CONTRAILS - Fall 2015.2

FIRST LOOK AT APPLE’S NEW 12.9” IPAD PRO How much better is It?

A NEW TYPE OF FLIGHT TRAINING They own their own jets

LIGHTNING AIsREAL THREAT? it a real hazard for aircraft?

SECRET CITATIONS

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FALL 2 015.2

OWN A JET FOR $250,000

TAKING ON THE BLACK HOLE

THE SPECIAL DANGERS OF NIGHT-TIME LANDINGS

TIPS TO FLYING THE BEST APPROACH HERE ARE THE KEY COMPONENTS

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contents 11.15

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FLYING THE BLACK-HOLE APPROACH

If you’re a pilot who likes to do it in the dark, beware of the dreaded black hole.

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DISNEY WORLD LIGHTNING A REAL THREAT? FOR PILOTS In all, lightning Just up the road from the famous theme park is an attraction for pilots just as big.

BY LYN FREEMAN

BY BILL COX

strikes about 100 times a second around the world.

Is it a real hazard for aircraft?.

BY BILL COX

30 34 41 A CLOSE-UP LOOK AT PREMIER JET TRAINING

The Floridabased company not only gives you training, but they’re all about selling you time and flexibility.

MAKE IT BRIEF

Here are the components to fly the perfect approach.

BY THOMAS P. TURNER

MOS IS BOSS

A TAF-like forecast for more than 2,100 airports in the United States and its territories.

BY SCOTT DENNSTAEDT

BY LYN FREEMAN

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CESSNA CITATION: THE BEGINNING

The MS-760, Jetstar and Learjet did come first, but the Citation 500 may have been the true primogenitor of the civilian jet age.

BY BILL COX

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contents 11.15 DEPARTMENTS 8 PUBLISHER’S LETTER The answer to the winter doldrums

10 LIFESTYLES The best new gadgets available to pilots on display.

46 DRONES: WHAT’S THE REAL RISK? With thousands more drones taking flight all the time, the situation is more than serious.

BY PAM BROWN

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50 COMING SOON TO A COCKPIT NEAR YOU, THE IPAD PRO Apple’s new iPad Pro could give you the screen real estate you need to make flying with a tablet more productive, but on the other hand, it’s pretty big.

BY WAYNE RASH JR.

54 HAS YOUR ATTENTION TO PTS SLIPPED?

BY NEIL SINGER

FALL 2015.2 VOLUME 2/ NUMBER 5

AJ PUBLICATIONS STAFF EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Lyn Freeman MANAGING EDITOR

Michelle Carter SENIOR EDITOR

Bill Cox ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Hans Lubke EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

William Henrys CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Nina Harris, Paul Simington, Katrina Bradelaw, Paul Sanchez, Wayne Rash Jr. ART DIRECTOR

Robbie Destocki PHOTOGRAPHY

Paul Bowen, Mary Schwinn, James Lawrence, Lyn Freeman, Jodi Butler, Gregory L. Harris PUBLISHER

Thierry Pouille PRODUCTION MANAGER

Guillaume Fabry ADVERTISING MANAGER

Meredith Howard Telephone: +1 (561) 841-1551 ext. 7 meredith@ajpublications.com

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FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS, REPRINTS, BACK ISSUES

please log onto www.ContrailsMag.com or call +1 (561) 841-1551

CONTACT THE EDITOR:

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Thierry@AJPublications.com ©2014 CONTRAILS Magazine is published quarterly.

All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form without written permission from the publisher is prohibited.

Please send comments to the attention of the publisher.

PRINTED IN THE USA.

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Publisher’s Letter

THE ANSWER TO THE WINTER DOLDRUMS

By Thierry Pouille

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always feel as if I need an attitude adjustment when we’re making this transition from the warm and wonderful summer months to the routine of winter. Daylight Savings Time ends. It’s dark outside at 4:30 in the afternoon and, of course, the weather over most of the United States is, well, wintry.

Given the alleged effects of Global Warming, you just don’t know what kind of weather this winter will bring. To tell the truth, sometimes it all makes me a bit grumpy. Or at least so my staff tells me!

I also confess that I spend a fair amount of time just gazing at the map of the entire world in my office. It brings up special memories from remarkable trips we’ve taken to just about every inch of the world, and it also serves as fertile new ground for me to discover new destinations that so far we’ve left untouched.

This particular day, after grumping about the weather and grumping about the fact that’s it’s already dark when I leave the office, I found myself “zoomed in,” if you will, to that part of the world that starts at my front door here in Florida and continues down across the Caribbean and on into South America.

At first blush, it sounds like such an expanse — Florida all the way to South America! But in truth it’s only about 1,500 nm, a cakewalk for us kerosene burners. In fact, if you really want to take a good look, it breaks down like this: The first 500 miles cover the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos; the next 500 miles cover Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands; and the last 500 miles cover a remaining few islands before crossing the shoreline into South America.

Why, I don’t know, but suddenly my grumpiness lifted when this silly idea came into my head. What would it be like to have breakfast in Florida, lunch in the Virgin Islands and dinner in the Grenadines? I couldn’t think of a single reason not to do it.

So off I went and accomplished that very dream in a single day.

Did a lot for my overall mood!

Of course, I do have to confess that once I was flying over all that turquoise water, I couldn’t resist adding a stop here and a stop there, primarily to islands with which I was not totally familiar. When the dust had settled, I’d visited eight different islands and 15 tropical resorts! Several were just too cool not to tell you about.

First was Petit St Vincent, known locally as PSV, an island 40 statute miles south of St. Vincent in the Grenadine islands,

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and the very private resort there shares the same name. You fly into Canouan Island airport (CIW) and board a private boat to take the rest of the way to the resort. The resort’s 22 accommodations are spread all along the island’s beaches, giving you the ultimate in idyllic tropical privacy. Should you ever want to leave your hideaway, there are two restaurants and a spa for your pleasures.

Next we (I say “we” because I am not foolish enough to attempt an adventure like this without taking my wife!) visited the Jumby Bay Resort, which several times I’ve heard described as simply the finest resort in all of the Caribbean. Surely it’s on everyone’s short list. The white-powdered sandy beaches are honestly breathtaking. You can relax in one of the thatched bohios or the hammocks strung between the palms.

Canouan Island airport It’s a great place to watch the sun go down over Antigua.

ABC News and Good Morning, America! selected Carlisle Bay in Antiqua one of the top 10 Caribbean resorts — period.

This resort gets great marks as a family destination so take a look at their website before you make your final selection.

We also toured the amazing Viceroy and Malliouhana resorts in Anguilla, which was worth every drop of jet fuel to get there. On our way back, we also stopped in the Dominican Republic to visit Casa Colonial and the Gansevoort, a member of a hotel group that even has a location in New York City. Both of these destinations are the kinds of place where you can literally spend a week or two and never have to leave the resort. What a wonderful luxury.

So there you go — my answer to the winter doldrums!

All these properties will be featured in articles forthcoming in the next issues of Contrails, so stay tuned. If you don’t want to wait, call our sister company, Air Journey, to grab a spot in any of these unique and amazing places!

Happy Contrails!

Thierry Pouille, Publisher

LifeStyles Bush Pilot Course Being able to put your airplane down on a 400-foot gravel bar in the middle of a river or on the meandering roller coaster of a back-country airstrip is truly an art. So many components are at play — winds, altitude, animals and runway potholes big enough to hide an elephant. Don Lee is a lifelong Alaskan bush pilot willing to share his decades of experience in the wilds with you. Lee runs Alaska Floats and Skis on Christiansen Lake just outside of Talkeetna, Alaska. Students come to him from around the globe to master flying in the bush. They learn how to fly on floats, skis or tundra tires, adding immeasurably to their flying skills.

Lee’s base of operations puts his airplanes within a few a minutes’ flight time of Denali National Park, home to the 20,320-foot Mount Denali, the tallest point in North America. He offers float-plane ratings, bush-pilot training and ski flying. Park your PA-46 and learn to land skis on glaciers, to fly floats into remote mountain lakes or, after installing Don’s 31-inch bush tires, to set down safely in places you’d never imagine an airplane could go.

The fee for the Alaska Floats and Ski courses includes lodging, ground and dual, a check ride and the examiner’s fee (to get your float rating), if required. One thing is certain: You’ll learn more about flying than you could ever imagine. For more info, go to Lee’s website at AlaskaFloats.com or call him at 907.733.4500.

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Now Hear This A new Voice Crew Alert System (VCAS) has been designed specifically for your TBM. VCAS is a small 3-ounce module that you can install in seconds between your headset and the headset panel jack. Using a pressure sensor, it will trigger a “don oxygen mask” voice alert at an altitude you can set (between 7,000 and 14,900 feet) to alert you of depressurizations long before you are affected by hypoxia.

An optional cable can be wired to the Master Warning and Master Caution lights that will generate “check Master Warning” and “check Master Caution” messages. In addition, a connection to the stall-warning system generates a “Stall, Stall” message, eliminating any confusion with the other tones.

Pressing a button on the VCAS module will also annunciate the current cabin altitude as a check of the sensor and all circuitry. A fail-safe feature ensures that your headset will always be connected to your radios.

More information including price and photos, is available at DonMask.com.

Now I See! Sporty’s is now offering the AV1 Aviator Sunglasses, which eliminate the need to switch back and forth from your corrected lenses to see charts or even details on your glass screen. The AV1s come in three styles, all featuring a stainless-steel frame with thin, flexible temples and an adjustable nose bridge.

These sunglasses provide maximum comfort for prolonged use in the cockpit. Weighing in at a mere 1 ounce, it’s easy to forget you have them on. The non-polarized nylon lenses are more resistant to scratches and offer higher definition and outstanding optical clarity at a lighter weight. A small portion at the bottom of the lenses is magnified to help with reading. The remainder of the lens is unmagnified. Lenses are available in +1.5, +2.0, or +2.5 spot diopters. Just as important, these sunglasses offer 100 percent UV, UVB and UVC protection. See more about the AV1 Aviator Sunglasses at Sportys.com.

Bring the Luxury Alon ng With the popularity bo oom of coffee products over tthe last decade, plenty of us ju ust aren’t comfortable facing the t day without ou our espresso. Th hank heavens for the Hand dpre esso Wild Domepod. Add the e ground o coffee ffe of your choice, hold h the unit over your aircraft’s de emitasse (!), and you’re in business. Start rt your brew at Handpresso.com or att 888.389.4123.

The he All-new l e Abingdon’s bi gd Elise E is Watch W tc

The Crystal Clear Kayak Every now and then you stumble across something et that hat pegs p the ffun meter.

This is a perfect example. Clear Blue Hawaii makes the world’s only transparent, nspa t foldable kayak. It fits in a small backpack or in the back ck o of your ur pla plane,, weigh weighing ng in at a modest 26 pounds.

The Napali is supported by a high-tech, durable and corrosion-resistant on r tant internal carbon kevlar frame system that comes equipped pped with th a tra transparent sparent military-grade urethane skin. Snap it together, er, ssit in the se seat, and yo you u’re the captain of your own glass-bottom boat ride! Learn more from m the company’s mpany website, ClearBlueHawaii.com or call 707.202.8346.

LS

In nation aviation International aviatio watch specialistt Abin c Abingdon on ha has just st rel released d the newest version of its No. 1 tra ravel el watc watch, the ele elegant ant Elis Elise.

