News

Hold Anywhere

ByHank Gibson December 21, 2016September 24, 2018

The latest Garmin software version on the Garmin G1000 and Cirrus Perspective by Garmin has a really neat feature. It gives the pilot the ability to create a hold at any fix, VOR, NDB, or even airport. If the point is in the GPS database, a hold can be created over it.

How does it work? Here are the steps.

Let’s say ATC tells you to hold over an intersection on a Victor Airway that you are already on. Since you are tracking the airway already, the airway should be in your flight plan complete with all the waypoints on it.

Bring up your flight plan and highlight the waypoint to hold at. Press the menu key. Using the big knob, scroll down to highlight the hold at waypoint option at the bottom of the bottom of the menu. Press enter.

Now you can build the hold. You select what the inbound or outbound course will be. Select a timed hold or a distance hold. Then select left or right hand turns. You can even input your expect further clearance time. Press enter and now you have a hold as a waypoint in your flight plan. Assuming you have a WAAS unit, the autopilot will fly the hold for you.

If you are ever told to “Hold Present Position,” Garmin has you covered. Simply press menu on the flight plan page, scroll down to Hold Present Position, then follow the prompts on the screen to build a hold at your present position.

Selecting the Proper Altitude
ByHank Gibson August 28, 2015September 6, 2015

One of the first questions a student pilot asks me when starting the cross country portion of his or her training is, how do I know what altitude is best for my flight? This is a good question, because without taking certain aspects of the flight into account, it’s really just a crap shoot when selecting an altitude. Craps and flying don’t mix, so let’s take a look at a few considerations when selecting an altitude.

Sky Coverage

Sky coverage has several subcategories when it comes to selecting an altitude. First is how high are the bases? Is it IFR (VFR pilots would be grounded), marginal VFR (1,000 AGL to 3,000 AGL ceiling), or good VFR (above 3,000 AGL ceiling)? If the cloud deck is only 2,500 feet off the ground, then VFR pilots are limited to either 1,000 AGL to 2,000 AGL. This is an excellent segue into why VFR pilots shouldn’t scud run!

Second, what kind of cloud deck is it? Is it an actual ceiling (broken or overcast), or is it a scattered layer? Few or scattered layers usually allow VFR pilots to find a hole to get higher to some smoother air, making the flight more pleasant. VFR pilots, always make sure to check the destination weather as it could be scattered where you are departing from, but it might be broken or overcast where you are arriving.

Last, how high are the tops of the clouds? Pilots can only get this information in the planning stage from the area forecast or from pilot reports, so most of the time, it’s not very precise information. If the tops are at 10,000 feet and the pilot is flying a 172 on a 30 mile trip, it doesn’t make much sense to get on top of the clouds.

Terrain and Obstacles

Terrain goes hand in hand with sky coverage. If there are low clouds and high terrain, that doesn’t bode well for trying to stay VFR and not hitting anything. Obstacles need to be taken into account too, as there are some pretty tall radio towers that can stretch up into a 1,500-2,000 AGL deck of clouds.

Winds Aloft

Once the sky coverage and terrain have been considered, it’s time to look at the winds aloft. Tailwinds are preferred, but, sometimes, a headwind is the only option. After taking the clouds and terrain into account, this narrows down your altitude to a handful of options. The winds aloft will further narrow it down.

Aircraft Performance

Once you have two or three altitudes in mind, taking a look at the performance charts for your airplane will help nail down that final altitude. Pull out the POH, compare fuel burn and cruise speed, and you’ll have your altitude selected.
Cirrus SR22 Partnership in Houston
ByHank Gibson June 3, 2015June 3, 2015

Ever wanted to be a Cirrus owner, but the economics of being a single owner just don’t make sense for you? If you’re in the Houston area, you now have a chance to join a Cirrus SR22 partnership at the West Houston Airport, KIWS.

The group, CirrusShare, is a 4 member group, but one of the members is looking to sell his share. The airplane is a 2007 G3 SR22. It is in excellent condition, with dual WAAS 430s and air conditioning.

If you would be interested, please contact Texas Top Aviation for more information.
I Love the Piper PA46
ByHank Gibson January 7, 2019January 7, 2019

A lot of my customers ask me which airplane that I train in is my favorite. The Cirrus and the Columbia both are very good airplanes, but if I had my pick, I’d go with a Piper PA46, specifically an ’86-’88 Malibu.

I love the Piper PA46. 6 seat, cabin class, pressurization, air conditioning, great ramp appeal, 17 GPH (in the Continental TSIO 520 or 550; Piper changed to the Lycoming TIO 540 in ’89, which you run rich of peak and burn 22 GPH, decreasing a little bit of the awesomeness). What more can you ask for? The interior is roomy, there is plenty of baggage space in the nose and in the rear of the cabin. They are downright fabulous airplanes. Plus, you can get into a nice one that has had some panel upgrades and a mid time engine for around $300,000. That’s not bad.

