Max Trescott Aviation Trends Aloft

Ten Lessons from Cirrus midair crash with Metroliner over Centennial

Last week, all pilots and passengers miraculously survived a midair crash at Centennial Airport, near Denver, CO. A Cirrus SR22, which was flying a right traffic pattern to runway 17R, hit a Metroliner that was on a long final to runway 17L. The Cirrus, which was flying a shallow, continuous turn from downwind to final, hit the Metroliner slightly from behind and above the aircraft. The Cirrus lost it's nose landing gear as it passed through the top of the Metroliner. The Metroliner landed safely and the Cirrus aircraft landed under it CAPS parachute. 

In episode #188 of my Aviation News Talk podcast, I talk with Cirrus Pilot Erik Gundersen, who put together a video that matches the aircraft ground tracks with the tower communications from the two controllers working the parallel runways at Centennial airport. After our conversation, I talk about some of the measurements and calculations I made after I talked with Erik, and how those factor into the accident. At the end, I give ten takeaways that all GA pilots can learn from this accident. You can find Aviation News Talk at: aviationnewstalk.com/blog for iPhone/iPad, or at aviationnewstalk.com/188 for Android and listening on a PC, or wherever you get podcasts.

It was clear from ADS-B data available through multiple sources, that the Cirrus was flying the traffic pattern at speeds at least 50 knots faster than the speeds specified by Cirrus. As Erik and I discussed, Cirrus states in their FOMs that the downwind should be flown at 100 knots, base at 90 knots, and final at 80 knots, and at slightly slower speeds for short field landings. Arguably, this accident would never have happened if the only change the pilot made was that he flew the correct pattern speeds. 

Faster speeds require steeper bank angles to maintain the same turn radius. As Erik and I discussed, the faster you go, the larger the turn radius, which means at faster airspeeds, your turns become wider, unless you fly a steeper bank angle. Even at the very high speeds this aircraft was flying, if he had only increased his bank to 30 degrees, he would have actually turned just inside of 17R, the runway he was assigned. But since he was at a shallow bank angle, which I calculated to be about 18 degrees, he grossly overshot the centerlines of both runways.

A few people have suggested the Cirrus pilot was mistakenly headed for 17L. That’s certainly possible, as on numerous occasions, when flying to airports with parallel runways, I’ve had to intervene when a client started heading to the wrong runway. That seems to happen most often when the intended runway is shorter and less prominent than the larger runway to which they are mistakenly heading.

In this case though, it seems unlikely the Cirrus pilot was mistakenly headed for 17L, as he was also vastly overshooting that runway as well. I measured the angle at which the Cirrus pilot intersected the centerline for 17L, and it appears the Cirrus pilot still needed to turn another 56 degrees to be aligned with final. So he was less than halfway through the turn from base to final when he hit the Metroliner. So if he was mistakenly headed for 17L, he was doing a very poor job at lining up with that runway, as he was blowing through that centerline as well.

Here's a summary of my ten takeaways:
1. Fly the correct traffic pattern speeds
2. Faster speeds require steeper bank angles
3. Autopilots don’t bank steeply enough for use in the pattern
4. Get comfortable with 30 degree banks in the pattern
5. Don’t overshoot the final, but if you do, consider going around.
6. Refer to a traffic system to identify pattern traffic
7. If in doubt, start your turn early
8. Use G1000 and Perspective Track Vectors to eliminate overshoot final*
9. Don’t Get Distracted
10. Bring a parachute

*If you fly a G1000 or Perspective glass cockpit and are unfamiliar with these features, please buy my G1000 and Perspective book.

There are so many lessons to be learned from this accident, so please listen to this episode of my podcast. If you're unfamiliar with how to listen to podcasts, the easiest way to do it is to download one of our dedicated apps for your phone. Just go to the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store, and search for "Aviation News Talk." Or, click here for the dedicated app for iOS and dedicated app for Android. And podcasts are free, so they'll never cost you anything!

Lightspeed Delta Zulu Review

I talked in #187 of the Aviation News Talk podcast about what you need to know about hearing loss, how hearing loss affects people, and the many ways that pilots and others can permanently damage their hearing. And now there is a new headset that not only helps prevent more hearing loss, but it also provides pilots with a custom sound profile…to compensate for hearing loss you already have. But probably the best feature is that the headset has a built-in carbon monoxide monitor that is always on when the headset is on. I love that because now I don’t have to remember to pull out and turn on my standalone CO monitor when I fly.

The headset is the new Lightspeed Delta Zulu. Lightspeed lent me a demo unit to evaluate, and here’s what I found when I flew with it.

First ANR or automatic noise reduction headsets were introduced about 25 years ago, so the technology is mature. Hence, there’s not a lot of improvement to be had in making headsets quieter, though Lightspeed says the noise reduction is a little better in the Delta Zulu than their prior headsets. So, since there’s not a lot of improvement to be gained in making headsets quieter, Lightspeed chose to add new functions to bring additional value to headset users. And I think they’ve made some savvy choices.

Built-in CO Monitor
First there’s the CO monitor. I talked in #90 of the Aviation News Talk podcast with Mooney pilot Dan Bass, who passed out due to an exhaust system leak that let CO into his cockpit. On his third flight of the day, Dan passed out during the climb with the autopilot on. And when his aircraft eventually ran out of gas, it descended at climb speed and crashed into a snowy field in Minnesota, where Dan woke up in the crashed airplane.

Although you can’t see, smell, or taste it, carbon monoxide can make you sick or kill you. The problem is severe enough that the FAA tasked Wichita State University to investigate the problem and solutions.

According to the report, “The FAA standard for CO in an aircraft cabin is no more than 50 ppm [parts per million]; however, there is currently no requirement to monitor for CO in the cabin.”
Wichita State found that “CO was detected on more than 90% of the flights monitored (either on the ground, in the air, or both), [but] the majority of CO events detected were less than 10 ppm…with a very small percentage [of flights] detected with levels above 50 ppm.”

Many pilots use a cardboard chemical patch detector that sticks to the instrument panel. These are inexpensive, less than $10, but have drawbacks. First, they don’t detect low levels of carbon monoxide. Tests show that they take a couple of minutes of exposure to high levels of carbon monoxide—in excess of 100 ppm—before turning color. They also need to be replaced every few months, so unless a pilot is diligent about changing them, he or she may get a false sense of security.

You should know that a single backfire, such as when you’re starting the engine, can damage an aircraft’s exhaust system sufficiently to let carbon monoxide into your cabin. So even if your plane is well maintained, and you’ve checked it for CO in the past, you’re only one backfire away from getting CO poisoning.

