The Aspiring Pilot

1.2 hours of flight time today! Finally

Not like I was counting or anything (8 years, 3 months and 9 days... or 3,023 days... or 431 weeks) how much time has elapsed since my last flight at the controls of an airplane. I went up in a C-172 out of Chicago Executive today and just did a quick flight along the Chicago lakefront, down to the outskirts of Gary airspace and then back to Chicago Executive. My daughter had a project for school (take care of the class 'bear' Milo and document everything he did with her over the weekend.) So of course, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to go up in the air. She was excited and of course my son couldn't stop hassling me to go as well. So we finally all went together. I booked a plane with an instructor at the flying club. (Found out it was a reltively newly minted flight instructor so she was happy to be flying with someone that wasn't zero time!) 

I ended up getting the clubs newer C-172 with the G1000 cockpit. It was my first time in the electronic cokpit. I always thought I wouldn't be overwhelmed and would get the hang of it quickly. Boy, was I wrong! I was totally unprepared for the G1000. Even over the hour, I never was able to figure out where everything was and it was totally off from the scanning habit I had developed in other 172's. (My altitude was ALL over the place!) Then again, it was relatively bumpy with some nice thermals and winds aloft at 2,500 feet of 25+ knots. 

The weather was cold but the sky was CLEAR, with a bit of haze at ground level, as you can tell in the photo above. (not my best pics, and I think I have some cleaning to do with the lenses as my son did get his hands on the camera.....) 

 

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I actually did not do a landing this time. I was going to, but with not having flow in 8 years, the winds being about 20* crosswind and gusting up to 19 kts. I wasn't comfortable with it. KPWK was using runway 30 or 34, and I knew, coming in from the east, they would most likely bring us straight in to 30. I haven't done a straight in to that runway in a long time so I let the instructor take the landing. (Found out she hasn't had a 'student' land with her yet, she's done the landing on the instructing flight she's had so far so I guess she was hoping I was gonna take it!) Oh well! 

Now, next up, my bienniel flight review to get current. I do also need an instrument proficiency check, but that will come later, probably once I've started by CFI training. 

Finally started studying for CFI written exams

Well, I finally took the plunge and am working toward at least the written portion of my CFI certificates. I already had the Fundamentals of Instructing (FOI) book from Jeppesen, however, I just picked up the Gleim study guides for the FOI and the CFI and Ground instructor written.

I had passed the FOI once, about 5 years ago, so I'm not too worried about that one. Given my almost 8-9 year absence from actually flying, I KNOW I definitely need to brush up on the basics though, in terms of FAR's, airspace, flight physics, etc.

I'm hoping to do the FOI written around March/April and the CFI written around June/July. Currently, goal is to get current as well around February/March as well. I'll definitely be posting a little more about my progress now that I've actually STARTED the process! Here's to 2012 being the year I get back in the air.

Last chance to register for a free seminar on L-39 training!

Imagine climbing into the cockpit of a military jet training aircraft and being able to go for a flight whenever you wanted to. Don't think it's possible? Well, Gauntlet Warbirds, along with the FAA Safety Team (FAASTeam) will be hosting a seminar on Tuesday, October 11, starting at 7 pm at the Aurora Airport to discuss just that possibility. 

The seminar has a maximum seating capacity of 90 and already 21 seats have been reserved and expectations are for 30-50 participants to attend. Registration can be completed on the FAASTeam site at http://www.faasafety.gov/SPANS/event_details.aspx?eid=40615 along with directions to the airport and seminar location. The seminar also counts for WINGS credit for pilots participating in the FAA's Wings safety program counting as 1 credit under the Basic Knowledge 3 category. 

Continue reading on Examiner.com

British Airways to hire 800 pilots over 4 years

In what BA is calling their largest pilot recruitment drive in over a decade, today they announced plans to hire 800 new pilots by 2016 due to the addition of a large quantity of Boeing 787 Dreamliners and Airbus A380's to their fleet. The drive will be compromised of three seperate recruitment programs. 

The first is a path for military pilots. Military pilots can advance through their service with the end goal of working for the commercial aviation industry. Upon completion of their required service, they would then have the chance to work at British Airways. 

The second recruitment program is for current airline pilots to move from their current employement over to British Airways. 

Finally, the third, and probably most important to prospective pilots that are just looking to get into the aviation world is their training program. British Airways has stated that they know that one of the biggest detractors that is keeping people from pursuing a career as an airline pilot is the price tag that can be well in excess of $100,000.  As a result, British Airways will SEND aspiring pilots through training. 

