Category: Tips

LSA’s in Europe (again)

Posted on July 31, 2022 by - Advanced, Aircraft, Official documents, Tips

It’s the middle of summer, with travel plans made or indeed already flown.  I’m returning to the question of permits for UK registered factory built LSA’s (i.e. UK Permit aircraft), which cannot be operated freely in EU members states without specific permissions. Below is a list of the permission requirements and processes for different countries:

SWEDEN – apply at  https://www.transportstyrelsen.se/en/Forms/Aviation/Airworthiness/Application-for-permission-to-fly-within-Swedish-airspace-with-foreign-registered-aircraft-which-has-not-an-approved-ICAO-CoA-or-EASA-Permit-to-fly1/

IRELAND – fill out form 138C: https://www.iaa.ie/docs/default-source/publications/forms/airworthiness-application-forms/awsd-f-138c-rev-2.pdf?sfvrsn=c4ab0df3_20  with copies of Certificate of Registration, UK CAA flight permit, permit conditions (form 18B and the Datasheet). Send to  arc@iaa.ie  If o response, contact Ruth Bagnell, Aeronautical Inspector, Tel.: + 353 1 603 1463, Mob: + 353 87 279 8054, Ruth.BAGNELL@iaa.ie . There is no fee and the permit was for 12 months.

FRANCE – Step 1….. Go to https://redevances.dcs.aviation-civile.gouv.fr/index.php/laissez-passer-permit-to-fly.html/ and select “Validation d’un certificat étranger – MTOW < 5,7. create an account and reply to the confirmation email. Then pay 50 euros online. Take a screenshot of the payment page in case the pdf receipt by email gets lost (it takes several hours). Step 2….. Download, complete and save form LP6. Google “France form LP6” to find it. Step 3…. Send form by email to dsac-nav-bf@aviation-civile.gouv.fr , with relevant aircraft documentation –  “Airworthiness document issued by the State of registry, along with the associated validity certificate and/or operating limitations =  UK Permit, the EASA form 18B and the aircraft Datasheet). Include the receipt for payment. The permit arrives in a few working days. Mine was valid until 7 days before permit expiry, so it’s a once per year exercise.

BELGIUM – go to https://mobilit.belgium.be/en/Temporary_permission_to_fly and download the application form. Fee 108 euros.

NETHERLANDS – use form ILT.231 here . When I applied, permission was refused because my aircraft is not one of the categories covered by the tick boxes on the form. The Dutch allow microlights into their airspace and also amateur built aircraft – both on the basis of the ECAC agreement- but not factory built permit aircraft. We have taken this up with the NL branch of AOPA who are addressing it with the Dutch NAA but there has been no progress.

GERMANY – apply here https://www.lba.de/EN/Operations/EntryPermissions/Restricted_Authorisation.html?nn=2099536. No fee, max 180 days. Two working days notice are required.

 

 

That club check-out – tedious chore or interesting opportunity?

Posted on January 16, 2022 by - Advanced training, Tips

Many clubs have a currency rule of some kind for PPL’s – e.g. a member must fly at least once in 28 days to stay current. After that they need a check-out within an instructor. If just out of check, that may just be a few circuits. If several months, it may include some general handling.

The check-out is often regarded as a tedious formality, but I always aim to make it useful. While checking the pilot’s general flying ability has not deteriorated, it’s also possible to inject something valuable that’s new or forgotten.

For example, within a circuit checkout, after appropriate briefing:

  • A briefing on transponder checks (a hot topic in relation to infringements)
  • A simulated engine fire on start-up
  • A soft field take off (topical at our muddy grass runway in winter)
  • A glide approach from an unusual position
  • Simulated stuck throttle on approach
  • A scenario of partial power after take-off, often (surprise, surprise) culminating in a simulated total engine failure to a glide approach
  • A bad weather circuit
  • Cross wind landing techniques

In a general handling check, a PFL, some stalls and steep turns are generally the norm. We could also include:

  • A bit of VOR tracking out to the local area
  • A practice PAN call to D&D 121.5 to simulate a emergency or being lost
  • A brush up of SkyDemon use.
  • A collision avoidance break (steep turn)
  • Demo (from a safe height) of the height loss after engine failure in a 180 degree turn-back (the height loss is more than most people expect)
  • Flight on instruments when returning from the local area

There are lots of possibilities.

