MMOPA Spring Safety Standdown

Redbird Migration at HYI

ByHank Gibson October 17, 2016

Redbird Skyport at the San Marcos Regional Airport will be hosting it’s 6th Annual Redbird Migration Flight Training Conference.  The event is focused on flight training and flight training providers.  Past speakers have included the president of Hartnell Propellers, the CEO of Big Red, and various Redbird Executives.

The list of speakers for this year’s Migration has yet to be released, but it promises to be a good lineup.  Attendees every year always compliment Redbird on the event and the speakers they bring in.

If you are a CFI or flight school owner interested in attending, check out Redbird’s event page to request an invitation.

FltPlan Go

ByHank Gibson August 10, 2016August 27, 2016

I am an iPad user, but I have an Android phone.  I had been using a junky aviation weather app that just gave meters and TAFs, but seemed to have been programmed in a foreign language (un-decoded TAFs notwithstanding).  I wanted something more robust, but didn’t see the need to pay for a Garmin Pilot subscription since Foreflight on my iPad was my main EFB (Electronic Flight Bag) I use in the airplane.

When I upgraded my phone, I decided I had to find something better.  I have a WIFI only iPad, so I utilize my phone to take quick glances at weather reports or when I want to see the radar without having to tether my iPad to my phone.  The app I had wasn’t cutting it.

That’s when I found FltPlan Go.  We are all familiar with FltPlan.com.  It’s what a lot of corporate pilots use to file flight plans.  I’ve used it some, but there is a large amount of data it needs to set up an airplane. Since I already have all the airplanes I need in Foreflight, I don’t use it that much since I didn’t want to do the setup.  It is rather handy as it spits out flight logs and has a lot of pre-loaded performance numbers for different makes and models.

FltPlan Go is FltPlan.com‘s app.  It is very user friendly, easy to use, and, most importantly, free!  You can get METARs, TAFs, NOTAMs, Airport Diagrams, approach plates, full weather reports for airports including radar, maps, and a whole lot more.  As far as I can tell, it is a full fledged EFB.  I haven’t really scratched the surface on all the features in using mine, but it is quite robust from the little bit of poking around I’ve done.

I’m still a Foreflight guy, but if you want something else or you have an Android phone and don’t want to pay for Garmin Pilot or WingXPro, check out FltPlan Go.  It’s a winner.

Angelina County Airfest

ByHank Gibson September 11, 2015September 10, 2015

The Angelina County Airport in Lufkin, TX (KLFK) will be hosting the Angelina County Airfest on Saturday, October 10th.  The airport will open up at 9am.

Prepare for a day of food, fun, and some great performances.  There will be warbirds and many other classic airplanes on display, not too mention a number of aerobatic performances as the day goes on.

To learn more about the Airfest, visit the Angelina County Airfest website.  Tickets start at $10 for adults.

A Complex Clearance?

ByHank Gibson August 25, 2017August 29, 2017

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.

Simplified Instrument Approach Briefing

ByHank Gibson August 27, 2016September 12, 2016

In instrument flying, I am all about keeping things simple.  There is a ton of detail that an instrument pilot can get bogged down in.  When an instrument pilot gets bogged down, he gets distracted from flying the airplane.  When he gets distracted from flying the airplane, dangerous circumstances can happen.

I like to keep things simple.  When I first started instructing, I developed a very simple instrument approach briefing that captures everything that is necessary on an approach plate, but prevents getting bogged down in the details.

I call it the BBC instrument approach briefing.  Here it is:

Brief

First things first.  The first step of an instrument approach briefing is to brief the approach plate.  There are a bunch of acronyms out there that instructors tell their students to memorize that only cause confusion instead of helping get the plate briefed.  To keep it simple, just work your way across the plate and you’ll get all the information you need.

Start in the top left hand corner of the plate, with the approach course, then work your way right and down, as follows:

• Approach Course (or Nav frequency if flying a VOR/ILS/LOC)
• Runway information
• Notes (these are good to brief the night before as a lot are irrelevant to GA pilots
• Missed approach
• Frequencies
• Planview and MSA
• Profile View and Minimums

Simple enough, right?

Build

Now that you know what you are planning on doing, you can now take the second step in the instrument approach briefing and build the approach in your GPS.  You know your approach type, you know your transition, and you know what your minimums are.  Taking all that information, you can now build it in to your system.

Checklists

Once everything else is done, don’t forget the checklists.  The descent and before landing checklists still need to be done as part of an approach.  The best time to do these is before joining the approach so that you don’t have to worry about flying the approach and looking at a checklist at the same time.  Even better, memorize the checklist and you don’t have to look at anything!

Most importantly, you want to be configured properly for the approach by the final approach fix.  Gear, flaps set, power set, so all you have to worry about at that point is following the needles and trusting your instruments.

The Importance of Slowing Down

ByHank Gibson June 4, 2018June 4, 2018

Technology has made our job as pilots simpler, streamlined, and safer.  With all the new GPS & autopilot technology that seems to come out every month, flying an airplane is getting easier every day (and when I say flying, I mean programming!).  I can’t tell you the last time I actually used a VOR for navigation, other than a practice approach.  The AIM even has guidance in it now allowing pilots to use the GPS overlay on a VOR or LOC approach instead of switching to the actual NavAid on the course needle (you have to WAAS in order to legally do this).

I hear the argument already.  I am young (31) and used to all the different touchscreens because I have grown up with them.  Tech is nothing new to me.  It’s not that easy for everyone, I do understand.  There is also the argument that all the tech causes pilots to not know how to fly the airplane, which is also valid. This is why I put an emphasis on hand flying in any kind of training I do.

For the sake of argument in this article, yes, I am young and I adapt to technology pretty easily.  I’m not afraid to press buttons to figure out what they do, but I usually do it while sitting on the ground with a GPU hooked up (or I go look in the manual).  And yes, all the autopilot ability has caused a decrease in base pilot skills.  I actually encourage every customer I have to go get a tailwheel rating so that they can actually learn how to fly better.  You don’t use a rudder much in a Cirrus compared to a Super Cub or a Citabria.

What I want to focus on for a few minutes is how to alleviate the frustration that comes with getting so wrapped up in the technology when it doesn’t do something that you want it to, or the wrong button gets pressed, then you end up somewhere you had no intention of being.

The biggest thing a pilot can do when it comes to technology is NEVER to get in a hurry.  Good training is first and foremost, but, after that when flying without an instructor or even in recurrent training, SLOW DOWN and think through what you are doing and what you want the system to do.  This will alleviate a ton of frustration.

It can be very easy in hot, turbulent weather to get tuned in to the GPS programming, trying to do five or six different things in the span of five or six seconds, before looking up and realizing that plane is 500 feet off altitude (without an autopilot) or you blew through the course you were supposed to be intercepting (with an autopilot).

What I teach is to slow down, whether or not you have an autopilot, and do one thing at a time.  Once that item is done, look up at the instruments or the horizon, check on things, make sure the airplane is still flying properly, then do the next thing.  Don’t try and do a bunch of things all at once or in a hurry.  It will usually get you off course and off altitude, plus it distracts the pilot from his main job:  Flying the airplane.

So, next time you want to do something on your GPS, pause, take a breath, think through what you want to do, then do one item at a time.  The outcome will be less frustrating and you’ll keep flying where you want to go.