“Do you have any pumpkins at your flight school?”

The term was coined by a co-worker during the first week of August to describe the private pilot candidates who were running out of time to complete their private pilot certificates before they headed back to high school or college in pursuit of nonaviation degrees. The message was that once the school year began they would not have the time or opportunity to complete their training. They had to be done, lest they turn into a pumpkin à la Cinderella’s coach.

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If this describes your situation, know you are not alone. Although aviation may take a back seat for a while, with a little bit of planning and creativity, you can protect that hard-earned knowledge and, to some extent, those flying skills as you pursue a nonaviation education because continuing flight training just isn’t an option at this time.

FLYING has a few suggestions to help you hang on to that aviation knowledge until the next time you can get into the air. And these tips hold true for anyone facing a pause in flying—not just students.

Join or start an aviation club at school

Many high schools and colleges have clubs already. They are a place to talk about aviation with like-minded souls. Sometimes, when they are paired with engineering or computer gaming clubs, you can take on projects like building a cockpit-style flight simulator gaming console.

While it’s not a way to build hours toward certification, flying the device can help keep procedures sharp and keep you thinking about aviation.

Sign up for the FAA Safety Team (FAASTeam)

This doesn’t cost anything and can be tailored to your location. You will be notified by email of upcoming FAASTeam events in the form of seminars and webinars. The FAASTeam also offers online courses covering everything from aviation maintenance to hot topics such as avoiding runway incursions. A great many of the activities can be completed for credit in the FAA’s WINGS program, which is designed to encourage and reward pilots who seek to make flying safer by expanding their knowledge and skills.

Practice flight planning

The knowledge you gained in ground school is a perishable commodity—especially the ability to plan a flight by hand. Make a list of places you want to fly to and plot the trips on paper. That’s right—paper. You may be completely electronic in the cockpit, but for this exercise, go old school using a paper sectional, navigation log, and plotter. There is something about looking at the sectional and actually drawing the course line on it and using the plotter to determine the true course that keeps the rust away.

The true course, distances, and altitudes required to clear terrain won’t change. You can use these “navlogs” in the future, so put them in a folder for safe keeping. When you return to flying, you just need to drop in the winds, do the aircraft performance calculations, and off you go. Every now and then, plan one with the weather available just to make sure you can still determine aircraft performance and fuel burn.

Practice decoding weather

It’s easy to pull up a weather briefing and hit the “decode” button. Be sure you can take weather in the raw format and still process it. This is akin to being able to do basic math with a pencil and paper rather than a calculator. Do this enough, and you may become the meteorologist for your social circle.

• READ MORE: Decoding the Weather

Practice weight and balance and performance calculations

You know you’re supposed to do these calculations before every flight, but sometimes get-in-the-air-itis robs you of your sanity. It is very easy to forget how to do these things, so make yourself practice. Get your hands on a POH for the airplane you trained in and, every now and then, review the process and graphs if applicable to make sure you can still read them.

Pro tip: You may find the application of flight planning, weather assessment, weight and balance, and aircraft performance calculations make for easy topics if you are called upon to demonstrate the use of math or give a speech about a technical skill.

Keep in touch with the flight school

If able, make plans to fly when you are on holiday breaks and—here is the most important part—fly with a plan. If you soloed, but it has been months since you touched the controls of the airplane, takeoffs and landings to regain currency may be a good use of your time. Keep in mind it may be that your CFI has moved on to another job (read that to the airlines), so be flexible and prepared to fly with someone else.

Determine what you need to finish

Before you take your break, sit down with a CFI and go through your logbook line by line to see what has been done and needs to be done under FAR 61.109 in order to qualify for the check ride. Make a list and keep it in the logbook for quick reference. Do you need another 1.2 hours of flight solely by instruments? Another dual cross-country or night flight?

When you return to flying, advocate for yourself to fulfill these requirements. It is distressing that some learners think they have to start all over again, which usually isn’t true but may be an attempt by the flight school to pad the bill. The first flight after the break should be an evaluation flight, similar to a stage exam. This will allow the CFI to see where your skill level is and what you need to work on.

Be realistic about your expectations

If you have not flown in a while, expect some rust on both your knowledge and skills. If you are post-solo and that endorsement has run out or was from a different CFI under Part 61, don’t expect the new instructor to automatically grant solo privileges. The new CFI will likely run you through the tasks of FAR 61.87 to make sure you have the appropriate skills for the task, and there will be another pre-solo exam.

Keep track of your logbook

You don’t want to have to pay for your hours twice. Protect your logbook, making sure the instructor endorses what needs to be and signs off on the appropriate lessons. There are times when a CFI is in a hurry and says something to the effect of, “You fill it out. I’ll sign it next time,” and then disappears. Try not to let this happen.

• READ MORE: Guard Your Logbook

This column first appeared in the October 2023/Issue 942 of FLYING’s print edition.

The post When You Go Back to Flight School, Don’t Lose What You’ve Learned appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Here at V1 Rotate, we frequently remind new and aspiring professional pilots that an aviation career is a marathon, not a sprint. Especially in the early stages, the grind of flight training and hour-building creates a real risk of burnout. Finding ways to inject adventure and enjoyment into your flying isn’t a frivolity. It’s an investment in maintaining a positive state of mind as you start your career, as well as a way of broadening your experience. One excellent adventure for a newer pilot is flying across the border to Canada, Mexico, or the Bahamas. 

Personally, all my initial international experience was at the airlines, and it wasn’t until I owned my Piper Pacer from 2014-16 that I flew a light aircraft to the Bahamas and Mexico. I wish I had known how easy it is. I would have done it years earlier. With a little planning and legwork, even fairly new private pilots can safely make cross-country flights to International destinations. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) maintains an excellent comprehensive database of what’s required for each country—Canada, Bahamas, and Mexico. 

That said, here is a summation of the requirements as they exist at this time.

Aircraft Requirements

The first thing you need is an airplane that can be taken internationally. It’s obviously easier to simply own an aircraft (with the permanent registration certificate in your name—not a temporary one), but there are also quite a few rental aircraft that are permitted to be taken across borders. If your FBO/flight school doesn’t allow it, look around. Many Florida FBOs authorize Bahamas flying for their aircraft, as do several places in the Phoenix, San Diego, and Los Angeles areas for Mexico. If you take a rental aircraft, make sure you get a notarized letter of authorization confirming that you have permission to take the aircraft out of the country. 

Canada and the Bahamas welcome experimental aircraft, but Mexico recently banned them. Mexico also requires a 406 MHz ELT. You should have a Mode C transponder, though you don’t need ADS-B in Canada or the Bahamas (Mexico’s ADS-B mandate mirrors the United States’).

The U.S. removed the need for aircraft to have a radio station license some years ago, but the requirement remains in place in the Bahamas and Mexico, and U.S. law technically requires it when flying outside borders. It is quite easy to obtain one via FCC Form 605.

If crossing an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) for Bahamas or Mexico, your aircraft should have 12-inch N-numbers. Temporary N-numbers, such as those applied using painter’s tape, are acceptable (Duct tape is a little too permanent and may take paint off). 

Your aircraft will need a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) user fee decal to reenter the U.S. It costs $35 per calendar year and can be obtained at the CBP DTOPS website. 

Avgas is limited in Mexico, the Bahamas, and northern Canada. Pay close attention to your aircraft’s range, call ahead to verify 100LL availability, and carry extra (sealed and secured) jerrycans as necessary. All three countries have a good deal of remote terrain that makes good survival gear a necessity and satellite communication (Garmin Inreach, SPOT, etc.) a very good idea. The Bahamas requires life vests. Better yet, rent a life raft from one of the several Florida FBOs that offer them at reasonable weekly rates. 

Pilot and Passenger Requirements

You should have at least a private pilot certificate and a valid third-class or greater medical certificate to fly to Mexico or Canada. The Bahamas accepts both light sport pilot certificates and BasicMed certification. 

You’ll need an FCC-restricted radiotelephone operator’s permit to fly internationally. It’s a one-time license with no expiration, and the process to obtain it is fairly easy and very similar to the aircraft radio station license.

You and all passengers should hold a valid passport with at least six months remaining before expiration. Make sure your passengers have their passports with them.

Leaving the U.S.

U.S. CBP requires pilots exiting the country to file an eAPIS manifest with the names and information of all crew and passengers aboard at least 60 minutes before departure. You’ll do this on the eAPIS website.

You’ll need to file an ICAO-format IFR or VFR flight plan, which is a bit different than the domestic format. If crossing an ADIZ VFR, you’ll file a DVFR flight plan and put your expected crossing time in the remarks. 

If VFR, activate your flight plan after departure, then call the appropriate air traffic control facility and obtain VFR flight following. A discrete transponder code is required for crossing the border, whether entering an ADIZ or not. Before the border, ATC will hand you off to the foreign controlling facility. 

Entering Mexico

In addition to U.S. CBP eAPIS, you must file a Mexican APIS manifest 24 hours before departure and again one hour before departure. There are a couple third-party pay websites/apps to do this, or you can do it by emailing an excel spreadsheet—see instructions here and spreadsheet here.

You will land at an airport of entry and park in the designated international arrivals box. A military or customs official may approach and inspect the aircraft. If they don’t within a few minutes, it’s OK to get out and enter the operations building. The process varies by airport, but in general, you will file an arrival report with Despacho (which closes your flight plan), and then bring it to several different officials to complete various steps and get the arrival report stamped in turn. These include completing a declaration with customs, getting passports stamped and completing FMM forms (passengers only) with immigration, and obtaining an entry permit from the Comandancia. The cost for single-entry and multiple-entry permits is the same, so if possible, get the latter. 

Once you’ve completed all formalities and have the requisite stamps, you’ll file and open your onward domestic flight plan with Despacho. This works quite differently from the U.S.: It only tells the authorities where you intend to fly and has no search and rescue implications. It lasts until the next airport with a Commandancia (generally, those with a control tower), covers all intermediate airports, and can be open for many days until you close it at the next Despacho. 

Entering the Bahamas

Freeport, Marsh Harbor, Bimini, and Great Harbour Cay are preferred airports of entry, as Nassau is busy and expensive. Call the appropriate customs office before departure to give your ETA and confirm office hours. Prior to landing, close your flight plan with Nassau Radio on 124.2 or 128.0. 

Upon arrival you’ll complete immigration procedures and fill out an inbound aircraft declaration and C7A Bahamas cruising permit ($50), which allows you to move about the Bahamas as desired. Bahamian customs officials tend to be pretty friendly and helpful. Flight plans are not required within the Bahamas, though they can be filed, opened, and closed with Nassau Radio as in the U.S.. VFR flight following is available from Miami Center, though radar coverage is spotty at lower altitudes in the outer islands. 