Not only is the No he model mod new a and improved, im oved, now w it c comess in eight diff fferent erent co colors! ors! The Elise has be een en the offi official fficial wat watch ch for th the Air A Race Cl Classic, the h old oldest st air i rrace in the country, for the e past thre three years. ears. The stylist watch is mad made de of surgical-grade stainless st steel and displays three time me zones.

Sett one to Zulu time, one to yo your local ocal time zone and the third forr your destination. The Elise also so o features atures a sapphire crystal face and mother-of-pearl dial and com comess in rose gold, yellow gold, d, IP blue, IP pink nk and IP brown plating. Find out more at TheAbingdonCo.com.

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Flying At Night

FLYING THE BLACK-HOLE APPROACH IF YOU’RE A PILOT WHO LIKES TO DO IT IN THE DARK, BEWARE OF THE DREADED BLACK HOLE.

By Bill Cox

Even the name sounds foreboding, as well it should. Fortunately, we’re not talking about the Enterprise boldly going where no one has gone before, but flying into black holes right here on Earth is unquestionably a dangerous procedure.

By definition, a black hole approach isn’t a problem unless you’re flying at night (duh), and that alone introduces a higher level of risk. In its simplest form, a black hole approach is one in which an aircraft flies a straight-in approach to a distant, well-lighted runway at night with unlighted topography in between. Many approaches over water or desert subject a pilot to the risk of a black hole, and even some mountainous terrain can interrupt what seems a perfectly normal approach with an unseen ridgeline or peak.

The problem most often arises when pilots are operating at night with no moon or starlight and no easily discernible horizon.

Airports with an unfamiliar length-to-width ratio and those with an uphill or downhill runway slope can also make it difficult to recognize the proper descent profile. Featureless terrain illusion can trick pilots into believing they’re higher than they actually are, causing them to initiate steeper descents.

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Don’t scratch your head unless you’ve been there. It happens more often than you’d believe, and accident investigators have been analyzing the reasons for years. A pair of Boeing engineers, Dr. Conrad Kraft and Dr. Charles Elworth, studied the problem 50 years ago after a spate of CFIT (controlled flight into terrain) airline accidents where pilots inexplicably flew into the ground, often in good weather with calm winds and no known hazards.

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Night flying is inherently more dangerous than daylight operation, anyway, especially for working pilots who need to fly on demand or on a tight schedule. Owner-flown aircra o en operate in early morning and late evening to allow a full workday in between. For that reason, single -pilot jet or turboprop operators may be especially at risk, considering they o en don’t have the benefit of a second opinion.

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Flying At Night Accident statistics are rife with reports of experienced crews in highly sophisticated aircraft, equipped with the best avionics in the world, flying into the ground/ocean while approaching an airport on a long straight-in approach in the wee small hours.

Accordingly, the researchers had a group of Boeing instructor pilots (each with more than 10,000 hours) fly a simulator in blackhole conditions entirely by visual reference, without the benefit of an altimeter or glide slope. Many of the pilots flew excessively low approaches on a slight downsloping vertical arc rather than a direct line to the runway and subsequently “crashed” short of the threshold.

Night flying is inherently more dangerous than daylight operation, anyway, especially for working pilots who need to fly on demand or on a tight schedule. Owner-flown aircraft often operate in early morning and late evening to allow a full workday in between. For that reason, single-pilot jet or turboprop operators may be especially at risk, considering they often don’t have the benefit of a second opinion.

The analogy of night flying and IFR operations is so close that the FAA once considered a night rating for pilots without an instrument ticket below the level of ATP. Some foreign countries (Canada and Australia are two) already demand a night rating if you’re not instrument-certified.

Everyone’s vision suffers at night.

Without sunlight, there is limited color and no shadows, both subtle methods of judging height and distance. Local terrain knowledge also may become useless after sunset, even for pilots who are familiar with relevant ground details.

Perhaps worst of all, the black-hole syndrome is insidious. It manifests itself most often in reasonable weather, when ceiling and visibility are nowhere near IFR. In good VFR conditions, ground lights may be mistaken for stars, suggesting a nose-high attitude that demands pushing the nose over.

Similarly, a bright light very far away may be mistaken for a dim one in close.

Conversely, a slight mist or a layer of diaphanous clouds can dilute what little light is available and deceive a pilot into thinking an airport is farther away. Flying beneath an overcast in remote areas without lights below can appear the same as O-O IMC operation. Pitch-black conditions can make it nearly impossible to determine a sloping runway’s angle, either up or downhill.

A black-hole approach can seduce any pilot, no matter how learned or experienced, to fly

what is essentially a duck-under approach, even in clear skies. That’s because a constant visual angle does not equal a constant approach angle. Flying a consistent approach angle will inevitably generate an ever-increasing visual angle as the range decreases. Pilots who attempt to maintain a constant visual angle will fly a vertically curved flight path that will eventually drop below a safe approach angle.

In other words, a pilot’s visual acuity of the outside world becomes unreliable in the dark. It turns out that believing your eyes at night may be less reliable than trusting your vestibular senses. This can lead to a phenomenon inevitably abbreviated by the FAA as GPO (glide-path overestimation).

When conditions are exactly right (wrong?), the dangers of a black-hole approach can be both deceptive and treacherous. Conditions can seem benign for pilots who aren’t forewarned. Fortunately, there are a number of ways to sidestep the problem.

The easiest, of course, is simply avoidance.

Don’t yield to the temptation of a convenient straight-in approach at night unless there’s a working ILS. Maintain a safe altitude until actually reaching the airport, then, fly a normal downwind, base and final.

Another method of defeating the optical black hole over relatively flat terrain is to use some simple math to assure a safe glide path.

Regardless of whether the airport in question is equipped with an ILS, you can construct your own mental approach (in VFR conditions) with recommended altitudes, and fly it as religiously as you would a real procedure.

Corporate airplanes are usually equipped with at least two GPS receivers that can provide a countdown of the distance to the runway. The standard 3-degree approach normally requires 300 feet of altitude loss per mile from the airport. If there’s sloping terrain in between and a steeper approach is required, you can use a 4-degree approach that will stipulate 400 feet of altitude loss per mile or a 5-degree approach that would demand 500 feet down per mile.

Pilots with even a modicum of mathematical smarts can construct a mental glideslope that will provide a recommended minimum safe altitude for every mile of the approach. If your normal approach speed is 90 knots and you’re six miles out at 2,000 feet, you’ll need to maintain a descent rate of 500 fpm to arrive at the threshold as you run out of altitude.

Pretty obviously, your intermediate altitude checks will be 1,500 feet at four and a half miles, 1,000 feet at three miles and 500 feet at one and half miles. If you’re meticulous about adhering to those altitudes

at the appropriate distance, there’s virtually no chance of an optical illusion tricking you into an under-shoot.

I know of one approach that has a stunning 9-degree slope. The airport at Narsarsuaq, Greenland, near the southern tip of the icecap, is totally surrounded by mountains and a fjord that runs right up to within 50 yards of the threshold. The only instrument procedure is an NDB/DME that demands a steep, 9-degree descent. That’s 900 feet of altitude loss per mile. A typical light jet or turboprop approaching at 120 knots would need to come bombing downhill at 1,800 fpm to avoid the terrain. The minimum is 1,500 feet, so by definition, the airport has to have a VFR ceiling to get in, even under supposed instrument conditions.

Also, consider that in winter when there are only three to four hours of daylight each afternoon, so you’ll be guaranteed to land in the dark unless you can pre-plan your arrival for that brief window of light. Rather than fly that steep an approach at night, many pilots operating in VFR conditions descend below the overcast out over the ocean, aim for the Simiutaq NDB 42 miles west of the airport and fly up the Tunugviarfik Fjord to Narsarsuaq’s uphill Runway 07.

You can check your progress during the approach with one of aviation’s most forgotten instruments, the VSI. Once you’ve calculated the required vertical speed to reach the runway in a straight line, reference the VSI occasionally to assure the vertical speed readout remains consistent. If the VSI isn’t steady, you may be in for a surprise.

If you feel you need even more of a safety margin, you can harken back to the advice of your instrument instructor. Take your time.

Fly your simulated glideslope at the slowest possible airspeed consistent with safety. This will provide more time to properly coordinate altitude with distance from the airport.

Ground-based flight path lights such as VASI (visual approach slope indicator) or PAPI (precision approach path indicator) can help in establishing a safe approach, though the colors associated with either system become less distinct at extended range. These systems are usually preset to coincide with the standard ILS (if there is one), and you can follow either to the threshold without fear of a CFIT incident.

Perhaps because of its deceptive nature, flight into black-hole situations can be particularly hazardous. If the weather is good, and there’s a working ILS or VOR approach, be especially cautious about advising the controller, “We’ll take the visual.”

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embraer factory tour

DISNEY WORLD FOR PILOTS JUST UP THE ROAD FROM THE FAMOUS THEME PARK IS AN ATTRACTION FOR PILOTS JUST AS BIG.

By Lyn Freeman

You might not know this but Brazil-based Embraer is the third largest aircraft manufacturer in the world, just behind Boeing and Airbus. In TOUR 2010, do you know what the most delivered light jet in the world was? The Citation, you guess? Nope, the Phenom 100! By 2014, just four years later, Embraer had delivered 300 of them. That’s impressive in any aircraft manufacturer’s books. Last year Cessna sold six of their entry-level jet, the Mustang.

FACTORY

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What’s driving the stampede toward the sleek, new, clean-sheet design jets? “It’s the aircraft’s performance and high reliability,” said a company spokesman.

The Phenom 100 was followed quickly by the upgraded Phenom 300. “We received an order for 50 Phenoms 300s from NetJets with an option for 75 more. The 50th airplane in that order is about to be delivered, and 10 of the options have already been converted. NetJets says its fractional-owned Phenoms have had the fastest-selling shares in the company’s history and also boasts

the highest reliability in its fleet. That’s what the company told us.”

To help satisfy the remarkable demand for Phenom 100 and its stronger/faster/bigger brother, the Phenom 300, Embraer decided to begin production in America. They broke ground on an immense facility in Melbourne, Fla., in 2010 and, by the next year, they were building airplanes. To date almost a billion dollars’ worth of inventory has come from the Melbourne factory.

And the Melbourne facility really is Disney World for the jet pilot. If you’re in the market for an executive jet, this is a must-see destination.

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embraer factory tour

You can fly your own plane in and fly more than 16 languages are spoken. But out on a demonstration ride in a new all the engineers speak to one another Phenom. You can spend time sitting in the digitally extremely well,” said Paulo Pires, cockpit, marveling at the Prodigy avionics managing director of Embraer’s Engisystem (the Garmin G1000 customized neering and Technology Center here in and on the steroids), and the Phenom 300 the United States. “The Phenoms were the is equipped with a touch-screen Garmin first Embraer aircraft completely digitally 3000, also featuring the Embraer’s Prodigy designed. We’re a completely paperless enhancements. factory.”