British Airways 'Future Pilot Programme' will place 400 selectees at an approved flight training school and succesful candidates will have a job as a British Airways pilot.  The director of pilot recruitment at British Airways, Captain Robin Glover, stated that 'the Future Pilot Programme is a fantastic opportunity for anyone, from any background to realise their ambition of becoming a pilot and flying for British Airways. By removing the barrier of initial training costs and making it more accessible to a wider range of people, we hope to be able to attract the very best talent out there. It is a really exciting time to join British Airways as we are giving our customers even more choice by adding new destinations to our network and introducing new aircraft to our fleet. No other airline in the UK offers the opportunities that British Airways does for developing a career as a pilot.'

Successful trainees will attend one of three world-class flight training colleges in the UK and Spain, with the initial training fees covered by sponsor company, Airline Placement Limited (APL), with British Airways acting as guarantor.

 

National Air and Space Museum's Become a Pilot Family Day and Aviation Display

The 7th annual 'Become a Pilot' Family Day and Aviation Display will be held June 18th at the Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. I unfortunately will NOT be attending due to prior commitments, but would have absolutely loved to be in attendance. This year sounds like it may be one of the best yet! I wrote an article off their press release in my Examiner column (except below, with link to full article at the end) and I encourage you to read it. The plans for this year sound very exciting. 

There will be a modest Navy presence in honor of the Centennial of Naval Aviation celebrations as well as the dedication of a new aircraft to the Air and Space Museum collection during the day. The museum is also holding a Tweetup for 25 lucky people who are follower's of their Twitter account and I will write an article focusing on the tweetup itself shortly. From the sounds of it, it's a MUST for any aviation geek! 

It's a good few weeks for aviation fans trying to get others interested in flying, betweenInternational Learn to Fly day this week (see prior posts on my blog) to the Become a Pilot day, there's no excuse not to get introduced to the world of flight. 

Excerpt from my General Aviation Examiner Column:

The Smithshonian's National Air and Space Museum will be hosting it's annual 'Become aPilot' day June 18th this year. The event will be held at the Museum's Steven F. Udvar-HazyCenter in Chantilly, Va., near Washington Dulles International Airport. (Google Map of the Center) 

The 2011 'Become and Pilot' day is the museum's seventh event of it's kind and continued growing the event to what should be one of the best events yet. There are 50 airplanes scheduled for static display, including a mix of vintage, recreational, military and home-built aircraft. The airplanes will be flown in to Dulles International Airport (KIAD) and taxied into position outside the center's Boeing Aviation Hanger. There, visitors will be able to examine the aircraft and possibly even sit behind the controls. The owners and pilots of each aircraftwill be present to answer any questions and to discuss their airplanes with visitors. The museum has a stock pictures of a few of the types of aircraft that will be present on theevent's Aircraft Display page.

The military will have a modest presence as well, with static displays of the F/A-18 Super Hornet, E-2C Hawkeye and the MH-60S Knighthawk and MH-60 Seahawk helicopters. Also slated for a performance are the Navy's internationally renowned Navy Ceremonial Drill Team and the Navy Jazz Ensemble. 

Continue reading on Examiner.com: National Air and Space Museum announces 2011 Become a Pilot Day events - National General Aviation | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/general-aviation-in-national/national-air-and-space-museum-announces-2011-become-a-pilot-day-events#ixzz1Mv4BxJkh

 

May 21st - Int'l Learn to Fly Day events at Dupage Airport (KDPA)

I'm planning on being there, to cover the event and participate! This is a great event held nationwide and the second year since it's inception. Hoepfully interest continues and it returns for a third year. I'm going to assume that the national numbers of attendees will easily surpass last years count.  See you there?! 

(excerpt from my Chicago General Aviation Examiner.com article)

EAA's International Learn to Fly Day is coming to the Chicago area with 13 event's planned within 100 miles of the city. On May 21st, aviation industries, airports and flight instructors will be holding the event to introduce interested adults and kids to the world of general aviation and provide insight into learning to fly. Some locations will have the option for participants to take introductory flights. The introductory flights will be based off the Young Eagles flights offered to kids, aged 8 to 17, but will also include adults as well. 

Dupage Airport (KDPA) will have the event from 10 AM to 4 PM at the 'big red hanger' sponsored by Travel Express Aviation (TEA). The hanger is located at 3N060 Powis Road, West Chicago. Food will be provided throughout the event as well as events for the kids and adults. TEA will provide introductory flights for people considering learning to fly. 

Continue reading on Examiner.com: International Learn to Fly Day event planned for Dupage Airport - Chicago General Aviation | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/general-aviation-in-chicago/international-learn-to-fly-day-event-planned-for-dupage-airport#ixzz1M4IK2pf6

 

2011 International Learn to Fly Day coming May 21st

(crosspost from my General Aviation Examiner.com column)

The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) released news that there are currently over 130 events planned for International Learn to Fly Day (ILTFD) which falls on Saturday, May 21st this year. In 2010, the US House of Representatives passed a resolution naming the third Saturday in May as International Learn to Fly day. Per the EAA, the House wanted to recognize the contributions of flight instructors, flight schools, aviation groups, and industry in promoting and teaching the nation’s next generation of pilots. The EAA hopes the events will offer aspiring pilots an opportunity to experience the fun and freedom that is offered by learning to fly. 

