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The E6B calculator verses iPad and smartphone E6B apps

John Ewing, the blogger behind Aviation Mentor, has written a lengthy post comparing the traditional E6B calculator or slide rule with some of those new fangled E6B apps for the iPad or smartphone. John began his post by writing that for older traditionalist pilots:

…the E6B is synonymous with "slide rule" and the mere mention of electronic E6B calculators and smartphone apps will get them on their soapbox in a heartbeat, praising the slide rule and preaching against the dangers of new-fangled electronic contraptions. Young upstart pilots, having likely never used a slide rule, may find this attachment a bit odd. Frankly I do too.

Nevertheless, John quickly added that even though electronic E6Bs are becoming widespread, there is “still a place for the old fashioned E6B slide rule.”

The pros and cons of the E6B calculator

E6b-slide-ruleJohn then wrote what he thinks is good about an old fashioned E6B – namely that it does not require batteries, is lightweight and can do a huge variety of calculations. On the other hand, he also pointed out that a user must provide most of the problem-solving context (which can be difficult when in a stressful flying situation) plus use an old fashioned dose of common sense when using one as the device is not completely fool proof.

Enter E6B apps for the iPad or smartphone

For non-traditionalist pilots, John noted that there are at least 30 E6B apps available from the iTunes store with his favorite iPhone/iPad E6B app being the PFMA thanks to its simple and shallow menu structure. However, he also pointed out that student pilots will not be able to bring any new fangled electronic device that runs such apps into an FAA knowledge test session.

Moreover, John ended his post by writing that:

There’s a undeniable pride student pilots feel once they have mastered basic calculations with an E6B. That’s understandable because acquiring slide rule prowess is like learning a magic trick. Your friends are bound to be impressed, especially if the E6B you use is contained on the face of a flashy pilot watch. Pushing buttons on a calculator? Anyone can do that!

Hence, he will still continue to teach his students how to use paper charts and a slide rule E6B. However, he will also not discourage his student pilots from embracing new technology like E6B apps if they so choose to.

Fuel imbalance leads to a Beech crashing

General Aviation News will occasionally reprint excerpts or summaries of US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) accident reports – including this one from July 2009 about a Beech C35 crash in Weslaco, Texas that led to one death and one serious injury.

According o the accident investigation, both the Beech C35’s left and right main tanks plus the left tip tank were filled with fuel right before the aircraft departed. However and when the pilot was fueling the right tip tank, the fuel nozzle ended up falling into the tank. Hence, no fuel was added to that tank and the aircraft took off with a fuel imbalance between its tanks.

Thanks to the fuel imbalance, the aircraft had a left rolling tendency and the pilot (who was with a student pilot) headed to the nearest airfield to land so that the aircraft could be configured with 10° of flaps – contrary to the STC.

While an attempted landing, the Beech C35 bounced and drifted leftward. Hence, a go-around with a turn to the left to enter the downwind pattern was performed but during the left turn procedure, the pilot lost control of the aircraft and crashed.

The student pilot, who survived the crash, told investigators that the pilot was at the controls but investigators were not able to determine whether the flight was instructional and just who was at the controls at the time of the accident. It was also noted that:

…fracture and bending signatures on the throw-over style control column and hub were consistent with the controls being positioned toward the left seat during the accident sequence.

The NTSB ruled that the probable cause of the accident was the pilot’s failure to maintain control of the aircraft while operating with a fuel imbalance. Of course, the root cause of the accident was flying to begin with when there was a fuel imbalance.

Goodbye heavy flight bags as more commercial pilots start to use iPads

Lately, there have been a growing number of news reports that commercial pilots are increasingly replacing their flight bags with the much lighter iPads. Specifically and back in June, Terry Maxon reported on the Dallas Morning News’ Airline Biz Blog that American Airlines’ pilots had begun a test on two trans-Pacific flights in which they would keep all of their charts and other documents on iPads. The test would last for 6 months on American’s flights from Los Angeles to Shanghai and Tokyo Narita.

iPadTerry also noted that Alaska Airlines had announced back in May that it would distribute iPads to all of its pilots by mid-June and the iPads would contain all of the pilots’ flight manuals. Alaska Airlines was also looking at putting its navigational charts on the devices as well.

Meaning, the “Wings Stayed On!” blog has pointed out that Alaska Airlines’ two initiatives, dubbed “Bye, Bye, Flight Bag,” is also environmentally friendly as they will save 2.4 million pieces of paper.

However, I have just one question: What happens if a commercial pilot forgets to recharge his iPad?!!

A look at what is safe flying versus what is legal

Steve, the blogger behind a mile of runway will take you anywhere blog, has recently written a lengthy post about a recent flight trip where he had to make a decision between flying safely verses what is legal. Steve began his post by writing:

There’s a saying amongst pilots that you can fly 100 hours or fly the same hour 100 times. Today was most certainly not the latter. We ended up safe and sound, which is the important thing, but I probably pushed my personal limits a little too far in the process.

Here is what happened: Steve and his wife were on a flying trip from Ohio to Syracuse when the flying conditions slowly started to deteriorate. In the post, Steve pointed out that weather type of reports tend to only be accurate at the airports where they were taken. Moreover and the part of Ohio that Steve is from is fairly flat while the rolling hills of Pennsylvania can cause clouds to behave differently.

To make a long story short, Steve kept heading to his destination, even after passing an airport that did not have another airport within a 20 nm radius (a 1,250 square mile area), when the clouds started getting lower and the terrain started getting higher. Hence, he was forced to turn around and land at the nearest airport – that also happened to be 20 miles outside of town and not near any restaurants or hotels (unlike the airport he had just take off from).

Steve ended his post by reiterating that weather patterns in unfamiliar locations can be very different from what a pilot is used to at home. He also noted that from a legal standpoint:

…not one thing today would be cause to raise an eyebrow. Yet I can certainly see how my decisions easily could have been the beginning of an accident chain. Legal? You bet. Safe? I’m not so sure about that part.

A very good point indeed. Steve’s entire post is well worth reading and as usual, he has included some great aerial photographs from his trip.

Argentinean pilot videos: Showing bravery or plain stupidity?

David Cenciotti recently posted some videos on his blog in Italy of a crazy flyover by an Argentine Air Force IA-63 Pampa pilot. In the videos, it looked as though the pilot flew his jet just one meter above the ground in front of a group of guys watching and filming the maneuver.

Commenting about the videos, David  himself wrote that the stunt was a sign of poor airmanship in the wake of the leader of the Blue Angels stepping down after a near crash but his views have sparked a debate on his site – often pitting Argentine aviators and readers who feel their pilots are behaving bravely against readers from other countries who feel as David does and that such stunts are a sign of poor airmanship.

David has since written another post where he noted that he has been receiving plenty of links to other videos showing impromptu air shows or stunts – most of them involving Argentinian pilots. One video also showed a 2001 accident involving a T-34 Mentor at the Escuela de Aviación Militar de la Fuerza Aérea Argentina of Cordoba where the formation leader misjudged the position of the left wingman – who ended up hitting the control tower and crashing.

Hence, we want to ask you our readers what you think about these pilots performing these types of stunts or maneuvers: Are they being brave or is this just plain stupid behavior on the part of macho pilots?