AOPA Online Members Only -- AOPA ePilot Custom Content --Vol. 6, Issue 32

The following stories from the August 6, 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
COMPANY GETS NOD FOR CESSNA 182 ICE PROTECTION SYSTEM
Aerospace Systems and Technologies Inc. has received FAA certification for its TKS "weeping wing" ice protection system for the Cessna 182P (1971) and newer models. The new system is not approved for flight into known icing but will provide two hours of ice protection at normal fluid flow rates. The system weighs 40 pounds empty and 86 pounds with a fully serviced reservoir. For more information, see the Web site.

My ePilot - Turboprop Interest
RVSM-EQUIPPED TBM 700 ENTERS U.S. MARKET
EADS Socata unveiled its 300th TBM 700 at EAA AirVenture last week. Serial number 300 is a landmark airplane because it's also equipped with Socata's RVSM (reduced vertical separation minimums) option and is the first RVSM-approved TBM 700 in the United States.

My ePilot - Instrument Interest
FAA CHARTS NOW ON DVD
The National Aeronautical Charting Office (NACO), a division of the FAA, is now selling sectional and terminal area charts on DVD. Three different DVDs are issued every 28-day revision period. Individual DVDs sell for $11.70. A full year (13 issues) subscription costs $152.10. The three areas covered by individual DVDs are West, East, and Alaska. The eastern limit of the western DVD includes San Antonio, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Omaha, Wichita, and the Twin Cities. NACO also announced that, as of April 15, a digital terminal procedures publication (d-TPP) will be available on a one-time or yearly subscription basis. Each d-TPP DVD includes instrument approach procedures, departure procedures, standard terminal arrival routes, airport diagrams, charted visual flight procedures, etc. The cost is $12.50 per issue and $162.50 for a one-year (13 issues) subscription. For more information, click on the "Online Products" link on the FAA's Web site. AOPA members can access the instrument approaches and other procedures at no cost on AOPA Online.

My ePilot - Student Interest, Training Tips
VISUAL CHECKPOINTS SHOW THE WAY
Technology has simplified many navigational chores for cross-country flying. Still, you must demonstrate your skill in the art of pilotage to earn a pilot certificate. More than ever before, showcasing your pilotage skills includes demonstrating that you always know your location relative to any restricted airspace or airspace requiring clearances or communication with air traffic control before entering. See the July 12, 2002, Training Tips "Avoiding Restricted Areas."

As you practice pilotage-defined in Chapter 14 of the Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge as navigation by reference to landmarks or checkpoints-a small but valuable symbol on aeronautical sectional charts can help you be ready when your flight takes you near busier airspace. The symbol is known as a "visual checkpoint" (illustrated on page 16 of the Aeronautical Chart User's Guide, which you can download from AOPA Online). It consists of a pennant and the underlined name of the town, lake, or other landmark it represents. Scan your charts for visual checkpoints. You are bound to spot a few; for example, you can find them about 20 nm outside the center of any Class C airspace. They may be closely associated with information boxes on the chart instructing you to contact approach control within 20 miles on a designated frequency. They may also appear in other places where a prominent visual checkpoint is needed. Airports make excellent visual checkpoints and are often designated as such on sectional charts. But use care: A tower-controlled airport (in Class D airspace) may be marked as a visual checkpoint for nearby Class C airspace. Make sure you contact that airport's control tower before entering the Class D airspace. If you are using GPS navigation as a backup, sectional charts now include "visual waypoints" that may be used in a similar fashion, as Jill W. Tallman explains in the January 2003 AOPA Flight Training.

Good visual checkpoints, charted or not, have many uses. Note the most prominent landmarks near your home airport, measure their distance and bearing from the field, and use them to point the way home in reduced visibility or to decrease pilot workload. Your flight-test examiner is bound to notice your extra effort, too!

My ePilot - Student Interest, Training Products
THROW OUT YOUR GUM WRAPPERS; FLYWRITE PAD IS AVAILABLE
The folks at CheckMate Aviation say the idea for the FlyWrite writing pad was born after watching CFIs and student pilots jotting down notes on anything that happened to be handy-up to and including gum wrappers. The FlyWrite is an "in the cockpit" pad designed to give you one place to note radio frequencies, clearances, wind directions, traffic pattern altitudes, ATIS and AWOS reports, Hobbs and tach times, and all the other bits of information you might need to record during a flight. The 5-by-8-inch pad contains 50 sheets and comes with an extra-heavy cardboard backing that provides a firm writing surface. The FlyWrite pad costs $4.50 and can be ordered online.

My ePilot - Student Interest, Final Exam
Question: What is a through-the-fence operator at an airport?

Answer: There are instances when the owner of a public airport permits access to the public landing area by independent operators offering an aeronautical activity or by aircraft based on land adjacent to, but not a part of, the airport property. This type of arrangement is commonly called a through-the-fence operation. Through-the-fence operations include businesses or individuals who have access to the airport infrastructure from outside airport property, or who utilize airport property to conduct a business, but do not rent business space at the airport. Common types of through-the-fence agreements are freelance flight instruction, aircraft maintenance, and aircraft hangars. For more information, see AOPA Online.