I should NOT have done the flight with the weight I had onboard…..but in those early days wise decisions eluded me…”

Many faults exist in the GA training sectors, and one of them, sadly, is a lack of emphasis on performance planning. Pilot’s often train at an airfield that is long enough for their aircraft, cross countries are conducted into similar large airfields. Instructors neglect to instil any reverence for confirming performance calculations during ground training, leaving pilots ambivalent to the threats of a short rough pr high altitude course.

An aircraft at sea level on the coast, in cool temperatures close to ISA, and an aircraft in the interior highlands at ISA +30 provide very different lift characteristics. A graded, highly compact, well used runway will likewise, have very different acceleration to a rough, over-grown, poorly prepared farm strip. It’s not forbidden but nor are there any figures for a rough gravel strip. It is forbidden and the are NO figures for an overweight aircraft. Most light four seat aircraft cannot fly with four normal sized people and full tanks.

The Pilot Who Wasn’t so Lucky

In another similar situation, at Windhoek 5500ft AMSL with an ambient temperature approximately 35 degrees Celsius, giving a density altitude just over 9000ft, a commercial pilot, normally flying on the coast, with a similar mindset, made a fatal decision.

Windshear reported on the main runway prompted ATC to offer the pilot the secondary runway. The runway was 1000m long, and more than adequate for a fully loaded C210 at sea level. The pilot knew the airfield, and hadn’t felt the need to carry airport charts, so asked ATC how long the secondary runway was. ATC provided an incorrect figure of 1500m, which he later corrected to 1000m, however the pilot had already entered the runway and to backtrack to the threshold, and a change of runway now may have appeared to him a loss of face in front of passengers. Considering the risks and benefits, thinking the length of the runway should be adequate, since it was not much shorter than the airfield he normally operated out of at sea level, this may have been a deciding factor.

This pilot wasn’t so lucky.

Shortly after takeoff the aircraft failed to gain altitude and when the pilot attempted to turn to avoid climbing terrain, he stalled, the aircraft impact with terrain and fire killing everyone on board.

Link to Article Containing Fairly Accurate Details of the Accident Report
Link to Forum Discussion on the Accident detailing some History and Photos

The Lessons?
What I want to ask here, is when are we going to start learning these lessons in ground school, and not in near misses and accidents.

When are we going to learn that the cost and time invested in training is far less than that of our passengers lives?

Both of these scenarios would never have happened if the pilots had had proper training to really get to know the performance and handling of aircraft they were operating and had taken the time to consider the proper, mandatory pre-flight planning.

Put a lawn mower (with gas in it) in the back seat. Add a power inverter with a laptop plugged into it.

Slosh out a little gas during and after landing. And just as the pilot smells the vapors and starts feeling around for the leak, add a spark.

Don’t add a cabin fire extinguisher—the pilot had removed it because it got in his way.

Add fire trucks, about 15 minutes later.

Spend a few minutes thinking about what this would have been like airborne.

The photographer arrived at the airstrip just an hour before sundown. Sure enough, a small Cessna airplane was waiting. He jumped in with his equipment and shouted, “Let’s go!” The tense man sitting in the pilot’s seat swung the plane into the wind and soon they were in the air, though flying erratically.

“Fly over the north side of the fire,” said the photographer, “and make several low-level passes.” “Why?” asked the nervous pilot. “Because I’m going to take pictures!” yelled the photographer. “I’m a photographer, and photographers take pictures.”

The pilot replied, “You mean you’re not the flight instructor?”

A boy says to his father “Dad, can I be a pilot when I grow up?”,
The father replies “Son, I’m sorry but you can’t do both.”

No matter what else happens, fly the airplane.
Forget all that stuff about thrust and drag, lift and gravity;
an airplane flies because of money.

It’s better to be down here wishing you were up there,
than up there wishing you were down here.

If you’re ever faced with a forced landing at night,
turn on the landing lights to see the landing area.
If you don’t like what you see, turn’ em back off.

A check ride ought to be like a skirt, short enough to be interesting
but still be long enough to cover everything.

Speed is life, altitude is life insurance.
No one has ever collided with the sky.

Always remember you fly an airplane with your head, not your hands.

Never let an airplane take you somewhere
your brain didn’t get to five minutes earlier.

Don’t drop the aircraft in order to fly the microphone.
An airplane flies because of a principle discovered by
Bernoulli, not Marconi.

“Unskilled” pilots are always found in the wreckage
with their hand around the microphone.

If you push the stick forward, the houses get bigger;
if you pull the stick back they get smaller.
(Unless you keep pulling the stick back-then they get bigger again.)

