Training Notes and News

School News Kent State University gets glass-cockpit Cessna 172s Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, took delivery of two Cessna 172 Skyhawks equipped with Garmin G1000 integrated glass flight decks on January 18. The addition of the technically advanced aircraft to the Kent State fleet means flight students get the opportunity to train with some of the same navigation systems found in the newest corporate jets and airliners, according to Isaac Richmond Nettey, senior academic program director of aeronautics. Dowling College gets $3 million grant for virtual airport Dowling College's School of Aviation has received a $3 million grant from NASA to upgrade the college's virtual airport. The school of aviation, located in Brookhaven, New York, participates in the FAA's Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative. The virtual airport is to be tested this spring, with classes to begin in the fall; the $3 million grant will go toward a virtual airport operations environment, with roadways, terminals, and taxiways. Arizona State University seeks ATC program Arizona State University Polytechnic is looking to join the small number of colleges and universities that offer FAA-approved undergraduate programs in air traffic control. ASU has asked the FAA to certify its program under the agency's Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative (CTI), established in 1990 to allow selected colleges and universities to train controllers to meet increasing hiring needs. If it gets certification, which is not assured, ASU would add five to seven courses to its curriculum. An FAA spokesman said the agency has not granted approval, adding that "should the FAA decide to expand the AT-CTI program, we will use a competitive process and all interested colleges will have an opportunity to apply."

Liberty Aerospace received an order for 35 Liberty XL2s from a Montana aircraft leasing company, which in turn will lease some or all of them to a Florida flight school. The airplanes were purchased by LAFT LLC in Montana and at least 12 will be going to Ormond Beach Aviation in Ormond Beach. The British-owned flight school specializes in accelerated residential flight training to foreign pilots who are acquiring pilot licenses and ratings from the Joint Aviation Authorities, Europe's pilot and aircraft certification organization. LAFT managing partner Louise Fairfax praised the XL2's "advanced modular design providing cost-effective airframe maintenance," noting that the company had extensively evaluated a wide range of aircraft in its search for a cost-effective, technologically advanced aircraft that could serve a large training environment or a private owner.

Embry-Riddle discontinues CAPT program

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is no longer accepting applications for its accelerated commercial pilot training program known as CAPT. Launched in 2004, CAPT was an intensive ab initio program designed to take enrollees with few or no flight hours to regional airline readiness in as few as 12 months. "While graduates were successfully placed as pilots for regional and cargo carriers, the university decided the program did not fit into its strategic plans for the future," ERAU said. Current enrollees will complete their training at Flagler County Airport in Bunnell, Florida, where the program has been operated since its inception.

Project Pilot graduate crosses U.S. in Cessna 150

Jesse McNeil, a low-time private pilot who participated in AOPA's Project Pilot, put his new flying skills to the test by flying from Washington to Massachusetts in a Cessna 150. He had logged 50 hours as pilot in command when the flight took place in September 2005. McNeil traveled from Orcas Island Airport in Eastsound, Washington, to Plum Island Airport in Newburyport, Massachusetts.

The trip took 38 flight hours over 13 flying days. "I viewed the journey like a small hop from one runway to the next," McNeil said of the trip. AOPA's Project Pilot pairs up new pilots with experienced members who can pass along their skill and enthusiasm and make learning to fly easier, safer, and more successful.

McNeil and his mentor, Beverly Franklet, were pictured in the August 2005 issue of AOPA Pilot. To find out more about the program, see the Web site.

Scholarships awarded

Edward K. Philley III of Bixby, Oklahoma, a flight instructor and student at Tulsa Community College, is the recipient of this year's $5,000 Pearl Carter-Scott Aviation Scholarship. It comes from an endowment fund established by the Chickasaw Nation in cooperation with the Wiley Post Heritage of Flight Center (formerly the Curtiss-Wright Wiley Post Hangar Inc.). Philley plans to continue his education at Oklahoma State University; his career goals include flying for the Chickasaw Nation. The scholarship is named for Pearl Carter-Scott, who was an aviation student of Wiley Post, the Oklahoma pilot who pioneered high-altitude flight by developing the a functional pressure suit.

Jessica J. Koss of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has won a $1,000 scholarship from E-Publishing Group, the makers of the Comm1 line of aviation training software. Koss also received a Comm1 VFR Radio Simulator CD-ROM training program. A senior at the University of Dubuque, she is an instrument-rated commercial pilot whose short-term goals include obtain a flight instructor certificate and mentoring young, inexperienced pilots.

Free AWOS data service goes away

AnyAWOS, the service that connects callers to any automated weather reporting station or airport in the country with a public telephone number, discontinued free access to its service on February 6. The company said it wasn't able to obtain any outside advertising to support the free service. You can still subscribe for $5.95 per month, and subscribers won't have to listen to advertisements when they dial in--at least for now. "It will stay that way if we get enough subscriptions to pay the bills, or we get another source of external funding," the company said. For more information, see the Web site.

Legends

Underground pipelines

By Alyssa J. Miller

Underground pipelines--you can't see them, so why are they depicted on VFR sectional charts? Even though they can't be seen, they can still be used for navigation.

Underground pipelines can be valuable cross-fixes. They are represented on the chart by a black dashed line with the words "underground pipeline." This example comes from the Boston VFR Terminal Area Chart. You can use the point at which a pipeline shifts from aboveground to underground (from a solid black line to a dashed black line) as a cross-check with another checkpoint. During the winter, when flying over areas of snow, you might be able to see where an underground pipeline runs because, depending on what travels through the pipeline, the snow above it could be melted.

