AOPA Online Members Only -- AOPA ePilot Custom Content --Vol. 6, Issue 14

The following stories from the April 2, 2004, 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.

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My ePilot - Piston Single-Engine Interest
A SIMULATED ENGINE OUT BECOMES REAL
Student pilots become no strangers to simulated emergencies during flight training. The problem arises when the line between simulated and real is crossed, which endangers lives. Find out what went wrong in this report prepared by the AOPA Air Safety Foundation, exclusively for ePilot readers.

My ePilot - Jet Interest
BOMBARDIER GLOBAL 5000 GETS NOD FROM TRANSPORT CANADA
The Bombardier Global 5000 has been awarded type certification from Transport Canada, paving the way for FAA and European certification. The intercontinental business jet will fly eight passengers and three crewmembers 4,800 nautical miles at a cruise speed of Mach 0.85. The jet fills the niche between the Challenger 604 and Global Express.

My ePilot - Other Interest
COMPANY OFFERS SHARE DEAL ON ROBINSON R44s
Fractional-like ownership programs have been slowly sweeping the general aviation industry from deals on Piper Cubs to Cirrus SR22s. Now it's time for helicopters. The Heli Access Corp. is offering shares in Robinson R44 Raven IIs. Starting in one-eighth increments, a share costs $49,500, plus a monthly management fee of $2,150 and an hourly usage fee of $150. For more information, see the Web site.

My ePilot - Student Interest, Training Tips
WHY THE FLAP?
Inbound from a training flight, you prepare for your last landing of the afternoon. You'd like it to be a nice one because not only is it a pleasant way to finish up, but you want to confirm that your hard work in learning to land is paying off. As the airport draws near, however, your instructor has yet another new technique to show you. This will be your introduction to the no-flap landing.

The no-flap landing is something that could be requested on your private pilot flight test to probe how you would handle a flap-system malfunction ( download and see Area of Operation X, Task B of the Practical Test Standards). It is an option all pilots of flap-equipped airplanes could consider under other circumstances, too. The aircraft's minimum controllable airspeed without flaps extended is higher than with flaps. Absent the induced drag of flaps, power/pitch changes will be your primary resource for adjusting airspeed and glidepath. Another tool to help correct your glidepath is the forward slip, discussed in the June 7, 2002, "Training Tips."

Once you're comfortable with them, include no-flap landings in future practice sessions. It's a level of proficiency that not all pilots maintain. "Students, as well as veteran pilots who have fallen into the rut of always using the same landing technique (typically partial flaps), are often reluctant to adopt the comparatively nose-high attitude required to slow down a flap-equipped airplane without using flaps. So they fly the approach much too fast, land long, and use up too much runway," cautions the "Accident Analysis" column in the December 2001 issue of AOPA Flight Training.

At an extremely busy airport, air traffic control might ask you to keep up your speed on final approach-another possible time for a no-flap landing, as Robert I. Snow discusses in the August 2001 AOPA Flight Training feature "Keep Up Your Speed." And in "Continuing Ed" in the June 2001 AOPA Flight Training, columnist Mark Twombly offers other reasons. "What if something imperfect pops up in the midst of a perfectly normal approach? What if an animal wanders onto the runway just as you cross the numbers? What if the flaps refuse to extend?"

Give yourself every advantage today, so handling the unexpected will be a matter of routine tomorrow.

My ePilot - Student Interest, Training Products
GET A HEADSET ADAPTER FOR COMM1 TRAINING PROGRAMS
The folks who created Comm1 Radio Simulator and related communications programs have further refined this popular line of training software by introducing the AudioPilot aviation headset adapter. The AudioPilot lets you plug in your own aviation headset to use with the Comm1 programs or any PC-based flight simulation program. Your headset filters out ambient room noises while you are in the virtual cockpit. Headset jacks plug into the AudioPilot unit, which in turn is hooked into your PC's sound card, so there's no software to install. The AudioPilot sells for $34.95. Order it online from Comm1.

My ePilot - Student Interest, Final Exam
Question: I've been practicing steep turns with my instructor, and the last time we were flying he mentioned something called a "chandelle." Can you tell me what kind of a maneuver that is?

Answer: The chandelle is a 180-degree climbing turn flown at maximum continuous power that concludes with the airplane about 5 knots above its stall speed. It's an advanced performance maneuver that has to be mastered for the commercial and flight instructor certificates. The parameters for the chandelle are described in the Commercial Pilot Practical Test Standards, which you can find on AOPA Online. Flight instructors say that learning to fly a chandelle improves rudder coordination and teaches the pilot to think ahead and look ahead. An added benefit is that it forces you to take your eyes off the instrument panel, so you learn to feel if the airplane is coordinated without fixating on the turn coordinator. You don't have to be a commercial pilot or CFI to learn how to fly chandelles. Ask your CFI to demonstrate one, and try it yourself with him or her in the right seat.