Question:

Hi,

I am very new at flying (17 hours). It has been pointed out to me that my CFI isn't the best -- and barely got checked off to get his teaching certificate (that was this past summer). I really want to learn from the best. Do you have any suggestions on how to locate the best CFI?

Thanks so much for your time and any information you can provide would be much appreciated. I understand you get flooded with requests like this, so I'm thankful just to have the opportunity to write to you.

Thanks, Barb

Answer:

Dear Barb,

You are correct that the single most important factor in good flight training is lining up an excellent flight instructor ("CFI"). Since flying is largely taught one-on-one, the right instructor will greatly enhance your quality of learning, your safety and competence, and your ultimate enjoyment of flying.

Good training can be found at flight schools of any size... quality should be your key factor in making the decision. Start by asking any acquaintances who fly locally if they can recommend a good instructor or flight program. Good referrals always mean alot. The next step is to go to nearby general aviation airports, visit several different flight schools, and interview a number of flight instructors at each one. (While you're at the airport, approach some pilots you see operating aircraft, and ask what recommendations they have on the subject.)

To evaluate each instructor you interview, ask him or her to explain the process for completing your training, and for a few thoughts about her or his instructing philosophy. It's also wise to ask for explanation of a technical point or two, like "What does the term 'stall' mean when applied to airplanes?" or "How does a plane turn?" It should quickly become obvious whether that instructor explains things clearly, and presents them in a manner you understand.

Along with being knowledgable, your instructor should be patient, calm, and thorough, someone who listens well to you, explains things clearly, and has a relaxed sense of humor. You're going to spend a lot of time together in close quarters, so you'd better understand, respect, and like this person!

Hope this helps! Greg

Question:

I am a student pilot with about ten hours under my belt, and am having trouble learning the landing flare. Can you help?

Answer:

The first and most important thing you need to know is that at your stage of flying, EVERYONE has trouble knowing when to flare! That's important to understand, so you won't think it's just you. I predict that for quite some time to come you'll be seeking the "perfect flare," and find it only a few times! Let's start with a look at the landing pattern, which is critical for setting up a "stabilized approach" leading to nice landings.

That being said, here are a few pointers that should help...

1. A great deal of success with landings comes from being set up ahead of time on a stabilized approach. If you do the following things on final, you'll find yourself set up for better landings when you get to the runway...

- Perhaps the single most important factor for making good landings is to establish the aircraft at the proper airspeed on final, and TRIM FOR IT! So if you are supposed to fly final at 60 knots, establish that speed well before landing and trim for it. Too fast? You'll balloon or float in the flare. Too slow? The plane will drop in like a rock. You must be at the proper airspeed on short final and TRIMMED FOR IT. The reason trimming is so important is that it allows the plane to continue flying at target airspeed without much attention from you. (You have plenty of other things to do at that point, right?) The airspeed will automatically drop off as it's supposed to on flare.

- Make corrections to your final approach path long before touchdown. You have probably already noticed that the flare varies a lot based on your approach (as well as on airspeed). In other words, coming in high or coming in low changes what you need to do on the flare tremendously. That makes it tough, because ideally you'd like the flare to be similar every time, as much as possible. So the trick here is to IDENTIFY AS SOON AS YOU TURN FINAL IF YOU ARE HIGH OR LOW, AND CORRECT FOR IT IMMEDIATELY WHILE YOU ARE STILL WELL OUT ON FINAL. The objective is to get back onto normal glidepath long before you need to flare... If you can put yourself on normal glide slope and at normal speed every time you are on short final, flaring will be easier and more consistent.

2. Now as for the flare itself, keep in mind that the objective is not so much to do a flare as a specific maneuver ("Here's where I need to flare; now I'll do it."), but rather to have the plane stop flying and stall at one inch above the ground. So you might try thinking of the flare more as a "round out." In other words, try to adjust the pitch as you approach the runway until you are flying "1 inch above the ground." Then HOLD THE PLANE OFF IN THAT CONFIGURATION AS LONG AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN.

