The Bluebonnet Fly-In at Redbird Skyport has been rescheduled due to weather and the recent flooding in San Marcos. The new date for the Bluebonnet Fly-In will be Saturday, June 6th from 10am-4pm.
Hank Gibson of Texas Top Aviation will still be presenting on Garmin 430/530 Approaches this Saturday at 2pm in the large conference room at Redbird.
We have all seen the little first aid kits that a pilot can get to carry in an airplane. It usually has some bandaids, maybe some gauze, and some antibiotic ointment. Very helpful in the even that your paper VFR chart cuts your finger when you are unrolling it.
What happens if you crash in a harsh environment and you have some actual injuries to take care of?
Enter the Guardian Seven Trauma G7-Alpha Trauma and Egress Kit. It literally is a First Aid Kit on steroids.
Guardian Seven Trauma has put together a kit that contains just about anything you need to take care of an injury from an airplane crash. Plus, the kit only weighs less than 2 pounds. It easily mounts in an aircraft and can be opened with only one hand.
The kit contains:
Want to upgrade your first aid kit? Visit Guardian Seven’s website to order the G7-Alpha kit.
So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son (John 1:14).
From the Texas Top Aviation family (Hank, Kelsey, Everett, Cooper, and Cord) to your family, we wish you a Merry Christmas! We are thankful for how the Lord has blessed us this year. We pray for blessings on your family this coming year.
Keep the wheel side down and the sunny side up!
Merry Christmas!
There have been lots of changes in all parts of our lives with the coming of COVID-19. All of our lives have been affected in one way or another. We hope and pray that none of your families have been directly affected by the illness.
A lot of us have been living under Shelter in Place orders for several weeks now, only going out for groceries and making sure to keep our distance from people. We have to take a different mindset when we go out now. Even meeting new people is different since we can’t shake hands.
Flying has been an afterthought for a lot of pilots. There have been multiple ATC facilities where controllers have been afflicted with the virus and have had to shut down for hours or days. Airspace can change pretty quickly, going from what we all know as normal, to an ATC-ZERO scenario. This was the case for New York Center several times over the last two weeks.
There was some uncertainty regarding flight training under the shelter in place orders and Texas Top Aviation has been asked several questions about it over the last week. Yesterday, the Flight School Association of North America (FSANA) announced that flight instruction was indeed an essential business.
In an article on GeneralAviationNews.com, the website quoted a memorandum of understanding written by attorney George Winton on March 24th. Winton was a senior attorney for the FAA and U.S. Department of Justice, and now operates The Aviation Law Firm in Annapolis, Maryland.
“This memorandum affirms the statement that…flight training would be included as a critical infrastructure activity. Those engaged in the provision of and receipt of flight training who work to provide enhanced compliance with CDC recommendations for limiting potential COVID-19 exposure and spread would be considered exempt from travel limitations imposed by local authorities.”
Winton’s memo was sent to the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). In the memo, Winton stated:
“CISA listed Other Community-Based Government Operations And Essential Functions as follows: Workers who support necessary credentialing, vetting and licensing operations for transportation workers.”
“The aviation sub-sector stakeholders involved with operation of recreational aircraft and flight schools, who employ Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers from the Transportation Sector, support necessary credentialing, vetting and licensing operations for transportation workers seeking pilot certification by the Federal Aviation Administration. Since CISA intended to be overly inclusive to reflect the diversity of industries, the aviation mode stakeholders understand that essential employees involved with the operation of recreational aircraft and flight schools continue to be identified as Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers from the Transportation Sector. Accordingly, the aviation sub-sector stakeholders who employ Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers from the Transportation Sector will continue to operate recreational aircraft and flight schools, appropriately modified to account for CDC workforce and customer protection guidance, based upon the CISA memorandum dated March 19, 2020.”
Based on the above guidance, Texas Top Aviation will continue to operate flight training in all of it’s normal capacities, while maintaining vigilance concerning sanitation, cleanliness, and health. Our company will keep it’s customer’s up to date on instructor health and wellness and won’t hesitate to cancel if there is any kind of health concern. We ask our customers to do the same.
If you are scheduled to train with Texas Top Aviation, please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns you might have.
To read the entire memo from George Winton, you can find it here.
Concerning the 2020 Texas Top Aviation Santa Fe Golf Fly In scheduled for June 5th-7th, that event is currently being re-scheduled for September 2020. Dates will be announced by the end of April. We look forward to seeing you in Santa Fe in September!