Entering Canada

You must make your first landing at a Canadian airport of entry. Between two and 48 hours before entry, call CANPASS at 1-888-226-7277 and provide advance notification of arrival. If there is no customs official present when you land, call CANPASS again. It may clear you to enter or (rarely) have you wait for a customs inspector to arrive. 

Returning to the U.S.

Once again, you must file an eAPIS manifest with CBP at least one hour prior to departure—and if leaving Mexico, you must also file an APIS manifest with Mexican immigration at 24 hours and one hour prior to departure. Additionally, you must call the CBP office at your intended airport of entry to make advance notification of arrival at least one hour (and no more than 23 hours) before your expected arrival time

File an IFR, VFR (Canada) or DVFR (Bahamas, Mexico) ICAO flight plan, with ADIZ crossing time (if applicable) in the remarks section. If VFR, a Mexican flight plan will not get passed on to U.S. Flight Service, so contact FSS directly and activate once within radio range of the U.S. border. 

You need to be on a discrete transponder code when crossing the border. If returning from the Bahamas, contact Miami Center for flight following. From Mexico, the U.S. FSS that activates your flight plan should be able to provide a transponder code. From Canada, getting radar service from the appropriate air traffic control facility will yield a transponder code and a smooth handoff to U.S. ATC. 

After landing at an airport of entry, park in CBP’s designated yellow parking box and do not leave the airplane until cleared to do so. The customs and immigration process is usually quick and painless. Once you’re cleared, move the airplane quickly so others can use the CBP parking box. And be sure to close your flight plan if VFR.

The post Make a Run for the Border appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Just when you thought they could not stuff more, ah, stuff into the D2 watch series, Garmin has managed to up the ante with the Mach 1 Pro. The new multifunction tool includes an LED flashlight, night modes, and an ECG app among other features in a serious—and seriously hefty—wrist-born device.

FLYING had the opportunity to preview the D2 Mach 1 Pro at NBAA-BACE last week in Las Vegas, and we’ve also brought one home to test further for a full report. Our first impression? Improving upon the substantial feature set was a challenge, but a few key elements make it compelling to consider. Among these are:

• An LED flashlight incorporated into the case—and positioned so that you can wield it, communicator-style, during all phases of flight, from preflight to postflight. A red lens makes for safe use in night ops.
• A red shift mode for the display itself, also supporting night flight use.
• Improved battery life, which varies with the type of use, but can last up to 46 hours in pilot mode, and 25 days as a smartwatch.
• An ECG app adds to other health and fitness features to allow users to record heart rhythm for any signs of atrial fibrillation (AFib), up to a 30-second recording that can be viewed on the watch as well as on the Garmin Connect app.

• READ MORE: Garmin Unveils Latest Smartwatch for Pilots

“This year marks 10 years of the D2 series—a smartwatch line that pilots have relied on to combine aviation tools with the latest smartwatch technology,” said Carl Wolf, Garmin’s vice president of aviation sales and marketing, in a statement. “The D2 Mach 1 Pro provides an extensive set of advanced capabilities that pilots use every day, all while touting battery life that can withstand even the long-haul commercial pilot trips. Features like the LED flashlight and large AMOLED display, combined with the high-end materials, make this the most premium-built D2 smartwatch yet.”

The striking 51 mm case is crafted with a titanium bezel and five-button stainless steel design to access features quickly. It can be worn with a wide range of bands, from metal to leather to nylon fitness versions.

Pilot Modes

The D2 Mach 1 Pro builds on the pilot applications launched with earlier models, including the ability to plan, execute, and record flights through each stage. The watch allows access to a worldwide aeronautical database, a horizontal situation indicator (HSI), direct-to navigation, and a moving map display—all while offline. Aviation weather data and custom reports and alerts are available as well as fuel planning. A wrist-based pulse oximeter allows you to monitor oxygen levels, and a barometric altimeter provides altitude alerts.

The watch begins flight tracking and logging on takeoff, and it will sync the flight data to the user’s flyGarmin.com logbook. Flight plans can be uploaded directly using the Garmin Pilot app—and those pilots flying aircraft with PlaneSync can view the aircraft dashboard for fuel, electrical, database, and location information while away from the airplane.

The D2 Mach 1 Pro comes standard with a vented titanium bracelet with carbon gray DLC coating as well as a black silicone band for a suggested retail price of $1,399.99.

The post Garmin Updates D2 Watch Series with Mach 1 Pro appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The new FalconWays tool from Dassault Aviation allows Falcon jet pilots to find the most fuel-efficient routing. One benefit—besides the cost savings involved? The reduction in carbon emissions from the lower fuel burn overall. 

FalconWays uses updated global wind data, route optimization, and performance algorithms that are specific to the model. The tool will be delivered to pilots via the Dassault FalconSphere iPad electronic flight bag (EFB), and it’s compatible with both Jeppesen and Universal flight planning software.

• READ MORE: We Fly: Dassault Falcon 6X

Testing of the new app took place across continents and oceans, between the U.S. and Europe, and throughout Asia. Crew saw fuel reduction up to 7 percent on the actual flights, while others were made in simulation to prove the operational capability of the tool.

“Our new FalconWays flight app is part of our company’s broader commitment to sustainable flying,” said Dassault Aviation chairman and CEO Éric Trappier. “It will help Falcon customers reach a new level of operational efficiency while reducing aviation emission levels.” 

First in the Falcon 6X

Dassault’s engineering team designed the FalconWays app in concert with the flight operations department. It’s set to debut as the recently certificated Falcon 6X enters service in the coming weeks. Optimization into the Falcon 8X will come early next year, on the 7X before the end of 2024, and for the Falcon 2000LXS/S by early 2025.

• WATCH: The Dassault Falcon 8X Streaks Through Star Wars Canyon

Pilots download global wind information to combine with the flight plans in use, in-house performance tools, and vertical, lateral, and Mach-number-optimization data.

Dassault will have the app available for demonstration at its exhibit on the static display at the National Business Aviation Association’s Business Aviation Conference and Expo from October 17 through 19, in Las Vegas.

The post Dassault’s FalconWays Uses Route Optimization to Target Carbon Emissions appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Question: The EFB I use has an option for MOS forecasts… What is that and can that be used legally for planning a flight?

Answer: MOS stands for model output statistics and is pronounced “moss.” MOS has been around since the 1960s and was originally developed to provide aviation meteorologists with guidance to produce useful forecasts to pilots. But over the last decade, MOS has been making its way into the aviator’s toolkit and is offered by a couple of the heavyweight electronic flight bag (EFB) apps. 

So, what does MOS offer? Crazy as it may seem, most pilots really want to know what’s happening at an airport from a weather perspective. Before they depart, they’d like to know what the ceiling or visibility will be like when they reach their destination. Will they get that visual approach or will they need to prepare to fly an instrument approach? Or perhaps they want to find an airport with favorable winds to practice some crosswind landings. 

There’s nothing special about these requirements, however. One nice aspect about MOS is that it’s available for more than 2,100 civilian and military airports throughout the U.S. and its territories. At the moment, the National Weather Service (NWS) only issues a terminal aerodrome forecast (TAF) for 700 airports in this same region. So, if your departure, destination, or alternate airport does not have a TAF, MOS provides some useful guidance about the expected meteorological conditions significant to aviation at those airports at the time of your departure or arrival. 

Here’s the technical part. Most weather prediction models that you often hear about on the local news, such as the American or European model, don’t automatically produce a point forecast for a specific town or airport for various sensible weather elements, such as ceiling height, visibility, and surface wind. This is where MOS shines. 

MOS combines this “raw” model forecast with geoclimatic data in an attempt to improve upon it using a statistical method. It relates observed weather elements (decades of past observations) to appropriate variables (predictors) via a statistical approach. Because it uses geoclimatic data, MOS is capable of accounting for local effects that cannot be resolved by these models alone. In other words, if the airport is in a valley or on a hilltop or next to a large body of water, MOS is able to account for that local topography. It’s a lot like the old local pilot who has been flying for 50 or more years that can tell you exactly what to expect on the final approach when the winds are coming off of the mountains west of the airport. 

The other important element is that MOS downscales the model data into weather elements important to aviation. This includes, but is not limited to, cloud coverage, ceiling height, prevailing visibility, wind speed and direction, precipitation type, and the probability of precipitation or thunderstorms. 

While MOS does an excellent job most of the time, remember it’s an automated forecast—there’s no human in the loop like a TAF. It should never be used as a wholesale replacement for a forecaster-issued TAF. So it should never be used to replace a TAF from a legal perspective. If the airport has a TAF, that forecast needs to be used to determine if an alternate is required and alternate minimums for instrument flight rules. MOS guidance is best used as a way to fill in the blanks when the official forecasts don’t provide the details necessary. 

• READ MORE: Navigating Smoke

Two of the three existing MOS forecasts are being retired in the next few years. However, the only version of MOS that has made its way into the FAA literature (see the Aviation Weather Handbook/FAA-H-8083-28) is called LAMP, which stands for localized aviation MOS program. It is issued hourly and is being fully supported by the NWS in the foreseeable future. Does this effectively mean that LAMP can be used to make operational decisions about a flight? I’ll let the legal scholars opine on that. Nevertheless, visit https://vlab.noaa.gov/web/mdl/lamp to view the suite of LAMP forecasts.  

MOS has some important limitations you should know about. It cannot forecast multiple cloud layers as you see in a TAF. Except for when the forecast is shown as clear, a single fixed cloud layer is the best MOS can do at this point, and it cannot tell the difference between a definite and indefinite ceiling. MOS also cannot directly forecast showers in the vicinity (VCSH) or fog in the vicinity (VCFG), nor can it forecast precipitation intensity or tell the difference between rain or drizzle. MOS is also unable to predict a variable wind.

The post What Is a MOS Forecast? appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

When we received the invitation for the October wedding of our friends’ daughter in Charlottesville, Virginia, the decision to fly our Piper Arrow to the event from Florida was easy. Asking my wife also to ponder a month-long sojourn—connecting with old friends and historic sites before and after the wedding—required further consideration. Despite the Beverly-Hillbillies-with-wings aspect in terms of the bags we’d need, the journey would take us through leaf-peeping season, something we missed after moving out of the northeast.

