Some common rules or other aircraft terms to remember
Aircraft Tips, Basic Flight Procedures, and Strategies for Light Aircraft
Every field has some "rules of thumb" that are truisms. Aviation
is no different. The following are offered only as a way quick to remember
how an aircraft performs or what you should think about when flying. In all
cases FARs and the POH always overrules anything stated here and in no way
should be substituted for any international or governmental regulation or
what the manufacturer has stated to do in any given situation. These suggestions
are for light aircraft.
Aborting a takeoff halfway down the runway will allow you
to stop on the runway.
Always be at least 1000 feet above the terrain (2000 in mountains) to ensure
you will miss any unknown or unseen obstructions or an upwind / downwind draft
over a hill / mountain.
The distance / time to clear an obstacle is reduced by 5% for every 100 lbs
below max gross weight. (We are talking Cessna 172, Bonanzas here, NOT 747s!)
For every 1% airport grade it will affect the aircraft by 10% over what is
stated in the POH for performance.
Use 150% of what what is stated in the POH to ensure a margin of safety
when taking off in order to clear an obstacle at the end of a runway. Calculate
200%
if really bad conditions are present.
When landing if an object at the end of the runway appears stationary you
are making a good glide path. If moving up you are undershooting and if moving
down then overshooting.
Add 20% to stopping the POH stopping distance for every 5 mph of tailwind
component.
Altitude above you does not help with a dead engine.
Judging distance at night using your eyes is unreliable. (And if you only
have 1 good eye estimating distance in daytime is also unreliable too!) Trust your instruments.
3 degree Glide slope quick calculation: Add zero to ground speed and half the result. 75 MPH ground speed, add 0 to make it 750, half of that is 375 so a sink rate of 375 FPM will be real close to a 3 degree glide slope.
Operational Good Practices
Remove wheel pants from the a/c if extended operation is expected in snow.
Flying in freezing weather with retractable gear taxi slow to ensure slush
does not freeze your wheels in place or freeze them into the wheel well.
Always go to the airport and clean the snow off your a/c wings after a winter
snowfall. (And get a bite to eat at the airport while there!)
Never use a lighter to heat overflow vents filled with ice.
If extreme cold either pull your a/c into a heated hanger to warm it up
or use pre-heat on the engine. Usually this is when temperature falls below
20 degrees
F.
Have a emergency kit for 3 days worth of water, some food, mirrors, flashlight,
matches, "survival blanket" and other items based on where you are
flying.
Keeping an emergency kit easily accessible at your home or in your pod storage container when making a move is very important as well. Emergency essentials like food, water, and first aid supplies can even be stored long term in a pod storage unit by ABF UPack if you have a large amount of supplies set aside.
Airspace Utilization
A
lot of new efforts are underway in the industry. One is the Advanced Personal
Air Transportation System. This is an attempt to take all the computer advances
like heads-up displays, GPS, weather radar and other items normally installed
in heavy metal and make them available to the general aviation flying community.
As a member of AOPA when you renew your membership you get a lot of useful
items like this Airspace at a Glance reference card. On the backside of the
card there is a table showing all the requirements needed to fly in that airspace.
While at Reno in 2000 I picked up from the FAA a "Guide to Airport Signs
and Markings". This link will take you to Airport
Signs and this one to the Airport Markings
reference sheet. 72 and 80K respectively. The resolution is good enough to get
a decent print from.
General Tower and Non-Tower Airport Procedures
Non Manned Tower Frequencies
Airport Facility
Frequency
Inbound
Outbound
Instrument
UNICOM
CTAF 122.7, 122.8, 122.725, 122.975 or 123.0
Report in at least 10 miles out , entering downwind, base, and final
approach to runway , leaving runway
Before taxi and before entering runway
Not allowed
Manned Tower Frequencies
Airport Type
Frequency
Inbound
Outbound
Instrument
No Tower or UNICOM
Announce 122.9
10 miles out, downwind, base, final, leaving runway
Before taxi, before entering runway
Departing Final Approach Fix (FAF)
Tower not in Operation
Published CATF Frequency
10 miles out, entering downwind, base, final, leaving runway
Before taxi, before entering runway
Approach complete or terminated
FSS Closed (no tower)
Announce on CATF
10 miles out, entering downwind, base, final, leaving runway
Before taxi, before entering runway
N/A
Tower (FSS not in service)
Announce on CATF
10 miles out, entering downwind, base, final, leaving runway
Before taxi, before entering runway
N/A
Aircraft V Speeds
V-Speed
Definition
Airspeed Indicator Marking
VSO
Stall speed, flaps down, power off
bottom of white arc
VS
Stall speed, flaps up, power off
bottom of green arc
VX
Best angle-of-climb speed
none
VY
Best rate-of-climb speed
none
VFE
Maximum flaps-extended speed
Top of white arc
VA
Maneuvering speed
none
VNO
Maximum Structural cruise speed
Upper limit of green arc
VNE
Never-exceed speed
Top of Red line
VYSE
Best Single Engine Speed Rate of climb (twins))
Blue line
VMC
Minimum Controllable Airspeed
Bottom of green Line
Quick Decent Calculation
To find the distance from the airport that you should start a descent subtract
the pattern altitude (MSL) from your current altitude, delete the three 0s
(dividing by 1000) then multiple by 3 to give you the distance you should start
you descent to give you a nice steady 500 fpm decent.
