2022 MMOPA Convention

The Flight Director as a Backup

ByHank Gibson September 3, 2014

I’ve noticed that a lot of general aviation pilots tend to ignore the flight director on the attitude indicator.  A lot of pilots don’t even know what it’s there for or how to use it.  Talk to any airline pilot, though, and he or she will tell you how important the flight director actually is.

In most high performance airplanes, the flight director comes on when the autopilot comes on.  Essentially, the autopilot is following the flight director, which tells the autopilot where to go.  The flight director can also be used with the autopilot off, when hand flying an approach, for example.  By turning the flight director on, it will show you where you need to fly to stay on course and on glide slope.

The flight director is most often controlled by the autopilot controller.  The same buttons you use to put the autopilot in heading mode also tells the flight director to follow the heading bug when the autopilot is off.  When you move the heading bug (or change course on the GPS, depending on which mode you have selected), the flight director will show you when you need to turn and when you need to stop turning.  It directs your flight attitude, hence the name.

I recently discovered it’s a great backup when you have some instruments on the fritz.  I went on a long flight in a steam gauge Piper Malibu and the attitude indicator started reading erratically.  While flying straight and level, it would randomly indicate that I was in a 10 degree bank to the right, swing back and show wings level, then show a 3 degree turn left.  This went on for a while.  We were in VMC conditions, so legality wasn’t a problem, but it was kind of disorienting.

After a little while of this, the autopilot started acting up.  It would start oscillating the pitch up and down, making it seem like we were going through a moguls course in the air.  I ended up turning the autopilot off and hand flying the airplane.

This led to a conundrum, since my attitude indicator was unreliable.  I could definitely look outside, since it was VMC, seeing when I was level and when I wasn’t.  That would create a higher workload for me, which on a long flight like I was on, would lead to an increase in fatigue.  The solution?  The flight director!

I turned the autopilot off, but I left the flight director up.  It wasn’t referencing the bank angle that the attitude indicator was showing since the KFC 150 goes off of the turn coordinator.  So, if I just followed the attitude indicator, I could just keep scanning the instruments and relieve a little bit of my workload.

It actually worked really well.  By just following the flight director, I was able to stay on course and on altitude with only minor attitude adjustments whenever we hit turbulence.

So, if you’re attitude indicator and autopilot decide to stop working on you, then bring up the flight director, push the same buttons you would if you were using the autopilot, and it works as a great backup.

Is The Approach Active? Flying Garmin Instrument Approaches Seminar

ByHank Gibson June 19, 2018June 30, 2018

Hank Gibson from Texas Top Aviation will be presenting a seminar on flying Garmin instrument approaches with the different Garmin GPS units.  Whether you have a Garmin 530/430 unit, a Garmin GTN 750/650 unit, or a Garmin G1000, all will be discussed.  You’ll walk away with some tips and tricks, plus a better understanding of your Garmin unit.

WINGs credit will be given for attending.  The seminar is hosted by Redbird Skyport at the San Marcos Airport (KHYI) in Redbird’s large conference room.  The seminar will begin at 10am on Saturday, June 30th, 2018.

It’s always quicker to fly than drive and Redbird has plenty of ramp space to accommodate seminar attendees.

Registration is required.  Please visit the registration page on FAASafety.gov.  Space is limited to 20 individuals, so please make sure you register if you want to attend.

Cirrus Alternator Failure

ByHank Gibson April 27, 2018May 1, 2018

A Cirrus is an electric airplane.  There are no vacuum pumps and therefore no vacuum driven instruments. The Klapmeier brothers did this on purpose, trying to make it a modern airplane.  No vacuum systems means no vacuum pump failures, hence there is a lower likelihood of instrument failures in IMC.

What Cirrus did instead was put a lot of electricity producing and storing devices in the airplane.  All SR20 and SR22s are equipped with 2 engine driven alternators and 2 backup batteries.  Alternator 1 is a 28 volt alternator (the amperage varies based on whether or not you have an air conditioner) while Alternator 2 is a 28.5 volt alternator.  There are 2 24 volt backup batteries, as well.  Battery 1 is also used for starting.

In traditional airplanes that have 1 alternator, an alternator failure can affect a lot of things.  Depending on how many electronics are in the airplane, the battery can get depleted quite quickly.

