Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association

Jim and Roger's most excellent adventure!

Jim Barker — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:52:00 GMT

Today: Feb 5th 2012, the 1st "ride-a-long" work trip with a COPA member.....Florida......25-ish aircraft, 23 days...one wedding....only 4500 miles....

I have to pick Roger (Whittier SR 22 s/n 0009) up in St Louis....but I have to get out an aircraft this morning....and leave by 1000 hrs Central to reach Roger's flight....

Dave picks up his SR22...I go home, pack clothes and blast off around 1050...in the van....600 miles to go!

The drive was uneventful.....except I thought the headlight on the left side was a little dim......

I arrived with 30 mins to spare at the cell phone lot, checked the left bulb, sure enough....in-flight failure.

Roger text's me..Southwest is early! great! I find him on the curb, satchel in hand, ready for work....

Hotel now, will start bright and early on a 22T...

Picture of Roger tomorrow......

Early Reflections on CAPS Pull #32 by Dick McGlaughlin in the Bahamas

Rick Beach — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 06:34:00 GMT

Dr. Richard “Dick” McGlaughlin and his daughter Elaine made national news after they used the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) to splash down in the azure blue waters near the Bahamas. Their landing under that big red-and-white parachute counted as the 28th CAPS save of 53 survivors since 1999 when Cirrus Aircraft introduced this rocket-fired parachute on the SR20 and SR22 models.

(Photo: US Coast Guard. Cirrus SR22 N732EA in the water off Andros Island, Bahamas, with two people in a life raft holding onto the risers from the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System)

Dick frequently posts on the web forum of the Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association (COPA), where he is a respected and popular contributor, and he has already posted some details of the experience.

Does your engine sound different flying over water?

Many of us worry that our engines sound differently as soon as we embark on a long trip over water. Most often it’s our imagination.

This time, the engine in Dick’s plane stopped!

First the oil pressure dropped slightly and within three or four minutes went to zero. Then the engine seized and the propeller stopped. Elaine called it insane, as they were flying along at 9,500 feet but now the prop was straight up and down!

Haiti Beckons

Dick and Elaine were on their way to Haiti where Dick, a medical doctor, has regularly flown himself and supplies and volunteers to offer medical services after the earthquake and cholera epidemic. In fact, Dick has recruited several other COPA members who purchased hard-to-find supplies and flew them to Haiti in their personal Cirrus aircraft. A Cirrus can fly this route direct non-stop, when there is fuel available in Haiti. The route takes you close to Andros Island, the big island in the Bahamas.

(Dr. Dick McGlaughlin with a recovering patient, Crystal, in Haiti soon after the earthquake in June 2010.)

The Engine Stops Over Water

Cruising at 9,500 feet when the engine stops, the Cirrus will glide about 15 miles in about 10 minutes. The advice to trim all the way back gave Dick a quick and effective way to establish best glide airspeed.

He declared an emergency with Miami air traffic controllers and headed for nearest land. A big plus was the warm Atlantic Ocean. On board, they had a life vests, life raft, a personal locator beacon for search and rescue, and a hammer to break the windows if the doors would not open.

Dick and Elaine got within 2 miles of Andros Island, but not close enough to land there.

Emergency Landing on Water: To Ditch or Pull CAPS Handle?

A Cirrus pilot can choose to enter the water either by flying to the surface and ditching as slow as practical, or by deploying the airframe parachute and descending under canopy to a splash down.

People survive conventional ditching over 90% of the time, although some people survive the landing only to die from exposure or drowning afterwards. Good survival and rescue equipment helps the prepared. COPA recommends following the advice of our aviation survival partner, the Equipped to Survive Foundation.

Five Cirrus pilots have deployed the CAPS parachute over water. The results were generally favorable, with some concerns about back injuries, and how quickly people can get out of the plane. One pilot died when his son pulled the handle so close to the ground in a spin that the parachute did not have much time to slow the plane. So, COPA encourages pilots to pull early and prepare for egress, the things you need to do as you exit the plane in the water.

Dick admits to being unsure of what would happen with a CAPS splash down, but he determined that he would pull at 2,000 feet above the ocean. Actually, he got impatient and pulled at 2,300 feet!

The Rocket Goes Off!

The parachute in the Cirrus remains hidden inside the rear of the plane until the pilot, or any other person in the plane, pulls a red handle in the cockpit roof. That cable needs a good yank, first out of the holder and then down to activate the rocket igniter.

That rocket travels fast!

Within a couple of seconds the rocket blasts through a protective cover, pulls the heavy parachute bag out of the plane, rips the risers out of hidden channels to hold the plane at three points, two in front and one in the rear, then stretches the 90-foot risers to full length. No more than two seconds and the plane begins to slow down immediately. Typical deployments show that after about 8 seconds, the parachute slowed all forward momentum and the plane descends level under canopy at about 20 mph or 1700 feet per minute.

(Deployment sequence for the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System. Source: Cirrus Aircraft SR22 Pilot Operating Handbook)

The parachute slows you down from 100 mph to zero in eight seconds. As Dick recalls, he cautioned Elaine to tighten her seatbelt low across her hips. Yet the jerk in those first few seconds caused her to bend forward and bump her head on the dashboard.

Simulating The Cirrus Parachute

Several aircraft simulators exist where Cirrus pilots can experience what happens when the CAPS parachute deploys. Dick visited the simulator in Atlanta that moves the platform and pilot seats to create the illusion of flying. That’s where he pulled the simulated CAPS handle. The simulator creates the jerk and points the nose down until the parachute slows the plane when it levels the plane as if under canopy. That prepared him for the dramatic view from the front window as the nose drops and you are looking at the expanse of blue water!

(A right-seat passenger activates the red CAPS handle in the roof of the cockpit in the Simtrain full-motion simulator located at The Flight Academy at North Las Vegas Airport)

Cirrus pilots can locate simulators, especially ones with CAPS handles, across the US and the newest full-motion sim in Poland.

Water Splash Down

Cirrus designed the CAPS system with energy absorbing features to protect people when coming straight down. The engineers equate the impact to a drop of about 13 feet.

The main landing gear legs bend to absorb energy. The seat bottoms contain a light honeycomb structure that crushes to absorb energy. The four-point seat belts keep your back straight against the seat. The pilot and co-pilot control sticks, the yokes, mount off to the side to avoid impaling injuries. The instrument panel is padded to absorb energy.

Note: while many Cirrus airplanes include airbags, they are designed for frontal impacts and do not operate in vertical impacts typical of a CAPS parachute landing.

Dick vividly describes their splash down as a hard landing, harder than he expected. But both he and Elaine were uninjured. The cabin quickly began to fill with water through the fresh air vents, so they felt urgency to get out of the plane. While Elaine’s door would not open, the pilot door opened easily and both got onto the wing with their life vests and life raft.

The raft promptly overturned when inflated and Dick struggled to get it right way up. From the pictures, this single-tube four-person life raft looks very tiny and quite modest. Think carefully about your choice of life raft as your survival waiting for rescue may depend upon keeping warm and out of the sun or stormy weather.

(Dick and Elaine McGlauglin in their modest four-person life raft holding onto the risers of the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System trying to stay with the plane and not drift away. Source: US Coast Guard)

Coast Guard Rescue

Any search and rescue effort requires coordination among many agencies. However, the sound and sight of a helicopter dropping a rescue swimmer makes the news. The rescuers reported seeing the parachute about eight miles away. The life raft was just a dot on the ocean.

