Fun on the water. If low and slow appeals to you, then surely low and slow over—and on—lakes and rivers will offer even more excitement. Pilots agree that floatplane flying is some of the most fun flying you'll ever do. It can be tough to find fixed-base operators who offer solo seaplane rentals, so if you truly become hooked, you may have to buy a Taylorcraft or Piper J–3 Cub fitted with floats to get your fix. Or you could build your own. The Searey LSA Elite shown here is a high-wing, pusher aircraft—meaning the engine is mounted on top of the wing—and configured as a taildragger. It is classified as a Light Sport Aircraft. While the Elite is a factory-built version, Searey also sells a kit powered by a 100-horsepower Rotax 912s engine.
WHAT: Searey Elite
WHERE: Lake Jackson, Sebring, Florida
PHOTOGRAPHER: Chris Rose
King Schools launches helicopter FIRC
Paperwork can be completed remotely
By Ian J. Twombly
Helicopter flight instructors often have to get by with standard flight instructor refresher courses that focus on airplanes. Now they have another option with
King Schools’ new helicopter-specific FIRC (www.kingschools.com/courses/
flight-instructor/refresher-course.asp).
The FIRC is a variation of the company’s main refresher course that launched in 2012. Many of the overall themes remain, such as teaching risk management and
conducting flight reviews, but each has been optimized for the rotorcraft environment. Much of the course content was developed in partnership with Helicopter Association International, including some new videos that present the topics in a scenario-based approach.
King Schools’ helicopter FIRC is available for $99, or $129 with paperwork processing. That processing is done entirely online, with no paperwork to send in or notary visit required.
New bill would expand driver's license medical
AOPA/EAA third class medical petition now with Congress
After nearly two years of FAA inaction on the AOPA/EAA third class medical petition, Congress has taken matters into its own hands, offering up legislation that would vastly expand the number of pilots who could fly without going through the expensive and time-consuming third class medical certification process. Reps. Todd Rokita (R-Ind.), a member of the House General Aviation Caucus, and GA Caucus Co-Chair Sam Graves (R-Mo.) on December 11 introduced the General Aviation Pilot Protection Act. The legislation would dramatically expand the parameters for flying under the driver's license medical standard. Rokita and Graves are both AOPA members and active pilots.
"We have waited far too long for the FAA to expand the third-class medical exemption to more pilots and more aircraft," said AOPA President Mark Baker. "Congressmen Rokita and Graves stepped forward to take decisive action in the best interests of general aviation when the FAA refused to act. We appreciate their outstanding leadership on this issue and look forward to seeing this bill move forward."
The General Aviation Pilot Protection Act would allow pilots to use the driver's license medical standard for noncommercial VFR flights in aircraft weighing up to 6,000 pounds with no more than six seats. That includes virtually all single-engine airplanes with six or fewer seats, including Beech Bonanzas, as well as many light twins like the Piper Aztec, Beech Baron 55 and 58, and Cessna 310. By way of comparison, most large SUVs on the roads today weigh more than 6,000 pounds and can carry six to seven passengers, making them larger than the aircraft that would be operated with proof of a valid driver's license under the new bill.
Pilots would be allowed to carry up to five passengers, fly at altitudes below 14,000 feet msl, and fly no faster than 250 knots. The bill also would require the FAA to report on the safety consequences of the new rule after five years.
"As a pilot, I am pleased to introduce this important legislation with my colleagues and fellow pilots," said Rokita. "This bill eliminates a duplicative and therefore unnecessary medical certification regulation that drives up costs for pilots and prevents the general aviation industry from fulfilling its economic potential."
"For many recreational pilots, the FAA's third class medical certification process is nothing more than a bureaucratic hoop to jump through," said Graves. "It discourages new pilots and does not truly improve safety. As a pilot, I have gone through this process several times. However, like all pilots, I am responsible for determining whether I am medically fit to fly during the time between my mandated medical certifications. Expanding the current exemption makes sense and will promote greater recreational aviation activity across the U.S. without an impact on safety."
The bill was co-sponsored by Reps. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), Bill Flores (R-Texas), Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.), and Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.). They are members of the GA Caucus.
The legislative action comes after the FAA has repeatedly declined to rule on a March 2012 petition filed by AOPA and EAA. That petition asked the FAA to expand the driver's license medical standard used by sport pilots for nearly a decade. Under the petition, pilots would be able to operate noncommercial VFR flights in single-engine aircraft with 180 horsepower or less, four or fewer seats, fixed gear, and a maximum of one passenger. To participate, pilots would need a valid driver's license and would be required to take recurrent safety training to help them accurately assess their fitness to fly.
More than 16,000 overwhelmingly favorable comments were filed during the public comment period on the petition. But despite strong support from the aviation community and solid evidence that the exemption would maintain or improve safety, the FAA failed to act, so AOPA turned to supporters in Congress for help.
Building support for the General Aviation Pilot Protection Act will be critical to its passage, and AOPA will be calling on its members to show their support at the appropriate time.
Abeam the numbers
465 miles: New private pilot Greg Kaiser’s cross-country distance to attend a reunion (page 24).
1929: Year of the first instrument flight (page 44).
30 knots: The crosswind component one Alaskan pilot unsuccessfully tried to land in (page 23).
'Flight Training' contributor publishes new book
W. Scott Olsen’s Prairie Sky captures the essence of flight
Creative writing professor and Flight Training contributor W. Scott Olsen has answered the fundamental question of why we fly in his new book Prairie Sky. Ironically, Prairie Sky isn’t really a book about flying. It’s a book about exploration and the thrills of doing something unique.