Popular myths & little known facts

Posted on November 8, 2021 by - Air Law - PPL, Aircraft, Chat, Flight Performance and Planning - PPL, IMC rating, Instructors, Regulation, Tips

In my conversations with students during training and PPL holders during rating re-validation, some interesting myths emerge. So let’s put the record straight on a number of air law and licensing questions.

  1. It’s OK to fly outside the W&B (weight and balance) envelope as long as you have checked it’s safe, e.g. by a test take-off on a long runway. FALSE.

The PiC is legally required to assure himself that he is operating within W&B limits. And how would you know it’s safe other than by operating within the limits given in the POH? The manufacturer has worked these things out.

TIP –  It is so easy to calculate W&B, either on paper, spreadsheet or in an app like Skydemon. Consider making a handful of standard calculations – e.g. myself, flight bag + full fuel; myself, flight bag, wife + 90 litres fuel (= MTOM) – to which you can refer.

  1. The bi-annual instructional flight (the ‘1 hour with instructor’) must be done in the last 3 months of rating validity. FALSE.

You can do it any time during the last year of validity. However, the instructor or examiner can only sign your rating revalidation if you have met all the criteria (12 hours, 6 hrs PiC, 12 take-offs etc etc), so you might need to get the signature a bit later.

TIPS – get your 1 hour done early and don’t wait till winter, when the weather can prevent you flying. if you’ve met all the re- validation requirements early in the year, you can get the rating signed off and preserve the dates. There is no fixed agenda for the bi-annual instruction flight. From a ‘duty of care’ standpoint, most instructors will want to revise stalls, steep turns and a PFL, but in principle the instruction can cover anything. Find something that’s useful for you, such crossing CAS, short field techniques, bad weather circuits, night flying, even some instrument flight. The choice is yours and it’s not a test. You can ask the instructor to teach or demo something, or perform the manoeuvre yourself.  

  1. If I forget to get my rating re- validated by signature, I can always ask an examiner or any instructor to back-date it. FALSE.

The signature must be made before rating expiry date. And if it’s an instructor signing, ONLY the instructor who did your 1 hour of instruction is entitled to sign (don’t ask me why) although ANY examiner can do so.

TIPS – enter your revalidation dates in your diary – at least one month ahead of time. Get the signature at the time of the instructional flight, if at all possible.

  1. In order to accumulate IFR hours towards a CB-IR, I can record all my flights in VMC as IFR. FALSE.

You can only fly IFR (even in VMC) if you are qualified to fly IFR, i.e. hold either an IR or (IR(R) (the UK IMC rating).

  1. I can fly a 3-axis microlight on a PPL(A) and the hours count towards the 12 hours required for SEP re-validation. TRUE.

BUT….. in order to do so, you must first undergo differences training (by a microlight instructor) and get this signed off in your log-book. AND… for SEP re-validation, the 1 hour with an instructor must be in a SEP, not in a micro-light.

  1. If I hold SEP and TMG ratings, I can re- validate both with 12 hours etc flight time in the last 12 months, on both or either class. TRUE.

The hours are in effect inter-changeable. BUT… be careful. If your TMG and SEP ratings have different expiry dates, you must accumulate the hours and get the signatures while both are still valid.  If either of them expires, you must take a test (an LPC) on the expired class.

  1. If I enter controlled airspace by accident by less than 0.5 nm, or less than 100 feet, it won’t be recorded as an infringement. FALSE

Entering CAS without clearance, by any distance or height – however small – is an infringement and you can expect the CAA to take some kind of action against you. Airspace infringements are what are called ‘strict liability offences’, i.e. intent is irrelevant. All the authority has to do is to show – on the balance of probabilities – that you infringed. Evidence includes their radar and your transponder mode C output. Arguing that your transponder is inaccurate won’t wash, unless can get an engineer’s report to prove the mis-calibration.