(Rescue swimmer from the US Coast Guard prepares Elaine and Dick McGlauglin for hoisting into the helicopter. Source: US Coast Guard)

Unfortunately, when the helicopter approached the plane, the downwash reinflated the parachute and lifted it about 30 feet in the air. Dick and Elaine had been holding onto the risers to avoid drifting away from their most visible rescue streamer, the 50-foot diameter red-and-white parachute. Stay with the plane until rescued!

The plane sank in about 10 feet of water, although the parachute seemed to keep it upright.

The helicopter took the McGlauglins to Nassau for an unplanned hotel stay. They soon arranged to continue their travel to Haiti.

Lessons for Cirrus Pilots

The Cirrus Airframe Parachute System worked again over water with two survivors without injuries. Anticipate the need to use CAPS for an emergency by practicing in a simulator with a CAPS handle. Consider carefully your survival and rescue equipment for the conditions that you fly over, not just at your departure and destination. Pull early over water to give yourself time to prepare for splash down and egress from the airplane.

And always fly with a personal locator beacon attached to you by a cord or lanyard. If it isn’t with you, then it can’t save you!

Being Prepared for the Unexpected

Patrick Herguth — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 02:56:00 GMT

Happy New Year and best wishes for 2012!

I wanted to try and pick back up with this blog and the first topic is how safety is a dominant topic within Avidyne. Our goal is to improve the safety, utility and simplicity of general aviation and I wanted to share some of the topics that we discuss internally with this broader community of active, online pilots.

As I reread my last post from April 2010 (hey, we've been really busy!) I do have some updates regarding my own flying experience and how that influences my personal opinions about flying with advanced technology. I did get my instrument rating last year and built up about 150 hours on the G1000 on a Cessna 172/182, flew to Oshkosh as PIC in a DFC90 equipped Cirrus and recently took my first true solo cross country from Massachusetts to Iowa this past August in a Cirrus with “first generation” Entegra / STEC 55x configuration. More recently I have been flying a Cirrus with our Entegra R9 and DFC100 equipment and to get a better appreciation for the days before glass I have been flying a PA28R where the most advanced piece of equipment in the plane is a recently installed refurbished 430W. For fun I fly in a super decathlon so I can remember what it is like to have to look out the window for an entire flight. My goal over the last few years has been to get some time in as many of the various configurations that pilots are flying today in order to appreciate how our customers use technology in the cockpit.

I spend a decent amount of time reading the COPA, Beech and Piper forums and I have personally benefited as a pilot by having my “head in the game” every day by reading threads across various topics. Within Avidyne we also analyze GA accidents to try and find ways to improve the safety of the fleet. This process has led to features such as envelope protection, straight and level and a continued focus on ease of use. Between the forums and our internal design process it forces me to think about “what would I have done” quite often and I see other pilots engaging in those same discussions on the forums. That prompted me to ask our team to put together a series focused on illustrating how our equipment operates in various emergency scenarios. My intent is to get our pilots thinking about these scenarios and being prepared for them so they can effectively manage the situation.

The original Entegra system is installed on almost 4,000 aircraft and 6 years ago it was on the leading edge of avionics technology. When we designed the Entegra R9 system we leveraged our experience with the first generation system in order to build a integrated flight display that was easier for the pilot to use, especially in an emergency situation. The scenarios that we have put together serve two purposes:

1) no matter what system you are flying we are encouraging you to be proficient in emergency procedures specific to your avionics and aircraft,

2) to illustrate how the technology has evolved and how this could provide some pilots with an advantage in an emergency situation.

My goal is encourage training and preparedness for emergency scenarios that could arise and to also raise awareness that the technology could be used to provide an added safety margin.

Here is a link to a scenario the team put together.

Safe flying!

November 27th..time is flying by

Deb Markwood — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 13:51:00 GMT

I have not done a very good job of keeping my promise to stay more active on my blogs. Fortunately, my new job has kept me so busy, it is hard to have time to even think. I have been travelling three weeks out of four for my new job and have been back and forth to the West Coast for the past several weeks, coming home on the weekends. I suppose that it's a good thing that I have been so busy. For the time being, most of my travel is going to be on a train, not a plane, just up to NYC for a few day trips and back. Business travel is not as glamorous as many think!

The two recent airplane crashes (Arizona and Chicago area) obviously have caught my attention and interest and have been reading your comments on the forums. Both are so sad. I know what I was going through when Tom's plane crashed and I can only imagine the mother of those three children and how she must be (or not be) coping. And of course the families of those who perished in the Chicago crash. I will continue to follow the news as we try to learn what happened.

I have been trying to live my life in the manner in which Tom lived his and encouraged me to live mine. To live each day to the fullest, to try to find something to smile or laugh about every single day and to live each day as if it could be my last. I think I have done a pretty good job of doing that. I can still see his smile as vivid as the last day I saw him alive and I think he would be very proud of me today. I still miss him very much, especially now around the Holidays. He loved Christmas and this will be the first year that I have spent Christmas at home instead of in the Caribbean. I am still going on our annual vacation, just am not going until January due to vacation time with the new job.

Today is a beautiful day here on the East Coast - at least here in Delaware and I am going to go play golf. He would have taken his plane up today for sure. I have a feeling I will see a little white plane fly overhead at some point during my game.

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving and I will once again, strive to be more diligent in my "blogging". Maybe that will be my New Year's resolution!!!

An interesting TAF

John Fiscus — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 00:26:00 GMT

We have some fairly nasty weather blowing in to the Pacific Northwest tonight and tomorrow. It looks like a big jumbled mess of fronts, one after the other, hitting us with rain, wind, and snow.

One of the things that caught my attention was this line of the TAF for Boeing Field. What would you think/expect if you saw this?

FM220400 17012KT P6SM -RA BKN025 OVC035 WS020/20045KT

Here's a quick view of the prog chart for tomorrow:

We're entering into a dangerous time in General Aviation and Cirrus flying - this is the time of year where get-there-itis combines with ice and low ceilings to challenge our vigilance on personal minimums. Don't let it catch you! Start looking at the weather a few days in advance, talk to your family about planned alternatives to flying your plane, and take those outs when things start to look a little iffy.

Safe flying!

John Fiscus

Chief Pilot, The Flight Academy

www.theflightacademy.com

Chapel Hill

Deb Markwood — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 02:51:00 GMT

Well, on my business trip to Chapel Hill, I was with my colleague and we were so close to the airport that I had to go take a "look see" to see if they had cleaned up the site any more. He was also very curious as he was sitting in my office when I found out about the crash. (Used to work together at the same company and now work together in the new company). The orange "crime scene tape" as I like to call it, is still on the fence and can clearly be seen from the airport parking lot. It appears there are no plans to repair the fence. There was very little, if any, debris on the ground. I rummaged around and the only thing I got was poison ivy! I felt nothing - it was just me walking around an airport runway and explaining to a colleague what happened and where it happened and all that stuff. We stayed less than 10 minutes. It started raining as we were leaving, and I said to my colleague that I think that was Tom's way of telling me to get out of there and not go back! LOL! Well, I will abide by that. No need for me to go back, even if I am in Chapel Hill again on business. Some really funny things happened on this business trip that reminded me of Tom and I had some really good laughs over them.

I appreciate the comments that were made on my last post about remembering the date and time thing. You are all right ... the exact date and time on a monthly basis is really not that important. I suspect I will always remember it on the "year" anniversary and certainly will remember other important dates like his birthday and our wedding anniversary, which is coming up on October 1st. And of course, during our annual vacation to Anguilla (which I did book again for January). I do miss him very much and still think he is going to walk through the front door any minute. I do have to wonder how long that will last.

I am keeping quite busy with the new job - lots of travelling - which I really enjoy. I've done some redecorating around the house and managed to figure out how to re-caulk the bathtub. Amazing what you can find online.

