Membership News and Notes March 2019

Let’s fly somewhere

AOPA Travel will help you get away

By Julie Summers Walker

The United States has some 15,000 landing facilities of various kinds, so, let’s fly somewhere! AOPA Travel is a great place to start your travel planning. This dedicated section on the AOPA website features everything you need to plan your next flyaway trip. From travel stories on places our writers have been to advice from AOPA members on the best airport restaurants for that $100 hamburger run to how to effectively flight plan for the weather, fuel stop, and everything in between, AOPA Travel is designed to get you flying.

Our writers have explored some interesting places in the United States—the Burning Man festival in Nevada, where an airport appears for just one week a year; a weekend in the backwoods of Maine to visit the grandson of the inventor of the helicopter; small islands where the airplane is almost the only (but best) way to explore; the site of the Wright brothers’ first flight; mountain getaways in remote outposts; seaside resorts in the Bahamas. It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it. Why not you, too?

Use the AOPA Travel site to get your inspiration, then let the website features help you plan your trip. Read the fascinating stories, see the incredible photography, and then start planning: We’ve gathered all the information on the more than 5,000 public-use airports in the country; developed guides for international travel; and provided a source for weather information. We also have a twice-monthly newsletter—AOPA Travel Pilot—that can be sent to your inbox to provide more inspiration. Oh, and AOPA members receive travel discounts, too. How about up to 25 percent off car rentals or up to 60 percent off hotel stays? What are you waiting for?

Email [email protected]
Web: www.aopa.org/travel

Ready to land in another world?

If you were thinking of a trip to the Bahamas or the Caribbean in 2019, start your planning with AOPA Pilot Guides for the Bahamas and Caribbean, the trusted source of flight planning information for pilots who love to fly the islands. Fully redesigned in 2018, these comprehensive guidebooks are updated annually and are packed with everything you need to prepare for a trip to the Bahamas and Caribbean islands, including maps with airport data and the layout of each island, customs and immigration information, and more. Plus, you get information on the local culture, customs, the best way to get around while you’re there, what the food is like, and tips and suggestions from other pilots for where to stay and fun things to do. The Bahamas and the Caribbean have been a pilot’s playground since aircraft were able to make cross-country flights. If the turquoise waters and white sand beaches are calling your name, begin your preflight with the AOPA Pilot Guides.

Web: www.aopa.org/pilotguides

Explore airports and places to fly

Search for new airports and check out local attractions to kickstart your next GA trip with our revised Airport Directory. Access the most comprehensive directory of GA airports and FBO information including runway diagrams, communications, and more. Search for activities at the airport you’ve chosen. Looking for family fun? The directory lists amusement parks and museums. Ready for outdoor activities? It lists nearby golf courses, skiing areas, and fishing spots. Restaurant and lodging information also is available. Explore using our interactive map and pick your next destination.

Web: www.aopa.org/destinations

MEMBER PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

AOPA Aviation Finance: Futile search

Are you ready to buy, but can’t find your airplane?

You are preapproved for a loan, have a hangar secured, and now all you need is the turboprop of your dreams. You know exactly what you want. The only problem is, there aren’t any on the market, or at least at what you think is a reasonable price.

This is where a broker or dealer that specializes in the make and model you’re looking to purchase is of value. Although it may not currently have the model you want available for sale, chances are they’ve sold one and may know someone looking to purchase if they could only sell their used one. In the real estate world, agents frequently have so-called “pocket” listings where they have talked with owners who are interested in selling someday, and the aircraft world is no different. If you choose an aircraft that is in high demand, it is not unusual for a broker to know about an aircraft that is not for sale—yet.

Should that approach fail, look at your search. What is it about your dream airplane that is limiting your results? Do you need to shop for similar aircraft that nearly match, but not exactly match, your ideal model?

In general, there is enough of an aircraft inventory that, unless you are looking for something unique, you should be able to find what you want. If not, there is still a final plan: Find someone who has what you want but has no intention to sell, and make a generous offer; you may be surprised.

Making an offer may necessitate an appraisal to justify the value of the aircraft. However, even if the appraisal comes in less than what you’re paying, most lenders are still more than willing to provide a loan. Virtually all lenders lend on the lesser of a loan-to-value or loan-to-purchase amount. You may just need to put down a little more money than you were originally planning.

