Monthly Archives: February 2016

Radio trouble

Aviation, , , , , , , ,

Srinath flew his first full solo at Livermore today running patterns to practice takeoffs and landings. We used two GoPro cameras today for the very first time, one mounted in the usual spot at the back of the aircraft looking forwards and the other one on the copilot’s window facing the PIC. They both had audio inputs from the radio.

It was a busy day and Srinath was asked to follow other aircraft, extend the crosswind and once even asked to come to a full stop to sequence other departing aircrafts. The solo was uneventful except for a brief period (9:07) on the downwind leg.

I had driven to the hangar to see Srinath fly the pattern. The club’s other plane 733BE had just gone through a 50-hour maintenance and our test pilot conferred with Steve on the maintenance items before he took it out for two touch and go patterns. He was in the pattern behind Srinath. On the ground, Steve and I were watching Srinath.

Tower communicated with Srinath that he was #2 behind a Pitt. No response. Tower tried twice more and still no response from Srinath. I was tuned into LiveATC listening to the ATC and mentioned to Steve that I was worried Srinath didn’t respond to the calls. Within a minute, I heard Srinath check his mic and soon he told tower that he might have a radio problem.

He called it quits after that pattern to my relief. Was there a problem with the headset? We squawk’ed that there might be a problem with the radio. Our club’s maintenance team looked into it and didn’t find any problems. The audio feed into GoPro caught the radio communications just fine. We have not encountered any issues with the headset since. Did Srinath simply get distracted for a while and missed the calls?

Traffic…Go Around

Aviation, , , , ,

Srinath flew solo around the Livermore traffic pattern. Just as he turned downwind on one of the patterns, tower cleared him as #2 for 25L and Srinath confirmed he was scanning for traffic (3BE) that was on a 3 mile final. But it was clear he never saw the traffic. He was on base when he asked if he was #1 for 25L and tower reminded him he was #2 behind the traffic which was now on a short final. It turned out that Srinath turned too soon so there wasn’t enough separation with the traffic ahead that had just landed and hadn’t yet turned off the runway. Tower asked Srinath to go around, after which he did a couple more patterns before calling it a day.

Passenger Safety Briefing

Aviation,

The standard Cessna normal procedures checklist contains a step in the “Before Starting Engine” section that reads Seats, Belts, Shoulder Harnesses – ADJUST and LOCK. However, the checklist in our club 172G reads Passenger Briefing – COMPLETE. When I read this step, my instructor would jokingly say “yes, I have my briefs”. A student never carries passengers (and the CFI is not a passenger) so what action is a student supposed to perform at this step? A recent article in the Aviation Safety Magazine prompted me to research this further.

FAR 91.103 addresses preflight actions that every pilot is expected to perform. That does call for any briefing for passengers. However, 91.107 requires that pilots brief passengers during preflight on how to fasten and unfasten seat belts and shoulder harnesses and ensure that is followed before an aircraft can be moved on the surface. Not to leave out the pilot, 91.105 calls for all flight crewmembers (eg. pilot and CFI in a trainer) to wear a seat belt while at their stations (front seats at the controls in a trainer) and to also wear a shoulder harness during takeoff and landing.

While the bare minimum requirement is to ensure everybody is buckled up and that is sufficient as long as one is a student, there are additional briefings one can give. It will become important as soon as a student graduates and starts carrying passengers. So going through the motions even as a student will help get one into the habit.

S-A-F-E-T-Y

S

  • Seat belts fastened for taxi, takeoff and landing
  • Shoulder harness fastened for takeoff, landing
  • Seat position adjusted and locked in place

A

  • Air vents, environmental controls, cabin heat, their location and operation.
  • Action in case of passenger discomfort. Make sure there are barf bags available

F

  • Flight path – review the route with the passengers, how long it will take. If staying overnight, share contact information, details of accommodation, transportation etc.
  • Fire extinguisher – location and how to operate, who is going to operate in an emergency

E

  • Exit – how to open the doors and windows
  • Emergency evacuation plan
  • Emergency/survival kit location and contents
  • Equipment – supplemental oxygen usage

T

  • Toys – silence phones and other devices
  • Talking – maintain silence when pilot is communicating on the radio
  • Traffic – scanning, spotting, notifying pilot

Y

  • Your questions?

 

 

Radio bloopers, left and right

Aviation, , , ,

The winds today favored traffic on 7R/7L and I taxied to the run up area at 7L. As soon as I requested tower for clearance, another aircraft requested clearance to land, reporting 4 miles out. After it landed, tower asked me to repeat my request. Listen to the tower clearing me for takeoff at (38:06). I was instructed “Niner zero six Mike Delta Livermore Tower make right traffic runway seven right runway seven left cleared for takeoff”. I’ve never done this traffic pattern and it took me a while to understand what it meant. There was noticeable impatience in the controller’s voice as I stumbled through the instructions.

After a few touch and go’s on 7R, I called it a day and turned right on taxiway Quebec. Then a long series of interactions ensued with the ground controller starting at (3:55:18). The problem was exacerbated by the fact that the controller’s radio cut out and I missed critical instructions. Perhaps I should have asked for progressive instructions. Oh well. See the track log here.