That's all for now.

You don't see many approaches like this...

John Fiscus — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 18:25:00 GMT

I spent most of the morning sorting through all our Jepp charts and putting them into order again. All our ferry flying has made a bit of a mess, so I'm organizing things.

As I was flipping through, I saw an instrument approach chart that actually folded out. There was too much approach for one simple page, so I decided that was worth a look.

Wow. Talk about a steep approach! Have a look at the bottom profile view for this LOC into Innsbruck, Austria:

And just in case you were wondering how many charts there are just for western Europe, I took a shot of the stack (with a pen for scale):

Safe flying!

-John

The Flight Academy

www.theflightacademy.com

14 months since the plane crash....

Deb Markwood — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 03:33:00 GMT

Wow. I started my new job on September 6th - the day after Tom's birthday. I was sitting in my new office yesterday, the 13th of September, when I suddenly realized that the 12th of September was the 14-month anniversary of the accident. The day before. I was startled that I had not "remembered it" down to the exact minute, the way I have in the past. I was a bit upset. I was on a conference call when it hit me. Is this what happens as time goes on? I will never forget, but this was the first time I did not remember the exact date and time. Especially the time. After all, I had been to the cemetery on both September 10th and 11th. In fact, I was in a golf tournament on the 11th and stopped by Tom's grave to tell him that I know how he always remember "9/11" and that I was arranging for a moment of silence before the tournament started. I had recently put some new "Fall" flowers at the grave. I will NEVER forget.

I am not sure what to think. There are friends and family who would definitely chastise me for not "remembering" the exact date and time the way I have always remembered the exact date in the past 12-13 months. However, I have to give myself some "slack." I started a new job after 6 months of unemployment. I had been on the job for less than a week. Tom would probably be glad that I did not remember the exact date and time..in fact, I KNOW he would. He would be very happy. He knows I will never, ever forget. He always told me to "not let any moss grow under your feet."

Yes, I think he would have understood and would have been glad. Only those who knew him like I did would agree. He would have understood. So I won't beat myself about it.

Next week I will be in Chapel Hill, NC on business. My colleagues have asked me if I want to go back to the crash site while I am so close. I thought about it for awhile and have decided that there is no reason for me to go there again. Even though I will be less than a couple of miles from the site....no, there is no reason for me to go back there. He is not there. Who knows...I might change my mind once I am that close. We shall see. Stay tuned.

Alaska 2011 part 2: August

John Fiscus — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 23:15:00 GMT

Welcome back to the crew that joined us for the second 2011 Alaska Adventure. We're still compiling all the pictures but I thought I would share a few:

It's always a party on these trips....

Tom's Birthday Today

Deb Markwood — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 01:22:00 GMT

Today would have been Tom's 67th birthday! He always said "it's just another day" and we did not exchange birthday gifts. We took whatever we would have spent on birthdays and put it towards our annual Anguilla vacation. But......today I gave Tom something he wanted to see for five years....I finally broke 100 at golf!!! I had a 99 in my club's Labor Day tournament. He would have been thrilled. And despite the warnings of severe thunderstorms for this afternoon, the storm held off and I even saw a few small white planes fly overhead. I am sure it was Tom watching over the game. I even commented to myself that I was surprised to see planes flying when the threat of severe weather was imminent.

I am doing okay. Better than I ever thought I would be at this point. He would be so proud.

Semper Fi, Tom....may you rest in peace!

Love Always,

Deb

Automation Danger?

John Fiscus — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 19:38:00 GMT

We Love Our Gadgets

Automation is awesome. It's the reason many of us fly a Cirrus specifically - the situation awareness brought by our moving maps, the auto-load features of the GPS systems, traffic detectors that are great assists to the eyes, XM weather that allows great strategic planning, and an autopilot that can fly an approach and then go enter a hold almost entirely without pilot input... I could go on and on.

As awesome as they are, these technological wonders present a new kind of issue in aviation safety. Not only do we have to develop a different skill set for use with the automation and practice that, but we also need to keep our manual skills sharp too. All too often pilots take the easier way out and only hand fly the minimum amount needed to take off and land. This causes skill atrophy in some areas that could prevent serious safety issues if the wrong thing happened at the wrong time (and really, is there ever a right time for the wrong thing?). We see this atrophy a lot in our currency training at CPPP events, when teaching in our simulators, or even when just working on a BFR. We're accustomed to that in this industry: most of our clients don't fly enough or get pushed often enough to keep all those skills sharp. That's why I have a job.

But something caught my attention today in an article put out by the Associated Press: this is an issue that isn't limited to General Aviation. Airline pilots are increasingly required by company SOPs to rely on the added safety that automation gives. Good, right? Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Recent history shows that this kind of automation-exclusive mentality introduces a new risk: overemphasis on system management and a degradation of skills. There have been a few accidents, notably the accident in Buffalo NY and the Air France crash from Brazil to Paris, that have underlined this basic airmanship issue. While I don't think these pilots were as inept as the AP article implies, I do think there's something to this that's worth mentioning here. You can read the article I'm referring to here.

Using Your Autopilot

Flying with the autopilot is a skill that needs to be learned and practiced by every pilot who intends to use it. Not only does a person need to know how to intercept a localizer and track it in, but they also need to know what to do when they have to intercept a glide slope from above, or how to best use their autopilot in a missed approach procedure. There's a lot to it! If you know that your autopilot can do something like intercept a course, maintain a descent rate without rounding off, or execute a procedure turn but you're not sure how to make it happen, talk to an instructor. Some of these things are simple enough to be explained over email.

Watch out for skill atrophy, though. Autopilots are great but, just like our airline counterparts, we're all susceptible to losing some of our basic skills when we don't use them very often. I suggest everybody should hand fly an approach under the hood at least once every other month as a bare minimum. Two or three hand flown approaches per month would be much better. Do it on your PC if you just can't go fly or come see us in Vegas and fly the simulator... but do SOMETHING. Also, be sure to fly completely through the approach and go missed. Don't underestimate this last part! Flying the missed and *anticipating* flying the missed on every approach you do will reduce the pucker factor by several orders of magnitude. See this excellent thread from the COPA forums about the missed approach concept: http://www.cirruspilots.org/forums/t/126062.aspx?PageIndex=1

I suggest a simple rule when it comes to autopilot use and personal minimums: Never let the autopilot take you someplace you wouldn't go by hand. Its skill is not your own and you can never depend on it always being there. It's a great tool, but it has limitations!

Training Challenge

On your next recurrent training session, see if you can use the autopilot all the way through a complete approach procedure and out to the missed without help from an instructor. Your tolerances are the same as they were on the day of your instrument test: no full scale deflections (not even if you get it back after), altitudes within 100 feet and airspeed within 10 knots.

Good luck and safe flying!

John Fiscus

Chief Pilot, The Flight Academy

www.theflightacademy.com

Time is flying by so fast....

Deb Markwood — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 23:45:00 GMT

Wow! I just realized that I had promised to be a little more diligent in my blogging since my last post around the 1-year anniversary of the crash and here it is...already PAST the 13-month anniversary and I have not blogged a thing. As I said during that post, I finally found a new and better job since losing my job back in February. I start the new job on September 6th, one day after what would have been Tom's 67th birthday. He was not happy about approaching his 70's. He always looked and acted like he was in his 40's or early 50's and was very proud of that!

We have had a lot of thunderstorms here lately...sometimes with 4 or more inches of rain. I have a new bouquet of artificial flowers to take to Tom's gravesite but it's still in the trunk waiting for some calm weather. He never liked flowers - said they were a waste of money, but I like to keep something simple on his grave site...respectful, but understated.