Hovering is for pilots who love to fly but have no place to go.

The only time you have too much fuel is when you’re on fire.

Flying is the second greatest thrill known to man. Landing is the first!

Everyone already knows the definition of a ‘good’ landing
is one from which you can walk away.
But very few know the definition of a ‘great landing.
It’s one after which you can use the airplane another time.

The probability of survival is equal to the angle of arrival.

IFR: I Follow Roads.

You know you’ve landed with the wheels up
when it takes full power to taxi.

Those who hoot with the owls by night,
should not fly with the eagles by day.

A helicopter is a collection of rotating parts going round and round
and reciprocating parts going up and down -
all of them trying to become random in motion.

Helicopters can’t really fly -
they’re just so ugly that the earth immediately repels them.

Pilots believe in clean living.
They never drink whiskey from a dirty glass.

Things which do you no good in aviation:
Altitude above you.
Runways behind you.
Fuel in the truck.
Half a second ago.
Approach plates in the car.
The airspeed you don’t have.

If God meant man to fly, He’d have given him more money.

What’s the difference between God and fighter pilots?
God doesn’t think he’s a fighter pilot.

Flying is not dangerous; crashing is dangerous.

A good simulator check ride is like successful surgery on a cadaver.

Asking what a pilot thinks about the FAA
is like asking a fireplug what it thinks about dogs.

Trust your captain but keep your seat belt securely fastened.

An airplane may disappoint a good pilot, but it won’t surprise him.

Any pilot who relies on a terminal forecast
can be sold the Brooklyn Bridge.
If he relies on winds-aloft reports he can be sold Niagara Falls.

The friendliest flight attendants are those on the trip home.

Good judgment comes from experience
and experience comes from bad judgment.

Being an airline pilot would be great
if you didn’t have to go on all those trips.

Aviation is not so much a profession as it is a disease.

The nicer an airplane looks, the better it flies.

There are three simple rules for making a smooth landing.
Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.

It’s a good landing if you can still get the doors open.

Passengers prefer old captains and young flight attendants.

The only thing worse than a captain who never flew as copilot
is a copilot who once was a captain.

It’s best to keep the pointed end going forward as much as possible.

If an earthquake suddenly opened a fissure in a runway
that caused an accident,
the NTSB would find a way to blame it on pilot error.

Any attempt to stretch fuel is guaranteed to increase headwind.

A thunderstorm is never as bad on the inside as it appears on the outside. It’s worse.

It’s easy to make a small fortune in aviation.
You start with a large fortune.

A male pilot is a confused soul who talks about women when he’s flying,
and about flying when he’s with a woman.

A fool and his money are soon flying more airplane than he can handle.

The last thing every pilot does before leaving the aircraft
after making a gear up landing
is to put the gear selection lever in the ‘down’ position.

Try to keep the number of your landings equal
to the number of your takeoffs.

Takeoff’s are optional. Landings are mandatory.

You cannot propel yourself forward by patting yourself on the back.

Here’s an exerpt, so you’ll understand why I find it cute, helpful, and homourous, all the GoNumbers’ mantras.

Hold the Mayonnaise

Let’s consider a transmission. Then let’s replace all the unnecessary words with the word “mayonnaise.” Then we’ll hold the mayonnaise and see how much it cleans up the call.

Why say it in 44 words when you can say it in just 15 words?

Next time, before you speak, remember to “Hold the Mayonnaise”.

Check out the rest of the file at www.redskyventures free stuff: . Flight Express operated some Cessna 210s on IFR freight operations, if you want to learn more about the C210, Austin Collins also has a Cessna 210 guide, a short internet search should find it, and you can also check out our Cessna 210 text book at Cessna 210 Book.

Jul 9, 2010

David Collogan

A notice from the FAA that it may require pilots to meet tougher minimum training and experience standards before serving as copilots in FAR Part 121 flight operations is generating considerable angst throughout the aviation community. Some fear the more-stringent standards could significantly curtail the number of student pilots, siphon experienced pilots to the airlines from other segments of the industry and ultimately result in a nationwide pilot shortage.

The concern results from an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published in response to the NTSB’s investigation of the Feb. 12, 2009, crash of a Colgan Air DHC-8 into a house during a night approach in light snow and mist to Buffalo-Niagara, N.Y., International Airport.
David Collogan dlcollogan@gmail.com

The NTSB determined that the captain’s inappropriate response to the activation of the stick shaker led to an aerodynamic stall from which the airplane did not recover. Among the contributing factors cited were the flight crew’s failure to monitor airspeed and adhere to sterile cockpit procedures, and the captain’s failure to effectively manage the flight. An examination of the captain’s training records revealed that he had flunked numerous flight checks, some because of an inability to demonstrate proficiency in basic airmanship.

