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.
For the most part, flying through rain is a non-event. If the NexRad or Radar is showing light green or dark green, usually there aren’t that many bumps and your plane just gets a wash. Sometimes the visibility drops down a little bit making us IFR pilots have to transition to our instruments.
It get’s a little more exciting when the precipitation on your screen turns to yellow. This means there is a lot more precipitation echoes either in the clouds or coming out of the clouds, meaning harder rain. I usually tend to stay away from yellow unless it’s absolutely necessary to go through it.
I had a situation a few weeks ago where I deemed it necessary to fly through some yellow NexRad returns. I was flying a G1000 Columbia into Monroe, Louisiana, KMLU. The winds were mostly light, but slightly favoring runway 04, which was the runway in use. As I got closer, a decent size rain shower with mostly yellow returns was sitting over the final approach fix for runway 04 and slowly tracking to the northeast.
I didn’t particularly want to spend the entire approach getting beat on with rain, so I decided to fly the RNAV 14 approach at MLU and circle to land on runway 04. The rain hadn’t quite reached the airport yet, so I decided that circling to 04 should be no problem.
I started the RNAV 14 at the FLESH IAF. Since I was approaching from the west, I did not need to do the procedure turn, so I joined the Final Approach Course (FAC) after crossing FLESH.
In the meantime, that rain shower was inching closer to the FAC for the RNAV 14. I wasn’t concerned about my safety if I flew through some of it and I didn’t have passengers on board who would get nervous, so I elected to continue. I wasn’t seeing any lightning coming out of the clouds, so it appeared to only be moderate rain.
Just before I got to JIVEY, the FAF, I entered the clouds and the rain. About 20 seconds later, my altimeter and airspeed started bouncing around a lot. Now, based on all I’ve said so far, what would cause that, and what would you do?
(Jeopardy theme song playing while contestants ponder questions)
The answers? Due to the moderate precipitation, water had gotten into my static port and caused the unusual readings on my altimeter and airspeed indicators on the G1000.
I had experienced this before, so I knew what to do. I reached down and turned the static source from primary to alternate, which starts taking static pressure from inside the cabin in the Columbia. Instantly, everything went normal.
The other time I had experienced this was also in a Columbia, so I’m under the impression that the way the Columbia static ports are designed, they are a little bit more susceptible to water creeping into them than other airplanes.
Moral of the story? If your pitot/static instruments start jumping around, the first thing you do is turn your alternate static source on.
When a pilot first glances at the title of this article, the first thought that probably goes through that pilot’s head is, well that’s easy.
And it is, if you are flying a high wing Cessna. On other airplanes, there are a few tricks to checking the stall warning horn. If you get them wrong, you’re liable to get a bill from your maintenance shop for an hour of labor for a problem they couldn’t duplicate.
Cirrus SR22
Let’s start with the Cirrus. On the pre-FIKI Cirrus aircraft, there was a small little hole in the wing that contained a diaphragm. That diaphragm sensed a change in airflow at a certain angle of attack just below the critical angle of attack and set off the stall warning horn. Unfortunately, the only way to check that is to suck on the hole during pre-flight.
I don’t. I verify the hole is clear and that’s about it.
On the FIKI Cirrus aircraft, there is actually a stall warning vane. It looks like a high wing Cessna vane, but if you turn the batteries on and try and get it to come on during your light and pitot heat check, nada.
Here’s the trick, and the checklist doesn’t do a good job of describing this.
Turn on the Avionics Master
Turn on the speaker
Put the flaps to full
Then move the stall warning vane and you’ll hear the horn
The speaker and the Avionics Master are so you can actually hear the horn (if you had the headset on while you were doing this, the speaker would be unnecessary). The flaps have to be full because the pitch attitude for the critical angle of attack is lower with the flaps down, so the horn goes off when at a different angle. You then don’t have to use as much force to push the vane.
Piper PA46
The early -310P Malibus are pretty simple and straight forward. Move the vane, get the horn.
In the -350P, you can’t get the horn to come on by moving the vane. So, Piper put a stall test button that’s hidden underneath the upper left side of the instrument panel. Push that to test the horn. On the G1000 PA46, it is located directly above the PFD. On the Avidyne, it’s below and to the left of the pilot’s yoke.