The 13-month anniversary of the crash was a week ago Friday. It is still hard to believe it happened, but life is moving on. I still expect to see him walk through the door almost every day and wonder how long that will last. I have had a very challenging and emotional year. I think of Tom several times a day and know how proud he would be of me. I have been doing a lot of reminiscing lately as I am trying to go through all of his things before going back to work. I might have mentioned I will be travelling a great deal, and when I come home on the weekends, I want to just relax and enjoy my time and my memories of him. My new company has a "Veterans Network" and I have decided to donate all of Tom's business clothes to this network. They provide career related services to Veterans who are trying to re-enter the work force after serving their time over in Afghanistan or Iraq, or wherever they may have served. Resume writing, interviewing skills, job coaching, etc. Tom had quite an eye for fashion (unlike me) and was always immaculately dressed, even in his t-shirt and shorts. I remember getting quite irritated at him for asking me 5-6 times before going out "how does this shirt look" or "how about this tie". He always thought I was not paying attention so he would ask me to close my eyes and tell him what shirt he was pointing to or what tie he was holding up. LOL. So I am sure he would be happy to have his business and formal wear donated to our Veterans.

I am looking forward to my new job and the travelling to the West Coast. Tom always loved Mission Beach, CA and I hope to be able to spend a lot of time in that area.

Once again, I will try to be more diligent in my writing, and I suspect I WILL be once I start back to work and am on the road so much. I LOVE to write about my travel adventures. Tom and I called ourselves "The Griswalds" from the famous "Vaction" movies, because there was always something hilarious about our travels. I expect it to continue, even if he is only with me in spirit. I think I will write about my adventures.

Deb

Just over 12 months....

Deb Markwood — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 20:41:00 GMT

Wow - I just realized that it has been about two months since my last post! I have been quite busy this summer! So I will try to update what has been going on in my life. I last wrote on Memorial Day. I will try to be more diligent in my writing!

On June 11, I had the pleasure of joining other Cirrus pilots for dinner at the CPPP in Allentown, PA. It was great putting faces to the names of people I have been conversing with since joining the COPA last year. After dinner, I was able to share some pictures and even a few videos of Tom, and tell the group about what kind of person he was and how he changed people's lives, even if he only met them once. I talked about learning of the crash, the days that followed, days present, and the days to come. I spoke of the strength that I have had in the past year, strength that amazes many people, but amazes me the most. Tom would have been extremely proud of me for speaking to the group and sharing our story.

On July 12th, it was one year since Tom's plane crash. I did not know what to expect, how I would feel. I decided to just take it one minute or hour at a time. A few years ago, Tom was mentoring a student pilot. She,Tom and I became good friends and I enjoyed watching Tom encourage her to continue on with her lessons and to someday realize her dream of getting her pilots license. She was out of the country when Tom died and was not aware of his death until some weeks later when I was able to contact her. She since moved to the UAA, working in Abu Dabi and is home for a few weeks. She called me and asked me if she could accompany me to the cemetary on that day. I was happy to have her come along. Not surprisingly, when I got to the gravesite, there had been many more before me. Tom's grave was covered in flowers, flags and notes. One person left a note tied to a small American flag. The note said that Tom will never be forgotten, particularly not by the writers family - as Tom often helped them out and brightened their day. The writer left some sunflowers, too, saying that they reminded him of how Tom brightened everyone's day. In fact, there were several bunches of sunflowers. I am not sure if they were from the same person, or from others, who also felt that Tom brightened their days. It was a beautiful, sunny and hot day, and I know that Tom would have appreciated all of the thoughts. It was very peaceful for me. Later on I went back to the site alone. I felt as though Tom were watching - telling me how proud he was that I am doing so well. I have come a long, long way in only 12 months. He most definitely would be very happy.

A lot has changed in my life in just 12 months. I lost my husband but have learned to live my life the way he lived his...try not to "sweat the small stuff", try to find something good in every situation, and to try to incorporate "fun" into every single day. I lost my job, but I recently found an even better one....one that is going to involve a lot of travel to the West Coast..one of my favorite parts of the country. I used to travel in a previous job and Tom often accompanied me when I went to the West Coast. He loved it and I know that my memories of him traveling with me will bring me lots of smiles and laughs. He was really great with my customers - always cracking a joke to break the ice when he met them for the first time. I will definitely miss that.

I have been working on my golf game this summer - and Tom is occasionally watching over some of those difficult shots. I recently played in a single elimination match play (made it to the semi finals so far) and "one-putted" a majority of the holes. That never happens! Even my partners said "We think your husband must be walking with you today - you have never putted like that before!" I do admit that when I am playing really bad, I often say "Tom, it's not happy hour yet - get down here and help me." Even some of my partners will say "Tom, get down here and help her!". We all laugh heartily and continue on.

My new friends say they wish they could have known Tom. I tell them that they would have never met another person like him...he was definitely one of a kind.

Alaska Trip: Sea Lions (video)

John Fiscus — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 21:12:00 GMT

Sorry for the delays, they don't have internet access up north like they do down here in the lower 48. Videos like the one I just uploaded in minutes here take hours up there so I had to hold off until we got back.

After we caught our boat's limit of king salmon, our fishing guide took us to a rock that he knows is frequented by sea lions. With all the sun we had that day, they were sure to be out sunning themselves. As you can see, there were plenty of them! We pulled right up and started tossing what was left of our bait fish to the swimmers - they sure seemed happy with that.

If you click the video and go directly to YouTube, you'll be able to watch this video in HD. I'll have more uploaded soon!

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Alaskan Glaciers (video)

John Fiscus — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 15:39:00 GMT

Wow! We had some of the best flying weather yesterday... and used it to go up to 8,000 feet and fly around a few of the glaciers here in S.E. Alaska.

The following video just catches a small glimpse of the true splendor of the place. You may want to go directly to the YouTube site and set the resolution to 780p... then make it full screen so you can capture the details. Keep your sound turned down a bit because I occasionally let the camera case come into contact with the window and it makes a buzzing sound. I'll see if I can get a few more today and also some of the formation photos we took yesterday.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

T minus one day to Alaska!

John Fiscus — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 23:28:00 GMT

We're busily getting ourselves ready for the 7th annual Alaska Adventure here at The Flight Academy. We're excited to have Cirrus pilots with us from all over the world: 6 aircraft in all.

I'll be posting some pictures and hopefully a few videos as we go, so check back often starting this Thursday through Sunday for updates.

Here are a few shots from previous trips:

Looks like fun, eh? If you'd like to come, we have another space available for our August trip. http://theflightacademy.com/alaska/AlaskaTrip2011.pdf

Safe flying!

The Flight Academy

www.theflightacademy.com

Memorial Day

Deb Markwood — Tue, 31 May 2011 14:29:00 GMT

For the past 10-15 years, Tom chaired a Memorial Day Ceremony at his Veterans Post. He spent a great deal of time on this event, honoring not only members of a particular branch of the service who were members of that Post, but throughout the State of Delaware. For example, one year he honored all service members from Delaware who served as a Chaplain. Another year, he honored Women Veterans. Locating veterans from all over the State who served a specific role in the military was not an easy task. Tom was very, very proud of this event, as was I. I did attend this year's event, and, of course, it was just not the same without Tom standing at the podium. One funny thing did happen - the Commander of the Post said a few words and at one point said "if a small white plane flies overhead anytime during this ceremony, we know that is Tom --- look out!". Well, sure enough, towards the end of the ceremony, just as the names of the "departed" Delaware Veterans Post members were read, a small white plane flew overhead. It was painted red, white and blue.

