BruceAir, LLC (bruceair.com): Aviation

The Extra is in Seattle for the Summer

Mon, 12 May 2008 14:37:32 GMT

I launched in the Extra 300L from its winter home at 61B at 0600 PDT Saturday and cruised to KVIS via DAG and PMD, etc. on the dogleg to California's Central Valley (I don't like to fly the lonely stretch between Las Vegas and Reno in the Extra); 1.7 en route on a clear, smooth flight. That’s the time of day to cross the desert.

Refueled at KVIS (I was there before the FBO opened the doors) and rocketed on to KOVE, which has the cheapest ($4.80) gas I could find in CA; 1.4 up the valley, including, with ATC’s blessing, a scenic overflight of Beale AFB, which now has a permanent temporary flight restriction (National Security Airspace) superimposed on its Class C. One U-2 variant on the ramp; several other pointy aircraft (probably T-38s) were in evidence.

The next leg is the usual run from KOVE to KCVO in Oregon. But everybody north of Medford was reporting broken and overcast layers at 3000-4000, and that’s what the XM weather on Garmin 396 continued to report (how did I fly before I had that feature?).

So after 1.2, I plopped down at KMFR, refueled, and hung out at the nice, remodeled FBO (Medford Air) for about 90 minutes. The gas wasn’t cheap (but not outrageous these days), and the folks were helpful, and they have good facilities for stranded pilots.

The next round of METARs looked better, so I departed KMFR. I spent the next 1.2 beneath an overcast working my way north through the hills. I always had excellent visibility (20-30 miles), all of the mountain tops were in the clear, and I had several alternates (e.g., KRBG) reporting good VFR.

According to the fuel computer and my Mark 0.5 brain, I had just enough gas to make it all the way home to KBFI. But the weather in the Willamette Valley had me at 2000-2500, and I didn’t want to start poking my way through the infamous Chehalis Gap south of KOLM in MVFR only to find that I didn’t have enough gas to go to Plan B, so I dropped in at KHIO for some insurance fuel and another look at the weather. Then it was on to KBFI (0.8 en route).

I’d had so much fun that I decided to stop flying for the day. Wouldn’t want to spoil that endorphin high. Besides, around 1900 PDT, the skies opened up and poured rain as another front passed through.

Not much chance of doing acro for the next several days, but it looks like I’ll get some flying in later this week:

A STRONG UPPER RIDGE WILL BUILD OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST FOR WARM SUNNY DAYS WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY.

We may even get close to 80!

WingX: Flight Planning in the Palm of Your Hand

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 02:46:49 GMT

I’ve longed use the Web and PC-based flight-planning tools to check the weather, lay out and file flight plans, and retrieve information about airports.

Voyager, my favorite flight-planning program, also prints current instrument approach charts and other essential information that I can carry along in the cockpit. Many FBOs have computers in the flight-planning room, so even when you’re away from home, you can take care of preflight business via the Web.

But not all airports offer such services—the office may not even be open, as I recently discovered on a fine Saturday morning at Walla Walla, an airport with an operating control tower and airline service but nobody at the FBO on weekends.

Cell phone service, however, is available at most airports, and thanks to products like WingX from Hilton Software LLC, all of the online aviation-related services I rely on are available through a Web-enabled PDA or Smartphone (the current list of supported devices is on the WingX Web site).

To read a detailed assessment of WingX, visit the product review page at BruceAir.com.

"Taxis in the Skies"

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 20:39:45 GMT

James Fallows, national correspondent for The Atlantic, has contributed a fascinating article, "Taxis in the Sky," about DayJet, a new on-demand flying service that uses the Eclipse Very Light Jet (VLJ). You can read it online at the Atlantic Web site.

Aviation Forecast Discussions

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:33:06 GMT

Like many pilots, I start watching the weather days ahead of planned trips. Unfortunately, the Outlook Briefings offered by Flight Service Stations and other official sources of aviation weather are about as useful as the tips you get from financial advisors (or bookies).

I much prefer the National Weather Service forecast discussions prepared by local NWS offices. These descriptions of current and forecast conditions, including outlooks, offer forecasters' analysis and opinions of what the various computer models and observations imply about upcoming weather.

The easiest way to see the aviation forecast discussions for areas that interest you is via the map at the NOAA Aviation Testbed site. Click a region on the map, and up pops the text of the latest discussion. Of course, you must supplement the discussion with official reports and forecasts, all of which are available at the Aviation Weather Center, the Aviation Digital Data Service, via DUATS, and from Flight Service Stations. You can find an extensive list of weather and flight-planning links on the Aviation Resources page at my Web site, www.BruceAir.com.

To learn more about weather briefings and tools available to pilots, see Aviation Weather Services (AC 00-45F), available as a free download (.pdf) from the NWS. The General Aviation Pilot's Weather Guide is another excellent portal to weather information.

