Training Notes and News

It’s been said that physical peril has a way of focusing the mind—and if that’s so, then Capt. Gabriel Glinsky’s U.S. Marines should make excellent students.

Glinsky, a V-22 Osprey pilot currently deployed in Afghanistan, is teaching a private pilot ground school to a class of about 15 fellow Marines. The students, mostly enlisted Marines, are preparing for their FAA knowledge tests while they’re still in the war zone. That way, they’ll be prepared to start flying intensively once they return to the United States, with a goal of obtaining civilian sport pilot and private pilot certificates.

Glinsky, a certificated flight instructor, volunteered to teach the ground school when it became apparent that more than a dozen members of his squadron wanted to learn to fly. A longtime AOPA member, Glinsky asked the association to assist him with course materials, and AOPA happily started gathering them.

Rod Machado was the first to pitch in with 15 copies of his Private Pilot Handbook. Gleim Publications provided several Sport Pilot Kits that include books covering the FAA knowledge test, flight maneuvers, and a training syllabus. The AOPA Air Safety Foundation provided a 2010 FAR/AIM for every student, and AOPA staff members contributed a variety of materials including plotters, flight computers, VFR sectionals, and flash cards.

AOPA President Craig Fuller wrote a personal note to Glinsky and thanked him for his “service to the United States, his fellow Marines, and general aviation.”

“The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association is very pleased to support your efforts to train future aviators and extremely impressed at your commitment to do so far from home, and in such austere conditions,” Fuller said.

“The amount of support that we have received is way more than anything that we could have hoped for,” Glinsky said. “We will do our best to keep GA strong, even halfway around the world.”

Visit AOPA at Women in Aviation conference

Planning to attend the twenty-first International Women in Aviation Conference, February 25 through 27 at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando, Florida? AOPA’s booth at the conference will have a “Fun to Fly” theme, and will promote the 2010 AOPA Fun to Fly Sweepstakes and its prize, a brand-new Remos GX light sport aircraft.

Kathleen Vasconcelos, director of operations for the AOPA Air Safety Foundation, will present “What Went Wrong?” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, February 25. The safety seminar is free and open to the public.

During the WAI luncheon on Friday, February 26, Karen Gebhart—president of the AOPA Foundation—will participate in a panel that will discuss the role GA plays in the aviation industry and its benefits to the nation overall.

The conference theme is “Aviation—It’s a Small World.” For more information or to register, visit the Web site.

What’s in ‘AOPA Pilot’?

Here’s what you’re missing if you don’t read AOPA Pilot, the association’s flagship magazine published monthly for certificated pilots.

• Diamond DA42 NG: Mercedes power is now available in Diamond’s next-generation light twin.
• Flying in the Mountains: A special focus on mountain flying includes a review of survival products, the life-saving advantages of the new SPOT locator, and accidents that lost three famous aviators.
• Remos at the Ready: AOPA’s 2010 Sweepstakes has begun—meet the Fun To Fly Remos GX.

Are you ready to read about more advanced subjects such as these? Just as pilots upgrade to more advanced certificates, it may be time to upgrade your magazine. You can convert your paid membership to AOPA Pilot at any time by calling AOPA toll-free (800-USA-AOPA).

Legal Briefing

By Kathy Yodice

Q: I’m a new CFI, and I understand that CFIs have to go through security awareness training. When do I have to do this training and how often? And, will the FAA be checking me on this?

A: The requirement to undergo initial and recurrent security awareness training is a TSA regulation, not an FAA regulation. TSA’s regulations requires “flight school” to ensure that its employees receive initial and recurrent security awareness training. The initial training must be received within 60 days of being hired, and the recurrent training is due every year, in the same month as the month of the initial training. TSA’s regulations define “flight school” to include a flight instructor certificated under Part 61, although the regulations requiring the training seem to use the term to mean an actual flight school, including that the flight school give the CFI a document stating that the training was given and that the flight school maintain a copy of that document. Active independent or solo CFIs should comply with these training requirements. The regulations also require that the flight school permit inspection of these training records by either TSA or FAA during business hours.

Send your legal questions to [email protected] and we’ll answer the best in upcoming issues. Kathy Yodice is an attorney with Yodice Associates in Washington, D.C., which provides legal counsel to AOPA and administers AOPA’s legal services plan. She is an instrument-rated private pilot.

The Frugal Student

Money-saving tips

Send your money-saving ideas to [email protected]. Or, see the AOPA Flight Training page on Facebook.

• Test time! AOPA members, including those with six-month Flight Training memberships, can save $10 on any knowledge test administered at a CATS Testing Center.

• After you log it, journal it. Keep a journal of each lesson to help you retain what you learned and track any questions you might have for your CFI. Some students take this up a notch by chronicling their lessons with video.

—Submitted by Bill Boczany

What It Looks Like: Worn engine isolation mounts

By Mark Twombly

The next time you’re out at the airport on the ramp, take a close look at the propeller and spinner on a number of airplanes and see if you can spot any that appear to be sagging, or hanging down a bit from the normal position. Of course, it’s not just the prop and spinner that are sagging, it’s the entire engine—and the reason is that the engine isolation mounts are worn.

Isolation mounts are the rubber cushions that the engine itself rests on in its rigid metal mount. As the name suggests, isolation mounts “isolate” the airframe, and thus the pilot and passengers, from the vibration produced by the operating engine and spinning propeller.

When new, the isolation mounts do a good job of buffering vibration. They also position the engine and propeller properly in the metal mount. Over time, however, the isolation mounts gradually succumb to the ravages of temperature extremes, vibration, and the constant tug of gravity on that heavy engine and propeller package.