On the way home, I stopped by Tom's gravesite. Seems he had a lot of visitors, as shown in the attached photo. Tom looked forward to Memorial Day to honor those in the military both past and present. It is hard to believe I was standing there remembering him and his constant mission to help others, rather than standing WITH him at the Veterans Post.

10 Months

Deb Markwood — Fri, 13 May 2011 13:20:00 GMT

Yestrday was the 10-month "anniversary" of Tom's plane crash and death. What an interesting day. I was playing in a golf outing hosted by the Estate Planning Council that I belong to. Interestingly enough, this golf outing was held in Sussex County, Delaware, less than a mile from the airport where Tom made his "final" takeoff in the plane. This is the airport where he picked up his passenger. It's about 90 miles from home. I arrived at 12:30pm, only to find that tee-off was at 1:30pm....which, if I recall, is the approximate time that Tom "took off" from this airport. As I am standing at the tee box, at 1:30pm, a small white plane flew overhead.

On the 7th hole, it was nearing 3:00pm - the time that Tom's plane crashed. After I hit my tee shot, I decided to walk the rest of the hole, so that I would be alone to reflect and think of Tom at precisely 3:00pm. My partners continued on in the golf carts. At exactly 3:00pm, my ball was 58 yards from the green. I have a really tough time with these close in shots (don't we all?). But it was 3:00pm and I laid down my clubs, looked up at the sky - not a cloud in the sky - just like that day 10 months ago. I said silently "Tom - it's a beautiful day out here. You would be flying and here I am on the golf course. I hope you are having fun up there with all of your friends and that you are laughing and smiling. Help me make a good shot here, will ya?"

I picked up my sand wedge, hit the ball and watched it hit the edge of the green and proceed to roll right into the cup!!!!! Unbelieveable!!!! A 58-yard chip in. Or could you call that a "pitch in" because that would be a long chip. I was jumping up and down and screaming and yelling and my partners ran over to see what was going on. I had chosen NOT to tell them why I was walking alone on that hole, (it still makes people feel uncomfortable), but then decided to tell them what had happened. Then they started jumping up and down and decided that a beer was in order at the turn.

Yesterday was also the day of the annual "Drive for Autism" golf outing here in Wilmington. Tom was a volunteer for many years and it was one of his favorite events. On the way home, I spoke to friend who played in the tournament and he said that everyone missed Tom there this year and that there was a tribute to him in the program. I told him about my golf shot on the 7th hole and he said "that is Tom's way of telling you he sees you and is watching over you because that could not be a coincidence." I have to say I agree on that one.

And so life goes on. A different life, but still, a very good life.

Observing a dramatic reduction in Cirrus fatal accidents

Rick Beach — Wed, 11 May 2011 15:22:00 GMT

I posted an observation about a dramatic reduction in fatal accidents a week ago while updating the Cirrus accident statistics for the upcoming Cirrus Pilot Proficiency Program (CPPP) events,

Here's a chart of the number of fatal Cirrus accidents and CAPS saves by quarter since the introduction of the SR20 in mid-1999. Fatal accidents in red, with darker bars for winter months and lighter bars for summer months, and green bars for CAPS parachute saves.

What I noted was that in the most recent 9 months, there had been only 1 fatal accident per quarter. Prior to that, in the past 36 months there were 39 fatal accidents. So at the end of 2010Q3, the frequency of fatal accidents dropped from 1 a month to 1 every three months. Abruptly.

Were we flying so much less? Hard to substantiate a 33% reduction in flying hours, since Cirrus Aircraft reports increased activity through their warranty and SB updates of Hobbs meter data.

When I calculate the rate of fatal Cirrus accidents per 100,000 flight hours using the Cirrus data, the rate was 1.60 at the end of 2010Q3 and dropped to 1.05 at the end of 2011Q1. Wow. Recall that the non-commercial fixed wing rate in 2009 went up to 1.30 (source: 2010 Nall Report)

What else happened in August/September 2010?

My hypothesis: the August 2010 distribution of the Safety Alert on landings by Cirrus Aircraft and COPA to all owner/operators of Cirrus aircraft.

That letter was unique in that it recommended three actions:
1. Pay attention to the proper procedures for landings and slow flight
2. Conduct a recurrency flight with a training partner
3. Use the brief landing standardization syllabus

The letter was supported by discussions on the COPA forum, by requirements imposed by some insurance carriers, but most importantly, by the Cirrus Training Network.

In my view, the combination of a relevant and timely issue, a set of recommended procedures, a training syllabus, and a training network contributed to a dramatic drop in the number of fatal accidents.

As further evidence for my hypothesis that these communications about training and reflecting on our proficiency are effective, I note an earlier safety letter about icing from Alan Klapmeier and Mike Radomsky issued in October 2006. Since then, there has not been a fatal Cirrus accident where the NTSB probable cause reports list icing as a cause, and three CAPS saves involving icing. No fatal icing accidents in 4-1/2 years! (Although perhaps two fatal accidents since then involve winter weather where icing may have been a factor.)

My personal belief is that the emphasis on training resources and communication with owner/operators has demonstrated an effect on reducing the number of fatal accidents.

Cheers
Rick

Ban low-speed flying "phobia" -- insights from John King for Cirrus pilots

Rick Beach — Mon, 09 May 2011 22:32:00 GMT

As I posted in a separate thread about the SAFE symposium (see COPA participation in SAFE GA pilot training reform symposium), John King presented some counter-intuitive solutions to create a sea-change in the culture of aviation.

One applies to Cirrus pilots: Ban low-speed flying "phobia"

As COPA members have discussed for years, Cirrus instructors have often taught Cirrus pilots to land too fast. The fear of tail strikes seems to have put the fear of landing too slow in way too many pilots.

So, our community has this "phobia" that John talks about. Furthermore, this is timely because of the discussion of the Cory Lidle accident that involved a high-speed narrow-canyon turn.

Here are John King's slides (posted with permission):

Ban low airspeed phobia

One-third of all fatalities come from stalls/spins while maneuvering
So therefore we should tell pilots to slow down when maneuvering

Most people think

Stall/spin accidents come from flying too slow

Let's consider

That they may be caused by flying too fast

An imminent stall caused by flying too slow

Is easy to recognize
The controls get mushy
The air noise decreases
The airplane buffets well in advance

A stall caused by an
increase in load factor

Gives much less warning
The controls aren't mushy
The air noise is still at the usual level
The buffet gives little if any warning

Flight instructors are afraid
their students will stall

Therefore they have them fly too fast

The result is

Huge patterns
Steeper banks
More load factor

Radius of turn versus airspeed

Bank Angle vs Airspeed

What surprised me was the consequences of flying too fast in the traffic pattern. Sure, we have debated the landing speeds being too high. But wow, the impact on load factor and stall speed in a high-speed base-to-final turn may well be a crucial insight into several Cirrus fatal accidents: Phoenix, AZ; Waxhaw, NC; New Windsor, NY; Lindsay, OK; Statesville, NC; Edgewater, MD; Zurich, Switzerland; Tuscaloosa, AL; and of course, Manhattan, NY, the Cory Lidle accident. Could flying too fast while maneuvering be a common factor here?

Cirrus pilots, take note! Go up with an experienced Cirrus instructor and explore the differences between stalls in turns at different airspeeds. I'm going to chat with the CPPP instructors about this and probably encourage them to add it to the CPPP recurrent training experience.

Ban low-speed flying "phobia"

What a simple, yet possibly very important piece of advice for Cirrus pilots.

Cheers
Rick

Destinations: Sedona, Arizona

John Fiscus — Mon, 09 May 2011 16:48:00 GMT

Having posted last about a fairly lush and forested place to visit, we'll now look to the south towards the desert of Arizona.

