Big Pistons Forever
19th Oct 2012, 02:02
Yesterday I was out having lunch at the airport and a new pilot asked for some tips on improving his piloting skills. I sent him an e-mail that laid out some ideas and occured to me that it might also be of interest to the PPRUNE readership...so here goes.
They represent one data point and are meant to spark some discussion and get folks thinking about the what and more importantly the why of what they are doing. For simplicity sake I will presume the aircraft in use is the C 172.
The walk around:
-This used to called the "daily inspection" as in once a day on the first flight. There is no need to do an equivalent of an "A" inspection for the 11th flight of the day. Not everything on the walk around should be afforded the exact same levels of importance. So the stuff that matters IMO
- Aircraft are delicate: All surfaces/doors/controls should be moved gently
-When in the cabin do two things generally not on the checklist. First organize the cabin (stow all the loose stuff, cross the seatbelts, throw out any garbage, and organize you maps books and other flight info because passengers get nervous when your stuff is laying all over the cabin and you are rooting around trying to find what you needs) second set the trim wheel to the TO setting so you can see where the tab actually is on the walkaround.
-Consumables. Fuel and oil should be checked on every flight. Big airplanes have reliable fuel guages (heck $9999.00 cars have reliable fuel guages) little airplanes do not. But be reasonable, you don't need a dipstick to check full tanks. As for oil, if at all possible you should know/find out what the oil level was on the last flight. A sudden reduction in the oil level is always bad. Either you have a bad leak or the engine is showing the first symptom of a potentially catastrophic failure.
-The most likely things wrong you are going to see in the walk around fall in the "hanging or dripping " category, so that's what you should be looking for.
Taxing:
- there is no one universal taxi speed. The airplane speed should be adjusted to suit the situation. Slow down for corners or tight spots, speed up on the straight parts and when crossing runways. Stuff that matters:
-IMO the number one indication of good airmanship on the ground is managing your propwash. Even a C172 can create damaging amounts of wind yet I believe this issue is not always well addressed in training. This is especially egregious since the C 172 has a back window so you can see who you are about to blast
- Follow the yellow line ! When you are at a strange airport it will save you from turning when you shouldn't.
- Don't ride the brakes and the aircraft should not be bobbing up and down every time brakes are applied. When stopping ease up on the brakes just before the aircraft comes to a complete stop, this will ensure a smooth stop.
- If there is significant wind, know where it is coming from and position the controls properly.
-Lights: Virtually all large aircraft operators have the same SOP for the use of lights. It is as follows:
position lights: On when electrical power aplied to aircraft (Not IMO required for small aircraft during day but should be done at night)
rotating beacon: On just prior to engine start
strobe lights: On when crossing runways and when entering active
landing lights: On when cleared for take off or starting take off roll (uncontrolled airports)
And the reverse when landing and for the taxi in.
I did not mention taxi light (usually located on the nose gear leg of large aircraft) as it is not usually applicable or practical for small aircraft. However you should know that if you are near a large aircraft it will switch on the taxi light when it is about to start moving and turn it off when it is stopped.
Since you have to use the lights somehow I figure if it is good enough for the big boys it is good enough for me and I think every pilot should use this SOP
Runup:
- Pick a sensible spot to do your runup. At my home field the runup bay can hold 3 airplanes, or just one if you park right in the middle..... it is not absolutely necessary to be exactly into the wind before starting the runup. A related point is wind direction. If aircraft position is irrelevant then you should certainly do an into the wind runup for reasons of improved engine cooling and more accurate engine settings......however if the wind isn't really strong (say less than 15 kts) and the aircraft can be better positioned to avoid propwash issues or not block taxiways, than that should determine how you park your aircraft.
The checklist is not a bunch of rote actions. Critical thought should be used. The most abused runup item IMO is the mixture check
- In my experience most pilots yank the mixture knob out until the engine dies and then shoves it back in. This often causes a backfire which is very hard on the muffler baffles and only proves the mixture cut off works. This is how I teach this item
- after the carb air check leave the carb heat on
- slowly lean. This is to allow the engine time to adjust to the changing fuel/air ratio and the RPM should rise as the overly rich mixture caused by the hot air gets corrected. Continue leaning until the RPM drops about 100 revs and the engine starts to run a bit rough indicating an excessively lean mixture. Slowly push the knob back to full rich and observe the RPM return to the starting value. You have now proven that the carb is properly set up and the mixture control actually controls the mixture.