Cessna tried to make a pressurized single with the P210, but it just doesn’t match up with the Piper PA46. The Piper has more room, more baggage space, a higher max differential pressure and service ceiling, and better air conditioning to boot!

Don’t know much about the Piper PA46? It’s been called several things. Originally, it was the Malibu, with a Continental engine. Now the TSIO 520 was not one of Continental’s better motors. However, most of the original Malibus have been upgraded to the much better TSIO 550C engine, which is a great product. Cruise around at almost 200 knots at FL200 and burn only 17 GPH. It’s beautiful.

Piper changed to the Lycoming engine in 1989 and changed the name to the Malibu Mirage, later shortened to just Mirage.

Then, in 2016, Piper upgraded a lot of the avionics, cleaned up the panel, and dubbed it the M350.

Piper made the ill fated decision in the mid 2000s to quit making the Saratoga and instead make an unpressurized version of the PA46 called the Matrix. It didn’t last long, only about 10 years or so, and hasn’t been very popular (see: don’t buy one). Piper took the best part about the PA46, the pressurization, and took it away, leaving an airplane that you still have to wear oxygen in to get the advertised high speeds in the upper teens and flight levels. Who wants to be cruising around in a cabin class airplane with oxygen on? Piper needs to bring the Saratoga back to give folks a low level, high performance option.

What would be my dream Piper PA46? As stated above, an ’86-’88 model Malibu (Piper started off with hydraulic flaps in the ’84-’85 models and it wasn’t a very good system. They changed to electric flaps in ’86) with a Continental TSIO 550C upgrade. The Garmin autopilot isn’t out yet, so I’d go with the STEC 3100 Autopilot w/ a Yaw Damper (the airplane originally came with a King KFC 150, which is a really good autopilot, but most of them are getting old and are getting difficult to fix. King’s replacement KFC 325 is still slogging through certification. Garmin’s GFC 600 would be ideal, but that isn’t expected to be certified for the PA46 fleet till late this year). A single Garmin 10.6″ G500 TXi with EIS tied to a Garmin GTN 750 GPS with a Garmin GTR 225 Nav/Comm as the number 2 radio.

Then I just put gas in it and go. That would be my kind of airplane.
Lightspeed Headsets and Modern Audio Panels
ByHank Gibson February 1, 2018February 9, 2018

I love Lightspeed headsets. They are very comfortable, durable, and reasonably priced. Plus, when you call Customer Service, you are actually talking to someone who works for the company and knows what they are talking about.

One thing to watch out for with Lightspeed headsets is the Mono vs. Stereo option. On the Zulu 3, there is a very small control panel underneath the battery compartment to change from Mono to Stereo. If you have any kind of modern audio panel, you will definitely want to do this. Here’s why.

I was flying in a Cirrus SR22 G5 last fall with a Garmin 350 Audio Panel. Everything worked fine talking to the ground and tower controllers. Once I took off and was switched to approach, everything went quiet. I could hear the approach controller, but couldn’t transmit. I thought my headset had bit the dust. There was another set in the plane that I switched to, but I thought the transmit function of mine was out.

I sent the headset back to Lightspeed for repair. The headset was still under their 5 year warranty, which is really nice! I got it back a few days later, plugged it in to another Cirrus, and still had nothing. I was getting frustrated, but then a light went on. One of my colleagues had mentioned something about mono and stereo in the Lightspeed. I popped the batteries out, flipped the switch over to stereo, and wa-la! Everything was fully operational.

If you get Lightspeed headsets, you’ll want to make sure it is set on Stereo, as they all come from the factory on Mono. If you get a PFX, there is an easy access button on the side of the battery unit to switch from Mono to Stereo.
ViBAN IFR Hood
ByHank Gibson February 8, 2017

The first task I give my new instrument students before we start training is to find a view limiting device that they like. There’s the hood that everyone hates (which has been used since the beginning of instrument training,though it isn’t that uncomfortable) or foggles, which usually end up becoming very uncomfortable very quickly. The headset ends up pressing the sides of the foggles into the side of your head, leaving lumps and scars that hurt for days.

Well, there is finally another solution that combines the hood and foggles. Meet the ViBAN.

ViBAN brags that it is the most comfortable IFR view limiting device out there. I have a customer who has one and he loves it. It’s easy to put reading glasses on underneath while still blocking the view of the exterior of the plane. It doesn’t leave bruises against the side of your head, either.

If you’re looking for something different for your IFR training, give ViBAN a try.
MMOPA Operating Practices for the Piper PA46
ByHank Gibson February 22, 2019

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.