March & April Patrician 2024

The Patrician

The Victoria Flying Club ~ Aviation Excellence Since 1946 MAR-APR

FLYING IN HAWAII WITH DISPATCH SUPERVISOR KAT

The Patrician

“To promote flying and aviation in general, and to teach and train persons in the art and science of flying and navigating and operating all manner of heavier-than-air aircraft.”

(Victoria Flying Club Incorporation Bylaws, 1946)

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

PRESIDENT Don Devenney

VICE PRESIDENT Colin Williamson

SECRETARY Glen Rippon

TREASURER Cal Mjolsnes

DIRECTORS Angie Johnson

Mike Vossen

Graham Palmer

Laurie Ingalls

GENERAL MANAGER

Mike Schlievert

Canso

Editor: Kelly J Clark vfcpatrician@gmail.com

This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part with prior permission of the publisher or author. The opinions expressed are strictly those of the authors.

VFC MENTOR PROGRAM

Do you want other pilots to fly with, split flight cost, share knowledge, or get help getting to a new airport for the first time? Find potential mentors and their resumes posted on the Mentors bulletin board beside the Dispatch counter. Contact details are on each mentor's resume or you can email mentors@ flyvfc.com for more information.

Interested in becoming a mentor? There's always room for more experienced pilots! Send an email to mentors@flyvfc.com for more information on how to join up!

NEWS Around the Club

FROM THE EDITOR: SPRING IS HERE!

Welcome to the Spring issue! This month, I decided to lean into the Hawaii theme with a pallet based off of Hawaiian indigenous flowers. I think we could use a vacation right about now.

As the weather continues to improve, be sure to check in with the Victoria Flying Club! You don't want to miss the opportunity to fly these beautiful skies, and there's often an aircraft waiting for you at the club.

SOCIAL SATURDAYS

If you haven't been attending our Social Saturdays, you're missing out. Barring holiday weekends, the first Saturday of every month is the place for club fun and aviation-based socializing at the VFC! The event usually begins at 9:30 AM and always offers free coffee, free donuts, and something interesting or valuable to attendees. Let's put the "club" back in the Victoria Flying Club!

In May, we have Simon Dennis, Victoria Tower Controller and former VFC instructor as our guest presenter.

Simon will bring us an update on what's happening at Victoria Tower, provide us with reminders on best practices related to ATC and will be open for questions. And maybe, just maybe, we can get Simon to give us a quick refresher on local weather patterns.

EVENTS & HOLIDAYS

MAR 2 SOCIAL SATURDAY AT THE VFC

MAY 15 BC AVIATION MUSEUM SPEAKER

NIGHT: AFZAL SULEMAN

MAY 20 VICTORIA DAY

MAY 27 BRITISH COLUMBIA AVIATION

COUNCIL ANNUAL CONFERENCE

JULY 1 CANADA DAY

JULY 3-7 THE 99'S INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE & CAREER EXPO

AUG 5 BC DAY

AUG 9 ABBOTSFORD AIRSHOW

Know of an aviation-related event that's not listed? Let us know at vfcpatrician@gmail.com!

““The Guide says there is an art to flying", said Ford, "or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”

—Douglas Adams Life, the Universe, and Everything

99S INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

The BC 99s are holding their yearly Conference & Career Expo in Vancouver over July 3-7. Approximately 300 women pilots from all over the world will be in attendance. If you'd like to know more or attend, reach out to the 99s ASAP!

NEWS Around the Club

UPCOMING ISSUES

There's a lot going on around the VFC in the coming months! Help us celebrate the pilot life in the months ahead by contributing articles, photos, and other features! Interested? Great!

We're looking for the following:

• May/June: Aviation stories involving women, the LGBTQ+ community, and Indigenous persons!

• July/Aug: Aviation stories about Canadian flight history, and other Canadiana!

• Sept/Oct: Aviation stories about autumnal fun, ghost stories, and other seasonal faves!

• Nov/Dec: Aviation holiday stories and charity events to wrap up the year!

It's okay if you're not much of a writer! That's why the VFC is here. Just reach out to us at vfcpatrician@gmail.com and we'll be happy to edit your draft and work with you to create a memorable article for an upcoming issue.

After all, who doesn't want to be a published writer?

