MMOPA Master Aviator Program

ByHank Gibson June 26, 2019June 26, 2019

Last fall, the Malibu & M-Class Owner’s and Pilot’s Association (MMOPA) announced a new program to encourage and enhance safety, the Master Aviator Program.

The MMOPA Master Aviator Program was designed as a system to recognize those in the Piper PA46 community who strive to become the best pilots they can be. Each year, those who have achieved each of the levels in the program will be honored at the MMOPA Convention (the 2020 MMOPA Convention will be in Tucson in the spring of 2020) by getting Wings pinned on.

What is the heart behind the MMOPA Master Aviator Program, you ask? Here’s a quote from the MMOPA Website:

This program is the result of MMOPA having identified areas of flight operation that need improvement to increase safety. It provides a path forward for training for the PA46 pilot, honors those pilots that elect to participate in the MMOPA Master Aviator Program, and rewards those pilots that progress upwards to ultimately reach the highest level (MMOPA Master Aviator).

The main focus areas of the MMOPA Master Aviator Program are pilot flight experience (flying more during a year increases skills), stall/spin awareness, and operations in the runway environment (improper aircraft handling during takeoff, landing, and go around, with a particular emphasis on rudder control).

The MMOPA Master Aviator Program tackles these three areas in each of the different levels of achievement: Aviator, Senior Aviator, and Master Aviator.

To achieve the Aviator Wings, a PA46 pilot must do the following:

Complete Initial Training with an Approved Training Provider
Fly 100 total hours in a PA46
Attend an Approved Mid-Year Training Event (M-Class, MMSTF, MMOPA Safety Standown, MMOPA Maintenance Standown, to name a few)
Attend the MMOPA Convention once in the last 3 years
No accidents/incidents in a PA46 in the last 3 years

To achieve the Senior Aviator Wings, a PA46 pilot must have received their Aviator Wings and do the following:

Completed at least one yearly Recurrent Training Event
Fly 200 total hours in a PA46
Go through an approved Upset/Recovery Training course provided by an approved training provider
Attend the MMOPA convention once in the last 3 years
No accidents/incidents in a PA46 in the last 3 years

To achieve the Master Aviator Wings, a PA46 pilot must have received their Senior Aviator Wings and do the following:

Completed at least two yearly Recurrent Training Events
Fly 300 total hours in a PA46
Receive a tailwheel endorsement
Attended the MMOPA convention once in the last 3 years
No accidents/incidents in a PA46 in the last 3 years

To incentive PA46 pilots, MMOPA offers a $400 voucher to program participants to accomplish the Aviator Mid Year Training, the Senior Aviator Upset/Recovery Training, and the Master Aviator Tailwheel Training. A PA46 pilot is only eligible for one voucher per year.

I received the Master Aviator Award at the MMOPA Convention this year. All told, there were close to 40 participants who received one of the three levels of achievement at the MMOPA Convention in Amelia Island, FL this year.

Interested in applying to be a part of the MMOPA Master Aviator Program? You can find out more information on MMOPA’s website.

Bruce’s Custom Covers
ByHank Gibson February 15, 2018February 26, 2018

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!
Hank Gibson Earns ABS Instructor Designation
ByHank Gibson July 21, 2014July 21, 2014

Texas Top Aviation is proud to announce that Hank Gibson has completed the training to become an American Bonanza Society Instructor, or ABS Instructor. He is now qualified to give instruction in Beech Aircraft.

As an ABS Instructor, Hank brings over 2800 hours of flying experience in a variety of aircraft to the cockpit of Beechcraft. Along with his ABS Instructor Designation, Hank is also a Cirrus Standardized Instructor Pilot (CSIP) and a Cessna FITS Accepted Instructor in both Cessna high and low wing piston aircraft (CFAI+). Hank is proud to add the ABS Instructor designation to his list of qualifications.

The process of becoming an ABS Instructor is quite comprehensive. The coursework consists of 20 powerpoint lessons covering anything and everything related to flying Debonairs, Bonanzas, Travel Airs, and Barons. The ABS Instructor course is quite in depth and detailed, giving the graduate a full understanding of the Beechcraft piston line of aircraft. To find out more about ABS Instructors, see the ABS website.

Hank is now giving initial and recurrent training in Beech Debonairs and Bonanzas. Please visit the Texas Top Aviation Bonanza Training page for more information on Bonanza and Debonair initial and recurrent training. Interested in Bonanza or Debonair training with a qualified ABS Instructor? Contact Texas Top Aviation today!
Stratos 716X
ByHank Gibson September 9, 2020September 9, 2020

Cirrus Vision Jet, meet your competition.

