Tips from CSIP's: Staying Proficient

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

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

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....

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

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!

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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.

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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

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

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

www.theflightacademy.com

Unlimited Sim Program Is Back!

John Fiscus — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 23:02:00 GMT

Do you wish you were a little sharper on instrument flying? Would you like to know a few more Garmin tricks to make your life simpler? Want to see if you'd pull the CAPS handle when it really matters? You can do all this, as much as you'd like, for the next 12 months with the return of our Unlimited Sim Program.

This program gives you unlimited access to a Cirrus full motion simulator and CSIP instructor from the most experienced Cirrus trainers in the world. For the price of about two and a half days of training, you can do all the training you'd like for the next year... and include your non-pilot flying partner for all the training they'd like to do as well for no extra charge. We're going to offer only 30 positions in this program, so please contact us soon if you're interested!

Training for your Co-Pilot

Bring your regular flying partner in for simulator training as well! We will perform ground and simulator training to show that using the Cirrus' safety systems is straight-forward and possible for anyone.

Train like professional pilots

Airlines and corporate aviation have been using motion simulators in their training programs for decades. Professional pilots go to simulator training multiple times per year to keep themselves proficient and ready for anything. With our Unlimited Sim program, you can train to this same standard!

Most of our clients in this program are from out of town. If that's you, then Click here to learn how this program could be right for you.

Click here for some examples of our training courses.

To see a little bit of the sim in action, have a look at this video which features an engine failure shortly after takeoff, followed by a CAPS save:

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If you'd like to hear more about this program, contact us toll free at (866) 557-1501 or via email at Info@TheFlightAcademy.com

Safe flying!

Destinations: Upcoming blog series - send us your favorites!

John Fiscus — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 17:18:00 GMT

One of the fun things about flying all over the world to teach in Cirrus aircraft has been that we get to see all kinds of cool places to go. Sometimes it's a neat restaurant, sometimes it's a cool stopover, sometimes it's just the view... but there are TONS of gems hidden all over the world that are easily accessible to a Cirrus pilot. For those of you who are looking for a reason to go somewhere this summer, stay tuned!

Starting next month we're going to start featuring some of these on this blog. All the different instructors of The Flight Academy team will be writing up a short bit about one of their favorite places. We'll talk about what you can do while you're there, things to watch for (or definitely fly over to see) on your way in, and offer a few tidbits about the local area.

We'd also be happy to feature gems discovered by our readers. Do you have a favorite destination, an awesome lunch spot, or a resort that can't be beat? Let us know! We'll feature your story and pictures on the blog too.

Have a look at a few previews:

Alaska 2011: Two trips this year

John Fiscus — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 17:12:00 GMT

Wow! Interest in our Alaska trip has been going up steadily but we saw a serious jump this year. Our June trip is now completely booked!

Since we were still getting phone calls about it, we've worked with the lodge to open a second trip in August. This trip will depart Seattle on Wednesday, the 17th, which gives Migration attendees 2 leisurely days to make their way to the Northwest. If you'd like, we'd be happy to fly to Seattle with you and do some mountain flying training along the way.

Two years ago I flew with some clients into Jackson Hole, WY, a fairly famous high altitude airport. Check out the 13,000 foot mountains in the background:

This will be our 8th trip to Alaska as a tour and it's the trip of a lifetime. We'll supply you with a flight instructor who is experienced with Alaska flying (things are a little different up there), and all the charts. We'll do flight planning and filing for everybody and do a group briefing each day before our flights. Hotels, food, and entertainment are all arranged - you just need to show up! We even have a few aircraft that we can rent to clients coming from far enough away that they can't fly their own plane. Highlights include some great formation photo flying, amazing wild life, and some of the best salmon and halibut fishing you could ever do!

If you'd like to learn a little more about the itinerary or how the trip works, give us a call at (866) 557-1501. You can also visit our website to see some pictures of previous trips and read about how it works: http://theflightacademy.com/alaska/AlaskaTrip2011.pdf

Safe flying,

John Fiscus

Chief Pilot, The Flight Academy

www.theflightacademy.com

Perspective Update: Make Sure You Turn This On!

John Fiscus — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 21:05:00 GMT

Last week I blogged about the latest update to the Perspective software and all the new features included. I also mentioned that I had found out a certain feature doesn't necessarily come turned on and that the pilot has to do it. This isn't too tough to do but things like that are always best described with pictures. Now that I've had an opportunity to take some shots, I'll post them to help illustrate the procedure.

First, what is it?

There's a feature that apparently comes turned off in the new upgrade that allows you to see an arc (sometimes referred to as a "banana bar") on the moving map which is a prediction of where your aircraft will be when it reaches a new altitude.

The system looks at your altitude bug, then compares that to your speed over the ground and your vertical speed. It then places an arc out in front of the aircraft where, if everything stays the same, indicates where you'll be when you reach the bugged altitude. It looks like this:

Here's a good example of this feature in action. I was descending under the class B airspace and had set myself up for a 500 fpm descent down to 2,000 feet. Here's a shot of the PFD to help visualize the configuration:

Here's the view on the MFD with the altitude arc showing exactly where I'd be when I reached 2,000 feet:

So, depending on when I needed to be at 2,000 feet, I could now make an adjustment to my vertical speed and get down faster if necessary. Once the airplane settled into that new descent rate, the arc would move to show the new place I'd be when I made it down to 2,000.

Handy, right? So here's how you turn it on:

First, with your MFD on the first page of the map chapter (the same shown above), push the button on the FMS labeled MENU. This is also how you change your preferred settings for the map.

Staying in the MAP group, you'll need to use the bigger (outer) knob to scroll the cursor all the way down to the very bottom - the selection you're looking for is called SEL ALT ARC (select altitude arc). This picture will help visualize what I'm talking about:

Sorry about the fuzzy resolution... it was a little bumpy!

Once you have that highlighted, turn the small (inner) FMS knob to change it to ON. That's it! Your altitude arc is now going to show up and you can start taking advantage of this feature.

Safe flying!

John Fiscus

Chief Pilot, The Flight Academy