News

Picking Up an IFR Clearance

ByHank Gibson October 30, 2015November 5, 2015

Picking up an IFR clearance at first can seem very simple. But, when taking off from an untowered field, especially if a pilot is based at a towered airport, it can be a little more complex. Based at an untowered field? The towered procedures are a little more streamlined, but still different.

Towered Airports

Class B or Class C

At Class B or Class C airports, there is a dedicated frequency to get an IFR clearance and VFR departure instructions called Clearance Delivery. It is published in the airport facilities directory as well as most approach plates. Before you call Clearance Delivery, get the ATIS and tell the controller you have it as well as where you are located on the airport.

Class D

Some Class D airports have a Clearance Delivery frequency (see KADS, Addison, TX), but for the most part, you’ll get your IFR clearance on the Ground frequency. If there is a dedicated Clearance Delivery frequency, the ATIS will specify whether or not to get your clearance on it or on ground control.

Class D towers are only part time towers, usually closing between 7pm and 10pm local time, depending on how busy the airspace is. These airports usually have published Clearance Delivery frequencies to contact either the local approach control or center to pick up an IFR clearance on the ground. They will be published on approach plates and in the A/FD.

Untowered Airports

Class E

There are a number of Class E airports that are Class E all the way down to the surface (see KLFK, Angelina County). At these airports, there will either be a Clearance Delivery frequency or you call on the Center or Approach frequency to get your clearance (at KLFK, you call Center as there is no Clearance Delivery frequency. At Temple, KTPL, there is a published Clearance Delivery frequency which you would be talking to Grey Approach).

Class G

There are two ways to pick up an IFR clearance at a Class G airport, one typically a little safer than the other.

The first option is to take off and maintain VFR while calling Center or Approach control. They will give you your clearance making you IFR and allowing you to enter the clouds. This option can be unsafe depending on the terrain surrounding the airport and how low the ceiling is. If the ceiling is overcast at 1,000, you can legally remain VFR in Class G airspace at 500 AGL, but that isn’t the safest option and you might not be able to raise ATC at that altitude.

The second, and safer option, is to call on the phone. Flight Service has a nationwide Clearance Delivery phone number that every pilot should have saved in their contacts (888-766-8267). Typically, you want to wait to call them until after you are done with your runup because they only give you a five or ten minute window to get off the ground. With bluetooth equipped headsets, this usually isn’t a problem.

Be prepared when calling Clearance Delivery on the phone to wait a few minutes. Us pilots aren’t good at being patient sometimes, but the FSS has to call Center on the phone to get your clearance and release and this can take a few minutes. Be prepared for that going in and just be patient. Remember, this is the safer option!

There are a handful of Class G airports around the US that have a GCO, a Ground Communications Outlet. With a GCO, you tune up the frequency, then click the mic 4 times to talk to ATC or 6 times to talk to FSS. Each mic click must be at least one second, so if you click the mic too quickly, it won’t work.

At certain airports that are underlying an approach control’s airspace, you can actually call the TRACON directly and get your clearance from them (5C1, the Boerne Stage Airport, for example. San Antonio approach is the controlling agency and you can call them directly to pick up your clearance). It’s a good practice to get the TRACON phone number and save that in your contacts as well.

Breathing…It’s The Difference in Engine Performance
ByJoe Casey November 27, 2018November 27, 2018

The PT6 engine that’s found on the Jetprop and Meridian is designated a -21, -34,-35, or a -42A. The Continental engine on a Malibu is either a TSIO 520 or a 550. What’s the difference? Why should I care? Most pilots don’t understand the difference, but it’s pretty easy to understand…and it’s all about breathing.