When the buying fever strikes, AOPA Aviation Finance is here to help you find the lender that is right for your specific purchase.

Considering aircraft ownership? AOPA Aviation Finance will make your purchase experience as smooth as possible. For information about aircraft financing, please visit the website (www.aopafinance.com) or call 1-800-62-PLANE (75263).

Tips from PIC

Are you PIC or not?

Logging versus acting

By Patrick Timmerman

Every year we field thousands of questions from our fellow aviators through phone calls, emails, and chats. Many are unique; however, there are a few that we hear on a regular basis. Some of these revolve around FAR 61.51, Pilot logbooks; paragraph e, Logging pilot-in-command flight time. When approaching this part of the regulation it is important to remember that the FAA makes a distinction between logging PIC flight time and acting as PIC.

In a legal interpretation from May 2009 the FAA said, “There is a distinction between logging PIC time and acting as a PIC. For a pilot to log PIC time (i.e., the sole manipulator of the controls), a pilot must be properly rated in the aircraft by having the appropriate category, class, and type ratings. For a pilot to act as a PIC (i.e., the pilot who has final authority and responsibility for the operation and safety of the flight), a pilot must be properly rated in the aircraft and be properly rated and authorized to conduct the flight.”

The question that was addressed in this interpretation was whether a private pilot with an airplane single-engine land rating could log PIC flight time in a complex, high-performance aircraft during the time he was the sole manipulator of the controls, even though he lacked complex and high-performance endorsements. The answer was yes because he was the sole manipulator of the controls of an aircraft for which he was rated—airplane single engine land. But, could he act as pilot in command? No, because he lacked the endorsements required for a pilot to act as PIC of a high performance and/or complex airplane.

Questions? Give AOPA a call Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 6 pm Eastern time. 800-USA-AOPA (872-2672).

Patrick Timmerman is an aviation specialist in the AOPA Pilot Information Center.

ANSWERS FOR PILOTS

Oh, Canada!

By Kathleen Dondzila King

Crossing an international border takes some preparation, but it’s well worth the effort to fly to Canada. Everyone traveling needs a passport, and the pilot in command also needs a current airman medical certificate. Please note that BasicMed is not yet accepted in Canada. A restricted radio-telephone operators permit and a radio station license are required and can be obtained from the FCC. All aircraft must have a transponder or, if not equipped, a TSA waiver. An emergency locator transmitter is required, as are charts for the United States and Canada. Aircraft with fuel tanks installed in the baggage or passenger compartments need to have Form 337 on board. Liability insurance is also required. Experimental aircraft need a special airworthiness certificate—Experimental.

In addition, the Department of Homeland Security requires a decal displayed on the aircraft window or cabin entrance, and pilots must file an eAPIS manifest for border crossings at least one hour before departing from or arriving in the United States. Pilots must also contact CANPASS by phone, 888-CAN-PASS (226-7277), prior to takeoff in the United States and stay in communication with ATC on a discrete squawk code as they cross the U.S. border. The first call to CANPASS must be made no less than two hours nor more than 48 hours before the border crossing. Pilots will receive an ID number to give to CANPASS prior to exiting the aircraft at a Canadian airport of entry.  

Questions? Please call AOPA, 800-USA-AOPA (872-2672) Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time.AOPA

Kathleen Dondzila King is AOPA’s technical communications manager and an instrument-rated private pilot.

AOPA AIR SAFETY INSTITUTE

Getting a word in edgewise

How to get—and keep—ATC’s attention

By Bob Knill

There you are, finger on the push-to-talk button, ready with your ATC call only to find no opening. You know what you’re going to say, but can’t squeeze in amongst all the other chatter out there. How do you get ATC’s attention when you’re fast approaching their airspace?

The AOPA Air Safety Institute asked controllers this question. There’s a simple, one-word announcement that will help move you to the front of their focus. In this Ask ATC episode, controllers reveal how to efficiently get their attention when the airwaves are buzzing, and you have a regulation to meet.

