Golf Hotel Whiskey

Golf Hotel Whiskey: for pilots and aviation enthusiasts

Learning

What I learned from my CPL

I have an FAA Commercial Pilot’s Licence. I took the exam in 2007 and I wrote an article about the challenges involved. But I never wrote about why I did it. So this article is an attempt to explain what I learned and how it helped me.

Let me make one thing clear. I did *not* do it because I want to be a commercial pilot.

Most American pilots take the PPL, then an instrument rating and then do the CPL. After that if they carry on in the aviation industry they do their ATPL as on-the-job training. The situation is different in Europe where most commercial pilots do a long ATPL course before starting their paid flying career. The American system is admirable because it encourages pilots to keep improving their skills. This was my main motivation.

So this is what I learned:

  • Improved visual flying skills. My instrument rating training had my working very hard to fly very smoothly and improve my procedural skills. The CPL takes you back to your PPL VFR skills and improves them. Manoeuvres like very steep turns, lazy eights, chandelles and eights on a pylon helped me to polish hand flying skills. And they’re fun too. The standard for the CPL is much higher than for the PPL and so you learn that you can fly the plane with much greater precision.
  • Better landings. At first my landings were dreadful in the Arrow but the CPL sets a very high standard for accurate landings. You need to be able to put it within 50 feet or so of your designated landing spot and it also calls for skill with short-field and soft-field landings. By the time I had finished, I had done hundreds of them and I was very, very good at landings. It’s good to know that I can reach that standard even if the precision has worn off a little since then through lack of regular practice.
  • Night flying. I do very little night flying in the UK because my home airfield shuts at night. So it was good to do lots of night landings and some VFR night navigation.
  • Retractable gear and variable pitch prop. Although the SR22 has a VP prop, it only has one lever in the cockpit – the prop and throttle are interlinked. And, of course, it is a fixed-gear aircraft. You have to do part of the CPL in a ‘complex’ aircraft with VP prop and retractable landing gear. These extra things to think about actually forced me to work much harder on my checklists and in-flight procedures so that they were fluent. This is a useful skill to have and I’ve changed the way I use checklists and flow checks in the Cirrus as a result.
  • Studying the plane. My instructor made me learn everything about the Arrow – all the systems and POH information. This helped me in the Oral exam but also, I think, helped me fly better. It also helped when the plane broke down. For example, the engine wouldn’t start one day, the gear lights didn’t illuminate once etc. etc. Knowing the systems and the procedures helped turn these things into manageable problems. When I got back, I went to our maintenance company and spent a few hours with a mechanic going over the SR-22 in similar detail. I recommend it.
  • Learning a new plane. It’s good to fly different types of aircraft. Especially when the Cirrus lulls you into a (false) sense of security. It’s just too easy to fly. Also the Arrow I flew in Florida for my training had a dodgy radio, one intermittent VOR and no GPS or autopilot. It’s good to see what happens when you don’t have all your toys. I coped surprisingly well without a TV screen in the cockpit too!
  • Oral exams are nothing to fear. I had an excellent examiner in Janeen Kolchan and I think that all my study and revision meant that the CPL oral was not the torment that my IR oral exam had been. It’s good to learn that you can overcome your fear by hard work.
  • Looking after passengers. Unsurprisingly, the CPL is about preparing you to fly people for money. There is more emphasis on safety, decision-making and passenger management. The CPL encourages you to take responsibility. For example, there’s a lot of emphasis on when flights are legal or not and what your responsibilities as a pilot are. This is good stuff. We all fly with friends and family and we owe them the best duty of care we can give. The CPL is one way to enhance that.
  • Consistency. I think that the single most important lesson of the CPL is the importance of consistency. Consistent checks, consistent application of procedures, consistent handling, consistent landings etc. It’s about flying in a professional way and that, I think, is the basis for safe flying.

The course isn’t particularly long or difficult. Allow two weeks and go to a good school with good instructors and aircraft and you’ll come back a better pilot.

Double Dutch: Mode-S in Holland

Mode S Exclusion Zone in Holland

I am learning Dutch and I love to fly to the Netherlands to practice. But there are strange things going on there. First, the authorities mandated Mode-S transponders for all GA aircraft. Now as a direct consequence, “the radar clutter is increased to such an extent that Schiphol Approach cannot properly provide air traffic control.”

