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When ATC asks: Have you not been to Frankfurt before?

Allegedly the German air controllers at Frankfurt Airport are renowned as a short-tempered lot. They, it is alleged, not only expect one to know one’s gate parking location, but how to get there without any assistance from them:

Speedbird 206: "Frankfurt, Speedbird 206 clear of active runway."

Ground: "Speedbird 206. Taxi to gate Alpha One-Seven."

The BA 747 pulled onto the main taxiway and slowed to a stop.

Ground: "Speedbird, do you not know where you are going?"

Speedbird 206: "Stand by, Ground, I’m looking up our gate location now."

Ground (with quite arrogant impatience): "Speedbird 206, have you not been to Frankfurt before?"

Speedbird 206 (coolly): "Yes, twice in 1944, but it was dark,… and I didn’t land."

A fatal return to the air for an aircraft not flown for awhile

General Aviation News will often reprint accident reports from the US’s National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) including one from August 2009 about a fatal accident involving an RV-6 in Caldwell, Idaho. According to a family member of the pilot killed in the crash, the aircraft had not been flown for about a year and had sat on the ramp.

However and a week before the fatal accident, the pilot did fly the aircraft once around the traffic pattern. Moreover and on the day of the fatal accident, the pilot had:

….removed and sandblasted the spark plugs, checked the cylinders for compression, and removed and cleaned the air filter. Some sort of foreign matter was found in the filter.

According to a witness of the accident, the aircraft had flown by him at 100 to 200 feet above ground level while making some kind of a popping noise and then it:

…made a quick left turn to a left downwind leg, and as the airplane continued on the downwind, the nose pitched up, but the airplane did not appear to be climbing. As the airplane came abeam the numbers, it made a steep left turn, followed by the nose dropping before it dove into the ground and erupted in flames. The airplane was destroyed by fire.

And while no anomalies were found with the engine, cylinders and valve train, all of the aircraft’s spark plugs had excessive gaps while all but one failed a bench check when they were exposed to pressure greater than 80 PSI. Moreover, no aircraft nor engine logbooks were found during the accident investigation.

Nevertheless, the pilot’s failure to maintain enough airspeed leading to a stall/spin during a maneuver in the traffic pattern was ruled as the probable cause of the fatal accident. However, the fact that the aircraft had not been flown in awhile along with the pilot’s servicing of the aircraft on the day of the accident were the most likely causes of the accident.

iPads in the cockpit: Are they actually useful?

Lately, iPad usage in the cockpit has skyrocketed with even commercial airlines giving them to their pilots but just how useful are they for pilots right now? In a provocative post entitled iPad insanity for the the AOPA Pilot Blog, Ian J. Twombly questioned just how useful iPads really are for pilots in the cockpit.

Specifically, Ian pointed out that the iPad offers pilots:

Virtually No New Capabilities on the App Front. Ian wrote that some iPad apps do package information in new ways, but they do not necessarily offer any new capabilities. He also pointed out that Seattle Avionics has offered tablet or PC-based Voyager for years now and so far it does significantly more than any app on the market.
A Duplicate of Existing Technology. Ian noted that a panel-mounted GPS or free computer flight planner software (such as what AOPA offers) will do just about everything that an iPad does.
More Than What They Need. Ian made the point that while the iPad can hold every single US aviation chart, he himself does not need to carry every single one as he only flies over roughly half the country – which is probably more of the country than most general aviation pilots. In other words, people get “blown away” by the iPad’s capability to hold every chart but at $700 to purchase one along with a year’s worth of charts, he would rather buy paper because it won’t overheat, doesn’t require a recharge and can be read in sunlight.

Nevertheless, Ian did concede at the end of his post that once we get good in-cockpit weather along with “better flight planning products, panel integration, logbook and maintenance tracking, and all the other facets of our aviation life on one device,” the iPad will become infinitely more valuable. Its just that he believes that day has not yet arrived yet.

Hence, we want to ask you our readers what you think: Is the iPad as it stands now, really a useful cockpit device or just an expensive and overhyped device?

VFR communication tips for new pilots

If you are a new pilot, Jason Schappert, the pilot blogger behind MzeroA.com, has recently written a great short post for Let’s Go Flying with a couple of useful tips for communicating with ATC. Jason began his post by noting that one big stumbling block for most new student pilots is how to communicate on the radio with ATC as well as with other pilots in an uncontrolled environment.