G1000 Gets WAAS and Other Updates

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:59:43 GMT

The flight school where I instruct is taking delivery of new DA40s (and updating much of its current fleet) with the latest iteration of the G1000 software, which includes WAAS and many other updates, among them:

NACO charts (Jepp charts are available at additional cost)
WAAS approaches
New engine display options
Enhanced VNAV capabilities (with the GFC 700 autopilot)
Airways in flight plans
New flight plan display options
Ground track bug on HSI
Additional wind display options on PFD

I have placed a bunch of screen shots captured with the new version of the G1000 PC-trainer in one of my SkyDrive folders. Manuals, etc. are available for download from Garmin. (There are too many changes to list here.)

Garmin has also updated the Cessna G1000 system, but I haven't seen it yet.

The PC trainer still has several quirks and bugs (e.g., on my system the XPNDR always reverts to 0000), but it's an indispensable training aid. Note, however, that the PC trainer does not have a flight model--pitch up and the attitude and altitude change, but airspeed doesn't vary. However, it now supports dual-monitor setups (you can display the PFD and MFD simultaneously), and an annoying joystick bug is gone. The PC trainer is available from Garmin for $25.

Effect of Supreme Court Ruling on Aircraft Manufacturers?

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:56:31 GMT

On February 20, the US Supreme Court issued an opinion in Riegel v. Medtronic, Inc. that "bars common-law claims challenging the safety or effectiveness of a medical device marketed in a form that received premarket approval from the FDA." The case focused on the "pre-emption" clause of the Medical Device Amendments of 1976, 21 U. S. C. §360k.

I'm not an attorney, but I wonder what, if any, implications this ruling may have for manufacturers of other devices that are subject to approval by federal agencies, such as the FAA. Riegel v. Medtronic, Inc. clearly turns on specific language in the Medical Device Amendments act, but it seems to be part of a trend. The court will soon hear a similar case, Warner-Lambert Co. v. Kent, that involves a pharmaceutical company. According to a story in today's NY Times:

By an 8-1 vote, the court ruled a 1976 law creating federal safety oversight for medical devices bars state-law claims challenging safety or effectiveness of devices that have won premarket approval from the Food and Drug Administration...
The ruling could benefit other device makers, who have argued that the FDA's judgment that a product is safe and effective should protect companies from being sued for liability in state court.

General aviation manufacturers and aviation associations have long complained that the makers of airframes, engines, instruments, and other aircraft components are unfairly held responsible for deaths and injuries resulting from aviation accidents even when those accidents are officially blamed on pilot error, weather, or other factors not related to the design or function of the aircraft or its parts. The industry has often cited FAA certification as evidence that aircraft and their components meet applicable and reasonable safety standards.

The General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994 (GARA) provided some liability protection for manufacturers of general aviation aircraft (for a brief overview, see this 2006 report by the law firm Wilson Elser). According to GARA:

...no civil action for damages for death or injury to persons or damage to property arising out of an accident involving a general aviation aircraft may be brought against the manufacturer of the aircraft or the manufacturer of any new component, system, subassembly, or other part of the aircraft, in its capacity as a manufacturer if the accident occurred—
(1) after the applicable limitation period [18 years] beginning on—
(A) the date of delivery of the aircraft to its first purchaser or lessee, if delivered directly from the manufacturer;
or
(B) the date of first delivery of the aircraft to a person engaged in the business of selling or leasing such aircraft;
or
(2) with respect to any new component, system, subassembly, or other part which replaced another component, system,
subassembly, or other part originally in, or which was added to, the aircraft, and which is alleged to have caused such
death, injury, or damage, after the applicable limitation period beginning on the date of completion of the replacement or
addition

But GARA hasn't stopped folks from suing anyone and everyone who might have a connection to an aircraft involved in an accident. An infamous recent case involved a multi-million-dollar verdict against Parker Hannifin, a company that manufactured FAA-certified vacuum pumps. The company's pumps were installed in a twin-engine Cessna 335 that crashed on October 16, 2000, killing three people, including Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan. The NTSB official report listed the probable cause of the accident as, "The pilot's failure to control the airplane while maneuvering because of spatial disorientation. Contributing to the accident were the failure of the airplane's primary attitude indicator and the adverse weather conditions, including turbulence." But the report does not blame either of the airplane's two vacuum pumps, both of which were working at the time of the crash. Parker Hannifin has since stopped making vacuum pumps.

It will be interesting to see if the aviation industry finds new support against similar claims in light of the decision in Riegel v. Medtronic, Inc.

Review of RAM Mounting System GPS Holder

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 02:42:17 GMT

Like many pilots, I bring a portable GPS along when I fly, even if the airplane has a panel-mount GPS or an integrated avionics solution like the Garmin G1000.

