VINTAGE INSTRUCTOR
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DOUG STEWART
Decisions, Decisions! Well, summer is here, and with the longer days come longer flights. For many of us it is the time of year when our flights extend well out beyond the pattern. They even extend beyond the proverbial “hamburger” flight that now seems to cost a heck of a lot more than the $100 it once did. In fact for some of us the flights we are taking might very well extend over several days and several thousand miles. Why, it might even be that annual pilgrimage to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh to park our pride and joy within shouting distance of the Red Barn. (Of course if the “Red Barons“ are flying their formation air show act, you wouldn’t hear me shout even if you parked on the porch of the Red Barn!) If the flight were indeed a multiday cross-country flight, the decision to make that flight might very well have been made last winter when the days were short and the temperatures low. Or perhaps the decision was a more spontaneous one, made perhaps only a few short hours before the flight. Regardless of when the decision to make the flight was originally made, the process of decision-making does not end there. Unfortunately when looking at the accident records, it would appear that for some pilots once the decision to go has been made, there is nothing stopping them, until that unfortunate final impact. We have to be aware that
the decision process to not only begin, but also to continue the flight, is an ongoing process that does not end until we have landed at our final destination, taxied to our tiedown, and put the ropes on.
We have to be aware that the decision process to not only begin, but also to continue the flight, is an ongoing process that does not end until we have landed. . . Let’s take a look at that process. We have a couple of acronyms to help us out. The first one is the PAVE checklist. It stands for Pilot, Aircraft, enVironment, and External pressures. From the moment the thought of making the flight first enters our mind, until the successful conclusion of that flight, it is a checklist that we have to be constantly reviewing. The first element is the Pilot. Certainly in advance of the flight we have to consider if we are going to be current for the flight. Will our
flight review still be current? Will our medical be current? (I guess the Sport Pilots in the readership can ignore that one.) Going beyond the regulatory currency, we need to consider if we are really current for the conditions that we might experience on the flight. Are you familiar with the terrain and airspace that you will encounter on your flight? If you are instrument rated, are you really ready to fly an approach to your personal minimums? Even though you might have flown your six-insix, it might have been five and a half months since you last flew an approach. And was that approach flown in IMC, or with a hood on and a safety pilot in the right seat? Although you might have flown three takeoffs and landings in the previous 90 days, were they in gusty crosswind conditions? Remember, if you are flying a trip of more than 400 miles, the likelihood of encountering some kind of weather different from your departure weather is likely. On the day of the flight (and continuing throughout the entire flight) we also have to consider our physical condition. I hope you run the I’M SAFE checklist on yourself. If you recall, that stands for: Illness, Medication, Stress, Alcohol, Fatigue (also Food), and Emotion. During the flight would you have the sense and discipline to divert to a precaucontinued on page 31
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THE VINTAGE INSTRUCTOR tionary landing if you recognized that any of those things might be affecting your safety? The second element of the checklist is the Aircraft. Is your aircraft as ready as you might be for the flight? Have all the required inspections been conducted? Is all the equipment working as it should? If it is a rental aircraft, is it one you are familiar with and current in, or is it one that you have perhaps only flown once or twice? Again, if it is a rental aircraft, do you know how to operate all the installed equipment? If the aircraft has an autopilot, do you know how to use it? Do you have sufficient fuel and oil? Are you within the weight and balance envelope? Have you considered the performance capabilities of your aircraft, especially if you will be flying to a different location that might create density altitude considerations that you are not used to? Have you established whether you will have performance available over that required, considering your gross weight, the load distribution, and the density altitude? Other checklist items that would fall in the Aircraft category would be current charts and approach plates, a current AFD (airport facility directory), a current database in your GPS, clothing suitable for a potential forced landing in inhospitable territory, as well as survival gear appropriate for the terrain you will be flying over. Okay, you’ve run those checklists and everything looks good. Now we have to check the environment. When the environment is mentioned, almost all of us immediately think of the weather. Have you got current forecasts and reports? Have you been paying attention to weather trends several days prior to, and up until, the flight? Does the weather meet your personal minimums? Are the ceilings and visibilities, both reported as well as forecast, within your pilot capabili-
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ties? For example, if you are a pilot used to flying in the severe clear of the desert southwest, are you prepared to fly in the haze found in the Smokies? If you are an instrumentrated pilot and will have to fly an approach to minimums, have you predetermined how many missed approaches you will fly before diverting? (My personal minimum is one!)
Okay, you’ve run those checklists and everything looks good. Let’s look at the airports we are planning to use (while not forgetting potential alternate airports). Will runway lengths and alignment be sufficient for our performance and skill? Don’t forget that if you are a flatland, sea-level pilot, things will be much different if you are flying into and out of a high mountain airport. Will runway alignment create crosswind challenges beyond your skill level? If you are only used to flying at a small, one-runway, rural airport, are you prepared to find your way around the maze of taxiways and runways you might encounter at the large metropolitan airport you have planned as a fuel stop? Do you have the appropriate taxi charts and know how to request progressive taxi instructions? And don’t forget that there may very well be numerous FBOs at that airport. Do you know which one you will be taxiing to? The last element in the “PAVE” checklist is External Pressures, and I find this is the one that quite often creates the greatest challenge. So often we do a great job of planning the trip and ensuring that the other
elements of the checklist have met our personal minimums, but we forget to include the allowance for potential delays. Whenever planning a trip, you should always remember the admonition: “Time to spare. . .go by air.” It is so sad that the accident records are filled with fatalities that occurred as a result of get-there-itis. We absolutely have to have alternative plans! Have you allowed for delays? Have you briefed your passengers about the possibilities of delays or diversions? Do you have the discipline to tell your passengers, or your boss, that the flight cannot be made? Will you allow them to push you into going when your inner voice is shouting “Don’t Go!” If the flight is being made to meet someone, are they aware of those same possibilities? Have you made arrangements for alternative transportation? Have you a credit card and telephone numbers available if the need for alternative plans arises? Do you have appropriate clothing and personal needs in the event of an unexpected stay? Have you ensured that your last fuel stop is more than 100 miles from your destination? If you haven’t, you might be tempted to stretch your fuel minimums right into a dead stick landing in some farmer’s field. If, after running the checklist I have just described, you find no marginal items, then you have certainly PAVEd your way to a safe flight. But just because you have been able to make a “go” decision, it does not mean that your decision-making chores are over. It will be an ongoing process throughout the entire flight. Next month we will look at the CARE checklist that can help us ensure that the flight will remain safe. 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).
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