Move upstairs in the Melbourne facility, Engineers can create anything from an and you can begin to imagine and then entire aircraft to individual components design your own jet. Use a computer virtually. They can test them, see how app to see the actual accents and color well they’re going to work in the cabin or schemes you select for the fuselage. Then cockpit, test how accessible they’ll be for move over to touch and feel the dozservice and so forth. They can even ens and dozens of color swatches to put on special headsets and walk FACTORY through a life-sized version of the choose upholstery colors, carpets TOUR or accent colors. You can refine aircraft. the interior farther by selecting This tidal wave of 21st Century from a huge collection of rich technology at Embraer has made hardwood veneers — even granite huge improvements in quality, as and marble tiles — to give your jet the well as huge savings of both time and ultimate air of luxury, sophistication and money, all with the precision of state-ofcustomization. The facility at Melbourne the-art computers, 3D printers and other inequitably redefines the concept of perzeitgeists from the 21st Century. And sonal jet. starting soon in Melbourne, the entire “The Melbourne facility is a reflection production team will be shifting over to of our commitment to our customers,” tablet computers (think iPad) that are an Embraer spokesman said. “We created completely 3D. Want to pull up a picture a place where the customer can have the of how the gear sits in the bay when it’s full experience, not just in flight, but all retracted. Push a button and, voila, there’s the way from acquisition of the airplane a 3D view. Want to know the up-to-theto getting to know a whole company that second status of the avionics installation supports them.” in a specific aircraft? Take a look right The head-turning success of the Phenow, in 3D. All the information required nom 100 and 300 is really no accident. for construction or implementation is Embraer scans the world for the finest right on the tablet — in 3D. engineers available — truly the world. “In The information on those 3D tablets the Melbourne engineering facility alone, comes from a deep well of data also

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used to create airplane components for exhaustive testing, on the ground, under controlled conditions. A part is created and put through huge temperature swings, tons of vibration and stress testing until it breaks. Engineers then fix it, make it stronger, and put it right back into the test program until they can break it again.

“The end result is that a part with an expected lifetime of 3,000 hours now lasts 9,000 hours,” Pete Boss, the head of production in Melbourne, said.

This infatuation with testing and leading-edge technologies has produced marked results. For example, the Phenoms are part composite and part aluminum.

Why, you ask, if composite is supposed to be the latest and greatest?

“We’ve done extensive testing to determine how long each component of the aircraft will last if it’s made of aluminum or if it’s made of composite,” Boss said. “If the component will have a longer life cycle if it’s made of composite, then that’s how we make it. If it’s going to last longer made of aluminum, then that’s what we do. We don’t believe that all composite is valid for small fuselages.”

And Embraer will ultimately build non-digital, full physical-scale mockups of its aircraft to see what else it can discover to enhance the customer’s experience.

For example, its data about the typical Phenom 300 flight indicates passengers will sit in their seats for two-three hours at a time. Embraer hired legions of people to do just that — sit in a Phenom seat for two-three hours — and report their experience. Because Embraer focuses on

building jets, they turned that initial data and the concept for seat design over to a partner who has lots of experience doing great interiors and making ultra-comfortable seating, the BMW DesignWorks USA. So that’s the kind of comfort Phenom passengers now get.

Another experiment with the full-scale mockup discovered another interesting fact.

Passengers whose seats were next to the fuselage found it uncomfortable to have their legs resting directly against the flat surface of the fuselage. Before the aircraft even went into production, Embraer decided to make their fuselages more oval shaped, instead of the traditional round tube. The design also helps to widen the floor space in the cabin and added headroom.

So Embraer now makes the fuselage of the Phenom more an oval shape. That extra flare (from making the inside of the cabin more oval shaped) resulted in exponential positive changes in passenger comfort.

The aircraft production line in Melbourne is nothing short of fascinating to watch. Older “legacy” aircraft manufactures are still using the same wooden carts covered with outdoor carpeting to roll their components down the production line, not unlike Henry Ford’s vision of building automobiles. Production at Embraer is from another galaxy.

Embraer’s production line employs the best of the best innovations from manufacturers around the world, including the automotive industries. Extensive automation, laser accuracies, even robotics join a work force of human beings to escort new

Phenoms through a series of stations, or what Embraer calls Equipage. Equipage One focuses on the wings, adding hydraulics, fuel lines, cables, landing gear, etc.

Equipage Two adds the Prodigy avionics suite; Equipage Three addresses the empennage, and Equipage Four adds engines and windows, rigs the flight controls and checks all system integration. The aircraft is now ready for paint, installation of cabinetry and sidewalls.

Test flights are not sugar-coated. Each Phenom 300 is taken right up to 45,000 feet, and each Phenom 100 goes to FL410.

After about five hours (and sometimes even less) of airborne testing, the Embraers are ready to hand over the customer. Before the jets go anywhere, Embraer has a third party come in and detail/polish the aircraft to a blazing sheen.

Moreover, a gal named Nancy is brought in to be an unbiased inspector of the finished product. She completes what the company calls the Eyes-of-theCustomer inspection. She’s looking for even the most minute blemish or scratch or anomaly, something the Embraer employees who look at the aircraft five days a week might not immediately see, but a customer will. It is a final step Embraer has employed successfully to insure the product they deliver is absolutely, positively the finest aircraft mankind can build. When the customer finally comes to the showroom to pick up the airplane, it can be an emotional moment for both the buyer and the company employees who work in concert to produce a product they are truly proud of.

At the moment, heavy earthmovers are scratching out a new silhouette that will conjoin the currently operating production facility. That’s where the new Legacy 450, just certified this last August, will be manufactured — again in a paperless, all digital facility.

“We have customers who buy a Phenom 100 and love it so much that pretty soon they’re back to trade up to a Phenom 300,” Bachmann said. “And after that, they starting eyeballing the seven-nine seat, 2,575-mile range Legacy 450.”

Embraer, with the support of M.I.T. (yes, that’s the Massachusetts Institute of Technology), established an aerospace technology institute in Brazil in the 1940s, which then leveraged an academic project to launch its first aircraft, the Bandeirante.

The company’s current market projections anticipate half of the next decade’s production — from airliners to executive jets — is headed to the United States. In the aircraft categories in which they compete, Embraer has already carved out nearly a 20 percent market share in business aviation, and in the 70-90 seat commercial sector, Embraer has captured more than 80 percent of the orders.

If you don’t think you’ve flown in an Embraer aircraft by now, you’re likely mistaken. Every month, 5 million people in the U.S. alone fly in Embraer jets, private and commercial.

If you’re even toying with the idea of buying a jet you can fly yourself, put Florida on your itinerary. For you, the new Embraer facility in Melbourne might just be the happiest place on earth.

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/22.,1* %$&. 72

T

he Citation 500 was hardly a rose but, by any other name, it may have ushered in the corporate jet age more than any other airplane. %\ WRGD\¡V VWDQGDUGV WKH ÀUVW &LWDWLRQ (originally called the Fanjet 500 and later renamed the Citation 1) was perhaps the ultimate entry-level business jet. In 1972, it ZDV RQH RI WKH ÀUVW WR EH DXWKRUL]HG IRU VLQJOH SLORW RSHUDWLRQ DQG WKH ÀUVW LQ WKH ORQJ line of the world’s most popular corporate jets, Cessna’s 500 series. Citations brought on-demand jet travel to folks who otherwise would have been stuck with the airlines.

The follow-on Citation 1 S/P could be Ă RZQ ZLWK D FUHZ RI RQH PDNLQJ WKH DLUplane a leader in the trend toward owner/pilot operation. That was the market Cessna hoped to dominate, and the 1

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72'$< <28 &$1 %8< $1 25,*,1$/ &,7$7,21 )25 $6 /,77/( $6 $1' $ 6 3 *2(6 )25 21/< )25 7+26( 3,/276 /22.,1* 72 -2,1 7+( -(7 6(7 $7 $1 (175< /(9(/ 35,&( <28 &$1¡7 '2 08&+ %(77(5 7+$1 7+$7 S/P was just the airplane to do it. Within D \HDU RU WZR RI LWV LQWURGXFWLRQ WKH Ă&#x20AC;UVW &LWDWLRQ ZDV FHUWLĂ&#x20AC;HG IRU Ă LJKW DW )/ and that single pilot up front left room for seven passengers.

3HUKDSV PRUH VLJQLĂ&#x20AC;FDQWO\ WKH &LWDtion was introduced in 1973 at a price

($695,000) close to what Eclipse CEO Vern Raeburn hoped to charge for his Ă&#x20AC;UVW (FOLSVH V \HDUV ODWHU Pretty obviously, 1973 dollars would be worth far more than 2015 dollars, but even so, Cessna sold some 350 of the Ă&#x20AC;UVW &LWDWLRQV 7KRXJK 5DHEXUQ QHYHU UHDOL]HG KLV GUHDP RI WXUQLQJ RXW airplanes a year, he did sell 260 partially completed Eclipse 500s before the company went bankrupt. (Most Eclipse buyers needed to spend another $100,000 to bring their airplanes to operational status, a successful process the new company called the Total Eclipse.)

Today, you can buy an original Citation 500 for as little as $200,000, and a 1 S/P goes for only $350,000. For those pilots looking to join the jet set at an entry-level price, you

canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do much better than that.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s true the purchase price on an ROGHU Ă&#x20AC;UVW JHQHUDWLRQ XVHG MHW FDQ EH little more than the price of admission, considering that jet operating costs and maintenance expense can be VLJQLĂ&#x20AC;FDQW 6WLOO IRU WKRVH ZLOOLQJ WR VKRS carefully and have a comprehensive

pre-purchase inspection performed on a candidate jet, an early Citation may be a worthwhile initial investment in a pure turbine.

Be aware, however, that a used, early Citation is likely to be well-used. People rarely buy aircraft in this class to let them sit. Many owners average 250-300 hours

MAKING THE COMPARISON CITATION 1 (QJLQHV Thrust (lbs) Max TO Wt (lbs) Max Pass 0D[ &UV NWV

Stall Speed-Vso (kts) &OLPE ISP

Fuel Cons (gals/hr) Range (nm) Cabin Width (in) Cabin Height (in)

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3 : -7 ' 2,200 11,500 1+7

82

162 1,215 59 52

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ECLIPSE 500

3 : ) $ 950 6,000 1+5

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63 1,125 56 50

D \HDU RI Ă LJKW WLPH VR D SUH RZQHG Citation may have 8,000 hours or more on the meter. If itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been kept in good shape and the avionics have been progressively upgraded, that may not be a SUREOHP EXW LW¡V D GHĂ&#x20AC;QLWH FRQVLGHUDWLRQ when youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re shopping. $OVR UHPHPEHU WKDW MXVW EHFDXVH DQ early Citation is comparatively inexpensive, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mistake it for a jet version of the 6N\KDZN <HV LW LV SHUKDSV RQH RI WKH HDVLHVW FRUSRUDWH MHWV WR Ă \ ZLWK DSSURDFK speeds that need rarely exceed 100 knots, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also 11,500 pounds of alumiQXP WZR WRQV KHDYLHU WKDQ D &HVVQD ,Q RWKHU ZRUGV WKLV LV QRW D 9/- ZKDWHYHU WKDW LV 1R RQH KDV HYHU DGHTXDWHO\ GHĂ&#x20AC;QHG D 9HU\ /LJKW -HW WKRXJK WKH original Citation, at 11,500 pounds max takeoff weight, is anything but light.

Moving that much heft around the sky GHPDQGHG VLJQLĂ&#x20AC;FDQW SRZHU DQG IRU that reason, the Citation sported P&W engines of 2,200 pounds thrust each.

Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more than twice the power of the

3(5+$36 &2,1&,'(17$//< 7+( 1(:(5 &(661$ 0867$1* 02'(/ +$6 3(5)250$1&( 180%(56 1($5/< ,'(17,&$/ 72 7+26( 2) 7+( &,7$7,21 6 3 ,7¡6 $/62 $ 025( &203$&7 $1' /,*+7(5 -(7 ),77(' :,7+ 6,; 5$7+(5 7+$1 (,*+7 6($76 Eclipse, and the fuel burn was appropriately more than double.