But the proliferation of gizmos these days makes it hard to keep everything in its place. Over the years, I've tried several products to hold portable devices securely and conveniently, but until recently, none has really delivered.

However, I recently bought a RAM-B-166U Suction Cup Twist Lock Mount and RAM-HOL-GA7U from RAM Mounting Systems, Inc., and I think I've found the simple, flexible, and useful solution that I've been looking for. Read my detailed review at BruceAir.com.

Flying WAAS: The Sequel

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 03:59:25 GMT

Before I flew south for a few days of aerobatic practice over the Nevada desert, I took advantage of another good day for IFR practice in the Pacific Northwest. Today's flight in the A36 was a round-robin excursion: KRNT-KHQM-KOLM-KRNT, with RNAV (GPS) approaches at KHQM (RNAV Rwy 24) and KOLM (RNAV Rwy 17).

I won't provide a detailed narrative--it was a routine flight, albeit another example of how wonderful WAAS is. But it was a pretty day in a Northwest way, and if you want to fly along virtually, you can find pictures, charts, and a GPS track file in .kmz (Google Earth) format in one of my SkyDrive folders.

To read more about flying WAAS, see my account of a similar flight on February 11.

Flying WAAS

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 05:06:12 GMT

After what seems an interminable stretch of bad weather, even by Seattle standards, a warm front moved through the Pacific Northwest today. The clouds didn't part, but they spilled only light rain showers, and most importantly, the freezing level soared to around 6000 feet, high enough for me start up the Beechcraft A36 and log some RNAV (GPS) approaches that take advantage of the updated WAAS capabilities of the Garmin GNS530W installed in the instrument panel. Being a belt-and-suspenders guy, I brought along my portable Garmin GPSMAP 396 GPS, which can display real-time weather information beamed via XM radio signals.

(You can find more pictures and charts and a GPS track file [.kmz] from the flight that you load into Google Earth in one of my public SkyDrive folders.)

I departed about 1230 PST (2030Z) from Renton, WA (KRNT) on an IFR flight plan to Skagit/Bayview (KBVS). I was cleared to climb to 4000 and proceed via the PAE VOR near Everett, WA to KBVS. Given the reported weather at Skagit, I expected to fly the RNAV (GPS) Rwy 10 approach.

The airspace north of Seattle is a mosaic, with pieces under the jurisdiction of Seattle Approach, Seattle Center, and NAS Whidbey Island Approach. After takeoff to the south, I was vectored around to the northwest (the better to avoid conflicts with traffic using Boeing Field [KBFI] and Sea-Tac [KSEA]) and then cleared direct to an initial fix for the approach (see the blue GPS track of the entire flight overlaid on the sectional chart above).

Although the clouds were free of ice and serious rain, the famous Puget Sound Convergence Zone made its presence felt. I rode through continuous light turbulence in and occasionally between layers of dense clouds from around Everett north.

Thanks to the display on the GPSMAP 396, I knew that the weather at KBVS was well above the lowest minimums established for the approach (353 feet above the runway and 1.25 miles visibility), so I loaded the procedure into the GNS530W as soon as I was cleared to SOCLO, one of the initial fixes for the procedure.

A few miles southeast of SOCLO, the Whidbey Approach turned me loose: "Bonanza 46 Foxtrot, cross SOCLO at 4000, cleared the RNAV runway 10 approach."

From this point, I'm left to fly the procedure on my own. Before WAAS, I'd have been busy during the holding-pattern course reversal (which, given my arrival from the southeast, was best accomplished with a parallel entry into the oval holding pattern).

For reasons I've never understood, many pilots intensely dislike parallel entries. The GNS530W, however, makes the U-turn a non-event. The moving map shows your airplane's position relative to the charted hold, and the unit prompts you to fly specific headings. It even starts a timer at the appropriate moment. Just follow the magenta line, and you'll fly a textbook entry and then track directly back to the initial fix for the approach.

A few minutes later, I was heading directly toward the runway, riding the GPS-generated glideslope toward the LPV DA of 497 feet MSL. These GPS-based glideslopes are the real magic behind WAAS. In effect, they turn most approaches into ILS-like procedures that are typically available only at big airports. The Whidbey controller cleared me to switch the CTAF and asked me to report on the ground.

On such a dreary day, I had the airport mostly to myself. The only other traffic was a Robinson R22 helicopter working in the traffic pattern. I landed and cleared the runway. I couldn't talk to Whidbey on the radio, so I drew my cell phone and called the Seattle Flight Service Station, which relayed my arrival to Whidbey and then obtained my IFR clearance back to Renton. I was back in the air in just a few minutes, well ahead of my clearance void time. Whidbey confirmed radar contact and aimed me west of Paine Field (KPAE) en route back to Renton at 3000 feet.