Takeoff:
- Intersection takeoffs are almost never a good idea for single engine aircraft.
- Do a silent formal pretakeoff brief before every takeoff. This brief should IMO cover the following items :
a) The type of take off (normal,short,soft,or x-wind)
b) rotate and climb speed
c) what you actiosn you will do if the engine fails before liftoff and if you have an EFATO below 1000 ft AAE including where you are going to point the aircraft. This should not be a great long diatribe, just a clear description of where you are going to point the aircraft if the engine stops
- When you ready for take off you should be ready in all respects.
- The airplane should be lined up exactly on the centerline and it should stay there throughout the take off run. Don't accept inaccurate aircraft control.
-The throttle should be advanced slowly but steadily. It should never be jammed in.
- Before power is applied the elevator should be always slightly nose up (for a nornal takeoff ) so as the prop wash flowing over the elevator unloads the nose wheel
- When the throttle is fully in the student should note that all engine instruments are in the green and the engine is showing full static RPM (not Redline RPM, the static RPM value will be in the POH and will always be lower than Redline). At which point the call I teach is " good engine "
The aircraft to be rotated and climb at the briefed speeds. If it isn't, correct it ! (hint if the aircraft levitates with all three wheels leaving the ground at the same time than the rotate speed is too high )
The briefings may seem a bit over the top but I think it is very important to build good habits. If you perform a full but efficent briefing on every flight than the habit about thinking ahead will become ingrained.
The climb:
- As I mentioned in the previous post, after lift off work hard at holding a consistent pitch attitude that will give you the briefed speed.
( I like Vy to 1000 ft AAE as altitude is your friend. I do not use Vx fora normal take off as it requires a very nose high attitude {hard to see ahead }and is not far above stall. In the event of an engine failure a very aggressive pitch down is required to maintain safe speed.
- The aircraft should track the runway centre line as you climb away, don't accept the aircraft being pushed to one side or the other.
- In performance challenged aircraft the difference between climbing with the wings level and the ball in the center can be as much as 20 % over a feet on the floor wing low climb. Keep the ball in the middle !
- Through 1000 ft AAE , or when prudent/practicable transition to a cruise climb. I like to use a speed which gives a climb rate of 500 ft per minute for the C172 ( flying from a sea level airport). This will usually give a good compromise between engine cooling, visibility ahead, and achieving track miles. It also requires you to think about what airspeed to use rather than mindlessly using the same climb speed for every flight.
- If you are going to have a mid air on intial climb out it will most likely be as you pass through circuit height particularly at uncontrolled airports.
- Make sure you learn and understand the effect airspeed and mixture settings have on oil temp/ cylinder temp and what to do to manage engine cooling
enroute phase :
-When transitioning from climb to cruise, allow the aircraft to accelerate to cruise speed before setting cruise power, then trim. I know this is pretty basic and is covered in the PPL course, but it seems to be an item that frequently gets forgotten after the PPL .
- Most of the time your chart works best folded down giving a square about 8 inches across.
-The cockpit should always be neat and ordered. Passengers do not want to see charts all over the place and the pilot scrabbling around looking for his stuff. Similarly in small airplanes (like C172) I discourage the purchase of those airline style big leather flying bags. There is no good place to store it and if you are flying day VFR within the range of a C172 you don't need a lot of stuff. A small fabric tote is plenty and can be squeezed between the seats frames. Similarly those 50 dollar so called professional pilot knee boards are IMO a waste of money. A small clipboard available at Staples costs $ 1.99 and you just need to tie a pencil to it and you are set.
-When you are going somewhere in slow airplanes one of the most important thing to keep track of (aside from your present position obviously) is your ground speed.
Even a small increase in a head wind can have a significant increase in your trip time. This matters for your fuel reserves. Altitude can have a significant effect on the wind so while you should flight plan an optimal altitude you should also think about changing altitude to get a better speed.
- passengers want a smooth ride so if it is bumpy do something like changing altitude or route of flight. Some days you have just got to suck it up but if for example your planned altitude puts you 500 ft below a layer of scattered cumulus clouds it is probably going to bumpy and so if you just drone along anyway then you are not doing your best.
- make a big point about comparing the weather you see out the windshield versus what the weather guy said, and what it means if what you see is not what you were expecting.
- Get in the habit of carrying an energy bar and a small bottle of water. Being dehydrated and with low blood sugar levels diminishes your decsion making abilities.