Whether a piston or a turbine, the engine has a ratio of fuel/air that works best. For a piston model, we can make adjustments to this ratio by adjusting the mixture. In climb we use a richer ratio to help cool the engine, and in cruise we lean the mixture to save fuel since we don’t need the extra fuel for cooling (due to higher speeds which cools the engine). In the turbine, the ratio is set and there’s nothing that can be done about it…except climb to a higher altitude. But, more about that in a second..let’s go back to the piston discussion…

Piston: A Continental 520 engine and the 550 engine are flown exactly the same. On takeoff, both will develop 310HP (38″MP with the 520, 35.5″MP with the 550). So, why would a pilot want a 550 in his airplane as opposed to a 520? The answer is breathing.

A 520 is named appropriately because the engine displaces 520 cubic inches of air with each complete cycle of all 6 cylinders. To determine the displacement, just figure the bore (diameter of the cylinder) and the Stroke (how far the piston travels in the cylinder) and plug the numbers into this formula:

CID = Bore X Bore X 0.8754 X Stroke X # of Cyl.

Here’s the bore and stroke of the Continental 520 and 550 engine:

TSIO 520: Bore = 5.25″ and Stroke = 4″
TSIO 550: Bore = 5.25″ and Stroke = 4.25″

So, you can see the two engines are exactly the same except the 550 has a little longer stroke, and therefore displaces a little more air. Said another way…it the sucks the air into the engine a little better.

So, with this knowledge, the ability for the engine to breathe becomes a little more clear. Both a 520 and a 550 will perform exactly the same until the point that a 520 simply cannot suck enough air and begins to develop less MP as a result. For most 520 engines, this will happen somewhere around 18,000 ft. But, it is dependent upon a myriad of factors including: health of the engine, altitude, temperature, and atmospheric pressure. When the 520 hits this point, the throttle can be full-forward, but the engine will not develop full MP, but some number that is less. I’ve seen a max MP at FL250 in a 520 Malibu to be about 31″MP. So, you can probably guess that the rate of climb will correspondingly suffer as the engine develops less MP. How do we fix this problem? Enter the 550…

Since the 550 displaces more air, the engine will maintain max MP to a higher altitude. When the 520 begins to develop less power at about FL180, the 550 engine will be able to continue to maintain 35″ at a higher altitude. Make no mistake…the 550 will also hit an altitude where is cannot develop 35″MP, but this altitude will probably be nearly FL220. So, the 550-powered Malibu will reach cruising altitude faster than the 520.

But, at cruise both engines are pulled back to 30″MP. So, either engine will deliver the same cruise speed because they are both able to develop 30″MP at any altitude. Does it really matter if you’ve got a 520 or a 550 engine? Answer: not much. Both are excellent engines and both will deliver the airplane to the destination, but if the chosen altitude is above FL180, the 550-powered airframe will probably arrive a few minutes earlier. Which would I want if I were purchasing an airplane? It’s not a big enough deal, IMHO. I’d select the best airframe/engine/prop combination and not put much weight into the 520 vs. the 550.

Turbine world: So, how about the -21, -34/35, and -42A compare? Here, there’s big difference, but it’s still all about the breathing. A -21, -34/35, and -42A are all derivatives of the famous PT6 family of engines, and all are designed to be 1000+SHP engines de-rated to fit the airframe. For instance, the -42A engine is 750SHP when mounted on a King Air 200, but the same engine is derated to 500SHP when mounted on the Meridian. Ditto with the -21 and -34/35 engines…all are de-rated. So what’s the difference? Breathing…

At the lower altitudes all will develop their maximum rated SHP, meaning they will all develop maximum torque. And, down low there’s plenty of air to breathe so the engine has no problem developing that torque at a low ITT. But, as altitude is gained, the engine must suck more air to develop the same torque, and the ITT goes up. At some point in the climb (depending upon altitude, temperature, pressure, and IAS) the engine will not be able to produce max torque without exceeding Max ITT. At this point, the engine cannot breathe any more (suck in anymore air), and the power (torque) developed falls off. With the -21 engine, the power falls off quite dramatically because the engine simply cannot breathe well. It is a smaller engine and more air cannot be forced into the compressor section. For the rest of the climb the engine is “ITT limited” and the performance will suffer.