VFC Golf Tournament

We've opened our golf tournament up to our entire membership! Spouses and guests are also invited to attend.

We can only accept 36 people for the tournament itself, but everyone is welcome to join for the after party at the country club.

Date: Saturday, June 1st, 15:00 - 18:20 (arrive 45 min early for carts & clubs).

Tee Times will be assigned by VFC Coordinator, Neil Keating. Call Neil at 204291-9667 if you have a tee time request.

Format: 9 Holes; Individual Tee Times Start. Self Chosen pairs or foursomes are OK. Maximum of 36 players (9 foursomes) is planned. Players will meet after their round for self-bought meal. Prizes will be awarded after last group completes their round.

Course: Highland Pacific Golf

9 Hole Green Fee: Adult $58 / Military $47 / Junior $30

GOODBYE FQEP

This Spring we've said goodbye to our beloved Piper Cherokee PA28 140B! The VFC have found it a lovely new home with an owner in Arizona, where it will be able to soar the wide desert skies in its semi-retirement. A much deserved reward for a hard-working flight school aircraft!

Clear skies, old friend.

2024 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

On Thursday, March 28th, the Victoria Flying Club held its Annual General Meeting. A number of critical matters of club importance, including new Board of Director elections, were covered during the meeting. As you can see from the photo below, the AGM was well attended! Thanks to everyone who took the time to make it out to the event and keep the VFC running smoothly.

PARKING AVAILABLE!

Interested in prime paved parking spaces for your aircraft? Good News: there are spots available!

Secure, pull-in/pull-out, easy access.

Call Dispatch at 250-656-2833 to arrange a spot or to get on the waitlist for hangar spaces!

GROUND SCHOOL SCHEDULE

PRIVATE PILOT LICENCE GROUND SCHOOL

PPL #24-03: MAR 03/2024 TO MAY 05/2024

Sundays (09:00 - 16:00)

PPL #24-04: MAY 19/2024 TO JULY 21/2024

Sundays (09:00 - 16:00)

COMMERCIAL PILOT LICENCE GROUND SCHOOL

CPL #24-XX: AS REQUESTED

Saturdays (09:00 - 16:00) with Instructor Ken Kosvik

MOUNTAIN AWARENESS TRAINING GROUND SCHOOL

MTA #24-XX DATES AS REQUIRED OR REQUESTED.

Individual scheduling requests are available for Private Pilot Licence, Commercial Pilot Licence, Mountain Awareness Training (MTA), Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (Drone) Courses (RPAS) by request.

Individual tutoring is also available for PPL and CPL upon request.

Confirm your attendance by contacting: Neil Keating: (204) 291-9667

"Without

Furthermore,

Justin Gray

Lennox Weber

Sergio Rojas

Reece Liuzzo

Tristan Curran

Isaac Bird

First Solo: Jason Arnold Instructor Darren Rich

First Solo: Tristan Curran Instructor Gavin Johansen

First Solo: Kyla Kowalchuk Instructor Adam Sakuma

MEMBER ACHIEVEMENTS

PPL FLIGHT TEST

Cameron Anderson

Nathan Hoff

Kazuki Akasaka

PPL WRITTEN TEST

Tristan Belcourt

Patrick Heaney

Dominic Neilson

CPL FLIGHT TEST

Chris McKay

Blair Hohol

Tristan Bacon

Sean Morris

Kiarash Zandi Esfahani

CPL WRITTEN TEST

Blair Hohol

GROUP 1 IFR

Sam Godsell

Robin Stubbs

NEW MEMBERS

Luke Wilsdon

Johnathan Watkins Garcia

Ted Imhoff

Christopher Sinclair

David Crowe

Heather Blanchette

Kamal Kaur

Eric West

Denzel Van Oyen

David Fellows

Carl Wohlgemuth

Mark Monroe

Cameron Byers

Malcolm Bachand

Kelly Feltis

Jacob Ross

Robert Grombach

Manjit Kumar

Nicholas Finnerty

Graham Mercier

Forster Patton

Victoria Wood

Julian McLachlan Alonso

KAT GOES ALOHA FLYING IN HAWAII

BY KATRINA MCGIE, DISPATCH SUPERVISOR

Last January I went on vacation in Hawaii, and while I had been before, I wanted something really memorable this time.