The Cirrus electrical system is quite ingenious.  It’s a little bit different based on whether you have an Avidyne Cirrus or a Garmin Perspective Cirrus.  I will discuss that further below.

The main goal of this article is to talk through what happens in the event of a #1 Cirrus Alternator Failure (an Alternator 2 failure actually isn’t a big deal at all, though Alt 2 is required for IFR flight), the procedure for trying to fix it, and a technique I have developed that makes the pilot’s job easier.  First, let’s go through the #1 Cirrus Alternator Failure procedure.

Alternator 1 Failure

In either avionics configuration, the Cirrus Alternator Failure procedure is the same.

• Check and reset the circuit breaker for Alternator 1 (Reset only once)
• Cycle the Alternator 1 master switch
• If Alternator 1 doesn’t come back online, leave the Alternator 1 master switch off and shed load on the battery

Avidyne Entegra

The Avidyne Entegra has 2 busses, the Main Bus and the Essential Bus.  Alternator 2 isn’t set to come on until the engine RPM reaches 1700.  While on the ground, Alternator 1 runs both the Main and Essential Buses.  In the air, Alternator 1 runs the Main Bus and Alternator 2 runs the Essential Bus.  Since Alt 2 is 28.5 volts, the higher voltage won’t allow the power from Alt 1 to cross over and run the Essential Bus.  There are also 2 one-way directional diodes that prevent the voltage from Alt 2 to cross over and run the Main Bus.

Having said all that, when Alternator 1 fails, Battery 1 is now running the items on the Main Bus.  There are a significant number of items on the Main Bus which causes the 24 volt battery to quickly lose it’s charge. This precipitates the need for shedding load.  Items like GPS 2, the air conditioner and aircraft lights can all be turned off.

In the above scenario, Alternator 2 is running the Essential Bus still that has all the Essential items on it.  Those include:

• The PFD
• Flight Instruments and associated Avidyne computers
• Engine Instruments and associated Avidyne computers
• GPS 1
• Com 1
• Nav 1
• Autopilot
• Stall Warning
• Charging Battery 2

Note 2 important items that are not on the Essential Bus:  the flaps and the landing light (which is very handy at night).  Those two are only on the Main Bus, which Battery 1 is now powering.

Let’s further enhance our scenario.  You are flying over Nevada (quite remote and not a lot of airports) at night, 30 minutes from the nearest airport when your Alt 1 fails.  When you get to the airport you are planning on landing at, you want to have your flaps and your landing light, but we don’t know how long Battery 1 will last.

The solution (this is where my technique comes in):  Turn off the Battery 1 master switch.  This is an easy solution to ensuring you have battery power to use your flaps and landing light.  Instead of going through and shedding load, simply turn off the source.  You’ll still have all the above items on the Essential Bus, which is all you need to keep safely flying.  Then, when you get to your landing airport, turn Battery 1 back on to utilize your flaps and landing light.

Garmin Perspective

Cirrus wired the Garmin Perspective plane a little bit differently.  There are now 2 Main Buses along with the Essential Bus.  Alternator 1 runs Main Bus 1, while Alternator 2 runs Main Bus 2 and the Essential Bus. Both Alternators are running all the time.  The Alternator 1 Failure procedure remains the same.

The cool thing that comes along with the second Main Bus in the Perspective is the amount of items you still have available to you in the event of an Alternator 1 failure.  The only items you lose will be:

• Yaw Damper
• Landing Light
• Air Conditioner and associated components
• EVS Camera
• 12 Volt power supply in armrest

Everything else is powered off of Alternator 2.  That’s not much.  The only item you really want on the above list is the landing light if you are going to be landing at night.

Follow the Alternator 1 Failure procedure, then do my technique again.  Turn off Battery 1 to save the battery power in order to use the landing light when needed.

Cirrus did a great job creating an all electric airplane with plenty of backups in case something fails.  I focused mainly on the Alternator 1 failure here.  If Alternator 2 fails, the system is wired for Alternator 1 to run everything while still charging Battery 1 and 2.  No big deal.

In my experience, turning off Battery 1 to conserve battery power is just a simpler solution when shedding load in the event of a Cirrus Alternator Failure.