In certain airspace, it’s a requirement that you simply be “in contact” with ATC before entering that airspace. (Remember that having ATC simply reply with your tail number meets this requirement.) Simply calling up with your N number and saying “request” opens the door to the legal communication requirement and gives you the added benefit of relaxing a bit, knowing that ATC is aware of you and knows that you want to talk to them.

In busy airspace with a lot of traffic, controllers are keeping track of a lot of information. If you’ve not been in contact with them previously, you have to introduce yourself and your intentions, thus adding to the workload. It’s frustrating for both the pilot and controller to have to repeat information because one, or both, weren’t ready. The solution in the video works for you as a simple way of getting on ATC’s radar, both literally and figuratively.

For much of the country, better weather and more flying opportunities are around the corner. It’s an opportunity to knock the rust off our flying skills and our radio skills. Both, like muscles, diminish without regular exercise. If you want to fly like a professional, it often helps to sound like a professional, and breaking into busy ATC chatter like a professional pilot is a good way to start.

Bob Knill is a writer on assignment with the AOPA Air Safety Institute.

Web: www.airsafetyinstitute.org/askatc/busycontroller

New from ASI

Feeling lost in space

Statistics tell us that accidents involving VFR flight into instrument meteorological conditions (VFR into IMC) are by far the most fatal of accident causes. What’s not talked about much is why VFR into IMC is so dangerous. It’s not the weather that directly causes the crash; it’s the spatial disorientation pilots can experience while flying in IMC that causes problems, and it affects pilots of all experience and certificate levels. Refresh what you know about this phenomenon with the Spatial Disorientation Safety Quiz from the AOPA Air Safety Institute.

Web: www.airsafetyinstitute.org/safetyquizzes/spatialdisorientation

Take control of your takeoffs and landings

Regardless of pilot experience, bungled takeoffs and botched landings happen regularly. With spring approaching, now is the perfect time to set ourselves up for success during the rest of the flying season when it comes to consistent and safe takeoffs and landings. For a set of tips and tricks for making these critical phases of flight more uneventful, check out the AOPA Air Safety Institute’s Takeoff and Landings Safety Spotlight.

Web: www.airsafetyinstitute.org/spotlight/takeoffsandlandings

See and avoid

Technology certainly helps, but it doesn’t relieve us of our duties to actually see the traffic that we’re sharing the skies with, and more important, avoid it. In this video on collision avoidance from the AOPA Air Safety Institute, you’ll hear about some of the factors common to midair collisions, where and when they are more likely to occur, and other information that can help you avoid that hair-raising near miss.

Web: www.airsafetyinstitute.org/videos/see-sense-separate

Pilot Protection Services: Legally Speaking

Left seat rules

Instructing from the passenger seat

By Ray Carver

New AOPA World Mastercard® Reward your passion for aviation and save money on AOPA membership and more! Visit aopa.org/creditcard for details.

Pilots and flight schools have been known to seek ways to reduce the cost of flight training while continuing to comply with all the applicable regulations. One question that is often raised by flight instructors was recently discussed by the FAA in the Williams legal interpretation. Specifically, the FAA addressed whether a flight instructor providing instrument instruction to a certificated pilot could provide the training from the jump seat or another passenger seat while a qualified safety pilot occupies the other pilot station.

FAR 61.195(g) requires that flight instruction be given in an aircraft that has at least two pilot stations. Additionally, FAR 91.109(a) requires that the aircraft have fully functioning dual controls or, in the case of instrument training, a throw-over control wheel. However, these regulations do not specifically state that the flight instructor must occupy the second pilot station.

The FAA determined that in the proposed scenario, providing flight instruction from a passenger seat without dual controls would constitute a violation of FARs 61.195(g) and 91.109(a). It reasoned that the regulations would not require two pilot stations for a training flight unless the flight instructor were required to provide the training from one of the pilot stations. It further stated that if the instructor was occupying a jump seat or passenger seat, he or she would be unable to effectively demonstrate the procedures and maneuvers to the student and would be unable to assist or take over in an emergency situation.

Therefore, although the presence of a second qualified pilot may provide a level of safety for the training flight, the FAA’s interpretation makes clear that the instructor must occupy a pilot station with fully functioning dual controls while providing flight instruction.

Ray Carver is an in-house aviation attorney for the AOPA Pilot Protection Services legal division.

Web: www.aopa.org/pps