I had a couple options. I could rent a Corvette convertible and go for a rip around the island, I could rent a boat and do some deep-sea fishing. Or I could fly a plane. I chose the latter.

I got ahold of Pacific Flight Academy, based at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, and booked a flight. I had tried a flew

flight schools around Oahu, but many of them needed a US passport in order for me to fly, even with an instructor, so PFA was the only option. Booking was an easy process and I filled them in on my experience level and what I was wanting to get out of the flight.

The day came around and despite a METAR saying that the clouds were broken at 1,000ft, the skies were completely clear of cloud. It was gusty though, 15kts gusting 25kts the entire time.

I met with my

instructor and we had a quick briefing to go over what we would be doing and how we would be departing the area. ‘Pull out your iPad and we’ll go over procedures.’ He said to me. The start of a short, but wild conversation. ‘I don’t have an iPad.’ was my response to which he asked me ‘How do you use ForeFlight if you don’t have an iPad?’ I told him that I didn’t use ForeFlight.

‘How do you navigate if you don’t use ForeFlight?’ once he said that, I was slightly concerned. ‘I use charts.’ I said and pulled

out my paper copy of my VNC and VTA, complete with my last flight laid out and planned on it. I spread it out on the table and this instructor looks at the chart like it was an ancient, benevolent being. ‘Woah.’ he said, ‘I’ve never actually seen a paper chart before.’

I was a little shocked at that statement, but after he put his awe away, he asked if I was familiar with the 172M and if I was comfortable doing a walkaround of the aircraft. I said yes and off I went.

It was an old, dilapidated 172 and there was a 2” hole in the vertical stabilizer that had duct tape over it. There were a few inspection panels missing screws. The carb heat knob was broken (especially concerning as it was 25 Celsius with 90% humidity.) But it was familiar and after some concerned questions to the instructor, we

hopped in and fired up.

After a short taxi, we held short of taxiway Charlie and did our runup just as a 777 reported an emergency and had to return to the field.

15 minutes later the emergency aircraft was taxiing off the runway with the fire trucks in tow off to maintenance just as the winds shifted and they switched the runways. It took another 30 minutes to get the

lineups of aircraft waiting to go taxied to the new runways, all the while our little 172 was sitting waiting to go. We had shut off the engine already.

During the 30 minutes of switching runways, a flight of F-22 Raptors and F-35 Lightning II’s decided they “didn’t care about a 20kt tailwind because they have afterburners” (direct quote from the Raptor lead to ATC) and so off they blasted. Directly in

front of us at about 30ft altitude over the runway, all 6 F-22s and 2 F-35s all turned and climbed out over us with full afterburner.

Shortly after that, 4 F-15s landed and taxied past us, followed by a C-17 and a C-5.

It was now about 45 minutes after we initially started the engine and with everything sorted out, we fired up again and

waited for an ANA A380 to taxi past us on Charlie before we were finally given our clearance ‘Taxi Charlie, Foxtrot, hold short 04R, caution jet blast from passing A380.’

After flying out of Victoria for so long and flying around 737s and A320s, sharing a space with an aircraft as truly massive as an A380 was something special. They’re big looking at them from a terminal. They’re huge

looking up at them from a 172.

We then got told to hold position so they could pull a FedEx MD-11 in front of us then we were ready to go! Last thing in the way was a Korean 747-8 landing on 04L and before they were off the runway we got cleared for immediate takeoff on 04L.

Anyone who is familiar with wake turbulence can probably see the

issue with issuing takeoff clearance immediately following a 747 landing. I was concerned, but the instructor beside read it back and taxied into position and we were airborne about 700ft down the runway, directly into the turbulence from the 747. It made an extremely rocky climbout but we were above it quickly and on our way.

We flew up the middle of Oahu, past Wheeler AAF towards the North Shore. We only climbed to about 1500ft for the whole flight. Past the North Shore we turned West and followed the shoreline around the Northwestern point of the island before turning South back towards Honolulu. Along the coast, we were cruising about

1,000ft and about 2nm off shore and I expressed concern about being outside gliding distance to shore but my concerns with having to ditch if we had an engine failure were met with ‘If we end up in the water, at least we get a nice beach day out of it!’ Que more concern and a turn towards shore.