Extend downwind

Aviation, , , , , , ,

When I flew yesterday, the winds changed on me suddenly and the stiff crosswind was not indicated in the ATIS. I wizened up today and was very careful to notice the windsocks (0:41) at midfield and one end of 25R. Winds were reported from 290 at 4kts and that matched the windsock indication.

The airport was really busy today. You can see the number of aircrafts waiting in the run up area and holding short at (3:34) in the video. I did two patterns today and on both I was asked to extend my downwind leg and tower called my base turn. On the second pattern, tower asked me to come to a full stop because it was so busy. I pulled up near the old fuel station and watched for any signs that the traffic was going to subside. After a while, I decided to call it quits for the day.

At the start of my pattern work, another aircraft asked for flight following (0:00). The track log for today’s flight can be found here.

Calm Winds ?!?

Aviation, , , , , ,

My first time flying solo from start to finish. ATIS indicated calm winds on this morning. Right from the time I took off, the ball wouldn’t be centered and I didn’t realize there was a stiff crosswind from the south (my left). That unnerved me although you couldn’t tell from the video. My turns were shallow and the pattern was really wide. After just one lap around the airport, I pulled off and waited for a while near the fuel station. Thats when I saw that the windsock reflected a stiff wind. I was in half a mind whether to go back up and after a few minutes of reflection, decided to call it a day. This was the shortest duration I’ve flown so far.

ATIS is generally recorded once an hour and as was evident today, if the weather changes quickly then ATIS isn’t accurate. Also, ATIS reflects winds at the surface and the speeds above the surface can be quite different due to the lack of surface friction and other obstructions.

Dual Cross Country to Salinas

Aviation, , , , , ,

It is Srinath’s turn to fly cross country to Salinas (KSNS) and back. It was an exercise in using the VOR and sectional chart to identify landmarks along the way for navigation. En route as we flew to the west of the mountain ranges, downdraft from the winds over the hills caused us to descend even though we were powering our way through. Lick Observatory on Mt.Hamilton was a sight to see along our course. There was an aerobatic Extra 300 practicing along our course and we hoped and prayed the pilot was aware of our presence.

The return flight was bumpy all the way due to the winds streaming over the mountain range. You can find the track log here.

Dual Cross Country

Aviation, , , , , ,

We are flying a dual cross country today to Santa Rosa, then Sacramento Executive airport and back to Livermore. I worked on the planning checklist that I had assembled for the first cross country flight a while ago. I didn’t have time to determine winds aloft which is an important miss because it has a bearing on travel time, fuel consumption and wind correction angles. My plan was to use that checklist together with a paper chart. I had an iPad with Forelight only as a backup.

Winds are from 230@8 at Livermore at the time of takeoff. I used Scaggs Island VOR and then a from heading to Santa Rosa. It was particularly hard to spot the airport because it doesn’t come into view until after crossing Petaluma. Tower cleared us for a left traffic on runway 14. I was fairly high on the approach to Santa Rosa and couldn’t come down quickly enough for the landing so I did a go around. On the second approach there was a Horizon Air commercial aircraft holding short for my landing. We taxied and got our navigational details down for Sacramento before taking off.

There were hills close to Santa Rosa on the east so it wasn’t possible to depart left crosswind. We headed straight out, built up altitude before turning east. Along the way we spotted Vacaville and Davis and it was dusk by the time we neared KSAC. The landing was after sunset. The home stretch was largely uneventful in the dark, with the flashing red lights on windmills guiding our way back home.

Three learnings today:

  • situational awareness – know where you are at any point in time through dead reckoning.
  • Pre-flight – pay attention to terrain and winds aloft. There were hills close by and to the east of Santa Rosa. My plan to fly due east wouldn’t have been possible without adequate altitude to clear the terrain.
  • Dont trust the traffic pattern published in the AF/D. Santa Rosa was published as right traffic for Rwy 14. Tower instructs the traffic pattern.

Solo at a towered airport

Aviation, , , ,

The winds were a light 6kts from 250. Steve mentioned that 123 airplanes landed at the airport for the Super Bowl. Five Rivers Aviation expected about 80. The aircraft turned around quickly so they didn’t have to close 25L as was previously expected.

Srinath flew a few patterns around the airport and on a couple of them we followed twin aircraft. Then Srinath was asked to fly his first solo – at a towered airport (KLVK). By now the winds have shifted to 230@7kts.

 

Solo touch and go

Aviation, , , , ,

I’m exercising my solo privileges today. For the first time, I drove to the Livermore airport and flew 906MD entirely by myself and parked it back in the northwest tiedowns.

Weather was perfect; calm winds and very good visibility. I started off with right closed traffic clearance for 25R. Soon I was asked to extend downwind and then switched to 25L. Even though I landed fine on 25L, I was uncomfortable making left traffic. I requested traffic control to switch me back to 25R and while they initially asked me to make one more touch and go on 25L before switching me, they soon put me on 25R.

After 5 touch and go, I called it quits. The landings were all pretty good today!