With Prairie Sky, his tenth book, Olsen has established himself as one of the country’s foremost creative writers on flying and all things aviation. In it he eloquently describes the landscape as seen from a few thousand feet in a small airplane, in the way we all try to do for friends and family who don’t understand our passions. He has the ability to take what many would consider a normal flight and turn it into something extraordinary. That’s primarily because Olsen approaches the airplane like Columbus approached a ship—as a way to get to new worlds.
Prairie Sky should be required reading on your next cancelled lesson. It’s available from the University of Missouri Press (http://press.umsystem.edu) for $19.95 or other online book retailers.
Europe-American Aviation, Hodges University partner
Europe-American Aviation (www.skystead.com), based at Naples Municipal Airport in Naples, Florida, will partner with Hodges University (www.hodges.edu) to offer a flight training component with a bachelor’s degree in management. Hodges University has campuses in Naples and Fort Myers, and also offers online degree programs. Flight training was to be offered to students beginning in January 2014, according to flight instructor Jon Wittoesch. Europe-American Aviation offers Part 61 and Part 141 training using Diamond DA40s, a DA42, and a Piper Lance.
FAA issues final rule on air carrier pilot training
The FAA, addressing a mandate from Congress to update air carrier flight training standards and regulations, has published a final rule that stresses basic pilot skills and better tracking of remedial training for crewmembers to avoid “events that, although rare, are often catastrophic,” such as the February 2009 crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407 near Buffalo, New York.
The rule, to take effect March 12, 2014, requires “ground and flight training that enables pilots to prevent and recover from aircraft stalls and upsets,” which the FAA said would also affect future simulator standards since all flight training will be required in a full flight simulator during all qualification and recurrent training. The rule also requires air carriers to use data to track the remedial training given pilots found to have “performance deficiencies, such as failing a proficiency check or unsatisfactory performance during flight training.”
Another provision is training for more effective pilot monitoring. The rule explains that “the pilot not flying must monitor the aircraft operation.” Training under the new rule will enhance pilot focus on runway safety procedures and will expand crosswind training, “including training for wind gusts.”
The FAA said the rule’s provisions stem, in part, from the Colgan accident, and also respond to the ensuing congressional mandate to address flight crew training. The agency identified 11 aircraft accidents over a 22-year interval (1988 to 2009) including Colgan 3407, American Airlines 587 (New York City, November 12, 2001), USAir 427 (Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, September 8, 1994), Continental 1404 (Denver, Colorado, December 20, 2008), and Comair 5191 (Lexington, Kentucky, August 27, 2006) that might have been prevented or mitigated by the training requirements in the final rule.
AOPA opposes sleep apnea policy
Rule would require screening based on body mass index
AOPA is asking the FAA to indefinitely suspend implementation of a new policy that would require some pilots to be screened and, if necessary, treated for obstructive sleep apnea before receiving a medical certificate. The screening would initially apply to pilots with a body mass index (BMI) over 40. Over time, the FAA plans to lower the BMI requirement, compelling more pilots to be screened by a board-certified sleep specialist. The policy is the result of NTSB recommendations, but AOPA argues that there is no evidence to support the need for such screenings among general aviation pilots.
“This policy seems to be based on one incident involving an airline flight. In that case, the crew fell asleep and missed their destination, but woke up and landed safely,” said Rob Hackman, AOPA vice president of regulatory affairs. “Analysis of a decade of fatal general aviation accidents by the General Aviation Joint Steering Committee didn’t identify obstructive sleep apnea as a contributing or causal factor in any of the accidents studied.”
AOPA has demanded that the FAA withdraw the policy or submit it to the rulemaking process, noting that there was no public comment period before the policy was announced. The new requirements potentially could affect thousands of pilots, adding to the already significant backlog for processing special issuance medicals.
Shell reveals unleaded avgas
New formula 10 years in the making
Shell Aviation, a subsidiary of the multinational oil giant Royal Dutch Shell, announced that its 10-year effort in the laboratory has produced a fuel that may put a long-sought goal—once thought to be unattainable—within reach: a lead-free “performance drop-in” replacement for 100LL that could power any aircraft in the piston fleet.
“That’s our definite goal,” said Michael Sargeant, avgas commercial aviation manager for Shell Aviation. “We’ve tested it and had some exciting and successful tests.”
The lead-free formulation has a motor octane number (MON) above 100, a critical factor in formulating a fleetwide fuel that could power high-compression engines. (Octane prevents premature ignition known as detonation, and is measured by more than one scale.) Shell’s new lead-free formula has passed preliminary tests in Lycoming engines on the ground, and a Piper Saratoga recently flew for about an hour on the fuel—the first of many tests that will be required for certification.
The FAA has a goal of deploying a lead-free piston aviation fuel by 2018, although Sargeant said the company may be able to achieve required approvals and start distribution sooner. “We believe two to three years might be possible,” Sargeant said. “That’s the timeframe that we would love to work towards. The details need to be developed.”
Sargeant said another design goal is to keep the retail price similar to avgas, although it is too early to know exactly what the new fuel would sell for. Shell has only just begun conversations with the various regulatory agencies involved. The fuel will be submitted for approval from the FAA, ASTM, and the European Aviation Safety Agency.
Shell is now among three companies that have announced unleaded formulations that could replace avgas in piston aircraft in a matter of just a few years, pending additional testing and regulatory approval. Shell is by far the largest of the companies known to be developing unleaded aviation gasoline. Shell’s research team has been focused on finding a single fuel that can work for all, rather than a multi-fuel approach with different formulations to meet varying engine requirements.
“The industry doesn’t need bifurcation,” Sargeant said, noting that the company envisions making it possible by licensing or other means for other petroleum producers to manufacture and distribute the formula, which is made from existing components and will not require major changes to the production and distribution infrastructure.
“We think the secret going forward is really working with as many experts as possible,” Sargeant said.
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