Thursday 17 December 2015

WHY DO PILOTS HATE RECURRENT TRAINING?

(Acknowledgements: AIR FACTS/John Zimmerman)

Admit it – you hate recurrent training! But you KNOW that regular training increases safety and confidence. It’s good for you, right up there with eating more vegetables and exercising daily. But we treat proficiency flights like a trip to the dentist.

This reluctance isn’t a sign of laziness. It’s also not primarily about the cost. A flight review isn’t too expensive, and simulators offer an even less expensive way to stay current.

The real reasons have a lot more to do with emotion, particularly fun and pride. Since most of us are in aviation for the fun, if it’s not fun why do it? The pride part is even more powerful, because most pilots are successful people. For an accomplished businessman or doctor to subject him/herself to judgment and possible embarrassment at the hands of a flight instructor is no small task. If you’re used to excelling at life, it’s hard to admit it when you fall short.

One obvious way to combat this mindset is to turn recurrent training into an ongoing process. To amplify the dentist analogy, most adults don’t dread brushing their teeth every day, because it’s both familiar and not subject to someone else’s judgment. We can approach flying in much the same way. 

If “recurrent” means a single event every two years it feels like a test. But if we view currency as a normal part of every flight, it becomes a habit. A good goal is to deliberately do something on every flight to maintain your flying skills. Track the centreline on the runway, use short field technique on your next landing, avoid the boring touch-and-go routine and make a short cross country flight that accomplishes the same thing. Fly to a nearby airport for lunch, practice an en-route diversion along the way, do a no-flap landing when you get there, and throw in some steep turns on the way home.

It’s also worth remembering that you don’t have to hire a CFI in order to evaluate your flying skills. There are plenty of ways to self-critique and avoid the pain of public embarrassment – if you’re willing to be honest with yourself. You can record your performance over time to see when you’re sharp and when you need more practice.

A GoPro video camera is relatively inexpensive, and records high quality video and audio. It’s a good way to revisit your flight and see how you did – a VFR pilot might focus outside the airplane, an IFR pilot might focus on the instruments, and both can listen to ATC communications. There’s a lot to learn here, and you can do it all on your own.

How we approach recurrent training determines what we get out of it. If we approach the currency check as a chance to learn something new, we’re more likely to have a positive experience than if we view it as a test (which it’s not – you can’t fail a flight review!).

It all comes down to attitude. Perhaps the most important difference between a professional and an amateur is whether you embrace continuous learning. Be a pro, even if you only fly 40 hours a year.
Season’s greetings!

FLY SAFE!

Friday 11 December 2015

PARTIAL ENGINE FAILURE AFTER TAKE-OFF (PEFATO)

(Acknowledgements: GASCO Flight Safety/Matt Lane)


Matt says that in many instruction programmes the emphasis is placed upon total EFATO, whereby the Instructor retards the throttle to idle in the climb-out and announces the simulated engine failure; whereupon the Student adopts glide attitude and speed, carries out drills and proceeds with the approach for a forced landing ahead. The Instructor then calls for go-around when satisfied with the Student’s response. And certainly in the event of either Fire or Mechanical Failure, immediate total engine shutdown followed by a prompt forced landing is obviously the procedure to follow and thus should be trained for accordingly.
However, it is very likely that on occasions during their flying lives pilots will encounter power loss due to Non-Mechanical Failure, where a propeller may progressively slow down to windmilling for no immediately-apparent reason, or where there is a reduction in power or a degree of rough running caused perhaps by an incorrect control selection by the pilot, or by a fuel-flow/air-flow issue due to possible carburettor icing, or by a minor mechanical or ignition system issue. In such cases the power loss may be partial rather than total, and may therefore not require an immediate shutdown as trained in respect of EFATO.  
Certainly, Matt Lane’s own career has featured only one total engine seizure, whereas there have been several issues of partial power loss on climb-out, and so he includes an un-briefed PEFATO scenario in his course material. He will reduce power during the climb-out to cruise setting and announce for example “simulated rough running and vibration, touch drills only, continue your response until told to go-around”, and then observe the reaction of the Student which will generally be one of the following in the most likely order:
  • Immediate pitch down and setup for forced landing ahead, with throttle left untouched resulting in a fast and high approach inappropriate for a forced landing
  • Aircraft levelled off to stagger on at low level while the Student wonders what to do
  • An un-briefed and uncontrolled attempt to turn back towards the airfield
  • A vain attempt to maintain the climb in the face of falling airspeed until approaching stall
Any of the above would probably result in an undesirable outcome following a missed opportunity for recovering the situation, and when presented with this scenario the Students’ response in most cases has been complete surprise, having been conditioned to expect a total EFATO exercise.

So, Matt says, we have three choices to counter a partial EFATO situation:
  • Resolve the problem and safely climb away (carb heat? fuel pump? throttle vibrated away from full power? passenger accidentally altered a control?)
  • Commit to forced landing ahead (power off, shutdown, perform as for total EFATO)
  • Use residual power if sufficient to manoeuvre back to the airfield or at least a  more favourable landing area
Matt’s procedure for dealing with PEFATO is summarised as follows:
  • Pitch down and maintain at least Best Glide Speed
  • Confirm full throttle
  • Assess performance
  • If above 500ft and able to climb or maintain level flight:
  •        Consider turning downwind, or manoeuvre to a desirable landing area
  •        Prepare for Glide Approach
  •        If time allows, perform non-mechanical failure actions
  •        If engine fails to recover, position for Glide Approach
  •        When committed, close throttle and perform forced landing
  • If below 500ft and unable to climb, commit to landing ahead, close throttle, and perform forced landing as per total EFATO procedure
 FLY SAFE!