Coming back to the airport, we crossed over

Pearl Harbor before turning overhead the battleship Missouri, and then overflying the military part of the airport where we saw multiple B-1 and B-2 bombers on the ramp.The instructor asked if I wanted to do the landing I said sure, but then the tower updated the winds and said ‘Cleared to land 04L, winds 180 15 gusting 25’

Neat. Landing with a significant tailwind, no thanks. I asked the instructor to take the

landing and he straight up said it’d be a rough one. 4,000ft of float down the runway and we were clear to taxi. We headed back to the flight school and shut down.

We were in the air for about an hour, but the whole ordeal took well over two hours, and it was really a heck of an experience. From the stark differences in how instructors are taught between here and there, to the difference in maintenance and

acceptance of things we would never fly with (Looking at you broken carb heat) it was a real eye opening flight. Not sure I would make some of the same decisions my instructor made, though! Getting to fly at a truly busy, massive international airport feeding cargo, military, GA, and heavy airline traffic was totally worth it though, and I’m very glad I was able to do it. I would absolutely go again given the chance!

THE PROFESSIONAL PILOT

by David Gagliardi

“‘Professionalism’ is commonly understood as an individual’s adherence to a set of standards, code of conduct or collection of qualities that characterize accepted practice within a particular area of activity.” -Universities UK et al. 2004 by David Gagliardi

BEST PRACTICES

Professional pilots embody the attributes in the definition above. Being a professional pilot has nothing to do with what license you hold, it is ultimately about the attitude with which you approach flying. This

article is the seventh in a series that will examine aspects of piloting light aircraft to a professional standard.

Recent discussions with a lower time pilot asking for some general advice on best practices for a typical

flight has caused me to reprint a guide I wrote a few years ago for one of my students.

THE WALK AROUND

This used to called the "daily inspection" as in once a day on the first flight. There is no need to

do an equivalent of an "A" inspection for the 11th flight of the day.

Not everything on the walk around should be afforded the exact same levels of importance, so learn what matters. Some things to think about:

• Aircraft are delicate: All surfaces/doors/controls should be moved gently.

• When in the cabin do two things generally not on the checklist. First organize the cabin. Stow any loose stuff, throw out any garbage, and second set the trim wheel to the TO setting so you can see where the tab actually is on the walk-around, it should be slightly down.

• Consumables. Fuel and oil should be checked on every flight. Big airplanes have reliable fuel gauges (heck, $9,999.00 cars have reliable fuel gauges) little airplanes not so much.

However, comparing the gauges to what the dip stick shows will give you an indication of how good they are.

But be reasonable, you don't need a dipstick to check full tanks.

As for oil, if at all possible you should know/find out what the oil level was on the last flight. A sudden reduction in the oil level is always bad. Either you have a bad leak or the engine is showing the first symptom of a potentially catastrophic failure.

• The most likely things wrong you are going to see in the walk around fall in the "bent, protruding, hanging, or dripping " category, so that's what you should be looking for.

TAXIING

There is no one universal taxi speed. The airplane speed should be adjusted to suit the situation. Slow down for corners or tight spots, speed up on the straight parts and when crossing runways. Stuff that matters:

• IMO the number one indication of good airmanship on the ground is managing your propwash. Even a C172 can create damaging amounts of wind yet I believe this issue is not always well addressed in training. This is especially egregious since the C 172 if the wind isn't really

strong (say less than 15 kts) and the aircraft can be better positioned to avoid propwash issues or not block taxiways, than that should determine how you park your aircraft.

The checklist is not a bunch of rote actions. Critical thought should be used. If you are not 100% clear on why you are doing a particular action or what you should be looking at/for then talk to an instructor.

TAKEOFF

• Intersection takeoffs are almost never a good idea for single engine aircraft.

• Do a silent formal pretakeoff brief before every takeoff. This brief should IMO cover the following items :

a) Review the published departure procedure or noise abatement procedure if required

b) Run through the actions you will do if the engine either fails before liftoff, or if you have an EFATO below 1000 ft AAE including where you are going to point the aircraft.

