AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 20
PROFICIENT PILOT
Where the fun is
BY BARRY SCHIFF
Excitement below the flight levels
BARRY SCHIFF
flew for TWA for
34 years and has
been flying small
airplanes for twice
that long.
WE WERE SEVEN MILES ABOVE the North Atlantic operating a Lockheed L-1011 from New York to Berlin.
The air was smooth, and nothing seemed to be moving except the fuel gauges. It was midnight local, and
the northern horizon was aglow with summer twilight. The most difficult part of the flight would be the
early sunrise, which bleaches the eyeballs, a blinding reminder that you have been up all night. Winter
flights to Europe seem less fatiguing because we often
arrived while it was still dark outside.
My first officer was reviewing a pamphlet introducing the then-new airspace reclassification system.
He slowly shook his head. "How is anyone supposed
to remember all this?"
The flight engineer had just finished cross-feeding
fuel and advised, "Airline pilots don't have to worry about
that stuff. Put that thing away and call for some coffee."
With tongue planted firmly in cheek, the co-pilot
said that the new system would be much easier to
learn if each type of airspace were given a name that
described its purpose. "Why not," he suggested, "call
Class B airspace a Terminal Control Area, and refer to
Class D airspace as an Airport Traffic Area?" (Those
were, of course, the names previously used.)
As an airline captain who divided his time almost
evenly between the flight deck of a heavy jet and the
cockpits of light airplanes, I knew that VFR pilots have
to cope with airspace complexities and conform to regulations about which airline pilots couldn't care less.
Those who fly strictly IFR are not concerned about
the two dozen or so types of airspace and their restrictions. They simply point their airplanes according to
the dictates of air traffic control, and this automatically
threads them through the airspace maze with which
VFR pilots must singlehandedly cope.
Operating a piston-powered airplane is more
demanding in many ways than steering a jetliner
across the sky. This is because fast, heavy aircraft
are much less affected by many of the challenges
that confront light airplane pilots.
For example, when a jet engine fails, the crew
is typically in no hurry to do anything about it. It is
simply a matter of attending to a few housecleaning chores. But when a piston engine fails, its pilot
can have his hands full, especially in the case of a
single. When flying a twin, a pilot must act proficiently and expeditiously to prevent the drag of
20 | AOPA PILOT February 2020
a windmilling propeller from excessively eroding
performance and directional control.
Structural icing? No problem here either. Modern
fanjets are so impervious to icing that many jets don't
even have anti-icing or deicing systems to protect the
wings or tail. A couple of leading-edge flaps on each
wing might be heated, and that's about it.
Turbulence typically isn't of much concern either
(except when concerned about passenger comfort).
The high wing loading of large jets allow them to slice
through gusts that could easily upset or damage some
light airplanes.
Flying a small airplane in challenging IFR weather
at night while in high-density airspace can be much
more demanding than handling a jet under similar circumstances. The lone general aviation pilot can become
overwhelmed at such a time, especially because he usually does not have a trained crewmember in the other
seat to share the load. The outcome of such a flight often
is determined by the pilot's competency, currency, and
cunning-which leads to a point.
Airline and bizjet crews have excellent safety
records. This is not necessarily because they are better
pilots. It is because their airplanes have superior performance and redundant, more-reliable equipment.
Such pilots also participate regularly in recurrent training programs-colloquially known as "retreading." An
airline pilot must periodically review and practice emergency procedures that he or she probably will never
be required to employ-but they'll be ready. With the
exception of a flight review, most lightplane pilots operate without benefit of periodic training to remove and
prevent rust. This deprives them and their passengers of
the increased safety they could otherwise enjoy.
It has become a cliché that obtaining a new certificate or rating is a license to learn. Part of that learning
process involves gaining experience, but it also should
include periodic instruction to learn new procedures
and sharpen skills.
An adage claims that airline flying is hours of monotony punctuated by moments of stark terror. But jet aircraft
have thankfully become so reliable that it can be said that
flying them usually involves hours and hours of boredom-period-which, of course, is the way it should be.
This is why so many airline pilots also fly light airplanes, because that's where the fun is.
AOPA
barryschiff.com
http://www.barryschiff.com
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020
Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - Intro
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - Cover1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - Cover2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 4
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 5
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 6
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 7
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 8
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 9
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 10
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 11
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 12
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 13
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 14
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 15
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 16
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 17
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 18
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 19
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 20
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 21
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 22
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 24
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 25
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 26
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 27
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 28
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 29
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 30
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 31
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 33
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 34
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 35
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 36
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 37
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 40
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 41
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 42
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 43
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 45
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - 50
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - Cover3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2020 - Cover4
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