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Although I miss having the resources that were available in my airline life, I enjoy the challenge of being my own dispatcher, meteorologist, and travel agent. I’ll admit to being a jack of all trades and master of none. Barring the need for a nap, my favorite copilot is not only an active participant in cockpit resource management, but she’s a great baggage loader, adept at organizing stuff to fit in the right places and still be accessible. She is also a competent ForeFlight operator.

The first challenge was departing our hangar. In response to the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, the airport director had allowed a subcontractor of Florida Power & Light to stage a massive presence of personnel and equipment on a portion of the ramp, blocking our egress. After coordinating with the FBO lineman, I used my electric tug to navigate the maze of tractor trailers enroute to the runway without spinning a propeller blade or scraping a wing tip.

Maintaining my instrument currency on my own is now necessary, so I filed IFR for almost every leg of the vacation. Having ATC as a traffic safety net is a benefit, although knob-twisting on the Garmin GNS 430 to enter waypoints is not my favorite task. Having embarrassed myself with a data entry error, I now read the waypoints to my wife from the GPS while she checks the spelling on ForeFlight, a procedure similar to one we followed at the airline.

Our first destination was Summerville, South Carolina (KDYB), near Charleston, reuniting with relocated friends we had missed in the wake of COVID. I warmed up for the trip with a reasonably executed LPV approach thanks to an S-Tec autopilot, an Aspen Avionics display, and a little old-fashioned pilot input.

As our journey progressed, I discovered that advance ATC requests to proceed toward the appropriate IAF (initial approach fix) saved a lot of last-minute maneuvering. In the big jet, such requests were usually unnecessary because ATC was already sequencing airplanes into the flow of high-speed traffic to particular runways at high density airports.

Two days later, I braved a 39-minute VFR flight direct to Conway, South Carolina (KHYW). With a couple of exceptions, our flight times did not test our bladders. And we mostly stuck to the two-day visit pattern, not wanting to age like the proverbial three-day fish with our hosts.

After a pleasant visit with other South Carolina, pandemic-forgotten friends, we departed for Asheville, North Carolina (KAVL). The trip to Asheville was important because we had recently lost our friend’s husband to pre-existing medical complications after a car accident. Warren Rauhoffer, a former Miami-based chief pilot and friend, had officiated our wedding more than 25 years ago. We thought it appropriate to play our wedding video for an audience of one despite it not being an action thriller.

The higher terrain around the Asheville airport offers some challenges. Although orographic turbulence can be a factor, our arrival involved only light chop. A line person from Signature Flight Support towed the Arrow to the far end of the tie-down area, where we weren’t tied down. On our departure day we awaited an escort through the security gate, which never arrived. They eventually provided transportation, but it would have been easier to just roll our luggage across the ramp, as we’re seasoned professionals. Credit to Signature, though—they waived the service fee for the inconvenience.

From Asheville we proceeded to Charlottesville (KCHO) and to the wedding, where we partook of the amenities at the Boar’s Head Resort, which included some much-needed exercise at one of the University of Virginia’s athletic facilities. At the airport, Signature personnel were friendly and personable, but…well…we paid Signature prices. After Charlottesville, we departed on an 18-minute non-stop to Culpepper (KCJR), Virginia. We spent time in the quaint town, visited battle sites, and hiked two trails in the Shenandoah mountains.

A 35-minute flight took us to Gettysburg (W05), Pennsylvania. Although the airport was short on ramp space, the manager was accommodating and great with recommendations. Aside from the historical significance of a town caught in the crossfire of war, it hosts a powerful connection to our past. It was an important perspective to stand on the site where the author of one of the greatest speeches ever addressed the country—Abraham Lincoln.

Departing Gettysburg, I made a rookie mistake in preloading the 430 with the filed route through NewYork airspace. Five revisions and a few vectors to nowhere later, we arrived at our former home airport of Danbury, Connecticut (KDXR). In addition to visits with old friends and a driving tour past our former residence, the Arrow got a prop balance from my friends at Tally-Ho Aviation.

To abbreviate the remainder of the journey, we spent three days with my 91-year-old mom in Syracuse, NewYork (KSYR), and flew to Concord, New Hampshire (KCON), to visit another couple—the husband was about to retire as an Airbus A320 check airman from my former airline. We continued to Boston, arriving at Norwood, Massachusetts (KOWD), taking in the spectacular panoramic view of Beantown from our friends’ 51st-floor apartment. RVR visibilities quashed our plans for a flight to Providence, so Amtrak came to the rescue.

The incredible scenery around Biddeford, Maine (B19), inclusive of Portland’s breweries, was our next stop to visit friends. We then departed Maine, routed directly over my old JFK stomping grounds and continued to Cape May, New Jersey (KWWD), for a semi-informal Allegheny Commuter reunion—the employment during which I had earned an ATP.

From Cape May we altered our course, and I got to test my skills flying an actual RNAV approach and landing on a short, skinny runway—obstacles included—in Annapolis, Maryland (KANP). There, we visited with an Allegheny Commuter captain friend whose career abruptly ended because of a botched medical procedure. She was one of the airline’s best pilots.

The last stop was in Ellijay, Georgia (49A), a destination we have visited numerous times. My JetBlue friend and his wife own a second home on the outskirts of town. The occasional moderate chop and IMC we encountered over mountainous terrain was not high on my wife’s hit parade, but we arrived with our dentures intact.

Our three-hour leg home to Flagler Beach, (KFIN), was not without challenges. The relaxed morning departure time put us in the path of un-forecast afternoon convection, requiring us to zig, zag, and climb to higher altitudes. After five weeks, we were glad to reunite with our Sleep Number bed. The airplane facilitated great memories of the past and present. That being said, I may wait a while to ask my wife about another sojourn.

This article was originally published in the February 2023 Issue 934 of FLYING.

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A friend recently asked if pilot watches are still “a thing,” given the many devices, both portable and panel-mounted, that are available for telling time in flight. I told him they certainly are, but for different reasons today than when Charles Lindbergh and Wiley Post were crossing oceans.

In fact, I have spent the last several weeks flying with a new pilot watch, the AVI-8 Hawker Hunter Atlas Dual Time Chronograph, which has taken the place of a sports watch that had become my default flying timepiece.

The new watch, with multiple dials, a rotating bezel, and red trim, is eye-catching compared with the admittedly bland model it replaced on my wrist. But I wondered if it would add anything to the flying experience beyond the convenience that makes any watch a relevant pilot tool. 

A Cockpit Helper

Having a watch still makes flying easier and safer. When I was learning to fly, my instructor made it clear that a watch was part of my required survival gear, along with a Leatherman tool and flashlight. This was not because the analog clock in the panel of the Cessna 172 trainer had stopped. A watch with a rotating bezel was simply handier for timing my travel along the 10-nm increments of the course lines I drew on the sectional chart—and for knowing when my hour was up.

As GPS and other digital avionics made their way into the cockpit, I continued to use my watch for quick reference. Glancing at one’s wrist for a time check seems so natural. These days, though, my concern with time has more to do with transporting kids to and from school and sports practices than precise navigation.

Charms of the Past

This is where the AVI-8 watch began to shine. Some of its features, including an additional hour hand I used to mark Zulu time, made it more useful and fun. Its old-fashioned charm encouraged me to brush up on pilotage skills and renew my subscription for paper sectional charts. Last weekend I flew to a couple of distant airports to which I had soloed as a student, without referring to GPS. It was just like old times.

Speaking of truly old times, watches were vital instruments during the early decades of aviation because time was an element in nearly every calculation pilots made, such as distance traveled, fuel burn, and correcting for wind. After his famous transatlantic flight, Lindbergh worked with Longines to develop an “hour angle” watch that made it easier for pilots to plot their position by tracking the earth’s rotation.

Today modern avionics make so many calculations for us that watches can seem like little more than decorations. And what is wrong with that?

What it Means Today

This is where things become subjective. I believe the right watch—one with a reasonably large face, sturdy metal case, and some weight to it—can be such a pleasure to use that a pilot would not depart without it. I notice that several of my flying friends who, like me, were impressionable children in the 1970s when general aviation was booming, have developed an affinity for period-appropriate accessories that match the V-Tail Beech Bonanzas, Piper Comanches, and in my case, Commanders that they fly. The right watch is a vital component of the overall effect. Call it nostalgia, with a little vanity thrown in.

When you are happily aloft in your aircraft, headed to one of your favorite destinations and feeling in command, like John Wayne in The High and the Mighty, checking the time on a watch that looks great, feels substantial and makes you smile, and can add to the joy of flying.

Besides, if you find yourself flying with a partial panel you might need a way to time those standard-rate turns. Either way, AVI-8 can help.

The post Does the Pilot Watch Still Have a Role in the Cockpit? appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Question: My workplace is struggling with the switch to daylight saving time and I’m wondering, what impact does losing an hour in the spring and gaining an hour in the fall have on aviation? I heard there are some states in the U.S. that don’t observe daylight saving time—doesn’t that mess things up for air travel?

Answer: The aviation world uses Zulu time, which is derived from the Prime Meridian running through Greenwich, England. Instead of having to convert to local time or local time adjusted for daylight saving time, pilots use Zulu time—adjusting to local time after they land.

Meridians are imaginary lines that run north and south, or longitudinally, stretching from the North to South poles. The Prime Meridian is the zero line, from which measurements are made in degrees east (E) and west (W) to 180 degrees. This is where time zones begin.

• READ MORE: How Do New Flight Students Obtain Credentials?

It takes one day, defined as 24 hours, for Earth to make a complete 360-degree rotation. Doing the math, 360 divided by 24 establishes that Earth rotates 15 degrees per hour as the sun moves across the sky from east to west. Time zones mostly fall within these 15-degree intervals. 

In the U.S., there are six time zones: Eastern (roughly 75 degrees from the Prime Meridian), Central (90 degrees), Mountain (105 degrees), Pacific (120 degrees), Alaskan (135 degrees), and Hawaii-Aleutian (165 degrees).

When it is noon in Eastern Standard Time, it is 11 a.m. Central Standard Time, 10 a.m. Mountain Standard Time and 9 a.m. Pacific Standard Time, etc.

That’s an awful lot of mental math—especially when you are traversing multiple time zones several times a day, so the aviation community uses Zulu time, with “Zulu” referencing the zero or Prime Meridian. This is also referred to as universal coordinated time (or UTC). Pilots convert to local time in the U.S. by using subtraction.

To convert Zulu to local time in the continental U.S.:

• Eastern Standard Time: Zulu time – 5 hours
• Central Standard Time: Zulu time – 6 hours
• Mountain Standard Time: Zulu time – 7 hours
• Pacific Standard Time : Zulu time – 8 hours

During daylight saving time, add 1 hour to the subtraction times.

