AOPA Online Members Only -- AOPA ePilot Custom Content --Vol. 5, Issue 30
The following stories from the July 25, 2003, edition of AOPA ePilot were provided to AOPA members who expressed an interest in the particular subject areas. Any AOPA member can receive information customized to their areas of interest by updating their member record file online.
My ePilot - Jet Interest
BOMBARDIER CERTIFIES LEARJET 40
Bombardier Aerospace is marking the 40-year anniversary of the first flight of a Learjet with the FAA type certification of the appropriately named Learjet 40. The aircraft is a derivative of the Learjet 45 and first flew less than 11 months ago. The jet cruises at up to Mach 0.81 and has a maximum range of 1,857 nm with four passengers and two crew members on board. Deliveries are slated to begin in the first quarter of 2004.
My ePilot - Experimental Interest
NEW GLASTAR INTRODUCES BIGGER AIRPLANE
New GlaStar has introduced a new kit aircraft that will allow you to take the children along. Called the Sportsman 2 + 2, it has optional rear seats to accommodate two more people up to 51 inches tall. As compared to the GlaStar, the Sportsman has a roomier cabin and a third door to accommodate backseat passengers or bulky cargo. The aircraft has been designed to fly with tundra tires, floats, or skis. It can be built with fittings that will allow conversion from tricycle to taildragger or floatplane. The homebuilt airplane features a 1,300-fpm climb and a 140-knot cruise speed. For more, see the Web site.
My ePilot - Student Interest, Training Tips
THE GOSPEL OF GO-AROUNDS
What happened the last time you had to perform a go-around in your trainer, either because your flight instructor requested one, or because something actually happened to make a balked landing necessary? Did you make a "timely" decision to go around? Did you apply takeoff power immediately, then pitch to an attitude that would deliver your aircraft's best rate of climb speed? Did you maneuver so that you could monitor the activity below, maintaining wind drift correction and positive control throughout the climb? If so, you performed the maneuver to the standard required to pass the private pilot practical test ( click here to download the practical test standards) and demonstrated one of the most important safety skills that a new pilot can learn.
Any approach to landing might result in a go-around. Another aircraft, a ground vehicle, or an animal could stray onto the runway. Wind shear or directional control difficulties in a gusty crosswind could necessitate one. (For helpful tips on how you should handle wind shear, see "Wind Shear! Max Power!" in the July 2002 AOPA Flight Training.) Your instructor should salt your takeoff and landing practice with numerous go-arounds, from various stages of the landing. "The next time you're thinking about asking your student to perform another go-around for practice, do so when the student is least likely to expect it-during the roundout or landing flare," AOPA Flight Training columnist Rod Machado advises instructors. See his other suggestions in AOPA Flight Training's December 2002 "Instructor Report."
This may surprise you, but if you are well-practiced and proficient in go-arounds, you are sharper and safer than many pilots who have completed training and not done any refresher work in a while. Not performing a go-around, or failing to follow the recommended procedure for the aircraft being flown-especially the mismanagement of flap retraction-has been cited as the cause of many mishaps, as studied in the "Accident Analysis" columns found in the April 2001 and February 2003 issues of AOPA Flight Training.
Go-arounds are a "Judgment Call"-see the December 13, 2002, "Training Tips" by that title for hints on how to show your practical-test examiner that you are worthy of the private pilot certificate. Then keep practicing those go-arounds, honing the procedure for each new aircraft you will fly and preserving the hard-earned skills with which you emerged from training!
My ePilot - Training Products
MICROSOFT UNVEILS 'A CENTURY OF FLIGHT' IN NEWEST SIM VERSION
If you include a dose of desktop flight simulation in your regular training routine-or, like many pilots, like to pilot flight simulators when you can't fly the real thing- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight lets you add a Piper J-3 Cub and other virtual historic aircraft to your virtual logbook. The newest version, which becomes available July 29, includes instructional expertise from AOPA Flight Training columnist Rod Machado and King Schools' John and Martha King in the video "lessons" that accompany the program, which is loaded on four CDs to your Windows-based personal computer. Other enhancements include improved weather modeling and automatic live updates that change the weather theater, just as it would happen in an actual cross-country flight. The price is $54.95. For more information, see the Microsoft Web site.
My ePilot - Student Interest, Final Exam
Question: Is there a requirement for a compass correction card to be displayed in light general aviation aircraft? I am unable to find a reference in the federal aviation regulations requiring a correction card.
Answer: The requirement for the compass correction card can be found in FAR 23.1547, "Magnetic direction indicator." It states that a placard meeting the requirements of this section must be installed on or near the magnetic direction indicator. The placard must show the calibration of the instrument in level flight with the engines operating and must state whether the calibration was made with radio receivers on or off. Each calibration reading must be in terms of magnetic headings in not more than 30-degree increments. Finally, if a magnetic nonstabilized direction indicator can have a deviation of more than 10 degrees caused by the operation of electrical equipment, the placard must state which electrical loads, or combination of loads, would cause a deviation of more than 10 degrees when turned on.