Current Altitude: 6500, pattern 1500'. 6500-1500/1000*3 = 15 miles out.
Standard Day
29.92 inches of Hg at 59 F is what is used as a standard day to measure from
for aircraft performance purposes.
Aircraft Checklists
Each aircraft has their own checklist created by the manufacturer and approved
by the FAA. (Older aircraft may only have a Pilot Operating Handbook and no
approved checklist, generally a/c made between 1890 and the 1950s when the CAA - Civil Aeronautic Authority was in existence.)
Memory Aids
RECIT - before flight
Radios
Electrics
Controls
Inside
Trim
CIGAR - for takeoff
Cowls
Instruments
Gas
Altimeter
Run up
WUFTDM - after takeoff
wind
Undercarriage
Flaps
Time
DG
Mixture
GUMP - for landing
Gas
Undercarriage
Manifold
Prop
GUMPSS - for landing
Gas
Undercarrage
Mixture (rich)
Prop (high rpm)
Switches (landing light)
Seatbelts (on)
The mixture is important since that's usually what we forget in the descent to a landing. [Thanks to Don Leonard for this.]
FAST — In Flight Piston Restart
Fuel - select correct tank
Air - Carb Heat (alternate air?)
Spark - Magneto in on "both"
Terminate - land at the best suitable location if engine fails to produce
sufficient power to get to an airport.
ICE-T
Indicated Airspeed - what you see from the pitot tube, air-pressure reading
Calibrated Airspeed - airspeed after accounting for mechanical and position
errors (attitude) of the aircraft
Equivalent Airspeed - airspeed after compensating for compression effects
(usually need at speeds above 200 MPH)
True Airspeed - airspeed after accounting for temperature and atmospheric
pressure changes
Rule of Thumb for True Airspeed
Increase IAS by 2% per 1000 density feet above sea level. 5000 density altitude
yields 5*2% or 10% above indicated airspeed. So 100 IAS = ~110 mph TAS at
5,000 foot density altitude.
Extra Checklist Items?
Some common things that anyone should know about their a/c but I have not seen
in any checklist are:
Height of your aircraft - - can you really get it in that hanger?
Prop Clearance - blade to ground at idle and during bouncing taxis?
Length and wingspan of your aircraft - can you really make that turn between
those two aircraft on the ramp?
The real glide ratio of your aircraft when you are flying it?
If you had to make a 180 degree turn with no engine, how much altitude would
you lose to complete the turn and be at the same speed when the 180 degree
turn is completed and be at the same airspeed that you entered it at?
Do you pack a really good set of emergency gear equal to the number of passengers
when going rural cross-country flying?
Pre-Departure Checklist
Airworthiness certificate
Registration certificate
Radio station license
Operating handbook (for a/c)
Weight and balance data
Equipment list (if needed)
Annual Inspection
VOR receiver check (every 30 days)
100 Hour inspection (for hire a/c)
Pitot static check (every 24 months)
Transponder check (every 24 months)
ELT Battery check (every 12 months)
Approach Briefing
ID Procedure
Final approach nav aid tuned and ID'd
Inbound course verified & set in #1 CDI/HSI
Final approach fix ALT ______
GS crossing ALT _____
Missed-approach point marked
DA is at what ALT ________ and minimal visibility is _______ distance
Once at field descend to landing altitude for field (wet, short field,
long field, trees, lake)
Square pattern to land into the wind (if possible)
Electrical off
Get out of plane, eat the candy bar crushed in you shirt and wait
Start filling out paperwork
FARs
PIC 91.3
Pilot Experience 91.57
Preflight 91.103
Fuel 91.167
VOR 91.171
A/C Documents 91.203
Altimeter 91.411
ELT 91.207
Transponder 91.413
FAR Numbers only valid as of November of 2003. Always subject to change by
the FAA.
