Winter Rant

[Wburns]

Great Post Doc!

[Dagwood]

Great post.

One of my instructors always made his students make sure the flight was LEGAL and SAFE. Just because it is one doesn't mean it is automatically the other. Sure, for training everything is usually hunky dory, but not so in the "real world".

Night Circling approaches, Single Pilot IFR is legal. So is holding in icing. So is taking off when your destination is 0/0 and your alternate is 200/0.5. Doesn't mean we have to do it if it isn't safe.


Don't make today's flight your last!

[oldncold]

greeeattt post doc

here are my things


1/cold wx corrections all the time from oct til may and north of 60lat all ways

2/a planned decent from the flt levels so that ya hit the 10 mile fix if gpss
at the aircrafts or your company's holdin speed

3fly the 3to 1 rule (3miles per 1000ft) unless terrain pulbishes says otherwise.

4/ now you have done that landed picked up friehgt or pax //

review the departure procedure for the aerodrome this is critical in the mtns

and very important allways with all these new wind farms going up and towers . a wrong turn could make for a bad night .

if single pilot slow down do all the checklist items outloud if your in a ho no one is going to here ya anyway . .

5/ always have your own kit ( things that make like for your operation easier) with you ie toolbox with extra...

ifr never cancel the alerting service file an ifr itinary with 2hrs on the search that way if you are delayed in upper rbberboot ... and the indegiineus people s terminal is locked up tighter than bull's ass in june fly time. you won't set of the resuce system unnecessarily . then when you go below radar coverage or the airway or into uncontrolled airspace even if your dispatch pooches it sum will come looking for ya. cancel the ifr if ya want but not the alerting.

and remember people, going company note and canceling ifr also cancells the alerting . stay warm

[xsbank]

Believe it or not, one of the very best exercises to tune up your scan is steep turns. Whenever you have a lookout pilot, do a couple of steepies, left and right, 180 degrees and make your tolerances same as a ride: 5 degrees bank, 5 knots airspeed, 5 degrees heading. Don't stop the turn and go straight and level but roll back the other direction. 180 degrees will do. Also, once you get good at it, slow the entry and the exit down. Try it at different altitudes. Get PNF (if there is one) to call out anomalies but try and do it all yourself.

[Flying Low]

This easily ranks as one of the the top threads ever on AvCanada.

A few things I did flying the MU2 over northern Ontario...

Turn the lights down through out the flight as your eyes adjust. When you get to the destination you will have a little better field of vision when you transition to look outside the aircraft.

Turn the ARCAL lighting up to it's max setting initially and dial it back to med or lo once you are closer in.

As part of my shut down check once I had arrived all the instrument lights went back to full bright. Taxiing out for departure, the ARCAL lights are turned on med. This allowed me to see the runway lights outside but when I crossed the far end of the runway and all the lights vanished the panel was the only thing I could see. In the MU2 we established a wings level climb attitude and checked performance with the VSI and altimeter. Climb straight out to 1000' while cleaning up the aircraft was SOP.

[ettw]

Great thread. All great points.

I'll just add (and I might get smoked for this) consider taking the tailwind BEFORE the circling at night. As BBB said, up here circling is ops normal for us and we are two crew but its still not a great feeling circling for 03 at Qiqitarjuaq at night. We will take the tailwind to preclude circling but then runway surface conditions become even more important as well as speed control.

My .02.

Cheers,

ETTW

[Four1oh]

Not to be picky on the VSI tip, but if you don't have a good scan on a black hole departure, you stand a good chance of killing yourself. To say the VSI is the most important instrument could have the greenhorns glued to it instead of maintaining their scan. Pitch is also crucial because of the acceleration illusions you experience, and so is roll and airspeed. They're all important, and things happen quickly as you rotate into blackness. The 1000' before a turn is great advice too, since it gives you time to fix a turning error.

