That grain of wisdom....
 

Okay oldtimers, it's a new year, and as all new years, it should be started out on a good step. Based upon your flying experience, what grain of wisdom would you write [here] to new pilots, that they could take away and forever have that little extra corner in their bag of luck?

Of course, discussion of the topics is welcomed.

I'll start:

Pilots, all airplanes will glide, and you have and/or will be trained to do this properly. During this training, the concept of "best glide speed" will come up. This is an important speed to know and fly for each type, if you are trying to go as far as possible with no engine power. However....

If you are within a few hundred feet of your landing surface, and power off, you might want a few extra knots in your bag of luck, 'cause you're going to need it to flare for a gentle landing.

This concept extends to those silly steep, slow departures which some pilots are seen to do, perhaps to entertain the earthbound masses. From that slow speed, could you nose down, and get the plane sped up to the required glide speed, before you arrive back at the hard surface?

Altitude is your friend, but power off, so is some speed too. Fly normal departures, and allow some acceleration with the climb, it'll save your butt if the engine quits on climb out.

As an instructor I am discouraged by how many PPL's I see chasing the ASI instead of flying a pitch attitude with the appropriate power setting.

My favorite exercise with new PPL's is to cover the ASI with a post it note before the engine is started and then go out and do a few circuits.

Having lost all pitot static instruments in solid IMC twice now, knowing power and pitch settings for a variety of scenarios seems to me to be very important :ok:

My suggestion to new pilots is to get your instructor to fly you at appropriate power settings in carb icing conditions (at a safe altitude) and then after an appropriate interval, pull the carb heat on.

The first time I experienced this (solo in a 172 after ten years of flying), I thought the engine was going to stop, as it ingested a slug of melting ice. It was so scary that my instinctive reaction was to push the carb heat control in!

Also, once you are comfortable with circuits, get your instructor to have you fly some circuits with the ASI and altimeter covered.

Altimeters and ensuring the subscale barometric pressure is correctly set to the relevant figure.

Failure to get this right each and every flight can kill you...

If you have to engine failure, whatever else you do, DON'T STALL.

Rod1

Good stuff.

I'd pass that one (I claim!) because I practice it from time to time (with an instructor).

Having asked to be shown how to do it on reading of yet another pilot who killed himself and all on board following an ASI failure.

And that was before AF447.

Grains of wisdom -
Don't open a yoghurt pot towards you (the low pressure when at altitude makes it squirt out)
If you take a flask of coffee, especially in a push top flask add some cold milk/water (low pressure can make it boil at a lower temperature - when you push the top down the coffee keeps flowing out because it has reboiled and steamed)

Big Pistons, my instructor absolutely insists on having the ability to judge airspeed by looking out of the window and not at the panel. The ASI being a handy backup only!
It's tough but I believe it will make me a better airman.

Looking out of the window is always a good idea. You should be flying "attitude" which you judge by external references.

I've just prattled on at length about this in another thread, but this would be my one grain to pass on:

Stay Current & fly frequently.

The quicker you build up that bag of experience, the sooner you won't be so reliant on that bag of luck. You'll be doing all the stuff you were taught whilst recently doing your PPL training, so it should still be reasonably fresh in your mind. If you fly a lot immediately after completing your PPL then you'll massively reinforce all that good stuff you were taught and be much more likely to carry more of it through to your later flying career. And if you can't afford to hire, buy a cheapo share in a permit type that costs £30-50/hr to fly and fly the balls off that. Its well worth it both for the fun and the big bag of skill and experience you will have accumulated after a year or two.

On high wing aircraft watch out for the flaps and pitot tube, they can hurt your head...

Speed is life. Never ever try to stretch a glide. Expect your engine to fail on each and every take off and have a plan and I mean a proper one, not a vague 'I'll turn into wind and set up correct glide speed.' Know all of the suitable fields around your own airfield and one's you visit often. If it's a new airfield check it out on Google Earth, look for some good landing areas. It takes seconds to look. If engine failure means crunching into a housing/industrial estate then don't fly from that airfield. Get as high as you can when crossing water. Don't bumble around at 1000-2000' because that's where everyone else is bumbling around. Get some kind of instrument rating. Look out, then look out some more.

Speed is life, or death. When doing an emergency landing and you misjudged your approach and have 2 choices: too high for the first field or too low for the second field after the first: go for the first and keep it on the ground. The drag greatly reduces your speed and it's better to hit the fence at 30 knots driving then hitting the fence at 60 knots flying.

Never ever trust the fuel gauges and don't eat the yellow snow

Or alternatively, and I'm not being funny, learn to fly gliders and you won't misjudge a power off approach again.

That would make Cambridge not-very-useful most of the time, then, wouldn't it.

Which is why I don't use Cambridge. Your neck, your risk assessment. You may also want to spare a thought though for the poor sods on the ground who's day you will spoil should they be on the receiving end of a ton or so of fuel filled metal.

I'm not an old timer so not in a position to give out gems of wisdom.

But something I find helps me is when completing my logbook spending five minutes mentally reviewing the flight and thinking 'what did I do well, what was I slow at thinking about, what could have been improved, what bad habits are starting to develop ?' I scribble this on a post it note which goes in the log book and is something I look at before the next flight.