The new LightSpeed Delta Zulu headset has a built in CO monitor, and it gives you a voice alarm, through the headset, if it measures CO, above certain thresholds. Lightspeed has a new app for the headset, and in that app, you can set the sensitivity for two alerting levels. The default threshold for the caution alert is 50 ppm and for the Warning alert its 100 ppm. Those levels are higher than I would prefer, but in the app, I can set the caution threshold with a slider to any value between 10 and 50 ppm, and the warning threshold to anything between 51 and 100 ppm. The Caution alert message is repeated every 5 minutes, and you can also set how frequently you’d like to get the message from anywhere between 5 and 15 minutes. Typically in the past, using my handheld CO monitor, I sometimes find when an aircraft is first started, I’ll see readings of around 10 ppm, but normally in flight, it drops down to single digit levels.

Lightspeed has had a few dozen of these headsets out in the field during the past few months being tested by pilots, so there haven’t been a lot of flights with the headset. Even so, one of the testers reported a couple of weeks ago that he discovered a CO leak in the plane he was flying because he was wearing the Delta Zulu headset at the time.

The first day I flew with the headset, shortly after we started the engine, the headset said to me “5 ppm” or 5 parts per million. Later it said “6 ppm.” When we got in the air, I checked the app, and it showed we were at 0 ppm, and I didn’t get any other messages from the headset about the CO levels. BTW, the app does have a stats button, which takes you to a graph to view statistics, not just for your current flight, but for prior flights as well, showing the carbon monoxide levels. The graph also shows the cabin temperature.

Built-in Audio Equalizer
Having a headset with a built-in CO monitor would in itself be sufficient to make me want to buy the Delta Zulu. But it also has a built-in equalizer, that Lightspeed calls HearingEQity, that lets you customizes what you hear from the headset, to match any hearing loss you may have.

The way you calibrate the headset equalizer is similar to the way an audiologist would give you a hearing test, or would customize the frequency response for a hearing aid you might wear. Essentially, you go to a quiet room, put the headset on and turn it on, and then the app walks you through the test procedure. I did the setup in my bedroom, since its quiet. It probably took me 7 or 8 minutes, but I was taking a lot of time to do it carefully, and you certainly could do it in less time.

To set up the equalizer, turn on the headset, and pair your iPhone with the app. Then touch the equalizer tab at the bottom and then touch the Setup button. The app will then present a 125 Hz tone to one ear, and you’ll need to adjust the volume slider on the app until you just barely hear the tone. You then repeat that for 11 other tones, with the final one being at 12 kHz. That was the only tone I couldn’t hear, since it was such a high frequency, so I left the slider at the maximum volume. The app then runs through all 12 tones for your other ear.

When the setup was completed, the app presents a bar graph showing the amount of gain the Delta Zulu headset will add for each frequency band to attempt to give you normal hearing. My bar graph showed some hearing loss at low and the high frequencies, with mid-range tones being more normal.

When you’re done, the app plays a song you can listen to, and it lets you switch the HearingEQity equalizer on and off, so you can see the difference it makes. As I switched it on and off, I noticed that the song did sound richer, with HearingEQity turned on.

By the way, if you happen to already wear a hearing aid and you like to wear it under your headset when you fly, you can do that. When you Setup HearingEQity, just make sure that you’re wearing you hearing aid when you do the setup.

During my airplane flights, I wanted to see the difference with HearingEQity on and off, and there’s a button on the headset control box you can double push to turn HearingEQity on and off. What I found when listening to controllers was that their voices sounded richer and less tinny. So it actually made listening to the radio a little less irritating. I’m a CFI, and I often fly 4-5 hours or more per day, so anything that makes listening to the radio more pleasant is a welcome change.

Lightspeed Delta Zulu Batteries Swap Quickly
Batteries are often an issue with ANR headsets, but the Delta Zulu has a slick solution that lets you swap batteries much faster than other headsets I’ve seen. The control box, which is inline with the headset cords, has a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that snaps in and out in just a second. Lightspeed says the battery lasts about 30 hours when it’s fully charged. Plus, you can charge the battery in flight with the USB-A cable that Lightspeed provides. Just plug the cable that comes with the headset into a USB port in your aircraft or any portable battery pack. Lightspeed also provides a second battery pack that holds AA batteries. So that is a great backup if the rechargeable battery fails, and you don’t have a USB port for recharging the battery.

In the plane after turning the headset on and connecting to the Lightspeed app on my iPhone, I heard through the headset “battery charge full,” which was a comforting a message, as I hate running out of battery power when using an ANR headset.

Delta Zulu Accessory Cables
The headset also includes Bluetooth that enables cell phone connections and streaming of music from your phone or tablet in flight. You can also buy separate cables for connecting to 3.5mm and Lightning port devices if you’d like the additional reliability that a cable provides versus Bluetooth connections. I’ve used a cable like that for years on my existing Zulu 3 headset to stream Facebook Live videos when I’m at lower altitudes and can get cellular data in the plane. The benefit of the cable is that I can narrate the video in real time, and respond to people who are watching the video live.

You can also record everything you hear in the cockpit directly to the Lightspeed app. So it will record what you hear on the Comm radios and everything you say and hear over the intercom. I’ve used this many times in the past to record conversations, which I can then share with student pilots I’m flying with.

The Delta Zulu has an Auto shutoff, which saves batteries by turning your headset off after it hasn’t been used for about a minute. I know it works, as the headset turned off a few times as I was playing with it on my desk to learn its features.

Lightspeed Delta Zulu Plug Options
It can be ordered with any of the following connectors. The dual GA plugs, which are the most common headset connectors in GA aircraft, the LEMO connector which is a single round black connector found in many newer aircraft, or the U-174 helicopter connector. The headset also has a 7-year warranty.

I’ve been using Lightspeed headsets for about 25 years, and currently own three different models I’ve acquired over the years. Headsets are a very personal choice, because not everyone’s ears are the same, so what feels good to you… may not feel good to someone else. I initially started using Lightspeed headsets, because they didn’t hurt my ears… unlike a competitive model, which made my ears hurt a lot after wearing the headset for just an hour. That particular headset model has long since been replaced by a more comfortable model. Still, I’m sold on Lightspeed for several reasons. I love their tradeup program which helps me preserve the investment in my headset. I started with the Lightspeed 15, traded up to the 20 and later the 25, and then to the Zulu and then the Zulu 3. Getting hundreds of dollars back when you trade in your old headset feels really good. I’ve also had my Lightspeeds serviced a few times, and they’ve always gotten the headsets back to me quickly for no charge. And for years, I’ve been able to record everything I hear in my headset, including the radios and the intercom chatter, using the Lightspeed app on my iPhone.