The Buffalo accident, and the multiple deficiencies revealed, would no doubt have caused the FAA to take a close look at training standards without further prompting. But the agency doesn’t have any choice. Congress is prodding the regulators to take action.

Both the House and Senate rushed to enact legislation (H.R. 3371, the Airline Safety and Pilot Training Improvement Act of 2009, and S.1451, the FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act), both mandating tougher training standards. Differences between those measures would have to be resolved in a House-Senate conference committee.

The strong congressional reaction is not surprising given the circumstances of the Buffalo crash and the publicity it received. But we must reiterate our long-held view that few creatures are more dangerous than members of Congress reacting to a high-profile event by rushing to legislate technical standards that would be best addressed by federal regulators. You see, if a federal agency proposes a regulation that turns out to be flawed, it can be fixed or amended after a public comment period. Fixing a bad law, however, is akin to parting the Red Sea — it pretty much requires a miracle.

Both the House and Senate bills essentially require all Part 121 airline pilots (including first officers) to hold Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificates, which could be obtained only after an applicant had logged a minimum of 1,500 flight hours. Currently, Part 121 first officers need a minimum of 250 hours. It’s worth noting that the 47-year-old Colgan Air captain had accumulated 3,379 flight hours and the 24-year-old copilot 2,244 hours.

Unsurprisingly, the FAA’s ANPRM reflects congressional will. However, a chorus of those submitting comments on the proposal emphatically rejects the 1,500 hour/ATP requirement for Part 121 first officers to occupy the right seat.

GAMA said such a requirement could result in an adverse effect on safety because “pilots would no longer focus on getting the best training to prepare them for 121 operations, but rather the cheapest and easiest.”

The Regional Airline Association echoed that concern, noting that “raising the existing, arbitrary total flight hour requirement could have the unintended and negative effect of reducing the number of highly qualified airline pilot professionals without any demonstrable safety benefit.” Simply building hours can be done quickly and cheaply “in ways that do not meaningfully prepare students for airline operations (e.g., towing banners),” the RAA said.

Using an aircraft rental rate of $90 per hour, the NATA calculated that “a pilot would be required to spend $112,500 to acquire sufficient total time to qualify for an ATP certificate and that experience would be gained in the most simple of aircraft . . . without providing any exposure to Part 121 aircraft or operating procedures.” That, said NATA, “will do little but discourage pilots from pursuing a Part 121 career.”

NATA also criticized the “piecemeal approach” of the ANRPM, which it said “will lead to the shifting of the training and evaluation burden from the air carrier to the individual pilot and likely will only exacerbate any existing issues with Part 121 pilot proficiency and professionalism.”

The AOPA said an increase in hiring requirements by the air carriers would likely discourage potential pilots from entering aviation due to higher costs and longer time to qualify. “Long term this is a problem for the entire aviation community,” the AOPA said. “With fewer student pilots, an eventual pilot shortage may occur. It may be difficult or impossible to staff the vital jobs provided by general aviation as well as the nation’s air carriers.”

The association, like many others who filed comments, observed that “experience is not measured in flight time alone. Safety is a combination of experience and training in specific aircraft type and in specific flight conditions,” which is more important than logging a specific number of flight hours.

The deficiencies uncovered in the Buffalo investigation cry out for improvements in airline training programs. Will the FAA embrace industry calls for truly effective changes that actually improve safety? Or will congressional will prevail with an overreaching total flight time requirement offering only illusory safety payoffs while dramatically increasing training costs? There’s a lot riding on the answers to those two questions.

This comment really tickled my fancy. Why?

In RSA and a number of other less well endowed countries, the powers that be (CATCOs and CAAs) decided that airports don’t require departure procedures unless they have radar. This sad situation has been a sad one person campaign for me for some time, since, the odd educated aviator may agree “Yes, where there are obstacles restrict an omnidirectional departure, there must be an approved departure procedure”, but still, there are none. I still lie awake at night awaiting the time a foreign pilot - thinking an omnidirectional departure is possible, in the absence of instructions from the AIP otherwise, makes the infamous non-returnable departure into ‘cumulo granitus’.

The commenter further pointed out, somewhat correctly “Surely it’s more important to have a DP at an airport that doesn’t have radar?”*

Well Yes! Nice to have someone thinking logically!!

I’d love to hear what the aviation people out there think about this one, especially those from countries that do understand what and why departure procedures are applied.

*These comments were from Richard Moss: Master MCC and fixed base sim instructor.