Four1oh.. Although I understand your advice is for the green guys/gals..Doc is on the money on this one. Yes, there is no replacement for a good scan.. but coming out of YSF at midnight on a tues night.. If you dont have a positive rate on the VSI, none of the other instruments are gonna matter. I would hope that flying schools still teach this and also teach how to maintain a good scan (while not fixating on any one instrument).. For me, my scan included extra looks at the VSI out of ANY black hole take off. If you dont give this instrument the respect it deserves, it can and will bite you HARD in the a$$. I agree not to fixate, but at the same time we do need to impress upon the younger crews, the importance of that instrument when doing a black hole departure.. that your PPL flight test examiner told you was the LEAST important instrument.. and to knock the glass out of the VSI if you loose your static source. Thats where the "green" guys/gals may get confused. VFR its a useless instrument.. IFR, it will save your life.


Fly safe all.

Once again, it's great to stress the importance of confirming a climb, but once again, keep in mind who will take this advice... pilots who are doing this kind of stuff for the first time, and even single pilot. It is no less important to lock a pitch in and don't let it sink; it's no less important to keep the wings level until a safe altitude; it's no less important to make sure your airspeed is where it should be, which brings me back to what I said in the first place... make sure you have a good scan!!! And, TRUST YOUR INSTRUMENTS!!! There are a lot of forces at work on your inner ear during a takeoff/early climb, don't be fooled by them, and trust your instruments. A black hole will enhance your senses to the point where you may question your instruments, but don't be fooled. Keep the wings level, keep that pitch in it's happy place, and for sure make sure you're climbing!

[xsbank]

"After V1 its an airborne emergency; we will take no action through 400' (1000' for SOPs) except to raise the gear and silence the Warning. At 400', is there a turn (SID, MAPP)? Then evaluate - is it a good one or a bad one?" (Bad one has Memory items and Good one - continue to MSA).

[Doc]

Not to be picky on the VSI tip, but if you don't have a good scan on a black hole departure, you stand a good chance of killing yourself. To say the VSI is the most important instrument could have the greenhorns glued to it instead of maintaining their scan. Pitch is also crucial because of the acceleration illusions you experience, and so is roll and airspeed. They're all important, and things happen quickly as you rotate into blackness. The 1000' before a turn is great advice too, since it gives you time to fix a turning error.

Four1oh.. Although I understand your advice is for the green guys/gals..Doc is on the money on this one. Yes, there is no replacement for a good scan.. but coming out of YSF at midnight on a tues night.. If you dont have a positive rate on the VSI, none of the other instruments are gonna matter. I would hope that flying schools still teach this and also teach how to maintain a good scan (while not fixating on any one instrument).. For me, my scan included extra looks at the VSI out of ANY black hole take off. If you dont give this instrument the respect it deserves, it can and will bite you HARD in the a$$. I agree not to fixate, but at the same time we do need to impress upon the younger crews, the importance of that instrument when doing a black hole departure.. that your PPL flight test examiner told you was the LEAST important instrument.. and to knock the glass out of the VSI if you loose your static source. Thats where the "green" guys/gals may get confused. VFR its a useless instrument.. IFR, it will save your life.


Fly safe all.

Once again, it's great to stress the importance of confirming a climb, but once again, keep in mind who will take this advice... pilots who are doing this kind of stuff for the first time, and even single pilot. It is no less important to lock a pitch in and don't let it sink; it's no less important to keep the wings level until a safe altitude; it's no less important to make sure your airspeed is where it should be, which brings me back to what I said in the first place... make sure you have a good scan!!! And, TRUST YOUR INSTRUMENTS!!! There are a lot of forces at work on your inner ear during a takeoff/early climb, don't be fooled by them, and trust your instruments. A black hole will enhance your senses to the point where you may question your instruments, but don't be fooled. Keep the wings level, keep that pitch in it's happy place, and for sure make sure you're climbing!

Nobody is advocating throwing the scan out the window. Of course a scan is important, but if you don't maintain a positive rate of climb, the rest of the greatest scan on earth ain't gonna do you much good.......that's the point.

