Hat tip to the Fly With Blake blog for posting this very short video showing what speed you should NOT try and land a Piper aircraft. It took the 7th bounce before the nose wheel was sheered off and the plane skidded off the runway. No word on where the video was shot, whether it was a student pilot (I hope it was NOT an experienced pilot!) and why the pilot did not just go around again but at least he or she walked away from this incident.
Learning how to fly again: What would you do differently?
While learning how to fly is a great experience, there is always something that could have been done differently when looking back with more experience under your belt. Moreover, flying has changed dramatically over the past couple of decades and hence, today’s would-be pilots have more options to choose from compared with those learning how to fly just a few years ago.
Hence, Vincent has recently posted a great entry on Plastic Pilot with some tips that anyone who is considering flight training now or in the near future needs to consider. These tips can best summarized by asking yourself whether you should learn how to fly:
- At a controlled airport or an uncontrolled airport?
- In a general aviation aircraft or a light sport aircraft (LSA)?
- In an airplane with classical instrumentation or a computerized glass-cockpit?
- In Europe or in the USA?
Keeping the above points in mind, we would like to ask our readers: If you had to learn how to fly again, what would you do the same or differently? Moreover, what advice would you give to those thinking of learning how to fly now or in the near future?
Accidents involving homebuilt aircraft rise sharply
Scott Spangler on the Jetwhine blog has recently noted an interesting statistic: According to the results of the 2009 Nall Report published by the AOPA Air Safety Foundation, there has been a sharp increase in the number of accidents involving amateur-built experimental aircraft. The study, which analyzed general aviation accidents in 2008 to identify accident trends, found that if the fatality numbers for homebuilt aircraft had been removed from the overall statistics, GA would have had a much safer year. In fact, the study found that:
- Per 100,000 flight hours, the homebuilt accident rate was 5x higher than store-bought airplanes while the fatal rate was 7x higher.
- Many homebuilt accidents were caused by mechanical problems and other causes that often start with a sudden loss of power.
Scott then noted that from his first-hand experience, he knows that amateur aircraft builders “have a lot of questions that usually start with How do I…? How do these parts…? And, Is this right?” However, he further noted that:
Today, it seems to me, most of these questions are broadcast online, often accompanied with digital photos. The answers come from the other members of these online communities of builders. Certainly, this is a good thing, but it shouldn’t be the only thing. Builders need to get face-to-face with their peers and old hands, preferably in the shop.
Scott then concluded by saying that:
Regulating safety is only effective after the fact. Prevention is the ultimate, effective remedy, but it depends on a human trait often in short supply: personal responsibility. And that’s something you cannot get online.
In other words, building an aircraft is just like learning how to properly fly one: There is no substitute for hands-on training and experience.
NTSB study: Glass cockpits do not make planes safer
Last week, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) unveiled a study that concluded that single-engine airplanes equipped with glass cockpits do not have any better overall safety record than airplanes with conventional instrumentation. According to the study, which had looked at the accident rates of more than 8,000 small piston-powered airplanes that were manufactured between 2002 and 2006, airplanes that had glass cockpits actually had a HIGHER fatal accident rate then similar aircraft with conventional instruments.
The conclusion: Glass cockpits are complex and vary from aircraft to aircraft and while they can increase safety when used properly, pilots are not always provided with all of the information that they need in order to understand all of the instruments they are dealing with. No real surprise here.
According to the NTSB Chairman:
“Training is clearly one of the key components to reducing the accident rate of light planes equipped with glass cockpits, and this study clearly demonstrates the life and death importance of appropriate training on these complex systems. We know that while many pilots have thousands of hours of experience with conventional flight instruments, that alone is just not enough to prepare them to safely operate airplanes equipped with these glass cockpit features.”
Meanwhile and in a detailed post about the study results on his blog, Max Trescott commented that “at the same time we’re trying to attract more people to aviation, the learning curve for becoming proficient with glass cockpits is getting steeper.” Max concluded that if you are going to fly an aircraft with a glass cockpits, you must invest both the time and money to get the best possible training available. After all, flying an aircraft in the real world is NOT like flying an aircraft in Microsoft Flight Simulator!
On flying the shuttle
If you’re not scared, you’re probably not smart enough to be in the cockpit!
Tips for your next checkride or solo
If you are preparing for your private pilot checkride or for your first solo, Jason Schappert has written a couple of great posts on the Let’s Go Flying blog that are well worth reading. In the first post that he wrote for the Let’s Go Flying blog, Jason makes the important point that you have invested A LOT of time and money into getting a pilot license and the end result should be a private pilot certificate. Hence he reminds soon to be pilots to bring the following on their first checkride:
- Your Books (ALL of them!)
- Current Charts and Materials
- Logbook and Paperwork
In his second post for the Let’s Go Flying blog, Jason asked the question of “how do you prove to your instructor that you are good enough for him to let go of you?” He pointed out that he was able to pass his checkride for the following reasons:
- He Was Prepared
- He Was Professional
- He Had Humility
In other words, he wasn’t a know it all big shot.
Finally and in his last post for the Let’s Go Flying blog, Jason offers some useful tips for preparing for your first solo. These tips included:
- Don’t Doubt Yourself
- Make Yourself Aware of Some Changes
- Stick to the Routine
And although Jason stated that having the jitters on your first solo are normal, they are quite needless as you should instead enjoy your first solo flight rather than fear it. After all, you will have a long flying career ahead of you.