The Delta Zulu headset sells for $1099, the Lightspeed Zulu 3 which I’ve been using for the last few years, sells for $899, and the Lightspeed Sierra sells for $699. These links take you directly to Lightspeed website, where you can order direct from the company. These are affiliate links, so if use them to go to the Lightspeed website and choose to buy a headset, Lightspeed will pay a small referral fee to support Aviation News Talk. The cost of the headset to you is same, regardless of whether you use these links or not.

Thanks for taking the time to read my review, and if you’re unfamiliar with the Aviation News Talk podcast, you can learn more about it at aviationnewstalk.com and you can find it by searching in any app you use to listen to podcasts.

NTSB Report on Kobe Bryant Helicopter Crash

Last week, the NTSB held a 4-hour meeting about the crash that killed Kobe Bryant and eight other people. The Sikorsky S-76 helicopter, operated by Island Express Helicopters, collided with hilly terrain near the city of Calabasas, California. The pilot and eight passengers were fatally injured, and the helicopter was destroyed by impact forces and fire.

In episode #177 of my Aviation News Talk podcast, I play clips from the meeting most relevant for General Aviation Pilots, and at the end I give five takeaways that all GA pilots can learn from this accident. You can find Aviation News Talk at: aviationnewstalk.com/blog for iPhone/iPad, or at aviationnewstalk.com/177 for Android and listening on a PC, or wherever you get podcasts.

The helicopter was not equipped with a flight data or cockpit voice recorder, nor was it required to be. The flight was an on-demand charter operated under the provisions of Part 135 to take the passengers from John Wayne Orange County airport in Santa Ana, California to the Camarillo, California airport for a basketball tournament.

The weather that morning included a widespread area of coastal clouds associated with a Marine layer, a stable humid air mass about one to 2000 feet thick, often characterized by stratus clouds at its top, with the potential for fog formation in some areas below. There were no hazardous conditions such as icing or thunderstorms.

The pilot flying was Island Express' chief pilot, and he had been flying in the area for 10 years and had logged about 8,500 hours. The flight departed at 9:07 and proceeded northwesterly across the Los Angeles metropolitan area at 9:20. The pilot requested to transit the Burbank Class C airspace, but ATC advised him to hold due to traffic. Weather in this area was reported as cloud ceilings, 1,100 feet above ground level with visibility two and a half miles. About 11 minutes later, ATC provided special VFR clearance to proceed through the Burbank and Van Nuys airspace.

Throughout this segment of flight, the helicopter was maintaining an altitude of about 500 feet above ground level, and it proceeded to the West out of the San Fernando Valley area. ATC advised the pilot that they would be too low for flight following, and they should contact Camarillo tower as they got closer. The pilot acknowledged, and the helicopter proceeded to the West following Hwy 101 toward an area of rising terrain at a speed of about 140 knots. About four minutes later, the pilot contacted ATC again and advised them that he was intending to climb to go above the cloud layers. A surveillance camera near Hwy 101 captured the helicopter about this time.

The helicopter had been flying about 350 feet above ground level, but during the transmission to ATC began climbing at a rate of about 1500 feet per minute, generally following the 101 in a slight left turn. During radio communications with ATC, the helicopter climbed through an altitude of 2000 feet above sea level, or about 1300 feet above ground level, by which point it was highly unlikely for the pilot to be able to maintain visual ground contact. The climb reached a maximum altitude of about 2,400 feet above sea level.

As the helicopter continued a left turn diverging from the highway, the controller asked the pilot's intentions, and he said he was climbing to 4,000 feet. However, by that time, the helicopter was in a tightening left turn and descending rapidly. This maneuver is consistent with a pilot experiencing spatial disorientation in limited visibility conditions.

Here are my five key takeaways for GA pilots.

1. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a student pilot, private pilot, or instrument rated pilot. If you’re flying VFR, do NOT enter a cloud. Because if you do and lose control and have a crash, as this very high time accident pilot did, you’ll most likely die. I tell all of my student pilots and private pilots to stay out of the clouds…under penalty of death. And by the way there have been many VFR into IMC accidents that have happened to instrument pilots. Having an Instrument rating does help a little, but it doesn’t guarantee you’ll survive if you accidentally blunder into the clouds while flying VFR.
2. Know how to use your autopilot, because it could save your life if you inadvertently enter a cloud.
3. Before you take off, make a Plan B and a Plan C for what you’ll do and where you’ll go for different conditions you might encounter on your flight. Remember it’s better to land somewhere else and still be alive.
4. Beware of plan continuation bias. Don’t just keep flying to your destination when things change. Choose the safest option available to you.
5. Don’t ever let yourself feel pressure to fly, regardless of who you have on board the plane.

There are so many lessons to be learned from this accident, so please listen to this episode of my podcast. If you're unfamiliar with how to listen to podcasts, the easiest way to do it is to download one of our dedicated apps for your phone. Just go to the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store, and search for "Aviation News Talk." Or, click here for the dedicated app for iOS and dedicated app for Android. And podcasts are free, so they'll never cost you anything!

 

Electric Aircraft 2020 and Why You'll Want One - Bye Aerospace eFlyer2

Check out my latest YouTube video interview with George Bye that includes a number of images and video clips supplied by Bye Aerospace. George has been on a 12-year quest to make electric aircraft a reality. I became convinced that electric aircraft are our future after I first talked with George in 2010 and later saw an experimental electric Lazair ultralight fly at AirVenture in 2011. While electric aircraft seemed like a pipe dream in 2010, most analysts now agree they will enter the market soon. 

Last week, I interviewed George Bye to ask him two questions: 1) Why will pilots want to fly an electric airplane, and 2) When will it happen? In addition to posting that interview as a podcast, I also created a YouTube version that shows us during the interview and includes video of the Bye Aerospace eFlyer 2 flying. That's the version I recommend you view, and you can see it here. And while you're at it, please Subscribe to my YouTube channel now, so you'll be notified when I upload new videos in the future. 

George says that their first model, the eFlyer 2, will begin shipping in two years. It's a two-seat aircraft designed to be a trainer. The company currently has a total backlog of 360 orders for the eFlyer 2 and eFlyer 4, which is a four seat version. George says the eFlyer 2 will have an endurance of 3 hours, and the eFlyer 4 will fly for five hours before the batteries need recharging.  

One huge benefit is a vastly lower operating cost. George estimates the direct cost of operating an eFlyer 2 at $3-4/hour, versus about $50/hour for the Cessna 152 it's designed to replace. Watch the YouTube video now to learn about the many other advantages of electric aircraft. 