TIPS – Why fly that close to CAS and risk it? Apply the Take 2 Rule – remain 2 nm away from and at least 200 ft (I prefer 300 ft) below CAS.  Do a transponder calibration check before flight: set your altimeter to 1013 and check it agrees with the transponder FL display.

  1. I am allowed 45 days leeway to fly after my medical expires. FALSE.

You can do the medical 45 days before expiry and preserve the dates, but you cannot fly after it has expired. However……

TIP –  a Class 2 medical lapses into a LAPL medical on expiry. So depending on what you are doing, you might be able to fly on LAPL privileges after the Class 2 expiry date. But LAPL privileges will also expire eventually and LAPL privileges carry further restrictions (aircraft weight, number of passengers, no night or instrument flight etc).

  1. If in my bi-annual instruction flight, I fly quite badly, the instructor can refuse to sign-off the flight in my logbook. FALSE.

He / she must sign it. But they may make an annotation ‘Further training recommended’, and they will discuss with you what additional training is needed. You would be well-advised to pay heed!

TIP – use the instructional flight to practice something you wouldn’t normally do and as an opportunity to get some (almost free) advice. Consider booking the instructor for a couple of hours so that you have time for a thorough briefing and for subsequent discussion.

  1. A listening squawk entitles me to enter Controlled Airspace. FALSE.

A Listening squawk merely signifies that you are listening on a particular frequency. You are not getting a service nor a clearance. You might reasonably expect ATC to warn you if you get too close to CAS, but that’s not guaranteed (if they are very busy, for example).

TIP – make sure you have set the corresponding frequency and have the radio volume turned up enough. Listen out in case they call you up, either by call-sign or by ‘aircraft in the vicinity of …..’

Rate 1 turns on EFIS

Posted on December 10, 2020 by - Advanced training, AGK - PPL, IMC rating, Tips

They say you never stop learning in aviation. This little snippet illustrates that.

Last week I was out renewing my instructor rating, and amongst other things, I had to demonstrate a rate 1 turn on instruments. Easy, right? Look at the Turn Coordinator and line up the wings of the little aeroplane on the tick marks.

But how do you do that in an aeroplane equipped with an EFIS (electronic flight information system, or glass cockpit). They often don’t have a conventional Turn Coordinator. Well, you could calculate the bank angle (TAS divided by 10 plus 7 degrees) and use the Skypointer on the attitude indicator.

But thanks to pilotworkshop.com who send a free weekly email with tips, I learnt an easier way. Beneath the heading indicator is a magenta trend ribbon, showing which way you’re turning. This has marks – in my Dynon D100, that’s a bracket which corresponds to Rate 1. So just add sufficient bank that the magenta line reaches the bracket. And the trend line itself is quantitative – the longer the line, the greater your rate of turn. The end of the line shows the heading you will be on in 6 seconds. And that 6 seconds seems to be a standard on all displays.

So…. If in doubt, read the instruction manual. I read mine years back, but at that time, instrument flying was far from my thoughts.

CPL hour building

Posted on November 21, 2020 by - Advanced training, Tips

I’ve written about this before, so take a look at https://aiminghigher.aero/tips/hour-building/

Here are some more thoughts.  I still believe there is little value in just flying your mates and granny around the local training area! Use hour-building to gain experience – go to different places, fly more challenging missions, complete the CPL QXC, do more accurate flying, practice doing performance and weight & balance calculations, professional PLOG keeping and so on. That way, you’ll be better prepared for the more demanding standards of CPL flying.

What do the rules say about hours?

There are minimum requirements to start a CPL course, and different (higher) minimum requirements to apply for a CPL. This means that some hour building could be completed during parallel with the CPL flight training – if you have the time and money.

Total hours PiC hours PiC cross country Night hours Total CPL training Instrument instruction
For entry to a CPL course 150 50 10
To apply for the CPL 200 100 20, incl CPL QXC 5
incl 5 solo t/offs & landings		 25 10
(max. 5 on an approved simulator

 

You also need to complete the CPL (or ATPL) theory course.

The CPL QXC is the same concept as the PPL QXC, but longer: it’s a VFR cross-country flight of at least 540 km (300 NM), with full stop landings at 2 aerodromes different from the aerodrome of departure.