Daylight saving time was first adopted in the U.S. during World War I. It created darker mornings and longer daylight hours used for war work. In 1974 it was adopted during the energy crisis for the same reason—starting “the day” earlier in theory gave you more daylight to work with.

In the U.S., daylight saving time runs from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November.

• READ MORE: Why Is Area Forecast Discussion Important for Preflight Planning?

Do you have a question about aviation that’s been bugging you? Ask us anything you’ve ever wanted to know about aviation. Our experts in general aviation, flight training, aircraft, avionics, and more may attempt to answer your question in a future article.

The post What Impact Does Time Change Have on Aviation? appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Many years ago a mentor advised me, “The day you sign them off for their check ride is the day their skills are at their sharpest. After they pass their check ride, those skills will start to degrade.”

I shared this knowledge with one of the CFIs I trained, who was dismayed by the performance of a private pilot seeking renter privileges at the school. The would-be renter pilot had earned their certificate some four months earlier, but according to the CFI who administered the renter checkout, the would-be renter pilot did not fly to the level of their certificate.

The renter pilot claimed to fly a tailwheel airplane on a weekly basis, but as that aircraft was going into annual inspection, the renter pilot was looking at options to keep flying.

The FBO-dictated rental checkout involved an open-book test and a flight of at least one hour, which included air work and multiple takeoffs and landings—and, since the renter was new to the airport, a review of the published VFR arrival and departure procedures.

According to the CFI who administered the checkout, the pilot seemed to have forgotten how to use the rudder, the checklist, and had to be prompted to perform clearing turns. Much of the checkout flight was remedial.

Fortunately, the renter pilot had a good attitude and recognized the rust, and proceeded to sign up for another dual instructional flight. The renter explained they had good intentions to stay proficient upon earning the private certificate, but had become somewhat lazy and the flights had deteriorated into $100 hamburger trips to a particular airport and a few laps in the pattern.

This happens to all of us. To keep and build your skills, you need to have a plan, and you need to stretch your skills from time to time.

Add to Your Adventures

After you pass the private pilot check ride, there will be an adjustment, as you don’t have the pressure to study nightly and fly multiple times a week. It’s okay to make time for other things, but to protect that investment, set aside time for aviation. It could be a two-hour flight that includes a trip to the practice area and back with multiple takeoffs and landings, sitting down to plan that bucket-list flight, reading an aviation publication, or online shopping for an airplane—you can dream, can’t you?

More often than not, finances determine how much most of us fly. To stretch your resources, research the idea of joining a flying club as they are often less expensive than renting from FBOs. Flying clubs are also good alternatives when the FBOs limit aircraft rental to their clients who are actively training for a certificate or rating.

Make the flying hours count. Very few people go through the trouble and expense of earning a private pilot certificate just to do laps in the pattern. Instead, create a list of flying experiences you want to have—like landing at a mountain strip near a lake—and figure out how to make that happen. Take that mountain flying course offered by the local flight school, look into tailwheel training (in the event that airplane that caught your eye has conventional landing gear), make plans to attend the next air fair or fly-out breakfast or lunch—there are lots of options.

If your state has an airport passport program, take advantage of that. Find out which airports have the best restaurants, museums, or interesting hangars, terminals, or public art. Visit them and get that selfie for your social media.

Look for flights that will strengthen your skills in addition to adding time to your logbook.

Instead of planning flights that keep you away from controlled airspace (sadly, many CFIs teach this technique to private pilot applicants) instead, consider interacting with ATC and getting clearance to fly through the airspace if appropriate. Ask for the transition through the Charlie or Delta—if they say no, you just go over or around.

What About Flying as a Career

If the private pilot certificate is your first step on what you hope is a long career as a professional pilot, start building your cross-country hours toward the all-important airline transport pilot certificate. Make a list of airports to visit. If you are enrolled in a Part 141 program, the airports you are allowed to fly to for cross-country experience may be restricted—they will have a list.

If you are training under Part 61, this restriction doesn’t exist, just make sure the distance to the airport as measured by plotter and paper sectional meets the metric for a cross-country flight.

If you have the resources, don’t be afraid to travel to another part of the country or even the world where you can build time and get experience you cannot get at home. For example, if you are based in a part of the world where blue skies and sunshine are the norm, find a location where they have a variety of weather so you can log that all-important instrument time in actual meteorological conditions.

If you want to pursue your instrument rating, and you don’t have the money or time to work on it just yet, volunteer to be the safety pilot for a pilot practicing IFR approaches in VFR conditions. You might even want to log some dual with a CFII and, while on an IFR flight plan, go in and out of the clouds just so you can see what that experience is like.

Seek Out Challenging (to You) Airports

There’s a reason you learned how to do short-field takeoffs and landings. Find a runway that requires them—but if you are renting an aircraft from a school or FBO, double check to be sure there isn’t a limitation on runway length. Some have the caveat: “operations from airports with runways less than 2,200 feet with instructor only.”

If you have done most of your flying at non-towered airports, head to a towered airport. If most of your flying is at a towered airport, head to a non-towered facility. Those radio skills need to be kept sharp too.

The Round Robin

The round-robin flight is where you fly to several airports and return to the original place of departure. If most of your training took place at a towered airport, do a round-robin flight of non-towered airports—they don’t have to do a full cross-country.

One of my best learners has a favorite loop where he flies from non-towered Pierce County/Thun Field (KPLU) north to Renton Municipal (KRNT), a towered Class D, performs a touch and go then heads west to towered King County International (KBFI), for another touch and go, then to Tacoma Narrows (KTIW) for a touch and go, transitions across the McChord Air Force Base (KTCM) and back to KPLU. The flight takes about two hours and it’s very busy—and a lot of fun. I have used this flight or a variation of it as a metric for my learners who are preparing for check rides. I am supposed to be “in toad mode” (quiet as a toad) during the flight. If they can stay ahead of the airport and the radio, they are ready to meet the examiner.

Look for the Best Views

Pretty much every place has a ‘cool thing to see from the air.’ Take advantage of your wings and go up for the best view.

There may be that farm with the totem pole on it. That house that looks like a castle. The beachfront property with the remains of a shipwreck visible at low tide, the forest that becomes a riot of color in the fall, the tulip fields blooming in the spring, and so on.

You worked hard to get that pilot certificate. Make the most of it.

The post Keep Practicing After Your Check Ride appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Question: I am a relatively new pilot. I recently read about something called a forecast discussion that could be useful for preflight planning. Can you tell me more about this and how I can access it online?

Answer: Since I introduced the area forecast discussions (AFDs) to the general aviation community a couple of decades ago, this has become a common resource for pilots to review before making operational decisions as it relates to weather. Just to clear up any initial confusion, the area forecast discussion is not a discussion describing the legacy aviation area forecast (FA) that was retired back in October 2017. The AFD is written by forecasters located at each of the local weather forecast offices (WFOs) scattered throughout the U.S. The same forecaster at the WFO that issues the terminal aerodrome forecast (TAFs) for their county warning area (CWA) is also responsible, in part, for issuing the corresponding AFD. The CWA defines the geographic “area” they are discussing. Shown below are the boundaries of the CWAs for the U.S. and its territories. 

The AFD is not a two-way conversation. However, it is a vehicle that the forecaster can use to document the technical reasoning behind the forecast they just issued. In other words, it’s a way for a pilot to know what the forecaster is thinking about the current trends in the forecast. Most important, this is the method the forecaster can use to quantify their uncertainty. It allows them to let the reader know what could go wrong or describe alternate scenarios. I’ve read dozens of errant terminal forecasts over the years; however, there have been very few forecast discussions that didn’t somehow confront the potential of a busted forecast before it happened. I tell all of my one-on-one online students that if you are not reading the AFDs and only looking at the TAFs, you are potentially missing out on half the forecast guidance. 

Each AFD has two primary parts of interest to pilots. The first consists of a synoptic overview and a review of the forecast weather over the next few days for the CWA. The good news is AFDs are written in plain English. The bad news is a lot of jargon is used in this part of the discussion. This is because the AFD is designed as a forecaster-to-forecaster memorandum, so it might be quite technical at times. Be prepared for dozens of terms that may be unfamiliar. For example, here’s a small excerpt from a past discussion outlining the long-term forecast. 

.LONG TERM /MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/…

Mid-level ridging will take place across the local area Monday into Monday evening. Mid-level transitions to a zonal pattern thereafter through Tuesday and then more SW Tuesday night through midweek with shortwave approaching. Mid-level ridging shown in forecast models thereafter through Thursday.

If you are a bit perplexed after reading an AFD, the National Weather Service glossary may help unravel some of the mystery. 

The second part is the aviation section, where the forecaster will discuss pertinent information about the TAFs they issue for their CWA. This section is generally written so that it is easily understood by any certificated pilot or other stakeholder in aviation (e.g., air traffic controller). How much information they put into this section often depends on the specific WFO, the current weather, and the individual meteorologist writing the discussion. In some cases, a forecaster can pack a lot of information into that aviation section, and some will offer few details.

For example, in the aviation section below issued by the Greenville-Spartanburg WFO in Greer, South Carolina, it’s clear that thunderstorms are expected across the area, but it’s not certain if they will impact the Charlotte Douglas International Airport (KCLT) terminal area. So, the forecaster is adding a placeholder for showers in the vicinity (VCSH) in the KCLT TAF to cover the convective threat. In most cases, the AFD may also provide an aviation outlook beyond the typical 24- or 30-hour forecast period. 

.AVIATION /16Z TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/…

At KCLT…Little change from 06 UTC package as a west wind less than 8 kts under mostly clear skies will continue thru mid-morning. Expect increasing WSW winds with low amplitude gust potential by midday and perhaps periods of VFR ceilings thru the afternoon. Scattered showers and perhaps at tstm…are expected across the NC Piedmont from the afternoon until early evening and will carry VCSH for now to cover that threat. Deep convective activity will diminish by mid-evening when a wind shift to NW is expected.

There are several ways to view the latest AFDs. A few heavyweight apps provide access to the full AFD, including my progressive web app, EZWxBrief. By the way, you may see the AFD referred to as the “TAF Discussion,” or more simply, “Forecast Discussion,” leaving out the word “area.” You can also visit the National Weather Service and enter the city and state or airport identifier of interest in the location field at the top-left of the main webpage and click Go. This will send you to the local WFO’s page, where you will look for a map that says, “Click a location below for detailed forecast,” similar to the one below. 