This is an exciting time for electric and hybrid-electric aircraft, with announcements coming out every week. For example, earlier today Ampaire began teasing an announcement planned for tomorrow about their various electric aircraft models. Stay tuned for many more announcements about electric aircraft!

 

Aviation News of the Weird and iPad Incidents

If you’re like me, you’re looking for a little comic relief from the nonstop news on the COVID-19 coronavirus. Not that I’m not taking it seriously; I do. I started sheltering at home 8 days ago, while in my county, sheltering at home only became mandatory yesterday.

I do a week aviation podcast called Aviation News Talk, and usually I focus on recent aviation news and a pilot skill or safety issue. But this week, I noticed that I had a larger than usual collection of weird aviation stories. Generally, I’ll use one of those stories in my podcast, which meant the other ten or so strange stories would never be used. And that seemed like a waste in these interesting times we’re living in.

So I called up Flying Magazine’s Senior Editor Rob Mark, as he has a great sense of humor and is usually willing to engage in a little hijinks. Together, we read through the stories feature recent strange crashes and stupid criminals committing crimes involving planes and airports. Along the way, we offered commentary and tips on the right way to fly an airplane. We also talked about how sheltering at home has changed our lives and how it will impact people who have been training to become airline pilots.

Also, I found a number of stories of crashes and near crashes involving iPads. You’d be surprised at the number of ways these otherwise helpful tools can gum up the works.

If you are a podcast listener, this episode has probably already downloaded to your phone automatically, so you can listen to it. But if you don’t listen to the show, now is a great time to start listening. Get it at http://aviationnewstalk.com/blog for iPhone/iPad, or at http://aviationnewstalk.com/142 for Android and listening on a PC.

If you’re unfamiliar with how to listen to podcasts, the easiest way to do it is to download one of our dedicated apps for your phone. Just go to the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store, and search for “Aviation News Talk.” Or, click here for the dedicated app for iOS and dedicated app for Android. And podcasts are free, so they’ll never cost you anything!

And if you do find value in the show and would like to support it with a small contribution of a few dollars a month, you can do that with a credit card via Patreon, where you’ll also read about the goodies we’ll give you at various contribution levels. Or you can make a one-time donation or a monthly donation via PayPal.

And please tell all of your aviation friends about the show!

NTSB Report on Air Canada 759 Taxiway Incident at SFO: Pilot Error

The NTSB adopted seven recommendations today in the wake of the Air Canada Flight 759 incident, in which an A320 jet nearly landed on a taxiway occupied by four fully loaded passenger jets (figure 1). At their Board Meeting today, which was live streamed as a webcast, the board heard a presentation by NTSB staff that included nineteen findings from the incident, seven recommendations, and the final probable cause of the incident. All of the material here comes from my recording and transcription of the board meeting.

NTSB Chairman Walt Sumwalt noted that the incident “was a very close call.”

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 1. NTSB illustration view from of Air Canada 759

I agree. I was the first to do the math from the preliminary data, in which I concluded that the Air Canada jet was “about 11 seconds from impact” with the jets below. As more detailed radar data became available later, it became clear that the aircraft was even closer. In today’s meeting, NTSB staff estimate the planes came as close as “10 to 20 feet vertically.”

The NTSB determined the probable cause of this incident was “The Flight Crew’s misidentification of taxiway Charlie as the intended landing runway, which resulted from the crew members’ lack of awareness of the parallel runway closure, due to their ineffective review of Notice To Airmen, that is NOTAM, information before the flight and during the approach briefing.

Contributing to the incident were:
(1) The flight crew failure to tune the Instrument Landing System (ILS) frequency for backup lateral guidance, expectation bias, fatigue due to circadian disruption and length of continued wakefulness, and breakdowns in crew resource management, and

(2) Air Canada’s ineffective presentation of approach procedure and NOTAM information."

NTSB staff noted that the Air Canada crew did not recall reading in the ten pages of NOTAMs for their flight that runway 28L was closed as they arrived at San Francisco. Staff noted that “**NEW**” preceded the runway closure NOTAM. Yellow highlights were added by staff to the San Francisco runway closure NOTAM (figure 2), shown in their presentation. Since they were unaware of the runway 28L closure, the crew had an expectation bias that they were properly lined up for the correct runway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 2. Yellow highlighting of NOTAM added by NTSB.

 NOTAMs were a frequent target of board members, who said that the “NOTAM system was really messed up,” and that NOTAMs were written in a way that “only a software programmer would understand.” One estimate was made that it would have taken the flight crew 20 minutes to thoroughly read and understand all of the NOTAMs issued for Flight 759.

Staff also noted that the crew flew the Quiet Bridge Visual approach, which includes near the end of its two-page description a requirement to tune an ILS frequency into their flight management system to provide backup guidance to the runway. The crew failed to tune in the ILS frequency, which would have showed them that they were not properly lined up for runway 28R. Staff did note that Air Canada Airbus A320 automatically autotunes frequencies for all other approach into San Francisco, but not for the Quiet Bridge approach.

Crew fatigue may have been a factor. The flight crew was a “reserve crew,“ which stands by so that it can be called on short notice to fly a plane that suddenly require a new crew. The captain had been awake for 19 hours at the time of the incident. The flight originated in Toronto, where it was 3 AM, when the incident occurred.

Surprisingly, the crew stated afterwards that they were unaware that they’d overflown four aircraft on the taxiway, and that they estimated they started their go around at 400 feet, while data shows that it was initiated at 89 feet above the ground. After the go around was initiated, the airplane descended to a minimum altitude of 60 feet before beginning to climb. Staff estimated that Flight 759 was approximately 10-20 feet above the tails of the aircraft on the taxiways.

Overall, the NTSB had 19 findings from the incident.

(1) None of the following were factors in this incident: (1) flight crew qualifications, which were in accordance with Canadian and US regulations; (2) flight crew medical conditions;(3) airplane mechanical conditions; and (4) airport lighting, which met US regulations.

(2) The first officer did not comply with Air Canada’s procedures to tune the instrument landing system (ILS) frequency for the visual approach, and the captain did not comply with company procedures to verify the ILS frequency and identifier for the approach, so the crew members could not take advantage of the ILS’ lateral guidance capability to help ensure proper surface alignment.

(3) The flight crew’s failure to manually tune the instrument landing system (ILS) frequency for the approach occurred because (1) the Flight Management System Bridge visual approach was the only approach in Air Canada’s Airbus A320 database that required manual tuning of a navigation frequency, so the manual tuning of the ILS frequency was not a usual procedure for the crew, and (2) the instruction on the approach chart to manually tune the ILS frequency was not conspicuous during the crew’s review of the chart.

