Aero-Tips!
A good pilot is always learning -- how many times have you heard
this old standard throughout your flying career? There is no truer
statement in all of flying (well, with the possible exception of
"there are no old, bold pilots.") It's part of what makes aviation
so exciting for all of us... just when you think you've seen it
all, along comes a scenario you've never imagined.
Aero-News has called upon the expertise of Thomas P. Turner,
master CFI and all-around-good-guy, to bring our readers -- and us
-- daily tips to improve our skills as aviators, and as
representatives of the flying community. Some of them, you may have
heard before... but for each of us, there will also be something we
might never have considered before, or something that didn't
"stick" the way it should have the first time we memorized it for
the practical test.
It is our unabashed goal that "Aero-Tips" will help our readers
become better, safer pilots -- as well as introducing our
ground-bound readers to the concepts and principles that keep those
strange aluminum-and-composite contraptions in the air... and allow
them to soar magnificently through it.
Look for our daily Aero-Tips segments, coming each day to you
through the Aero-News Network. Suggestions for future Aero-Tips are
always welcome, as are additions or discussion of each day's tips.
Remember... when it comes to being good pilots, we're all in this
together.
Aero-Tips 01.23.06
Ron (not his real name) and I, instructors both, were conducting
tests in a Beech A36. We were putting the Bonanza through
preplanned changes in power and configuration to document the
resulting performance changes. The data was later used in
calibrating a Bonanza flight training device
(“simulator”).
I was pilot-flying, in
the right seat. Ron was in the left, narrating time since
initiating a maneuver and the resulting changes in altitude,
airspeed and other parameters into a cassette recorder that was
velcro’d to the floor between our seats. I had a spare
cassette on my side of the airplane, and we were near the end of
the first tape.
Level at 4500 feet, the next test was to extend the landing gear
at cruise speed (allowable in the later Bonanzas) and measure the
result. Ron gave me the time cue so I threw the gear switch and let
go of the yoke. The nose went sharply down, when…
CLICK!
We both knew instantly what it was -- our cassette tape was at
its end. Ron said “I’ve got it” and put his head
down to retrieve the recorder. I thought “I’ve got
it” meant he was taking control of the airplane, which was
logical given that I had the spare cassette. So I simultaneously
put my head down to find the spare tape and load it into the
recorder. In a moment worthy of a 1940s cartoon, with the airplane
pointed downward at over 1000 foot per minute, we both realized our
mistake... I looked at Ron, Ron looked at me, and then, only after
what seemed like an infinite pause, we both snapped vertically in
our seats and together pulled the airplane out of its dive.
Positive Transfer of Control
I now brief students and fellow pilots on a positive transfer of
aircraft controls. If I want to relinquish controls I’ll say
“You have the flight controls,” but I don’t
assume the other guy has taken over until he/she says out loud
“I have the flight controls.” I insist on this
procedure no matter who is initiating or relinquishing control. The
FAA Practical Test Standards recommend a “positive three-step
process,” which presumably includes “You have the
flight controls,” “I have the flight controls,”
and a confirming “You have the flight controls.”
Aero-tip of the day: Brief and use a method of
positively transferring pilot-flying duties, so you’ll never
wonder who has the flight controls.