In July, Stratos Aircraft completed the first test flight of the single engine Stratos 716X personal jet. Stratos, based in Redmond, OR, is taking a page out of Epic Aircraft’s book in how the company is planning on bringing the Stratos 716X to market.

Epic Aircraft first released the Epic LT composite single engine turboprop in the early 2000s as an experimental. The first kit was completed and flying in 2005. Epic’s goal was to bring the airplane to market as a certified aircraft, a feat that took them almost 20 years to do, achieving full certification earlier this year.

Stratos Aircraft is hoping to learn a lot from their Bend, OR neighbors. The 716X is going to start off as a limited release experimental kit, while the company is working on achieving certification for the airplane. Once the plane is certified, it will be dubbed the Stratos 716. The 716X experimental kits will be assembled through a factory builder assist program (no garage built single engine jets here!). The kit will cost $2.5 million assembled, while the expected cost of the certified Stratos 716 will be $3.5 million.

Now, let’s talk about the airplane. 400 KTAS. One engine.

That’s right, you did hear correctly. The Stratos 716X is expected to cruise at 400 KTAS on only one engine. Compared to the Cirrus Vision Jet, that’s 100 knots faster. Think, “I’ll be relaxing at the hotel pool with a drink in hand when you are landing” type speeds. The fuel burn of the Pratt & Whitney JT15D-5 engine (3,000 lbs of thrust) is about 25 GPH more than the Vision Jet (the Stratos 716X will burn about 98 GPH of Jet A while the Vision Jet averages about 75 GPH of Jet A).

Comparing the two engines, the above numbers start to make sense. The Williams FJ33 engine on the Vision Jet only puts out 1,850 lbs of thrust, significantly less than the 3,000 lbs of thrust that the Stratos 716X Pratt & Whitney JT15D-5 puts out.

What does that mean to the pilot? In the Stratos 716X, it means less takeoff roll, better climb rate, faster cruise (as evidence by the 400 KTAS expected cruise speed), and a better payload. More power = more weight carrying capacity. And, the 716X is expected to have a service ceiling of 41,000 feet. I probably wouldn’t want to go that high single pilot with one engine, but I’d be very happy with that speed in the mid-30s.

The cabin, based on the pictures I’ve seen, looks very comfortable. The Stratos 716X seats 6 and can be configured in several different ways. Baggage is no problem as Stratos Aircraft stretched the fuselage from their original 714 Proof of Concept aircraft, adding a very roomy baggage compartment above the engine compartment. The passenger compartment is as big as a Phenom 100, providing more leg and head room than the Vision Jet. The front seats have plenty of legroom too, as Stratos has opted for a side stick instead of a yoke.

The avionics for the Stratos 716X are expected to be the Garmin G3X Touch for the panel which will be driven by a Garmin GTN 750 GPS. Autopilot will be integrated within the G3X. I would imagine that once the plane is certified, the panel will be switched to a Garmin G1000 NXi and a GFC 700 will be installed.

The genius of the design of the Stratos 716X is the aerodynamics of the engine placement. Instead of hanging the engine out in the slip stream and going with a drag inducing V-Tail like Cirrus did, Stratos took some notes from the myriad of single engine military fighter jets out there, placing the engine inside the fuselage. The fuselage is then built around the engine with two air scoops for intake directly in front of the wings. With two intakes instead of one, that leads to more air flow, which again, means more power. The Vision Jet has only one.
I’m going to keep tabs on the Stratos 716X (as I kept tabs on the Epic E1000). I’m hoping Stratos gets several flying soon (the company expects to do 3 kits a year till the airplane gets certified) and certification comes quickly after.

I got to stick my head in the mockup of the Stratos 716X when I went to Osh Kosh in 2018. I was very impressed and was excited to see the airplane was finally airborne this summer.

For more information about the Stratos 716X, check out the Stratos website.
AOPA’s Year In Review
ByHank Gibson December 28, 2016

AOPA recapped the year in the general aviation industry recently. A lot happened in 2016 including the certification of both the Cirrus Vision Jet and the Honda Jet. Several other manufacturers debuted new models, including Mooney with their Ovation Ultra and it’s 2 doors and Cub Crafters with their faster XCub.

To read the full year in review, you can read the AOPA Article here.
Flying WAAS GPS Approaches
ByHank Gibson August 30, 2021August 30, 2021

When flying a WAAS GPS approach, there are several different levels of WAAS signal that a GPS receiver can get. The most precise is an LPV signal. LPV stands for Localizer Performance with Vertical guidance. An LPV approach has the lowest minimums of all the WAAS GPS approaches, typically in the range of 200-300 feet AGL. A GPS glide path (GP) is guaranteed with an LPV approach and the minimum altitude is a decision altitude (DA).