The accompanying photo shows the dramatic difference between a worn and a new isolation mount. The pronounced deformation in the worn mount is what allows the engine, propeller, and spinner to sag. Engine manufacturers recommend that isolation mounts be replaced periodically—every 500 flight hours in the case of Textron Lycoming. It’s a fairly expensive job because the engine has to be disconnected, so some aircraft owners elect to make the change when the engine is removed for overhaul or exchange, or sooner if the rubber mounts are cracked or severely worn.

Flight school attracts mall shoppers with LSA

By Jill W. Tallman

Parking an airplane in a mall during the busy holiday shopping season proved fruitful for a flight school in Texas, which sold nearly 170 introductory flights and also gathered leads on 130 possible aircraft partnerships.

US Aviation moved a Remos GX light sport aircraft into the Vista Ridge Mall in Lewisville the day before Thanksgiving and removed it the day after Christmas, staffing it each hour that the mall was open.

“What we learned was that many people think about aviation, but fail to act on the impulse,” said Justin Shelley, director of aircraft sales for USAviation. Putting an aircraft in their line of sight prompted passersby to stop and talk about pilot certification or ownership, he said. Many were surprised to learn that a sport pilot certificate can be earned in fewer hours and for less money, he added. Shelley was optimistic that a few dozen introductory flights would be converted into student pilots and perhaps a dozen others would become involved in partnerships or flying clubs. “We’ll know better in a couple months,” he said.

Reaching out to the public “really gets people fired up about flying,” Shelley said. “The airport is just too remote to many people, and the mall brings aviation right into their daily lives.”

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. If instructed by ground control to taxi to Runway 9, the pilot may proceed

1. via taxiways and across runways to, but not onto, Runway 9.
2. to the next intersecting runway, where further clearance is required.
3. via taxiways and across runways to Runway 9, where an immediate
   takeoff may be made.

2. When departing behind a heavy aircraft, the pilot should avoid wake turbulence by maneuvering the aircraft

1. below and downwind from the heavy aircraft.
2. above and upwind from the heavy aircraft.
3. below and upwind from the heavy aircraft.

3. Prior to starting each maneuver, pilots should

1. check altitude, airspeed, and heading indications.
2. visually scan the entire area for collision avoidance.
3. announce their intentions on the nearest CTAF.

4. How does the wake turbulence vortex circulate around each wing tip?

1. Inward, upward, and around each tip.
2. Inward, upward, and counterclockwise.
3. Outward, upward, and around each tip.

5. When approaching taxiway holding lines from the side with the continuous lines, the pilot

1. may continue taxiing.
2. should not cross the lines without ATC clearance.
3. should continue taxiing until all parts of the aircraft have crossed the lines.

6. The recommended entry position to an airport traffic pattern is

1. 45 degrees to the base leg just below traffic pattern altitude.
2. 45 degrees at the midpoint of the downwind leg at traffic pattern altitude.
3. directly over the airport at traffic pattern altitude and join the downwind leg.

Final Exam answers

1. The correct answer is A. When issued a “taxi to” clearance without hold instructions, you may taxi via all assigned taxiways and across all runways except the assigned takeoff runway. Answer B is incorrect because no clearance is required to cross runways other than the assigned takeoff runway. Answer C is incorrect because you may not enter the assigned takeoff runway, nor are you cleared to take off from that runway.

2. The correct answer is B. Wake turbulence and the associated wing tip vortices are created by aircraft that are heavy, clean, and slow. The rotating vortices from large aircraft can be strong enough to cause a smaller trailing airplane to roll uncontrollably. The vortices descend behind the departing airplane and move laterally along the ground at 2 to 3 knots, and they will drift with the wind. The best course of action when departing behind a large aircraft is to request a two-minute delay so that the vortices have time to dissipate. Answers A and C are incorrect because staying below the departing aircraft would put you directly in the path of the wake turbulence.

3. The correct answer is B. Clearing turns should be performed prior to starting a maneuver to ensure that you won’t intrude into another airplane’s flight path. Answer A is incorrect because even though it is appropriate to verify the airplane’s position in space before starting a maneuver, our primary responsibility while flying under VFR is to see and avoid other traffic. Answer C is incorrect because you should not be performing maneuvers in the traffic pattern, or congesting the CTAF with calls about operations outside the airport traffic area.

4. The correct answer is C. In the process of creating lift, an area of low pressure forms above the airplane’s wing that is complemented by an area of high pressure below the wing. The air flows outward, upward, and around each wing tip as the airplane moves forward in flight. The result is a pair of rotating vortices that trail behind each wing tip, which are the major factor in wake turbulence. Answers A and B are incorrect because they describe the vortices as flowing from the low-pressure area above the wing to the high-pressure area below the wing—opposite from what actually occurs.

5. The correct answer is B. When approaching from the side with the solid lines, have an ATC clearance before crossing. When exiting a runway, you will be on the dashed line side of the hold marking. In this case you are authorized to and should cross the line as soon as you’re able, to clear the runway. Answer A is incorrect because you may not cross the solid lines without ATC permission. Answer C is incorrect because it describes approaching the dashed-side of the lines as you exit the runway, rather than approaching from the solid-lined side.

6. The correct answer is B. The FAA’s Airplane Flying Handbook recommends that entries to the airport traffic pattern be made at a 45-degree angle to the downwind leg and at the traffic pattern altitude. This helps to create a predictable and orderly flow of traffic in the busy airport environment. Answer A is incorrect because entering below pattern altitude and then possibly climbing to altitude while in the pattern creates a potential collision hazard. Answer C is incorrect because if crossing over the airport, you should fly at an altitude well above the pattern to avoid potential collisions with traffic already operating at the airport.

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