Flight Training - May 2020 - 19

PREFLIGHT ASK AOPA

BY CRAIG BROWN

PRODUCTS

BY THOMAS A. HORNE

SO YOU WANT TO BE
A TURBINE PILOT
THERE'S A FLIGHT MANUAL FOR THAT

BACK IN THE SADDLE

HELPING RETURNING PILOTS
TO SUCCEED IN THE SKY
Q: I am an instructor and I am working
with a 76-hour private pilot who has not
flown in 30 years. I would like to let him
solo so he can practice maneuvers and
procedures while we are working on his
flight review. Is that possible?
A: For your pilot to solo, since he is not
a student pilot, he must first receive a
successful flight review endorsement.
However, much like a student pilot, there
will come a time when you believe he can
safely fly alone, but may not be quite ready
to fly a long cross-country, for instance.
You are teaching a guy who hasn't
flown since George H.W. Bush was in the
White House, airspace was named and
not lettered, and a loran was a hot piece
of navigational technology. Clearly, there
needs to be some ground training that will
take more than the mandated one hour,
and multiple training flights that will
more than satisfy the one-hour flight time
requirement as well.
When you are comfortable with his
flying and he is safe, give him the endorsement. Then he can fly alone to practice,
and you can fly dual as you see fit to work
on what you saw that needs improving. One does not have to be an ace in
cross-country navigation, or instrument
flying, or steep turns to solo, for example.
Use those as your guide. Make sure he
is safe performing all the typical presolo
maneuvers and demonstrates appropriate
knowledge, sign him off, and then work to
get him up to speed on everything else.
Contact AOPA's Pilot Information Center for more information at 800-872-2672,
pic.aopa.org, or pilotassist@aopa.org.
CRAIG BROWN is a senior aviation technical spe-

cialist in the AOPA Pilot Information Center.

THE AIRLINES ARE ON A

pilot hiring binge but,
ironically, there's a scant
amount of comprehensive
reading material aimed at
pilots aspiring to fly turbine-powered airplanes.
The first such book,
The Turbine Pilot's Flight
Manual, by Gregory N.
Brown and Mark J. Holt,
was published in 1995. At
192 pages, it was a sparse
book that emphasized the
basics of turbine aircraft
systems.
In December 2019,
the fourth edition of The
Turbine Pilot's Flight Manual was released. At 386
pages, it's much improved
and more complete. Like
its predecessors, the book
is organized rather like a
pilot's operating handbook. After extended
discussions on training,
turbine engine components, and operational
theory come chapters on
aircraft systems. Special
emphasis is placed on
pressurization and environmental, electrical, and
pneumatic systems. If you
ever wondered what the
difference was between
an air cycle machine and
a vapor cycle machine,
here's your source.
Flight manual-inspired
chapters address the
familiar sequence: limitations; normal procedures;
emergency/abnormal
procedures; performance;
weight and balance; and
airplane handling, service,
and maintenance. But

owing
to the
book's
focus on
general aspects,
you won't find
type-specific information. The chapter
on normal procedures
talks about crew coordination, crew resource
management, briefings,
checklists, and callouts-
not the procedures you'd
use in, say, a certain type of
Cessna Citation, Dassault
Falcon, or Boeing airliner.
In the airplane handling,
hazard avoidance, and
operational information
chapters, there's plenty of
basic information about
IFR operations, airborne
weather radar, and traffic
alert and collision avoidance systems, plus ground
deicing and holdover times.
A chapter on navigation delves into the use
of flight management
systems, flight directors,
area navigation/RNAV,
head-up displays, and
even controller-pilot
datalink communications
and selective calling for
company communications. Yet another chapter
offers rules of thumb for
fuel planning, calculating
visual descent points,
descent planning, and

stabilized
final approach
strategies. There's even
an 18-page spotter's guide
listing specifications
and features of popular
corporate and air-carrier
turboprop and fanjet
airplanes.
The authors do an
admirable job of covering
the topics you're most
likely to encounter when
stepping up to turbines.
They provide the groundwork for more in-depth
learning of the sort
imparted during training
for a type rating. Many
large-format illustrations round out the book,
as well as a glossary of
turbine terms and updates
required for completing an
airline transport pilot certification training program.
The Turbine Pilot's
Flight Manual (available
in a variety of formats
from $54.95) is published
by Aviation Supplies and
Academics Inc.
tom.horne@aopa.org

AOPA.ORG/FT  19
http://pic.aopa.org http://www.AOPA.ORG/FT
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