Descent:
- Plan your descent for a maximum of 500 feet/min. The easy way to do this is determine how many thousands of feet between your cruising altitude and circuit height, double that and start down when that number equals time to destination (EG 6000 feet to loose, start down 12 mins from destination).
- The most efficient way to descend is to leave cruise RPM on and trim for a 500 fpm descent. Reduce the power as you descent to maintain the cruise RPM setting
- Don’t start a long descent by going to full rich mixture !
- Most of the time you will have a good idea of the runway in use, so plan your route of flight to minimize track miles.
- If you are ever going to have a mid air it will probably entering the circuit at an uncontrolled airport, This is where emphasizing a lookout is really important
General points :
Operational efficiency:
When flying, operational efficiency is desirable. In general the most efficent flight is that is safely accomplished with the minimum amount of flight and air time. Be organized and proactive.
Radio work:
- Pilots will soon get a reputation, good....or bad. One factor which will determine this IMO is how he or she handles the radio. So set a personal high standard and don't make the common unnecessary mistakes:
- When you change freq's listen for a few seconds before speaking so you do not step on another conversation
- engage brain before mouth. There should be no UMMs or ERR's
- Use standard phraseology and avoid slang
Monitoring Engine Gauges:
When I was a young commercial pilot I got an piece of excellent advice from a gentleman who had been flying since the 1930's. He told me to note the actual position of each engine gauge needle for each phase of flight. This is especially valuable if you normally fly the same airplane. Any significant change in an engine gauge indication should be monitored and investigated. This advice saved me from a force landing as I was climb out in a C150 on a routine instructional flight one day. I noticed that the oil pressure gauge was one full needle width below the the mid gauge white line. Every other flight the needle had had sat exactly over the white line mark. As we were only a few miles from the airport, I told the student to turn back. Over the next 2 minutes the oil pressure slowly rolled back to zero. By this time we were on short final so I shut the engine down and we completed an uneventful landing. It turned out the oil pump drive gear had failed.
To build good habits, at random intervals, cover the engine gauges and ask if yourself where the needles were sitting. I found that if you practice this pretty soon you get good at including the engine instruments in your scan.
GPS:
-Having GPS positional data is one of the best ways to improve flight safety and efficiency. Every pilot should have a personal portable GPS (second hand serviceable unit sare available on e-bay for a few hundred dollars) and should be taught and encouraged to use fitted GPS systems.
If any of the above was of value that is great; if you don't agree then I look forward to any and all constructive comments.
They represent one data point and are meant to spark some discussion and get folks thinking about the what and more importantly the why of what they are doing. For simplicity sake I will presume the aircraft in use is the C 172.
The walk around:
-This used to called the "daily inspection" as in once a day on the first flight. There is no need to do an equivalent of an "A" inspection for the 11th flight of the day. Not everything on the walk around should be afforded the exact same levels of importance. So the stuff that matters IMO
- Aircraft are delicate: All surfaces/doors/controls should be moved gently
-When in the cabin do two things generally not on the checklist. First organize the cabin (stow all the loose stuff, cross the seatbelts, throw out any garbage, and organize you maps books and other flight info because passengers get nervous when your stuff is laying all over the cabin and you are rooting around trying to find what you needs) second set the trim wheel to the TO setting so you can see where the tab actually is on the walkaround.
-Consumables. Fuel and oil should be checked on every flight. Big airplanes have reliable fuel guages (heck $9999.00 cars have reliable fuel guages) little airplanes do not. But be reasonable, you don't need a dipstick to check full tanks. As for oil, if at all possible you should know/find out what the oil level was on the last flight. A sudden reduction in the oil level is always bad. Either you have a bad leak or the engine is showing the first symptom of a potentially catastrophic failure.
-The most likely things wrong you are going to see in the walk around fall in the "hanging or dripping " category, so that's what you should be looking for.
Taxing:
- there is no one universal taxi speed. The airplane speed should be adjusted to suit the situation. Slow down for corners or tight spots, speed up on the straight parts and when crossing runways. Stuff that matters:
-IMO the number one indication of good airmanship on the ground is managing your propwash. Even a C172 can create damaging amounts of wind yet I believe this issue is not always well addressed in training. This is especially egregious since the C 172 has a back window so you can see who you are about to blast
- Follow the yellow line ! When you are at a strange airport it will save you from turning when you shouldn't.
- Don't ride the brakes and the aircraft should not be bobbing up and down every time brakes are applied. When stopping ease up on the brakes just before the aircraft comes to a complete stop, this will ensure a smooth stop.