Other things to consider

  • Do your flying from somewhere that can offer advice and inspiration when you need it.
  • Consider a share in a cheap, but reliable aeroplane for hours building, or see if you can negotiate a discount for hour-building on a club aircraft during the week when it’s not used much. Is a share cheaper than hire? – you’ll need to do the maths, and also get some advice of the pro’s and con’s of owning a shared aeroplane.
  • The first priority of hour building is to gain PiC experience. However, the difference between the required total hours and PiC hours means that you could ‘afford’ to get some additional PUT training time, for fun or to build skills useful for later in your training. For example, you might use some flying time to get a tail-wheel rating or get some experience in instrument flying and instrument approaches. The example below shows how it could work.
Total hours PiC hours
PPL training 65 15
Post PPL flying 15 (incl. check outs) 10
Night rating 6 1
Hour building needed 84 74
Expected CPL training 30
Total 200 100
  • Get familiar with more advanced predictive weather tools (Windy, GRAMET and so on) and build up your own preferred set of flight planning app’s. Really understand all the things that SkyDemon can do for you.
  • Start building your knowledge of the ‘rules’. The EASA Easy Access Rules and the UK ANO are not edifying reading, but you should start finding out for yourself what some of the rules say.
  • Attend as many seminars and webinars as you can to expand your knowledge. The CAA, Flyer magazine, GASCo, the RAeS are just some of the organisation that offer these from time to time.
  • If a particular aspect of theory piques your interest, then you could start diving into more detail as preparation for the CPL theory course.

Brexit

We still don’t know what will happen as far as aviation is concerned, though it is extremely likely that the UK will NOT be part of the EASA club and the nature of any future agreements is uncertain. Whilst ICAO convention means that UK PPL’s should be recognized in EASA-land,  we don’t know how / if UK licenses will be recognized by non-UK commercial operators. You will need to decide whether you want a UK CPL or an EASA CPL and that will affect your choice of ATO’s for the training. Hopefully, this regulatory fog will have cleared by the time comes to start your CPL training!

Meanwhile, get out and enjoy some flying!!

Get up and go!

Posted on February 9, 2020 by - Airfields, Chat, Tips

We’ve added some more destinations to our Short Haul page – so as the weather turns more spring-like (and once the gales have subsided) why not venture somewhere new?

We’ll be updating the Medium and Long haul pages over the next couple of weeks.

Listen very carefully: I shall say this only once

Posted on September 16, 2019 by - Chat, Comms - PPL, RT practical - PPL, Tips

I was out on a trip yesterday – beautiful blue skies, little wind, great visibility. It’s the kind of day which gets pilots of all abilities out of their arm-chairs and into the air. The controller on the Farnborough East sector was getting quite terse with pilots whose RT was sub-standard. It matters a lot when the frequency is busy – unanswered or incorrectly answered calls need more repetition, which just clogs up the frequency even more. In the worst case, it can create a safety issue.

Every radio conversation follows the same structure – a short contact call, a main message and a read-back or acknowledgement. And the main message has a consistent format: Who you are, What you’re doing, Where you are, What you want. Or more precisely for those fond of acronyms – CARPACeR: Call sign, Aircraft type, Route, Position, Altitude, Condition (VFR / IFR), Request. 2025 edit –  the CAA now advocate CARPAII: Call sign, Aircraft type, Route, (Departure, Destination), Position, Altitude, Information, Intentions (this is where you’d give significant turning points and request the Service you want)

Some ways to get it right

Know where you are, report where you are. There is a world of difference between being north of Farnborough and west of Farnborough! Sure, ATC may have radar and spot you, but you create doubt in the controller’s mind – do you know where you are, can you be relied on to proceed as instructed?

  • Think before you speak
  • Be accurate with your position
  • But don’t be excessively precise – ’west of…’ or ‘just west of…’ is often sufficient. ‘1.6 miles west of…’ is probably unnecessary.

Always read back a clearance or instruction – ATC need you to read back certain things, to check you have understood.