The result: they have banned VFR traffic in a vast area of the country around Amsterdam between the coast and the Ijsselmeer. Flights to and from Schiphol are exempted but if you want to go to Lelystad or points North or East, you have to fly around the ‘transponder prohibited zone’. It’s crazy. Let’s hope the same thing doesn’t happen in the UK when Mode-S becomes mandatory.

More information (in English): AIP SUP 04/09.

Learning to fly the Cirrus SR-22

image I converted to the Cirrus just over three years ago. I use this wonderful plane for most of the trips on my blog GolfHotelWhiskey.com.

On one level, it’s an easy plane to fly and it has many safety systems. On another level, it is sophisticated and complicated with advanced systems. The secret to relaxed flying is preparation and training. This article contains a few tips for would-be Cirrus pilots.

First a bit of background, I’m based at Denham in England and I fly with Freeflight and TAA UK. I have just over 600 hours, a JAR PPL and an FAR CPL/IR.

  1. RTFM. Read the frakking manuals. It costs nothing but time and this is how I started. Both TAA and Freeflight have a full set of manuals on their websites but you’ll have to register online to access them. You really need to learn a lot of this and I found that writing key points on index cards helped this process.
  2. Get a good instructor. This is the most important thing, of course. I did my Cirrus conversion with John Page at TAA UK and he is an excellent instructor.
  3. Use simulators. Use Flight Simulator X, Eaglesoft’s SR22 model and Garmin’s 430 simulator to get familiar with the basic systems. TAA has a sophisticated Flight Sim setup where you can get used to the ‘buttonology’. Don’t worry so much about how to fly the plane, concentrate on learning how the systems interact and what different buttons do.
  4. Ground school. Do lots. Spend time with an instructor understanding how the plane works. I also spent a few hours at a maintenance company with a Cirrus engineer seeing how all the sytems are maintained and what the plane looks like with the skin off. This was invaluable.
  5. Start on an SR-20. The SR-20 shares the same basic flying characteristics and avionics with its more powerful sibling. I trained on an SR-20 and it’s a good intermediate step from entry-level Pipers and Cessnas.
  6. Engine management. It will pay you to learn how to operate the engine in an economic and safe way. Not only can you get more miles per gallon but you can extend the life of the engine. It’s a complex subject but learning when and how to lean the engine is essential.
  7. Get your priorities right. Aviate, communicate, navigate, Garminate. Set up as much of your route, SID, approach etc. on the ground before takeoff. It’s very easy to spend a lot of time in the Cirrus head down playing with the avionics.
  8. Join COPA. The Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association is a very active club dedicated to the Cirrus group. Their magazine is always interesting and the online forums are a great learning resource. Although correlation isn’t causation, COPA members are significantly less likely to be involved in a Cirrus crash. Makes you think, doesn’t it?
  9. Go solo slowly. Don’t finish your conversion and then fly three friends on a long trip. Build up your solo experience slowly. Consider flying with other Cirrus pilots before you start taking passengers. You want to appear (and be!) calm, efficient and in control when people trust their lives to you. Make your mistakes in private!
  10. Use enroute legs to practice. Long airways legs give you plenty of hours to experiment with the avionics. I use the second Garmin 430 in the planes I fly to practice various scenarios: checking airspace, calculating descent rates, finding the nearest airport etc. etc. Make a checklist of exercises before you go and practice each one until you are fluent in it.
  11. Aeronautical Decision Making. More systems mean more choices. It’s a good idea to think through various scenarios in advance. For example: when would I pull the chute? Would I use it over water? What would I do if ATC requested maximum speed on an approach? What would I do if my PFD failed at a critical point (this happened to me)? Etc. The FAA’s Risk Management Handbook (PDF) is a good place to start.
  12. Preflight planning. Besides planning my route carefully and all the usual stuff like NOTAMs and weather, I like to do a weight and balance calculation and risk assessment before I go. The workload in a Cirrus can be quite high so the more you can prepare in advance the easier it will be in the air.
  13. Treat the plane like a small airliner. The objective is to have standard, high-quality procedures for every step of the flight to achieve maximum consistency.
  14. Get an instrument rating. The Cirrus likes long-range, airways trips. In Europe, this means getting an instrument rating. It will also teach you better control and accuracy in your regular VFR flying. See my article: How to get an FAA Instrument Rating.
  15. Get a commercial licence. Getting my CPL helped me improve my core flying skills and it taught me a lot about flight planning and my responsibilities to my passengers. See my article: How to get an FAA CPL.
  16. Go to CPPP. The Cirrus Pilot Proficiency Program is essential post-graduate school for Cirrus pilots. It includes nine hours of ground instruction and about six hours of flight instruction. Do your conversion, get some hours and then take this weekend course. I’ve done it twice and I learned a huge amount every time.
  17. Ongoing training. I like to do a training session with an instructor every three months or so.

