Are you a Cirrus pilot with a Garmin Perspective? Still can’t figure out the use of the go around button? Read on!
When it comes to flying an instrument approach, we as pilots are assuming we are going to land. Most of the time, we won’t even take off if the ceilings or visibilities are below the minimums for an approach. 95% of the time, we do land.
There is the other 5% of the time when something unexpected happens, whether we get a full scale deflection, or we don’t see the runway at the published minimums, and we have to perform a missed approach.
When instructing, missed approach procedures are actually what I see the most deficiency in when instructing an instrument rated pilot. It’s not necessarily configuring the airplane for a missed approach procedure, it’s the button pushing involved in setting up the GPS properly. When a pilot isn’t proficient in the button pushing, that button pushing distracts the pilot from actually flying the airplane, which can lead to a dangerous situation.
I am going to spend a few articles on flying a missed approach with different GPS and different autopilot configurations. Today, I will be addressing the Garmin Perspective with a GFC 700 Autopilot, which is what all Cirrus Aircraft after 2009 are equipped with.
The Garmin Perspective Missed Approach Procedure
Once the decision to execute a missed approach has been made, here is the step by step procedure:
Full Mixture and Full Throttle
Simultaneously push the Go Around button on the underside of the throttle. This does the following:
Sets the Garmin Perspective Flight Director to Go Around Mode (7.5 degrees pitch up and wings level)
Takes the Garmin Perspective GPS out of Suspend Mode
Switches the CDI back to GPS mode if it is in a different mode
Garmin Perspective with GFC 700 Autopilot stays on
Flaps up
Confirm airplane is climbing
Set altitude bug for missed approach altitude (assuming it isn’t there already)
Set NAV mode and IAS mode on the Garmin Perspective GFC 700 Autopilot
That’s it. When Garmin and Cirrus got together to create the Garmin Perspective with the GFC 700 Autopilot, they tried to make as simple but robust system as possible. Once you have the procedure down for the right buttons to press, then the procedure is relatively straight forward.
He’s very sneaky, creeping unexpectedly and attacking after the propeller begins to turn.
He’s very cunning, veiling his intentions until, BOOM, he attacks.
Beware of the Lunch Monster!
Whenever I am doing a full day of training (which is usually how transition training courses are planned out, in full day sessions), I always plan a lunch stop. My metabolism has the speed of a rocket ship, so I get hungry and need some sustenance in the middle of the day. I have a running list of airports to stop at that have good lunch spots at them or nearby, so my customers and I usually end up at one of those airports.
Almost without fail, if a customer is having an excellent flying morning, nailing all the procedures, picking up all the techniques, and overall, flying pretty well, then eats lunch, the afternoon doesn’t go quite as well. Doing some of the same things we did that morning, but the customer’s performance isn’t quite as good. Most of the time, it’s just a brain lockup or landings aren’t quite as squeaky as they were in the morning.
Part of it is fatigue after flying for 2-3 hours in the morning. The other part is what I call the Lunch Monster. Eating a big lunch can sap away brain power and cause a person to lose energy around 2-3pm, leading to an afternoon lull (or the Lunch Monster attacking!).
Diet contributes to energy levels too. “Eating a lunch that is too big is the most common reason for feeling sleepy in the afternoon,” says Rebecca Solomon a nutritionist at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. “All your energy goes into digesting the enormous meal.”
The goal is to keep the body’s Cortical and Cortisone levels even since they’re the hormones released by the body in reaction to stress–they produce the fight or flight response. Their levels are elevated when you have sugar, caffeine and processed food, so you feel awake and energetic. But a few hours later, when those levels drop, you’re sluggish.
Solomon recommends eating a meal that’s balanced with healthy fats (from olive oil or avocados, for instance) with protein and healthy carbohydrates (whole wheat bread or pasta). The portion will vary for people of different sizes, but a general rule is you should be hungry about four hours after the meal.
Another healthy eating habit: Consume small portions of foods throughout the day, including almonds, carrots and hummus and fruit. Enjoy lunch around 1:30 or 2 p.m., just before the time you normally feel fatigued.