Name and type of Destination: Sedona, AZ

One of the more scenic places to fly into in the Southwest, Sedona offers a number of great attractions. Hiking, biking, golf... pretty much anything that you could imagine doing short of going on a boat can happen here. There are a number of spas and resorts if you're looking for a relaxing weekend but you could also come for a guided nature tour or view some native art galleries.

It's certainly worth the trip from long distances; but those who live in LA, Vegas, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Denver, or Salt Lake will find it an easy day trip of 3 or 4 hours (at most).

Airport IDs: KSEZ

A little about it: The airport itself is up on a 500 foot tall mesa with much of the rest of the town down in the canyons below. Arriving near sunset will treat you to one of the most amazing views in the world as the red rock canyon walls pick up the light nicely. You can rent a car at the terminal or have a taxi come get you as town is only about 10 minutes away. Check out Seven Canyons for a great view while golfing and if you plan to make that a weekend focus, stay at Mii Amo spa just down the road from there. They only allow arrivals on Thursday and Sunday and have a minimum stay requirement, but it's worth the scheduling trouble.

While Sedona isn't unfriendly to families with small kids, it doesn't have an assortment of amusement parks or anything like that. Nature hikes and tours are interesting for the younger crowd, but I have always envisioned this place as a getaway for couples. Your mileage may vary.

Precautions and notes: Sedona airport sits on the top of a 500 foot tall mesa. That may not sound terribly high, but wait until you're on approach and looking at a huge cliff off the end of your runway. It's just a psyche-out, so don't let it get to you but you may want to make a low pass when you get there for your first landing ever (or take a flight instructor up for a shot at it if you live nearby). If the winds are up over about 15 knots then plan to land a little long (like 500 or 1,000 feet) as there will be up or down drafts off the end of the runway. Be particularly wary if the winds are out of the south and you're landing on runway 21 - the drop off is steeper just prior to that runway and the downdrafts you experience would be stronger. As a general rule I'd recommend going elsewhere if the winds are close to 30 knots. That kind of weather doesn't happen very often, fyi.

Airspace is pretty open with only a class D at Flagstaff to the north and another at Prescott to the West. Phoenix's class B to the south is the closest big space but that's about 70 miles away.

A few pictures:

Ramp space is usually available but it might be good to call ahead on holiday weekends.

This last one is from the airport's website and shows a glimpse of why this is such a great place to visit:

Safe flying

John Fiscus

Chief Pilot, The Flight Academy

www.theflightacademy.com

Destinations: San Juan Islands, Washington State

John Fiscus — Tue, 03 May 2011 16:43:00 GMT

I thought I'd kick off our new Destinations series with a place that's close to home for me. The San Juan Islands! Located in the Strait of Juan de Fuca where the Pacific Ocean starts to make its way down to Seattle, the San Juans are filled with awesome airports. Located within walking or biking distance there are tons of great places to stay and neat things to see.

I'll mention two airports in the island chain. If you're thinking about trying a different one, just drop us a line and we'll tell you more.

Name and type of Destination: Friday Harbor on San Juan island and East Sound on Orcas Island

For scenic getaways and quiet weekends, both of these islands have plenty to offer in terms of natural beauty. Both are also havens for artists and have galleries featuring some excellent pottery, paintings, and even metal craft. There's a pod of killer whales that call this area home during part of the year and a number of boat tour companies who will take you out to see them.

Airport IDs: KFHR (Friday Harbor) and KORS (East Sound)

A little about it: Friday Harbor is one of the biggest towns on the islands, weighing in at a little over 2,000 residents. Hotels, B&B's, and restaurants are all within walking distance of the airport (about 10 or 15 minutes on foot). Cab companies will gladly come pick you up as well. You can rent bicycles or mopeds to tour the island which is only about 10 miles across at the longest. Open country and small forests abound on San Juan Island with scenic views of the ocean from just about everywhere. Roche Harbor, on the north tip of the island, has a private (and interesting) airstrip and marina that is a favorite for people from all over the world. You can have a look at the island here.

East Sound on Orcas Island is also within walking distance of the airport and has shops and hotels enough to stay occupied in the town for a day. Once you've seen what there is to see there, rent a car and drive out to one of the hidden pottery or glass places which features local artists' work or go see the Howe motion art display. Mr. Howe creates what he calls kinetic art - large metal sculptures designed to move in the wind. If you feel like going a little more rustic, Doe Bay offers a series of cabins and yurts for rent that are shorter on the amenities but a little closer to nature. Drive up to the top of the mountain for one of the best scenic overlooks in the islands. Here's where East Sound and Orcas Island are located.

Precautions and notes: Both islands are close enough to land that you could keep your over water exposure to virtually nil if you wished, but otherwise you'd only be over water for a very short time. There's a class C airspace just to the south on Whidbey Island and they'll give you traffic advisories all the way to your destination in the San Juans. There aren't a lot of ILS approaches up here so if there's weather, expect to be shooting a GPS approach. The runways are all in good condition and of a reasonable length, but keep your eye out for traffic if you're going on a nice weekend in the summer - these are VERY popular places!

Here are a few photos of the islands taken relatively recently:

Safe flying

John Fiscus

Chief Pilot, The Flight Academy

www.theflightacademy.com

Reflections on Cirrus fatal #65 at Chapel Hill, NC on 12 July 2010

Rick Beach — Sun, 01 May 2011 19:16:00 GMT

This blog is the second attempt to share lessons and insights gained from studying a Cirrus fatal accident, Cirrus fatal #65 in SR20 N527MJ near Chapel Hill (was Sr 20 Down Chapel Hill).

(My first blog explored the loss of engine power at Buttonville Airport. See Reflections on Cirrus fatal #61 near Buttonville Airport in Canada)

My intent is not to second-guess the accident investigators, so I don't attempt to figure out what happened. I wasn't there. I don't have enough information.

I point you to the NTSB determination of probable cause:

Witnesses observed the airplane overfly the runway and enter a left traffic pattern. The airplane appeared to be faster than they were accustomed to seeing small airplanes operating. The airplane touched down hard on the runway surface and bounced several times before departing off the left side into the grass. The engine was described by the witnesses as operating at full power and the airplane appeared to by flying about 60 to 70 mph. The nose of the airplane was observed in a 45-degree nose up attitude and then leveled out back onto the ground. The airplane traveled 840 feet until the left wing collided with a tree and the airplane spun to the left and collided with the airport perimeter fence. The left and right flaps were in the retracted position. The Pilot's Operating Handbook for the airplane stated that the flaps are required to be extended 50 percent for a balked landing/go-around. No anomalies were noted during the examination of the airframe, flight controls, engine assembly, and accessories.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this ACC as follows:

The pilot's improper recovery from a bounced landing and subsequent improper go-around procedure, which resulted in a loss of directional control, runway excursion, and collision with a tree.

More information is available from the NTSB docket of public information, from which much of the detail here was gleaned. The docket contains several photographs, reports, witness statements, transcripts, selected for public disclosure.

What I do is ask what would I do if I faced similar situations that are described in the accident reports? How would I handle those challenges?

Planning to Land at an Unfamiliar Airport

One aspect of this flight was that the pilot had never flown to Chapel Hill, NC, before. The Horace Williams Airport (KIGX) is a typical small general aviation airport with a single 4005' runway oriented east/west 09/27.

Looking at the satellite view, I notice that the runway is surrounded by trees closer than usual for half of the runway

From my experience, that likely affects the winds, causing crosswinds to shift direction aligned with the runway somewhere during my final approach. I also notice that the ramp is at the 27 end of the runway and there is no parallel taxiway, which probably induces arrivals to favor runway 09.