7RGD\ WKH RQO\ WUXH 9/- PD\ EH WKH aforementioned Eclipse, though it will soon be joined in the class by the single-engine Cirrus Vision.

Coincidentally, the Citation 1 scores performance similar to the Eclipse in several areas. See the chart to on page 22 to view the comparative numbers. $ UHFHQW DQDO\VLV E\ &RQWUROOHU FRP OLVWed 70 Citation 500s and 1 S/Ps for sale, so thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a wide range of early model 500s WR FKRRVH IURP $ IHZ KDG HYHQ EHHQ upgraded to the Sierra Industries Williams )- (DJOH ,, FRQYHUVLRQ WKDW DGGV DERXW NQRWV WR FUXLVH LPSURYHV FOLPE PD[ RSHUDWLQJ DOWLWXGH WR IHHW DQG reduces fuel burn. These were generally

priced just over a million dollars.

The majority of the others were ticketed at less than $500,000. Remember, these were asking prices, not getting SULFHV <RX PLJKW YHU\ HDVLO\ Ă&#x20AC;QG \RX could buy one of these aircraft for $350,000. If you needed to carry eight folks a short distance, a Citation 1 S/P might be just the ticket.

Just as some aspiring pilots sometimes EX\ ROGHU SLVWRQ DLUFUDIW VSHFLĂ&#x20AC;FDOO\ WR earn their Private or Instrument tickets, DQRWKHU SUDFWLFDO EHQHĂ&#x20AC;W RI D &LWDWLRQ 1 S/P might be to earn your type rating.

Early Citations are popular in the training regimen because of their relatively low initial cost and modest operating exSHQVH 2QFH \RX¡UH OHJDO WR à \ WKH &LWDtion, you might be surprised at the time you can save over airline travel on trips of 500-800 nm.

Perhaps coincidentally, the newer Cessna Mustang model 510 has performance numbers nearly identical to those of the Citation 1 S/P. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also a PRUH FRPSDFW DQG OLJKWHU MHW Ă&#x20AC;WWHG ZLWK six rather than eight seats.

For those with only $350,000 to spend, however, the Citation 1 S/P is perhaps the only airplane that allows you to join the jet set.

1977 CITATION 1 S/P

$OO VSHFLĂ&#x20AC;FDWLRQV DQG SHUIRUPDQFH Ă&#x20AC;JXUHV DUH GUDZQ IURP RIĂ&#x20AC;FLDO VRXUFHV RIWHQ WKH DLUFUDIW Ă LJKW PDQXDO RU WKH PDQXIDFWXUHU¡V ZHEVLWH $QRWKHU UHOLDEOH VRXUFH RI LQIRUPDWLRQ LV -DQH¡V $OO WKH :RUOG¡V $LUFUDIW 6SHFLĂ&#x20AC;FDWLRQV RQ ROGHU DLUFUDIW ZLOO not always agree as several sources may disagree on performance.

SPECIFICATIONS AND PERFORMANCE $YJ 8VHG 3ULFH

Engine(s)- make/model P&W JT15D-1 Fanjets Thrust (lbs) 2,200 )XHO W\SH -HW $ /DQGLQJ JHDU W\SH 7UL 5HWU Max Ramp Wt (lbs) 11,650 Max TO weight (lbs) 11,500 Empty weight (lbs) 6,390 0D[ =HUR )XHO :W OEV

0D[ )XHO &DS JDO OEV

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Seating capacity 8 Cabin doors 1 &DELQ ZLGWK LQ

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Lightning Strikes

LIGHTNING A REAL THREAT? IN ALL, LIGHTNING STRIKES ABOUT 100 TIMES A SECOND AROUND THE WORLD. IS IT A REAL HAZARD FOR AIRCRAFT?

By Bill Cox

It’s 10 p.m., and I’m standing on the deck of my hotel in Darwin, Australia, looking northwest across the Van Dieman Gulf and the Timor Sea toward Indonesia, watching the most spectacular, natural fireworks show I could possibly imagine.

No, it’s not a national holiday, Australia didn’t just win the World Cup and there’s no other special circumstance associated with the exploding sky. This is simply the nightly display of lightning that graces northern Australia throughout much of the summer. In fact, Darwin has become world famous for its light shows October through March. At only 12.5 degrees south of the equator, roughly as far south as Caracas or Manila are north, Darwin enjoys a warm, tropical, South Pacific climate that’s nearly perfect for birthing thunderstorms. It’s such a popular spot for giant CBs that researchers come from all over the world to study the phenomenon.

Tomorrow, I will fly through that same airspace from Darwin over Bali and on up the Indonesian chain to Singapore — or maybe I won’t. (I’m not a perfect idiot – some parts are missing.) Even several thousand pounds of turbine thrust sometimes isn’t equal to the task of conquering the mighty cumulo nimbus, at least not the ones that live in this neighborhood.

If one of the great joys of flying behind or between turboprop or jet engines is splitting the sky at high Mach numbers, the tradeoff is that you must do it in the thin air of the flight levels above 18,000 feet, exactly the place where the lords of thunder and lightning hold their parties.

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For better or worse, I’ve witnessed the anvil of the gods several thousand times in places as disparate as the Congo, Brazil, Australia, the Philippines and the American Midwest.

I’ve watched a solid black sky burst with instantaneous light at midnight, slashing brilliant, zigzag displays of electrical discharge from horizon to horizon.

The question is: How dangerous is lightning to an aircraft in flight? The surprising answer is: Not very.

The most commonly anticipated hazard associated with a lightning strike turns out to be the most remote. Many pilots expect a direct lightning strike on an aircraft wing to ignite fuel in the tanks and cause the airplane to simply explode.

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Lightning Strikes Storm over Sydney, Australia

That’s highly unlikely, though variations of that scenario are suspected as contributing factors to a handful of crashes in the last 75 years. A DC-3 exploded in flight in front of witnesses back in the 1940s, a Lockheed Constellation blew up in the 1950s and a Boeing 707 disintegrated in 1963, but most of the time, lightning has only been suspected, rather than identified, as a probable cause. The FAA suggests the last known incident of a possible lightning-induced airline accident occurred in 2010, an Aires Airline 737 that crashed on an island off Colombia, South America.

Here at home, perhaps the most famous lightning display was offered in November 1969 when millions of television viewers saw the Apollo 12 spacecraft struck not once but twice during launch (effectively putting to rest the most pervasive myth about lightning). Fortunately, the only consequence was some electrical damage that reset, so Commander Pete Conrad continued the mission.

In order to understand the risks associated with a lightning strike, it’s important to understand how the discharge is generated.

Lightning is caused by the dissimilar static electricity generated within a cloud, between one cloud and another, or the more familiar

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cloud-to-ground phenomena. These variations in charge are caused by the friction of air masses rubbing against the ground or against each other.

The Earth is normally negatively charged.

When the positive charge inside a cloud becomes strong enough, it may discharge and attract an up-strike from the ground, causing a brilliant flash of light, or horizontally, to another cloud. Researchers have recorded horizontal lightning emissions more than 20 miles long, but many discharges occur unseen inside a thunderstorm.

Lightning is most dangerous at middle elevations, 20,000 to 30,000 feet, simply because cloud-to-cloud discharges are up to 10 times more common than cloud-to-ground bursts. Thunderstorms often climb to 37,000 feet or higher, but maximum discharges occur between about 18,000 and 32,000 feet.

That’s one reason turbine aircraft are struck more often. They must operate in the flight levels for maximum efficiency.

Above 37,000 feet, the sky is most often clear and unrestricted. Temperature levels at about -67 degrees F, and humidity reduces to near zero. In other words, conditions become less favorable for the development of thunderstorms or clouds of any kind, for

that matter. Yes, we’ve all seen storms rising well above FL370, but they’re relatively rare.

Flying out of Wichita, Kan., a decade ago in a Cessna Mustang, I leveled at FL410 and watched cumulo nimbus continue to build well above 50,000 feet.

All the numbers associated with lightning are Gee Whiz. At any given moment, something like 2,000 active thunderstorms are devouring the sky around the Earth, most within 30 degrees latitude north and south of the equator. Each of these monsters can discharge unfathomable amounts of electrical energy, up to 30 million volts at 350,000 amps, but because the associated lightning is traveling at the speed of light, the damage may not always be critical.

Though a typical flash between cloud and ground may appear to be a single discharge, it actually represents several thousand trips between positive and negative poles. A lightning strike, originating from a thundercloud hovering 5,000 feet above the ground, may zap back and forth between the poles 9,000 times in one-tenth of a second. Temperatures at the core of this frenetic channel of energy may reach 50,000 degrees F, but the duration of the flash is measured in microseconds, so damage is rarely as severe as the numbers suggest.

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Lightning Strikes Thunderstorm in Marina Bay, Singapore

Jet fuel, like AvGas and other combustible liquids, must be vaporized to provide optimum power in a turbine aircraft. Unlike AvGas that achieves maximum volatility at 15 parts air to one part fuel, Jet A requires around 58 parts air to one part fuel to ignite most efficiently. This means even a direct strike on a wing tank is unlikely to ignite jet fuel unless the tank level is extremely low or there are fuel vents trailing fumes of Jet A. The FAA estimates that virtually every airliner is struck at least once a year, but there’s most often no damage or, at most, minor flash burns to composite components.

All-metal aircraft are relatively immune, but the continuing trend toward composite construction in military jets and General Aviation business aircraft puts them more at risk. Fiberglass sailplanes may be the most vulnerable as they’re lightweight and poorly protected from electrical discharges. Aluminum aircraft generally are regarded as safe for passengers because the cabin acts as a Faraday cage, capable of absorbing as much as 200,000 volts without injury. A strike will usually occur on an extremity such as a wingtip or a composite radar dome, flow along the aluminum surface and exit harmlessly out the opposite tip or tail.

Crew and passengers riding in the

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protected cabin may notice the airplane has been struck, but there’ll usually be no major consequence other than hair standing on end and double scotches in first class.

High-tech composite structures don’t fare so well. Many years ago, I was preparing for the flight back to California from the annual October Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. I was loading my Mooney in a group hangar and spotted a then-new Beech Starship, an all-composite design, tucked into a corner, cordoned off with tape. No one else was around, so I snuck under the tape and examined the aircraft. There were several burn areas where lightning had penetrated the wing. The folks at Cutter Aviaton told me the owners were waiting for the FAA to examine the airplane before repairs were initiated.

Pretty obviously, any aircraft may be subject to electrical damage from a direct lightning strike. The extreme high energy generated may blow out even the best-protected circuitry, overloading any aircraft system, frying the wiring so fast that circuit breakers don’t have a chance to pop. It also may fuse some mechanical or electrical components.

One obvious danger of lightning for aircraft operating in close proximity to thunderstorms is flash blindness. Again, as

with everything associated with lightning, the unleashed candle power is a big number, well beyond human comprehension. Unless a pilot is looking directly into the core of the bolt, however, chances are any flash blindness will be short-lived. More than coincidentally, the FAA has never recorded an accident associated with flash blindness from a lightning discharge.

Some pilots who fly at night in the vicinity of thunder-bumpers believe that storms are more active in the dark. That’s probably not the case, but lightning is certainly more visible at night. (Does that mean the speed of light isn’t as fast as the speed of dark?)

To mitigate some of the potential damage of lightning strikes against aircraft, the FAA mandated static wicks to help dissipate any buildup of static electricity back out into the atmosphere.