Now, most of the stops on my list of restaurants don’t fit the bill of healthy fats and healthy carbohydrates (plenty of protein, though, especially the BBQ joints). For those days, bringing along a snack like almonds or dried fruit is a great idea to munch on mid-afternoon. Trimming down the amount eaten at lunch helps a lot too.
So, the next time you have a long day of flying or training, beware the lunch monster and prep some good snacks when your flight instructor says you’re stopping for BBQ!
He prowls around, preying on innocent pilots. He’s very sneaky, creeping unexpectedly and attacking after the propeller begins to turn. He’s very cunning, veiling his intentions until, BOOM, he attacks. Beware of the Lunch Monster! Whenever I am doing a full day of training (which is usually how transition training courses are planned out, in…
Type Clubs Lead By Example with Standard Operating Practices
This article appeared in the May 2019 edition of EAA’s Sport Aviation Magazine. It is used with permission. For other articles by Charlie Precourt, please visit EAA.org and join for a full subscription.
Imagine a year when there are no fatal accidents in general aviation. Does that seem impossible? The airlines achieved that many years ago, and so can we if we focus on the right things in our safety pro- grams. In fact, the overall trend in GA accident rates over the last few years is very encouraging. AOPA’s Air Safety Institute published its annual GA Accident Scorecard recently (see www.EAA.org/ extras), revealing fatal accidents from 2008 to 2017 are down more than 30 percent. Nevertheless, there were 185 fatal accidents in 2017, so we still have a long way to go. But, there are many developments in safety programs across GA that can keep the trend going.
One such development that I’ve advocated through a couple of type clubs is establishing standard operating practices (SOP). When I flew for both the U.S. Air Force and NASA, we had what we called standard operating procedures. They were the law for our flying. That is, we had to follow them procedurally because the folks that paid our salaries said so. The objective was to ensure we all used the same playbook, minimizing the risk that one of us might develop a bad in-flight habit that increased risk to the organization.
One way to think about SOPs is to recognize the difference between procedure and technique. For example, you have to follow the manufacturer’s pilot’s operating handbook (procedure)where it says to lower the landing gear before landing. If you don’t, you are in for a bad day. However, it does not tell you exactly when to lower the gear; that’s left to technique.
In the middle, between procedure and technique, is a best practice. In this example, lowering the gear just before the final approach fix is a “standard practice.” It is the generally accepted “best” place to lower the gear. In GA, however, aircraft owners don’t generally answer to a boss, so I prefer the term practices instead of procedures.
However, whether or not someone is paying us to fly, following best practices just makes sense. If you have a good set of practices, they enable you to do things the same way every time, leaving lots of brain cells to manage the unusual, the things that might go wrong. The safest approach to accomplishing a flight task is one that leverages consistency. On the other hand, if you are inconsistent, doing flight tasks differently each time, you’ll always be struggling to keep up. So, in my involvement with the safety committees for both the Malibu Mirage Owners and Pilots Association and the Citation Jet Pilots Association, there has been broad acceptance of recently developed standard operating practices.
The good news in this development is that a culture of safety is growing broadly across most sectors of GA through these type club initiatives. Perhaps more importantly, there is much to learn from each other about the effectiveness of these various initiatives. EAA has seen a four-year drop of 47 percent in fatal accidents among homebuilts! So, there must be something right going on there — a major focus on appropriate transition training before flying a new homebuilt (as a standard operating practice) is paying off.
So, what is covered in the SOPs these type clubs have developed? The following outlines the kinds of standard practices other type clubs have set up and represent SOPs you could establish for yourself regardless of the type of aircraft you fly. You just have to fill in the blanks for your particular type and commit to sticking to them in your flying. These are notional and are practices (not mandatory procedures). They don’t tell you how to fly your aircraft; they give you things to think about when you do. If you take a bit of time to set your own SOPs and then stick with them, you’ll be a far safer pilot. Here are some ideas:
Duty Day
Set the maximum number of hours of flight time during a calendar day and rest hours off between flying days. One example is a maximum of eight hours in the air and a minimum of 10 hours off until flying again.