The -34/35 engine is a little bigger and will develop maximum power (torque) to a higher altitude. And, when the torque does drop off (as altitude is increased), the rate of decrease is less because it can breathe easier due to it’s larger size. Guess what? The -42A will beat out the others and develop max torque to an even higher altitude. With this decrease in torque available also comes a welcome friend…less fuel burn. Altitude is the friend of any turbine pilot, and he/she will climb to the highest altitude possible to save on fuel.

The end result is the -21 powered Jetprop will cruise at 238 KTAS (in the summer) with a fuel burn of only 28gph. The -34 will have higher torque than the -21 and will develop more SHP and will have a higher cruise (260 KTAS in the summer) with a correspondingly higher fuel burn (32gph). The -42A will be breathing easily at higher altitudes, and will develop the most torque, but with a fuel flow of 39gph. The Meridian (with the -42A) will not out-perform the -34/35 Jetprop in cruise purely because the Meridian is much heavier.

Just remember…fuel flow in a turbine is always commensurate with its ability to breathe and a turbine’s ability to breathe is a function of the engine’s ability to breathe.

With this knowledge…let’s check your understanding. Answer this question: Will a Jetprop cruise faster in the summer or winter? Remember, cold air is more dense than warm air, and an engine will develop power according to it’s ability to suck in air. More air available, more power available. Answer: Winter.

A good analogy: I’m a Cross-fitter (meaning I do crossfit workouts a lot). In the gym we have various workouts that test a person’s ability to perform. Guess who usually does the best? Right…the guy who can breathe the best. A person is nothing more than an engine…we intake air and combine it fuel and burn it to develop energy. In Crossfit, the person with the biggest engine (muscles that can develop power) that can sustain power (good aerobic capability) will win almost every time. The only variables then are genetics (how well-made is the engine), flexibility (you’ve got to be able to get into the position), and skills (there are more efficient movements). A good Crossfitter will work hard on mobility, skill, and try to increase the bodies ability to increase capacity through a tough workout.

To get maximum performance, the pilot cannot change the engines skill or mobility (at least not without an engine change!), but a thorough understanding of the how the engine breathes will help him/her use the power that is available to the fullest.

Joe Casey’s aviation story began in 1990 with his first flight near Nacogdoches, TX in a Cessna 172. From lift-off, Joe knew he would have a lifetime passion flying just about anything that will leave the ground…He was completely hooked.

Along with being an FAA Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE), Joe is an ATP/CFI-AHMG and Commercial Rotorcraft/Glider Pilot in the civilian world and also a UH-60/AH-64 Pilot-in-Command/Instructor/Examiner Pilot in the US Army Reserves. His passion for the last 19 years, however, has been the PA-46 Malibu/Mirage/Matrix/Jetprop/Meridian. Has has amassed over 6,500 hours in various PA-46 airframes and believe it to be one of the finest flying machines available for the serious cross-country pilot with an eye for efficiency.

Now, Joe has flown more than 12,200 hours in just about every imaginable environment. Whether providing initial/recurrent training in the PA-46’s, TBM’s, instructing in NVG’s in a UH-60 Blackhawk, flying the King Air series of airplanes, giving tailwheel endorsements, or taking kids flying for the first time, he simply loves flying machines and the people who fly them.
Medical Reforms Get Passed
ByHank Gibson July 17, 2016July 22, 2016

On July 15th, the medical reforms that AOPA and many other aviation advocacy organizations had pushed so hard for were passed into law. President Obama signed the medical reforms law on the 15th, but, before practical application of the law takes place, the FAA has to translate the law into regulations.

What do the new medical reforms mean for medical certificates and flying? First, you still have to get a medical examination at some point in your flying career. Student pilots will still need an initial medical examination. Initially, for pilots who have held a medical certificate at some point over the previous 10 years, a new medical examination may not be needed (this still has to be regulated by the FAA so exact details aren’t known yet).

So, if you’re medical certificate has expired but you have had one in the past 10 years, you qualify. But, if you have had your medical certificate revoked, suspended, withdrawn or denied, you don’t qualify.