[Skyhunter]

Doc,

First let me state that 99% of my IFR flying has been single pilot jet (17 years worth). Granted most of it has been to controlled airports but some uncontrolled, but while I think you have some good points I do think you are overly cautious. There is no reason not to shoot an approach to CAP min's single pilot at night, so long as you are current and proficient, and inside your own abilities. Why not shot an ILS to 200 and a half. Airplanes still fly at night. In fact I prefer IFR at night vs day if the weather is bad as the approach and runway lighting make things a bit easier for me at night than the same weather during the day. Don't turn til 1000'? Again, if you are proficient and flying a dept that you can turn at 400' for, no reason not too. I would do it in cloud why not at night. Here's the caveat though, the less familiar I am with a place and the less proficient I am (like right now for example where I am neither proficient or current) more I start to move to your end of the spectrum for increasing limits. There are some things I whole heartedly agree with though whether proficient or not... the most important one, expect and be prepared to miss.

[Doc]

Skyhunter, at some point, common sense has to kick in. Would I shoot an ILS single pilot to published minimums? If everything is lined up, and centered, yes. Would I do a single pilot circling into Upper Armpit(on a dark and starless night) at 700 feet? Probably not. Circumstances alter cases. The main thing here, is know your comfort level, and work within it. When in doubt, chicken out.

[young grasshopper]

oldncold wrote:

1/cold wx corrections all the time from oct til may and north of 60lat all ways

Great point...take a look at a cold wx correction table and see what it says for -40...at sea level AND figure for 10,000'. Remember its not just minimums that need to be corrected!



*My spelling sucked

[x-wind]

Specific tempature corrections are for 'minimums'. Page 4 in the your CAP addresses flight at MOCA/MEA for cold weather. **The correction is to be calculated from the elevation of your altimeter setting source, which isn't always the aerodrome your landing at**

Clean windsheild.

Personal fitness- hypoxic effects are more pronounced at night, but still insidious.

[Doc]

Remember its not just minimums that need to be corrected!

Actually, it is.

[Four1oh]

And here I thought cold temperature corrections applied whenever the temperature was below 0? I didn't realize it should be done from October, or certain dates.

[nimbostratus]

Remember its not just minimums that need to be corrected!

Actually, it is.

Hey Doc, you might want to reread your Cap Gen Pg. 27. Unless of course by "minimums" you mean sector altitudes, DME arcs, final approach fix crossing altitudes, procedure turn altitudes and missed approach altitudes...

I also would agree that you should be using the chart whenever the temperature is zero and below. Not specific months of the year.

Nimbo

[young grasshopper]

From the CAP GEN:

"In conditions of extreme cold weather pilots should add the values derived from the altitude correction chart to the
published procedure altitudes, including minimum sector altitudes and DME arcs, to ensure adequate obstacle clearance.
Unless otherwise specified, the destination aerodrome elevation is used as the elevation of the altimeter source."

I realize that the table doe not go to 10,000...my point was that when in a non-radar controlled environment like Whitehorse, you'd better think hard about your 100 mile sector as I believe it is around the 11,000' mark. Pretty sure that'd be a good one to correct if its a real chilly day in YXY. Hopefully you're not just correcting your 200' minimums .

[Doc]

With all due respect, I'd rather know you guys have a good idea of your own limits, on dark nights, can execute a successful missed approach, can maintain a very positive rate of climb to 1000 AGL, stay away from night circling approaches than whether or not you add 2 or 3 hundred feet to your sector altitudes. Feel free to memorize the CAP GEN if it makes you feel better.....in the real world, know how to avoid unplanned contact with the ground.
Fly safe.

[young grasshopper]

I'm not trying to get into a p!ssing match with anyone. Sorry if it came across that way. I fly in the Arctic in the 705 world, and I just thought it was a good point to make as it's always kept me out of trouble. I had to reference the CAP GEN to find that remark as I don't have it memorized...its just something I do. Fly safe

[x-wind]

It is for "minimums"

Don't be adding it to your cruise altitude or on vectors.