Top tips for flying in the UK

I fly Cirrus SR-22s out of Denham Aerodrome in Northwest London. Vincent has asked me to write an article for Plastic Pilot about the eccentricities of flying in the UK.

I wrote an article for COPA’s Cirrus Pilot about flying in Europe a while ago and I opened with the good news: the laws of aerodynamics are the same on this side of the channel. However, many other things are different. This article is only an overview. I recommend plenty of ground school and a flight with an instructor.

Pre-flight

  • Weather information. The Met Office has a free basic weather briefing service for GA but you have to register for it.
  • Airfield information and NOTAMs. You can download free approach plates, airfield information and NOTAMs from the NATS website. Again registration is required. Most pilots use an airfield guide like Pooley’s. You can also use my site, GolfHotelWhiskey.com, to look up airport reviews and find interesting places to visit.
  • Charts. The CAA publishes very good GA charts in 1:250,000 and 1:500,000 format. They are available from aviation shops and most airports and FBOs. Many foreign pilots prefer to use Jeppesen charts which are consistent wherever they fly and these are valid too.
  • Busy areas. The area around London – especially Luton, Stanstead, London City, Heathrow, Farnborough and Gatwick airports – and also around Manchester are very busy with narrowly defined VFR corridors and class A airspace at low level (sometimes down to 1,500 feet). These areas need careful study before you fly into them to ensure you don’t bust controlled airspace. See Fly On Track’s tips for avoiding infringements and their excellent guides to busy areas.
  • Restrictions. Call 0500-354802 (+44 208 899 2401 from abroad) to get a daily briefing on temporary restrictions (e.g. royal flights, Red Arrows displays etc.)
  • Flight plans. My preference is to file flight plans online via Homebriefing but many pilots will file them at their departure airport. You need to give at least an hour’s notice. Flight plans are optional for most flights within the UK.

Radio

  • Radio. ATC in the UK is usually efficient and professional, especially when dealing with larger airports and military radar services. You can download a free copy of the official guide to R/T from the CAA (PDF). Appendix one contains a list of differences from ICAO standards. I have often heard foreign pilots (including American airline pilots) struggle with routings to unfamiliar places so it pays to study the map before you leave and familiarise yourself with the main navigation waypoints and their names.
  • IMC outside controlled airspace. The UK issues IMC ratings which allow PPLs to fly in IMC outside Class A airspace and fly instrument approaches. It’s a bit like a simplified instrument rating. This leads to a peculiarity whereby pilots will fly in IMC without filing an IFR flight plan. I don’t know how this affects foreign pilots with instrument ratings but I guess they could do the same.
  • ATC services outside controlled airspace. The rules and services changed very recently. The Flight Safety Initiative has a video that explains the new rules.
  • LARS. The Lower Airspace Radar Service covers most of the UK. It is provided by a mix of civilian and military ATC units. It can provide a Deconfliction or Traffic service which is especially useful for flying in IMC. The controllers can choose whether or not to provide the service depending on how busy they are and some sectors become congested, especially on weekends. However, it is a very useful service and popular with UK-based pilots.
  • London Information / Scottish Information. On your UK map you’ll find frequencies for London or Scottish Information. These services provide a basic service but they can be very useful. For example, UK-based pilots will often use them to join airways outside controlled airspace (they’re in the same room as en-route controllers) or for VFR cross-channel flights. I have always found the service to be immensely helpful and professional. Of course, the emergency frequency 121.5 is also available and provides a wonderful service for people with problems or people who get lost.