That will take you to the correct page where you’ll find a link to the forecast discussion below the map, located further down the page on the right side. By visiting this forecast discussion link you’ll also be able to view previous versions of the AFD issued by this WFO.

However, don’t just skip to the Aviation section. Read the synopsis and then focus on the part of the discussion that is pertinent to your proposed departure time. The Aviation section only may be viewed at the Aviation Weather Center (AWC). Selecting the CWA here on the map searches the latest AFD and pulls out only the text associated with the aviation section (if any). 

Here’s my suggestion: Before you spend any time sifting through the TAFs along your route or at your departure and destination airports, take a few minutes to peruse the AFDs to get a good overview of the weather before examining the “fine print” that represents the TAFs. In some instances, your final decision might actually hinge on the forecaster’s comments in the AFD. 

The post Why Is Area Forecast Discussion Important for Preflight Planning? appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

“Someone just landed on the closed runway.”

Imagine the surprise of the crew repainting the runway numbers when they saw a Cessna 172 with two people on board coming in for a landing. There were traffic cones blocking the approach end of the runway. There was an X made with tarps, signifying a closed runway in place, yet the aircraft kept coming. The work crew scrambled out of the way, some wondering if the 172 was experiencing an emergency—but when the aircraft performed a touch and go, the situation became clear—the pilot had not checked the NOTAMs and therefore wasn’t aware that the runway was closed for repainting that day, although you would think the big X, the presence of the traffic cones, and work crew with long handled brushes and 10-gallon buckets of paint would have been a clue.

The tail number of the aircraft was traced back to a local flight school and a particular instructor, who replied, “It is the student’s responsibility to check the NOTAMs.”

“Did You Check the NOTAMs?”

How many times have you heard this question as a pilot? NOTAMs, also known as Notices To Air Missions are, per the FAA, notices containing information not known sufficiently in advance to publicize by other means concerning the establishment, condition, or change in any component, be it a facility, service, or procedure of, or hazard in the national airspace system, and the timely knowledge of which is essential to personnel concerned with flight operations.

The airlines cannot fly without access to NOTAMs—this was demonstrated when the computer system crashed and the FAA called a ground stop until the NOTAMs computer system could be reactivated.

NOTAMs impact all pilots. FAR 91.103 states “Each pilot in command shall, before beginning a flight, become familiar with all available information concerning that flight.” Much of that information comes from NOTAMs. NOTAMs come in various forms, and cover various aspects of aviation.

• READ MORE: NOTAM System Crash Spurs FAA to Ground All U.S. Flight Departures

Why We Have NOTAMs

NOTAMs are used to update FAA flight publications. FAA sectionals and other flight publications are updated every 56 days. If there is a change in information between publication cycles (for example, a runway is closed or VOR goes offline, etc.) NOTAMs are used to update pilots.

NOTAMs are used to notify pilots of potential hazards at local airports; for example, a taxiway may be closed to aircraft with a certain wingspan, approach lights may be out or they may warn pilots about aerial obstructions, such as an unlit tower close to the airport.

NOTAMS come in many forms, some cover international travel, others domestic. Some address military operations, others, civilian ops. Some NOTAMS are advisory, others are mandatory directives that must be followed.

Usually the airport manager is the person who calls the FAA to create the NOTAM as specific language must be used. For example, if there is a disabled aircraft on the runway, the NOTAM might state “runway closed” as opposed to “airport closed,” which would render the entire facility off limits.

Different Types of NOTAMs

NOTAM (D):

A NOTAM D covers information beyond the area of responsibility of the Flight Service Station, such as a navigational aid being down for maintenance. They used to be referred to as D for distance because of this, but now NOTAM (D) also includes local information, such as the location of unlighted towers, taxiway and runway closures, etc.

The NOTAM (D) also includes two subtypes: the (U) NOTAMs and (O) NOTAMs.

(U) NOTAMs are NOTAMs unverified, as they have been received from a source other than airport management, and have not yet been confirmed by management personnel. These (U) NOTAMS are only allowed only at those airports where airport management has authorized it by Letter of Agreement. An example of this might be “disabled aircraft on taxiway A-7.”

(O) NOTAMs contain aeronautical information which does not meet NOTAM criteria but may be beneficial to aircraft operations. An example might be a NOTAM warning pilots about smoke in the area from a structure fire that is on the approach to the airport.

FDC NOTAMs

Flight Data Center (FDC) NOTAMs are NOTAMs that are regulatory in nature such as changes to an instrument approach procedure or airway. Temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) are also issued as FDC NOTAMs.

Center Area NOTAMs

Center Area NOTAMs are FDC NOTAMs issued for a condition that is not limited to one airport and as such it is filed under the air route traffic control center (ARTCC) that controls the airspace involved. An example of a Center Area NOTAM would be a TFR over the Olympic Games or the Super Bowl.

Domestic, Military and Civil NOTAMs

Domestic NOTAMs that are primarily distributed within the United States although they may also be available in Canada. Domestic NOTAMs are coded in a domestic format rather than International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) format.

Military NOTAMs contain information on military airports and military airspace. A Civil (short for Civilian) is any NOTAM that is not part of the military system.

International NOTAMs

International NOTAMs are those intended for distribution to more than one country.. These NOTAMs are stored in ICAO formation in the United States NOTAM System (USNS) or published in the International NOTAMs section of the Notices to Airmen Publication (NTAP)

International NOTAMs are not included in a standard weather briefing unless specifically requested.

NOTAMs with Class

Two NOTAMs always issued in ICAO format are the Class I and Class II NOTAMs. Class I NOTAMs are distributed by means of telecommunication.

Class II NOTAMs (ICAO) or Published NOTAMs are distributed by means other than telecommunications. In the United States these NOTAMs are published in the Notices To Airmen Publication (NTAP) which is issued every 28 days.

To check the NOTAMs for the airports you will be utilizing, go to https://notams.aim.faa.gov/notamSearch/disclaimer.html and type in the appropriate airport identifier.

The post Have You Checked the NOTAMs Today? appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

All domestic flights in the U.S. were grounded Wednesday morning after the FAA’s NOTAM system crashed overnight.

“The United States NOTAM (Notice to Air Missions) system failed at 2028Z,” FAA said in an air traffic control advisory notice. “Since then no new NOTAMS or amendments have been processed. Technicians are currently working to restore the system and there is no estimate for restoration of service at this time.”

Following the system failure, FAA ordered all airlines to pause domestic departures until 9 a.m. on January 11.

By Wednesday morning, restoration of the system was underway, according to the FAA.

“The FAA is making progress in restoring its Notice to Air Missions system following an overnight outage,” the agency said in a statement sent to FLYING. “Departures are resuming at Newark Liberty and Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson airports due to air traffic congestion in those areas. We expect departures to resume at other airports at 9 a.m. Eastern Time.

President Joe Biden told reporters Wednesday morning that the cause for the outage was not immediately known. Biden has called for an investigation into the January 11 nationwide outage, Reuters reported.

“They don’t know what the cause is,” Biden said, according to Reuters. “Aircraft can still land safely just not take off right now. We don’t know what the cause of it is.”

This is a developing story.

The post NOTAM System Crash Spurs FAA to Ground All U.S. Flight Departures appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Question: Can you tell me if there are any amendment criteria for a TAF (terminal aerodrome forecast)?  If so, what are they and how are they applied?

A. Most of the official aviation weather forecasts you will get on a standard briefing or via your favorite heavyweight aviation app or website are issued by aviation meteorologists located at the Aviation Weather Center (AWC) in Kansas City, Missouri. This includes graphical AIRMETs (G-AIRMETs), SIGMETs (WS) and convective SIGMETs (WST). Terminal aerodrome forecasts or TAFs, however, are not issued by the AWC nor are they issued by Flight Service; they are issued by forecasters physically located at your local NWS Weather Forecast Offices (WFO) throughout the United States and its territories shown below. The meteorologists at the local WFOs are very familiar with any local weather effects and have the best opportunity to produce a quality forecast for aviation. 

Your local WFO typically has the responsibility for issuing the TAFs for six or seven terminal areas on average. At the Greenville-Spartanburg WFO, for example, they issue the terminal forecasts for six airports to include KAND, KGSP, KGMU, KCLT, KHKY, and KAVL.

• READ MORE: Ask FLYING: Why Are Windsocks the Color They Are?

Scheduled TAFs are issued routinely four times a day at 00Z, 06Z, 12Z and 18Z. They are typically transmitted 20 to 40 minutes prior to these times. Once the TAFs hit the wire, the forecaster must continue to compare the forecast to the actual observations for the airport to be sure it accurately depicts the ceiling, visibility, wind, and weather occurring at the airport. When there is a discrepancy or the forecaster feels that the TAF isn’t representative of the weather that may occur in the terminal area within the TAF’s valid period, they will issue what is called an unscheduled TAF, better known as an amendment.   

The forecaster doesn’t literally have to watch the observations minute by minute. In fact, they have a program called Aviation Forecast Prep Software (AvnFPS) that monitors the observations at the respective airports. Based on programmed criteria, the software compares the terminal forecast to the latest observations for each TAF site issued by that forecaster and flags the forecast element as green when they match. When the program highlights a forecast element as yellow or red, this means the difference is near or has exceeded the amendment criteria. As can be seen above, the forecast for the most part matches the current observations for those airports in the Greenville-Spartanburg WFO (most elements are green). However, there are three terminal areas (KAVL, KHKY, and KAND) that show yellow for wind (speed or direction) implying that the forecast is not quite in line with the current observations. This allows the forecaster to quickly scan the display to determine if there is an immediate need for an amendment to one or more of the TAFs they issue. 

Amendments are the absolute best way to provide the highest quality forecast. In general, a forecaster will issue an amendment when it meets specific criteria that are imminent or have occurred and those conditions will, in the forecaster’s estimation, persist for 30 minutes or longer, or new guidance/information indicates future conditions are expected to be in a different flight category than originally forecast, especially in the next one to six hours.

• READ MORE: How to Fly Into a Big Airshow With Confidence

Just like instrument students are taught by their instructors not to “chase the needles,” forecasters are similarly encouraged not to chase the observations. For example, an unexpected, but brief rain shower may quickly develop and pass by the terminal area temporarily lowering visibility below the visibility in the TAF. The forecaster may be tempted to issue a quick amendment, but if the condition is expected to be brief, there’s no value to issuing an amendment—especially if it doesn’t alter the flight category (i.e., VFR, MVFR, IFR, LIFR) for the airport.  

