Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2016 i Plane & Pilot

“Our aim is nothing short of bringing you the best aviation magazine and digital experience in the world.” With this issue, we proudly unveil the new Plane & Pilot, a magazine and a brand committed to exploring the universe of all that matters to us pilots. Regardless of whether your flying is for recreation, for personal transportation, for business travel or for your day job, we’re on it, presenting stories, photos, opinion, technique and perspective based on our broad experience as real pilots flying real airplanes. The first thing you likely noticed about the new brand is the sleek cover design and modern logo. It’s just the beginning of the transformation. As you leaf through the magazine, you’ll find that every page has a new look. The design is intended…

“I’m suggesting we like to take on challenge and adventure, and risk is an inherent part of both.” We’ve been talking about how to survive our addiction to flying for a long time now, since the beginning of aviation, in fact. We’ve called it Airsense, Headwork, Judgment, Threat and Error Management, and other names not fit to print, but now we have a relatively new label for it: Risk Management. As the FAA transitions from the Practical Test Standards to the Airman Certification Standards in 2016, you’ll hear a lot more about Risk Management (RM), since it will be evaluated on the practical test, flight reviews, etc. There will be no shortage of aerial educators, pontificators and bombasticators, myself included, discussing RM and how it applies, in excruciating detail, to…

In the 1990s, FAA accident analysts were puzzled by an unexplained decline in controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) accidents. “They were scratching their heads,” says Oliver Reinhardt, head of airworthiness at German aircraft manufacturer Flight Design, whose work with the FAA predates the current Part 23 rewrite effort. “Then they realized everyone is flying with a GPS tied to their control horn, keeping them away from terrain, and even though [the GPS] wasn’t certified, it significantly increased safety.” By the end of the last decade, the FAA realized its certification rules were impeding the introduction of new technology in GA aircraft, thus negatively affecting safety. In 2011, following a Small Airplane Certification Process Study, the FAA chartered a Part 23 Reorganization Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) to recommend reforms. The effort…

‘‘Still, most of us who make all or part of our income flying anything from Skyhawks to Boeings wouldn’t trade our jobs for anything else.” I wouldn’t want to be riding out on the wing tonight. The wind is roaring down out of the northwest like polar bear’s breath, a vicious torrent of air frozen by winter and twisted by the Rocky Mountains. Somewhere below, far down in a blanket of clouds and black sky one to three miles deep, the night snow of November blitzes New Mexico and Colorado into immobility. But, for me, the night is warm leather, the snore of my engines through the velveteen, obsidian darkness, and a moon and stars light the scattered clouds from above. There’s Ursa Major pointing the way to the North…

“Base to final. This is the most beautiful turn in the sky.” The early instructions are clear. Abeam the numbers, reduce power. First flaps. Pitch for speed. When the far numbers are 45 degrees behind your shoulder, turn downwind to base. Pitch for speed. Second flaps. Watch your speed. There are stories about what comes next. Base to final. This is the most beautiful turn in the sky. This is also the turn you can’t do badly. Overbank or get too slow, and the ride is over. Stall/spin. An airplane falling out of the sky with no room to recover. I remember my early left-seat days. This turn, for me, meant hope. Hope I wasn’t too high. Hope I wasn’t too slow. Hope I didn’t fly too far, overshoot the…

Population of the United States in 1903: 80.6 million Total number of pilots in 1903: 1 Percentage of population: 0.00000001 Population of the United States in 1929: 121.8 million Total number of pilots in the United States in 1929: 9,215 Percentage of population: 0.000075 Population of the United States in 1975: 216 million Number of active FAA-certified pilots in the United States in 1975: 728,187 Percentage of population: 0.003 Population of the United States in 2014: 317.7 million Number of active FAA-certified pilots in the United States in 2014: 593,499 Percentage of population: 0.002 Percentage of active FAA-certified pilots who were women in 2014: 6.63% Total female pilots in 2013: 39,621 Number of U.S. Presidents who were pilots: 3 (Eisenhower and George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush) Number who…