  • Don’t rely on memory alone; have a pencil ready to write down instructions
  • Develop your own shorthand to do this concisely

Don’t butt in to an ongoing conversation / read-back  

  • Listen out for a few seconds before transmitting
  • If you hear a pilot making a request that needs an answer, or ATC giving an instruction which needs reading back, wait till the exchange has finished

Listen out. I lost count of the number of times I heard G-NW… are you on frequency? G-NW.. radio check etc.

  • Listen out for your call sign
  • Make sure you have the volume loud enough
  • Don’t allow cockpit conversations to interfere with monitoring the RT
  • Advise before leaving the frequency, so the controller knows you have gone

Listen out when receiving a traffic service. Even worse than not listening out, is asking for a Traffic Service and then not listening to traffic advisories. What’s the point?

  • It is a requirement to read-back traffic advice with either ‘Looking for traffic / Traffic not sighted’ or ‘Traffic sighted’
  • Ask yourself whether a Traffic service is really necessary and appropriate for the conditions (visibility, traffic density, pilot work-load)

And other tips to help prepare

  • If not confident, rehearse your calls on the ground, and try to imagine or anticipate the ATC responses – it’s easy to do this in the car on the way to the airfield. We’ve all had to go through the RT learning curve
  • Brush up what kind of information you need to read-back, and when a simple ‘Roger’ or ‘Wilco’ is enough
  • Still not sure? Then get some advice from an instructor, or read some of the materials on this website
  • If flying with another pilot, why not share the work-load – assign one of you to monitor and respond on the radio.

 

Bad habits

Posted on August 27, 2019 by - Chat, Test, Tips

Back in the spring, I was doing Flight Examiner training with our CFI. One of the training exercises is to conduct an LPC (Licence Proficiency Check) on a lapsed pilot returning to flying. You know how some comedians are excellent mimics? Well our CFI can mimic the rusty or inept pilot to a T. She demonstrated more bad habits in 30 mins than I have seen in several years of biannual instruction flights. For example….

  • Poor RT – not using the full call-sign in initial calls, not following the conventional message structure, incorrect expression of numbers etc.
  • Being unaware of listening squawks. Listening squawks are a good way to avoid infringing.
  • Taxi-ing – not holding the controls fully back (which is the technique for most (but not all) aircraft); not performing the taxi checks
  • Take-off – insufficient rudder use, so not remaining centred on the runway during the take-off roll
  • Rudder – insufficient rudder in the climb (which causes a gradual turn and sub-optimal climb rate); Not using a squeeze of rudder in entry to and exit from turns, causing a momentary slip or skid.
  • Landing – landing flat with insufficient pitch up in the flare. This is a very bad habit which one day could lead to a bounce, collapsed nose leg and broken aeroplane.
  • Over-reliance on GPS navaids – poor PLOG and chart preparation and plotting. A great way to get lost when the GPS fails! 
  • Poor height-keeping on cross country flight – getting dangerously close tho the base of CAS  another way to infringe!
  • Getting off-track – and failing to use a recognised (and simple) technique to regain track promptly. Another way of getting lost, or infringing, or worse still at low level, running into an obstacle.
  • Lookout – poor lookout in turns – a well known cause of airproxes.
  • Steep turns – failing to add power to maintain speed and altitude. This could result in a stall / spin.

These are easy habits to get in to and they are things which an instructor will be looking for during a bi-annual instruction flight. But why wait for an instructor? It’s worth doing a little self-assessment and critique now and again (what happened there? why did I do that?), so that these things don’t happen when the safety margins are reduced by high work-load, distraction or poor weather.

The silent killer

Posted on August 14, 2019 by - Aircraft, Human Performance - PPL, News, Tips

The AAIB today published a special bulletin on the tragic crash of the Piper Malibu in which footballer Emiliano Sala and his pilot died. Sala’s toxicology revealed very high (potentially fatal) levels of carboxy-haemoglobin in the blood. The AAIB concluded that the pilot very likely suffered the same and are investigating how the CO (carbon monoxide) could have entered the cabin. The implication is that the loss of control was due to CO incapacitation.

CO is the silent killer – it is colourless and odourless. Low levels of CO cause drowsiness, headache and nausea; higher levels impair concentration and flying ability; very high levels cause unconsciousness, heart attack and death.