Lightning is definitely the most outstanding manifestation of severe weather. Tornados and hurricanes may wreak more havoc on the ground, but no pilot in his right mind would deliberately challenge them. Lightning associated with thunderstorms turns out to be more spectacularly visible but also more “sturm und drang” for airplanes in flight than real threat.

One more small step.

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Attention Citation Owners:

Introducingg the next step.. dŚĞ ͞ŶĞdžƚ ƐƚĞƉ͟ ŝŶ ŝƚĂƟŽŶ ĐŽŶǀĞŶŝĞĞŶĐĞ ŚĂƐ ĂƌƌŝǀĞĚ͗ ^ŝĞƌƌĂ͛Ɛ SkyStep ĐĂďŝŶ ĚŽŽƌ ƐƚĞƉ ƌĞƉůĂĐĞŵĞŶ Ŷƚ͘ dŚŝƐ ĞŶŚĂŶĐĞĚ ĚĞƐŝŐŶ ĞůŝŵŝŶĂƚĞƐ ƚŚĞ ƐŚŽƌƚĐŽŵŝŶŐƐ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ Ž ŽƌŝŐŝŶĂů ĨĂĐƚŽƌLJ ƐƚĞƉ ĨŽƌ ƚŚŽƵƐĂŶĚƐ ůĞƐƐ ƚŚĂŶ Ă ĨĂĐƚŽƌLJ ƌĞƉůĂĐĞŵĞĞŶƚ͘ ͻ WƌĞĐŝƐŝŽŶ ŵĂĐŚŝŶĞĚ ĂůƵŵŝŶƵŵ Ě ĚĞƐŝŐŶ ĞůŝŵŝŶĂƚĞƐ ĐƌĂĐŬŝŶŐ ĂŶĚ ďƌĞĂŬŝŶŐ ͻ ϯ ĞǀĞŶůLJ ƐƉĂĐĞĚ ĞŶĐůŽƐĞĚ ƐƚĞƉƐ ĞĞŶŚĂŶĐĞ ĞĂƐĞ ŽĨ ĞŶƚƌLJ ĂŶĚ ŝŶĐƌĞĂƐĞ ƐĂĨĞƚLJ ͻ WŶĞƵŵĂƟĐ ƐƚƌƵƚƐ ƐŵŽŽƚŚůLJ ĚĞƉ ƉůŽ ŽLJ ƚŚĞ ƐƚĞƉ͕ ŵŝŶŝŵŝnjŝŶŐ ƚŚĞ ƌŝƐŬ ŽĨ ĚĂŵĂŐĞ Žƌ ŝŶũƵƌLJ ͻ dͲŚĂŶĚůĞͲĞƋƵŝƉƉĞĚ ŝŶĞƌƟĂ ƌĞĞů ŵ ŵĂŬĞƐ ƚŚĞ ƐƚĞƉ ĞĂƐLJ ƚŽ ƌĞƚƌĂĐƚ ĨƌŽŵ ŝŶƐŝĚĞ ĐĂďŝŶ ͻ ǀĂŝůĂďůĞ ĨŽƌ ŝƚĂƟŽŶ ŵŽĚĞůƐ ĨƌŽŵ ƚŚĞ ŽƌŝŐŝŶĂů ϱϬϬ ƚŽ ƚŚĞ :ϯ Žŵ ƚŚĞ ŽƌŝŐŝŶĂů ϱϬϬ ƚŽ ƚŚĞ :ϯн

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ͻ >ŝŐŚƟŶŐ ĂŶĚ ŽƚŚĞƌ ĐƵƐƚŽŵŝnjĂƟŽŶ Ŷ ŽƉƟŽŶƐ ĂǀĂŝůĂďůĞ Ăůů ŽƵƌ ŝƚĂƟŽŶ ƉƌŽĨĞƐƐŝŽŶĂůƐ Ăƚ 1--888-835-9377 ƚŽĚĂLJ ĨŽƌ ŵŽƌĞ ĚĞƚĂŝůƐ ŽŶ ƚŚŝƐ ĞdžĐŝƟŶŐ ŶĞǁ ͞ŵƵƐƚ ŚĂĂǀĞ͟ ƵƉŐƌĂĚĞ ĨŽƌ LJŽƵƌ ĐůĂƐƐŝĐ Žƌ ĐŽŶƚĞŵƉŽƌĂƌLJ ŝƚĂƟŽŶ͘ 'ĂƌŶĞƌ &ŝĞůĚ ŝƌƉŽƌƚ ʹ <hs ͮ ϭϮϮ ,ŽǁĂƌĚ >ĂŶŐĨŽƌĚ ƌŝǀĞ ͮ hǀĂůĚĞ͕ dy ϳϴϴϬϭ ͮ Ž͗ ϴϯϬͲϮϳϴͲϰϰϴϭ ͮ Ĩ͗ ϴϯϬͲϮϳϴͲϳϲϰϵ ^ĂŶ ŶƚŽŶŝŽ /ŶƚĞƌŶĂƟŽŶĂů ŝƌƉŽƌƚ ʹ <^ d ͮ ϭϳϳϬ ^ŬLJƉůĂĐĞ ůǀĚ͘ ͮ ^ĂŶ ŶƚŽŶŝŽ͕ dy ϳϴϮϭϲ ͮ ϮϭϬͲϴϬϱͲϯϭϴϴ

www.sijet.com/skystep

RPQ] training

A CLOSE-UP LOOK AT PREMIER JET TRAINING THE FLORIDA-BASED COMPANY NOT ONLY GIVES YOU TRAINING, BUT THEY’RE ALL ABOUT SELLING YOU TIME AND FLEXIBILITY.

By Lyn Freeman

I’m often reminded of the story we’ve all been told, be it truth or urban legend, I don’t know. But it took place one Sunday afternoon in a sleepy little flight school, where the 300-hour CFI was working the front desk. A gentleman came in the door and said he was visiting the area and would like to take his relatives on a flightseeing trip over the city.

Could he rent a Skyhawk?

“Well, sir, I’ll have to give you a standard check-out in the aircraft, and I’ll need to see your pilot’s license,” the rookie CFI said.

The gentleman pulled out his pilot’s license. It turned out he was a famous Apollo astronaut who had walked on the moon. It was a while before the young CFI could even speak.

Recently, I visited Premier Jet Training (PJT) in Stuart, Fla., to investigate getting typed in a Cessna 525 CJ. I’m lucky to have taken lots of flight training over the years but, quite honestly, sometimes it’s a bit off-putting to take an instrument-competency check or a flight review with a CFI who has less total time than you have in left turns.

I would absolutely be the first to tell you I’m nothing special, but we all have likely had similar experiences where we’re like the astronaut asked to fly with a pup.

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RPQ] training yes, they own their own training airplanes — my CFI was Jim Lewis, a retired United Airlines captain/check airman typed in more than 20 aircraft with more than 40,000 hours! What an amazing opportunity, I thought to myself, to get to fly with and take instruction from this level of CFI. I don’t know that I’ve ever flown with someone so qualified.

“Our instructors are an amazing group of people,” PJT’s Josh Birmingham said.

“They have thousands and thousands of hours of experience, and they are all FAA gold-sealed master instructors who instruct because they love to, not because they have to.”

PJT opened its doors in 2013, and business has already doubled. Birmingham describes the Premier program as a Trained to Proficiency model. This is business-speak for offering classroom,

simulator training and actual dual flying in a real airplane, all designed to respond to a cornucopia of flying and real-world training needs. That business plan offers two huge advantages over the competition.

First, PJT owns its own fleet of aircraft and manages/operates several others. In the hangar outside sits a Citation II and the Cessna CJ I was interested in, plus an unusually nice Cessna Mustang. Premier also trains pilots for the Cessna 650 series.

“Simulators and airplanes fly differently,” Birmingham pointed out.

Students come literally from around the world to do their training at PJT because they get world-class ground schooling, sometimes taught by a college professor (no kidding) and always taught by an unbelievably experienced CFI. Then they get extensive training in a full-motion Redbird simulator, and then the student

Students perfect their skills in the simulator before flying the actual jet.

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gets to refine what he/she’s learned in the real world — in the air — flying one of PJT’s proprietary jets. That’s classroom, simulator and then the left seat of one of the school’s jets. Lots of training organizations and independent instructors are willing to take you flying in your own airplane for training, but few schools, if any, have their own jets to let you learn in.

Or if they have a jet, they don’t have a sim, and so forth. Not at PJT. A second reason so many pilots come to PJT is the school’s flexibility. Pilots get highly focused, precision training that exactly fits their needs.

“We get a lot of pilots who’ve been to training programs at any number of the big schools. They’ve had to sit through a 14-day training program because that’s what the FAA might require of a Part 142 school. There are no short cuts, no consideration given to pilots who already

Ins In ns n str ttru rru ucto cttto c or Fran Frran ra an a nk Harl arl ar r ow ow wat wa w attch a che che hes re eal ea al al time tim ti me e vid viid deo eo fro fr fro rom th he es sim iim m.

have lots of experience,” Birmingham said. “But at PJT, as soon as a student has mastered a module, we can move on. And all our students are trained to ATP level.“ The flexibility of PJT’s program has won praise from a number of pilots of varying backgrounds. For example, if a student has lots of experience and is just now stepping up to the third jet he’s owned, the significant experience he brings counts at PJT and can greatly accelerate training when compared to a Part 142 school, which have to plod along, covering every inch of a training outline that maybe hasn’t changed in 10 years.

Sometimes jet pilots with tens of thousands of hours need to get typed in a Cessna Mustang simply because they’ve been hired to fly one. At PJT, they’re not required to sit through a two-week program just to get a type rating in an airplane that is infinitely simpler than perhaps the B-777 they just retired from.

PJT takes the time to evaluate pilots’ skills and then sets up the training program specifically for them.

PJT also sees a number of pilots who are transitioning into a pure jet after flying a simpler airplane, a Baron, Navajo or single-engine turboprop. Again, those pilots are given personalized, individual attention that assesses exactly where that pilot is in terms of experience and what he or she

Premier’s Josh Birmingham

needs to learn to become a well-trained jet pilot. PJT then builds a course that matches that pilot’s personal needs. No time is wasted teaching pilots things they might already have mastered. Consequently, PJT’s instructors become infinitely more valuable to the training pilot.

PJT also does a big volume of recurrent training. Pilots who have survived the long hours at a Part 142 school are often ready for something fresh and different, not the same program they’ve had to sit

through again and again. “When those pilots learn about our approach, they enroll immediately, and they come back year after year after year,” Birmingham said with a touch of pride.

PJT also does RVSM training, ATP add-ons, high-altitude endorsements, single-pilot exemptions for the CE 500, mentor flight training, “try before you buy” opportunities and even private training at your location. PJT’s program is accepted by all major insurance carriers.

This wildly popular idea of being able to construct training around your distinct, individual needs is pushing PJT out of its current location and into a new building more than twice the size of its current operating location. The facility will offer three different simulators (a CJ 1+, a Cessna Mustang sim and a CE 500 simulator) and allow the company to train as many as 400-500 students a year.

Premier is also developing a business plan to allow it to expand and operate at other locations around the country. “Nobody is building what we are building,” Birmingham added. “Maybe they don’t have a simulator, and they’re having to borrow one. And when it comes time to fly, they have to borrow an airplane. Nobody is doing what we’re doing.”

I had certainly learned everything I needed to know about getting my CJ type rating at PJT as opposed to several of other traditional schools I’d investigated. I left convinced that I had gotten a program that was all about me, custom tailored around my particular talents and skill level and administered by some of the most qualified flight instructors anywhere.