Once that student pilot receives the initial medical certificate (or the experienced pilot decides to start flying again), all that needs be accomplished is to take a free, online course on aeromedical factors every two years and meet with a physician at least once every four years.

There are some operating limitations that will be put into place for folks operating without a third class medical. Pilot’s can operate aircraft with no more than 6 seats that weigh less than 6,000 pounds, can carry 5 passengers, and are able to operate in day or night VFR or IFR conditions. Pilot’s may not operate for hire, nor climb above 18,000 feet or fly faster than 250 knots.

It will take some time for the FAA to put the regulations in place, but the process has begun.
Flying the Hudson River Corridor
ByAndrew Robinson November 15, 2020December 31, 2020

Ever since I moved out to the Philadelphia area, the Hudson River corridor in New York City has become one my favorite places to fly. It’s hard to overstate the beauty of the city from low over the river. Every time I have a family member or friend come to visit, I try and take them over to see the city from the air.

Each time I fly up the river I can’t believe that we are actually allowed to do so, flying below the tops of the buildings and close enough that you feel that you could reach and out touch them. The draw back to the Hudson River Corridor is that it can be busy, intimidating, and confusing. However, with some reading and preparation, the Skyline flight is easy to do and extremely rewarding.

Having the right weather is an important first step. The second step is try to arrive during ideal lighting conditions. If possible, select a smooth, calm day to make it easier to maintain a track down the correct side of the river. I always try and target arrival at the city around sunset. The view is spectacular any time of day, but having the lights from the city while the sun is just setting gives the best viewing. I’ve also flown over and done the whole flight after dark, which is always spectacular.

View of the World Trade Center

The first method of flying the river is to utilize VFR flight following. If the controllers aren’t too busy, they will provide advisories to aircraft that request the Skyline. The nice thing about doing it this way is that the controller will clear you into the NY bravo airspace and keep you above the traffic flying the Skyline in the VFR corridor below. This is the method that I have always preferred as I enjoy the added benefit of the traffic advisories and it’s nice not to worry about position reporting on the radio.

If you want to get flight following, head toward the corridor and request the Skyline route with NY Approach. (Remember to stay clear of the Bravo until you’re cleared in!) Once you’re cleared into the Bravo and approaching the corridor, they will hand you off to Newark/ LaGuardia Tower for traffic advisories over the river. I like to approach from the south and ask for a 180 over the George Washington Bridge. This allows me to fly past the city a second time before exiting the corridor over the VZ (Verrazano Bridge) and heading back toward home.

In red is the path I typically fly. I descend to 1400’ and fly toward the APPLE intersection picking up the shoreline around Staten Island and hugging it until crossing the middle of the VZ. Newark normally clears me into the Bravo at 1400’ or 1500’ to fly up the corridor.

Pros:
- Better traffic Awareness
- No position reports
Cons:
- Flying slightly higher reduces the view
- If the controllers are busy, they may deny your request for advisories
- Can be intimidating to talk to NY Approach/ Newark/ LaGuardia
The other option is to fly in the VFR corridor. If you want to do it via this method there are just a few things you need to make sure you’re familiar with before you go. When in the VFR corridor you’ll need to make required position reports on a CTAF frequency. Make sure that you have the proper charts and have studied pictures of the landmarks so that you know what you’re looking for. I tend to plan on this as a backup in the event that the controllers won’t give me advisories.

Pros:
- Doesn’t require talking to controllers/ class B clearance
- More freedom to select altitude and routing as desired
Cons:
- Less traffic awareness
- Required position reporting
All the requirements and guidelines for flying the corridor can be found on the back of the NYC TAC chart. Any pilot flying the river is required to have one of these or a NYC helicopter route chart on board. If you’re using Foreflight, look in the Documents section under FAA Fly Charts and select the NYC TAC chart in order to read the back of page.

