CFIing

Stalls with Ben

Some of my students have decided to pursue their Private Pilot Certificate instead of becoming a Sport Pilot. The reason is that their primary mission requires more than an LSA. That decision changes the amount of training required. My syllabus takes the student through Sport Pilot requirements and allows them to "extend" their training with extra flights for Private Pilot. Major differences include a longer cross-country flight, a different Knowledge Test, and nighttime operations.

Sunday night I flew Sally to get recurrent with nighttime operations. It was fun to fly solo during the quiet hours of the evening. This would be the calm before the storm.

Monday: I arrived at the hangar to perform some minor maintenance and make sure Sally was ready for the busy week ahead.

Tuesday we flew a "Fam-5". This is the first flight in the Private Pilot curriculum:

Fam - 5: Radio Navigation and Communications
OBJECTIVE: To introduce the student to the basics of Radio Navigation and Communications with controlling authorities.
TIME: 45 minutes Ground Instruction; 1 hour Flight Instruction (optional video capture)
NEW LESSON ITEMS: Tuning VOR, identifying stations, intercepting a course, Direct to GPS, entering a Flight Plan, autopilot operations.
COMPLETION STANDARDS: The lesson has been successfully completed when the student demonstrates proficiency in VOR and GPS operations while maintaining basic handling of the airplane.

I kept a close eye on the outside air temperature (OAT) temperature and decided to give a new student his Fam - 1. He has previous Cessna time but nothing in a low wing airplane. We practiced Basic Airwork (BAW) and discussed Sally's performance characteristics. 

Wednesday: In the morning Ben did his Fam - 2. This is more BAW and includes Power-Off Stalls and Ground Reference Maneuvers. I also introduced him to the landing pattern and was impressed enough to let him try his first landing in a PiperSport. He did well!

Wednesday Night Bruce did his Land- 6: (We did half the requirement)

Land-6: Night Takeoffs and Landings

TIME: 1-2 hours Ground Instruction; 1 hour Flight Instruction
REVIEW LESSON ITEMS: Traffic Pattern Entries; Collision Avoidance and Scanning procedures in the Traffic Pattern; Traffic Patterns to low approaches; takeoffs and landings; go-arounds.
NEW LESSON ITEMS: Definition of night time. Hazards of night flying. Use of airport lighting systems.
COMPLETION STANDARDS: The lesson will have been successfully completed when the student: is able to show an understanding of nighttime landing procedures including aborted T.O and go-around procedures. The student will be able to make landings without instructor assistance

Thursday: We went over to KLAL and Bruce did:

Fam - 6: Radio Navigation and Communications at Controlled Field
OBJECTIVE: To practice Radio Navigation and Communications with controlling authorities.
TIME: 45 minutes Ground Instruction; 1 hour Flight Instruction (optional video capture)
NEW LESSON ITEMS: Tuning VOR, identifying stations, intercepting a course, Direct to GPS, entering a Flight Plan, autopilot operations.
COMPLETION STANDARDS: The lesson  has been successfully completed when the student demonstrates proficiency in VOR and GPS operations while maintaining basic handling of the airplane. Student must complete 3 full stop landings at a Tower controlled airport.

Friday: Bruce #2 continued with his landing practice.

REVIEW LESSON ITEMS: Traffic Patterns; Take offs and Landings; Go-arounds.
NEW LESSON ITEMS: Simulated engine failures to a landing; Forward slip to a landing; landing without flaps; communication in the traffic pattern; right-of-way regulations in the pattern. 

 Saturday: Leo continued with his landing practice.

REVIEW LESSON ITEMS: Traffic Patterns; Take offs and Landings; Go-arounds.
NEW LESSON ITEMS: Simulated engine failures to a landing; Forward slip to a landing; landing without flaps; communication in the traffic pattern; right-of-way regulations in the pattern. 

It was a very good week.

A high-ranking FAA source has confirmed that the FAA plans to almost triple the maximum weight for most light sport aircraft to 3600 pounds in rulemaking that will be introduced in January. The source confirmed the scant details of a Facebook post written by AOPA Senior VP of Media and Outreach Tom Haines from the AOPA Regional Fly-In at Carbondale, Illinois. Link Here

Additional information on MOSAIC found here. 