Those things impressed me the most.

“What we really doing is selling time,” Birmingham said. “You don’t have to spend any more time than what it takes to make you a safe, well-trained pilot. Leaves a lot more time for you to enjoy flying!”

For more information about the programs at PJT, go to PremierJetTraining.com.

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perfect approach

MAKE IT

BRIEF HERE ARE THE COMPONENTS TO FLY THE PERFECT APPROACH

By Thomas P. Turner

Getting ready for an instrument approach is one of the most complex tasks a pilot must master, yet it’s one where little guidance is readily available, especially to single-pilot operators whose contact with instructors and other pilots of the same type or class of airplane is limited to widely spaced training events.

Most non-airline pilots bring the procedures they learned in the previous airplanes they’ve flown to the jet cockpit, probably modified by experience and maybe a training event or two, but perhaps not much changed from their early days of single-pilot operation. The way you brief yourself for an approach may be little different from what you used in the Cessna 172 or Piper Archer in which you earned your instrument rating. And when you think that, in many cases, your instrument instructor was only a little more experienced than you at the time — and had little to no left-seat PIC cross-country time under instrument flight rules — it’s scary.

Chapter 10 of the FAA’s Instrument Procedures Handbook does a superb job of reviewing the individual elements and considerations of flying an instrument approach. It’s a good review now and again for even an experienced turbine pilot.

But the FAA does not provide a sample checklist with the 1, 2, 3 of briefing for an instrument approach.

I researched and found no firm guidance on how to brief yourself for an instrument approach. A Google search reveals pages of links to material, some print, some video, all a little different and nothing definitive.

I guess, by writing this, I’m adding another Google link to the options. But I want to relate at least one good way to brief an approach, based on the experience of pilots who do it every day. I’d also like to offer a technique I’ve learned and amended along the way that helps you cull the really important information from an instrument approach chart so you have exactly what you need to know — from final approach course inbound through, and including, the missed approach.

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perfect approach A few items stand out as being of prime importance:

I WANT a briefing I asked a senior captain for a major regional jet operator what his company teaches as an approach briefing. I figured these guys are flying what are essentially scaled-up business jets. (Bombardier has corporate ties to Learjet and, of course, its own large-cabin bizjets as well.

Embraer is getting quite big in the personal/business jet market too.)

The regional jet crews are flying sometimes five or six approaches a day into everything from major international hubs to non-towered little country airports where their arrival and departure is the most significant airport operation of the day. They fly day and night in virtually all weather. So if anyone has the concept of an approach brief “down” it would be these folks — and we can learn from them.

Aviation being a stronghold of acronyms, I figured that the regional airline has a mnemonic for approach briefing as well. I was not disappointed. The airline in question uses the acronym WANT: for Weather, Airport/Area, NOTAMs and Threats.

Here’s the airline’s complete briefing checklist: Approach briefing: Complete The pilot flying (PF) will conduct an approach briefing as soon as adequate information is available and while the pilot workload is at a minimum (before Top of Descent).

The acronym WANT identifies each category that must be briefed. Topics within each category are briefed only as applicable, focusing on anticipated threats.

If an IAP [Instrument Approach Procedure] is to be flown in actual instrument conditions or night VMC, a complete approach plate briefing must be conducted.

Electronic and/or visual guidance will be used for all approaches when available.

If the PF needs to study or set up the approach procedure during a high-workload period, the PF may consider transferring control of the aircraft to the PM [Pilot Monitoring].

It is recommended that FMS [Flight Management System] programming be accomplished before the briefing. If a runway change occurs after the approach briefing has been completed, re-brief the approach accordingly.

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1. Brief early; don’t wait until you’re close to beginning the procedure.

2. Brief during low-workload times, before Top of Descent, as soon as you have an idea of what approach will likely be in use.

3. If something changes and you must brief the approach in a high-workload time, such as during descent, recognize this is going to be a potentially dangerous distraction. In the two-pilot world, you can transfer control to the PM. In a single-pilot jet use the autopilot, but remember you are still the Pilot Monitoring; you might transfer control, but you cannot delegate command responsibility, to the autopilot.

Weather • ATIS • Wind shear/gusty wind considerations and limitations • Low visibility taxi Airport/area • Identify applicable arrival transition and expected crossing altitude • Terrain and CFIT threats for both the approach and missed approach procedure • Expected runway information (minimum landing distance assessment, length, surface condition, approach lighting system, etc.)

• Taxi plan NOTAMS Threats • Discuss highest threat (e.g., crossing/speed restriction, CFIT, contaminated runway, etc.)

4. The corollary to No. 3 is that, if you cannot actively monitor the autopilot while you are briefing for the approach in a phase of flight when hazards are building (during descent, deviating around weather, etc.), then tell the controller you need an altitude and a vector, or a holding pattern, during which you’ll prepare for the approach. I know it’s foreign to many jet pilots, but tell ATC you’re unablee to comply with the clearance you’re given until you have a low-workload pause to prepare.

This regional airline approach-briefing model is still somewhat vague and open to interpretation, but at least it provides some structure to what you WANT to review when looking at the myriad information splashed across an instrument approach chart.

What’s really important?

This all still leaves us pilots to determine how to turn all the data on an instrument approach chart into information that we can use to fly the procedure safely. Pilots who get into trouble flying an instrument approach usually do so after they’re established on a transition and especially after aligning with the final approach inbound through landing or the beginning of a missed approach.

Although you absolutely must review the entire chart and all its notes and cautions during low-workload times (if possible,

perfect approach three pieces of information that are truly vital for you to extract from the jumble of information on the chart. You need these three things in a simple format so you can review them at a glance from just outside the Final Approach Fix (FAF) inbound, without having to re-extract them from all the notes, warnings and cautions in the fine print of the procedure. Those items are Altitude, Distance and Missed (ADM).

Altitude: The altitude at which you’ll fly to the FAF and the altitude for Decision Height, Decision Altitude or Minimum Descent Altitude as appropriate for the procedure as it is flown that day.

Distance: The distance from the FAF to the Missed Approach Point (MAP). This may include intermediate step-downs and/or a Visual Descent Point (VDP).

Missed: The initial heading and subsequent navigation track from the MAP to the holding fix, and the altitudes including any restrictions.

Once you know ADM (Altitude, Distance and Missed), you know everything you need from outside the FAF through landing or to the missed approach hold.

Scenario Say you’re flying your jet into the Beech Factory Airfield on the east side of Wichita, Kan., for a Monday morning appointment to take a look at the latest Cessna product (yes, they’ll soon be building Cessna jets alongside King Airs, Barons and Bonanzas in Plant IV at Beechcraft). It’s Sunday afternoon, and Beech Tower is closed. ATC tells you winds are from the south and to anticipate the RNAV (GPS) 19 approach. You call up the approach chart on your EFB (see figure). You go through the WANT checklist, and Approach clears you direct to ILIBE and for the approach. What are the ADM items for this approach?

Altitude: A quick glance at the chart tells you that the final altitude to the FAF is 3,000 feet and the LPV minimums are 1,659 MSL and three-quarters of a mile. A more detailed look, however, reveals that, when unable to obtain a local altimeter setting, minimums increase by 36 feet and one-eight of a mile.

The Decision Altitude for your LPV approach on this particular day, then, is 1,695 MSL. I am a big fan of writing this down in a very simplified fashion on a Post-It™ note.

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This takes the information I need for the approach as I’ll fly it this time, under current conditions, and puts it in a quick-reference format so that, if I want or need to refresh my memory during the approach, I do not have to pull it from Figure 1 all the data on the chart and re-do my decision-making and my math. My record of the altitude information for this approach is in ADM figure 1.

Distance: It’s 4.9 miles from the FAF to the MAP. Although it’s not as vital to know this for an LPV approach as it is for, say, the LNAV, in all Figure 2 cases it’s good to have a basic idea of the distance as a crosscheck to other navigation. If your final approach ground speed into the Kansas wind is about 120 knots, you’ll cover this distance in about two and a half minutes. Knowing this, and running a timer (just like when you flew that 172!) will help you avoid busting minimums.

ADM figure 2 shows this addition.

Missed: My instructional experience and the NTSB record suggest that pilots often arrive at the MAP unprepared to miss if the condiFigure e3 tions require.

Briefing the missed is a function of altitudes and directions. In this case, you’ll fly climb to 3,000 feet straight ahead to Deney intersection. If your approach has an initial altitude and then a turn, you can draw that on your Post-It™. If there’s a complex, GPS- or FMS-programmed route, you might draw the initial portion up to the point you’ll follow electronic guidance.

Another decision you should make during the low-workload briefing time is how you will enter a holding pattern should you need to miss the approach. Why figure it out then and have to re-compute it in your head as you near the holding fix? I write the holding pattern

An enormous amount of mental work is involved in flying an approach as a singlepilot jet. A structured briefing system and a low-tech way of extracting what’s important for today’s approach will make you an even more confident and capable pilot. information on my Post-It™ briefing sheet as well, as in ADM figure 3.

Why go to all this trouble in today’s electronic world, when the GPS prompts you (or the autopilot) prior to heading changes and tells you how to enter a hold? I do it for several reasons: 1. It puts all the decisions I have to make when preparing to fly an approach on this particular day into a single place so I don’t have to make those decisions again later when I’m rushed.

2. The physical process of writing it in this format helps cement it into my short-term memory so I’m less likely to have to look at it any way.

3. Although the avionics, altitude bugs and other reminders help me anticipate the action points, my low-tech little note allows me to anticipate the anticipatory commands, for even better situational awareness.

4. At the highest workload phase of flight, the beginning of the missed approach, my quick reference tells me exactly what I need to do — with my decisions already made, under a much lower-stress condition.

5. For those “What is it doing now?” moments with avionics and autopilot, this is an excellent cross-check to let me know if I need to intervene manually.

An enormous amount of mental work is involved in flying an approach as a single-pilot jet. A structured briefing system and a low-tech way of extracting what’s important for today’s approach will make you an even more confident and capable pilot.

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terminal forecast

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MOS IS BOSS A TAF-LIKE FORECAST FOR MORE THAN 2,100 AIRPORTS IN THE UNITED STATES AND ITS TERRITORIES.

By Scott Dennstaedt

As the old saying goes, what goes up must come down. When the weather is challenging, the last thing you want as you near the end of your flight on a long cross-country trip are worries about how well you planned your fuel reserves. That means, before you depart, you need to feel confident of the expected weather at your destination and alternate airports at the time you are expected to arrive. If there’s a terminal forecast (TAF) available, then you are golden. However, in the absence of a TAF, what aviation forecast are you going to use to help identify — with confidence — the wind, ceiling, visibility and weather at your destination?

You could use the area forecast (FA) along with AIRMET Sierra. The FA often refers to local regions such as “far west” or “hill country” that tend to be unfamiliar to someone who doesn’t fly frequently in that region.

Center Weather Advisories (CWA) can also help when localized low IFR conditions exist. But CWAs are more of an inflight advisory rather than one you’d use during preflight planning because of their short lead-time and duration (two hours). Not to worry, there is a solution for many airports that don’t have the benefit of a TAF. At the end last year, ForeFlight Mobile introduced a new forecasting tool to its flight-planning repertoire called MOS or Model Output Statistics. MOS can fill this void. It offers a TAF-like forecast for more than 2,100 airports in the United States and its territories. MOS gets right to the point and provides the weather guidance you need to minimize any surprises at your destination or alternate airports.