Twin Engine Advice
Engine Failure advice
Fly the Aircraft
-->Apply rudder and aileron deflection into the good engine
Mixture RICH
Props High RPM
Throttles FULL
Flaps UP
Gear UP
Identify the dead engine (dead foot usually = dead engine)
Raise wing on dead engine a few degrees
Verify the dead engine
Trim Rudder
Feather dead engine
Low Altitude
Throttle idle
Prop Feather
Mixture cutoff
Check for fire
Feather
Squawk the IFF
Talk
Low altitude is always more dangerous due to lack of time and or obstructions.
Most twins have either a slight (50' per minute) or negative climb rate with
one engine out. High power low and slow with one engine dead or producing minimum
power is a classic way to induce a accelerated stall that turns into a spin
that is nearly (99% of the time) impossible to recover from below 1500' AGL.
"If One engine quits the other will surely take you to the scene of
the accident."
— Old
saying about engine failure on twins at low altitude.
Rated HP, Effective HP and fuel consumption
Rated HP = Maximum RPM at Full Throttle
Fuel consumption = max hp * %current power * .435 BSFC
/ 6 lbs (fuel weight)
Control Harmony
The term applied by pilots when the amount of force to move any one
of the three directional controls each only requires the same amount of force
to deflect the control surface the same amount for each.
Operating an Engine "Over Squared"
Back during the 1930s and 40s when Radial Engines predominated pilots
were taught never to run an engine "over square." This was defined
by dividing the RPM/100 and comparing it to the manifold pressure. i.e.:
2500 RPM and 25 Inches
of Manifold
pressure
was
fine
but not
to run it 2500 RPM at 30 inches of pressure. This was taught during the 1930s
to prevent excessive wear on the engines due to bearings and other metals used
in the
engines would wear out faster at the higher engine operating range. By teaching
pilots not to run "over square" the engines would last longer.
The
advent of WW-II and the increase in engine ability and reliability (P-51 Mustangs
with the Merlin engine would run at 52 inches of manifold pressure at 2600 RPM)
changed a lot of "engine rule of thumbs." So this "over square" rule no longer
applies to most aircraft engines.
As a general rule, following it will still work on most any aircraft
engine to ensure low engine wear. Consult the POH section concerning the engine
to find out what the best RPM/Manifold combination is for any given flight
realm.
Flight Reporting
When To Give Position Reports
Under IFR
1. Leaving an assigned altitude
2. There’s a change of altitude
while VFR-on-top
3. You’re unable to climb or
descend 500 fpm
4. There’s a true airspeed change in excess of 5% or 10 knots
5. Reaching a holding fix
6. Leaving a holding fix
7. There’s a missed approach
8. There’s any kind of
equipment failure
9. Anything affects the safety
of the flight
When not in radar contact
1. Leaving a final approach
fix inbound
2. Unforecast weather
3. Change in the ETA greater than plus or minus three minutes
4. Designated reporting points
What to report at designated reporting points
1. Identification
2. Position
3. Time
4. Altitude
5. Type of flight plan
6. Name of the next reporting
point and ETA
7. Name of the next succeeding reporting point
8. Any pertinent remarks
Night Vision
Your eyes need more O2 at night. Flying above 5,000 MSL people should use
O2 to improve vision. Vitamin A helps improve peripheral vision also.
Painting Propeller Tips
Painting them improves visibility of the tips which can exceed the speed of
sound when turning, but you must follow some FAA rules before doing so. AC
91-42D was to owners to maintain existing paint schemes while FAA-AM-78-29
deals with how some painting may cause pilot problems due when looking at or
from peripheral vision in twins.
When at an FBO it is best to point the a/c away from the office to avoid people
walking into tips to and from the loading area; but then the FBO may get mad
at you when you power up and all their paper in their office goes flying.
Jargon
Every profession has their own unique jargon - shorthand phrases - to convey
precise information. In the aircraft world there is an official phrase book
that air traffic controllers must use and there is also common phrases that
is good to know.
Frequency talk
Ground point nine (seven / eight): shorthand for 121.9 MHz
Tower Eighteen Three: shorthand for 118.3
Carrier only: transmitter is working but no audio on the carrier wave.
Loose microphone jack or microphone broken
PD: Pilot's discretion
Are you familiar?: If you know the airport layout well enough to taxi to
where you are supposed to park the aircraft
High Speed: High speed taxiways to allow large jets to taxi off the active
doing 30+ knots
Over the Marker: on an ILS approach
it denotes the aircraft is on the outer frequency marker on final to landing
using instrument landing rules under IFR
procedures.
