AOPA recapped the year in the general aviation industry recently. A lot happened in 2016 including the certification of both the Cirrus Vision Jet and the Honda Jet. Several other manufacturers debuted new models, including Mooney with their Ovation Ultra and it’s 2 doors and Cub Crafters with their faster XCub.
To read the full year in review, you can read the AOPA Article here.
From the time I started flying, I have always had the dream to learn how to fly a seaplane. As I learned in November, it’s actually learning to land a seaplane, and the veterans call them floatplanes.
ProMark Aviation at the Burnet Airport (KBMQ) offers a weekend float plane course that is high on fun and low on stress. The school has a Piper PA12 Super Cruiser on amphibious floats (amphibs as I was corrected at one point. I mean, if you’re going to fly a seaplane, er, floatplane, you have to know the lingo) that will land and takeoff on water, but does little else with ease and grace. At 150 HP with those big floats and all the associated rigging hanging underneath the airplane, you are lucky to get to 500 feet before you get to your destination.
We weren’t working on setting any speed records. I was learning the lay of the water. I learned about the step, the keel, pumping the floats, how to read the water, currents, ducks (yes, ducks and birds are important to know about when you are flying low on the water), buoys, docking, and ditching. Step taxiing was fun as you are basically at 3/4 throttle screaming across the top of the water just below flying speed. It’s the best way to taxi a seaplane (truly, it is. You get more air in your engine, you can see better, and you are moving. Just don’t try and turn sharp).
Floatplanes also don’t have any shock absorbers, so the higher the wave, the more you get knocked around, so wind velocity and, in turn, wave height is very important.
A very important nuance of an amphibious floatplane compared to a straight floatplane (one that doesn’t have wheels that come out of the floats), is at one point, you want to make sure your gear is down for landing (runway landing) and at another, you want to make absolutely sure your gear is up for landing (water landing). If you land wheels down in the water, you will capsize, 100% of the time. Thankfully from my good instruction, I did not capsize.
Ken Wittekiend, my instructor, and I spent the majority of the weekend landing and taking off on Lake Buchanan (I was informed by locals it is pronounced “Buk-cannon”, not “Bue-cannon”), which is more open and therefore has more waves. We did one landing on Inks Lake so my kids could see me land, which they thought was the best thing since cheese sticks.
There is a check ride at the end of the training, but, as Ken reassured me, it’s the most fun check ride you’ll ever have. I still hate check rides, but that one I think I hated least of all.
I hope someday I can put my floatplane skills to practice, but for now, I can vouch that I now speak seaplane!
I was flying in the Rio Grande Valley in south Texas a few weeks ago and heard an IFR clearance given to a King Air that pricked my ears up. It was a clearance from CRP to LRD, but the routing was one you don’t hear too often anymore. Because of active military airspace, the routing was via a radial and DME off the CRP VOR (so a point defined by the radial and DME) to another radial and DME point off the LRD VOR.
It took me a second to think about how to do this the easiest (without setting up the VOR and watching the DME). After a moment’s thought, it’s actually a snap with the G1000. You create 2 user waypoints, one for each Radial/DME spot, then put those 2 user waypoints in your Flight Plan.
Here’s how.
Step 1
Using the big knob, go to the Waypoint chapter. Once there, scroll down to the User Waypoint page using the small knob.
Step 2
Press the New soft key. If you want to name the waypoint something specific, you can do that at the top of the page. If not, it will default to something like VOR 1 or VOR 2.
Step 3
Under Waypoint Type, use the small knob to select RAD/DIS (stands for Radial/Distance).
Step 4
Under Reference Waypoints, again using the small knob (or your keypad), type or dial in the VOR identifier, the radial from that VOR, and the DME distance. Press enter and you are done.
Once you have both User Waypoints created, then just put them in your flight plan (if you forget what you named them, you can just go back to the User Waypoint page), and off you go.
April 18th, 2020 was supposed to mark the MMOPA Spring Safety Stand Down, an event held around the country for PA46 owners which counted toward the Master Aviator program. Sadly, due to the COVID-19 repercussions, the in person event had to be canceled.