The point forecast Forecasters rely on weather prediction models from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and other agencies to make their forecasts.

These models provide forecasters with long- and shortterm guidance in the form of meteorologically significant

variables like pressure, humidity, temperature and wind.

Meteorologists compile this information and other derived data and display it on standard charts and diagrams to make a forecast. These models are certainly useful; however, they do not automatically produce a point forecast for a specific town or airport as pilots would expect to see for preflight planning. This is the job of MOS. (See Image A on next page) MOS improves the forecast MOS has actually been around for many decades, but over the last few years it’s been making its way into the aviator’s toolkit. In fact, here’s a website that a fair number of pilots use. It’s a MOS forecast: www.usairnet.com/ cgi-bin/launch/code.cgi.

Furthermore, MOS has been used, along with other forecast guidance, to help meteorologists produce point forecasts such as TAFs. MOS combines the “raw” model forecast data mentioned above with geo-climatic data, removes any known systematic model biases (quirks that are known about the model) and attempts to improve upon it, using a statistical method to produce an objective site-specific forecast that also attempts to quantify uncertainty. Clear as mud? No? Then, let’s look at an example.

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terminal forecast Let’s say the model produces a forecast with a specific pressure pattern over my home airport of Rock Hill, S.C., valid later this afternoon. We know that the pressure gradient (the change of pressure over a given distance) drives wind. MOS looks at this pressure pattern and effectively compares this to similar patterns that have happened in the past (several decades or longer, depending on the observing station). Based on historical observations at Rock Hill that match this particular pattern at this time of day and year, MOS can spit out a wind forecast of 310 degrees at 8 knots, for example.

In other words, it offers a good grasp of the local effects at that airport, given certain meteorological conditions, including knowledge of how mountains, valleys, rivers, lakes and other local features can make a difference in the weather at the airport.

MOS is the boss in ForeFlight The real beauty of MOS is that it is designed to provide a site-specific forecast for weather details that are important to pilots that include surface wind speed and direction as well as sky cover, ceiling height, surface visibility, obstruction to visibility and a variety of elements related to precipitation, including thunderstorm potential. Several flavors of MOS are available, originating from different weather-prediction models. ForeFlight has developed a proprietary algorithm that takes the raw MOS forecast from NOAA and improves upon it to provide a TAF-like forecast that is simple and obvious to use within the ForeFlight Mobile app. It’s the same way you’d make use of a TAF. (See Image B)

IMAGE B - On the left is a forecaster-issued TAF for Oshkosh, Wis., as shown in ForeFlight Mobile. On the right is ForeFlight’s automated MOS forecast for Oshkosh. Both are show valid at 10 p.m. CDT. There are definite differences at times between these two forecasts; notice the lack of a thunderstorm forecast in MOS. In this case, MOS provided a better forecast given that thunderstorms never impacted the Oshkosh terminal area during this time.

The other nice aspect about MOS is that it’s available for so many airports in the U.S. At the moment, the NWS only issues TAFs for 666 airports in this same region. So if your destination or alternate airport does

not have a TAF, MOS provides some useful guidance about the expected meteorological conditions at those airports at the time of your departure or arrival. Moreover, it provides guidance out to three days in the

IMAGE A - Air Sports Net (USAirnet.com/cgi-bin/launch/code.cgi) is a popular website within the aviation community that provides a graphical depiction of MOS from the GFS model. Most pilots don’t even know this is a MOS forecast.

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Fill an empty seat with hope.

Photography by Gabe Palacio

Give a cancer patient a lift on your next flight.

Corporate Angel Network arranges free flights to treatment for cancer patients in the empty seats on corporate jets.

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terminal forecast future, which helps with planning beyond the reach of a TAF or area forecast.

The MOS guidance you see in ForeFlight is updated every hour for most airports. At the moment, there are about 300 airports that only update once every six hours. With an hourly update, MOS can pick up on and adjust to rapidly changing weather conditions much better than any other forecast.

Of course, TAFs and the FA are issued by a forecaster and can be amended when Mother Nature has a different plan. But you can also rely on MOS to keep up with Mother Nature’s new plan.

Mind the limitations While ForeFlight’s MOS does an excellent job most of the time, but remember it’s an automated forecast. There’s no human in the loop like a TAF. In ForeFlight, the fact that it resembles a TAF’s decoded forecast shouldn’t sway you to use it as a wholesale replacement for a forecaster-issued TAF. In other words, it should never be used to replace a TAF from a legal perspective.

If the airport has a TAF, that forecast needs to be used to decide if an alternate is required and for determining alternate minimums. Similarly, the area forecast needs to be used as well if the airport

IMAGE C - MOS can be found in ForeFlight in the same way you’d look at a TAF. It’s located in the airport popover under the Forecast tab. Also, you can find MOS in the Weather tab within the Airports view.

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doesn’t have a TAF. MOS guidance is best used as way to fill in the blanks when the official forecasts don’t provide the details necessary.

MOS cannot forecast multiple cloud layers as you see in a TAF. Except for when the forecast is shown as clear, a single fixed cloud layer is the best MOS can do. It cannot directly forecast showers in the vicinity (VCSH) or fog in the vicinity (VCFG), nor can it forecast precipitation intensity. Additionally, MOS cannot forecast non-convective LLWS and no significant weather, both of which can appear in a TAF. MOS is also unable to predict a variable wind.

Finally, MOS does not distinguish between rain and drizzle. In ForeFlight, any precipitation will be shown as rain or snow. While MOS can distinguish between snow and rain, it can’t specifically forecast freezing rain, freezing drizzle or ice pellets. In ForeFlight, “freezing precipitation” is shown. (See Image C) Finding MOS in ForeFlight The MOS forecast option is available to all subscribers with at least ForeFlight Mobile 6.6 or newer. To find it in the app, go to the Map view and turn on any airport layer such as Flight Category. Then simply tap on any colored airport marker shown. This will trigger a popover window to appear for that airport. Then tap the Forecast tab at the bottom, and you’ll see a MOS (or Nearest MOS) button near the top of the popover. Tap the MOS button to reveal this new forecast product.

Strictly for convenience, if there isn’t a MOS forecast for the airport, ForeFlight will show the MOS forecast nearest this airport instead. Keep in mind that the conditions forecast by the nearest MOS forecast (or nearest TAF, for that matter) may not be representative of the weather conditions at that airport. Similarly, you can view the MOS forecast from the weather tab in the Airports view.

A wider perspective MOS guidance can be displayed in ForeFlight for specific airports, as mentioned above. That’s perfect for drilling down for your departure, destination and alternate airports. However, to determine the widespread nature of an IFR event, MOS guidance can also be graphically contoured over a geographic area the size of the United States. Displaying the categorical

IMAGE D - MOS can be displayed on an airport-by-airport basis, but to assess the widespread nature of the event, use the graphical depiction of MOS that’s available in the ForeFlight imagery. This is a categorical representation of ceiling, based on flight categories. A categorical forecast of visibility is also available.

ceiling height and/or visibility graphically in this way is perhaps the best approach to use MOS, especially for extended guidance beyond 24 hours. (See Image D) This graphical MOS depiction added to ForeFlight Mobile 7.1 comes from the Global Forecast System (GFS) model and is a close cousin of the other MOS forecast available in ForeFlight. Unlike the FA and TAFs that offer an absolute ceiling and prevailing ground-visibility forecast, the GFS MOS guidance uses a categorical approach.

It uses familiar flight categories to include VFR, Marginal VFR, IFR, Low IFR and Very Low IFR (VLIFR). The color-coded legend that depicts these categories for the ceiling or visibility contours on the map is located at the bottom of each forecast.

Areas depicted in black on the map are expected to be clear below 12,000 feet AGL for ceiling and greater than six statute miles for visibility.

You can find the GFS MOS ceiling and visibility forecast hidden in the ForeFlight imagery below the CONUS weather in the USA collections. These forecasts are updated every six hours. Perhaps the most refreshing aspect is that GFS MOS forecasts are available at three-hour intervals through the next three days.

If you haven’t used MOS before, give it a try when you are contemplating your next flight. You’ll find that it does a remarkable job providing you with useful aviation-weather guidance for some airports that doesn’t exist with any other forecast available.

Scott C. Dennstaedt is a CFI and former NWS research meteorologist. He is also the Weather Scientist at ForeFlight. You can learn more about aviation weather by visiting his website AvWxWorkshops.com.

danger of drones The Consumer Electronics Association estimates 700,000 drones will be sold by the end of the year. Add that number to the estimated 300,000–500,000 already in use and, by New Year’s Day, more than a million UAVs could be in the air — the majority operated by someone without any experience or knowledge of the rules of aviation.

Drone popularity has exponentially increased the dangers of their use to commercial and private aircraft. Before 2014, reports of a close call with a drone were rare. Since then, close encounters between drones and manned aircraft have soared, no pun intended. In the first eight months of 2015, the number of close calls with drones reported by pilots rose from only a few to more than 700 close encounters.

Close calls aren’t limited to the vicinity of airports where traditionally airplanes are the most vulnerable to drone interference during take off and landing. Dangerous encounters are happening far above the 400-foot restriction that operators of UAVs are required to follow, some as high as 12,000 feet.

Here’s a sampling of incidents from the FAA Pilot Report in 2015:

DRONES: WHAT’S THE REAL RISK? WITH THOUSANDS MORE DRONES TAKING FLIGHT ALL THE TIME, THE SITUATION IS MORE THAN SERIOUS.

By Pam Brown

Chances are — among the ugly sweaters and latest video games given as gifts this holiday season — someone you know will be gifted an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) otherwise known as a drone. Once exclusively used by the military, drones have now gone mainstream. For $100 or less, anyone can walk into WalMart and, in no time, fly one.

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•

In La Verne, Calif., a Piper P28A northbound at 2,400 feet had to maneuver to avoid a UAV crossing in front of him.

•

On the same day, near Johnstown, Penn., a Cessna C182, at 9,500 feet eastbound, reported a yellow UAV approximately the size of a “dishwasher” as it passed 50 feet below, westbound on the right side.

• The pilot of a single-engine Piper P-28 reported making a “hard left bank” on June 20 to avoid colliding with a silver drone about 5,200 feet above Groton, Conn.

•

On Saturday, June 13, a C510 was four miles south of Charlottesville-Albemarle (CHO) Airport inbound to Runway 3 at 2,100 feet when the pilot reported a UAV pass below the aircraft within 25 feet. The pilot said he didn’t have time to make any evasive maneuvers, adding, “That was close.”

In a majority of reports, pilots say the drone “just came out of nowhere.” And that’s true. By the time the drone becomes visible at high altitudes, it’s often too late

danger of drones Drones violated restricted air space over the White House and other sensitive locations four times in a three -month period this past year. In one of those incidents, a drone crashed on the White House lawn.

for the pilot to alter his course. Most of the drones are too small to appear on radar or warning systems.

Fortunately, there have been no collisions, but Sen. Chuck Schumer, at a Congressional hearing on UAVs, said “The number of near-misses is astounding. When a collision does occur, it will be catastrophic.”

FAA spokesman Les Dorr added, “Depending on size, speed and mass, unmanned aircraft pose a hazard to aircraft windshields, flight controls and other structures.” Those studying the problem say, “It is just a matter of time.”

Already, rogue drones are causing havoc in the public-service sector, interfering with medical-relief helicopters and firefighters.

Concerns about Homeland Security are increasing, too. Drones violated restricted air space over the White House and other sensitive locations four times in a three-month period this past year. In one of those incidents, a drone crashed on the White House lawn.

