What makes good situational awareness
Situational awareness is nothing more than knowing where you are, what you're doing, and what you can do. It's being aware of your relationship to terrain, the closest runway, your fuel status (how much fuel you've got left, or specifically, how much time you've got left), where your charts are, your health, the weather, other traffic and any other aspect that touches on, might impact, or relates to your flight.
One flies into a box canyon. One has plenty of fuel, good airspeed, a load of charts, and one is rested. One feels comfortable. One impacts the hillside. One is not situationally aware.
One overflies a viable runway enroute to a destination, but runs out of fuel before reaching the destination. Situational awareness would have been cognizant of the need to use that runway, of an impending low fuel situation, and of the implications of going too far.
One is going through a divorce, facing termination at work, eating nothing but candy bars and coffee, and working a second job. One undertakes a flight on the weekend at a busy field, in order to relax. Good situational awareness is taking stock of one's personal situation and knowing that with that much stress, the decks are already stacked before ever getting in the airplane. One is staring down a loaded gun. Don't do that.
Being situationally aware is looking at everything around you with a critical eye, and an honest one. Are you up for this flight? It's okay to say no, you're not. If you are, is the airplane? It's okay to find a problem that grounds it. Are your passengers nervous flyers? Do you really want to be looking for traffic while your passenger vomits all over the instrument panel because you elected to fly in the heat of the day, rather than in the morning? Situational awareness.
I hear three other airplanes on the radio. I see one on final. I see one joining the pattern, and there's another one just taking off. That's three. How do I know they're the same ones I hear on the radio, and more importantly, how do I know if there's other traffic operating around me that's not talking, or that I haven't heard? I don't. To maintain situational awareness of that traffic, I'm going to keep track of what I do see, look for what I don't like my life depends on it (it does), and keep scanning like a rubber-neck maniac. Situational awareness is an ongoing process.
If you're situationally aware, you become a part of your environment, rather than simply an observer of it.
what are your different ways to use it whilst flying?
Use it from the time you wake up and get ready to fly, to the time you tie the airplane down and walk away.
Not long ago an incident occurred during a landing in which an airplane I flew had a high temperature occur in the engine. In a turbine engine, that can be bad, so we went to the hotel for a few hours while a maintenance crew examined the engine from the inside, using special viewers called boroscopes. After determining that the engine appeared fine, we prepared for a takeoff the next morning, to go to a maintenance facility where a more thorough inspection could be performed.
Knowing that we had the high temp the previous day, we briefed and planned the takeoff with a failure of that engine, and possibly one other, in mind. That is, we had four engines, and we always plan on at least on at least one failure as a normal part of every takeoff briefing, but we discussed the potential for an engine failure, and then that engine, too. We had no problems on the takeoff, but situational awareness is being aware of what's going on and what could go on, given the information you have at hand, and planning accordingly. Situational Awareness, or SA, is taking into account all the information available to you in order to make the most informed decisions. Sometimes, the correct decision is simply to say no, we're not doing it.
SA can be as simple as knowing you have an early flight, and ensuring that you get a good night's rest in preparation for the flight. More can be done for safety in good preparation than can be done on the fly. In other words, it's far better to arrive in a situation prepared, than to hope you're good enough to handle whatever may arise. Some argue that it's better to be lucky than good or visa versa, but it's better to be prepared, than either one.
If you're approaching to land and have your aiming point squarely in your windscreen, not moving, looking steady a rock, then you're aware that you'l arrive at the aiming point if nothing changes. If you find the aiming point rising in your windscreen, you don't need to wait for the VASI or PAPI to change colors to let you know you're going low. You can add a little power, perhaps pitch up a little, and get your sight picture back where you wanted it. This is situational awareness. You're not waiting for a light to blink or change colors or a horn to go off to tell you something; you're monitoring what's happening closely, and correcting for it as you go. You're aware of the situation.
Is CRM useful for pilots that fly light aircraft
Yes, it is. Very much so.
A recent thread addressed this topic in detail.
http://www.pprune.org/private-flying...pilot-crm.html
how can you ensure your situational awareness is top level before you fly?
A good policy is to be thorough in your preparations and your organization. There's nothing like taking off and realizing that the pitot tube cover is still on the pitot tube, or that your charts are in the back of the airplane, or that you didn't take on enough fuel.
I worked at a remote location where we had to hand-pump our fuel out of barrels. I flew a night mission, and during that mission used the fuel in my tip-tanks. I returned the airplane to the fuel pumps, per standard procedure, and was preparing to fuel, when my more experienced crew-mate suggested we head to the dining hall before it closed. Standard procedure, he said.
When I got back from eating, my airplane was gone. I found this suspicious, because I was responsible for it until it went back under cover, and no more flights were scheduled that night. Plus, all my gear was inside. I found the airplane, not where I left it, and a relatively disgruntled individual nearby who had taken it. He was in a big hurry to do a public relations thing at a nearby base. He departed in the other airplane, but had a problem after takeoff, and returned. Now in even more of a hurry, he grabbed my airplane and departed. Once in the air, he discovered that I hadn't fueled, and I'd flown a 6 hour mission. He tried to use the auxilliary fuel, but found it was gone. Frustrated, he returned and waited for me to get back, to have a go at me.
Can you count the number of errors in situational awareness that the other pilot displayed? A big part of situational awareness (and resource management) is knowing your options in advance, and planning for them. He didn't do a very through preflight of his own aircraft, and certainly didn't check mine before he left. He didn't try to leave earlier, which left him racing to catch up. When he did have a problem, about the only smart thing he did all evening was turn around and land. He took my airplane without checking the fuel. He didn't check the fuel in the main tanks, or the aux tanks. My gear was on the seat, and the airplane was chocked at the fuel farm, a clear indication that it wasn't mission-ready. It was still assigned to me. Lots of warning flags there, but he didn't use any situational awareness.
As it turned out, the last smart act of the day was recognizing his failure to be situationally aware and returning to land the second time. Trying to blame me after the fact only compounded his lack of awareness, and ultimately was one of several acts which lead to damaging his career.
I point this out not to poke at the individual in question, but as an illustration of what not to do; specifically,of someone who wasn't being situationally aware. You don't need to look far to find scores of mishap reports detailing failures to maintain SA. They're everywhere.
Show up rested and ready. Show up in the right frame of mind. You asked about being in top form, and you can't do that if you're preoccupied with other things.
A great mind who mentored me a long time ago once told me that the airplane must be more important to me than my politics, my family, my church, or anything else I might hold dear. At the time I took offense, and said that nothing came before my family and my beliefs. Then he put it in perspective by noting that if I didn't take the flight more seriously than all else, I might not survive to return to all else. If I get myself killed on a flight, I can't do much for my family. I can't go to church. I can't pay taxes. I can't feed the dog. I can't do anything, because I'm dead. Therefore, the flight becomes the most important thing in the world until the airplane is chocked and put away. I don't think about marriage, about bills, about anything else, when I'm engaged in a flight operation. It mandates all my focus.
How to be in top form to be situationally aware on any given day? Devote all your energies to the flight, and make it a priority. Mental preparedness is one of the single most important parts to staying ahead of the game. Emotional preparedness, too. Physical preparedness, in terms of your health, your rest, your diet (not a good time to get hypoglycemic on a flight, because you haven't been eating, for example). Physical preparedness in terms of your charts, your weight and balance, your performance calculations, your flight plan, your fuel order, your preflight, and so on. Informational preparedness in terms of weather, alternates (think about them even on a good, VFR day. Always have options). It's much easier to maintain good SA when you come prepared.
Fly safe.