Flight Training - July 2015 - 41

60 knots all day to the full 120 knots allowed under
Light Sport rules.
If you like the big iron-that twin sitting on the
flight school's flight line has already caught your
eye. It requires lots of ground school and a checkride, but not many flight hours to call yourself a
multiengine pilot.

environment? The instrument scan you develop as
part of your instrument training will keep you level
and at the proper climb angle when those occasions
arise, such as flying over a bay or large lake at night.
The private pilot certificate's minimum number
of training hours required under the hood and flying
solely by reference to instruments may not be enough
to get you out of trouble sometime in the future.
Practice with a qualified safety pilot in the right seat.
That's one possible alternative to starting on the
instrument rating as soon as the private pilot certificate is completed.

DOUBLE-CROSSING CROSSWINDS

One of the most frequent challenges you'll face is a
crosswind-hopefully slight ones to start. It's wise to
perfect the technique by yourself before those longer
trips with passengers.
Build confidence in light winds at the home airport, and build up gradually to the winds you will set
as part of your personal limitations. Challenge yourself. "We used to look for runways that had winds 90
degrees to the runway," one flight instructor said. If it
turns out to be too challenging, go around.
The real world demands proficiency with crosswind landings. It will be impossible to perfectly
predict winds three hours ahead of time at the
destination. You'll need to be able to handle whatever
exists at the time you land. You might as well face it;
you're going to make friends with crosswinds.

WEAR A HOOD

A student at a local flight school saw his training
delayed, but he had a plan. He had soloed in the
winter of 2014, then weather prevented him from flying again until the following March. "I'm going to get
my private and go right into instrument training," he
said. If you can afford it, that's a great plan.
For one thing, it leaves you in the training environment while you are a low-time pilot. For another, it
has an immediate payoff for flying under visual flight
rules. Ever take off on a clear night and discover there
is no horizon visible minutes after leaving the airport

TALK IT UP

One of the things you probably liked least during
pilot training was talking on the radio. That's why
it may be a good idea to periodically practice that.
Less-busy airports with air traffic control towers but no approach or departure control offer the
least challenge, but if you are already comfortable
with that, visit airports with more complicated
procedures.
If you have the most complicated airport as a
neighbor, Class B, get used to the procedures found
there. Many of the Class B airports not only discourage touch and go landings, but prohibit them. You
may be able to land, taxi back to the approach end
of the runway, and take off again-depending on the
traffic volume. Or fly in, pay that landing fee, have
that now-expensive soft drink, and then go through
all the radio procedures required to depart. You'll
want to call the fixed base operator, which may well
be a jet center, to learn the times when the airport has
the least traffic.
I once thought it would be a great idea to land at
Boston's Logan International Airport and depart the
next day-until I discovered it would take a landing
fee of $33, an overnight fee of $73.70, a Massport fee
of $39.60, a handling charge of $36 (unless I bought
seven gallons of gas), and a security fee of $72.25 to
do that. When going to Class B, bring lots of cash.
Try some of these tricks to keep yourself always
practicing-and always learning.
Senior Editor Al Marsh has been a pilot since 1970, has an ATP
certificate, and is an instrument and multiengine flight instructor.
JULY 2015 FLIGHT TRAINING

/ 41
Flight Training - July 2015

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