As you approach the runway gradually pitch up to keep the wheels barely from touching. Since the power is off, the plane will indeed land, but shooting for that "barely above the ground" position should help quite a bit. A smooth, continuous transition from final approach to that flying with wheels barely above the ground status indeed works as "the flare." Then the hard part is to use self control and continue pulling back on the yoke to keep it 1" above the ground, 'til it "lands by itself."

3. Keep your eyes focused well down the runway, NOT just in front of the plane. Judging flare is done largely through peripheral vision, and looking down the runway gives you the big picture required for good landings.

As you know, it's hard to tackle flying through a keyboard... hope these tips are of some help. Let me know how they work!

Sincerely, Greg Brown

Question:

Hi Greg,

I am almost ready for my private pilot check ride. I am having trouble with consistancy in steep turns (keeping bank attitude and altitude). Should I spend more of my attention on the instuments, or on the sight picture? I feel that I'm very close to getting this manuever down but I am missing something and it is very frustrating. I was hoping a fresh opinion would help me see what I and the instructor are missing

Thank you, Barb

Answer:

Dear Barb,

This is a very common problem, and I believe I can help. Here's the sequence I recommend, with #4 being the key item you're probably not doing right now:

1. Clearing turns (of course!)

2. Note your starting heading, and a prominent outside landmark on that heading you can recognize later for rollout.

3. Roll PROMPTLY into the steep turn using the attitude indicator to establish your 45 degree bank. (IMPORTANT: Add back pressure as you roll through 30 degrees.)

Now look outside and you can see the 45 degree angle between the horizon and the cowl, as well as the proper pitch attitude. I recommend using outside reference for the turn, while scanning the altimeter and heading indicator periodically to back up what you're seeing outside.

4. Okay, here's the secret. Once established in the turn, MAKE PITCH CHANGES ONLY by pushing or pulling; DO NOT TURN THE YOKE LEFT OR RIGHT! (except as necessary to correct for turbulence).

This is important because every time you change bank angle in steep turns, you're changing the amount of back pressure required to maintain altitude. So turning the yoke while established in the turn adds the need for pitch adjustment, in addition to the need to correct the bank angle. You've now got two variables working at the same time, and you're all too familiar with the result -- oscillating all over the sky!

So again, once established in the turn, ADJUST PITCH to maintain altitude, and DO NOT TURN THE YOKE. Apply this technique, and you'll be delighted at how much easier the whole maneuver is.

5. So you're looking outside during the turn, monitoring that 45 degree bank (doesn't need much monitoring if you don't turn the yoke!), and maintaining desired pitch attitude, scanning altimeter and heading periodically.

When you see your landmark coming up on the horizon, you check the heading indicator, and begin a prompt rollout 20-25 degrees* before reaching your desired heading. IMPORTANT TRICK: Return to normal pitch attitude as you roll through 30 degrees.

Voila! Perfect steep turn!

Barb, if you follow the above steps (especially #4!) I believe you're going to have the last maneuver for your Private Pilot checkride nailed. Best of success!

Greg Brown

* The rule of thumb for rollouts is to start leveling the wings at 1/2 the angle of bank. Since half of a 45 degree bank is 22.5 degrees, that's how many degrees before the desired heading to begin rollout. For a 30-degree bank, begin your rollout 15 degrees before reaching the desired heading.

Question:

Hey Greg,

I am currently training for my multiengine instrument commercial ticket and have run into a plateau. STEEP TURNS. I don't know why they have become difficult for me under the hood. I can do them very well VFR but, under the hood I am struggling. Keep in mind, I have been flying for 14 years and have about 800 hrs. My Instructor is top of the line, knows his stuff, and was even Instructor of the year.