According to the EAA, kids that have taken free introductory flights through the EAA Young Eagle program are five times as likely to become pilots. The introductory flight offers the ability to not only experience flight in a general aviation airplane, but to also see that obtaining a pilot license is an achievable goal. Over 7% of the current US pilot population under the age of 35 participated in the Young Eagles program. 

This will be the second annual ILTFD, with the inaugural event held last year. EAA statistics show that over 40,000 people attended the multiple events last year held across the country and a much larger crowd is expected this year. To locate a scheduled event near you, you can go to the International Learn to Fly Day website. Events are still being added so be sure to check back as the day approaches for new events that may be closer to you. 

Events can also still be scheduled and added to the official website. The EAA is encouraging other airports, organizations, aviation business and pilots to help create a local event. Event planners along with local EAA chapters can offer introductory flights, seminars and airport open houses. To submit your local event, visit the International Learn To Fly Day website as well.

Continue reading on Examiner.com: International Learn to Fly Day events planned nationwide - National General Aviation | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/general-aviation-in-national/international-learn-to-fly-day-events-planned-nationwide#ixzz1Lt7QCoti

 

Cool Air Safety Institute seminar in Illinois next week

AOPA's ASI is bringing the 'Close Calls, Lessons Learned' seminar to Illinios next week. Not sure I'll be able to attend but it does sound like a pretty interesting seminar. The nearest one to me in Bolingbrook is the same night as my mandatory paramedic continuing education so I won' t be able to attend that one. I may try for the Northbrook one. 

ASI's description: 

All of us have made mistakes, some more harrowing than others. The key is learning from those mistakes. 

"Close Calls, Lessons Learned" is the new seminar from the Air Safety Institute that features real pilots telling their real stories. Some are familiar stories, others are unique. 

You'll see a CFI and his student tell the story of losing a prop in flight. A Mooney pilot talks of surviving a crash in Oregon. One pilot shares how he lost control in the too-often-repeated event of going VFR into IMC. And one pilot shares how getting distracted can result in mistakes.

Article and locations/times can be found here in my Chicago General Aviation column. 

FAA Airman knowledge test changes cause huge jump in failure rates.

It may be a good thing I postponed taking my FOI (Fundamenals of Instructing) test from February until sometime this summer. Per ASA, (as noted in my General Aviation Examiner article), the failure rate for the FOI has jumped from 14% to 59%. This is due to the FAA changing the knowledge tests without any prior notice to ANYONE. This resulted in new topics being introduced that were not in the study guides or instructing materials. 

The FAA added material from newer advisory circulars among other sources and students were not aware to include these in their study methods/curriculum.  The negative of this is that the tests cost $150 PER test, and each failure sticks with your FAA history.

Other tests that are currently 'new' in addition to the FOI are the ATP and FE tests. I haven't heard anything further on if (or when) the remaining tests will be modified. 

 For more on this, see my examiner article here. 

178 seconds to live...

We hear about it all the time, a small airplane crash due inadvertent flight into instrument meteorological conditions during VFR flight.  I had heard a similar audio recording during my training at Delta Connection Academy and haven't been able to locate it since.  It appears that the AOPA has made a public service announcement (PSA) of sorts for pilots with a similar audio track.  it describes how quickly a pilot can experience spatial disorientation.  Without being trained properly for flight 'in the soup' or full IMC, it's easy to go by your seat of the pants feel, rather than the instruments.  Your body WILL LIE to you when you have no reference to the horizon or ground.  I HIGHLY encourage ALL aspiring and private pilots to consider pursuing an instrument rating for  your license.  

The ASF did a study years back that showed that our of 20 pilots that were non-instrument rated, 19 of them entered the 'graveyard spiral' after entering inadvertant IMC.  The 20th pilot actually also lost control, but with a different manuever and not the graveyard sprial.  The average time from entering IMC to full loss of control as 178 seconds, therefore, the title of the clip.   At the end of the clip, there is also a sobering statistic, in addition to the 95% chance of entering a graveyard spiral, 90% of accidents resulting from inadvertent flight into IMC are fatal.  

So, if you are not instrument rated, or even well out of instrument currency or experience in real IFR, think twice before pushing it and suffering from 'get-there-itis.' Don't fly into IMC, if you do, fly the instruments, and TURN AROUND!  the best way to exit inadvertent IMC in most cases, is to go back the same way to came.  

Watch the video and share this to all your pilot friends.  It was sobering listening to it in my private pilot course.