Choosing the Runway at an Unfamiliar Airport

When approaching an unfamiliar airport, how do you choose which runway to land?

When the winds are closely aligned with the runway, the answer is easy. When the airport has a control tower, you will be told the active runway. When the airport has a UNICOM frequency, there is likely to be someone who can advise you with the active runway. When the airport has a CTAF frequency and there are planes in the pattern, then you can listen and figure out the active runway.

In the factual report of this Chapel Hill accident, the reported winds were 170 degrees at 4 knots, almost a direct crosswind. Apparently, there was little traffic.

Otherwise, no traffic and no advice, the choice is up to us. How would I choose? I would suspect the winds would shift, so if I choose, I could be wrong. But 4000' runways with a 4 knot tailwind is manageable, so even if I was wrong, I would prefer not to back taxi on runway 27, so I would probably choose runway 09, anticipate a tailwind, and manage my landings speeds with an expectation to go-around if things don't go well.

In this case, witnesses describe the plane flying downwind, making a “U” turn to final, landing on runway 09 with a tailwind according to the windsock next to the runway.

Landing Speeds

Cirrus pilots have demonstrated a lot of problems with landing too fast. COPA has tracked some of this to misinformation from instructors fearful of tail strikes, some comes from the difference in sight picture, some comes from fear of slow flight. Whatever. Excessive speed during landings is killing us and damaging airplanes.

For a discussion of landing speeds, see this blog: A Photo Story of Landing a Cirrus

As a refresher, the speeds published in the Flight Operations Manual are 100 KIAS downwind, 90 KIAS base, 80 KIAS short final, 73-77 KIAS over the threshold (not the numbers), near stall at touchdown.

One tactic I use is to check my ground speed during final approach. Are the winds behaving as I expect them? Has the wind shifted? Normally, my ground speed would be lower than my airspeed as I land into the wind with a shorter rollout and less braking. If the ground speed is about the same, then the winds are calm and I should be able to land with book numbers. If the ground speed is higher, then I have a tailwind and can expect a longer float and rollout with perhaps greater braking with an increased possibility of needing to go around.

Landing Too Fast and Bouncing on the Runway

Witnesses to this accident report that the aircraft came in faster than usual and bounced.

Kyle Henn, the rear seat passenger, reported “The airplane touched down on the runway a made a " hop" back into the air, touched back down on the runway, made another "hop" went back into the air, touched back on the runway and made another "hop" before coming back down on the runway at about midfield.”

Chad Lewis, an Army Captain waiting for Kyle Henn and first on the scene, reported “On it's final approach, the plane was initially not in line with the runway, but after two minor corrections, one to the left, then one back to the right, it was lined up. It seemed to be coming in faster than usual for a small plane and according to the windsock beside the runway, the plane was landing with the wind, not against it.

Landing with a tailwind at an unfamiliar airport is challenging. Landing too fast adds energy to the situation. Don't know how this Cirrus pilot practiced landings nor what his typical landing speeds were, but we know that the plane did not execute a smooth landing.

The Go Around Decision

Bounce once, go around!

Bounce more than once, stay on the ground!

Landing hard happens occasionally. Sometimes from excess speed, sometimes from wind shear, sometimes from my ham-handed controls. If the plane bounces back up in the air, often I'm no longer flying straight but turned slightly. And if I am landing fast and touching down above stall speed, then the wings are still generating lift. Both of those situations prompt the advice to Go Around!

However, if you bounce more than once, you probably have had a prop strike and maybe you won't have the full power you need. The fatal accident in Caldwell, NJ, involved four bounces leaving a portion of a propeller blade on the runway resulting in an unsuccessful climb and ultimate crash. Hard decision, since prop strikes are apparently often not noticed in the cockpit.

In this accident, the plane bounced more than once including touching down on the nose wheel. Chad Lewis reported “The initial landing was pretty hard and there was a small bounce where all three wheels left the ground. When the plane came down the second time, the front wheel hit first and there was a bigger bounce. The plane bounced a third and fourth time, each time the front wheel hitting first and each bounce getting more pronounced.”

That describes pilot-induced oscillations. The pilot attempts to keep the plane on the ground for landing and causes bigger and bigger bounces. In a Cirrus, bounce once, go around!

The Go Around Procedure

Once you decide to go around, the POH procedure is clear:

1. Autopilot .....................................................................DISENGAGE
2. Power Lever ........................................................FULL FORWARD
3. Flaps ........................................................................................50%
4. Airspeed....................................................................... 75-80 KIAS
After clear of obstacles:
5. Flaps .........................................................................................UP

You need power … Now! But note the flaps change. Landing procedure is to use full flaps before short final approach. Now, in the go around, you select 50% flaps. Only after clear of obstacles should you raise the flaps.

By the way, given the COPA encouragement of CAPS during departure climb emergencies, I now consider 500' as my CAPS-viable altitude for clear of obstacles! That's when I raise flaps.

In an SR20, raising flaps too much or too early badly affects the climb performance. We have had two SR20 accidents implicating flaps. A fatal accident at Greenwood, SC, where the pilot took off over gross with no flaps, and failed to outclimb trees, stalled and crashed. Another non-fatal accident at Fish Haven, ID, where the pilot executed a go around but inadvertently selected 0% flaps causing the plane to sink and crash off the end of the runway.

In this crash at Chapel Hill, the investigators found the flaps in the wreckage fully retracted, in the UP position.

Tough combination: landing with excessive speed, bouncing several times, retracting flaps too early.

Furthermore, one witness located at a maintenance hangar reported “He heard a noise similar to a tail scrape, and heard an engine at full power. He looked towards runway 9 and observed Cirrus in a 45-degree nose up attitude in the vicinity of the last one third of the runway. He then observed the nose to level out back on the ground and the airplane was veering left off the left side of the runway in the grass.”

Such an extreme attitude is very unusual. Could be an exaggeration by the witness, could be a stress reaction by the pilot who wants the plane to climb by pulling back on the yoke, could be an aerodynamic reaction to a departure stall.

Lazy Right Foot Syndrome

Ever notice that Cirrus runway excursions all seem to be on the left side of the runway? This one did. Here is the NTSB diagram of the ground scars found and the path of the aircraft.

Why left? I don't know for sure, but my suspicion is that Cirrus pilots fail to apply sufficient right rudder to compensate for the left-turning tendency when applying full power, especially during a go around procedure. More right rudder is needed to keep the plane going straight!

Pilots Who Fly With Other Pilots

One interesting aspect of this accident was the presence of an experienced pilot in the right seat accompanying the Cirrus pilot. That pilot had zero time in a Cirrus but 12,500 hours in other planes.

When you fly with another pilot, how do you establish who does what and when? Recall deciding on the positive exchange of controls with an instructor? Do you do that with other pilots? Probably not. The instructor is ensuring that they can save themselves by taking control. In less formal settings, do we do the same thing?

For accident investigators, having two pilots in the front seats in an aircraft with dual controls, it can be impossible to determine who was flying. Have you been induced by other pilots to let them handle the controls? Even a landing?

Then when something bad happens during the flight, how does the pilot not flying deal with the temptation to intervene? How does the pilot in command deal with a surprise like that? Even with prior discussion and agreement, the adrenaline rush of an emergency combined with greater experience might override the commitment to let the pilot in command handle everything.

I encourage anyone in the plane to speak up if they sense a problem, but especially a pilot flying with me. However, I do establish my prominence as pilot in command, it's my airplane, so speak up but don't touch anything without my direction.