We’ve all been there. You’re flying into an unfamiliar airport at night, you’re having difficulty seeing the field, and trouble identifying the runway. Airports can be hard to identify for a variety of reasons, but approaching in darkness only makes it more difficult. Perhaps the airport is located in a densely populated area and the airport lights bleed into the city lights. Maybe the airport that you’re approaching is located amid terrain that obstructs your view.
Situations like these are not uncommon for charter pilots. Just a few evenings ago I was descending IFR into Asheville, NC (KAVL) on a dark night with high overcast and scattered showers. Although the airport was VFR, the surrounding hills made me doubtful that I would be able to see the field in time to safely and comfortably descend for the visual approach that I was expecting.
Fortunately, there are some things we can do to help find our destination and set us up for the approach. Here are a few tricks that I use regularly when I find myself in this position:
The pictures below should help clarify how to use the OBS to assist in airport orientation.
Step 1- Have the destination set as the next way point in your flight plan. In the picture below, The GPS is set to navigate direct to KJGG. Press the OBS button (circled in red) to engage the OBS mode.
Step 2- Once OBS is selected, use either the window on the screen (which should come up automatically when you press the button in step 1) or the OBS selec tor on your navigation head to select the inbound radial. In this example, I have selected 310 degrees, the landing runway at KJGG.
Step 3- The GPS now shows an inbound course to the airport of 310 degrees. It appears as a magenta line. The line serves as an excellent aid in airport/ runway orientation. Remember that this will not line you up perfectly with the runway, but it can still be extremely useful in planning a pattern entry or for getting your bearings.
Note: As shown below, If you press the OBS button again, the GPS will return to the navigation as previously set.
1. Ask for vectors to the airport/ runway: If you have VFR flight following or are talking to a tower equipped to provide vectors, asking for them can be a good choice. Although the controllers may not always be able to accommodate your request due to workload or equipment limitations, most will be happy to comply if they are able. Some pilots may feel silly asking for help, but my policy has always been that I’d rather feel silly for asking than look silly for being lost.
In the case of the Asheville flight mentioned in the opening of this article, my solution was to ask the controller fo r direct to the final approach fix of the assigned runway. Upon arriving there, I had no trouble seeing the VASI and was in good position to fly the visual approach. If I had wanted to be positioned a little further out, I could have asked to fly to a different fix or simply asked to be cleared for the approach in lieu of the visual. Just remember to keep your intentions clear when communicating them to the controller.
The best way to approach an airport day or night, familiar or unfamiliar, is with careful preparation. Having lighted landmarks picked out as well as being acquainted with the airport layout will pay off when it comes time to plan your pattern entry or find the airport on a dark night. Use the resources available to you to get you safely to your destination.
Andrew Robinson is a 135 Charter Pilot and flight instructor in Pennsylvania. He flies Pilatus PC-12s and instructs in Beechcraft Bonanzas.
A Cirrus is an electric airplane. There are no vacuum pumps and therefore no vacuum driven instruments. The Klapmeier brothers did this on purpose, trying to make it a modern airplane. No vacuum systems means no vacuum pump failures, hence there is a lower likelihood of instrument failures in IMC.
What Cirrus did instead was put a lot of electricity producing and storing devices in the airplane. All SR20 and SR22s are equipped with 2 engine driven alternators and 2 backup batteries. Alternator 1 is a 28 volt alternator (the amperage varies based on whether or not you have an air conditioner) while Alternator 2 is a 28.5 volt alternator. There are 2 24 volt backup batteries, as well. Battery 1 is also used for starting.
In traditional airplanes that have 1 alternator, an alternator failure can affect a lot of things. Depending on how many electronics are in the airplane, the battery can get depleted quite quickly.
The Cirrus electrical system is quite ingenious. It’s a little bit different based on whether you have an Avidyne Cirrus or a Garmin Perspective Cirrus. I will discuss that further below.
The main goal of this article is to talk through what happens in the event of a #1 Cirrus Alternator Failure (an Alternator 2 failure actually isn’t a big deal at all, though Alt 2 is required for IFR flight), the procedure for trying to fix it, and a technique I have developed that makes the pilot’s job easier. First, let’s go through the #1 Cirrus Alternator Failure procedure.
In either avionics configuration, the Cirrus Alternator Failure procedure is the same.
The Avidyne Entegra has 2 busses, the Main Bus and the Essential Bus. Alternator 2 isn’t set to come on until the engine RPM reaches 1700. While on the ground, Alternator 1 runs both the Main and Essential Buses. In the air, Alternator 1 runs the Main Bus and Alternator 2 runs the Essential Bus. Since Alt 2 is 28.5 volts, the higher voltage won’t allow the power from Alt 1 to cross over and run the Essential Bus. There are also 2 one-way directional diodes that prevent the voltage from Alt 2 to cross over and run the Main Bus.