Below you’ll find examples of the diagrams/ instructions printed on the back of the NYC TAC charts.
You can see the traffic flow requires northbound airplanes to hug the east side of the river, while the southbound traffic stays on the west side. The VFR reporting positions (listed from North to South) are: Alpine Tower, George Washington Bridge, Intrepid aircraft carrier, Goldman Sachs (clock), Statue of Liberty, VZ (Verrazano Bridge). Each position report should include aircraft type, position, direction, and altitude.

Other things to be aware of:
NYC is always a hotspot for TFR’s. There are often TFR’s for baseball games or presidential movements so make sure to check before you head that way. Additionally, there is a speed restriction in place of 140 kts, though I’m not sure why anyone sightseeing would want to go that fast anyhow.

I realize that all of the procedures and restrictions can be overwhelming, but with the proper preparation, the Hudson Skyline is one of the most incredible places in the world to operate an airplane. There are a lot of things that are easy to get excited about that don’t live up to expectation, but this isn’t one of them. I’ve never taken anyone to the river that wasn’t impressed by what they saw and that’s why I plan to keep going back.

About to cross the VZ looking north toward the city
Calm Wind Landings
ByHank Gibson December 11, 2015December 21, 2015

Some of a pilot’s favorite words are heard on the ATIS: “Winds, Calm.” These words set off all sorts of happy bells and hallelujah choruses. Most pilots spend their lives fighting the winds. On those rare days when the winds are calm, great happiness ensues.

But, are calm wind landings more complicated then everyone thinks? Well, they can be if the proper planning doesn’t go into them.

Let’s think about wind. We have surface wind and we have winds aloft. Sometimes the surface winds are calm. When this happens, certain airports have preferred calm wind runways which are supposed to be used in these conditions. Winds aloft are almost never calm. 95% of the time, there is some kind of wind even 100-200 feet above the surface.

Here is the question pilot’s face when coming into an airport with calm winds: which runway do I use? Do I use the calm wind runway? Do I use the runway that is easiest to enter the pattern for? Do I use the one with the shortest taxi?

A lot of technologically advanced aircraft have a wind indicator on the PFD. This tool is often forgotten in calm surface wind conditions. On the contrary, this is probably the most important tool a pilot can have when figuring out which runway to use when the winds are reported calm.

Here’s why. That wind indicator is showing the pilot what the winds aloft are. The winds aloft should determine what runway is going to be used. If the wind indicator is depicting a south wind, then a south runway should be used. Even if it is a 5 knot wind at pattern altitude, it’ll still be a headwind coming in on final approach. If the north facing runway is used, that same 5 knot headwind can blow an airplane halfway down the runway before the ground speed drops off enough for it to land.

So, the next time you are coming into an airport and the winds are reported calm, take a look at your wind indicator on your PFD when deciding which runway to use. It’ll probably save a few go arounds!
Cirrus CAPS Saves Lives Again
ByHank Gibson September 9, 2015

In July, a Cirrus SR22 suffered an engine failure in Houston after departing KIAH. The CAPS system was deployed and the airplane came to rest in a neighborhood on the north side of Houston. This makes CAPS save number 53 for Cirrus and no fatalities. The initial NTSB report is below.

14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Tuesday, July 07, 2015 in Houston, TX
Aircraft: CIRRUS DESIGN CORP SR22, registration: N422PB
Injuries: 2 Minor.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

On July 7, 2015, about 1137 central daylight time, a Cirrus SR-22 single-engine airplane, N422PB, descended under the canopy of the cirrus airframe parachute system (CAPS) and landed in a residential neighborhood at Houston, Texas. The pilot and passenger sustained minor injuries, and the airplane was substantially damaged. The airplane was registered to and operated by AIRCCS, LLC; Humble, Texas, as a 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 business flight. Day visual meteorological conditions (VMC) prevailed and a flight plan had not been filed. The airplane departed George Bush Intercontinental/Houston Airport (IAH), Houston, Texas, at 1133 and was destined for Austin Bergstrom International Airport (AUS), Austin, Texas.

