WingsOfun.com BLOG #64, November 12, 2014: Interview with Raymond Steeley, WWII Airborne Demo Team and "It Helps to be Bad at Math to be a Good Pilot" (article)

WingsOfun.com BLOG #64: November 12, 2014 

WELCOME PILOTS

 

    

     It was a great weekend at the Warriors and Warbirds Airshow at the Charlotte/Monroe, North Carolina Airport (KEQY). The event has a theme appropriate for saluting veterans just prior to the official Veterans Day. As a pilot that has seen many airshows the Monroe event is one of the best I’ve attended in recent memory. The impressive show included Monroe’s own C-47 “Tinker Belle,” C-54 “Berlin Bomber,” several P-51 Mustangs and the multitude of pyrotechnics of “Tora Tora Tora.” Enhancing the show were the legions of war re-enactors complete with period dress and military accessories. Special thanks to the airport and airshow coordinators for the nice hospitality during the event. Quick shout out to Lee Myers for his support on getting me into the show plus the invite to the very cool USO dance. I had the opportunity to speak with a lot of nice folks and had a lot of fun building small balsawood gliders with the kids.

     One of my personal highlights was the opportunity to fly in a historic Huey helicopter via the Army Aviation Heritage Foundation. After years of being on my “bucket list” it was dream come true to fly in an aircraft with such a rich history.

     This week’s podcast was recorded on location at the Warriors and Warbirds Airshow with Col. (R) Raymond Steeley of the WWII Airborne Demonstration Team Foundation (www.wwiiadt.org). This non-profit membership organization trains parachutist to jump from aircraft just as it was done in WWII. There is a nine day class offered to new jumpers at their Frederick, Oklahoma location two times a year. After completing rigorous FAA requirements the training week concludes with a graduation jump performed for the local community. Although it's a couple of day past Veterans Day I want to give a special thank you to all veterans!

~TC FREEMAN

“Keeping the fun in flying!"

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WingsOfun Podcast #002:

Interview with Col. (R) Raymond Steeley, WWII Airborne Demonstration Team

1) Listen via YouTube

http://youtu.be/k0pa72kwoRA

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IT HELPS TO BE BAD AT MATH TO BE A GOOD PILOT 

By TC FREEMAN

     We have a lot of tour groups that visit our hangar through my work as an Aviation Safety and Education Specialist. Schools have expressed great interest in aviation due to its tie to the popular, if not overused, term STEM which stands for Science Technology Engineering and Math. During a discussion regarding pilot careers a teacher or adult group leader will state to the youth, “You have to be good at math to be a pilot.” Being good at math in school today is in sharp contrast to what being good at math was back when I was in high school. For example, my teenage daughters are constantly being pushed by teachers to take higher levels of algebra, calculus and trigonometry. As far as aviation is concerned, unless a pilot is going to pursue being a test pilot, engineer or a professor teaching advanced topics basic math, addition subtraction, multiplication and division, should suffice. In fact, I have had flight students with an engineering background demand such precision that it becomes a case of “analysis paralysis.” Please don’t take this statement out of context, being thorough is important but what I am concerned about is being precise to a fault.* While pilots with basic math skills can be judged as bad at math by today’s standards these folks can truly excel in planning and completing very safe flights.

     A good example is the fuel computation questions that are contained in the Private Pilot Knowledge (written) test. Completing the cross-country pre-flight planning problems required a different fuel consumption for each phase of flight, such as; taxi, take-off, cruise, approach and landing. While an important exercise, for practical applications such mental gymnastics seem to be overkill. To illustrate, when I was checking out pilots in the Cessna 172 I would require a fully detailed flight plan similar to the Knowledge test. After reviewing I would give the following advice, “If you want to ensure you will never run out of fuel in the aircraft use 10 gallons per hour (gph) for all phases of flight. The cool thing about using 10 gallons an hour is that it allows for three hours of flying with a one hour reserve.”** Being a generalist in math requires that the pilot hedge on this side of conservativism verses trying to squeeze every ounce from the fuel tanks.

     Another valuable piece of advice is to stick around after the fuel truck tops off the aircraft to determine actual fuel burn.*** If fuel consumption is right at 10 gph the pilot should increase flight plan fuel burn at 11 or 12 gph. Conversely, if actual fuel consumption is seven to eight gallons per hour, I would suggest keeping 10 gph for flight planning purposes. While the differences in these examples might seem extreme and not realistic the point is that decision-making considerations should increase safety margins, not decrease.

     There are other areas in which being a “math generalist” can be a benefit, such as; maximum cross-wind component calculations, determining flight times and Weight & Balance. My best advice is to use good basic math skills to err on the side of safety first. 

*I know this is a raging stereotype, no offense to my engineering friends.

**Be sure to verify your own Pilots Operating Handbook (POH) for your exact make and model aircraft. For instance, not all models years of the 172 will have the same fuel capacity and consumption.

***If you fuel the aircraft yourself, better yet because it gives you first-hand knowledge of fuel burn plus a great skill-set of fueling your own aircraft.

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 

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IMPORTANT AUDIO PRESENTATION AVAILABLE:

“OPERATIONS AT NON-TOWERED AIRPORTS”
… for pilots flying just for the fun of it.

 

In this audio book TC Freeman discusses; straight in approaches, dealing
with aircraft on extended downwind and traffic pattern entries. 

Available at: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/tcfreeman 

(Run time: 34 minutes)

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NEWS FROM THE WEB

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Note: Contact your elected officials to support pilot issues
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OUR FAVORITE VIDEOS FROM THE WEB ~
Battle Stations: Huey Helicopter - Air Armada (War History Documentary)

http://youtu.be/RKy4mzy0Ck4

In light of the mention of the Huey helicopter here’s a 
video about the history of this legacy aircraft.
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