Just like a localizer, an LPV course width get’s tighter and the CDI becomes more sensitive the closer the plane get’s to the runway. Even though the LPV approach minimums are so low and the approach is down to a DA, they still aren’t considered precision approaches by the FAA (which leads to some extra planning when selecting an airport as an alternate that only has GPS approaches, since the AIM specifies only the LNAV minimum are to be considered if an alternate airport only has GPS approaches, bringing the 800 foot ceiling requirement to bear)

An LNAV/VNAV approach is still a WAAS approach that has a GPS glidepath, but is slightly different than an LPV approach. An LNAV/VNAV final approach course does not get more sensitive the closer the plane gets to the runway. The smallest course width on an LNAV/VNAV approach is 0.3 miles either side of center. LNAV/VNAV approaches will, most of the time, have higher minimums than LPV approaches and can have minimums no lower than 250′ AGL.

The third type of WAAS approach is strictly a non-precision approach with a Minimum Descent Altitude (MDA). These are designated LP approaches, which stands for Localizer Performance. These are like old school Localizer only approaches that, similar to the lateral portion of an LPV approach, the course width tightens the closer to the runway that a pilot is. There is no glide path by definition of an LP approach, though there is a caveat.

Now, by looking at an approach plate that is a WAAS approach, but only has LP minimums listed, a pilot would assume there would be no glide path. Depending on what type of GPS unit the airplane has, that pilot could be wrong. Garmin Perspective units (Cirrus G1000), all GTN 750s and GTN 650s, All G1000 NXi units, most Garmin 430W and 530W, and all Avidyne IFD 550/540 and 440 units will display an advisory glide path on an LP approach, designated LP+V.

What does LP+V indicate? An advisory glide path is just advisory, but it is totally legal to follow down on a non-precision LP approach. The kicker is obstacle clearance is not guaranteed and the pilot needs to keep an eye on minimum altitudes at the different waypoints on the approach. The big thing I tell people is, when you arrive at the MDA and the runway is in sight, following the advisory glide path below the MDA could get you in trouble with obstacles. Don’t just hone in on your instruments when you break out of the clouds. Look out the windscreen and make sure you won’t hit anything.

If you arrive at the MDA on the advisory glide path and the runway isn’t in sight, DON’T GO BELOW THE MDA! Most autopilots won’t level off at the MDA, even if that altitude is set in the altitude pre-select, so this will involve turning off the autopilot before the MDA and manually leveling off, or engaging the altitude mode of your autopilot at the MDA.

One other type of GPS approach that you will encounter is an LNAV approach. This is a non-WAAS approach down to an MDA, but your GPS unit may still give you a +V. Most modern ones will.
Cirrus Autopilot Check
ByHank Gibson May 26, 2015June 3, 2015

In the Pre-Takeoff Checklist for any Cirrus aircraft, it calls for pilots to perform a Cirrus Autopilot Check. It is prudent to check the autopilot before your flight to ensure that all aspects of the autopilot are working properly. The only problem is, the checklist doesn’t spell out how to perform the Cirrus Autopilot Check. You would have to go to the POH for the airplane, which is usually in the back seat or a bag somewhere and therefore hard to get to, in order to find the procedure.

The procedure for checking the autopilot is slightly different depending on what autopilot is in your airplane. The procedures for all three are below.

S-TEC 55x
- Sync the heading bug to your current heading
- Activate heading mode on the autopilot
- Twist the heading bug left and right to ensure the ailerons move left and right
- Sync the heading bug to your current heading
- Activate vertical speed mode on the autopilot
- Move the vertical speed bug (or the vertical speed on the altitude pre-selector if you have a steam gauge Cirrus) up and down to ensure the elevator moves accordingly
- Ensure you can overpower the autopilot
- Press the autopilot disconnect switch to ensure the autopilot shuts off
Avidyne DFC 90
- Press the AP button to activate the autopilot
- Ensure AP, ROLL, and PITCH Annunciations are depicted in green on the top of the PFD
- Set the heading bug 90 degrees from the current heading
- Press the HDG button on the autopilot
- Ensure the ailerons are moving in the proper direction and HDG is annunciated on the top of the PFD
- Ensure you can overpower the autopilot
- Press the autopilot disconnect switch on the stick and ensure the autopilot has disconnected
Garmin GFC 700
- Press the AP button to activate the autopilot
- Ensure you can overpower the autopilot
- Press the autopilot disconnect switch on the stick to ensure the autopilot has disconnected