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Free FAA handbooks

image The FAA publishes free books online that contain useful information and advice. They are every bit as good as expensive manuals from regular publishers but, since they come from the FAA, they are free. You can’t beat that price.

Advanced Avionics Handbook. Just-published guide to glass cockpit technology, autopilots, moving maps and so on. While most of the JAR PPL syllabus is still rooted in 20th century technology, it’s impressive that the FAA is looking forward.

Instrument Procedures Handbook. Advice on IFR operations such as SIDs and STARs. Much more focused on real operations than on training. Very helpful.

Instrument Flying Handbook. A good introduction to the skills needed for an instrument rating.

Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge. An encyclopaedic guide to topics such as aerodynamics and other useful information needed for FAA exams and safe flying.

Plane Sense. Information you need to know if you are going to buy and operate your own aircraft but also stuff that is regularly tested on exams like mandatory documents and the responsibilities of pilots.

Risk Management Handbook. With many GA accidents occurring after pilots pass their PPL but before they build up a good body of experience (the gap sometimes called “the killing zone” after the book of the same name), this handbook is a helpful introduction to risk management and aeronautical decision-making.

(Hat tip: Aviation Mentor)

Plan your touchdown, plan your exit

I fly from Denham (EGLD) which has a short runway so most of my approaches end in short field landings by default.

However, like most pilots, I also visit airports with very long runways. For example Newquay airport has such a long runway that is an alternate for the Space Shuttle.

I fly into Amsterdam Schiphol from time to time in a Cirrus SR22. Normally they put you on the little eastern runway that is right by the private terminal but they could send you any of the other runways.

Patrick Flannigan’s AviationChatter.com has a nice article about “Landing at Busy Airports: Have an Exit Strategy.” I think this is really helpful. Working out which runway exit to use before you get to a big airport is great. Especially if, as at Schiphol, you might need to land long to make the right exit and minimise your time on the runway. There’s no point putting the plane down on the numbers if I have to taxi half a mile to get to the nearest exit.

Beginner’s Guide to Business Jets

Business jets are no longer to the playthings of billionaires. For some businesses, they are valuable tools and, while not exactly cheap, they can be surprisingly cost effective. For example, a five-person sales tour of three European cities might take three days on scheduled airlines plus two overnight hotel stays thanks to check-in delays and inflexible airline schedules. Total cost: perhaps £7,000. In a chartered private jet, you could do the same trip in a day. Total cost: perhaps £11,000. Factor in the savings in salaries for the wasted two days and the opportunity cost of tying up key people for so long and it looks like a good deal. Besides the time efficiency, there is less stress – the plane waits for you, not the other way around. It is also more private, more secure and you’re not tied to the big airports. For example, around London you could fly from Biggin Hill, Southend, Northolt or Farnborough or London City. [Read more…] about Beginner’s Guide to Business Jets

Latest Cirrus parachute pull

 

According to a report on WUSA9.com, a Cirrus crashed yesterday near Montgomery County Airport. The pilot, who was the only person on board, survived the crash thanks to the Cirrus’s CAPS parachute. As of March 2009, the CAPS has been activated 14 times with 27 survivors and 1 fatalities, according to the Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association.

I’m a Cirrus pilot myself and sometimes I think of the parachute as a bit of a gimmick – something to make passengers feel safer in a single-engine aircraft – but these results are a useful reminder that it is a serious safety device.

I spent a very happy afternoon last year at RGV Aviation in Gloucestershire Airport crawling all over dismantled SR-22s with one of their mechanics. It’s fascinating to see how planes are put together and how all the components interact and much better than trying to read the manual and visualise it. One of my strongest memories was how very small the parachute seemed. It’s smaller than a hiker’s backpack when stowed.

Hat tip Rob Mark at Jetwhine (via twitter).

Cool tools: goFLYING

Sliderule Trip Computer

goFLYING has a couple of useful features.  The first is a mashup that lets you plan flights using Google maps and then input wind direction and speed, fuel burn and so on to generate a navigation log.  It will save these out in A4 or kneeboard format for use in-flight.  Thanks to Google’s satellite maps, it’s very easy to pick out waypoints and the database seems to have all the airports in it, so you can just search for, say, Denham, and it’ll make it a waypoint.

This is likely to be most useful for VFR pilots, helicopter pilots trying to find landing spots and for familiarising yourself before a flight.  However, it is very easy to use and could be a good substitute for commercial VFR flight planning software. It is, after all, free.

You can also import your GPS track file and see your actual flight track superimposed on the map.

The second is a tool that calculates sunset and sunrise in different places at different times of year.  This is very handy for working out official night.