The ride home was smoother, and the efficient, friendly controllers soon had me set up for the RNAV (GPS) Rwy 15 approach to KRNT.

But as often happens, things don't work out quite as planned. After several handoffs, the last controller issued my approach clearance: "Bonanza 46 Foxtrot, cross LUTSY at 2000, cleared the RNAV runway 15 approach."

I had just gotten established on the intermediate segment of the procedure from LUTSY when the controller announced Plan B.

"Bonanza 46 Foxtrot, there's a Boeing 737 first flight about to depart Renton, I need to turn you east and bring you back around."

Renton is home to the Boeing 737 factory, and because of rising terrain south of the airport, fledgling Boeing jets always take off to the north, over Lake Washington. This jet would be aimed directly at me if I didn't turn.

A series of vectors followed, driving me in a neat box pattern back around to the north (see the GPS track). I twisted knobs and punched buttons to reload the procedure, and in a few minutes, I was back at LUTSY, this time for good. I broke through the clouds in plenty of time to see the runway, and once again, I rode a GPS glideslope right to the touchdown zone on the runway. Just like Flight Simulator....

If you haven't had the opportunity to see WAAS in action, track down a pilot who has a WAAS-capable unit and go for a ride. It's terrific leap forward in safety and utility for pilots who fly IFR.

University of Michigan Aeronautical Engineers Study Birds

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 17:17:21 GMT

Interesting story from the U of M about aeronautical engineers who study "low Reynolds number aircraft" (i.e., birds). Factoids from the press release:

A Blackbird jet flying nearly 2,000 miles per hour covers 32 body lengths per second. But a common pigeon flying at 50 miles per hour covers 75.
The roll rate of the aerobatic A-4 Skyhawk plane is about 720 degrees per second. The roll rate of a barn swallow exceeds 5,000 degrees per second.

Check out the slide show link in the article. Great photos.

Northwest Aviation Convention and Trade Show

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 21:41:50 GMT

I will give two presentations at the annual Northwest Aviation Conference and Trade Show at the Western Washington Fairgrounds in Puyallup, WA on February 23-24. (The closest GA airport is Pierce County Airport-Thun Field KPLU.)

On Saturday at 4:30 p.m., I will speak about Using Flight Simulator as a Training Aid.

On Sunday, I talk about Stall/Spin/Upset Training at 1:00 p.m.

PC-Based Simulations and Aviation Training

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 14:58:34 GMT

Transference of PC-Based Simulation to Aviation Training—Issues in Learning (.pdf) is a new review of published studies and books from 1997–2007 on the topic by Nic D'Alessandro of Insite Solutions in Australia.

This article isn't a rigorous review of the topic, nor does it present original, peer-reviewed research, but it does summarize many of the issues, and it includes a useful bibliography.

Disclosure: I had no role in this study, and I learned about it only after it was published on the Web. But the author does include several references to my book on the topic.

General Aviation Pilot's Weather Guide

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 19:24:10 GMT

The FAA has published a terrific Web page to help pilots collect and analyze weather information before, during, and after a flight.

The General Aviation Pilot's Weather Guide is a portal to many useful resources, including VFR and IFR weather worksheets, and sources of information about the weather. Many of the references and guides are available as free .pdf downloads; check the Downloads tab at the site.

This well-organized and easy-to-use online Guide could also serve as an excellent lesson plan or template for a preflight briefing with students.

Most of the information on the site is available in a single document, General Aviation Pilot's Guide to Preflight Weather Planning, Weather Self-Briefings, and Weather Decision-Making (.pdf).

The VFR and IFR weather worksheets (also available in .pdf format) will help you systematically collect and organize weather information and make good weather-related decisions.

Voyager 4.0-First Impressions

Sun, 02 Dec 2007 18:56:25 GMT

I have just installed the alpha release of Voyager 4.0, a sophisticated flight-planning and electronic flight bag tool from Seattle Avionics. An alpha release is still far from a final product, but it's good check point to evaluate how well a new version installs and runs on various systems. And in this case, it's given me a look at the overhauled charting engine for Voyager.

I'm running the new release on a Dell computer that's running Vista Ultimate. Because the new charting system works much like Google Earth, it's best to have a system with a good video card--not the on-board, "shared" video memory so common on budget systems today. My 4-year-old system has a relatively new ATI card with 512 Mb of video memory, so it can take advantage of the new charting engine.

And, boy, is the new interface fast! My only major complaint about Voyager has been speed. Zooming in and out and panning around charts has always been slow, at least compared to the latest mapping tools such as Google Earth and Microsoft Virtual Earth. That's no longer an issue with Voyager 4.0.

The alpha release doesn't include the final VFR and IFR chart overlays that will make the Voyager match the charts that pilots use in the cockpit, but they shouldn't slow things down.