*Updated information about LSA weight limits found here

Nighttime

It is still hot in Florida. I've been keeping a close eye on the Cylinder Head Temperature and carefully inspecting the coolant level during preflight. It seems when the air temperature gets into the 90's the CHT gets up into the 250's. The night temps should be cooler.

I haven't been flying solo lately. My time has been spent with students climbing the learning ladder for their Sport Pilot or Private pilot certificates. When Bruce completed his solo cross country last week he also graduated into the next stage of his education which will include night operations. I needed to get myself current so took time on a beautiful Sunday evening to get a minimum of three full stop landings.

I got to the airport at about an hour before sunset to give me a chance to preflight in the daylight. Sally looked good. My three flashlight all got fresh batteries (as did my headset). The exterior lighting looked good. This would be my first time to try my new landing light. She burped after 20, the coolant level was just above the strap. We were ready to go.

I watched the sun setting as we sat at the hold short line for RWY5. I triggered the CTAF to check the runway lights and completed my checklist. The first two circuits wouldn't qualify for night landings but it sure was fun flying downwind watching the city of Tampa glow in the distance. I was alone in the cool quiet evening air. Just wonderful.

I finished my work and taxied back to the hangar. My new landing light is great, at least twice as bright as the original. I wondered how the lights would be on the taxiway to the hangar. Turns out the whole area is very well lit.

This was a great flight.

Video notes: Night time video

Cylinder Head Temperature

Hurricane Florence was finally dissipating in North Carolina and there were no ill effects in central Florida. It should be a good day to go flying. I asked Alexa about the forecast and the typical response came back with 30% chance of thunderstorms. But the next line got my attention; A high of 93°s. I sat down at my office computer to start my weather briefing. Soon I got a text message from my student. We were good to go.

I met my student at the FBO and drove over to the hangar. I was just after 9:00AM and the Florida temperature was already in the high 80°s. I had done some work on Sally the previous day and left the top cowling off. We reviewed the major parts of the engine and went over the normal preflight engine checks. He burped the engine then buttoned her up. Next, he climbed into the cockpit and pulled the checklist from the side pocket and went through each of the items. As we went through the checklist I pointed out special focus items, answered questions and helped him do a thorough walk-around.  (I also learned how to make some changes on the checklist to make it more efficient.) It took about 45 minutes. As he pulled Sally out of the hangar, I went back to the truck to drive it into the hangar.

We buckled in and completed the Start Checklist. Sally started quickly and smoothly. OAT read 31°s (88°F). Cylinder Head Temperature(CHT) read 220°F. Winds were calm, less than 5kts out of the south, but prevailing traffic was using RWY5. A long taxi for us. When we got to the runup area CHT was up to 240°s. I had already told the student to use the run-up checklist as memory items. In other words, not hesitate with each step but smoothly go from one to the next. By the time he finished his takeoff brief at the hold short line, the CHT was climbing past 250°. A CAP plane was on base turning on final. I asked the student to hold short but add power to 2500-3000 RPM to help cool the cylinder heads. Dropped back to 248°s. When the CAP airplane finally cleared were we back above 250°s. My No Go is 260°s. After the successful take off he chose a "cruise climb" at 70kts. It was 250°s passing 700'. We leveled at 1500' and the temp dropped back to normal.

I wanted to get 5 landings in today. We did three at Plant City and would have done another but it just getting too crowded. I decided to try some more back at Tampa Executive. Although not as bad, there were two in the pattern...and it was hot. We ended the flight with a great landing and taxied back to the FBO. It was hot. OAT read 34°C. (93°F)

The weatherman on the radio said the "feel like" temperature was 101°s. Time to call it a day.

Labor Day 2018

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. We celebrate this by ... taking the day off from work.??.

Sally got a new landing light. It's an upgrade from the original. It should be much brighter in the landing pattern at night. It looks like a nice piece of jewelry. I'm looking forward to becoming night time current again. Now, what is night time?  Is it sunset to sunrise, or end of civil twilight, or...

This year the annual discovered a crack on the right main strut hidden behind the brake line. Evidently, this is not an unusual problem, especially for a plane being used in a flight school. Certus had the expertise and tools to do this in my own hangar.

I replaced all of the original wheel pant fasteners with stainless steel screws. Not only will they last longer in the corrosive Florida weather, but I think they look better too.

