Table of contents for February 2016 in Flying

NO-NONSENSE RISK MITIGATION FOR PILOTS LIKE US “You just flew through a military training route.” The controller was agitated. Since whatever had happened had happened, and we were already within 10 miles of Thermal’s nontowered airport, John told the controller we were leaving his frequency to get airport advisories. John then switched our transponder to 1200, the VFR squawk, and changed frequencies. As captain of our two-pilot crew, I had asked John earlier to cancel IFR so we could switch to the common traffic advisory frequency. When John canceled, the controller said, “Keep the same squawk code and stay with me for advisories.” It wasn’t what we wanted, but the controller was so busy that there wasn’t time to talk to him about it. The controller obviously had a different…

A NO-HOLDS-BARRED LOOK AT PILOTS, PLANES AND LIFE IN THE AIR In what must have been a desperate attempt to meet gender quotas, the FAA hired me as an inspector in the Chicago O’Hare Air Carrier District Office in 1980. Six months later, somebody realized I knew absolutely nothing about jets or air carrier operations and farmed me out to the DuPage General Aviation District Office (GA DOs then, FSDOs now). It would take four painful years to get somebody’s attention with my requests for a transfer. And while it could have been my badgering, it’s more likely the DuPage manager was also nagging the director to get me the hell out of there. Whatever, now a GS-13 operations inspector (who still knew next to nothing), I went to the…

FEEDBACK FROM OUR READERS DO YOU HAVE A SUBSCRIPTION QUESTION? GO TO FLYINGMAG.COM/CS. PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT Emergency-drill practice was frequent when I flew single-engine propeller planes in England’s RAF. Engine-out simulation demanded good low-level flying skills, including sideslipping. When descending from high altitude to 50 feet or so, the engine was momentarily reengaged as necessary to prevent low cylinder-head temperature — no need to turn a practice forced landing into an actual one! Once during takeoff I was 200 feet above the runway when the engine cut out. Instinctively, I pushed the stick forward. My emergency training saved me. I recommend that you reread Martha Lunken’s “Handling the Unthinkable” [Unusual Attitudes, December 2015] frequently. One day her words may save you. Derek Paice Tampa, Florida DOGGONE AIRSICKNESS I thoroughly enjoyed…

An industry first, Dassault Aviation’s new head-up display (HUD) system called FalconEye combines real and synthetic images to provide a new view to flight crews. FalconEye’s combined vision system pairs thermal and low-light images — captured by its camera’s six sensors that pick up the visible and infrared spectrums — with synthetic, data-driven terrain mapping to provide real, enhanced and simulated “worlds.” The result is an enhanced vision system that will increase capabilities and permit approaches with operational credit, meaning pilots with FalconEye will be able to land in weather conditions that would be off-limits to those in unequipped aircraft. “What makes this truly revolutionary is the unique and patented way in which we blend real video of the outside world in low-light conditions with synthetic terrain imagery, a first…

ACCIDENT ANALYSIS THAT GOES BEHIND AND BEYOND THE NTSB REPORT The tiny, private dirt strip, 1,800 feet long, was way out in the boondocks. Oriented north to south, it was parallel to an unpaved county road and screened by a line of trees. By the other side of the strip to the east was a small crescent-shaped lake. Pine woods surrounded both, cleared for a few hundred feet at each end to open up the approaches to the runway. The landowner was an ex-airline pilot who now performed aerobatics in airshows. It was the kind of place where a person feels free to horse around and do what he likes. The airplane, a Bellanca Decathlon, took off from the airport of a nearby town. The private pilot, 52, had logged…

TALES OF WHEN FLYING, DISCOVERY AND LIFE CONVERGE “Let’s go. It’s time.” With this selfadmonition, I stood up, glanced in the mirror, straightened my tie and left the hotel room. It was only a quarter to 7, but there was no way I was going to risk being late today. To my surprise, the lobby was already filled with 22 men and women whom I surmised were my new classmates, given their virtually identical “aviation interview” attire. Nobody was chancing it this morning. We rode the shuttle van to the training center in pensive silence, those of us who knew each other exchanging muted pleasantries. You would have thought we were going to a funeral, not the first day of class at one of the world’s largest airlines. It was…

