Flight Training - October 2019 - 43

TECHNIQUES AND SKILLS
Some of the most common technique or skill weaknesses may
seem to be minor details, but sometimes they are symptomatic of
larger problems within a pilot's skill set.
The smooth level-off. It is common to see a pilot level off
from a climb by first pulling the power back, then putting the
nose down, or doing both at the same time. Then she struggles to
hold altitude and wonders why. Do it the other way around-nose
level, leave the power up, hesitate to let it accelerate a little, then
bring the power back-and the airplane will hold altitude.
Nailing it. This leads into a discussion on the concept of
precision, meaning the ability to nail an altitude within a few
feet, hold a heading to the degree, and land an airplane on-or
close to-a chosen spot on the runway. Precision isn't a skill but
a mindset. It is a decision on the part of the pilot that everything
done in the airplane will be done in a way that puts the airplane
exactly where the pilot wants it. Skill makes precision happen,
but the concept is born of a built-in mindset.

The private pilot certificate
says that you have stepped over
the threshold into a learning
experience that lasts a lifetime.

teaching his student the importance of knowing emergency
procedures? The immediate actions connected to a lowaltitude engine failure are mentioned in ground school but
seldom practiced. Pick out local landing spots around your
home airport and include your emergency landing plan in
your pretakeoff brief. It's helpful to think of cross-countries
as a series of short legs that go from one ideal landing spot to
the next one. Don't be lulled into complacency by the myth of
mechanical infallibility.
Mechanical understanding. Speaking of mechanical
infallibility, almost universally instructors report running
into active pilots who are severely lacking in basic mechanical understanding of the machine they are going to trust
with their life. We're seeing pilots who know how to check
the magnetos, but don't know what they are or what they do.
With such limited understanding, a pilot won't know even
the basics, such as how to clear a fouled plug with a high rpm,
heavily leaned run at the hold-short line.

Explore aircraft systems and more in Flight Training's
"How It Works" archives (aopa.org/ft/how-it-works).

The private pilot certificate isn't proof that you know how
to fly. The certificate says that a representative of the U.S.
government has decided that, when in an airplane, you are not
an immediate danger to yourself or society. It says that you
Crosswind landings. Crosswinds are often seen as somehave learned how to learn and have stepped over the threshold
thing to be avoided, when they should be viewed as something
into a learning experience that lasts a lifetime. The truth is
to be understood and conquered. It's one of the most basic skills,
that every one of us is still learning. And that is reason enough
yet even pilots with some experience still avoid them. To expand
to get started early. A lifetime isn't nearly long enough to learn
your comfort zone, go out in stronger-than-usual crosswinds with everything that aviation has to teach. FT
an instructor and conquer that fear.
Holding altitude. Too many pilots spend too much time
BUDD DAVISSON is a flight instructor and aviation writer.
with their head in the cockpit, nose glued to the artificial
horizon, rather than scanning the nose attitude through the
windshield and cross checking the altimeter. The same goes
TECH TOOLS
for controlling airspeed: Because they don't control the nose
attitude visually, they have trouble controlling airspeed. Practice keeping your eyes outside the airplane and confirming
Old-school chart reading is indispensable-but
with the instruments.
don't discount that screen.
Cross-country planning is weak because of a growing
From moving-map displays to weather and traffic
dependency on electronics. It's hard to stress the importance of
in the cockpit, multifunction displays and iPads
putting pencil to sectional, when it's all right there on an iPad
put an unprecedented amount of information at
screen, or even a smartphone. This digital dependency is robbing your fingertips in the cockpit. It's important not
to use these resources as a crutch, but it's just as
pilots of an innate understanding of compasses, the effect of
important to learn how to use them effectively.
wind on ground track, and changing magnetic variations' effect
If your aircraft has ADS-B or SiriusXM weather,
on compass headings. It has even dulled pilots' ability to read
do you understand how old the data is and what
weather phenomena your service displays? Do you
a sectional and determine their exact position and course from
know where to look out the windscreen for traffic
landmarks (pilotage). It's difficult not to resort to the familiar-a
based on where it shows up on a screen? Can
you program the GPS without fumbling through
computer screen-but total dependency on a potentially fallible
menus and distracting from your focus outside the
navigation system is an ideal way to get lost. So, it never hurts to
airplane? Features such as datalink weather, traffic,
have a sectional and a pencil as parts of a back-up system. They
and GPS can improve situational awareness, and
tools such as synthetic vision, glide range rings,
don't need batteries.
and "nearest" airport buttons can lighten your
Emergency landings. When was the last time you heard
mental workload in stressful times-but only if
of an instructor yanking the throttle to idle on climbout while
you're proficient in using them. -SD

THE FLIP SIDE

AOPA.ORG/FT 43

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Flight Training - October 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - October 2019