Anyway, I am training in a 1976 Seneca II and I love this plane. I can fly an approach, I can do slow flight, decend to minimums, etc... all under the hood, but get me to do a steep turn (50 degrees) and I struggle. I have a very good day and can nail them, the next lesson it gets away from me. I'm frustrated but not giving up, no way. I know I can do it. I am taught to use the Artificial Horizon as my Initial bank and pitch instrument, then fly the Altimeter. My Instructor tells me it is a trick of airspeed and fly the Altimeter. I have no earthly idea why this has become difficult for me. I tend to let the airplane get away from me and lose it. I keep letting the altitude drop too rapidly before I recognize the loss and can keep it in the groove.

Although I know I will get it down with time and practice, any helpful info will be much appreciated. Maybe you know of someone who went through similar difficulties. Is there an easier way to mentally deal with "being under the hood"? Another approach to make the steep turns easier under the hood? If I can do them fine VFR, why not under the hood? The plane doesn't know the difference of whether I have the hood on or not. I need to get my mind ahead of the plane. Any input?

Thank you very much, Alan

Answer:

Dear Alan,

This is indeed a common problem, and I believe I can help. Here's the sequence I recommend for steep turns by instrument reference, with #3 and #4 likely being the key items to improve upon:

1. Note your starting heading and set power. (If at all possible, use the same power setting every time.)

2. Roll PROMPTLY into the steep turn using the attitude indicator to establish your 45 degree bank. (IMPORTANT: Add required back pressure as you roll through 30 degrees.)

3. The reason you do so well on the VFR steep turns is that you can easily see the 45 degree angle between the horizon and the cowl, as well as the proper pitch attitude.

Trick #1 on IR turns is to establish similar visual references using the attitude indicator -- the 45-degree angle is easy enough to see, but the trick here is to PRECISELY nail the pitch indication too -- in other words use the attitude indicator as a quantitative instrument, not just a qualitative one as you would VFR.

To do this you'll need to do a simple "calibration" exercise. Next time you practice and have your turn fully stabilized, note the EXACT pitch location of the central dot on the attitude indicator. Is it one dot thickness above the horizon line? Or perhaps halfway between the horizon line and the first pitch reference line above it? (If necessary, have your CFI fly the turn while you identify the exact vertical location of that central dot.)

It should be no surprise that if you use the same power setting every time, under otherwise similar conditions, putting that dot in the same place every time will consistently establish you in the correct pitch attitude, or very close to it. This instrument is far more accurate in pitch than most people realize... you can indeed hold "half-a-dot" accuracy or better with good results.

4. Okay, here's the other big secret which applies both to VR and IR steep turns. Once established in the turn, MAKE PITCH CHANGES ONLY; DO NOT TURN THE YOKE LEFT OR RIGHT! (except as necessary to correct for turbulence).

This is important because every time you change bank angle in steep turns, you're changing the pitch attitude and back-pressure required to maintain altitude. So turning the yoke while established in the turn adds the need for pitch adjustment, in addition to the need to correct the bank angle. So by pitching and turning you've got two variables working at the same time, and you're all too familiar with the result -- oscillating all over the sky!

So again, once established in the turn, DO NOT TURN THE YOKE -- ADJUST PITCH ONLY, to maintain altitude;. Apply this technique, and you'll be delighted at how much easier the maneuver is.

Part of the challenge here may also be your scan. While your altimeter does indeed provide primary information about holding altitude*, that does NOT mean you should be primarily focusing on it with your scan.

Good IFR scan is similar for every maneuver in that you should look primarily at the attitude indicator, while scanning the altimeter and heading indicator (and/or other required instruments) to back up what you're seeing. That's because so long as you hold attitude constant, other instrument movements will remain very predictable. But once attitude begins fluctuating, successfully chasing the rest becomes impossible.

To accomplish a good scan, simply focus on the attitude indicator between everything else you do -- meaning never look at ANY OTHER two things in a row. So your scan in a steep turn should go something like this: attitude indicator --> altimeter --> attitude indicator --> heading indicator -- > attitude indicator --> altimeter -- > attitude indicator --> altimeter --> attitude indicator --> heading indicator, etc.

