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 better pilots, we're all in this together.

Aero-Tips 05.04.06

A reader wrote:

I’ve completed my checkout in a Cirrus SR20 and am ready for my first business flight. The weather looks good, at least in the morning. Here are the particulars for the trip:

1. Drive to the airport: 0.25 hours
2. Preflight the airplane: 0.25 hours
3. Start-up, taxi and run-up: 0.25 hours
4. Flight: 0.75 hours (includes vectors for departure before proceeding direct)
5. Secure airplane: 0.25 hours
6. Call rental car: 0.25 hour
7. Get rental car: 0.50 hour
8. Drive to business location: 0.25 hour
9. Total time: 2.75 hours one-way.

He continued:

I can drive the trip in about two hours, so there’s not a lot of time savings. It’s not really quite far enough away to fly, but it would be fun, and I would get there more refreshed. 

There’s always something

But then I get the "Get-There-Itis" issue as this is not a normal trip -- I have to be there for a meeting. We also have potential for afternoon thunderstorms, so if the meeting goes long it could turn into an IFR return or maybe no return at all. Better judgment says to drive and not fly, but I would rather FLY!

I replied:

The phrase "I have to be there" is always a clue that judgment may be clouded when planning a flight. In many cases just thinking it is grounds for canceling a trip. But personal airplanes can be great business tools if you make good decisions; we don’t want to cancel every flight because it has a business imperative attached.

I suggested the reader do the following to make good decisions, and to save some time:

1. Book the rental car with a call to the FBO before takeoff, maybe even the day before. Call UNICOM 20 minutes out and arrange for car to be brought out and paperwork prepared for your signature. Then it should take but a short flash of a driver’s license and credit card to be on your way.
2. Pack a small RON (Remain Over Night) bag with essentials and assume you’ll stay overnight unless things go unusually well. Don’t schedule anything else for that evening or anything that can’t be moved for the next morning, so you’re not under pressure to make the return trip.
3. Don’t fret about the weather until it’s time to make the decision. But avoid flying IFR into areas of thunderstorms... when you may need to remain "visual" the most.
4. Wait out weather as needed but do not plan to depart after you’ve been awake for 11 hours (12 hour duty day on landing back at home).
5. Fly after dark only if it’s very good VMC with no chance of storms (but file IFR for the practice).
6. Worst case scenario: you spend the night away this time. But it may work out and you go out and back in a single day.
7. Approached this way, no matter what you do, it will help you start making these kinds of decisions for yourself in the future.

Aero-tip of the day: There are many ways you can develop judgment for cross-country flight. Eventually, though, you need to start making trips -- planning ahead to avoid taking excessive risk.

FMI: Aero-Tips