I'm also impressed that the alpha has proven stable on my system; it's loading and saving existing flight flights, showing IAP charts, and grabbing weather data from the Web with aplomb.

I look forward to the beta and exploring Voyager 4.0 in more detail. I'll post a detailed review of the final release in the Product Reviews section of my Web site.

Aviation Weather Services, Advisory Circular 00-45F

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 18:13:15 GMT

The FAA recently published the long-overdue update to Aviation Weather Services, a.k.a. Advisory Circular 00-45F. (The previous edition was released in 1999, and it's so last century.)

This book explains how to get a good weather briefing from a Flight Service Station (FSS), and it provides detailed explanations of all the weather reports, forecasts, charts, and other information provided during a briefing. It's an essential handbook if you use Web-based weather resources such as DUATS, the Aviation Digital Data Service, and the Aviation Weather Center. For example, this new edition explains some of the interactive tools available at the ADDS site.

Now, you can buy a bound copy of the book from such publishers as ASA, and paper is more convenient for detailed study. But the .pdf version, available for free download, is more than just a virtual representation of the printed pages.

It's suffused with links. For example, the TOC is interactive--click a chapter title or heading, and you jump right to that topic. Throughout the text of the book key terms, abbreviations, and references to additional information (including the latest weather charts) are linked to official sources, such as the National Weather Service Weather Glossary, Abbreviations, and Acronyms.

And just to show that even the FAA sometimes has a sense of humor, in the section about pilot reports, you find this among the examples:

UUA /OV BAM260045/TM 2225/FL180/TP BE20/TB SEV/RM BROKE ALL THE BOTTLES IN THE BAR

(Urgent Pilot Weather Report, 260 degrees at 45 nautical miles from Hazen VOR, Nevada, 2225 UTC, 18,000 feet MSL, Beech Super King Air 200, severe turbulence, remarks, broke all the bottles in the bar.)

If you need more background on weather theory, see AC 00-6A, Aviation Weather. I've collected links to many weather-related resources on the Aviation Resources page at my Web site. For example, A Pilot's Guide to Aviation Weather Services, from the National Weather Service, is a quick introduction to weather services for pilots.

Airport Delays Redux

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 17:51:07 GMT

The Bush Administration has just announced several measures to make air travel more reliable this holiday season. Whether opening some en route airspace reserved for military operations will actually reduce delays, especially in the gridlocked New York area, is an open question. As I argued in an earlier post, the knot tying up airline travel isn't bad weather, non-airline flights, or the limitations of the ATC system (although all of these matters contribute to the problem). The core issues are runways and airline scheduling (especially the increased use of small regional jets), which have over-subscribed the available concrete.

More evidence in support of that position comes from a Nov. 11 story in USA Today. It pointed out that on-time performance has improved at several major airports recently:

From January through August, the largest 31 airports outside the New York region had 8% fewer total delays than during the same period in 2006, according to Federal Aviation Administration data. Even Chicago's O'Hare and Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson — the world's two busiest airports and big generators of delays that ripple through the U.S. aviation system — improved...
It's as if there now are two different aviation systems in the USA: In New York, there are too many scheduled flights and hemmed-in airports that can't expand. But at other major airports, new runways, incremental improvements in air-traffic procedures and airlines' moves to improve efficiency have begun to make a measurable difference for travelers.

Note the mentions of "room to expand" and "new runways." The airports with improved on-time records cited in the USA Today story (viz., Atlanta and Boston) have recently opened new runways. Chicago O'Hare has reduced the number of available slots and will open a new runway next year.

The USA Today story also takes time to explore other issues that contribute to delays, among them cumbersome arrangement of airspace and ATC procedures. Kudos to USA Today for not just echoing the complaints endlessly repeated by the Air Transport Association, which places much blame on general aviation (i.e., all flying except that conducted by the airlines and the military).

[Update: See About that plan to "speed up" Thanksgiving air travel, by James Fallows, national correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly. The New York Times offers more on the situation at JFK here.]

(For an interesting perspective on a related matter, see the latest installment of Ask the Pilot at Salon.com. The pilot/writer takes on an annoying TV ad for the iPhone.)

AOPA Air Safety Foundation SafetyCasts

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 23:43:09 GMT

The AOPA Air Safety Foundation has started offering on-demand (free) SafetyCasts. These programs are video streams of popular safety programs that AOPA ASF has presented at aviation gatherings. You don't have to be an AOPA member to watch these programs.

The SafetyCasts feature such luminaries as Rod Machado, who has just released his Instrument Pilot's Handbook, mentioned earlier here.

The online courses and other resources available from the AOPA Air Safety Foundation are under-utilized references and learning tools, and that's a shame. They're terrific training aids for pilots and flight instructors.