The following categorical amendment criteria table below defines the thresholds of importance. 

In addition to the categorical amendment criteria above, below are other criteria where an amendment may be necessary. 

Weather

The TAF should be amended if thunderstorms, freezing precipitation, or ice pellets occur and are not forecasted, or, if forecasted, do not occur.

Wind Direction, Speed, and Gusts

The forecast mean refers to the mean wind direction or speed expected for the specified forecast group time period.

• The TAF should be amended if the forecast mean wind speed differs by ≥ 10 knots, while original or newly expected mean wind speed is ≥ 12 knots.
• The TAF should be amended if the forecast wind gust (or forecast of no gust) differs from observed wind gust by ≥ 10 knots (or above the observed mean wind speed if no gusts are forecast).

Non-convective Low-level Wind Shear (LLWS)

The TAF should be amended if non-convective LLWS is forecasted and does not occur, or if LLWS occurs and is not forecast.

• READ MORE: How Do I Report Braking Action?

The forecaster that issues the TAFs is assigned to the “short term desk” and has other duties to include the area forecast discussion (AFD) and may also include the issuance of severe thunderstorm or tornado warnings for their county warning area (CWA). The forecaster shown below is located at the Greenville-Spartanburg WFO and has recently transmitted the 1800 UTC scheduled TAFs and is now working on the gridded forecasts for the GSP region. The national gridded forecasts can be found here. The AvnFPS software compares the current observations to the gridded forecasts looking for differences as well.

As mentioned earlier, TAFs are issued at prescribed times every six hours. For the Chicago, Atlanta, and New York City terminal areas, however, TAFs are now issued every two or three hours. The NWS began this about a decade ago as part of an enhanced aviation project for the FAA…and it went over so well that they adopted it permanently. For the Chicago O’Hare airport (KORD), for example, you might even see 2-hourly updates at certain times during the day. The 2-hourly issuance times match the times of the FAA planning conference calls. Unlike other WFOs where forecasters that issue TAFs have multiple duties, these WFOs have a dedicated aviation forecaster. 

Here’s the ugly side of this improvement. The two- or three-hourly forecast is treated as an amended forecast, not a newly constructed TAF. In fact, these non-standard scheduled TAFs will carry the AMD tag when viewed online or via a standard briefing. So, there’s no way to tell if the forecast was changed because the amendment criteria was reached or because it was time for a new forecast. Moreover, you won’t see a new forecast if an amendment has been issued within 90 minutes prior to the next 2- or 3-hour non-standard scheduled forecast. For many pilots, this subtle change won’t cause any significant impact to your current flight planning regiment. If you happen to fly into or out of a busy airspace such as Chicago, Atlanta, or New York, just keep in mind that forecasts will be updated much more frequently even on those not-so-challenging weather days. In the end, if you see a terminal forecast tagged with AMD, it may not be because the previous forecast was misaligned with reality. It simply may be a new and improved forecast for you to ponder.

• READ MORE: How Can I Get a Special VFR?

Do you have a question about aviation that’s been bugging you? Ask us anything you’ve ever wanted to know about aviation. Our experts in general aviation, flight training, aircraft, avionics, and more may attempt to answer your question in a future article.

The post Are There Any Amendment Criteria for a TAF? appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Advisory circulars from the FAA used to be sent to pilots via the U.S. mail. They were printed on blue paper and sometimes arrived with such frequency you felt like you were on Hogan’s Heroes—every message that the characters on that classic TV show got from London came on blue paper.

A great many of those ACs focused on weather—how to get a good weather briefing, mountain flying, thunderstorms, etc. Now all that information is available in FAA-H-8083-28, the newly updated version of the Aviation Weather Handbook.

The 532-page handbook is subdivided into three parts:

• Part 1: Overview of the United States Aviation Weather Service Program and Information.
• Part 2: Weather Theory and Aviation Hazards.
• Part 3: Technical Details Relating to Weather Products and Aviation Weather Tools.

The handbook features color illustrations and bullet point presentations that make the sometimes complex nature of weather easier to understand.

A Few Highlights

Chapter 2 provides an overview of aviation weather information. A few things that will jump out to instructors and savvy pilots include a detailed account of what to expect in a standard briefing, the order in which the information is delivered, the color coding used for METARs (spoiler alert: purple and red mean no VFR flight today).

Chapter 16 on Mountain Weather should be a must read by all pilots, as lack of knowledge in these areas in particular can lead to accidents. You have probably heard about a pilot who chose to fly close to those ‘really cool looking clouds’ to get a photograph and ended up in a bad situation.

Chapter 18, Obstructions to Visibility does an excellent job of explaining fog, mist, and haze.

Note the message: “mist may be considered an intermediate between fog and haze,” which is an excellent way to explain the phenomenon to aviators who are visual learners.

Chapter 22, Thunderstorms, goes into greater detail than in previous FAA publications, in particular on what to do if you inadvertently enter a thunderstorm—read it and then file it under “Things You Hope You Never Have to Know.”

The Aviation Weather Handbook is available in both e-format and hardcopy.

The post FAA Releases New Weather Handbook appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Better for the planet, better for people, better for profit—that’s how Honeywell described the impact of its newly enhanced and redesigned Honeywell Flight Efficiency platform. 

According to Honeywell (NASDAQ: HON), the platform is “designed to help aircraft operators make better decisions around their fuel utilization.” Pilots may also access the platform through a new customizable “Pilot Connect” app, the company said.

The cloud-based offering, previously known as Honeywell Forge Flight Efficiency, gathers a variety of data from aircraft operation and analyzes and simplifies it so that pilots and aircraft operators can get a clearer view of their operating costs, giving them the information they need to make changes to cut both expenses and carbon emissions.

Honeywell noted the new and improved Flight Efficiency includes in-air and on-ground solutions for flight operations, fuel manager, and maintenance personnel in a single user interface.

“This platform is aligned with the practical and immediate needs of our customers,” said Karen Miller, general manager for services and connectivity at Honeywell Aerospace. “The aviation industry is facing unprecedented increases in fuel and other operational costs. It is imperative for everyone in the ecosystem to work together to reduce operating costs while also creating a more sustainable future for aviation.”

Key features of the platform are: 

• Emission visibility: This helps the user reduce fuel consumption resulting in fewer emissions and lower operating costs, as well as potentially minimizing the additional cost of offsetting carbon emissions.
• Advanced trajectory analytics: Machine learning algorithms can automatically detect flight events and procedures such as automated shortcut detection, holding detection, acceleration altitude reduction and continuous descent operations, among others.
• Deep data analysis: Airlines can use the platform to analyze multiple disparate sources of data simultaneously to measure performance and derive insights. This can be configured to use either pre-defined analytics and reports or the customer can define their own custom queries.

Flight Efficiency includes in-air and on-ground solutions. By providing alerts and identifying savings opportunities, the solution can help airlines maximize profits while improving workflows among pilots, ground maintenance, and operations to increase productivity, according to Honeywell.

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Q: The PROG charts on the aviationweather.gov site depict a dotted yellow line shown as “troughs.” The location is seemingly random and sometimes between two closely positioned high pressure areas with no forecast precipitation and doubtful significant weather at those spots. Can you explain why this is important enough to depict on the PROG charts? How should I use the location of troughs information in my flight planning?

A: Before every flight, pilots should become familiar with the latest surface analysis and PROG charts to identify the major weather systems that are expected to affect the conterminous U.S. and southern Canada. These charts are made available on the aviationweather.gov and wpc.ncep.noaa.gov websites and depict an isobaric analysis—or forecast of pressure (in millibars) adjusted to mean sea level—that includes a few familiar features such as high and low pressure centers, as well as the location and type of surface frontal zones. They also may include a few unfamiliar features such as drylines, squall lines, convective outflow boundaries, intermediate isobars, and what are referred to as surface pressure troughs.

In general terms, a trough is simply an elongated area of low pressure with no distinct low-level pressure center. A trough is an axis (line) that defines both a wind shift and pressure change like a frontal zone. 

In fact, a front is an example of a surface pressure trough. From a surface pressure perspective, if a trough is headed your way, you will see the pressure begin to fall as the trough approaches and then as the center of the trough passes by you, the pressure will begin to increase. This is like what you see with a frontal passage. As such, all surface pressure troughs represent an area of surface convergence. 

Outside of the influence of local terrain, surface winds usually shift or flow counter-clockwise or cyclonically through it like a front. Essentially, winds flow down into the trough and converge at the point of the lowest pressure within the trough. Think about digging a V-shaped trough in your backyard to route rainwater off your property. If you pour water on each side of the trough you just dug, it will flow down into the trough and the water converges in the center.

Unlike frontal systems, surface pressure troughs depicted as an orange dashed line on the surface analysis and PROG charts issued by the Weather Prediction Center do not separate air masses. Consequently, most surface troughs do not have “weather” associated with them in the form of clouds and precipitation. Most lee-side troughs found downwind of a major mountain range are often cloudless, and thermal troughs forming over land during the day as a result of diurnal heating may only be found by a careful isobaric analysis. If the air is relatively dry and/or stable, little significant weather will be associated with a surface pressure trough. These are common to see in the central valleys of California, in the desert Southwest and on the lee side of the Rocky Mountains and Appalachians.  

There’s an important distinction here. As just mentioned, a trough is an elongated area of low pressure with no distinct low-level center. So, a trough has no real center of circulation and will typically not have any upper-level support mechanism associated with it. In other words, it’s a kink or wrinkle in the pressure field near the surface that could contribute to a non-frontal “change line” or wind shift line.  

Don’t completely discount their potential to produce adverse weather; if there’s plenty of moisture and if there’s available instability, these troughs can be the catalyst for convection, especially if the trough is moving out ahead of a frontal system. 

A good summary would be that a surface pressure trough is generally associated with a wind shift—but one with little or no temperature or moisture differences across it like you might see with a front. Usually, there will not be any significant weather associated with these non-frontal troughs. Once you climb out of the planetary boundary layer to cruise altitude, you probably won’t see much of an influence from a surface pressure trough.

You may also see other features shown on the surface analysis or PROG chart that have a symbology like a trough. These include squall lines, convective outflow boundaries, and intermediate isobars. 

On most surface analysis charts, it is customary to draw lines of constant pressure, known as isobars, at four-millibar intervals using a solid line. However, when the pressure gradient is weak, a meteorologist will often include intermediate isobars every one or two millibars. These intermediate isobars are dashed and closely resemble the symbol used to denote a surface pressure trough. The intermediate isobars use a dashed line to allow for quick recognition so that the pressure gradient doesn’t artificially appear excessive. As a result, the usage of intermediate isobars is left to the meteorologist’s discretion based on the pattern and value added to the surface analysis.