Cargo
Establish best practices for what you will carry as cargo. One example is no lithium batteries in the baggage compartment.
Flight Planning and Preparation
What are your limitations for the types of flight you’ll take on? Consider SOPs such as designating a suitable alternate airport for all flights. Another might be for first flights after significant maintenance, such as no flight at night or in IMC until a day-VMC functional check flight has been done.
Runway Field Length Guidelines
Establish an appropriate minimum field length for your aircraft and commit to not going into shorter fields. Consider sea level operations and high-altitude airports as well.
Surface Operations
What should be your maximum wind conditions for taxi, takeoff, or landing? Maximum acceptable crosswinds on landing? Set them in your SOP and stick to them.
En Route
Consider establishing practices like no non-operationally necessary conversation below 10,000 feet MSL, during any segment of an approach procedure, or during the last 1,000 feet before leveloff during climb or descent. Also consider declaring “minimum fuel” when the fuel state becomes less than fuel to destination plus 45 minutes at current burn, even if flying day VFR.
Approach and Landing
Consider establishing personal minimums in your SOPs for things like visual approaches. Perhaps use a 1,500-foot ceiling and 3 miles’ visibility for day and 5 miles for night, even though these exceed the FAA’s requirements.
Pilot Limitations, Training, & Currency
FAR Part 91 rules allow us to fly with pretty marginal levels of currency. Consider setting your own SOP to something more appropriate for the kind of aircraft you fly and the kind of flying you do in it. For example, consider these ideas as SOPs:
If you have less than 100 hours of time-in-type or have not flown at least 15 hours as pilot in command in the last 90 days, use a minimum planned fuel reserve of one hour.
Also, if flying IFR in this situation, use a minimum visibility for takeoff of 1 mile.
On instrument approaches, increase the published minimums by one- half mile visibility and add 200 feet to the decision altitude or minimum descent altitude.
Perform landings at a weight that allows a full stop in 60 percent of available runway length.
Consider an SOP that establishes you will fly with a CFI on a refresher flight before flying as pilot in command if you have not logged at least an hour of flight time and one takeoff and landing in an aircraft of the same type within the preceding 45 days.
Maneuver Standards
Wherever there are “techniques” associated with things like takeoffs and climbs, cruise, use of autopilot, power settings, and approaches and landings, you can write down your preferred technique as your own SOP. Describe each maneuver in enough detail (speeds, altitudes, power settings, configurations, etc.) to define a routine you will use each time. This ensures you fly consistently each flight and leverage the power of the standard operating practice, that is, to give you the bandwidth you need should you encounter an unexpected event or an emergency.
SOPs are among the exciting concepts underway to make safety programs work for us. Hats off to type clubs like MMOPA and CJP and many others that are taking the initiative. But even if you’re not in this kind of group, you can still set up your own SOPs. Let’s all look forward to our first year in GA without a fatal accident — and let’s make it soon! Fly safe!
Charlie Precourt is a former NASA chief astronaut, space shuttle commander, and Air Force test pilot. He built a VariEze, owns a Piper JetPROP, and is a member of the EAA board of directors.
Type Clubs Lead By Example with Standard Operating Practices This article appeared in the May 2019 edition of EAA’s Sport Aviation Magazine. It is used with permission. For other articles by Charlie Precourt, please visit EAA.org and join for a full subscription. Imagine a year when there are no fatal accidents in general aviation. Does…
I have used a few different sun shields in airplanes in my flying career. I have found one that I really like. Bruce’s Custom Covers knocks it out of the park for usability and ease of storage.
Let’s start off with functionality. Like other window sun shields, Bruce’s Custom Covers fit very nicely into the airplane glare shield and side windows. Depending on the type of airplane you have, some of the window covers use the suction cups and others don’t. I recently had 2 customers order from Bruce’s, one that owns a P210 that uses the suction cups for all windows, including the glare shield, and the other owns a Cirrus which doesn’t use the suction cups on anything.
They work great. They do the job of blocking the sun and keeping the cabin much cooler while the airplane is sitting on the ramp.