Bruce Landsberg, executive director of the AOPA ASF, notes that pilots can keep a transcript of ASF courses that they complete and can return to finish courses they started but didn't have time to finish. Three insurance underwriters now grant accident forgiveness if pilots attend a live ASF seminar or complete an approved online course every 6 months.

By then end of the year AOPA ASF should have 21 interactive programs available on its Web site.

Air Shows

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 18:07:58 GMT

The air show season is over (in North America), but you can get a virtual fix at a new Web site, Air Show Buzz. The site features videos, photos, and schedules.

Formation Flying

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 05:25:30 GMT

I've had the good fortune to meet and share the skies with many pilots during my flying career. Over the last couple of years, I've been gradually learning about formation flying under the tutelage of several experts when I visit Boulder City, NV (61B) to fly my Extra 300L. I recently enjoyed a refresher as part of a four-ship fight. I was in my Extra 300L with two RV-6As and an RV-8.

Our lead (in his RV-6A) was Mark DuLaney, an experienced Air Force fighter pilot and instructor (his last assignment was as commander of an aggressor squadron at Nellis AFB). "Dula" has been an excellent and patient instructor, and I've also benefited from the generosity, experience, and skill of several other former Air Force pilots (including Mike Smith, below in his RV-6A painted in Air Force colors) who have baby-sat me while I fumbled through the fundamentals of flying in close proximity to other aircraft. It's a demanding--and rewarding--discipline. Like aerobatics, it requires careful preparation (including thorough briefings before and after each flight), concentration, a fine touch on the controls, and a keen understanding of aerial geometry. I learn much from each flight, and I've gained new respect for the folks who do this type of flying "for real," when they have to combine the challenges of formation flying with all of the other demands of flying combat missions.

Glenn Smith, a retired airline pilot, has often volunteered to fly lead in his beautiful RV-8 (above) so that I could practice basic formation skills.

Compliments to the Pilot

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 00:59:00 GMT

I'm in the Las Vegas area this week to spend some quality time with my Extra 300L, which winters at Boulder City, NV (61B).

Yesterday, I helped my friends at The Aerobatic Experience give aerobatic rides to out-of-town visitors (all non-pilots) from the UK. My first passenger (we'll call him "Dave") enjoyed the loops, rolls, hammerheads, and Cuban 8s over the desert, and he responded enthusiastically each time I asked how he was doing. On to a quick look at Lake Mead and Hoover Dam, always a great finish to a ride.

Photo by Pat DuLaney

We flew up the river canyon toward the dam, and as the lake came into view, I pulled up and rolled inverted to let Dave enjoy the scene from an unusual perspective. As I rolled us upright and exclaimed, "What an amazing view!" I noticed that Dave was gesturing at his head, and as he turned, his cheeks were puffed out like a chipmunk's.

At this point, I should mention that the "discomfort sack" I thoughtfully provided before we took off had, during an 8-point roll a few minutes earlier, floated free of Dave's harness and dropped down in my cockpit, out of my reach. As quickly as I could, I retrieved one of the emergency backup bags that I always store in the tiny glove box in the rear cockpit, and I passed it forward, apparently just in time.

Dave felt better now (folks usually do after using the bag), and we headed back to the airport, nice and easy. Further inquires confirmed that Dave was doing much better.

I flew the pattern and landed. Not my best-ever arrival, but if you threw out the high and low scores and took artistic impression into account, I think even the East German judge would have given it acceptable marks.

Dave, however, passed a different judgment. As we rolled out on the runway, he pulled the bag back up to his face, and, demonstrating that he'd taken full advantage of the buffet at Caesar's Palace, expelled the rest of his breakfast into the bag.

Review of Saitek Pro Flight Yoke System

Sun, 04 Nov 2007 01:45:04 GMT

I've just posted a review of the new Saitek Pro Flight Yoke System and Pro Flight Throttle Quadrant on my Web site.

I have long argued that an elaborate set of flight controls and other accessories isn’t necessary to make effective use of PC-based flight simulations. Flying is mostly a head game, not an exercise of finely-honed motor skills.

But if you’re the type of pilot—virtual or otherwise—who can’t suspend disbelief and get into the game without at least a simulacrum of a conventional yoke and engine controls, until recently you’ve had only one inexpensive choice, the CH Products Flight Sim Yoke. (Companies like Precision Flight Controls make yokes that resemble real airplane hardware, but prices for those accessories start at real airplane-part prices—around $500.)

If you're interested in virtual aviation or using Flight Simulator as a training aid, check it out.

The Flying Car

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 19:41:39 GMT

My electronic mailbag recently included yet another pitch for a "flying car." If, in the last 60 years or so, you've read more than a few sequential issues of Popular Science, you know what I'm talking about. These contraptions appear on the cover of guy, tool-tinkering magazines about as often as Britney Spears gets top billing at People. (And no, I never thought I'd have occasion to include Britney in my blog. But maybe my Google hits will soar.)