In 2012, Congress asked the FAA to begin integrating UAVs into the national airspace, a project that was expected to take years. At that

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time, recreational drone users were exempt from any U.S. regulation, as long as operators followed safety standards. But government officials underestimated the growth of the drone industry, and stricter guidelines for UAVs were announced in the spring of 2015.

Those guidelines are: •

UAVs may fly no higher than 400 feet;

•

If within five miles of an airport, UAV operators must have permission from Air Traffic Control;

•

Drones must be in sight of the operator at all times;

•

UAVs can’t be flown at night.

It’s evident from the recent pilot reports that drone operators either don’t know the rules or are not abiding by them.

In testimony before the Congressional Aviation Subcommittee, FAA Deputy Administrator Michael G. Whitaker acknowledged

that the “demand for recreational drones has exceeded anyone’s expectations. For the most part, UAV users are new to the aviation experience and need some education as to the rules of the sky.”

In this spirit, the FAA is sending representatives in to retailers before the holidays to help those selling the UAVs educate buyers about the guidelines.

The challenge for the FAA is to integrate recreational and commercial drone use with the rules already in place for manned aircraft.

In an address to the Aero Club, FAA Chief Michael Huerta said, “It has become apparent to all of us that we are at the dawn of a time when unmanned aircraft are playing a growing role in world aviation.

“Our responsibilities, as the aviation safety regulator, demand we take a thoughtful approach when developing and implementing new rules. We are also mindful that we need to move quickly to ensure these aircraft are integrated into the National Air Space System in the safest manner possible.”

With a million or more UAVs soon requiring air space, the Department of Transportation and the FAA decided to fast-track a task force of government officials, business people, manufacturers and hobbyists to develop specific rules for registering UAVs and integrating this new evolution of aviation into the existing system. The Unmanned Aircraft Systems Registration Task Force is to complete its recommendations by Nov. 20. The goal is to have the group’s recommendations ready to enforce by Dec. 18.

As pilots, the chances of having an encounter with a drone are growing exponentially though, to date, there have been no accidents.

Yet. If you see a drone while you’re flying, report it immediately to ATC and be vigilant wherever you go.

For more information, go to https://www. faa.gov/uas

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MiPad u ELECTRONICS

(From front) iPad Mini, iPad Air 2 and the new IPad Pro

COMING SOON TO A COCKPIT NEAR YOU, THE IPAD PRO APPLE’S NEW IPAD PRO COULD GIVE YOU THE SCREEN REAL ESTATE YOU NEED TO MAKE FLYING WITH A TABLET MORE PRODUCTIVE, BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, IT’S PRETTY BIG.

By Wayne Rash Jr.

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Imagine having enough space on your iPad screen so that you can have both your en route weather and your navigation open at the same time. Or perhaps you could have your charts and your approach plates open on the screen at the same time. Then imagine that both images were large enough for you to see and read clearly.

That’s what you’re going to get when Apple starts selling its new iPad Pro in November.

The iPad Pro has a screen that measures the same distance across as the iPad Air does high. This means that you can display a full iPad-sized image on the screen when it’s held horizontally, and still have enough room to display another full-sized iPad image next to it. Fortunately, the new iPad will support multi-tasking, which is the ability to run multiple programs simultaneously. This is what makes it possible to display two sets of images on the screen simultaneously.

To accomplish this, Apple created an iPad with a 12.9-inch display that supports 5.6 million pixels. Apple executives said during the introduction of the iPad Pro on Sept.

9 that its engineers used some of the same hardware used on the Macintosh 5K display because the new iPad has similar resolution on its smaller display of 2732 x 2048 pixels.

The new iPad Pro will have an anti-reflective coating, which could make use in the cockpit somewhat easier.

However, it’s worth noting that the iPad Pro is about 70 percent larger than an iPad Air 2, which means it’ll take up a lot more space in your cockpit. In addition, if you plan to use apps running side by side, the iPad Pro will need to be oriented in the landscape position, which means it’ll be pretty wide in your lap. Of course you can use it in the portrait orientation, which will display your charts the way you’re used to seeing them, except larger.

The iPad Pro comes in three colors — white, gold and Space Gray — and in only three versions. There’s a WiFi-only version with 32 GB of memory, another with 128 GB and a WiFi and Cellular model with 128 GB of memory. Only the WiFi and Cellular model has built-in navigation, which can use both GPS and GLONASS. The version with cellular radios will work anywhere in the world (depending on the carrier you choose) and supports communications on 20 different LTE bands as well as most analog and digital cellular systems worldwide.

Apple has significantly amped up the performance of the iPad Pro. It uses a new processor that gives this tablet performance that Apple says is equivalent to what you’d ex-

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pect in a good desktop computer. It’s intended to be used in a work environment in addition to the normal entertainment functions that you probably already use on your iPad. To accomplish this, Apple has designed a new keyboard that attaches to the long edge of the tablet and which provides a typing experience that’s apparently similar to that on some laptop computers. Apple is also offering a stylus, called the Apple Pencil, which can be used for detail work such as drawing lines that need to be precise.

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In the press conference, Apple showed users drawing precise lines on existing images. Whether you can accomplish this while planning a flight remains to be seen. That capability is up to the companies that make the applications you plan to use. Apple’s demo also featured users creating documents and making sketches. Whether this will work with the apps you’re using for your flight planning remains to be seen because the designer of the app needs to make it possible. But at least, in this case, the hardware isn’t preventing it.

During the press conference, Apple executives said that the new A9X processor chip in the iPad Pro is faster than the hardware in 80 percent of the portable computers on the market today. The company used a number of novel approaches to reduce energy demands, including a variable refresh rate on the screen, so that the screen is only refreshed when there’s something happening in a region of the screen. The result is a 10-hour battery life under normal circumstances.

The iPad Pro has four speakers engineered to produce significantly more volume than current iPad models. It’s slightly thicker than the current iPad Air 2, and it weighs about the same as the original version of the iPad. The new iPad will ship with iOS 9, which is due out from Apple by the time you read this. The chances are pretty good that you’ll have the new version of iOS on your existing iPad before the Pro comes out.

The availability of iOS 9 is important because that version will support the multi-tasking that’s coming on the iPad Pro. That means that app makers will have had plenty of time to update their software to work with the new operating system. So your favorite apps for the cockpit will probably work fine, but you’ll need to confirm that before you depend on them.

The ultimate question then becomes, how will all of this work while you’re trying to fly? Will the iPad Pro be unwieldy because of its size? Will tracking multiple applications on the screen become a distraction? Both of those are important questions, and right now we don’t know the answers.

When the iPad Pro ships in November those answers should become clearer. I think that the folks who make accessories for pilots will make yoke mounts and kneeboards designed to accommodate the larger size.

Perhaps they will make devices that will allow the iPad Pro to switch from portrait to landscape orientation so, if you want to change things, you can.

Until then, perhaps the best way to tell if the size will be a problem is to borrow a Microsoft Surface Pro 3 and see how everything fits. As it happens, the Surface Pro 3 is nearly identical to the iPad Pro in most ways that matter including multi-tasking, screen resolution, size and weight. You should be able to tell in short order if this is a fit for you.

Wayne Rash is based near Washington, D.C., where he works as bureau chief and senior columnist for eWEEK. He has been a pilot since 1968. He can be reached at wayne@waynerash.com

centerline

HAS YOUR ATTENTION TO PTS SLIPPED?

By Neil Singer

One of the pleasures of conducting private-pilot certification check rides is interacting with student-pilots as they attempt to pull together all the myriad pieces of aviation lore they’ve studied so hard, for so long. Nearly everything they need to understand and demonstrate is brand new to them, and they strive earnestly to perform all the tasks and elements of the practical test standards (PTS) without the interference of poor habits formed by years of flight outside the tightly supervised training environment.

These check rides provide for an interesting contrast to my flights with more highly experienced pilots during initial and recurrent training in light jets. While the jet pilot has the benefit of years of experience operating high-performance planes and polishing their mechanical flying skills, it’s not uncommon to see that some basics have slipped as time away from the critical eye of a CFI passes.

The FAA publishes a PTS for every certificate and rating that exists. These documents are detailed roadmaps through the applicable check ride, specifying in minute detail how every task from the preflight inspection to shutdown must be performed if the applicant is to pass the check ride. A read through the private pilot PTS is a valuable exercise for the long-time pilot who may have drifted from the optimal practices with which he or she started flying.

Starting with the preflight, do you “inspect the airplane with reference to an appropriate checklist”? You would have grounds to flunk a private pilot check ride if you don’t. Referencing a checklist doesn’t necessarily mean reading it item-by-item; a once-over at the completion of a “from-memory” preflight inspection can be invaluable at catching something overlooked.

Moving into the aircraft, do you “brief occupants on the use of safety belts, shoulder harnesses, doors and emergency procedures”?

As pilots we are required to give a preflight briefing to passengers, yet I often see this given short shrift. Imagine the plane has suffered a runway incursion on takeoff, you are incapacitated, and the cabin is filling with smoke. Do your passengers know not just where the exits are located, but explicitly how to operate them? Did you point out exactly where the handle is, and any additional steps needed for egress? In many jets the shoulder harness, when retracted, can be hidden under the headrest. I’ve often cringed when I’ve briefed a passenger on behalf of a client about the shoulder harness and heard, “Oh, I never knew that was there!”

The taxiing section of the PTS is rich with elements I see slip in experienced pilots. At the very start of taxi, a pilot should “perform a brake check immediately after the airplane begins moving.” Several years ago, a Citation CJ3 taxied into a parked King Air because the crew missed that the brake-pump circuit breaker had been pulled and not reset. Had they performed a brake check as soon as the aircraft rolled forward, they would

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have had ample time to point the aircraft away from parked planes and would have been at a low enough speed to allow for a more successful outcome.

A lot of emphasis in the PTS is on procedures to help eliminate possible runway incursions.

• “Exhibits procedures to insure clearances/instructions are received and recorded.”

• “Uses a taxi chart during taxi.”

• “Utilizes procedures for eliminating pilot distractions.”

It’s no wonder the FAA places such emphasis on runway-incursion avoidance. The deadliest aviation accident in history occurred when two 747 aircraft collided on a runway in Tenerife, Canary Islands. Yet again, as time goes on, I see pilots slip out of the habit of jotting down the taxi instructions received, having a taxiway diagram chart displayed during taxi, and ensuring that, during taxi, the pilot’s attention is focused only on taxiing. Too many pilots are setting up avionics, checking with the passengers, and reading checklists while the aircraft is moving.

Before takeoff, the PTS expects the pilot to “clear the area” before moving onto the runway. I’ve personally witnessed ATC clear an aircraft to depart with a 737 on a quarter-mile final.

Controllers are human, just like pilots, and subject to errors.

Yet some pilots blindly accept that takeoff clearance implies the runway is clear, without a visual check to confirm.

A last nugget of practical advice comes after shutdown. The applicant should “conduct an appropriate post-flight inspection.” This is a particularly common violation with owner/pilots. Once the engines are shutdown, the pilot’s mind is off things aviation and focused on getting bags unloaded and ground transportation moving along.

Yet, if you’re remaining in a remote location for several days while on a trip, would you want to discover a problem with the aircraft at the start or the end of your planned stay? In one case, there is likely sufficient time for a maintenance diagnosis and fix; in the other, a delayed or canceled departure is guaranteed. Five minutes spent on a post-flight inspection of fluids, filters, tires and potential damage can head off hours, or days, of headaches.