A Sad Reminder

ByAndrew Robinson June 13, 2017June 22, 2017

It was a rainy Thursday afternoon and I was eating lunch with my family when my phone rang. My wife and I had just been discussing how miserable the weather was, so it was only natural that about 30 minutes later I was soaking wet and sitting in one of our Aerostars getting ready to take off for Ohio. I didn’t have much information about who I would be flying, or why, but I knew that I was going to pick someone up to fly them home; something about a missing airplane. So off I went into the muck. My biggest concern at that point being whether or not my clothes would ever dry out.

I arrived uneventfully and walked happily into the FBO, but found myself quickly in a very different atmosphere. It turned out I had two passengers to pick up, a husband and wife, and they had arrived at the FBO before me. As I walked in the door, the wife received a phone call. The person on the phone told her that search teams had found her father’s airplane crashed in the woods and that he was dead. I learned the rest of the details quickly and it was hard to stomach.

She was travelling home that day to be with family until they were able to locate her father. She was pregnant with her first baby and was in her third trimester. The baby was to be her dad’s first grandchild. He’d owned a Lake Amphibian for years and had stayed at home to work while his wife was out of town. He was last seen leaving work on Tuesday of that week and was reported missing on Thursday by his co-workers. Airport security footage showed him pulling the airplane out and taking off at 20:48 (after sunset) on Tuesday night.

After a few minutes we loaded the Aerostar and took off. It was the saddest flight I’ve ever done. Understandably, my passanger sobbed on and off from the time she got off the phone until we landed a couple of hours later. The weather seemed appropriate as we flew along through the rain and were greeted at our destination by a grief stricken family and a few reporters.

I said a sad goodbye and left, but I couldn’t help but think about their situation. It really hit close to home with me as it was easy to draw parallels between my family and theirs: she was very close in age to me and pregnant with her first child. My wife and I were new parents. Her dad had owned his airplane for about the same length of time that my dad has owned his Bonanza. Additionally, it isn’t uncommon for my parents to go a couple days without being able to reach each other because they both travel.

But what happened..?

In the time since the accident, the NTSB has published their findings and unfortunately, it makes the situation sadder. It was completely avoidable.

Airport security cameras showed that after removing the airplane from the hangar, the pilot did not complete a preflight inspection or even a walkaround of any kind. He simply climbed in and left. The investigators were unable to find any traces or odor of fuel in the wreckage, nor any mechanical abnormalities with the airplane. In fact, according to the report, the engine was put on a test stand and ran perfectly. It would seem that the pilot simply never checked the fuel quantity and took off. The airport cameras captured the take off and a bright flash about 30 seconds after the aircraft departed.

Here is an excerpt from the report:

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:  The pilot’s attempted 180-degree return to the runway immediately after takeoff in dark night conditions, which resulted in collision with trees and terrain. Also causal was the pilot’s inadequate preflight inspection, which resulted in a takeoff with little-to-no fuel on board the airplane.

Interestingly, the report also details their ability to use logbook information and fuel receipts to show the airplane was taken on a long cross country on its last flight and likely not fueled again.
Another thing which stuck out in my mind upon learning the details of the crash was how important it is to let someone know when you’re going flying. Having another person know roughly when a flight is leaving, where it’s going and and when to expect it back could potentially save the lives of the people on board. In the case of this accident, the pilot didn’t alert anyone that he was going flying and therefore, no one realized he was missing for 2 days.

From reading the NTSB report I don’t get the impression that he survived the crash, but I can’t help thinking about the possibility that he, or others in similar circumstances, could survive a crash and then die from their injuries because no one knew to look for them. When I flew charter, we weren’t legally allowed to take off VFR without letting someone at the company know the details of the flight. I’ve adopted this as my personal policy as well. One text message could be the difference between being rescued or not.

Finally, every pilot should ensure that a proper walk around is completed! It’s easy to assume everything is okay with an airplane, especially one that no one else has access too. In addition to a thorough preflight, I like to walk all the way around the airplane and visual check fuel caps, doors, chocks, ropes, etc., immediately before getting in to ensure that everything is ready. I know a couple of pilots who have taken off with various panels and compartments open simply because they got distracted during their walk around and never closed them. (A good policy is to never walk away and leave something open). Perhaps even more mind boggling is that he apparently didn’t look at the fuel gauges after start up and before take off. I also have to wonder how much fuel he had remaining upon completion of the previous flight.