Testing the stall warning horn is a very important part of pre-flight. A pilot needs to know if the aircraft is close to a stall. The advent of Angle of Attack indicators in small, GA aircraft, have added a greater awareness to the angle of attack during all phases of flight to avoid those stall spins.
If the stall warning horn goes off or the AOA shows yellow, lower that nose immediately.
The Garmin G1000/Perspective combined with the Garmin GFC 700 Autopilot can be a great tool in descent planning. When you want to end up at pattern altitude a certain distance from the airport or you get a clearance to cross a fix at a certain altitude, Garmin VNV is a great tool. Here’s how to use it.
VFR Garmin VNV Use
Let’s say you want to end up at pattern altitude 3nm from your destination, but you don’t want to descend down into the bumps before you have to. Here’s how to set it up:
Go to the Flight Plan page on the MFD
Press the ATK OFST soft key on the bottom of the MFD. It stands for Along Track Offset, which, in laymen’s terms, means you are setting a point along your track a certain distance from your destination. In this case, it will be 3nm
Input the distance using either the keypad or the small FMS knob and press enter
Select the altitude you want to be at (in this case pattern altitude) and press enter
You will see a point 3nm before you destination appear on your magenta line and a Top Of Descent (TOD) appear where you need to start your descent
1 minute before the Top Of Descent, an indicator will appear next to your altimeter
To have the GFC 700 Autopilot fly the descent for you, you have to do two things
Set the Altitude bug for the desired altitude
Press VNV on the autopilot
All you have to do now is manage power
IFR Garmin VNV Use
Let’s say you are told to cross a fix at a specific altitude. Here’s how to use Garmin VNV to plan it out.
Go to the Flight Plan page on the MFD
Turn the cursor on and highlight the altitude blank next to the fix in the flight plan
Input the desired altitude
You will see a Top Of Descent (TOD) point appear along your course where you need to start your descent
1 minute before the Top Of Descent, an indicator will appear next to your altimeter
To have the GFC 700 Autopilot fly the descent for you, you have to do two things
I recently purchased the new, wireless, Lightspeed Tango headset. I’m a little OCD, so when a headset wire is banging against my shoulder while I’m trying to tune a radio or point something out, it’s a little annoying. A headset without the wires caught my eye.
As I’ve stated before in a previous article, I really like Lightspeed headsets. They are more comfortable than Bose, and a little bit more affordable too. The noise canceling quality is very high in the different Lightspeed models. I personally believe it got even better with the Lightspeed Tango.
Let’s talk about the obvious first. Not having a wire connecting you to the headset jacks is really nice. You’re not tethered to anything, so your head is free to move anywhere without getting yanked back in place. Lightspeed developed a new technology, called Lightspeed Link, which bypasses Bluetooth or Wifi and connects the Panel Interface to the headset wirelessly.
The Link technology works pretty well. The only problem I have noticed is in certain airplanes, I occasionally lose one ear, but after I wiggle the input wires around, the deaf ear comes back up. It may be a loose connector in the plane itself.
The really nice thing about the Lightspeed Tango is the fact that it doesn’t need AA batteries anymore. Lightspeed put rechargeable lithium ion batteries in both the Panel Interface and the headset. You get 12 hours of battery life out of both, far surpassing any length of time you would want to be in an airplane. If the battery dies, there is a handy aux cable that can connect the Panel Interface directly to the headset (the ion batteries recharge with the included wall charger and USB cables in 2 hours).
Though the Lightspeed Tango is slightly heavier than the Zulu 2 due to the Link hardware and the lithium ion battery, it is still extremely comfortable. The ear cups actually fit better over my ears and give me a better seal with glasses on then the Zulu 2 did. As with all Lightspeed products, there is no squeezing of my head and the cushions on top of the headset sit very comfortably on top of my head.
The Bluetooth is much simpler to use than the Zulu 2 and definitely simpler than the Bose A20. Sound quality is very good for phone calls and music. The volume control on the headset itself is set to make smaller adjustments so you don’t have to deal with wide swings in volume.
Overall, I’m a big fan of the Lightspeed Tango. I am recommending them to all the pilots I talk to. Rolling in at $400 cheaper than the Bose, you can’t go wrong.
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.
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.