This should be involve a review of the immediate vital actions you need to carry out including touching each control to build the muscle memory. If you do nothing else make a point of saying "in the event of an engine failure I will pitch down" and then physically push the wheel forward

• When you ready for take off you should be ready in all respects.

• The airplane should be lined up exactly on the centerline and it should stay there throughout the take off run. Don't accept inaccurate aircraft control.

• The throttle should be advanced slowly but steadily. It should never be jammed in.

• Before power is applied the elevator should be always slightly nose up (for a normal takeoff) so as the prop wash flowing over the elevator unloads the nose wheel

• When the throttle is fully in the student should note that all engine instruments are in the green and the engine is showing full static RPM (not Redline RPM, the

static RPM value will be in the POH and will always be lower than Redline). At which point the call I teach is " good engine "

The aircraft to be rotated to a nose up attitude and lift off at the POH speeds. If it isn't, correct it ! (hint if the aircraft levitates with all three wheels leaving the ground at the same time than the rotate speed is too high)

The briefings may seem a bit over the top but I think it is very important to build good habits. If you perform a full but efficient briefing on every flight than the habit about thinking ahead will become ingrained.

THE CLIMB

• After lift off work hard at holding a consistent pitch attitude that will give you the briefed speed. I like Vy to 1000 ft AAE as altitude is your friend. I do not use Vx for a normal take off as it requires a very nose high attitude which makes it hard to see ahead and is at a speed not very far from stall speed. In the event of an engine failure at Vx a very aggressive pitch down is immediately required to

maintain safe speed.

• The aircraft should track the runway centre line as you climb away, don't accept the aircraft being pushed to one side or the other by the wind or sloppy flying

• In performance challenged aircraft the difference between climbing with the wings level and the ball in the center can be as much as 20 % over a feet on the floor wing low climb. Keep the ball in the middle !

• Through 1000 ft AAE , or when prudent/ practicable transition to a cruise climb. I like to use a speed which gives a climb rate of 500 ft per minute for the C172 (flying from a sea level airport). This will usually give a good compromise between engine cooling, visibility ahead, and achieving track miles. It also requires you to think about what airspeed to use rather than mindlessly using the same climb speed for every flight.

• If you are going to have a mid air on initial climb out it will most likely be as you pass through circuit height particularly at uncontrolled airports.

• Make sure you learn and understand the effect airspeed and mixture settings have on oil temp/ cylinder temp and what to do to manage engine cooling enroute phase :

• When transitioning from climb to cruise, allow the aircraft to accelerate to cruise speed before

setting cruise power, then trim. I know this is pretty basic and is covered in the PPL course, but it seems to be an item that frequently gets forgotten after the PPL.

• The cockpit should always be neat and ordered. Passengers do not want to see stuff all over the place and the pilot scrabbling around picking up dropped items. Almost everybody now uses a tablet computer and one of the common flight planning and moving map apps, like Foreflight. Think about where you want to keep the tablet

and if you are using one of the suction cup mounting brackets make sure it won’t obscure visibility or foul the controls. Don’t get fixated on the TV screen, you still need to keep a good look out so force yourself to deliberately scan at the screen then out the windshield and back in a regular sequence. It is a good idea to back up the technology on your phone and be especially careful on hot days as the tablet will invariably overheat and shut down at the most inconvenient moment.

• When you are going

somewhere in slow airplanes one of the most important thing to keep track of (aside from your present position obviously) is your ground speed.

Even a small increase in a head wind can have a significant increase in your trip time. This matters for your fuel reserves. Altitude can have a significant effect on the wind so while you should flight plan an optimal altitude you should also think about changing altitude to get a better speed.

• Passengers want a smooth ride so if it is bumpy do something like

changing altitude or route of flight. Some days you have just got to suck it up but if for example your planned altitude puts you 500 ft below a layer of scattered cumulus clouds it is probably going to bumpy and so if you just drone along anyway then you are not doing your best.

• Make a big point about comparing the weather you see out the windshield versus what the weather guy said, and what it means if what you see is not what you were expecting.

• Fuel gauges are calibrated every year so that they when they show "E" or "Zero" the tank is indeed empty. My experience with Cessna fuel gauges is that they get more accurate as the fuel quantity decreases and they will be very close at quantities below 1/3 tanks. So, if the gauges are showing significantly less than you think they should it is time to go to plan B and land at a closer airport. The best way to start a diversion is to use the “nearest airport” function on the GPS.