FROM THE OPERATING ROOM TO FLIGHT OPS: A SURGEON’S JOURNEY When starting a rotation as a Part 135 pilot on the Cessna CJ3, I really have no idea what’s coming up. I might spend eight days shuttling around the Northeast or I might cross the country three or four times. A recent trip touched all the bases when it comes to the fanciful and the mundane. My first officer, Jason, met me at Teterboro Airport on a Sunday afternoon. After some preliminary chitchat (Jason had been hired out of the Part 121 world, flying a Saab 340 in the Northeast), we plotted our schemes for safely getting to Gaithersburg, Maryland, which features a mix of traffic in a nontowered environment, multiple TFRs in the Washington, D.C., area, and a downward-sloping…

FLYING THE HEAVY METAL WITH AN AIRLINE CAPTAIN I scanned the bid sheet, expecting to find the usual potpourri of trips. London. Rio. Buenos Aires. São Paulo. But wait, what’s this? Milan? Hmm … I could do for a change of scenery. In addition, a month of Milan trips would add a little extra in the paycheck because of the longer flying time and the fact that I would not be on my usual reserve schedule. I hadn’t been to Italy since my days of flying the 767. Although I had reviewed the appropriate charts and procedures for Milan at home, I arrived early to JFK Operations just in case the route required additional attention. A little more than an hour before departure, I clicked on the computer keyboard and…

A LOOK BACK AT FLYING MAGAZINE 25 AND 50 YEARS AGO 25 YEARS AGO OUR COVER FEATURED THE MCDONNELL DOUGLAS NOTAR, WHICH ELIMINATED THE BANE OF MANY A HELICOPTER PILOT BY BIDDING ADIEU TO THE TAIL ROTOR. THE END RESULT WAS AN INNOVATIVE DESIGN THAT WAS EASY TO FLY AND YET STILL PRECISE. We reported on the potential buyout of one of GA’s most iconic brands as Aerospatiale eyed the purchase of Piper Aircraft. The two companies admitted to entering talks as Piper suffered a series of financial struggles. We featured the Learjet Model 60’s first flight. The 60 brought additional length to the Lear line, as well as its first baggage compartment that could be loaded from the outside. We reported on the state of the National Air Races…

THE FOLLOWING ARE EXCERPTS FROM NTSB REPORTS OF GENERAL AVIATION ACCIDENTS. KITFOX III Lake Stevens, Washington/INJURIES: 1 Fatal, 1 Serious The pilot/owner had recently purchased the tailwheel-equipped airplane. He had no experience in tailwheel airplanes and asked a flight instructor to check him out. The instructor stated that, although he was an experienced tailwheel pilot, he had no experience in the accident airplane make and model, so he flew the airplane solo for about five hours to become familiar with it. The instructor reported that while flying the airplane solo, he noticed that it would become airborne prematurely if he did not hold the control stick full forward on the takeoff run to keep the airplane on the runway while gaining airspeed. The instructor added that he told the pilot/owner…

CUTTING THROUGH THE MYTHS TO GET TO THE FACTS OF FLIGHT I kept reminding myself, late last summer, that I had to let the editor of Flying’s back page, Bethany Whitfield, know that the first article I ever wrote for Flying had appeared in the December 1965 issue, and, therefore, would qualify for mention in the “50 Years Ago” slot in the December 2015 issue. Given the production schedule of this magazine, I would have to let her know sometime around September — but not too much earlier than that, lest it slip her mind. In the end, it slipped mine, and this milestone — or roadside pebble — passed unheralded. That first article, which ran in a long since discontinued column called “Flying Photographer,” consisted of prosaic advice about…