Thankfully, due to modern technology, the event has been rescheduled to a nationwide webcast. The date for the Online MMOPA Safety Standdown in Saturday, August 8th. Joe Casey and Travis Holland will be hosting the MMOPA Safety Standdown.
The cost is free. To register, please click here.
On July 15th, the medical reforms that AOPA and many other aviation advocacy organizations had pushed so hard for were passed into law. President Obama signed the medical reforms law on the 15th, but, before practical application of the law takes place, the FAA has to translate the law into regulations.
What do the new medical reforms mean for medical certificates and flying? First, you still have to get a medical examination at some point in your flying career. Student pilots will still need an initial medical examination. Initially, for pilots who have held a medical certificate at some point over the previous 10 years, a new medical examination may not be needed (this still has to be regulated by the FAA so exact details aren’t known yet).
So, if you’re medical certificate has expired but you have had one in the past 10 years, you qualify. But, if you have had your medical certificate revoked, suspended, withdrawn or denied, you don’t qualify.
Once that student pilot receives the initial medical certificate (or the experienced pilot decides to start flying again), all that needs be accomplished is to take a free, online course on aeromedical factors every two years and meet with a physician at least once every four years.
There are some operating limitations that will be put into place for folks operating without a third class medical. Pilot’s can operate aircraft with no more than 6 seats that weigh less than 6,000 pounds, can carry 5 passengers, and are able to operate in day or night VFR or IFR conditions. Pilot’s may not operate for hire, nor climb above 18,000 feet or fly faster than 250 knots.
It will take some time for the FAA to put the regulations in place, but the process has begun.
Recently, I assisted with the delivery of a 2007 Piper Saratoga Turbo from San Antonio to New York City. It was a very nicely equipped airplane, complete with a Garmin G1000 panel, an STEC 55x autopilot, and air conditioning. The owner joined me on the flight back to get trained in the airplane, getting him comfortable in it over our 2 day excursion back to NYC. Total flight time was 12 hours, though that did include several stops along the way and landing practice at the airports we stopped at.
The 6 seat Turbo Saratoga is a very comfortable, very capable flying machine. It is made for hauling, with a gross weight of 3,600 pounds, but that’s not to say it isn’t lacking in comfort, either. The rear cabin has 4 seats, 2 facing forward and 2 facing rear. It would be a little tight for 4 full size adults in the back seat. To avoid knee knocking, the plane is an excellent 4 person and bags aircraft (or 4 adults and 2 kids).
The really nice part about the Piper Saratoga is the baggage door. Unlike the Bonanza, the Piper Saratoga has a baggage door that opens to the baggage compartment, creating a much easier way to load and unload baggage. The nose baggage compartment, which holds an additional 100 pounds, is a very nice feature, allowing the bag load to be spread out.
We typically saw cruise speeds of 155-165 KTAS depending on altitude. The highest we went was only about 9,000 feet, so we didn’t get up real high to see what the single turbo could do. Even though the Lycoming TIO-540 engine burns about 20 gallons an hour, with 102 gallons of gas on board, the fuel consistently outlasted our desire to continue flying.
Being equipped with the G1000 was a very nice feature of this particular Piper Saratoga. The screens are nice and big, larger than the displays on a high wing Cessna or a Corvalis. That allows for easier viewing of approach plates, NEXRAD, and the engine gauges.
There are always downsides to an airplane, and the Saratoga is no exception. The STEC Autopilot leaves some to be desired as I felt it hampered the capability of the G1000 when shooting approaches because the 12 knot crosswind limitation on the autopilot. You can still use the autopilot on an approach with higher than 12 knot crosswinds, but the autopilot tends to search around for the final approach course.
The air conditioning works very nicely, though it did have a tendency to freeze up at altitude. We discovered that quickly and just decided to turn it off and leave the blower on, since it was cool enough up high anyway.
Overall, the Turbo Saratoga is a very nice airplane. The speed leaves a little to be desired (you can get 10 KTAS more out of a Bonanza with a Continental engine, about 20 knots more if it is a Turbo Bonanza), but it is very high on comfort. The Piper Saratoga makes for a good family airplane or as a hauler. I liked the airplane a lot and thoroughly enjoyed my time in it.
From our family to yours, thank you for flying with Texas Top Aviation in 2014. We wish everyone a Happy New Year and a great 2015!
