The Bluebonnet Fly-In at Redbird Skyport has been rescheduled due to weather and the recent flooding in San Marcos. The new date for the Bluebonnet Fly-In will be Saturday, June 6th from 10am-4pm.
Hank Gibson of Texas Top Aviation will still be presenting on Garmin 430/530 Approaches this Saturday at 2pm in the large conference room at Redbird.
There are multiple ways to save money during the aircraft buying process. To start, since you are buying an airplane, you have some means of positive income in order to afford an airplane. Airplanes come in all different shapes and sizes and usually, an airplane can be found to fit almost any budget, whether is a $20,000 Texas Taildragger all the way up to a multi-million dollar jet.
One way is to stay within your budget. There will always be a shinier, newer, lower time airplane that is just above where you set your budget at. Don’t reach for it! There is a reason you set your budget where you did.
Another way is to shop around and get multiple insurance quotes. Your agent is in charge of engaging underwriters who are going to evaluate you and your airplane as risks, then price a policy accordingly. With most airplanes, you should get multiple quotes to see what fits you best. Beware though, because sometimes, you can get a lower rate, but it will require more training, so you end up shelling out more money in the long run. If you find a policy you like, but the training seems skewed or the liability isn’t high enough, you can always have your agent ask the underwriter to modify the quote. You are still in charge.
Finally, if you evaluate your mission and see that your budget can’t afford an airplane that carries enough or goes fast enough, look into taking on a partner or two to help with costs. Be thorough in vetting your potential partners as a good partnership is worth it’s weight in gold, but a bad one is downright unpleasant and often times hard to get out of. Find pilots who have the same mindset & personality you do and treat their stuff the same way you do. Try to take a ride in their car or go to their house, then you’ll see what kind of shape they will keep the airplane in.
The best way to cost yourself more money in the aircraft buying process?
Don’t do a pre-buy inspection.
A pre-buy inspection takes place after negotiations and once a Purchase Agreement is in place. You are pretty much set on the airplane, you just want a third party mechanic who is knowledgeable on that make and model of airplane (and this is a very important point) to go over it and make sure that it is sound from a mechanical standpoint. The buyer, you, want someone who has never had an association with the seller since the mechanic will be your representative in the process and you want him answering to you.
If you have used a broker or a buyer’s agent, that person should have already gone through the logbooks for you, so you’ll have a basic idea of the history of the airplane. However, knowledgeable mechanics find things all the time that turn out to be the responsibility of the seller to repair since it happened on their watch. Without a pre-buy, you would end up having to pay for that in the not to distant future.
Here is an example of where not doing a pre-buy can cost a lot of money.
An owner bought a late ’70s model Citation ISP, one of the very first Citations ever made. It had been based in Florida (salt & humidity + aircraft don’t mix well) for a while. The buyer didn’t use a broker, but thankfully had someone look through the maintenance history of the airplane. Since it was so old, the logbook reviewer didn’t have time to do anything but a basic overview, but he gave the thumbs up to the buyer.
The buyer decided he just wanted a boroscope inspection and the seller’s mechanics to look over the airplane. Remember what I said before about a third party mechanic? Well, these mechanics didn’t do a very thorough job. When the buyer took delivery of the plane, after about 10 hours of flying, he already had an $18,000-$25,000 maintenance bill.
You may say, well that’s a jet. Jet’s have specialized maintenance and need a more extensive pre-buy inspection.
On the contrary, in my 8 years in the training business, I have seen Cirrus, Piper PA46s, Bonanzas and several other piston engine airplanes that either didn’t have a pre-buy done or the pre-buy was done by someone who didn’t know that airframe. Lo and behold, things started breaking and adding up very quickly that would have been discovered on a good pre-buy inspection.
Don’t skip on the pre-buy inspection. They usually run a few thousand dollars, but save tons of money in the long run.
I have the privilege of serving on the Malibu & M-Class Owners and Pilot’s Association Safety Committee. Along with 6 other Piper PA46 instructors, we were tasked with two things last year leading up to the MMOPA Convention in Colorado Springs last October. The first was to develop a Master Aviator Program (more on that in a later article). The second was to develop Operating Practices for the Piper PA46 fleet that we as instructors could all get on board with to teach the same thing, allowing everyone in the fleet to fly approaches and patterns the same way.
When I started instructing in the piston Piper PA46 line (the Malibu, Mirage, and Matrix), I was surprised to find that there were no recommendations anywhere that I could find for approach and pattern power settings and airspeeds. This led to some experimentation on my part trying to find out what works well for the airplane. I had originally been given good training in a Malibu, but hadn’t flown one for several years, so my numbers were a bit rusty.
I have been in the Cirrus world for a very long time. One thing I greatly appreciated from an instructing point of view about Cirrus was the abundance of guidance the factory gives instructors and pilots on how the airplane is supposed to be flown. All CSIPs and all Cirrus pilots should (theoretically) be teaching and flying the exact same way.
I was quite surprised that Piper didn’t put out similar information. I wasn’t as familiar with MMOPA at the time, but was surprised they didn’t have any information either.
I apparently wasn’t the only one with a desire to have a little bit more standardization.
So, without further ado, here are the MMOPA Operating Practices that the Safety Committee put together. If you are a new Piper PA46 pilot, these numbers are what you will expect to use when you do your Initial training. If you are a seasoned Piper PA46 pilot, you probably fly these numbers, or pretty close to them already.
These are tried and true power settings and speeds for the approach phase and landing phase. They work. That was the goal of the Safety Committee: put down in writing something repeatable to enhance safety. I believe we have accomplished that.