Acknowledgements

This accident at Chapel Hill is special because the widow of the pilot joined the COPA community and shared her life experiences after the accident. Deb Markwood posts regularly in the blog Looking Back, Looking Forward - A Widow's Perspective. She and I have communicated regularly about the accident investigation as she wants to understand more about what happened to her husband Tom. COPA has invited Deb to the Allentown CPPP in June.

My appreciation for and understanding of accident investigations comes from long conversations with two key people at Cirrus Aircraft, Brad Miller and Brannon Mayer. Their professional dedication to helping us understand what happened has helped me explain things clearly. Their discretion is appreciated and honored.

Finally, a lot of my understanding of better ways to fly my Cirrus come from interacting with the amazing CPPP instructors who routinely vie to teach at the Cirrus Pilot Proficiency Program. Their commitment to our safety is appreciated.

EAPIS: Working Pretty Well, Actually

John Fiscus — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 20:41:00 GMT

I had an interesting 10 days recently. I crossed 3 different parts of the US border to 3 different countries (and back from those counties) in 3 different Cirri with 3 different groups of people. In doing this I got to work with the EAPIS system a lot and am still finding it pretty easy to work with.

On March 26^th I departed out of Fort Lauderdale, Executive and flew to March Harbor in the Bahamas with a return the next day. On March 28^th I departed to La Paz Mexico from Montgomery Field in San Diego and returned to Brown Field on the 30^th. Then on April 8^th I flew from Seattle, Washington to Vancouver International in Canada and back to Seattle that same day.

I thought EAPIS worked pretty well. I am getting very comfortable with it but also the process on their end is getting smoother. Nowadays, the most difficult part about EAPIS is getting registered. Once that is done, filing a departure or arrival manifest is very straightforward and simple. (Don’t ask about ordering a Customs decal, sheesh that's a pain).

Two of the pilots I was working with had never used the EAPIS system before. We spent about 30 minutes to get each set up with an account and then each manifest took about 10 minutes to complete. Simple enough.

While it doesn't have anything to do with EAPIS, I should mention that there are a few small differences in dealing with Customs depending on where you enter back into the USA. In Seattle and San Diego the Customs agents want you to stay in the plane until they come out to get you. In Fort Lauderdale they want you to come into the office on your own. After sitting in the plane with the doors open for about 20 minutes a Customs agent from FXE walked out and said, “What are you doing? Come inside." Consistency lets the terrorists win, apparently.

Make sure you wait to receive an email confirmation that your arrival and/or departure manifest were accepted into the system. We had an issue with one since we did not press “Submit” on the computer and the manifest didn't send. Customs was very friendly about it so we were lucky that time.

I've changed the way of doing things a little now that EAPIS is being used. For example, I would always call ahead to Customs at the airport I was flying to in order make sure we expected. Having done that a few times lately, I am told that this is not necessary if your destination has Customs on the field and it is during there normal operating hours. If you aren't sure, I'd still give them a call and make sure.

EAPIS still has some of the headaches associated with it but I'm hoping they fix these issues soon. The biggest one for me is that it won't store passenger information. You must input their passport number, address, birthday, etc into the system for each passenger each time (the pilot's info is saved, though). You can get around this issue by paying for services that will do this for you for (FltPlan.com for one).

I hope you enjoy the summer flying season and have fun flying to the Bahamas, Canada, Mexico or anywhere else you might enjoy (Pago Pago is nice this time of year)!

Luke Lysen

President

The Flight Academy

www.theflightacademy.com

The First Cirrus in SMO

John Fiscus — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 22:01:00 GMT

This last Sunday I spent a little time remembering where I was and what I was doing on previous Easter Sundays. I take a lot of photos when I fly and thanks to the digital age I don't have to get rid of any of them. Here's the story of delivering the first Cirrus to Santa Monica and a few photos to remind us all why we fly.

Nine years ago last weekend I delivered the first Cirrus to SMO. I flew with two of the four owners, a father son team named Bill and Nico.

I met Bill and Nico in Duluth and we trained there for two days, fixed some squawks, and then headed south west the day before Easter. On Easter morning 2002 we awoke in Page, Arizona and it was a beautiful day. The sun was out and the air was still and cool. We departed Page and flew west over the Glen Canyon Dam that divides Marble Canyon from Lake Powell, then departed for a view of the Big Ditch. It was early in the morning and the sun was just getting high enough to shine over the hills; it created lovely shadows amongst the reds, oranges and brown that makes this part of the world so striking.

We left Marble Canyon and flew south over the Grand Canyon. It was the first time flying over the Grand Canyon for all of us and it did not disappoint. Words and pictures cannot do it justice. All I can say is that I am writing this nine years later and I remember it like it was this morning.

After we exited the Canyon area we continued west to Las Vegas and landed at LAS. We tried to have Easter brunch at the Bellagio but the lines were several hours long. So instead of the Bellagio we dined at the Harley Davidson Café with motorcycles circling our heads on a conveyor belt. It seemed a fitting place for Easter brunch somehow.

After that we were off to Santa Monica and the LA basin. The view continued to be incredible - it had apparently rained some time before so the desert was a bit more green than usual.

As we continued towards SMO, approach told us an accident had happened on the runway that caused it to be closed. We landed at Van Nuys instead ... and our flaps were stuck down! The landing was fine, of course, but I had to do a little bit of work with the relays to fix the problem. After a short delay we finally got word that the runway was open again and hopped over.

This was my first time to LA and the airspace that covers it and the first of many many Cirri to arrive at SMO. Now there is a great service center, sales center and lots of positive GA and Cirrus activity here. I have been back more times than I can count - I love this airport!

To this day the flight from Page to LA remains one of my favorite trips. If you're ever in the southwest and looking for a scenic trip, this one is great!

Luke Lysen

President

The Flight Academy

Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association

Jim and Roger's most excellent adventure!

Early Reflections on CAPS Pull #32 by Dick McGlaughlin in the Bahamas

Does your engine sound different flying over water?

Haiti Beckons

The Engine Stops Over Water

Emergency Landing on Water: To Ditch or Pull CAPS Handle?

The Rocket Goes Off!

Simulating The Cirrus Parachute

Water Splash Down

Coast Guard Rescue

Lessons for Cirrus Pilots

Being Prepared for the Unexpected

November 27th..time is flying by

An interesting TAF

Chapel Hill

You don't see many approaches like this...

14 months since the plane crash....

Alaska 2011 part 2: August

Tom's Birthday Today

Automation Danger?

Time is flying by so fast....

Just over 12 months....

Alaska Trip: Sea Lions (video)

Alaskan Glaciers (video)

T minus one day to Alaska!

Memorial Day

10 Months

Observing a dramatic reduction in Cirrus fatal accidents

Ban low-speed flying "phobia" -- insights from John King for Cirrus pilots

Ban low airspeed phobia

Most people think

Let's consider

An imminent stall caused by flying too slow

A stall caused by anincrease in load factor

Flight instructors are afraid their students will stall

The result is

Radius of turn versus airspeed

Bank Angle vs Airspeed

Destinations: Sedona, Arizona

Destinations: San Juan Islands, Washington State

Reflections on Cirrus fatal #65 at Chapel Hill, NC on 12 July 2010

Planning to Land at an Unfamiliar Airport

Choosing the Runway at an Unfamiliar Airport

Landing Speeds

Landing Too Fast and Bouncing on the Runway

The Go Around Decision

The Go Around Procedure

Lazy Right Foot Syndrome

Pilots Who Fly With Other Pilots

Acknowledgements

EAPIS: Working Pretty Well, Actually

The First Cirrus in SMO

A stall caused by an
increase in load factor

Flight instructors are afraid
their students will stall