The thing I like best about Bruce’s Custom Covers is their storage. Other sun shields require you to roll them up and lash a tie around them. Bruce’s, on the other hand, come folded very neatly in a black canvas bag. The folded covers don’t take up nearly as much room as the rolled up covers, plus they are really easy to just fold up and store.
Bruce’s Custom Covers also sells plugs for cowling, pitot tubes, etc., as well as aircraft exterior covers.
Bruce’s Custom Covers gets my recommendation for anyone wanting to get some new sun shields. For those of you in Texas, you know you need them!
I have used a few different sun shields in airplanes in my flying career. I have found one that I really like. Bruce’s Custom Covers knocks it out of the park for usability and ease of storage. Let’s start off with functionality. Like other window sun shields, Bruce’s Custom Covers fit very nicely into the…
L-3 has jumped into the ADS-B transponder game with their Lynx line of products. Aircraft owners have a myriad of options with the Lynx line, from simply becoming ADS-B compliant with the NGT-1000 ($2,100, with ADS-B out that works with the GTX 327 and GTX 330), or going all in with the NGT-9000 touch screen transponder complete with ADS-B In, a traffic screen and NEXRAD ($6,800).
The NGT 1000/2000/2500 line works with the existing transponder in the airplane (as long as it’s a Garmin GTX 327 or 330). The 2000 gives ADS-B In capability, allowing the pilot to access NEXRAD and traffic, plus has a Wifi source to broadcast all the information to an iPad. The 2500 includes all of that, plus gives the pilot MFD capability as well. An optional control panel is available if the airplane is not equipped with one of the aforementioned Garmin transponders.
The L-3 Lynx NGT-9000 is an actual transponder replacement. It is a touch screen device that has a multitude of ADS-B features that, quite frankly, are really cool on a transponder. The ADS-B traffic is displayed on the unit itself and can also be sent, via the optional Wifi connection, to an iPad on the WingXPro or SkyRadar apps. The optional L-3 NextGen Active Traffic can also be installed to receive traffic callouts (this does not include resolution advisories). Already have SkyWatch? The L-3 Lynx can use the equipment.
The L-3 Lynx NGT-9000 is also capable of displaying NEXRAD as well as METARs, TAFs, NOTAMs, and TFRs and a myriad of other weather products, all on it’s moving map. It seems that L-3 has taken the transponder and turned it into something awesome.
To read more about the L-3 Lynx line of transponders, you can visit their website.
L-3 has jumped into the ADS-B transponder game with their Lynx line of products. Aircraft owners have a myriad of options with the Lynx line, from simply becoming ADS-B compliant with the NGT-1000 ($2,100, with ADS-B out that works with the GTX 327 and GTX 330), or going all in with the NGT-9000 touch screen…
Most pilots have seen the Icon A5 light sport amphibious aircraft. It’s a neat design that can land on water or on a runway. The high wing design with a pusher prop has foldable wings that allow it to be put on a trailer and towed behind a vehicle, allowing it to be offloaded at boat ramps (it also begs the question can you wakeboard behind it?).
Apparently, not all non-pilots know about the Icon A5. Last week, one landed in the water near a beach in Southern California, but most of the beach goers and local authorities believed it had crash landed in the water. Emergency crews were dispatched, but everyone was surprised when the two occupants crawled out on the wings, had a cup of coffee, and took back off.
Most pilots have seen the Icon A5 light sport amphibious aircraft. It’s a neat design that can land on water or on a runway. The high wing design with a pusher prop has foldable wings that allow it to be put on a trailer and towed behind a vehicle, allowing it to be offloaded…
As pilots, we are all familiar with the IM SAFE acronym that the FAA puts out. It comes up as part of the ground training over Human Factors during private pilot ground school. We all memorize it, spit it out for our check rides, then most of us promptly forget about it.
When I was training for my pilot’s licenses, I was at a Part 141 school that was very standardized (LeTourneau University, who has a fabulous aviation school). Before each flight, we had to do a self evaluation based on the weather and the IM SAFE checklist. Based on our answers, we would then determine if the conditions were conducive to flying as well as if I was physically okay to fly.