The pilot reported that during initial climb, he noticed the engine temperatures began increasing and he reduced power in an attempt to lower the engine temperatures. When the airplane was about 900 feet above ground level (agl) the engine began detonating, and soon after there was a complete loss of engine power. With no suitable forced landing areas the pilot deployed the CAPS ballistic parachute system and the airplane impacted terrain and came to rest upright next to a residence.

An initial on-scene wreckage examination showed there was adequate fuel on-board. At the facility where the airplane had most recently been refueled, refueling unit records and a review of security camera video showed that the airplane had been refueled with aviation gasoline and not with jet fuel. Postaccident fuel quality checks of that fuel facility were satisfactory.

The wreckage was moved to a different location and will be further examined. Several avionics components containing non-volatile memory (NVM), including engine performance data, will then be removed from the wreckage for examination and an extraction of useful data is expected.

At 1053 the Automated Surface Observation System at IAH reported wind from 160 degrees at 15 knots gusting to 20 knots, visibility 10 miles, scattered clouds at 3,000 feet agl, broken clouds at 25,000 feet agl, temperature 31 degrees Celsius (C), dew point 24 degrees C, and an altimeter setting of 30.03 inches of Mercury.
Garmin GTN 750 Tips & Tricks
ByHank Gibson June 8, 2018June 19, 2018

The Garmin GTN 750 is an awesome piece of equipment. Garmin tried to make the user interface with the touch screen as simple as possible (though there still is a bit of a learning curve when moving up from a Garmin 530W). Garmin also integrated several key features that the 530W did not have that makes flying with a Garmin GTN 750 in IFR all that much better.

The two features of the Garmin GTN 750 I want to focus on today are the “Load Airway” feature and the “Hold at Waypoint” feature. If a pilot isn’t looking for these specifically, they can actually be a bit hard to find. The “Load Airway” feature is especially handy when flying IFR long distances with several airways as part of the clearance. Here’s how to utilize both.

Load Airway
1. On your flight plan page, insert the waypoint that you will be joining the airway, or, if your clearance was radar vectors to join an airway, then insert the waypoint on the airway that begins the leg you will be joining on.
2. Tap the waypoint you just inserted.
3. A menu will pop up. Tap Load Airway.
4. Select the Airway you want from the next menu that pops up.
5. Then, a list of waypoints will display to exit the airway. Select the waypoint where you will be exiting the airway.
  1. Note: Garmin defaults to listing these waypoints alphabetically. If you unselect the “Sort Alpha” option, it will sort the waypoints by direction and distance from the entry waypoint. This is a little more practical, easier to work with, and how I recommend doing it. This way you can either scroll up or down depending on the direction of travel on the airway and find your exit waypoint.
6. Tap Load.
7. The Airway and all the waypoints in between your entry and exit waypoints appear in your flight plan.
8. If you are getting vectors to join the airway, you’ll need to use the Activate Leg function to activate the leg you will be joining the airway on.
  1. On the Flight Plan page, tap the waypoint that ends the leg you want to activate.
  2. On the menu that pops up, tap Activate Leg.
Hold At Waypoint

The Garmin GTN 750 allows pilots to place a holding pattern at any waypoint that is in the Nav Database (or any user created waypoint). Here’s how to do it.
1. On the Flight Plan page, tap the Waypoint that you want to hold at.
2. On the menu that pops up, tap Hold At Waypoint
3. On the next menu that pops up, input either the inbound or outbound course, right or left turns, leg time or distance, and the EFC time, then tap Load.
4. You will see the hold now as a Waypoint in your flight plan.
Once the hold is entered, the GPS will go into Suspend mode, suspending the Flight Plan Waypoint Sequencing. Once you are ready to depart the hold, you will have to tap Unsuspend before crossing the holding point on the inbound leg, then the GPS will resume normal waypoint sequencing.

These are 2 of the really cool, gee-wiz features of the Garmin GTN 750. Following the above steps will make IFR flying much easier for the pilot, as well as much more enjoyable!