No matter what else you check, always return to the attitude indicator in between scanning other things. (Even looking at maps or radios should take place between focusing on the attitude indicator.) And always use the attitude indicator for any attitude changes, like roll-out from your turns.

5. So during the turn you're monitoring that 45 degree bank (doesn't need much monitoring if you don't turn the yoke!), and precisely maintaining desired pitch attitude, while scanning altimeter and heading for backup.

When you see your target roll-out heading approaching on the heading indicator, begin a prompt rollout 20-25 degrees** before reaching your desired heading, using the attitude indicator to level the wings. (Return to normal pitch attitude as you roll through 30 degrees.) If you begin rollout at the right time, the heading will be right when you get the wings level.

Voila! Perfect steep turn!

Alan, if you follow the above steps (especially #3 & 4!) I believe you'll nail this last maneuver for your checkride. Please write back and let me know if this helps. Best of success!

Greg Brown

* I assume your aircraft is not equipped with an IVSI (Instantaneous Vertical Speed Indicators), as found in many larger aircraft. If it is, that should be part of your scan, as an IVSI is invaluable for steep turns -- just keep the IVSI needle "in the doughnut" (meaning centered within the zero numeral), and your altitude will remain constant.

** The rule of thumb for rollouts is to start leveling the wings at 1/2 the angle of bank. Since half of a 45-degree bank is 22.5 degrees, that's how many degrees before your target heading to begin rollout. (For a 30-degree bank, you'd begin your rollout 15 degrees before reaching the heading.)

Question:

Dear Greg,

I am having trouble maintaining the localizer on approaches; I am always chasing the needle and then I get so frustrated that I forget to maintain the glideslope needle and then I have to do a missed approach. Do you have any suggestions on how I can correct this needle chasing problem. I live in Fresno, Ca and we are in our Fog season and I really need to get this problem corrected so I can make it home some night when the weather is getting to minimums.

Answer:

That's a tough question!

Based upon your comments, you are probably more often chasing the localizer due to excessive heading changes on your part, rather than because the wind has changed. You are not alone with this problem; it happens with most pilots. Here are some pointers that should help:

1. On tough approaches, join the localizer far enough out that you have time to track the inbound course and nail down your heading (for wind correction) before joining the glideslope. To do this, ask ATC to put you on the final approach course a mile or two outside the outer marker. That will reduce your workload.

2. Commit to memory the heading you've identified to fly, and go back to that heading whenever you drift off. Let's say you've determined that, with wind correction, you need 360 degrees inbound heading to stay on the localizer. Now MEMORIZE that 360 heading, AND RETURN TO IT EVERY TIME YOU DRIFT OFF. If you look away for a second, there's a good chance your heading has changed. If your heading is not exactly 360 when you look back, turn immediately back to 360, level wings, and THEN check the localizer needle to see what it's doing. Doing this will stabilize your heading on the approach.

3. Limit heading corrections on the localizer to NO MORE THAN 5 DEGREES at a time. (You're probably used to using 10 degree corrections or more to track VOR.) If you do need to correct the heading, MEMORIZE the new one. So if you're inbound on that 360 degree heading, and notice the localizer needle drifting to the left, make a CONSCIOUS CALCULATION of a new heading five degrees left (355), turn to it, and memorize it. Again, if you drift off that heading, turn immediately back to 355 before making any other corrections.

4. Make all heading corrections on the localizer using 1/2 standard rate turn. (That'll slow down the "chasing.")

5. Throughout this process, use the heading bug on your heading indicator to set in the heading you want to fly. If you have no heading bug (and the airplane is yours), you might want to consider installing an indicator that has one. A heading bug helps tremendously in keeping you on the heading you want, while minimizing use of brainpower to do it.