What It Looks Like

Hot prop

By Mark Twombly

General aviation aircraft fulfill a variety of roles and missions ranging from sport and recreation to pesticide control and hauling checks and cargo. They also are transportation machines, taking people where they want to go quickly and efficiently. To do that consistently in all but extreme weather conditions, an airplane can be equipped and certified for all-weather operations including icing.

Aircraft icing equipment is designed to either prevent the formation of ice (anti-ice) or get rid of ice once it has formed (deice). One part of the airplane that is susceptible to ice formation is the propeller. If ice forms on the leading edge of the blade root, close to the spinner, it can destroy the prop's efficiency and potentially create a dangerous imbalance.

Electric heating pads or "boots" are used to prevent or shed ice formation on the prop blades. The boots are glued to the leading edge of the root of each blade. Each boot has two heating elements, one inboard on the boot, and one outboard. When the pilot flips the prop deice switch in the cockpit, electric current is fed to the heating elements.

Typically, a timer alternates current to the outboard heating elements, then the inboard elements, then outboard, and so on. Heating only half the boot at one time reduces the voltage drain on the aircraft electrical system while maintaining propeller balance.

Getting electrical current to spinning propeller blades would seem to be an interesting engineering challenge, but in fact it is easily done. Wires from the engine connect to a contact box just aft of the propeller hub. Three electrically conductive contacts in the box rub against three rings on the back of the hub. Electrical current passes through the contacts to the rings, and then is routed to the heating elements on the blades.

The pilot knows the hot prop system is working correctly by observing an increase in current draw on the ammeter when the prop deice switch is flipped on. Momentary fluctuations in voltage are a sign that the timer function is working correctly.

Some aircraft use alcohol or other fluids instead of heated boots to keep ice from forming on propeller blades.

Final Exam

Final Exam is composed of questions similar to those a student may expect on the private pilot knowledge test. Answers are researched by members of the AOPA Pilot Information Center staff and may be found below.

1. What feature is normally associated with the cumulus stage of a thunderstorm?

1. Roll cloud.
2. Continuous updraft.
3. Frequent lightning.

2. What information is contained in a convective sigmet?

1. Tornadoes, embedded thunderstorms, and hail 3/4 inch or greater in diameter.
2. Severe icing, severe turbulence, or widespread dust storms lowering visibility to less than 3 miles.
3. Surface winds greater than 40 knots or thunderstorms equal to or greater than video integrator processor (VIP) level 4.

3. What cloud types would indicate convective turbulence?

1. Cirrus clouds.
2. Nimbostratus clouds.
3. Towering cumulus clouds.

4. A temperature inversion would most likely result in which weather condition?

1. An increase in temperature as altitude is increased.
2. Clouds with extensive vertical development above an inversion aloft.
3. Good visibility in the lower levels of the atmosphere and poor visibility above an inversion aloft.

5. What is meant by the term dew point?

1. The temperature at which condensation and evaporation are equal.
2. The temperature at which dew will always form.
3. The temperature to which air must be cooled to become saturated.

6. One weather phenomenon which will always occur when flying across a front is a change in the

1. wind direction
2. stability of the air mass
3. type of precipitation

7. What are characteristics of unstable air?

1. Nimbostratus clouds and good surface visibility
2. Turbulence and good surface visibility
3. Turbulence and poor surface visibility

8. What would decrease the stability of an air mass?

1. A) Decrease in water vapor
2. B) Cooling from below
3. C) Warming from below

Final Exam Answers

Continued from above 1. The correct answer is B. The cumulus stage is the early stage of thunderstorm development. It is characterized by continuous updrafts, which create the immense height of cumulus clouds, often referred to as towering cumulus. Roll clouds and lighting are commonly found during the mature stage of the thunderstorm, which is characterized by the start of rain at the surface.

2. The correct answer is A. A convective sigmet is not issued unless winds are at least 50 knots. Dust storms are not included in this type of weather report, but are reported in a sigmet. The convective sigmet sometimes implies severe icing and turbulence, but those conditions are not specified. Tornadoes, embedded thunderstorms, and hail greater than three quarters of an inch in diameter are all phenomena that are contained in the report.

3. The correct answer is C. Convective currents form towering cumulus clouds. It is the hot, rising air creating turbulence that most pilots try to avoid. Cirrus (high altitude) or nimbostratus (rain) clouds are not indicative of convective turbulence.

4. The correct answer is A. You may remember that temperature normally decreases with altitude. An inversion traps cooler air below a warmer layer, so temperature will increase with altitude. Since colder air is trapped underneath, vertical development of clouds is arrested. Visibility is often poor beneath an inversion layer, as pollutants frequently get trapped.

5. The correct answer is C. The air can only hold a certain amount of moisture before it becomes completely saturated and precipitation forms (including fog). That point is known as the dew point. Cool air holds less moisture than warmer air, so any drop in temperature will bring the air closer to saturation. When the temperature and dew point numbers are close together or the same, fog, low clouds, dew, and frost may form, but this does not always occur.

6. The correct answer is A. A front is a boundary between two air masses moving at different speeds. The change will be quite noticeable when flying across the front. In fact, a heading change to the right will be required in most cases. Sometimes this boundary is quite benign with decent weather, but many times the weather can be poor at a frontal boundary. Stability and type of precipitation may change when flying across a front, but not always.

7. The correct answer is B. The lifting action of unstable air creates an environment where clouds and pollution are not trapped as in stable air. Although the visibility is generally very good, the tradeoff is a bumpy ride. Nimbostratus clouds are normally associated with stable air and poor visibility.

AOPA members can discuss these or any aviation questions with Pilot Information Center staff by calling 800/USA-AOPA or sending an e-mail.