Blade Runner, Jetsons cartoons, and "Welcome to Tomorrow" exhibits at world's fairs and Disney theme parks aside, the honor of inventing the car/airplane hybrid usually goes to Moulton (Molt) B. Taylor. He created the AEROCAR in 1949. (The first patent for a drive-fly vehicle seems to belong to Felix Longobardi, who proposed the idea in 1918.)

Taylor's design apparently had something of Robert E. Fulton, Jr.'s "Airphibian" in its genes. It worked, after a fashion, but Taylor spent the rest of his life trying to persuade someone to mass-produce it. When I was the editor of the Western Flyer (now the General Aviation News) in the mid-1980s, Taylor called me about once a month. While I held the phone a safe distance from my ear, Molt declaimed against the airspace-grabbing FAA, short-sighted manufacturers, and all the other obstacles that had kept him from filling the skies (and roads) with Aerocars. You can read an affectionate and detailed telling of Molt's story in A Drive in the Clouds by Jake Schultz. Or talk to my friend Hal Bryan, who knows more about--and revels in--odd aircraft than anyone I've known, except maybe Pete Bowers.

Anyway, Taylor's dream lives on in the sporty AEROCAR 2000 and in many other space-age designs, including the Skycar (Moller International) and the subject of that recent email, the Transition from Terrafugia. The latter machine is billed as a "roadable Light-Sport Aircraft." According to Terrafugia's Web site, the company includes graduates of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT. At present, the Transition seems to exist as a CG model and as a virtual airplane that flies in the X-Plane flight simulation.

Now, I'm hardly qualified to pass judgment on the technical merits of any of these designs. Something like the Transition, designed to do its flying between airports and then drive to and from home, may become a practical solution for recreational pilots and even some commuters.

But no matter how much razzle-dazzle technology is brought into these machines, I remain a skeptic about them becoming more than curiosities, because the fundamental obstacles to their development and wide adoption aren't technological.

The core problem, which rarely seems to come up in breezy news reports (here's a typical example; another gushy account is here) about the inventors and their machines, isn't developing a collision-avoidance system or computerized controls that make the vehicles as easy to fly as a car is to drive. No, the fundamental issues are societal, political, and regulatory. And they're much more serious than the "auto-mobiles will frighten the horses" alarms of the early 20th century.

First, who is going to certify the machines and their operators and supervise maintenance? Granted, airphibian pilots of the future may not need as much training as today's private pilots, but driver's ed won't suffice, either. The FAA can barely keep up with today's air transportation system (about 600,000 aviators hold pilot certificates in the U.S.; some 240,000 civil aircraft ply our skies)--supervising flight schools, maintenance facilities, and manufacturers; regulating pilots and mechanics; running the ATC system; overseeing the airlines; etc. Witness the FAA funding debate.

More important, absent a major overhaul of the FAA regulations and ATC system, how would thousands of new hybrid air-ground vehicles fit into existing airspace? Urban areas lie beneath complex mazes of FAA-regulated airspace designed to ensure the safe and efficient flow of aircraft. If you were to own a snazzy Skycar, you couldn't just buzz around at will, especially over "congested areas" (see, e.g., FAR 91.119).

Airports already contend with complaints over noise and concerns about safety. In Seattle, one tony neighborhood wages a perennial battle against Children's Hospital in part because the medical center's helipads allow too many annoying rotorcraft to fly in at all hours of the day and night--even if they are transporting critically ill children. Imagine the furor if scores of personal air vehicles buzzed randomly overhead, taking shortcuts from home to work.

Even spectacular accidents like the recent I-5 pileup in LA are largely confined to roads and highways. Recall what happens today when an airplane crashes in a populated area (despite the frantic coverage that typically ensues, such accidents are occasional events that rarely harm people on the ground) and then imagine the hysteria if aerial flivvers plop into neighborhoods, schools, and shopping centers as often as cars break down and entangle themselves on the roads. And let's not get into how aerial commuters would avoid conflicts with airliners.

If aircraft/automobile hybrids are limited to aerial operations at existing airports, their utility quickly evaporates, especially in the crowded urban environments where they're most often promoted as machines to escape terrestrial traffic jams. Close-in airports are rare; those that do exist (e.g., Boeing Field in Seattle), are busy, complicated places.

Other issues abound: Could such new vehicles operate safely in inclement weather? If, for example, the Transition is indeed certificated as a light sport aircraft, it can fly only during the day (to operate a light sport aircraft at night, the pilot must hold at least a private pilot certificate) and only in Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC).

And let's not get into such common weather hazards as blustery winds, airframe icing, turbulence, thunderstorms, and density altitude. Of course, one could argue that upon encountering bad weather, airphibian pilots would land and proceed on the ground. But that argument assumes judgment and skill not in evidence on today's highways and byways; wide availability of landing spots; and a discipline sadly lacking even among many current pilots.

