Flight Training - November 2013 - 35

The solution is simple. Aircraft on
downwind can merely call out, “Cessna
One-Two-Three-Four-Five on an
extended downwind for departing aircraft
on Runway 9.” By doing nothing more
complex than extending your downwind
leg, you can provide the airplane waiting
to depart with plenty of time to taxi out
onto the runway, throttle up, and lift off
before you get anywhere near short final.
This basic kindness lowers the stress level
for everyone involved, sets a pattern of
behavior for others at your home airport,
and shows you to be a decent human
being who is willing to share the airspace
while maintaining good separation and a
high level of safety.
All pilots certificated as private or higher have to fulfill
night flying requirements. Many of them
continue to fly at night to take advantage of the smoother air found on cool
summer evenings, less traffic, excellent
visibility (under the right circumstances),
and generally better weather than we see
during the daylight hours. However, there
are precautions we must take to fly safely
at night. Most specifically, we need to
develop and protect our night vision.
It can take up to a half-hour for our
eyes to adjust to the darkness after
being exposed to bright lights. So pilots

planning to fly at night typically take precautions to shield themselves from bright
lights as they prepare for a night flight.
However, those precautions can be for
naught if they have no choice but to taxi
past airplanes on the ramp that have their
landing lights blazing away, even though
they’re established in their tie-down
spot and involved in their shut-down
procedures.
The fix is to simply be judicious about
your use of lights on the ground at night.
If you need the taxi or landing light to see
your way, use them, certainly. But if your
way is lit by blue taxiway lights, and the
ambient light on the ramp is sufficient to
allow you to navigate to your tie-down
spot, kill your taxi and landing lights out
of respect for others. There may still be
pilots preparing to launch into the dark
of night. Shut down your lights as soon
as you safely can, and help them have the
best vision they can as they rotate and
head into the heavens.

A question on the FAA private pilot
knowledge test asks who has the right
of way when two aircraft of the same
category are approaching each other.
This question catches a lot of applicants
because the rule is very different from
the rule for who has the right of way
when aircraft of different categories are
converging.

In short, when in the same category of
aircraft, the aircraft to the other’s right
has the right of way. When aircraft of a
different category are on a path of flight
that might cause them to intersect the
same point in space, the least maneuverable aircraft has the right of way.
These rules can be complicated when
you get into seaplane operations where
some of the objects on an intersecting
course are not aircraft, but rather boaters,
skiers, or swimmers.
Knowing the published right-of-way
rules is important. But having a mindset
that allows you to yield the right of way in
favor of safety—even when you don’t have
to—can be beneficial to safe operations.
Not everyone on the land, on the sea,
or in the air knows exactly what you’re
thinking. So when you see an aircraft on a
potentially conflicting course, be willing
to alter yours appropriately if you can.
There’s no point in maintaining your
course unnecessarily if you could avoid
the possibility of a mishap by altering
your course by a few degrees, or changing
altitude with plenty of time and distance
between you and the other aircraft.

By taking the more
conscientious view, you can enhance safety;
develop a reputation as a cautious, careful
pilot; and maybe even make a friend or two
along the way—all of which are perfectly
good reasons to show a little consideration to the aircraft, pilots, and passengers
around you whenever you fly.
Jamie Beckett is a writer and flight instructor living
in Winter Haven, Florida.

Extend courtesy to everyone at the airport
Courtesy isn’t something that is rationed in the event you run short. Dole it out
generously. Airport personnel deserve the same consideration that you would show
to other pilots. (And remember, some of them are pilots, too.) It’s true that there’s
a customer-service angle to the dynamic, but, as Abigail Van Buren (“Dear Abby” to
you) said, “The best index to a person’s character is how he treats people who can’t do
him any good, and how he treats people who can’t fight back.”

—Jill W. Tallman

NOVEMBER 2013 FLIGHT TRAINING

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Flight Training - November 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - November 2013