(4) The first officer’s focus on tasks inside the cockpit after the airplane passed the final waypoint reduced his opportunity to effectively monitor the approach and recognize that the airplane was not aligned with the intended landing runway.

(5) The flight crew-initiated, low-altitude go-around over the taxiway prevented a collision between the Air Canada airplane and one or more airplanes on the taxiway.

(6) The controller responded appropriately once he became aware of the potential conflict.

(7) Errors that the flight crew members made, including their false assumption that runway 28L was open, inadequate preparations for the approach, and delayed recognition that the airplane was not lined up with runway 28R, reflected breakdowns in crew resource management and led to minimal safety margins as the airplane overflew taxiway Charlie.

(8) The flight crew members' lack of awareness about the runway 28L closure and the crew members' previous experience of seeing two parallel runways at San Francisco International Airport, led to their expectation to identify two runway surfaces during the approach and resulted in their incorrect identification of taxiway Charlie, instead of runway 28R as the intended landing runway.

(9) Although the Notice to Airmen about the runway 28L closure appeared in the flight release, and in the Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System [ACARS] message that were provided to the flight crew, the presentation of the information did not effectively convey the importance of the runway closure information and promote flight crew review and retention.

(10) The cues available to the flight crew members to indicate that the airplane was aligned with the taxiway were not sufficient to overcome their belief as a result of expectation bias that the taxiway was the intended landing runway.

(11) Multiple salient cues of the surface misalignment were present as the airplane approached the airport seawall and one or more of these cues likely triggered the captain's initiation of a go around, which reportedly occurred simultaneously with the first officer's call for a go around.

(12) The captain and the first officer were fatigued during the incident flight due to the number of hours that they had been continuously awake, and circadian disruption, which likely contributed to crew members' misidentification of the intended landing surface, their ongoing expectation bias, and the delayed decision to go around.

(13) Current Canadian regulations do not in some circumstances allow for sufficient rest for reserve pilots, which can result in these pilots flying in a fatigued state during their window of circadian low.

(14) Flight safety would be enhanced if airplanes landing at primary airports within Class B and Class C airspace were equipped with a cockpit system that provided flight crews with positional awareness information that is independent of and dissimilar from the current instrument landing system backup capabilities for navigating to a runway.

(15) Although the investigation into this incident identified significant safety issues, cockpit voice recorder information, had it been available, could have provided direct evidence regarding the flight crew's approach preparation, cockpit coordination, perception of the airport environment, and decision-making.

(16) Once the flight crew members perceived lights on the runway, they decided to contact the controllers to ask about the lights. However, their query was delayed because of congestion on the tower frequency, which reduced the time available for the crew members to reconcile their confusion about the lights with the controller’s confirmation that the runway was clear.

(17) Although the use of line up and wait procedures during single person air traffic control operation was not a factor in this incident, the tower controllers should have delayed consolidating local and nonlocal control positions until line up and wait procedures were no longer needed.

(18) If an airplane were to align with a taxiway, an automated airport service detection alert would assist controllers in identifying and preventing a potential taxiway landing, as well as a potential collision with aircraft, vehicles, or objects that are positioned along taxiways.

(19) Increased conspicuity of runway closure markers, especially those used in parallel runway configurations, could help prevent runway misidentification by flight crews following an approach to an airport.

As a result of their investigation, the NTSB made seven new recommendations, six for the FAA, and one for Transport Canada.

(1) Work with air carriers conducting operations under title 14 code of federal regulations Part 121 to assess all charted visual approaches with a required backup frequency to determine the flight management system autotuning capability within an air carrier's fleet. Two, Identify those approaches that require an unusual or abnormal manual frequency input, and, three either develop an autotune solution or ensure that the manual tune entry has sufficient salience on approach charts.

(2) Establish a group of human factors experts to review existing methods for presenting flight operation information to pilots, including flight releases and general aviation flight planning services, that is preflight, and aircraft communications addressing and reporting system messages and other in-flight information, create and publish guidance on best practices to organize, prioritize, and present this information in a manner that optimizes pilot review and retention of relevant information, and work with air carriers and service providers to implement solutions that are aligned with the guidance.

(3) Establish requirements for airplanes landing at primary airports with Class B and Class C airspace to be equipped with a system that alerts pilots when an airplane does not align with a runway surface.

(4) Collaborate with manufactures to develop the technology for a cockpit system that provides an alert to pilots when an airplane is not aligned with the intended runway surface, and once such technology is available, establish a requirement for the technology to be installed on airplanes landing at primary airports within Class B and Class C airspace.

(5) Modify Airport Surface Detection Equipment, or ASDE systems, such as ASDE-3, ASDE-X and airport surface surveillance capability, at those locations where the system could detect potential taxiway landings and provide alerts to air traffic controllers about potential collision risks.

(6) Conduct human factors research to determine how to make a closed runway more conspicuous to pilots when at least one parallel runway remains in use, and implement a method to more effectively signal a runway closure to pilots during ground and flight operations at night.

One recommendation to Transport Canada.
(7) Revise current regulations to address the potential for fatigue for pilots on reserve duty who are called to operate evening flights that would extend into the pilot's window of circadian low.

As I often say, anytime something doesn’t look right, a pilot should initiate an immediate go around. In this case, fatigue and a failure to follow procedures may have delayed this crew from initiating a go around until it was almost too late.

And yes, I'll be talking about this on the Aviation News Talk podcast, which you can find in the Apple Podcasts App, or in the Aviation News Talk dedicated app for iOS and dedicated app for Android. 

Mike Busch On Engines Book and Interview

When it comes to General Aviation maintenance on piston-powered airplanes, Mike Busch literally wrote the book. And he’s also rewriting how small plane maintenance is performed, through the many service he offers through his Savvy Aviation company. Recently I sat down with Mike and interviewed him on the Aviation News Talk podcast to learn more about his transition from a career in high tech to general aviation, and about his latest book, Mike Bush on Engines: What every aircraft owner needs to know about the design, operation, condition monitoring, maintenance and troubleshooting of piston aircraft engines.

Mike was born in New York City and grew up in the northeast. After majoring in math at Dartmouth College, he did graduate work in math and business, and soon after moved to the West coast, where he’s been ever since. After college, he worked in the computer industry as a software developer, and he managed major software development projects for corporations including Computer Sciences Corporation, General Electric, Honeywell, NCR, Phillips, and Visa.