In the end, air/ground vehicles like the Transition could save on hangar and tie-down costs, but that's about their only true advantage over existing aircraft, at least until the general public becomes much more comfortable with small aircraft and all that they imply.

Seat 6A

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 04:04:25 GMT

I just returned to semi-tropical Seattle from the Aviation North Expo 2007 in Fairbanks, where I spoke about stall/spin training and using Microsoft Flight Simulator as a training aid. As I noted earlier, aviation is modern Alaska's lifeline. Even the indigenous people are flying into Fairbanks this week for the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention.

The ANE conference focuses on safety, and Alaska pilots have more than the usual issues to deal with. Most short trips in the Lower 48 don't take a typical light airplane pilot far from civilization. Fly just 30 minutes from Anchorage (less from Fairbanks), however, and you usually find yourself far from basic services, to say nothing of most creature comforts--often in temperatures from another world.

As others have noted many times, the scale of Alaska overwhelms your normal sense of perspective. I have ferried small airplanes to Alaska a couple of times (pictures here), but the first leg of the airline flight home this morning from Fairbanks to Anchorage gave me a high-altitude perspective that I had missed on previous trips.

I have flown in the Pacific Northwest and the Southwest for more than 30 years, and I've made many cross-country treks around the U.S. mainland. I'm accustomed to wide-open spaces and tall mountains. But as I pressed my nose against the window at seat 6A this morning (even if you're a jaded road-warrior, always get a window seat on flights to, over, and from Alaska), I suddenly realized what was missing from the scenery below: straight lines.

In the sparsely populated areas of the American West, people have etched the landscape with roads, power lines, and the grids that divvy up range and farmland. Look closely, and beyond the glow of Las Vegas, even the moonscape that is most of Nevada betrays a human presence. We build visitor centers at the bottom of Meteor Crater.

But moments after departing Fairbanks by air, you see a primal vista that flows unbroken to the horizon. No straight lines.

I'm reminded of a wonderful book, Inside the Sky by William Langewiesche. Chapter 2, "The Stranger's Path," tells the story of John Brinckerhoff Jackson, in Langewiesche's words, "the greatest explorer of the aerial view." Jackson, who spent much of his life in New Mexico, once wrote:

"...What catches our eye and arouses our interest is not the sandy washes and the naked rocks, but the evidences of man."

Perhaps he'd never flown above Alaska.

(More pictures from this morning's flight here.)

Hello from Fairbanks

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 18:28:11 GMT

I'm Fairbanks (as in Alaska) this weekend to speak the Aviation North Expo 2007. I've been to Alaska a few times (see pictures from a previous ferry flight to Anchorage), and it always astonishes me. I've usually had the good sense to head up in the spring or summer, so finding winter conditions in Fairbanks in October was still a surprise.

As was the warning posted outside the hotel. Given the temperature (still on the plus side of zero on the Fahrenheit scale), I don't think close encounters of the Alces alces gigas kind are likely.

Anchorage (beautiful yesterday, as this picture shows) is the temporary roosting place for what must be among the largest flocks of 747s plying today's skies. None of them is carrying passengers, however. They're all cargo versions, hauling stuff over the pole between Asia and Europe and North America.

Of course, for a pilot, the amazing thing about Alaska is how important GA is to life. It's not just a hobby. And the state, so vast, sparsely populated, and otherwise rustic, is also the test bed for much new technology, including ADS-B, the foundation of the next generation of air traffic control; GPS-based RNAV routes; and other developments. I hope to share more details as the weekend progresses.

More Airplane Pictures

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 14:57:36 GMT

Foggy mornings in Seattle (last week we had a couple of spectacular exceptions) are good opportunities to post pictures on the Web. Here are some links to some of my SkyDrive folders with lots of aviation-related pictures:

Ferrying Cessnas to Alaska
Mock Dogfighting in SIAI Marchetti SF2-60s with Air Combat USA
Air-to-Air Extra 300L Photos (mostly courtesy of Pat DuLaney); more about the Extra 300L here.
Ferrying a Diamond DA40XL from London, ONT to Seattle; more details here.

We are enjoying a couple of spectacular autumn days here in Seattle before the monsoons return. I live in the Queen Anne neighborhood, which boasts one of the most famous postcard views of the skyline (photo at right snapped yesterday afternoon from Kerry Park).

Red Sky at Morning

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 16:40:10 GMT

Seattle enjoyed a spectacular sunrise over the Cascade Range today, as shown in this view (and another) from my house.

Given the forecast (see the Seattle NWS office Forecast Discussion), the scene recalls the old saying,* “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in morning, sailor’s warning.”

*(Which, apparently, derives ultimately from Matthew 16:2,3: 2...He answered and said unto them, "When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. 3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowering.")