It was also time to change out the Dzus fasteners on the wing lockers. Even though I have been using Corrosion X, over the years they have become discolored and looked old. These were also changed to stainless steel.

I took some time to clean the cockpit. I used some expensive leather cleaner but wasn't satisfied with the results. Next, I used a clean rag and some nail polish remover to attack some of the stubborn dirt spots. This worked well! I followed up with a good vacuuming.

Finally, I did the belly wash. Certus had said he didn't criticize me for the grime on the bottom of the plane because it was probably a good form of corrosion control. (Just his kind of humor.) So today I got down on the creeper and started at the nose cowling and worked my way back. Three rags later I was cleaning the tail light. (My arms and shoulders will be hurting tomorrow.)

Normally this would be the perfect time to take her for a test flight, but as I stood outside the hangar there was ill wind in the air. It was only noon and the clouds were churning into dark shades of gray. Tropical Storm Gordon had just been born in the gulf.

Landing Analysis

Leo is a new Private Pilot student starting his landing pattern work. I had the FBO fuel the plane with 10 gallons of 100LL while we went into the pilot's lounge to brief for the flight. We discussed the various ways to enter a traffic pattern and I told him that the 45° entry was still my preferred entry because it provides the best opportunity to see other planes in the pattern.

Due to the busy traffic at Tampa Executive, I decided to fly the 10 minutes east to Plant City where it is usually a lot quieter. Today we had a Piper Cub to do our circuits with and I really enjoyed watching him from the hold short line as we waited for our turn.

At this stage of training there is a lot to do:

Land-1: INTRODUCTION TO TAKEOFFS AND LANDINGS 

NEW LESSON ITEMS: Traffic Pattern Entries; Collision Avoidance and Scanning procedures in the Traffic Pattern; Traffic Patterns to low approaches and full stop; takeoffs and landings; go-arounds. Introduction to proper radio procedures.

COMPLETION STANDARDS: The lesson will have been successfully completed when the student: is able to fly ground reference maneuvers with altitude +/- 150 feet, airspeed +/- 15 knots; has shown an increase in proficiency in flying the rectangular pattern, with altitude +/- 150 feet, airspeed +/- 15 knots, as well as uses proper scanning and collision avoidance procedures; the student will show an understanding of go-around procedures and how to recover from bouncing and ballooning during landings; the student will be able to make landings with occasional instructor assistance. 

I demonstrated a 45° entry and gave the airplane controls to him once we taxied clear of RWY10. I handled the radio so that he could concentrate on his basic airwork. I've found that 4 or 5 attempts are enough stress on the student for one session.

I always try to video the students first attempts. It serves as a baseline to show progress on future flights, but more importantly, the video serves as an analysis tool to provide feedback on the flight.

"I appreciate that you took the time and effort to produce and edit that video and insert your comments, the video is an invaluable tool for illustrating errors. It clearly shows how my perceptions of what was happening differed from reality. I was worried that my track was wildly inconsistent and the GPS track shows that I was extremely consistent with my path (although it was not the correct path), and the GPS also illustrates that my course wandered left more than I perceived, particularly when I started the focusing on my preparations for landing and focused on the altitude, speed, flaps, etc." ~ Leo

Video Notes: Learning to Land 

Annual Requirements

Annual Condition Inspection. A detailed inspection accomplished once a year on an LSA in accordance with instructions provided in the maintenance manual supplied with the aircraft. The purpose of the inspection is to look for any wear, corrosion, or damage that would cause an aircraft to not be in a condition for safe operation.

The guidebook on who can do what is the maintenance manual (MM) specific to that aircraft. This manual includes information on the condition inspections, repair of the airplane, and authorization for repairs and maintenance. Each task outlined in the MM defines who is authorized to perform that duty—whether it’s the sport pilot certificate (or higher) holder, an A&P, or an LSRMA. 

I decided early on that I was not mechanically inclined. Dad had taught me to turn a wrench on my 1963 Corvair convertible, but I was only average at doing the work. Other car projects came and went with the same results, acceptable but not professional. Sally needs a professional.