Procedures

  • Overhead joins. This form of VFR arrival can cause confusion, even to British-trained pilots. Full details are in the AIP but the principle is that, if instructed to fly an overhead join, you (a) Overfly the aerodrome at 2000 ft aal; (b) descend on the ‘dead side’ to circuit height; (c) join the circuit by crossing the upwind end of the runway at circuit height; (d) position downwind. I always find drawing a diagram helps to work out where the deadside of the airport is and how I’m going to fly the approach. You can usually ask for something simpler like a straight-in or base leg join if that is going to be safer. In general, however, aircraft in the UK do not practice the mid-downwind join favoured by US pilots and so asking for a downwind join is much less common.
  • Joining Airways. Many small airfields in the UK have special arrangements for flights departing into the airways system. It’s worth talking to air traffic to find out what the recommended procedure is. If there is no procedure, the best way to get an airways join is usually to call London Information or a LARS service while remaining clear of controlled airspace. They can open your flight plan and get you into the airways system. In many parts of the UK, class A airspace descends down to 2,500 or even 1,500 feet and it’s important not to fly into controlled airspace until you have an explicit clearance to do so.

In my experience, pilots everywhere in the UK are delighted to welcome visitors from overseas and happy to offer advice and make allowances for language difficulties. So, come on over. I’ll buy you a drink!

Tips for VFR flying in Switzerland

This post was initially released on my home blog www.plasticpilot.net and as it is full of tips for foreign pilots visiting Switzerland I publish this updated version here.

If you want to add a new destination to your logbook in 2009, why not Switzerland ? As a local, I can give you some tips to make your swiss operation seamless and enjoyable.

Customs
Important things first: Switzerland is not member of the European Union, so you’ll have to clear customs. Some airports and airfields offer permanent or on request customs service. This can range from shaking hands with a customs guy to fill-in a form, and it is mandatory. As Switzerland finally ratified the Schenggen treaty, it should be easier, but the transition phase starting early April 2009 is still quite fuzzy. Shenggen applies to persons only, not to goods and this makes things complicated. My best tip is to contact your destination airport before your flight to sort out all details.

Airspace structure
Swiss airspace is split in two, along a south-west to north-east line. North of the line is the “Plateau” area. This has Class-G airspace up-to 2000 ft AGL (except in CTRs), then Class-E up to FL 100, and Class-C from FL 100.

South of the line is the “Alps” area. The Class-E is up to FL 130 in case of military activity and up to FL 150 if military are not active. Above that is Class-D airspace (mandatory clearance) up to FL195, and Class-C above.

All CTR’s are Class-D and TMA’s are Class-C. Flying within Geneva (LSGG) or Zurich (LSZH) TMA is normally not allowed. Crossing Bern (LSZB), Payerne (LSMP) or Emmen (LSME) is just matter of calling on the radio.

The country is split in two FIRs, Geneva and Zuerich, each with its Information frequency. The boundary runs along Bern (LSZB) TMA.

Routes on controlled airports
All controlled airports have mandatory VFR reporting points and routes for both arrivals and departures. You can’t just call “10 miles east for landing”. Most of these airports also have ATIS broadcasts that you’ll have to copy before callint TWR.

Sectors on non-controlled airports
Non-controlled airfields procedures are based on sectors through which you must arrive and depart. The AFIS service is generally very limited, and most of time you’ll have to do blind position reports (sector – overhead – downwind – base – final).

Operation times
Be careful with airfields operation times – many restrictions do exist. Some airports even close from 12:00 to 13:30, and violating such a rule could cost you up to 700 swiss francs (approx. 600 US dollars).

Flight Plan filling
You can get briefing and file flight plans using computer based system called “AMIE” or “self-briefing” which is available at all airports and airfields. You can create an account if you want, so as to be able to close your flight plan on arrival. This system is for free at airports, and if you prefer to use it on the internet you’ll have to pay a yearly fee.

Landing fees
Talking of thees, you’ll have to pay for landing fees in all swiss airports. The price will depend of the MTOW of your aircraft, but can also vary depending of the services you’ll use (parking, customs, …). Landing fees will vary from 10 to 80 Swiss francs.

PPR
Many airfields, but at some times also major airports require a prior permission for VFR flights. For mountainous airfields it is also important to get informed about runway status as snow cleaning is not always granted.

Mountain flying
If you want to fly over the mountains and are not used to, be extremely careful with weather and winds. I personally don’t fly in mountains if wind is over 20kts ! Envisage hiring a local instructor if you want an introduction.

Tailored service
If you want more details, or some help to plan your flight to LSxx, feel free to contact me directly. I’ll be happy to provide you some support, and may be to meet you.