As all pilots know, the Federal Aviation Regulations require licensed pilots to go through recurrent flight training in the form of a Flight Review every 24 months. The regulations require 1 hour of ground review and a 1 hour flight. This is all that a pilot has to do to legally maintain his or her VFR currency to fly alone in an airplane. Of course, when passengers are aboard, the pilot has to have done 3 takeoffs and landings in the previous 90 days.
What if the pilot in question hasn’t flown in 20 years? All the regulations require is 1 hour of ground review and a 1 hour flight. Kind of scary, isn’t it? (Any instructor worth his salt would not, however, turn a pilot loose with just those flight review minimums if they haven’t flown in 20 years without an extensive amount of recurrent flight training)
Now, a lot can happen in 2 years in between those flight reviews. Regulations change, airspace is modified, and skills change (for the better or worse, most often for the worse over a period of not flying). For a current pilot who flies once or twice a week, those minimums are no problem. Here’s the thing, though. Even those current pilots typically don’t do a lot of stall practice or emergency procedure practice on their own. These are the most critical areas of flight and to only do them every two years leads to a lot of rust building up, sometimes even causing safety concerns in some instances.
How to remedy this? Scheduling recurrent flight training as often as possible with a good instructor who puts you through your paces. Do this often enough and stalls will become second nature. The stall warning horn goes off? Well, lower the nose and add power. Engine failure? Switch tanks and set best glide. Recurrent flight training allows you to become as familiar as possible with your airplane, allowing you to know what to do in every circumstance.
What’s a good recurrent flight training schedule? There are several options out there. The WINGs program is a pretty good option, though you will only have 3 flight training sessions in those two years instead of 1, but it’s a good start. In recent years, the FAA has put out Advisory Circular 61-98B encouraging pilots to begin personal currency programs for themselves. The suggested schedule for VFR recurrent flight training is every 4-6 weeks.
Texas Top Aviation highly recommends this suggested schedule, for both VFR and IFR. The AC doesn’t have a specific recommendation for IFR recurrent flight training, but flying 2-3 approaches a month with an instructor helps keep pilots as proficient as possible in the IFR environment. This way, the instructor can introduce circumstances in a controlled environment that simulate abnormal conditions that might possibly be encountered in flight. If those abnormal conditions are encountered, then it will be second nature on how to handle them, leading to less accidents and safer flying habits.
Try to schedule your recurrent flight training every 4-6 weeks and your piloting skills will stay top notch, keeping you safe and proficient in every circumstance.
The 2022 Fly In Season kicks off March 4th-5th with the US Aircraft Expo at the Addison, TX Airport (KADS). Cutter Aviation at KADS will be the host for the event. All the major and minor aviation manufacturers will have static aircraft displays. Come see all the new Cirrus innovations, the Piper M600, and the Diamond DA62. All the latest and greatest technology will be available for your viewing enjoyment.
If you are planning on flying in, the FBOs at ADS are Million Air and Atlantic.
The event will run from 10am-3pm on both days, March 4th and March 5th.
For more info, check out the US Aircraft Expo website.
Don’t forget to check out other big fly in events in 2022: Sun N Fun, the Texas Top Aviation Fly In at Santa Fe, and Osh Kosh!
As all Cirrus pilots know, SR20s and SR22s have 2 batteries in the Cirrus electrical system (technically, they have 3, as Battery 2 is made up of 2 12 volt batteries in series with each other). Battery 1 provides power to the starter and is a backup for the entire Cirrus electrical system, while Battery 2 provides backup for the Essential Bus items.
If you look on the engine page of either an Avidyne or a Garmin Cirrus, there is a section showing the Cirrus electrical system health. With the engine running, you have voltmeters showing the voltage from Alternator 1 and Alternator 2, ammeters showing the amperage output from Alt 1 and Alt 2, and an ammeter showing the charging rate of Battery 1. There is no indication for Battery 2.
This brings up a question. How does the pilot know that Battery 2 has any kind of a charge? What happens if the whole Cirrus electrical system goes caput and all that’s left is Battery 2? Will Battery 2 have juice then?
The answer is actually rather simple. As part of the pre-flight inspection, the first step in the cabin inspection is to turn the Battery 2 switch on, then check the Essential bus volt meter. The checklist says the voltmeter should be reading between 23-25 volts. This tells you how much voltage Battery 2 currently has. The next step (after ensuring the flap lights are out) is the turn Battery 1 on. Battery 1 then powers the Main Bus and Essential Bus. The voltage showing on the Main Bus shows how much voltage Battery 1 currently has.
Easy enough right? Now you can impress friends and family alike with your Cirrus electrical knowledge!
Most in the aviation industry are familiar with John and Martha King, the faces of the myriad of Kings Schools aviation training courses. Thousands of pilots have gone through their ground school courses for a variety of certificates or ratings, taking in the videos on original VHS, DVD, or streaming online depending on what the current technology is.
With the advent of the Airmen Certification Standards (ACS) replacing the Practical Test Standards (PTS) for the private and instrument certificates, King Schools didn’t take long to update their material.
To help private students prepping for their check ride (and their instructors who aren’t familiar with an ACS check ride yet), John King plays the student pilot in the latest King Schools prep video. The streaming online video is about 5 hours long, includes the oral portion and the flight portion of the check ride, and runs $139 (you can still get the DVD, too!).
I have recommended King Schools and their courses to all of my customers. They have always put out a great product as they reduce the fear felt for a check ride applicant. If you are prepping for your private pilot check ride, checkout the King Schools video today.