Having said all that, when Alternator 1 fails, Battery 1 is now running the items on the Main Bus. There are a significant number of items on the Main Bus which causes the 24 volt battery to quickly lose it’s charge. This precipitates the need for shedding load. Items like GPS 2, the air conditioner and aircraft lights can all be turned off.
In the above scenario, Alternator 2 is running the Essential Bus still that has all the Essential items on it. Those include:
Note 2 important items that are not on the Essential Bus: the flaps and the landing light (which is very handy at night). Those two are only on the Main Bus, which Battery 1 is now powering.
Let’s further enhance our scenario. You are flying over Nevada (quite remote and not a lot of airports) at night, 30 minutes from the nearest airport when your Alt 1 fails. When you get to the airport you are planning on landing at, you want to have your flaps and your landing light, but we don’t know how long Battery 1 will last.
The solution (this is where my technique comes in): Turn off the Battery 1 master switch. This is an easy solution to ensuring you have battery power to use your flaps and landing light. Instead of going through and shedding load, simply turn off the source. You’ll still have all the above items on the Essential Bus, which is all you need to keep safely flying. Then, when you get to your landing airport, turn Battery 1 back on to utilize your flaps and landing light.
Cirrus wired the Garmin Perspective plane a little bit differently. There are now 2 Main Buses along with the Essential Bus. Alternator 1 runs Main Bus 1, while Alternator 2 runs Main Bus 2 and the Essential Bus. Both Alternators are running all the time. The Alternator 1 Failure procedure remains the same.
The cool thing that comes along with the second Main Bus in the Perspective is the amount of items you still have available to you in the event of an Alternator 1 failure. The only items you lose will be:
Everything else is powered off of Alternator 2. That’s not much. The only item you really want on the above list is the landing light if you are going to be landing at night.
Follow the Alternator 1 Failure procedure, then do my technique again. Turn off Battery 1 to save the battery power in order to use the landing light when needed.
Cirrus did a great job creating an all electric airplane with plenty of backups in case something fails. I focused mainly on the Alternator 1 failure here. If Alternator 2 fails, the system is wired for Alternator 1 to run everything while still charging Battery 1 and 2. No big deal.
In my experience, turning off Battery 1 to conserve battery power is just a simpler solution when shedding load in the event of a Cirrus Alternator Failure.
Density Altitude: Pressure Altitude corrected for non-standard temperature.
That’s the book definition of density altitude. The problem is, that definition leaves a lot of general aviation pilots scratching their heads. What really is density altitude?
All airplane engines rely on air and fuel mixing together, then that mixture is ignited to create combustion. Normally aspirated piston engine airplanes get their best performance at sea level, where the air is nice and thick, allowing plenty of air molecules to get sucked in the engine intake. As a normally-aspirated airplane climbs, the ambient air pressure drops with an increase in altitude (the air gets thinner, less dense), thereby reducing airplane takeoff, climb, and landing performance. There just isn’t as much air at higher altitudes, to put it simply.
Turbo charged piston engines assist with this air density problem. A turbo charger boosts the air coming into the engine and fools the engine into thinking it is at sea level pressure all the time. The higher the altitude, the faster the turbo charger spins, spinning the compressor faster, which compresses more air to continue to give the engine sea level pressure air. This gets faster cruise speeds the higher you go.
Both normally aspirated & turbo charged engines do experience longer takeoff rolls and reduced climb rates at higher airport elevations & higher altitudes.
How does this all relate to density altitude?
When the outside air temperature rises, the air becomes thinner, less dense. This means that when an airport elevation is 1,000 feet, but the density altitude is reported as 3,000 feet, the airplane engine thinks it is at 3,000 feet. It won’t accelerate as fast. The airplane’s climb rate will also be reduced. That means that the normal climb pitch attitude a pilot is used to seeing won’t be accurate at higher density altitudes. It will lead to slower indicated airspeeds, slow enough to potentially lead to a stall if a pilot isn’t paying attention.
Where does this get dangerous? High elevation airports. Whenever the OAT creeps above 85 or 90 at an airport that is higher elevation (I would classify higher elevation as 2,500 feet or higher), the corresponding density altitude sky rockets. If a pilot isn’t paying attention to airspeed or angle of attack (if the airplane is equipped with an AOA), a stall can come very quickly on climb out.
What to take home from this? Monitor your climb speed and angle of attack, especially right after takeoff, when you hear density altitude on the ATIS or AWOS.
