TC FREEMAN's WingsOfun.com BLOG #43: May 5, 2014
WELCOME PILOTS
WELCOME PILOTS
I’ve said for many years that everyone wants to have aviation events in April and May, or September and October. This is certainly true here in North Carolina as proven by the recent the North Carolina Airports Conference and the Duke Energy Aviation (pilot and maintenance) Safety Event for pilots and AMTs. Themes for this week, inspired by NTSB Chairman Robert L. Sumwalt, deal with maintenance discrepancies and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). This week’s article discusses the benefits of an effective SOP, while the Pilot Safety Minute (PSM) video tackles the topic of maintenance discrepancies.
Since flying season is in full swing, I hope to see you at an upcoming event. On that note, I wanted to give a quick “shout-out” for the Halifax-Northampton County (KIXA) Wings and Wheels Fly-in on May 17th. New this year will be camping for pilots that fly in and a whole host of seminars. Topics include the financial picture of owning and learning to fly Light Sport Aircraft (LSA), maintaining a pilot medical, and cross-country flight planning review presented by yours truly. Details can be found on SocialFlight.com and on the Facebook page (see below).
~TC Freeman
“Keeping the fun in high performance aviation training.”
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NEW PRESENTATION
“PILOT AND AIRCRAFT PERFORMANCE"
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Your opportunity to continue the dialog is on Facebook:
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PILOT SAFETY MINUTE VIDEO #43 ~ AIRCRAFT DISCREPANCIES
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Need a Speaker for your Next Event? We Can Help. See the Article;
Need a Speaker for your Next Event? We Can Help. See the Article;
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DISREGARING STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE
By TC FREEMAN
The beauty of having a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) can be best illustrated by the professional airline cockpit. As each new month rolls around, flight crews bid on the trips they desire, which is based on seniority. A pilot won't typically (or ever) bid on a trip schedule to fly with someone they know, or should I say, know is a good pilot and crewmember. The training is standardized to the point in which a pilot can seamlessly work with any pilot in the organization.* When a captain calls for, “flaps to approach,” the first officer will respond with the pre-agreed statement and then complete the action in a predictable manner. An SOP is over and beyond Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations (a.k.a. CFR). In a recent presentation, NTSB Chairman Robert L. Sumwalt commented that he had a major concern with flight departments not having or adhering to an SOP. Having an SOP can be of benefit to all segments of aviation from “weekend warriors” to corporate flight departments.
As an example, Sumwalt pointed to the well known accident of the commuter jet that mistakenly took-off from a taxi which resulted in a crash on the departure end of the airport. Not only did the flight crew have a very short distance in which to complete a very long before-take-off checklist, the conversation among the crew violated the sterile cockpit rule. If you remember, a sterile cockpit means one in which all conversation is limited to the task at hand. Sumwalt stated the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) picked up the crew discussing driving a high performance sports car and admitting to excessive“partying” over the past weekend. Perhaps the message for all pilots is that we need to be cautious of being complacent about inappropriate conversation during critical tasks.
Many corporate and airline flight departments have adopted a sterile cockpit rule that begins when below 10,000' MSL. This is also close to the time in which the approach segment of a typical flight begins. 10,000' is unreasonable for most recreational aircraft, since many rarely see this kind of altitude. My recommendation, or personal SOP, is to have a sterile cockpit when below 3000' MSL and within five miles of an airport. However, an SOP isn't limited to establishing a sterile cockpit.
While flying in a corporate flight department we ran into the issue of limited runway length based on multi-engine “accelerate stop distance.” This calculation is predicated on the aircraft having an engine failure at rotation speed then stopping on the remaining runway. One calculation is the familiar take-off distance, followed by a separate calculation of the distance it will take the pilot to stop the aircraft upon reaching Vr (rotation) speed. For example, let's say it takes 3000' to take-off and another 1500' to stop after reaching Vr, add those together and you get 4500.' Unfortunately, some of the airports we were operating were shorter than 4500.' Initially some of the management was comfortable with “rolling the dice”in-order to meet the customer request. However, one of the pilots pointed out that the aircraft insurance company wouldn't cover our operation if we didn't meet“accelerate-stop distance” criteria. As a result we adopted into our written SOP that we would not fly into an airport unless we could meet this requirement.