A leaking exhaust and/or defective cabin heater shroud round the exhaust can be the cause of CO entering the cockpit.  Our club aircraft all carry a CO detector. The simple spot detectors cost a few ££ and turn black within minutes when CO is present.  They have a limited life-span and their replacement is scheduled in a diary.

More sophisticated detectors, similar to domestic ones, are also available.

The AAIB report is a reminder of the importance of monitoring for carbon monoxide. How do you monitor CO in the cockpit?

Glider pilots

Posted on August 4, 2019 by - Aircraft, Tips

Being a ‘lapsed’ glider pilot, I was asked to talk to a gliding instructor who is thinking of getting a PPL. The good news is, as holder of an EASA glider pilots licence, he gets 10 hours credit on the training. Our conversation got me thinking about the differences which we would need to address.

 

 

 

Some good things about glider pilots:

  • They know how to fly
  • Their look-out is generally better than power pilots. They have a lot of canopy to look through, and when thermalling, they fly in close proximity to other gliders, so really need to be vigilant. These days of course they rely on FLARM, as well.
  • They use the rudder in turns – the long wing-span of gliders means that adverse yaw from the ailerons is significant. Any turn needs to be made with a combination of aileron and rudder. This is something which lazy power pilots tend to forget rather quickly during or after training!
  • Every glider flight potentially ends in a forced landing into a field, so they are generally good at picking fields, assessing the wind and making a safe glide approach into the chosen field.
  • These days we both use GPS to navigate.

Some things where a glider pilot will need to adapt:

  • A glider pilot may feel claustrophobic in the cockpit of a Cessna 152 – peering through letter box sized windows. To manage the blind-spots, power pilots used a structured lookout method before entering a manoeuvre, be that a turn, climb or descent.
  • Glider pilots feel comfortable flying very close to other gliders – this is not something we encourage in power flying!
  • Effects of controls – a glider pilot may be surprised by the effect of power and flaps on pitch attitude.
  • Taxi-ing – this is not something a glider pilot does.
  • If not in lift, a glider is always descending, so glider pilots are not used to flying straight and level and maintaining a constant altitude.
  • Climbing and descending – power pilots have a greater range of options to learn: Vx and Vy climbs, powered and glide descents.
  • Stall recovery – though we demonstrate stall recovery without power, in principle every stall recovery uses power in order to minimise the height loss.
  • Glider pilots regulate their approach to land by varying the air-brake (spoiler) setting. In power flying, we set approach or landing flaps and then leave them alone, and control the approach angle with the throttle. Air-brake and throttle are interchangeable in this respect and also in their direction of use. For example, getting low on approach? Push forward to close the air brakes or apply more power from the throttle.
  • Go-around and touch and go – these are not options available to the glider pilot!
  • PFL’s – with a glide ratio of 9:1 the Cessna 152 has all the gliding attributes of a brick, compared with a training glider (25:1) or a modern competition glider (55:1). Only the Horsa WW2 assault glider (think of Operation Market Garden) at 5: 1 glides worse than a Cessna!
  • Cross country technique – although glider pilots plan a route via way-points, they rarely go in a straight line, as they will deviate to top up altitude in thermals and avoid areas of excessive sink. Power pilots are not supposed to feature -crawl and should plan as close to straight lines as possible. They use simple techniques for regaining track promptly when off track.
  • Controlled airspace – glider pilots tend to avoid it, apart from the odd class D transit. For power pilots, CAS is a fact of life. Careful planning and maintenance of heading, altitude and position are paramount in order to avoid infringing. Transits of class D are often flown and the RT for this needs practice to maximise the chance of getting the clearance needed. .
  • RT – glider pilots will use the radio, but probably not to the extent that a power pilot does on a typical cross country flight – so phraseology and practice will be important.
  • Radio nav aids (VOR, ADF) are not something a glider pilot will use but are part of the flying training syllabus.
  • Take-off and landing performance – gliders launch swiftly from the winch or aerotow and are capable of landing in relatively short fields. For powered aircraft, calculating the required runway length for take-off and landing are important consideration for all flights.
  • Weight and balance calculations for a powered aircraft are more involved than for gliders – there are consideration of fuel, passenger, luggage etc.