This was a great tool because not only do pilots have to pre-flight the airplane, they also need to pre-flight themselves. It’s very easy to fall into one of the “Hazardous Attitudes” if there is a pressing meeting or you haven’t flown in a while and it’s a beautiful day, but maybe you aren’t physically fit to control an airplane.
Let’s break down the IM SAFE checklist to dig a little deeper into the physically fit side of flying.
Illness
This one is pretty easy. Are you sick? If so, how sick? If you can’t hardly talk or your body feels like it was hit by a truck, then flying probably isn’t in your best interest.
The tricky area can become if you are only a little sick. Maybe you have a cough or a little cold or a headache is starting to form. You probably could go fly, but is it really a good idea? It could be something worse, or it may be nothing. You have to know yourself and put limits on yourself before you wake up on the day of your big meeting two states over. Set illness personal minimums and stick to them.
Medication
There are a slew of drugs, both prescription and over the counter, that pilots cannot take and fly. AOPA has a hotline to call for pilots to find out if they can fly with the medication they are taking, or what meds they can take to give them relief and still operate an aircraft.
Another great resource is your medical examiner. Just give him/her a call and they will be more than happy to let you know what you can and can’t take. They’ve been educated in the area of aviation so they are very knowledgeable.
Stress
This is a huge one that pilots ignore a lot. Maybe it was a stressful day at work, maybe you are running late to the airport, your meeting got moved up, whatever. Stress can jump on you and mess up a pilot’s thinking very quickly. If you have a lot of other things on your mind and you aren’t able to focus just on flying, it might be a good idea to stay on the ground.
Alcohol
Out of the whole IM SAFE list, the alcohol limitations are very clearly defined. 8 hours bottle to throttle, no more than 0.04% BAC, no operating an airplane while under the influence, and no carrying passengers who are visibly intoxicated. For your personal minimums, it’s a good idea to increase that time to 12, 18 or even 24 hours bottle to throttle.
Fatigue
Learning to fly while a college student led to a fair share of canceled flights due to fatigue. I operate best on 8 hours of sleep in the past 24 hours. I can function on 6, but anything less than 6 hours, my performance drastically drops off, sometimes to a point where I wouldn’t be safe. I discovered this while with my flight instructor attempting to do a holding pattern and completely botching it up.
I observed this as a CFI quite often. If I was doing ground with a student and they were struggling, my first question would be, how much sleep did you get last night? More often than not, if I had to ask that question, I would get an average answer of 3 to 4 hours (I even had one guy show up for a flight block on 2 hours sleep. I sent him back to the dorm).
Fatigue is very easily overlooked because it’s not measurable. Needing to get a flight lesson done or needing to get somewhere when you are obviously fatigued is not a good idea. Make sure you get a good night’s sleep before a flight and don’t be afraid to cancel if you didn’t. Set some sleep personal minimums and make them hard and fast.
Eating
Don’t skip meals and fly. Performance greatly decreases when a pilot is hungry. At the very least, stick a couple of food bars in your flight bag to give you some nourishment.
Also, stay hydrated, especially in the summer time. I carry a huge bottle of water with me on all my flights because I get headaches if I don’t drink enough. Getting dehydrated on a long flight can lead to all sorts of performance problems (over hydration is also a problem in the air, but that’s what Gatorade bottles are for, right?).
All this to say, have some personal minimums when it comes to you and your body. Check the plane, check the weather and check yourself. If anything falls in the “red” area in any one of those three categories, stay on the ground and don’t press your luck.
As pilots, we are all familiar with the IM SAFE acronym that the FAA puts out. It comes up as part of the ground training over Human Factors during private pilot ground school. We all memorize it, spit it out for our check rides, then most of us promptly forget about it. When I was…
This is a huge one that pilots ignore a lot. Maybe it was a stressful day at work, maybe you are running late to the airport, your meeting got moved up, whatever. Stress can jump on you and mess up a pilot’s thinking very quickly. If you have a lot of other things on your mind and you aren’t able to focus just on flying, it might be a good idea to stay on the ground.