• Get in the habit of carrying an energy bar and a small bottle of water. Being dehydrated and with low blood sugar levels diminishes your decision making abilities.

DESCENT

• Plan your descent for a maximum of 500 feet/min. The easy way to do this is determine how many thousands of feet between your cruising altitude and circuit height, double that and start down when that number equals time to destination (e.g. 6000 feet to lose, start down 12 mins from destination).

• The most efficient way to descend is to leave cruise RPM on and trim for a 500 fpm descent. Reduce the power as you descent to maintain the cruise RPM setting

• Don’t start a long descent by going to full rich mixture ! This will shock cool the cylinders and is very hard on the engine. Instead, slightly richen the mixture at the top of descent and then for long descents continue slightly richen the mixture every 2000 feet of descent. By slightly richen I find one full turn will usually be enough to keep a constant EGT reading.

• Most of the time you will have a good idea of the runway in use, so plan your route of flight to minimize track miles. The descent is also the time to plan how you will join the circuit. Build a mental map of where you are and the runway orientation in relation to your position and where you need to fly to, to join the circuit at a safe and appropriate

spot. You don’t want to be trying to figure the circuit join when you are already at the airport

• If you are ever going to have a mid air it will probably entering the circuit at an uncontrolled airport, This is where emphasizing a lookout is really important.

LANDING

Good landings come from good approaches. Good approaches are the result of flying down final on speed and with the

airplane trimmed. Most bad landings are a result of flying too fast. The recommended approach speeds give you plenty of stall margin and excessive speed prolongs the flare and results in flat landings

Touchdown should occur on the runway centerline at or near a predetermined touchdown point and main wheels first. Don’t accept anything less and work to make every landing the best one you can do.

After the wheels touch,

track the centreline and start braking with a light application to avoid skidding the tyres. If heavier braking is required pull the control wheel fully back before braking. Avoid high speed turns as these are hard on the tyres and can result in an airplane upset in high winds.

GENERAL POINTS

Operational efficiency:

When flying, operational efficiency is desirable. In

general, the most efficient flight is one that is safely accomplished with the minimum amount of flight and air time. Be organized and proactive.

RADIO WORK

Pilots will soon get a reputation, good....or bad. One factor which will determine this IMO is how he or she handles the radio. So set a personal high standard and don't make the common unnecessary mistakes:

• When you change freq's listen for a few seconds before speaking so you do not step on another conversation

• Engage brain before mouth. There should be no UMMs or ERR's

• Use standard phraseology and avoid slang.

MONITORING ENGINE GAUGES

When I was a young commercial pilot I got an

piece of excellent advice from a gentleman who had been flying since the 1930's. He told me to note the actual position of each engine gauge needle for each phase of flight.

This is especially valuable if you normally fly the same airplane. Any significant change in an engine gauge indication should be monitored and investigated. This advice saved me from a force landing as I was climb out in a C150 on a routine instructional flight one day. I noticed that the oil pressure gauge was one full needle width below the the mid gauge white line. Every other flight the needle had had sat exactly over the white line mark.

As we were only a few miles from the airport, I told the student to turn back. Over the next 2 minutes the oil pressure slowly rolled back to zero. By this time we were on short final so I shut the engine down and we completed an uneventful landing. It turned out the oil pump drive gear had failed.

To build good habits, at random intervals, cover the engine gauges and ask if yourself where the needles were sitting. I found that if you practice this pretty soon you get good at including the engine instruments in your scan.

THANKS FOR THE SHARE!

SOME OF THE PEOPLE WHO TAGGED US ON INSTAGRAM!

From top, left to right: @nedtaylorsaanich: " Another flight after work!"; @burtonader: " B-25 on the VFC apron last summer"; @suborbitalbens: " One of best offices you can ask for."; @flyboy_dane: " Got to take the Disney livery for a rip before it’s upcoming retirement from the WestJet fleet."; @bcaviationmuseum: "Enjoy a VIH Kamov and Bambi bucket to remind you of the hot summer days on this chilly, winter night."; @gingertheplane: " Ginger made her FIRST FLIGHT to CANADA" // Thanks for the share!

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