Sumwalt and the NTSB have played an important role as an unbiased source of aviation safety and I take his observation seriously. While there are “boiler plate” SOP guides available to the corporate or airline operators, the best SOP is one that the flight department has put together through experience and expertise. The last thing an organization needs is another ineffective policy manual collecting dust on the bookshelf. I challenge all pilots to develop an organizational or personal SOP for the simple reason of harnessing the power of the written word.
*Noting that personality issues can happen from time to time.
About the author:
TC Freeman has been flying since he was a teenager and is now an aviation speaker and author. Being employed as an Aviation Safety Specialist for state government, he has a passion for spreading the thrill of flying just for the fun of it via the website, www.WingsOfun.com.
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“We are excited to donate this segment of the WingsOfun BLOG to this great program that promotes; airport visitation, education and tourism.” ~TC FREEMAN
OPERATION: FLY NC NEWS
OPERATION: FLY NC NEWS
Discuss OP: Fly NC with fellow pilots at: http://tinyurl.com/opflync
Stamp NOTAMS (See the previous stamp NOTAMS)
*Grays Creek (2GC) The FBO has non-standard hours, please call ahead. We are working on getting stamps for the flight school at this time.
*Laurinburg-Maxton (KMEB) The original NOTAM is invalid due to the Coke machine, where the stamp resided, has been removed. Please note the FBO has non-standard hours. We are working on installing a mailbox or other outside accessible location for the stamp.
*Richmond County Airport, Rockingham (KRCZ) We will contact the airport manager about re-locating the stamp to the unlocked portion of the FBO which has an access code of the numbers one through five.
*Anson County, Wadesboro (KAFP) It's been reported that the stamp is a little light on ink, we will add a stamp pad ASAP. Otherwise the building code access is the unicom frequency.
*May 17, 2014 (8 a.m. – 7 p.m.) Fayetteville (FAY) Fly-in, Airport Road, Fayetteville, NC. For more information go to: http://flyins.com/events/view-event.html?id=5816
*May 17, 2014 (9 a.m. – 4 p.m.) IXA Wings and Wheels Fly-in. Halifax/North Hampton County Regional Airport (Roanoke Rapids, NC).Seminars, helicopter rides, Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) rides, food, camping, entertainment and more. More information available on the fly-in facebook page,https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/1419097265010777/, SocialFlight, http://www.socialflight.com/event-details.phpor by phone at, 252-583-3492.
*June 7, 2014 (9 a.m. – 4 p.m.) NC Aviation Museum and Hall of Fame Fly-in, Asheboro Regional Airport (HBI). Community and pilot fly-in event featuring “Angels Playmate” P-51 Mustang, vendors, hot rods, youth activities, museum and more.
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IMPORTANT AUDIO PRESENTATION AVAILABLE:
“OPERATIONS AT NON-TOWERED AIRPORTS”…for pilots flying just for the fun of it.
With the issue of sequestration, the shut-down of many Air Traffic Control Towers is a possibility. Regardless, it is important to know how to safely and efficiently operate at Non-Towered Airports. In this audio book TC Freeman discusses; straight in approaches, dealing with aircraft on extended downwind and traffic pattern entries.
(Run time: 34 minutes)
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*INCLUDES SPECIAL CAREER PILOT SECTION!
*INCLUDES SPECIAL CAREER PILOT SECTION!
*Winston-Salem Fun Fly-in, May 9, 2014 (2 p.m. – 6 p.m.) Coordinated by subscriber Jonathan Miller.
* “Quicksilver Sport S2SE Gains Approval” ~ Flying Magazine.
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* WingOfun Call to Action: “Senate Acts On Third-Class Medical Exemption” (AvWeb). A quote from the article from Senator Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, "The FAA has had two years to review this request for an exemption.....Let's get this thing moving."http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Senate-Acts-On-Third-Class-Medical-Exemption221581-1.html
Contact your elected officials in support of the “expansion of the driver’s license medical exemption to more (non-commercial) pilots. To find your senate representatives go to: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml
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*eBooks
*Special Event Announcements
*Operation: Fly NC program
Questions? Contact: tom@wingsofun.com
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