In addition to the surface pressure troughs, you may see those same orange dashed lines on the latest surface analysis chart that are used to depict convective outflow boundaries. Just to note, these outflow boundaries are not depicted on the surface PROG charts. Unfortunately, these look remarkably like the surface pressure troughs described above. To tell the difference, meteorologists add a note OUTFLOW BNDRY in proximity to the outflow boundary. 

Convective outflow is the “exhaust” of deep, moist convection or thunderstorms as cold, dense air exits the base of the convection and moves outward in all directions, like pouring pancake batter on a griddle. The edge of this outflow or gust front, is like a mesoscale cold front that can lay around long after the convection has subsided and may be the focal point of the next day’s round of convection.

Do you have a question about aviation that’s been bugging you? Ask us anything you’ve ever wanted to know about aviation. Our experts in general aviation, training, aircraft, avionics, and more may attempt to answer your question in a future article.

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When you get so familiar with a tool like the ForeFlight flight planning app, you may find yourself using only a select portion of the vast array of features that it seems developers are continually adding to the program.

And that would just be, well, wrong, because it may mean you’re missing functions that could not only make your planning easier, but maybe even make your entire flight run more smoothly—or more safely.

At EAA AirVenture 2022, ForeFlight is hosting a series of forums that go over new and popular features alike—and we have a round-up of those key elements here. So, whether you’re a newb or a “power user,” you may find something to like with ForeFlight that you didn’t know before.

Per Leg Altitude Planning

While it may seem like a simple thing, ForeFlight now gives pilots the ability to select multiple altitudes over a given flight, based on the leg. You know you rarely fly the single altitude you entered in your initial plan—you may need to duck around the weather, navigate airspace, or avoid terrain along the way. Now the app lets you reflect this in your planning stages.

Hazard Advisor Enhancements

One of the best parts of ForeFlight is its ability to help you foresee hazards and plan to mitigate them, via Hazard Advisor. New functions enhance this capability, including:

• Altitude preview, to manually control Hazard Advisor’s altitude before a flight, and
• Auto Hazard Advisor, which transitions HA into auto mode after you take off, following your current altitude for a view of the surrounding terrain

Global Graphical NOTAMs

Once only available in Europe, graphical notices to air missions (NOTAMs) can now be shown on the app around the world. The new NOTAMs map layer color-codes the advisories in red, yellow, or gray depending on whether they are active, and their type and severity.

Toggle Airways, Waypoints, and Navaids

A feature driven directly by user input? You can now customize your ForeFlight map display by toggling between airways, navaids, and waypoints, quickly decluttering the screen—these were formerly included in a single toggle.

Enhanced, Integrated Weight and Balance

The weight and balance planning feature in ForeFlight was once an isolated portion of the app—and now it is built into the Flights function, automatically incorporating fuel quantities and cargo loads, and instantly responding to changes.

• READ MORE: FLYING‘s Complete Coverage of EAA AirVenture ’22

New features such as Saved Loads and Standard Weights streamline the weight and balance planning process overall.

Influencers and Experts at OSH22

If you make it to AirVenture this week, ForeFlight offers a host of forums and opportunities to talk with its roster of experts and popular pilots you may follow on social media channels, such as Steve Thorne, aka “Flight Chops,” and Emily Norman, from “Between Two Wings.” Catch the full schedule here.

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The ability to use a mechanical E6B flight computer—a form of a circular slide rule that helps calculate things like fuel burn, wind correction, and time en route—is the “cursive writing” of the aviation world. Once taught in every flight school and used in every cockpit, it is increasingly rare as other technologies—apps and the electronic flight computer—have replaced it. Some people might argue that the mechanical E6B “flight confuser” is old technology and should be retired. However, it still works for solving performance questions, and there are still pilots who prefer it.

I own both mechanical and electronic E6B flight computers. And, I teach both because as long as they are both used in the aviation world, it is my responsibility to show them to learners.

Price Can Dictate Use

The mechanical E6Bs run from $12 to $15, while the metal ones are typically $40 to $50. The electronic versions result in more precise calculations and cost about $80 to $120. Batteries, usually AA, AAA, or the lithium coin type are extra.

The Mechanical E6B

The mechanical E6B is the more versatile descendant of the government issued G-1 True Airspeed flight computer from World War II. The G-1 was round, about 8 inches across and made from Bakelite, an early form of plastic. It was issued to flight crews in the U.S. military. (I have one of these vintage devices—it is dark brown with light brown lettering. It was used on a B-17 and even has the old Boeing logo including the totem pole on it.)

The modern E6B can be made of cardboard, plastic, or metal. No matter what material it is made from, it looks intimidating—all those numbers, all those scales—but once you read the directions (which are printed on the instrument) and do a few practice calculations, learning can take place.

Start by simply looking at the device, noting the different scales. Most of the devices come with instruction manuals to help you figure them out. There are also numerous videos online that can help you get up to speed. On the calculation side, you find the instructions to determine density altitude, time, speed, and distance, plus fuel consumption and the true airspeed to calibrated airspeed conversion. For visual and kinetic learners, seeing the big picture on the mechanical E6B and how the scales relate to each other can be very useful. 

Note the scales for distance measurement on the sides of the instrument and the temperature conversion scale at the bottom. 

The wind side helps a pilot determine ground speed and wind correction angle. When marked up to determine ground speed and the wind correction angle, the device can be very effective to teach the concept of crosswinds and even VORs, because the wind side resembles a VOR compass rose.

Pro tip: When using the manual E6B for cross-country flights—mark the different winds with different symbols. For example, 3,000 feet with an *, 6,000 feet with an X, etc., and do not erase the mark until the end of the flight because if you have to divert, you save the step of re-marking the wind dot.

Electronic E6B

The electronic E6B tends to be favored because it resembles a calculator, which most people (by the time they are old enough to begin flight training) have used a few times. The formulas for the calculations are often printed on the backside of the instrument. Just like the manual version, it takes time to read all the instructions. The electronic version is more precise than the manual device; however, the screen can be difficult to read in direct sunlight. Also, some of the devices go through batteries quickly, so always have spares—and the instructions can wear off or be scratched off if the unit is stuffed in a gear bag or dropped on the ramp. 

E6B Apps

We live in an app-happy world. There are several E6B apps to choose from, including apps from flight training powerhouse Sporty’s and flight planning powerhouse ForeFlight. For the pilot who uses an iPad, the app can be a good fit—provided you know how to use it before you need to use it. There are pilots who use a hybrid approach—using the app or the electronic one when they do their flight planning and navlog, then switching to the mechanical E6B in the airplane.

• LEARN MORE: Previous Editions of “What a CFI Wants You to Know”

It can be distressing when the learner has only used the apps that generate an electronic navlog and hasn’t learned the basics of flight planning, such as how to calculate ground speed, time en route, density altitude, or wind correction angles—all things determined with the E6B and necessary when completing a navlog.

Some learners present the attitude that they do not need to know how to use an E6B or complete the navlog because “there is an app for that.” A few claim they’ve been told it is an antiquated skill, as an app is more efficient. That may be true, but when the GPS and ForeFlight are turned off and the magenta line goes away (and you know that will happen during your check ride), you lose the ability to determine ground speed or time en route, and the ability to divert goes missing as well. Learn how to do a paper navlog and use an E6B as a backup—just like you learned basic math with a pencil and paper. 

While I appreciate anything that increases efficiency and reduces a pilot’s workload in the cockpit—like having an app do all the math or the magenta line showing you the way—it concerns me when it comes at the expense of basic cross-country skills. For the VFR pilot, nothing can replace pilotage, and looking out the window and locating those landmarks you put on your navlog is one of the best parts of being a pilot. You can’t get that from an app.

The post Make Friends With the E6B appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

As global reports of disruptions in the fuel supply chain continue to emerge, FLYING recently spoke with representatives from Avfuel, a global supplier of aviation fuel with more than 3,000 locations in nearly 150 countries. With a clientele of more than 5,500 flight departments, it’s tied to the fuel issues as closely as anyone. 

“The entire industry is feeling the impact of low fuel inventories,” Muneeb Ahmed, director of trading and logistics for Avfuel, told FLYING. Ahmed said his company had been doing what it could to procure enough fuel from its suppliers and minimize disruption for customers. To achieve that, though, comes at a cost.

Volatility is Widespread and Could Continue

“We have also been using our logistics footprint to bring fuel from higher inventories into areas with lower inventories. Sometimes, this has involved running trucks hundreds of miles across state lines,” Ahmed said. What’s worse, by his estimation, the volatility in the market is expected to continue, which means operators will need to do whatever they can to ensure their businesses can continue to run uninterrupted. 

While it isn’t immediately clear how GA and business operators are faring, airlines have reduced some of their flying schedules to offset the higher fuel cost, especially in areas like the Northeast, where the price of jet-A has been particularly high. 

However, Ahmed was quick to point out how widespread the issue is.

“While the Northeast region is the area being impacted the most, this is impacting almost every region in the U.S.,” he said. “We have also seen unprecedented volatility in Chicago, Group 3—A petroleum products trading hub based in Tulsa, Oklahoma that serves the U.S. midcontinent region, including the West Coast and Gulf Coast markets.”

How to Plan for Fuel Shortages

What can pilots and operators do to stave off the punishment at the pump? There is some low-hanging fruit. The most obvious tactic is pre-planning. 

“Pre-planning as far ahead as possible is ideal for mitigating costs or the risk of flying into airports with little fuel,” said Heath Beasley, Avfuel’s operations manager who oversees the company’s trip support service for clients. On its end, Avfuel tries to lessen the workload for customers by confirming fuel availability at destination airports before advising customers where to go so that they don’t run into an issue. 

It seems obvious, but in March, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (KAUS) issued a series of fuel alerts to warn incoming flights of jet fuel shortages and advised them to tanker the extra they’d need to leave.

The jet fuel shortage alert lifted this afternoon and normal fueling operations have resumed.

We’re expecting busy days now through the summer, especially on Thursdays, Fridays, Sundays and Mondays. The busiest time of day continues to be before 8 a.m. pic.twitter.com/AJsgLInFOt

— Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) (@AUStinAirport) March 30, 2022

Ironically, the airport is a victim of an on-rush of increased passenger traffic, which in March was up 147 percent compared to March 2021, mainly because of popular events held in the city. It was the busiest month in the airport’s history. General aviation traffic there between January and March was up 31.9 percent compared to the same period in 2021. 

