2005 05 patterns part iii

VINTAGE INSTRUCTOR

THE

DOUG STEWART

Patterns, Part III “Unhh . . . Loop-de-loop Radio, N12345 is 10 out. Which runway ya usin’ . . . unhhh . . . and do you have left-hand or right-hand traffic?”

Hearing that announcement over the CTAF (Common Traffic Advisory Frequency) while flying the downwind leg in the traffic pattern, I thought it was the perfect time for my client and me to take a lunch break after our landing. I wasn’t so sure I wanted to be sharing the sky with any pilot who had just made an announcement like the one I had just heard.

I hope you don’t think I’m being overly critical, but we all know that most midair collisions occur either in the traffic pattern or within 10 miles of an airport. I’ve experienced quite a few things in airplanes, but a midair collision is not one of them, and I am going to do my best to make sure it never is.

We have many tools to aid our awareness of where other aircraft are in relationship to us. Good cockpit resource management (CRM) will draw on as many of those tools as possible. Our eyes are our primary tools, but certainly the proper use of the radio is key. However, the improper use of communication radios can easily lead to pandemonium in the pattern.

While my client and I enjoyed a leisurely lunch, we discussed what it was about what we had heard that made me want to get on the ground. To begin with I didn’t

know what kind of aircraft I might be looking for. I only knew its tail number, and as my vintage eyes might not be able to read a tail number before I am closer to the aircraft in question than I might wish to be, knowing just the number did nothing to help me. If, on the other hand, I knew what kind of aircraft I was looking for, I would be much better equipped to see it.

We have to remember that the primary purpose of position reports in the nontowered environment is to aid in the visual identification of aircraft.

Next, I knew that the pilot was “10 out.” But the question remained, “10 out” where? “Out to lunch” would be my guess. (In fact, that’s what made me think about a lunch break in the first place.)

Remember that when a tower

asks you to give a position report at a certain distance, the tower already knows the direction from which you will be approaching. (I know, I know, the FAA doesn’t like us to use the term uncontrolled—it prefers nontowered—but radio announcements like the one we are discussing certainly diminish any control there might have been.) But when you make a position report in an uncontrolled environment , you should absolutely include the direction from which you will be approaching. To not do so means that every pilot who’s looking for you will have to scan all four corners of the compass to spot you—and that they might be unsuccessful in that endeavor.

The fact that the pilot was requesting from “radio” whether there was left- or right-hand traffic indicated several things. To begin with it meant that the pilot was unfamiliar with the airport. That is not a danger in and of itself. As long as we follow good procedures in entering the pattern (discussed last month), there is no increase in the risk exposure for anyone in the pattern. It also showed that the pilot didn’t understand that we use the term “radio” when contacting an FSS (Flight Service Station). The proper term is “UNICOM.” More importantly it indicated that the pilot had obviously not done his homework. Nor did he know how to use the tools he should have had

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with him in his cockpit.

Even if the approaching aircraft did not have an AFD or similar source of information (and let’s remember that the regulations say that we will have obtained all available information prior to flight) or if that source was out of reach somewhere in the back of the cockpit (I’ve sure seen that more often than I care to recount), did he not have a current sectional chart handy? Sectional charts have been indicating nonstandard (i.e., righthand) traffic patterns for quite some time now. In fact, if you are flying with a chart that does not have that information, you could probably sell it on eBay as a “vintage” chart.

About the only thing the pilot of the approaching aircraft did that was correct was to make a position report at 10 miles out, as recommended in the AIM. But nothing else in the communication did anything to facilitate the “see and avoid” concept of collision prevention. We have to remember that the primary purpose of position reports in the nontowered environment is to aid in the visual identification of aircraft. But often, based on much of what I hear on the UNICOM frequencies, it would appear that anything but that is the purpose.

We also have to remember that the frequencies available to UNICOM are limited. The primary ones in use are 122.8, 122.7, and 123.0. With so few frequencies to be shared by airports that are sometimes in rather close proximity to each other, it doesn’t take long at all, especially on a good weather weekend, for the frequencies to become congested to the point of being virtually worthless. Quite often all that can be heard are the squeal and screech of numerous transmissions blocking each other out.

With this in mind I would like to offer a few suggestions for pilots to consider prior to using the push-totalk switch. Spend a little time listening prior to transmitting. How

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MAY 2005

often do I have to hear someone request the runway in use when it has just been self-announced by not only the departing aircraft on the runway, but the aircraft on downwind and the one on base as well? Communication means “the exchange of information between individuals . . ..” That entails listening as well as speaking.

. . . use the same sterile cockpit concept whenever you are flying with others . . .

When you self-announce, keep it short, sharp, and succinct. “Loopde-loop traffic, Aeronca Champ, 10 west, 3,000, inbound for landing, requesting advisories” says not only the type of aircraft making the announcement, but also states where it is three-dimensionally in relationship to the airport and the intentions of the pilot. It says it concisely, thus minimizing the usage of the frequency. Furthermore, before you transmit be sure that no one else is transmitting. If someone else is transmitting at the same time, it’s quite likely that neither transmission will be heard.

There’s one last thing I would like to discuss about flying in the traffic pattern or in the “terminal area” for that matter. Earlier in this article I alluded to CRM. Proper CRM will use all the tools available.

Our passengers can certainly be among those tools, but only if they have been properly briefed.

The airlines are mandated to maintain a “sterile cockpit” until reaching 10,000 feet MSL. This means that all crew communication is to be flight-related only. No talking about the ball game, the wife and kids, or the scenery. I realize that the majority of you reading this rarely, if ever, get up to 10,000

feet, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use the same sterile cockpit concept whenever you are flying with others in the cockpit. Instead of using a 10,000-foot reference point, use the terminal area instead.

Instruct your passengers not to distract you anytime you are flying within 10 miles of an airport (or any other congested area for that matter) with any conversation other than safety-related concerns.

Without the distraction of idle chatter you will be much better prepared to spot that potential midair collision.

I know two pilots who, while flying together in the same airplane, survived a midair collision that occurred on final approach. They descended into an airplane below them. (Miraculously, the pilot of the other airplane survived as well.)

They admitted to me that they had both been distracted from the job at hand—that being scanning for traffic—because of unnecessary conversation. They also confided that they were on the wrong frequency—again because they were chatting instead of concentrating.

To sum up, we have to be aware that the closer we’re flying to an airport, the greater the risk involved.

Anytime we’re flying within 10 miles of an airport we have to be vigilant and use all the tools available to us to avoid a midair collision. It means we have to fly proper and approved procedures. It means we have to use proper radio procedures. It means we have to absolutely minimize any possible distractions. And it means we have to keep our eyes open and outside of the cockpit, always scanning for other traffic.

If we all share in this task, we should all be able to keep flying on into our “vintage” years. Won’t you join me?

Doug Stewart is the 2004 National CFI of the Year, a Master CFI, and a DPE. He operates DSFI Inc. (www. dsflight.com) based at the Columbia County Airport (1B1).