In 1995, he began working full-time in the aviation industry, where he cofounded avweb.com, a well-known aviation news web site. He’s also a prolific writer of articles on maintenance that have appeared in many General Aviation magazines including his monthly maintenance column, “Savvy Maintenance” in AOPA Pilot magazine. You can learn more about Mike and his transition to a career in aviation in episode 64 of the Aviation News Talk podcast.

Mike’s first book was Manifesto, A Revolutionary Approach to General Aviation Maintenance. That book, which is 112 pages long, talks about Mike’s crusade to promote Reliability Centered Maintenance within General Aviation. Reliability Centered Maintenance came out of United Airlines back in the late 1960s, but hasn’t yet made major inroads into how general aviation airplanes are maintained. One of its major tenets is that we shouldn't be doing maintenance after a specific number of hours have elapsed, but should instead have condition monitoring programs that determine the condition of various aircraft components and only perform maintenance when a component is in trouble.

In May 2018, Mike Bush on Engines was released. I purchased the book when it was released and have learned a lot since I started reading it. Mike spent about a year writing the book and as a starting point, he pulled material from his many years as a magazine columnist. As an aside, Mike and I both debuted as monthly columnists in EAA Sport Magazine in January 2010. But the book is NOT simply a collection of articles. It’s a well thought out and organized tutorial on general aviation aircraft maintenance in general, and engine maintenance in particular.

In addition to teaching the reader about the many engine components and how to operate engines properly, he talks about the missing art of troubleshooting as a general practice in general aviation. In my interview with Mike he said, “Mechanics seem to be strong in the therapy department and weak in the diagnosis department.” According to Mike “A&P mechanics are the surgeons of general aviation maintenance, and they attack airplanes with tools,” which is what they’re comfortable doing. Instead, he feels there needs to be more emphasis on accurate diagnosis and less emphasis on attacking airplanes with tools.

Mike Busch on Engines is an easy read that’s presented in non-technical terms, so that most any pilot can understand it. Whether you start at the beginning and read the entire book, or just bounce around from topic to topic as I did, you’ll surely have fun reading it and learn a lot in the process! I highly recommend both of his books to all pilots.

Aviation News Talk podcast
If you haven’t done so already, please set up your phone now so that you’ll get future episodes of Aviation News Talk downloaded to your phone automatically about once a week for free. If you have an iPhone or iPad, go to the Apple Podcasts App and then touch the subscribe button. If you're unfamiliar with how to listen to a podcast, just download one of our dedicated apps for Aviation News Talk. Here are links to our iOS app in the Apple App Store, and our Android app in the Google Play Store. And if you already subscribe, please show a friend how to set it up on his or her phone. And fly safely and keep the Blue side Up!

 

Max Trescott is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

 

Garmin GDL 52 Portable SiriusXM® ADS-B Receiver

When it comes to buying tools that can help in flight, pilots don’t like to compromise. After all, it’s our lives at stake as we thread traffic and weather to our destination. So I was delighted when Garmin Aviation Marketing Manager Joey Ferreyra contacted me and asked if I’d like to evaluate Garmin’s new GDL 52 Portable SiriusXM®/ADS-B Receiver. I had great fun using it for a few months and now that I’ve sent it back, here’s what I learned.

The GDL 52 is a top of the line, no-compromise, weather and traffic receiver. It contains just about every separate portable device you’d consider buying for the cockpit, only it combines them all into a single compact unit. Best of all, it’s totally wireless and runs up to 5 hours on an internal battery, so it won’t introduce more wires into the cockpit.

First, it’s an ADS-B In receiver, so it can display traffic and weather. Of course like all ADS-B receivers, it can’t display all traffic, so you’ll still need to keep your eyes outside the window! It also displays the free weather uplinked from ADS-B ground stations. 

In addition to ADS-B In, the GDL 52 also has a SiriusXM weather receiver. Older pilots will recall that before the invention of the iPhone, pilots routinely carried portable Garmin GPS receivers with them, many of which included a SiriusXM weather receiver. A subscription is required, and several service levels are available starting at $29.95 per month. The satellite weather signal can be received in the continental U.S. and along the adjacent borders of Canada and Mexico.

So why would you want two sources of inflight weather? Joey discussed this in episode 62 of the Aviation News Talk Podcast,which you can find in the Apple Podcasts App on an iPhone or iPad, on an Android or web browser, and in Spotify. You’ll want to listen to the full interview for more details. Briefly, ADS-B weather is typically not available on the ground and can usually only be received in flight. However, since SXM is a satellite-based system, it can be used both in the air and on the ground, making it useful for preflight planning purposes. In addition, SiriusXM weather offers a more robust set of weather products than ADS-B weather. You can find a comparison of some differences on the SiriusXM website.

The GDL 52 lacks a built-in display, so to view its traffic and weather, you need either an smartphone or tablet (iOS or Android) running the Garmin Pilot app, or a portable display such as the Garmin aera 660. I tried both the aera 660 and my iPad running the Garmin Pilot app and I preferred the latter, because of its much larger display. Unfortunately, the ForeFlight app that many pilots use doesn’t yet support the GDL 52, so iOS owners who want to keep using ForeFlight will need to spend an extra $79/year for the Garmin Pilot app, which does essentially all the same things as ForeFlight. For Android users, purchasing the Garmin Pilot app is a no-brainer, as ForeFlight isn’t available on Android.

I use both ForeFlight and Garmin Pilot and find them comparable. The area where Garmin Pilot really shines compared to ForeFlight is its dedicated traffic page. Much like the traffic display on the Garmin 430 or G1000, the traffic page is a simple white on black display with concentric rings indicating distance from your aircraft. That makes it easy to view aircraft without any background map clutter and accurately determine their distance. In the busy metro San Francisco area in which I fly, that unambiguous display of traffic could be a lifesaver.

Garmin Pilot also makes it easy to switch between the two weather sources using a layers tab on the map page that lets you select either SiriusXM or ADS-B for each weather product. On long trips across the U.S., I was most interested in finding altitudes with favorable winds so that I could avoid additional fuel stops. I found that the Winds Aloft data from SXM was sometimes better than what I could get from ADS-B. SiriusXM displays far more wind symbols, making it more likely that one is close to your plane. Also, I know that a forecaster updates the SXM winds aloft every hour, and I’m not sure that ADS-B winds are updated that frequently. Winds are displayed for every 3,000 feet, and I found them to be accurate most of the time.

The GDL 52 also includes a built-in GPS and AHRS (Attitude Heading Reference System). The latter lets you display synthetic vision on the Garmin Pilot app and shows the aircraft’s pitch and bank in real time. If you were ever to lose a vacuum pump and your gyro instruments in IMC, this feature alone could help you keep your airplane right side up until you could get out of the clouds.