“All those earlier years were an opportunity to watch the world of flying.” Before each departure from Heathrow Airport, I meet my fellow pilots at our Crew Report Centre. We shake hands and introduce ourselves, and if we’re early we may talk about the traffic or the football, or our plans for our time off wherever it is on the planet that we’re about to go together. There’s less time for chitchat once our official pre-flight briefing starts. The structured, more formal, interactions continue as we make our way through the terminal to our Boeing 747-400, complete our preparations for departure, push back and start those four mighty Rolls-Royce engines, and then taxi out, take off and climb to our initial cruising altitude. Inevitably, though, on every 10- or 12-hour…

If you’ve been around aviation for any length of time, you know a few stories about so-called revolutionary aircraft that sounded too good to be true. Turns out, most of the time, they are. So, stop me if you’ve heard the one about the airliner that cruises at 600 mph, but lands on a 3,000-foot runway. Or the bizjet retrofit that squeezes out a magical 10% of extra range on your current engines, while setting new standards for noise reduction. Maybe you’d like a Buck Rogers-like flying boomerang design with no tail? Or, for budget dreamers, the single-engine prop plane that cruises at 180 knots and lands safely at 30? Funny thing is, all these blue sky promises actually represent the leading edge of wing design. And, at least some…

“...Ford handled the emergency with the coolness and concentration you see reflected in any number of his on-screen characters.” Suppose you or I had taken off on a solo flight, and within minutes, had to execute an emergency landing that resulted in serious injuries and a banged-up airplane. There was no harm to anyone on the ground, and no buildings or vehicles were hit. When the NTSB finished its investigation, the narrative probably would be about a half-page long and the materials gathered during the investigation likely would consist of little more than the required NTSB Form 6120.1 “Pilot Operator Aircraft Accident/Incident Report,” maybe a local police report and perhaps some notes from an FAA inspector who visited the accident site. Contrary to what many people think, the NTSB isn’t…

Garmin Pilot App Talks with Transponders Garmin’s popular iOS and Android app, Garmin Pilot, now can communicate with Garmin’s new ADS-B-enabled transponders, bringing a lot of new capability to your tablet, including weather and traffic, as well as backup attitude information. The new version of the app comes with a cool profile view, with wind barbs and other weather data, terrain and obstacles. There’s also improved airspace altitude limit labels, to make it easier to know just how high you need to be to overfly that Class D airspace. And the flight-planning utility is greatly enhanced, with a guide to alternate and their current weather conditions automatically enabled for IFR flights. Garmin Pilot starts at $74.99. •garmin.com A Drone for the Nature Set As pilots, isn’t it inevitable that we…

We’re on the cusp of a major policy and regulatory shift that will accelerate the adoption of new technologies, from electric propulsion to autonomous vehicle operation, in general aviation, and likely will profoundly affect your flying experience in the future. You can see hints today of what the new approach heralds in the recent appearance of angle of attack indicators (AOAs) in GA cockpits and in the certification programs of innovative GA aircraft now in development. And you can hear it in the comments from participants who have been working in the formal overhaul process for the last five years and who have been closely involved in these issues for many more. “It’s ‘Welcome to the brave new world’ for small airplanes,” says Gregory Bowles, director of European Regulatory Affairs…

“...if you think you’re good at anything, it’s probably the thing that will bite you later. Aviation keeps you humble.” I spent the winter of ’84 giving tailwheel instruction, getting more aerobatic training and working on my helicopter rating. After I soloed the Bell 47G, I had a lot of fun flying it to the base of the Chugach Mountains that rise over Anchorage. I carved my initials in the snow with the skids and landed in little clearings, sometimes finding a lone moose staring back at me. In February, I flew a local airshow in my snowsuit and spent my spare time reading the IAC magazine Sport Aerobatics. I had been in a competition aerobatic box three times now—once in the Super Decathlon and twice in the Pitts S-1S.…