Flight Training - March 2015 - 19

PRODUCTS

BY ALTON K. MARSH

Useful tips from an experienced instructor
Here's a booklet you'll want to download
CORBIN HALLARAN HAS acted as chief safety officer at Premiere Aircraft Sales in Fort Lauderdale,
Florida, for several years. I flew with him while
researching a story on the company's diesel Cessna
172. He has collected a series of quick tips and practical advice for the average pilot that can also be a
good review for the flight review. You can download
it (www.flypas.com/index.php/buy-an-aircraft).
You'll find "The Proficient Pilot: A Collection of
Pilot Safety Articles" on the left side of the Web
page. Here are some samples.
KEEP YOUR PILOT SKILLS UP WHEN THE ECONOMY
IS DOWN. Here's some advice you won't see in any

training booklet. Hallaran says you can still stay
current when the economy drops and you find
yourself spending fewer hours in the cockpit than
you would like; have a plan. Here are some things
you can put in that plan.
Take online courses available at www.airsafety
institute.org and www.faasafety.gov. Plan on a onehour local flight each month and do maneuvers
you haven't done in years, like turns around a point
while scanning inside and outside references. Don't
remember your student pilot maneuvers? They can
be found online (www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/
handbooks_manuals).
Write down your limitations on a piece of paper,
to include your maximum crosswind, minimum
ceilings, visibility, slowest indicated airspeed you
will allow, maximum bank angles you will use, and
landing distances (runways) you will accept. Consider improving on those limits. If your maximum
crosswind is 10 knots, why not work with a flight
instructor to increase it to 15?
Performing the maneuvers, Hallaran says, can
give you an indication of how you will perform in a
stressful environment.
DISTRACTIONS CAN BE DEADLY. Discourage unnecessary talk during preflight, startup, taxi, takeoff,
climbout and landing. Let your passengers know
they can talk during these times if they see something that doesn't look right, see traffic or point
out birds.
Have you ever done this while taxiing to the
runway; set radios, get the recorded weather

information, write down and read back an IFR
clearance, run up the engine while on the move?
Hallaran suggests, "Don't." Do all that while not
moving.
Dump digital distractions. Have you ever made
or received a phone call while in the middle of
a preflight? Have you sent text messages while
approaching or leaving an airfield to say, "I just
departed," or, "I am just arriving"? Again, Hallaran
advises, "Don't." And music in the cockpit is great...
for the passengers. You need to listen for air traffic
controllers.
HEADING SOMEWHERE UNFAMILIAR? There are
ways to take the strangeness out of a strange new
airport. You won't have familiar landmarks you use
at your home airport, so call ahead and ask what
they are at your destination. The local fixed base
operator or flight school either knows or can put
a pilot on the phone. Call them both. Use Google
Earth to scope out the airport environment, especially if the area is mountainous.
Things to note before departure, Hallaran
says, are the operating hours for available airport
services, obstacles, wildlife, runway closures, and
varying traffic patterns.
What about density altitude? Is this going to be
a hot summer day, high-altitude airport? You may
want to plan for morning and evening departures
when temperatures are lower.
Temporary flight restrictions can pop up not only
before departure, but may become active while you
are enroute, especially during election years, Hallaran notes.
In addition, Hallaran offers practical advice on
getting the most out of that Garmin G1000 avionics suite, engine management, the benefit of higher
altitudes for cruise, and preparing for an emergency. No one likes to think the engine might quit
on takeoff, but what if it does?
As Hallaran notes in his booklet, "Ready or not,
bad things happen to good pilots." He doesn't
preach from the pulpit of a perfect pilot, noting he
nearly got in trouble over fuel management, and
explains how to avoid a similar problem.
The booklet is free and easily downloaded with
the click of a mouse.

MARCH 2015 FLIGHT TRAINING

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http://www.flypas.com/index.php/buy-an-aircraft http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org http://www.faasafety.gov http://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals http://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals

Flight Training - March 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - March 2015