The unit also includes a SiriusXM radio receiver that can receive over 150 channels with a separate subscription. On longer trips, I love listening to SiriusXM radio! To listen, you can plug earbuds directly into the GDL 52, or you can connect the unit to your aircraft’s audio panel.

The only problem I encountered on three long trips crossing the entire U.S. was that the Bluetooth connection between the GDL 52 would disconnect from my iPad about once a day. That's relatively infrequent, especially when you consider that I was flying about ten hours a day. Reconnecting it was relatively quick.

The GDL 52 is currently priced at $1,149 on Amazon, but is just $949 after a $200 rebate from SiriusXM Aviation. There are two other versions I didn’t try, the GDL 51 Portable SiriusXM Receiver for $699 and the GDL 50 Portable ADS-B Receiver for $849. Both the GDL 52 and the GDL 51 are eligible for the $200 SiriusXM Aviation rebate, which is in effect through the end of 2018 and requires at least 60 days of continuously paid service from SiriusXM. The GDL 52 also includes a free trial of the Garmin Pilot app, which can be downloaded from the Apple App store or from Google Play, and a three-months free subscription to the SiriusXM Pilot Preferred aviation weather package and the SiriusXM All Access audio programming package.

The GDL 52 is especially valuable for pilots who fly in congested areas, or in and around any kind of weather. On the other hand, if you fly in a rural area and only on clear, sunny days, you won’t benefit as much from one, but you might still enjoy having one. Based on my evaluation, the GDL 52 has the most capability of any portable ADS-B receiver that I’ve seen, and I highly recommend it.

And just so you know, I received no compensation from Garmin for writing this, but I could earn a fee from Amazon if you purchase a unit through any of the links on this page, so if you choose to buy one, please use one of the links on this page.

Max Trescott is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

13 Fun Ideas for National Aviation Day

National Aviation Day has been around for more than 75 years, and it's a great excuse to get others involved in learning to fly. Or, use it to put some spark back in your flying by trying something new in aviation. National Aviation Day is Saturday, August 19, but you can do these things on any days that's convenient.

 

Here are 13 ways that you can celebrate today, or help get other people more connected to aviation. This is just a brief outline of the ideas; you can get more detail on each of these ideas in the latest episode of my Aviation News Talk podcast. 

1. Get someone else involved in aviation. If you are a pilot, take someone who's interested in aviation for a ride in an airplane. If you have already taken them for a flight, and you know that they are interested in flying and have the means to pay for flight training, help them schedule their first flying lesson. If you know of a good flight instructor or a local flying school, take them to the airport to meet the instructor or to talk with the owner of the local flight school.
   
   As part of the process, try to have your friend sit in one or more of the aircraft that he or she might be training in. And before you leave, make sure that there is agreement on the date for the first lesson. Then, help them get prepared for their first lesson. You could lend them your headset, or help them order one. You might also want to help them download the many free pilot training books available at www.FAA.gov. You might also help them buy an online private pilot ground school, to help them learn the many topics they will need to master as a student pilot.
   
   Then, periodically check in with them during the flight training process. Find out which things they’re having difficulty with, and see if you’re able to help them overcome those obstacles. Learning to fly is a big challenge, and student pilots who have friends to help mentor them through the process are more likely to succeed in getting a pilot certificate.
   
   
2. If you are a rusty pilot who hasn’t flown in a long time, start the process for getting back into flying! For example, on National Aviation Day, Rainier Flight Service and other operators at the Renton, Washington Airport will hold a Rusty Pilot seminar from 9am-12pm and a free BBQ lunch starting at 12pm. If you live in a different part of the country, check to see if there is a Rusty Pilot seminar scheduled near you. But you don’t need to go to a seminar to get back into flying. You can simply call up a flight instructor or a flight school and tell them that you want to get back into flying. It may take you several flights to regain your proficiency, but once you have done the required work, you will love the feeling of accomplishment you’ll have for having gotten back into the air.
   
   
3. Fly in a new airplane type. One year, for my birthday, I treated myself to over an hour of dual instruction in a Stearman! These beautiful biplanes were use for flight training at the beginning of World War II. My instructor took me out to the practice area were he demonstrated loops and rolls. I had great fun, and it represented a small connection between my mother and me, as she had talked about seeing Stearmans fly overhead when she was a child growing up in Williamsburg Virginia in the 1930s and 40s. But you don’t have to get dual instruction. You could choose to take a sightseeing flight, and there are many operators that use fun planes like the Stearman to give sightseeing tours.
   
   
4. Watch an aviation-themed movie. There are dozens of great Aviation-related movies, and with Netflix and other online services, you don’t have to be limited to the movies being shown in your local theater. But don’t just watch by yourself! Invite one or more friends who you know are interested in aviation but haven’t started flight training. This could be the perfect way to have that conversation, and encourage them to finally take that first flying lesson.
    
5. Fly a flight simulator. This can be fun regardless of whether you are already a certificated pilot. If you’re not a pilot, or if you are a private pilot and are thinking about instrument training, go to your local flight school to see what kind of flight simulators they have. Then sign up for an hour or two of instruction in their simulator. Flight school simulators are much less expensive then flying an airplane, but they can still be instructive in many ways. Or, if you’re already an instrument pilot, you might be interested in flying something like a full-motion Airline simulator. While there are relatively few of these around, you might take the day to research where you can find a high-end full motion simulator that you would enjoy experiencing.
   
   
6. If you are a licensed pilot, fly somewhere new! And when you do it, take along someone who you feel is a good candidate for becoming a pilot. You’ll want to think about planning the flight in a way that will be most pleasurable for your friend. For example, if it’s often turbulent in your area during the afternoon, then you might want to plan to fly during the morning or the evening. Make sure that you have a good headset that he or she can use, so your friend doesn’t become fatigued by the low frequency noise and vibration of small planes. Also, encourage your friend to bring a camera to take pictures from the air. For example, you might want to fly him or her over their house on the way to your destination.
   
   Since it will be a new destination for you, make sure that you find out as much as possible about the destination airport before you arrive. You might even want to call that airport to see if they have any local tips, noise abatement procedures or other recommendations for flying into their airport, and for things to do after you arrive. For example, you might want to choose an airport that has an aviation Museum that you could visit that is on or near the airport property.
   
   
7. Visit an Aviation Museum. This could be a local museum that you drive to, or one further away that you might fly into. Many Aviation museums are offering free admission and/or free programs for children on National Aviation Day. I listed many of them in the AviationNewsTalk.com podcast. Many museums are having open cockpit days and programs where children can build an airplane and perhaps fly it.
   
