty of the FAA regulations-based system is that, in most cases, it's legal unless the Federal Air Regulations (FARs) specifically say it is not. Admit it, we have a great deal of freedom and flexibility to make decisions about how we fly, especially under Part 91 rules.

A great responsibility

This in turn gives pilots a great responsibility for the outcome of our decisions. More and more, choosing to take on a risk ourselves has repercussions far outside our own personal loss if something goes wrong. When acting as pilot-in-command you must make correct, safe decisions because an accident affects:

• Family members. In addition to the personal loss, it's getting more and more expensive to fly most classes of aircraft, so more frequently a family (and if you are an employer, other families) are at financial risk if you should be injured, or worse, in an accident. If you injure (or worse) a passenger, his/her survivors will likely sue you or your survivors.
• Passengers. Passengers may or may not understand the risks you subject them to-they trust you implicitly, right or wrong. If something happens to them, their families (and employees, as applicable) are endangered too.
• Persons on the ground. It seems, at least, that more and more we hear about airplanes crashing into houses or cars or crowded public streets, often causing injury or damage to persons with no connection to aviation other than living or working under part of the sky.
• Fellow pilots. No, I'm not talking about the small risk of midair collision. Every airplane that crashes brings potential scorn and restriction from a safety- and security-fearing public. Each accident validates the public view that "little airplanes" (and even airliners) are dangerous and threatening. Your bad decision could start a chain of events that restricts the freedom of other pilots.
• Aviation's future. Every airplane totaled in a mishap is one less to help support the small businesses and infrastructure needed to support personal flying. It's one less needing inspection, servicing, repair and fuel to keep FBOs open. It means another fewer airplanes to support flight instruction and airplane financing organizations, and to keep open the doors of engine manufacturers and component overhaulers. It's less hangar or tiedown income to airport authorities, and smaller traffic counts, that are needed to justify funding for airport maintenance or improvements.

Aero-tip of the day: Exercise your freedom to fly wisely. We don't fly in a vacuum. Consider all the risks when you make a go/no-go decision, and fly as if the future of aviation depends on your decisions-because it does.

FMI: Aero-Tips