I picked Todd up at the Orlando Airport on Saturday night. He had his tools in his checked bag, just under 50#s. After a diner breakfast the next morning, we went out to the hangar to see Sally. I had the cowling and pants off already and was assigned the task of removing inspection plates. He walked around her taking notes, pointing out areas of concern, asking if I had noticed a problem with this or that. Sally has really been running well so I had no complaints to speak of (except the left break occasionally made a "galunka lunka sound). After a while, we headed out to pick up some grease and other lubricants, then stopped for a burger before returning to complete the work. He has some really cool tools. It was a long 8 hour day. But it wasn't over. After dinner, he sat at the kitchen counter and updated my maintenance logs. Certus has created a binder system that provides an owner with an organized view of what has been accomplished and when additional tasks should be completed.

I learned a lot.

I took him back to the Orlando Airport Monday morning.

Should I trim?

I remember when it was a crank on the overhead between the pilot and copilot. Then it as a lever on the side of the cockpit and then  a large wheel on the throttle quadrant. There are other types of trim controls in different locations that I no longer remember but each became second nature to use after a very short period of time. Why? It's just too much work to constantly apply stick (or yoke) pressure to have the airplane fly the path you want it to fly. Once trimmed, you can let her fly (with minor adjustments) and enjoy the ride.

Position the airplane where you want it with the stick, then trim off the pressure. You will need to trim whenever the speed changes.

1) Takeoff: Most checklists tell you to trim to the neutral or takeoff position. This places your trim surface in a position for neutral pressure around Vy. As you lift off, you'll initially need back pressure on the yoke. As you accelerate to Vy, back pressure decreases, and will eventually be neutral.
2) Climb: After liftoff, wait to re-trim the aircraft until you've adjusted your climb configuration. Retracting the flaps will cause your plane to pitch up or down, and you'll need to re-trim to keep the nose pitched for Vy.
3) Cruise: As soon as you level off at your cruise altitude, you start accelerating. Set your cruise power setting and wait for your airspeed to stabilize. While this is happening, start applying nose-down trim in small increments to prevent the aircraft from climbing. (eh, let the airplane accelerate to cruise speed then trim off the pressure.) This requires some fine tuning, but once you're trimmed, you can let go of the yoke, and your plane won't pitch up or down.
4) Maneuvers: You should trim in every maneuver. Whether it's holding altitude setting up for a stall, or relieving control pressures in a steep turn, using trim during maneuvers will make you a master of the airplane. (eh, not so much. If the maneuver is going to happen over a short period of time I recommend you get a feel for the maneuver without trimming off the control stick pressure.)
5) Descent: This one depends on your descent. If you plan to a do a powered descent, you'll need nose-down trim in order to prevent the aircraft from wanting to climb again. If you do a power-off descent, you'll need nose-up trim in order to prevent the aircraft from pitching down too aggressively.
6) Traffic Pattern: You should use trim in each leg of the traffic pattern. Remember to re-trim the aircraft each time you reconfigure or change airspeed!
7) Landing: One place most people don't think to use trim is during the round out and flare. If you have electric trim, it makes landing much easier. As you enter the flare, add some nose-up trim to relieve back pressure. This helps you fine-tune your landing, and grease the plane on to the runway. (eh no, don't do this. Hand fly the round out and flare to get a much better feel for the landing.)

From: Boldmethod

I had a chance to fly with a student in the landing pattern.

Land-2: TAKEOFFS AND LANDINGS 

TIME: 1-2 hours Ground Instruction; 1-2 hours Flight Instruction; Optional Video Capture

• REVIEW LESSON ITEMS: Turns around a point; S-Turns along a reference line; Rectangular Patterns, proper radio procedures
• NEW LESSON ITEMS: Traffic Pattern Entries; Collision Avoidance and Scanning procedures in the Traffic Pattern; Traffic Patterns to low approaches; takeoffs and landings; go-arounds. 
• COMPLETION STANDARDS: The lesson will have been successfully completed when the student: is able to fly ground reference maneuvers with altitude +/- 150 feet, airspeed +/- 15 knots; has shown an increase in proficiency in flying the traffic pattern, with altitude +/- 150 feet, airspeed +/- 15 knots, and maintains appropriate headings and distance from the runway, as well as uses proper scanning and collision avoidance procedures; the student will show an understanding of go-around procedures and how to recover from bouncing and ballooning during landings; the student will be able to make landings with occasional instructor assistance. 

With the local weather getting hot by late morning, we decided to just stay in the pattern and bounce.

Video Notes: Landing Project