All this may sound elementary, but it's not. Most pilots are busy enough on an ILS that they chase the needle rather than picking a heading, remembering it, and holding it. But holding a heading anywhere close to the right one prevents the needle from drifting much, so there's time to correct. That's why it's easier to hold a heading (and return immediately to it if your heading drifts off) than it is to chase the needle without a specific heading in mind.

As you know, it's hard to absorb this sort of thing from reading. So it would be wise to practice your ILS tracking (in aircraft or simulator) with an experienced CFI, or at least with a safety pilot.

Sincerely, Greg Brown

Question:

Dear Sir:

When I started flying, I was told by my instructor that my performance was excellent, and that he couldn't believe that I didn't have any logged hours. As my classes progress, however, I am having more and more "stupid" problems arise. These are severly shattering my confidence.

It seems that now that I am learning the procedures for "minimum controllable airspeed" and "power-off stalls", I am forgetting basic skills in favor of trying to handle advanced techniques. (Ex: I am trying so hard to remember how to pull my Katana out of a spin that I forget to stay in line with the runway on take-off) I think that I may be a victim of what flight surgeons call "cerebral saturation", and was wondering if you have any tips to help me stay on track with some semblance of my original confidence.

Eric

Answer:

Dear Eric,

I admire you for writing regarding your concerns. Dealing with challenges in a positive manner is the mark of an excellent pilot, and you already demonstrate that skill.

The most important thing for you to understand is that you are not alone. Every pilot-in-training runs into exactly the sorts of problems you wrote about -- excelling sometimes while frustrated at others. It's just that few students hear about the challenges their peers experience, so they often assume that only they are having problems.

If you quiz your CFI you'll learn that just about every student at the airport has had challenges at one time or another during the course of training, but just about everyone who sticks it out goes on to become a competent pilot.

Just to prove how common it is, what you are facing is known as a "learning plateau." The phenomenon is formally taught to CFIs because it occurs one or more times with every student one trains... the student progresses rapidly for a while, then hits a learning plateau with no apparent progress. Once overcoming the plateau it's back to rapid progress again! Ask your instructor to pull out his or her "Aviation Instructor's Handbook," and show you the graph of the learning plateau. It applies to every one of us!

To quote straight from that book, "...in learning motor skills, a leveling off process, or a plateau, is normal, and can be expected after an initial period of rapid improvement. The instructor should prepare the student for this situation to avert discouragement. If the student is aware of this learning platform, frustration may be lessened."

There are numerous approaches for getting past a plateau. Most important is for your CFI to tackle the challenge in a variety of different ways. Each of us learns differently, so sometimes it takes a few different approaches to find one that works for a given student. If you feel that you and your CFI have "tried everything" with no results, take an extra lesson with someone else you respect, like your school's Chief Flight Instructor. He or she may share another angle that illuminates everything for you.

But when all else fails and you find yourself getting discouraged, it's time to take a break from those stalls and make a pleasure flight... to remind you of why you're taking lessons in the first place! Remember why you're pursuing that pilot certificate? For fun! For adventure! For relaxation!

Assuming that you don't already have an aviation background, your experience with flying is probably limited to that first intro flight, followed by a series of high-intensity lessons. Other than craning their necks for traffic, how many students get to relax and enjoy the view prior to solo cross-country? But few pilots learn to fly because they love practicing stalls and steep turns.

That's why, even though it's not on the syllabus, there are times when a casual "pleasure flight" is the best thing you can do for yourself. Ask your CFI to schedule an extra lesson to fly to an airport forty-five minutes or an hour away for lunch.

If you want to make the flight educational, travel to the nearest Automated Flight Service Station or radar approach control facility for a tour. Or go to a pancake fly-in. (Great places to learn collision-avoidance techniques!) But wherever you go on this trip make it long enough for some relaxed flying, and allow some time at the destination for you and your CFI to kick back, relax, and have a casual talk together.

