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.

FMI: Aero-Tips