Jason then noted the following tips for communicating over the radio:

Be Clear and Concise. Radio time is valuable and limited. Hence, you need to know what to say before you say it and you need to say what you want to say as concisely as possible.
Listen to Others. Just because ATC might be watching and listening does not mean that you do not have to listen to the radio to find out where all of the other aircraft are and how they intend to enter a traffic pattern.
Pause Before Speaking. When two pilots get on the mic and start speaking at the same time, all that will be heard is a screeching noise and no message will be conveyed. In other words, pause and listen first before speaking over the radio.

If you are looking for further tips about how to effectively communicate with ATC or how to communicate over the radio in general, check out this lengthy video that Jason put together which focuses on Class D airspace radio communications.

Is traditional stall training a waste of time?

Air Facts magazine has recently posted an interesting question for readers regarding stall training that has already attracted nearly 60 comments. Specifically, Air Facts magazine asked:

Question: Most inadvertent stalls that result in serious accidents occur at an altitude too low for a recovery. Do you think this means that practicing stalls at altitude is a waste of time?

Student pilot Joseph Chambers responded by writing that he thinks stall training is worth it because it gets future pilots out of their comfort zone and lets them know whether they can calmly react when a flight goes outside of the normal flight parameters. He also added that you do not know how you will react the first time in a stall as it will be “quite a ride” if you were not “raised on airplanes.”

ConcernedPilot posted that if a student pilot is learning how to fly an aircraft but is never taught the full capabilities of an aircraft, he or she is being set up for failure because flying will never be an ideal situation every time. Moreover, ConcernedPilot noted that in more advanced flying situations such as bush flying, a pilot will often need to fly right at stall speed.

However, CFIChuck was one reader who disagreed with much of the prevailing wisdom that other commenters had posted. Specifically, he wrote that he thought that stall training is a hold-over from the World War II mindset and it isn’t worth practicing. CFIChuck pointed out that:

We don’t practice crash landing, after all–we simply learn not to do it. Same for stalls–there is no reason to ever stall, period, and practicing it is just checking the box. If you ever stall for real, it’s too late, you won’t recover.

He did add that its also important to learn what types of flying scenarios will make you more susceptible to a stall and how to avoid them but he feels it’s a bad investment to go up to 3,000 feet for “feeling the break.”

Hence, we want to ask you our readers what you think: Is stall training a waste of time? Moreover, are stalls something that every pilot needs to experience in the cockpit rather than just learn about in the classroom?

How to better ask (and answer) the “is flying safe” question

Ron Rapp, the pilot blogger behind the House of Rapp blog, has written a great (and lengthy) essay about answering the “is flying safe” question and more importantly, how to better phrase the question in the first place. Ron began his post by writing that over the years, he has received a wide variety of aviation-related questions from non-pilots and he has realized that a fair percentage of them are really trying to ask the same thing: Is flying safe? Specifically, Ron has heard the question phrased in the following ways:

How long have you been flying?
Do you fly much?
Have you ever had the engine quit?
Have you ever had an emergency?
Know anyone who’s been in a crash?
How much training did you have to undergo?
How many hours do you have?

Ron later pointed out that as a general aviation pilot, you will have a great deal of control over how much risk you are exposed to while flying. On the other hand and if you are a general aviation passenger, you will have far less control over the amount of risk you are exposed to. Hence, deciding whether or not to fly in the first place will be the most critical decision to make.

For that reason, it will be important to ask the RIGHT question or questions before taking up an offer to fly with a friend or family member. Therefore, Ron wrote that he recommends non-pilots to consider some of the same items that pilots themselves are taught to look at when assessing risk. In other words, rephrase the “is flying safe” question or if you are a pilot, rephrase your answer to address the following risk questions or considerations:

Do you trust the judgment of the pilot?
How much experience does the pilot have?
How recent is that experience?
How’s the weather?
Is the pilot experienced with the aircraft?
Is the pilot familiar with the route?
Is there any pressure to make the flight?
Did the aircraft just come out of the maintenance shop?

Ron ended his post by commenting that the only purely “safe” alternative is to never leave the ground but that is not an option for him and no doubt many readers of this blog.

Golf Hotel Whiskey: for pilots and aviation enthusiasts