- If there is significant wind, know where it is coming from and position the controls properly.
-Lights: Virtually all large aircraft operators have the same SOP for the use of lights. It is as follows:
position lights: On when electrical power aplied to aircraft (Not IMO required for small aircraft during day but should be done at night)
rotating beacon: On just prior to engine start
strobe lights: On when crossing runways and when entering active
landing lights: On when cleared for take off or starting take off roll (uncontrolled airports)
And the reverse when landing and for the taxi in.
I did not mention taxi light (usually located on the nose gear leg of large aircraft) as it is not usually applicable or practical for small aircraft. However you should know that if you are near a large aircraft it will switch on the taxi light when it is about to start moving and turn it off when it is stopped.
Since you have to use the lights somehow I figure if it is good enough for the big boys it is good enough for me and I think every pilot should use this SOP
Runup:
- Pick a sensible spot to do your runup. At my home field the runup bay can hold 3 airplanes, or just one if you park right in the middle..... it is not absolutely necessary to be exactly into the wind before starting the runup. A related point is wind direction. If aircraft position is irrelevant then you should certainly do an into the wind runup for reasons of improved engine cooling and more accurate engine settings......however if the wind isn't really strong (say less than 15 kts) and the aircraft can be better positioned to avoid propwash issues or not block taxiways, than that should determine how you park your aircraft.
The checklist is not a bunch of rote actions. Critical thought should be used. The most abused runup item IMO is the mixture check
- In my experience most pilots yank the mixture knob out until the engine dies and then shoves it back in. This often causes a backfire which is very hard on the muffler baffles and only proves the mixture cut off works. This is how I teach this item
- after the carb air check leave the carb heat on
- slowly lean. This is to allow the engine time to adjust to the changing fuel/air ratio and the RPM should rise as the overly rich mixture caused by the hot air gets corrected. Continue leaning until the RPM drops about 100 revs and the engine starts to run a bit rough indicating an excessively lean mixture. Slowly push the knob back to full rich and observe the RPM return to the starting value. You have now proven that the carb is properly set up and the mixture control actually controls the mixture.
Takeoff:
- Intersection takeoffs are almost never a good idea for single engine aircraft.
- Do a silent formal pretakeoff brief before every takeoff. This brief should IMO cover the following items :
a) The type of take off (normal,short,soft,or x-wind)
b) rotate and climb speed
c) what you actiosn you will do if the engine fails before liftoff and if you have an EFATO below 1000 ft AAE including where you are going to point the aircraft. This should not be a great long diatribe, just a clear description of where you are going to point the aircraft if the engine stops
- When you ready for take off you should be ready in all respects.
- The airplane should be lined up exactly on the centerline and it should stay there throughout the take off run. Don't accept inaccurate aircraft control.
-The throttle should be advanced slowly but steadily. It should never be jammed in.
- Before power is applied the elevator should be always slightly nose up (for a nornal takeoff ) so as the prop wash flowing over the elevator unloads the nose wheel
- When the throttle is fully in the student should note that all engine instruments are in the green and the engine is showing full static RPM (not Redline RPM, the static RPM value will be in the POH and will always be lower than Redline). At which point the call I teach is " good engine "
The aircraft to be rotated and climb at the briefed speeds. If it isn't, correct it ! (hint if the aircraft levitates with all three wheels leaving the ground at the same time than the rotate speed is too high )
The briefings may seem a bit over the top but I think it is very important to build good habits. If you perform a full but efficent briefing on every flight than the habit about thinking ahead will become ingrained.
The climb:
- As I mentioned in the previous post, after lift off work hard at holding a consistent pitch attitude that will give you the briefed speed.
( I like Vy to 1000 ft AAE as altitude is your friend. I do not use Vx fora normal take off as it requires a very nose high attitude {hard to see ahead }and is not far above stall. In the event of an engine failure a very aggressive pitch down is required to maintain safe speed.
- The aircraft should track the runway centre line as you climb away, don't accept the aircraft being pushed to one side or the other.
- In performance challenged aircraft the difference between climbing with the wings level and the ball in the center can be as much as 20 % over a feet on the floor wing low climb. Keep the ball in the middle !
- Through 1000 ft AAE , or when prudent/practicable transition to a cruise climb. I like to use a speed which gives a climb rate of 500 ft per minute for the C172 ( flying from a sea level airport). This will usually give a good compromise between engine cooling, visibility ahead, and achieving track miles. It also requires you to think about what airspeed to use rather than mindlessly using the same climb speed for every flight.