While the airport could resolve the issue, travel demand remains strong in the summer. There could be more disruption, particularly as the airport is also struggling to expand its outdated fuel storage facilities because of pushback from the city council community members.   

As mentioned, the other low-hanging fruit is tankering fuel. While Avfuel doesn’t measure this to see if there has been an uptick—as seen from the Austin crisis—operators have no choice but to adjust. 

Brian Walker, JetLinx’s director of acquisition strategy and partnerships, shared with FLYING that after an earlier scenario where an airport in Bozeman, Montana, advised his charter company that they’d run out of fuel, the company began tankering.

“We try to tanker as much fuel out of those bases to alleviate any last-minute calls,” Walker explained. He said that if it’s done right, jet owners who leverage the charter service could see a significant upside—sometimes up to $20,000 in fuel savings on specific weeklong trips resulting from strategic tankering.

Jetcard Programs Help—To an Extent

What about fuel card programs? Could they protect customers from shortages? Not exactly. “Unfortunately, fuel cards cannot prevent a market from running out of fuel,” said Avfuel’s vice president of contract fuel, Jonathan Boyle. 

“Fuel cards are simply purchasing programs, like having an American Express card,” he said. “However, benefits fuel cards can offer are particularly useful in volatile markets. Having a fuel card implies customers are now in a partnership with subject matter experts on everything fuel related.”

That means customers may get reports on weekly fuel prices with specific notes for certain locations, or like Avfuel provides, “detail about a certain market, including ‘tanker through’ scenarios.” 

Additional membership benefits include emergency notices on fuel or pricing availability, market conditions and insights, and other information to make proactive planning easier.

Hedging Might Work

There is the option of hedging, but that has its risks. It’s an upfront capital commitment and a bet on the price paid to be a bargain. Some airlines are known to do this, and Ahmed said independent operators and business aviation flight departments are doing the same, maybe for a good reason. 

“We are seeing growing interest in Avfuel’s Price Risk Management Program as more and more business aviation departments and FBOs are looking to hedge and protect themselves from another sharp uptick in prices.” This could work out for them because Ahmed points out that “most major banks, including Goldman Sachs, believe that crude oil prices are still trading at a discount and expect prices could exceed $125 per barrel over the next few months.”

So, from his estimates, market indications are that fuel bills might continue to rise. If operators are looking for signs that things may ease up, Ahmed said the most important metric worth paying attention to is local availability.

“Import, export, and refinery volumes are more macro measures that will impact prices, but not necessarily on the availability of local supply,” he said. “Local supply disruptions can be caused by the limited availability of haulers, pipeline issues, etc.—much of which can be alleviated to some degree by planning.”

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Imagine this: It’s a beautiful VFR day, and you are launching on a two-hour flight to visit friends. Your aircraft is a typical small airplane with a single piston engine. At your initial position on the runway, you apply full power, and the takeoff roll begins. At that same instant, a countdown starts. For the next 90 seconds, you are at a highly increased risk for an accident. In fact, it may be one of the most dangerous parts of your entire flight.

The numbers change from year to year, from one report to another, but they generally agree. Roughly 20 percent of airplane accidents occur during the takeoff and climb-out phase. It is a deceivingly short period—one that leaves many pilots vulnerable and unprepared.

Your hypothetical flight will last two hours. The first 90 seconds of that time, which is less than 1 percent of your total flight, is where two of every 10 accidents occur. That departure now takes on a different character. But you don’t have to blithely accept the odds. You can easily stack the deck in your favor. All that is required is some simple planning using a using a specific framework.

The Departure Profile

When the takeoff power goes in, the clock starts running. You have entered the departure profile. This phase of flight lasts roughly 90 seconds and is comprised of four distinct segments. Each presents a unique scenario with its own risks and mitigations.

The Takeoff Roll: The takeoff roll lasts roughly 15 seconds in most single-engine airplanes. The aircraft is on the runway surface and is accelerating to rotation speed.

Rotation/Runway Remaining: At rotation, the short climb phase with runway remaining begins. In most airplanes, on most runways, this period also lasts about 15 seconds. After that, there is no remaining runway ahead and the initial climb begins.

Initial Climb: This is the most dangerous segment of the takeoff profile. During this period, approximately 60 seconds in duration, the airplane is relatively low to the ground in a climb configuration. Neither time nor glide distance are in your favor. A loss of thrust here carries the highest degree of risk.

Departure Climb: The initial climb segment ends when the aircraft has reached a previously selected altitude that we’ll call “the decision height.” This is where the departure climb begins. Increasing altitude creates reduced risk.

It is important to reiterate that each of the departure profile segments carries different risks and requires different mitigations. There are two key points that will massively reduce your risk during the entire departure profile: First, understand the four segments and scenarios, and second, adhere to a carefully planned safety briefing performed immediately before takeoff.

There is very little of this that isn’t at least mentioned during you primary training as a private pilot. The problem is, it is usually glossed over and not taught as an integrated concept. Rarely do I see pilots address these issues before they cross the hold-short line. There’s no briefing—they just taxi out, add power and go. Failure to brief this model before every takeoff massively increases a pilot’s risk.

Cognitively, pilots know it. They understand that if the power fails right after rotation, their only option is to land straight ahead on whatever remains in front of them. They just fail to brief it. This failure to brief guarantees that they will respond to the emergency more slowly. If your engine fails at 50 feet agl, you have about 15 seconds—at best—to transition to a landing attitude and touch the tires to pavement. On a short runway, you have even less time. Foul this up and you’ll still touch pavement, but not as gracefully as you would like. Briefing this in advance is the key to success. It will save you valuable seconds, and in a 15-second window, every moment counts.

The Takeoff Roll

Starting at the initial position, the takeoff roll begins the instant that the appropriate power setting is applied. The airplane accelerates to rotation speed, but it’s still on the ground. Obviously, some airplanes will lift off more quickly than others. Generally speaking, though, the takeoff roll lasts about 15 seconds for single-engine general aviation airplanes. During this period, any dangerous situation should be recognized and responded to with a rejected takeoff.

Troublesome symptoms include any loss of directional control, unexpected sounds or smells, and roughness felt in the airframe. External factors may come into play too. Perhaps you see debris on the runway or an airplane taxing out in front of you. Fifteen seconds is not a lot of time, so recognize the problem, quickly kill the power and brake to a stop.

Rotation and Runway Remaining

Once the aircraft has rotated, there is a brief amount of time in which runway remaining in front of you is sufficient for landing. This time window varies based on the airplane and the runway length. Assuming a garden-variety Cessna 172 on a 5,000-foot runway, the window exists for roughly 15 seconds. After that, it is unlikely that you can descend and land on runway pavement. As always, the better prepared you are, the more quickly you can execute the proper response and get safely on the ground.

This maneuver may appear deceptively simple. I suggest that people practice this with an instructor at an airport with a sufficiently long runway at a time when there is no traffic inbound or in the pattern. It is better to experience this in a controlled environment than in the heat of a real battle.

The trick is to quickly transition from a takeoff configuration to a landing configuration. This involves a swift change in attitude. Nose-up with decaying airspeed must change to nose-down with a stable airspeed. Pitch down too much, and you find yourself accelerating toward the ground too quickly. A finely controlled change in attitude is required.

Immediately after pitching down to a landing attitude, pull the throttle to idle. This isn’t the time for an engine to suddenly roar back to life—you are trying to land. Turning off systems and setting the mixture to the idle-cutoff position would be an even more thorough solution, but time likely won’t allow it. Pitch down, power off and land.

Initial Climb

This is the highest risk segment of the entire departure profile by far. Visualize it: You are in the air, climbing away from the airport, but still relatively low to the ground. An engine failure here offers you no more in options than it did during the rotation and runway-remaining segment. In both segments, your option is to transition to a landing attitude and configuration, and land essentially straight ahead. The big difference here is that landing on runway is not one of your available choices. Whatever is in front of you, that is where you are going. Paraphrasing Bob Hoover: Fly it as far into the crash as possible.

At the lowest of altitudes in the initial climb segment, you really are limited to straight ahead. But with increasing height above the ground comes an opening of the “pie slice.” A widening triangle of available landing spots appears.

As always, altitude increases your options. If possible, land into the wind. The amount of force your aircraft will absorb in a crash is a quadratic function of groundspeed, which boils down to this: Minimizing groundspeed radically improves your odds of survivability.

In this segment, under no circumstances should you attempt a return to the airport. The “impossible turn” lives here (a term I detest, by the way). There isn’t enough bandwidth available in this article to address this properly, so let me simply make this assertion: The turn-back (the proper term for the maneuver) is impossible when it is impossible. When it is no longer physically impossible, you are no longer in the initial climb, and you have reached an altitude where the departure-climb segment begins. And even then, it is highly unlikely that you should attempt the turn-back.

The turn-back may be an option—and perhaps even your best option—but only under a tightly defined set of circumstances. If you aren’t properly trained for it, or if you failed to brief it before takeoff, don’t attempt it. (I appreciate that this is a controversial topic. Please refer to my series of short articles about the turn-back on groundschool.com. No login required.)

Departure Climb

At some predetermined altitude, you may have the ability to safely turn up to 180 degrees as you descend toward the ground. This is your decision height. It should be determined in advance by testing at altitude. For most piston singles, it will be roughly 1,000 feet agl. This does not mean that the turn-back should be executed at this altitude; it simply identifies the point in your departure profile where you can glide to a forced landing in any direction. Also note that the decision height may be significantly
higher than 1,000 feet in some airplanes.

Once in the departure-climb segment, your risk level has returned to moderate. Remain vigilant, but appreciate that your increasing altitude is providing greater glide distance and time aloft that translates into more options for you.

Executing Your Survival Plan

After completing your pre-takeoff checklist and run-up, at some point before you taxi onto the runway, run through a quick emergency briefing. It should be a bullet- point list with little detail, covering each of the four departure segments. The goal of the briefing is to set the trigger in your head, queueing up your emergency responses for quick recall and execution.

Well-known airline captain and flight instructor Brian Schiff suggests that pilots should go one step further. Brief the takeoff emergencies, he says, but additionally, develop a series of callouts for each of the critical phases during the departure. It is one more simple habit that can reduce your risk dramatically. I recommend that you take his advice.

Embrace the pre-takeoff emergency briefing. Apply it to your everyday flights. The departure profile is a high-risk model yet one that is easily defined, understood and addressed.

This article originally appeared in the October 2021 issue of FLYING.

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