1. The only time you have too much fuel onboard, is when you are on fire.

2. During line up for take-off, runway behind you is useless.

Just remeinded me of the old RAF chestnut.

Three things that are useless to a pilot.

1. Maps in the locker room.

2. Runway behind you.

3. Fuel in the bowser. :)

Don't trust your life to an engine.
Be within gliding range of a viable forced landing location, and continuously assess these options.

Complacency
 

Last spring I discovered that a small exhaust leak had worsened, removed the exhaust and got it repaired by a very good welding shop, (permit aircraft) replaced it and continued to fly through the summer. Two weeks ago the battery wouldn't start the thing so to get flying I swung the prop. An hour later it started no bother. Three days later had to swing it again, I put this down to cold weather, so, removed the battery to recharge it. Discovered a hole two inches dia melted through the underside of the battery casing exposing the plates, no acid left, bone dry. The battery tray is about half inch above the exhaust, I'm surprised it held a charge all summer. Next in the line of fire, literally , is the fuel filter/gas collator/fuel pipe work.
I am not inclined to dwell on "what if" scenarios so I'm not about to lose any sleep over it. However I certainly learned a lesson, don't be complacent just because it's a lovely day to fly and we don't get many at this time of year.

You missed out the fourth;

"Altitude above you"

I reckon 150 Driver's tip is a good one. A little self examination is always worthwhile in this game and a little note-to-self in your log book seems like a good idea. It makes me think I really should get more organised and fill out my log book more than once every 10 flights or so.

Fleetflyer said:

A very practical and good advise that makes sense to me.:ok:

Control and performance are two major factors that, if consistently maintained through currency and frequent flying, will significantly improve the chances of securing positive outcomes in aircraft failure circumstances.

I was in Florida flying during the first two weeks of December 2014 and the aircraft available was Cessna Skyhawk 172 or 182 with G1000 cockpit. The last time I flew a Cessna with G1000 was in November 2011. Since then I've been flying only Cirrus SR20 and SR22.

Even though I successfully completed the checkout in C182 without problems, I noticed some deficiencies in my handling of the aircraft. Clearly, I wasn't current in the C182 to secure the level of control and performance that I'm used to in the Cirrus aircraft. I fly about 50-70 hours in the Cirrus yearly.

Maintaining currency and frequently practicing flight operations in the cockpit is the best way to sustain flight envelope in both normal and abnormal circumstances.:ok:

WP

How awful!

How awful!


Yes you can soon forget how to start a Cessna when it is hot.....

A couple I quite like.......


Pre-Flight - Physically Touch/push-pull Anything that Can or Shouldn't Move

Anytime you have to touch the prop, assume it wants to kill you!!!

Also pay particular attention to fuel pre take off. I have fuel, I have enough fuel, it is in the correct tank, and it is switched on...Oh, and I have put the cap back on:=

... and have I disconnected the grounding wire?

Not too serious in a fixed wing, although there is a risk of a prop strike, but potentially fatal in a helicopter, as a friend of mine found out.

He was lucky that he figured out what was happening before he had lifted too far! :sad:

Follow Captain Sullenberger's example...
 

First learn to fly gliders. Then you will be a much better pilot.

I'll second that. My son (aged about ?6 at the time) kept trying to attract my attention during takeoff... Once I realised he was serious and listened, he told me the fuel cap on his side was missing (PA28, so very obvious). Quick circuit to land, no obvious fuel loss...

ATC recovered it from the threshold - it had been sitting on the wing next to the tank during taxy.

All women lie about their weight!

I took a young woman from my office flying on a warm day, and tactfully asked her just to discreetly write her weight down so I could do a 'weight and balance' the night before. With hindsight we were well over max weight on take off;initially I had trouble taxiing in a straight line (I thought I had a flat tyre!)and the stall horn squeaked on climb out. Fortunately I had located to a long hard runway and optimized the fuel load.
With hindsight, if the engine had just run sick for a moment, we would have been in deep trouble, with a stall/spin accident looming large. As it happens, we had a very sociable flight, but I emerged with a few more gray hairs and a lot more cynical.

They do because they don't know how serious it is not to tell the truth. But then you can't say 'Tell me the truth or we'll die.'

As a rule of thumb I add 28 pounds onto any weight a women gives me.

Thing, that is 2 stone, or two dress sizes. Dear God, that is a lot.

Do they lie so much?:eek:

That's what the scales at the flying club are for.

Always ask yourself "What's the wind going to do to me?"

Learn to "Guestimate" before you Calculate....

And just because no one else has said it yet...

"It's never good to run out our airspeed, altitude and ideas all at the same time!" ;)

DD

Don't try and multi-task when walking through a packed hangar or on a flightline. Trailing edges make very effective meat slicers when they catch you unawares.

Through out my entire flying career I have always remembered "There old pilots and there are bold pilots, but no old, bold pilots". I can name at least two old friends who forgot that one and are no longer with us due to aviation incidents. Also "there is always plenty of gravity - how much fuel have you got?" This thread is full of other similar excellent "aide memoirs".

P.P.

In my experience yes. I don't think they lie deliberately, they just see a different person to the one you and I see when they look in the mirror. I also add ten pounds onto any weight a male gives me as well.