Your "pleasure flight" objectives are twofold: to get some positive feedback on skills already learned, and to remind you of why it's worth the headaches to become a pilot. A round-trip cross-country flight of even an hour gives you the chance to relax a bit in the air, to look out the window, to track a heading and maintain level flight.

So our little pleasure flight breaks the pattern of stressful lessons, and gives you the opportunity to realize, "Hey, I may not have stalls perfectly nailed yet, but look at how far my flying has come! I just hopped in an airplane and flew it comfortably for a hundred miles, all while holding my heading and altitude within Private Pilot practical test tolerances, handling the radios, and having fun to boot." Imagine doing that a month ago!

In closing, Eric, I'd like to point out that the national average to earn a pilot certificate is variously reported at 55 hours or greater, so it obviously takes most of us a good bit longer than the minimum to master this challenging activity. At the same time, the number of hours it takes for a pilot to earn a Private certificate doesn't seem to reflect the quality of the pilot's skills when done. If anything, those who rush through are the poorer performers.

So keep chipping away at those challenges, knowing you will indeed overcome them, and take a pleasure lesson to reawaken your excitement about being a pilot. And please keep me posted on your progress!

Sincerely, Greg

Question:

Dear Greg

I am a student pilot at Horizon Aviation in Rhode Island. I am doing a science fair project related to aviation fuel. Marriane Douglas there told me to ask you if you had any info that I could use about aviation fuel. My experiment is how will jet fuel affect flying in a single prop aircraft (Cessna 150) if it is accidently mixed with regular fuel for this aircraft and how pilots can tell if this happens. No I am not going to try it in flight but any info you have would be very helpful.

Thank you, Ray

Answer:

Dear Ray,

Jet fuel is kerosene, while the fuel used in piston (reciprocating) engines like that in the 152 is gasoline. While I don't know the chemistry involved, my understanding is that kerosene burns hotter than gasoline and has a different flash point, so it doesn't explode at the "normal" time in the reciprocating engine's power stroke. The effect of this is that when a piston aircraft is misfueled with jet fuel, the engine will run okay at low power settings at least for a while, but at high power settings my understanding is that the engine will overheat and seize.

The terrible thing is that those high power settings are first used on takeoff, so in the classic misfueling incident a piston aircraft takes off successfully and then suffers engine failure at a few hundred feet above the ground, obviously a very bad situation.

While I am happy to say that I've never personally experienced a misfueling situation, one did occur at an FBO where I once instructed. The airplane was a Piper Navajo with two brand new engines, and shortly after takeoff both engines quit. In that particular case the pilots were lucky enough to have enough altitude that they made it back to the field and landed safely.

Afterwards we pilots learned some very valuable lessons from the mishap. At the next staff meeting the chief mechanic brought in two unmarked fuel samples, one being pure avgas, and the other being the same mixture found in the refueled Navajo. He challenged us to identify which was which. No one could tell the difference!

It turned out that the Navajo's misfueling had resulted in a mixture containing about 10% jet fuel, which was enough to kill the engines, but not enough to cause a detectable change in the color or smell of the fuel.

The mechanic then taught us the following tricks, which I have never forgotten, and encourage you to use in the future. When testing fuel from your piston aircraft, dribble a little on your fingertips. Gasoline should rapidly dry completely away. But kerosene is oilier than gas, and if there's some in the fuel you'll likely be left with an oily feeling on your fingers.

If in doubt you can further test the fuel using what you probably learned in high school chemistry as "paper chromatography." Take a clean paper towel and put a drop of fuel on it. Straight avgas will evaporate leaving no visible residual. But in a mixture of gas and jet fuel, the jet fuel will migrate out to the edge of the drop through the paper, and after the gas evaporates a tell-tale ring will remain. Not only is that a great science fair project, but it could save your life one day.

Hope this helps... Let me know what else you learn about the subject in the course of doing your project. I'm still learning, too!

Sincerely, Greg