“Aviation in itself is not inherently dangerous. But to an even greater degree than the sea, it is terribly unforgiving of any carelessness, incapacity or neglect” is likely a familiar quote to just about every pilot. It is often written on a poster with a picture of an old timey bi-plane hanging out of a tree, but I think that it is absolutely on point. Carelessness in the preflight and neglecting basic pilot responsibilities (in this case fuel planning) cost this father his life and his opportunity to meet his first grandchild.

I know this article is a real downer, but it’s supposed to be. Its tragic that accidents take place which are completely avoidable. Obviously this case was beyond the normal realm of carelessness and neglect, but, we as pilots need to be extremely careful not to get so comfortable with an airplane that we stop doing the things which are so basic and important to safety. One of my professors in school used to say “aviation is fun, but it plays for keeps,” which is an effective way to remind myself how important it is to do it right.

*Out of respect to the family, I have not included any specific names, tail numbers or airports in this article.

Present Position Hold

ByHank Gibson February 1, 2015

When I was working on my instrument rating back in 2007, my instructor and I did a lot of unpublished holds.  In ground school, I heard a lot about holding for weather or holding due to a traffic delay.  At my first job, my chief flight instructor was also a Continental (now United) captain and he told me a lot about having to hold for weather going into different places.

I heard all this, but I figured it would never happen to me when I’m flying GA airplanes.

Boy was I wrong!

I was flying a Piper Malibu into Phoenix with two passengers for Super Bowl weekend and the weather was awful.  No thunderstorms, but moderate precipitation and low ceilings.  We were coming into Deer Valley (KDVT) on the north side of Phoenix and about an hour out, ATC advised me that arrivals into DVT were having to hold and to expect a delay.  The controller said the delay would be about 30 minutes, so by doing a quick calculation, I determined the delay would probably be all cleared up by the time I got in the area.  At the time, I didn’t know if the delay was due to weather or traffic congestion.

Twenty minutes later, the controller advised me that there was still a delay.  I queried what it was for and he informed me it was due to weather.  He asked me if I wanted to hold or divert.  I listened to the ATIS and heard the ceilings were variable from just below the minimums to just above.  I told him I would hold as the TAF I saw predicted the ceilings to go up.

“Malibu, hold present position, hold east, expect further clearance 2140 Zulu.”  Gulp.

At this point, my autopilot had gone out, it was turbulent and I was definitely in the soup.  This was going to be fun.

After recovering my wits, I read back the clearance, then set about setting up this hold without getting too far from my present position.  The Malibu I was flying had a Garmin 530 which I was using as my primary means of navigation.  I was on V190, but I didn’t have all the fixes in my flight plan.  What to do?  And what to do fast?

The 530 has a rarely used function called a User Waypoint.  It comes in handy in situations like these.  On the moving map, you can turn the cursor on, move the cursor to any point on the map, and, by pressing enter, create a User Waypoint.  This is what I did on V190.  After I created it, I had to go to my flight plan, find the right spot, and input the User Waypoint just like I would any fix.  Just a note here, when you create a User Waypoint, make sure you remember what you named it so you can find it again.

After I input the User Waypoint in the flight plan, I had to go back and activate the leg that the User Waypoint was the end point on.  Then, to make sure the flight plan didn’t go to the next waypoint once I crossed my User Waypoint, I had to press the OBS button on the 530 in order to put the GPS in suspend mode.

Keep in mind, my autopilot wasn’t working, so this involved a lot of multi-tasking!

That’s how to do a present position hold using the Garmin 530.  Got all that?  Here’s a concise review:

• Create a User Waypoint
  • Turn the cursor on by pressing the FMS knob
  • Move the cursor to the point where you want your User Waypoint
  • Press enter and name the User Waypoint
• Press the Flight Plan button
• Input the User Waypoint into your flight plan at the proper point
• Activate the leg that the User Waypoint is the end point on
• Finally, press the OBS button to put the GPS in suspend mode
• After you’re cleared onward, just press the OBS button again to take the GPS out of suspend mode