Company Traffic: Aircraft owned by the same airline company is
being referenced
Fish Finder: TCAS shows another aircraft
Penalty Box: A/C waiting to go someplace on the airport are told to park
their aircraft at an out of the way place till they can taxi elsewhere
Call Signs
Speedbird: British Airways
--> Corrigendum, actually. Under nicknames, you include: Call Signs * Speedbird:
British Airways "Speedbird" was actually the signifier for aircraft type "Concorde," not
for any a/c operated by BA. This designator was required (or at least started)
because the flight envelope for an SST was a bit further out than for other
a/c. In this sense, it corresponds to "Heavy" to refer to a large and full-loaded
a/c in the 747/1011/DC-10 range -- one which required special treatment due
to high wake turbulence. But non-SST BA a/c were not called "Speedbird." Cheers
-- Edward Rice Vienna, Virginia (about 7 nm from IAD on the 100-degree radial)
Candler: Atlantic Southeast
Citrus: Air Tran
Cactus: America West
Blue Ridge: Coast Airlines
Jetlink: Continental Express
AmTGram: American Trans Air
Clipper: Pan Am
Windy City: Chicago Express
Sun King: Southwest (Nickname?)
Bluestreak: US Airways Express or CCair or Chautaqua or, Piedmont or Allegheny
or Trans States and for sure PSA
Star Check: AirNet
Blue Ridge: ATLANTIC Coast Airlines (ACA)
AmTran: American Trans Air
Trans-States: Waterski
CAP - Civil Air Patrol. It used to be CAP Flight but the airline that had the CAP callsign is now gone (as of 2011) so they assigned CAP to the Civil Air Patrol.
Thanks to Cade (x ACA) who sent me 5 more call signs for airlines.
Aircraft Types
Experimental: Usually homebuilt / non production / non FAA certified
aircraft, also covers WW-II Aircraft
Mad Dog: MacDonald-Douglas -MD- aircraft
Diesel9: DC-9
TriStar: Lockheed L-1011
DoJet (Doh'-jet): Dornier 328
Turbulence Strategies
Tighten down everything (pretend like you are about to do aerobatic display
- well on 2nd thought, if you get this far maybe you will be doing aerobatic
maneuvers if not real careful)
Turn up illumination on all instruments that you can (contrast changes
to high will also allows you to see them better)
Lower gear for better stability (no flaps, lowering flaps reduces G loads
that can be sustained)
Keep Va (maneuver) speed - do not change power settings
Turn off altitude hold (sometimes known as attitude)
Keep wings level - ignore altitude fluctuations and try not to maintain
one altitude
TELL ATC that you want a block altitude.
Check aircraft for wrinkles afterwards.
Icing Strategies
Turn on de-icing equipment
Retract flaps and gear (this overrules any turbulence problems)
Get out of visible moisture by course changes or altitude changes
Tell ATC that you are in icing conditions and want to head to the nearest
airport (Judgment call here. Once you notice the aircraft is not starting
to respond it may be too late! Look out the windows and try and see what
accumulation is like. Frosted, rime, clear and how thick. Once you determine
that is shorting going to cause control problems call ATC and get to the
nearest runway.)
When landing do so at 1.2 over normal landing speed - pick a long runway.
No flaps
Delay lowering gear till on final and airfield in sight
Plan ahead - there is no go around option with ice on the wings
Aeronautical Formulas
Diskloading DL = Thrust / Diameter(2) / (Pi/4)
Power = Thurst / 550 * SQRT (DL / 2p) (p = density of air 0.0023 at sea level,
all other items in pounds)
Drag = .0012 * V(2) x A * Cd
(A = Wing area, Cd is Drag coefficient, V= Velocity)
V = 550 * Power / Drag
Disclaimer
The advice on here cannot be construed as absolute truth when it comes to
operational practices when flying an aircraft in the United States, or anywhere
else for that matter.
The POH (Pilot Operating Handbook) is the first place
to check on how to fly an aircraft and that is always
trumped
by the FAA (or the people with the power in the country you are over flying)
as to how the POH is interpreted in actual use. Also consult the AIM
(Airman Information Manual), the PIM (Pilot Information Manual), FAA regulations
as published, or other official rules for your own country and those that you
fly over if you are in doubt. The FAA has the final
say on
safe
practices
on
operating
any aircraft
in
the
United
States.
The math functions and other information here is presented and published as
is and is accurate and correct to the best of my knowledge.