- If you are going to have a mid air on intial climb out it will most likely be as you pass through circuit height particularly at uncontrolled airports.
- Make sure you learn and understand the effect airspeed and mixture settings have on oil temp/ cylinder temp and what to do to manage engine cooling
enroute phase :
-When transitioning from climb to cruise, allow the aircraft to accelerate to cruise speed before setting cruise power, then trim. I know this is pretty basic and is covered in the PPL course, but it seems to be an item that frequently gets forgotten after the PPL .
- Most of the time your chart works best folded down giving a square about 8 inches across.
-The cockpit should always be neat and ordered. Passengers do not want to see charts all over the place and the pilot scrabbling around looking for his stuff. Similarly in small airplanes (like C172) I discourage the purchase of those airline style big leather flying bags. There is no good place to store it and if you are flying day VFR within the range of a C172 you don't need a lot of stuff. A small fabric tote is plenty and can be squeezed between the seats frames. Similarly those 50 dollar so called professional pilot knee boards are IMO a waste of money. A small clipboard available at Staples costs $ 1.99 and you just need to tie a pencil to it and you are set.
-When you are going somewhere in slow airplanes one of the most important thing to keep track of (aside from your present position obviously) is your ground speed.
Even a small increase in a head wind can have a significant increase in your trip time. This matters for your fuel reserves. Altitude can have a significant effect on the wind so while you should flight plan an optimal altitude you should also think about changing altitude to get a better speed.
- passengers want a smooth ride so if it is bumpy do something like changing altitude or route of flight. Some days you have just got to suck it up but if for example your planned altitude puts you 500 ft below a layer of scattered cumulus clouds it is probably going to bumpy and so if you just drone along anyway then you are not doing your best.
- make a big point about comparing the weather you see out the windshield versus what the weather guy said, and what it means if what you see is not what you were expecting.
- Get in the habit of carrying an energy bar and a small bottle of water. Being dehydrated and with low blood sugar levels diminishes your decsion making abilities.
Descent:
- Plan your descent for a maximum of 500 feet/min. The easy way to do this is determine how many thousands of feet between your cruising altitude and circuit height, double that and start down when that number equals time to destination (EG 6000 feet to loose, start down 12 mins from destination).
- The most efficient way to descend is to leave cruise RPM on and trim for a 500 fpm descent. Reduce the power as you descent to maintain the cruise RPM setting
- Don’t start a long descent by going to full rich mixture !
- Most of the time you will have a good idea of the runway in use, so plan your route of flight to minimize track miles.
- If you are ever going to have a mid air it will probably entering the circuit at an uncontrolled airport, This is where emphasizing a lookout is really important
General points :
Operational efficiency:
When flying, operational efficiency is desirable. In general the most efficent flight is that is safely accomplished with the minimum amount of flight and air time. Be organized and proactive.
Radio work:
- Pilots will soon get a reputation, good....or bad. One factor which will determine this IMO is how he or she handles the radio. So set a personal high standard and don't make the common unnecessary mistakes:
- When you change freq's listen for a few seconds before speaking so you do not step on another conversation
- engage brain before mouth. There should be no UMMs or ERR's
- Use standard phraseology and avoid slang
Monitoring Engine Gauges:
When I was a young commercial pilot I got an piece of excellent advice from a gentleman who had been flying since the 1930's. He told me to note the actual position of each engine gauge needle for each phase of flight. This is especially valuable if you normally fly the same airplane. Any significant change in an engine gauge indication should be monitored and investigated. This advice saved me from a force landing as I was climb out in a C150 on a routine instructional flight one day. I noticed that the oil pressure gauge was one full needle width below the the mid gauge white line. Every other flight the needle had had sat exactly over the white line mark. As we were only a few miles from the airport, I told the student to turn back. Over the next 2 minutes the oil pressure slowly rolled back to zero. By this time we were on short final so I shut the engine down and we completed an uneventful landing. It turned out the oil pump drive gear had failed.
To build good habits, at random intervals, cover the engine gauges and ask if yourself where the needles were sitting. I found that if you practice this pretty soon you get good at including the engine instruments in your scan.
GPS:
-Having GPS positional data is one of the best ways to improve flight safety and efficiency. Every pilot should have a personal portable GPS (second hand serviceable unit sare available on e-bay for a few hundred dollars) and should be taught and encouraged to use fitted GPS systems.
If any of the above was of value that is great; if you don't agree then I look forward to any and all constructive comments.