   
8. Fly a radio controlled airplane! Even if you are a certificated pilot, you will probably be amazed at how different it is to fly a model aircraft, and how fun and satisfying it can be! But, don’t just buy a model airplane and try to teach yourself how to fly it in a nearby park. If you do, be aware that the odds are that your model will probably be destroyed in less than 30 seconds!
   
   The best way to learn to fly a model aircraft is under the tutelage of an experienced RC pilot. The best way to find an experience pilot is to search for a local RC flying club. Some of these clubs are holding events on National Aviation Day where they will give visitors the experience of flying an RC plane. One way they can do that safely is by using two transmitters set up in a Buddy box configuration, so that the experience pilot can immediately take over if when you’re controlling the aircraft it is headed the wrong way! One good place to search for RC clubs is through the Academy of Model Aeronautics. Just type in your zip code to find a nearby club.
   
   
9. Volunteer to help an aviation-related organization. As a pilot, I have volunteered for at least four nonprofit aviation organizations. One was Angel Flight West, which matches pilots with people who need help getting to a doctors appointment for a check up in a city that would be a very long drive from their home. For example, I once flew a heart transplant patient who was just fine, but who needed to visit Stanford Hospital for a checkup every quarter. These patients are ambulatory, so they are able to get in and out of general aviation aircraft with a minimum of assistance. Pilots are just responsible for getting them from one airport to another, and the patients are responsible for all of their ground transportation. This is a really great way to use your pilot skills to help others who may be a little less fortunate than you are.
   
   For many years, I also flew volunteer doctors and dentist to Mexico so that they could provide free services to people living in underserved areas. These were four day weekend trips with usually a team of about four people, Including a translator. Once we reach the destination, the pilot would assist the medical team in minor ways. There was great camaraderie on these trips, and everyone came back satisfied knowing that they had helped make life a little better for as many is 100 people per trip. I also built the Los Medicos Voladores organization's first website in late-1995! You can find it at FlyingDocs.org.
   
   I have also flown teenagers for EAA’s Young Eagles program. This program has flown more than 1 million kids at airports all across United States. To participate in giving these free flights, pilots need to join EAA and a local EAA chapter that puts on Young Eagles flights. This is a great way to give many kids their first exposure to general aviation, and some of these kids become inspired to eventually get their pilot certificate.
   
   
10. Download and read an aviation book from your local library or from NASA! Many local libraries now offer free e-books that you can download and read on your Kindle or other e-book reader. The best part about borrowing e-books is that you don’t have to go into the library to get them, they are returned automatically, and you will never pay a late fee or fine! Both NASA and the FAA offer many free e-books for download over the Internet. You’ll be surprised by the quality of these books and how many there are. So have fun relaxing while reading in aviation book.
    
    
11. Go Plane Spotting. This is fun to do at both commercial and noncommercial airports. Take along a friend who is interested in aviation and make sure to bring along your cameras as well. Then take your best photos and post them on social media so other people can see them. Some airports have spectacular locations for watching airplanes. For example in Los Angeles, people always talk about watching the planes landing at LAX while eating at the nearby In-N-Out Burger. So if you can’t go flying on National Aviation Day, at least go out and have fun watching airplanes!
    
    
12. Thank someone who works in the aviation industry. The next time you take an airline flight, take a moment to stop and thank one or more members of the crew. These days, hardly a week goes by without some story in the news about something awful that happened on an airliner. Increasingly, airline crews are having more contentious interactions with their passengers. So take a moment to let them know that you appreciate the things they do to try to help keep you safe.
    
    And if you are a pilot, take a moment to thank your flight instructor. Flight instructors are the backbone of the general aviation industry, but they rarely get the recognition they deserve. Let your flight instructor know that you appreciate all the things he or she taught you to help you be a safe pilot. And don’t wait to do this. Years ago I went back Pennsylvania and visited my flight instructor who first taught me to fly back in the 1970s. I was grateful I did it then, because a few years later he died in a car accident. So National Aviation Day is a great excuse for calling up your flight instructor to say hello.
    
    
13. Take an aviation course. If you are a student pilot, find a local ground school course you can attend. One good way to locate these courses is to contact a local flight school to see if they know of one. Or, if you are already a pilot, take some of the free online courses that are available at FAAsafety.gov and at AOPA’s AIr Safety Institute. Both sites have many free courses and you are bound to find one or more that interest you. But the real benefit is that taking some of these courses could make you a safer pilot. And if you take three or more courses at FAAsafety.gov, you could already be halfway to completing the WINGS program, which is a substitute for the flight review (BFR) that pilots need to do with a flight instructor every two years. If you are unfamiliar with the WINGS program, just listen to episode 23, where we talked about it in detail.
    
    Or if you’re really motivated, take the first few steps toward becoming a CFI! Download the Aviation Instructors Handbook from faa.gov and start preparing for one of the two written exams you’ll need to take as part of becoming a CFI. If you're in the S.F. Bay Area, consider attending the CFI - Flight Instructor Class - October 2 - 8 (7 Days) that will be held at Tradewinds Aviation at the Reid-Hillview Airport. For more information and cost details, contact CFI Boot Camp at 650-600-1021 or e-mail [email protected]
    
    

Have fun on National Aviation Day! And if you're not already a listener, please check out my Aviation News Talk podcast for weekly General Aviation News and safety tips. And keep the blue side up!

 

ATC Privatization - Call to Action

Six years ago, I started an article on the Obama Administration proposal to implement user fees on aircraft flying in controlled airspace with the words, "Here we go again." And yes, once again, the specter of ATC Privatization has reared it's ugly head again. While I always knew that privatization would likely be bad for General Aviation, now I've learned that it will likely raise airline ticket prices in the United States! That according to a February 2016 Delta Airlines study, which examined the effects of ATC privatization in Canada and the UK. In their news release, Delta used this subhead: Travelers could have to cover 20-29 percent higher costs if the U.S. moves to a private ATC organization. Sadly, Delta seems to be the only airline not pushing ATC privatization.  

I've just spent a full week producing a 2-hour podcast in which Flying Magazine Senior Editor Rob Mark and I sort through over a dozen audio clips from the President, members of Congress, Airline CEOs, and from pilots in other countries that have privatized their air traffic control system. After each clip, we discuss the salient points. We also shared the results of a survey of US pilot podcast listeners on privatizing ATC. You can find and download or privatization podcast episode on Apple iTunes, or listen to it at Aviationnewstalk.com, where you'll also find links in the right column for Android phones and other podcast players. 

When you listen to the many reasons proponents give for privatizing ATC, they just don't add up. For example, the Reason Foundation and other proponents have been pushing for ATC privatization for over 20 years, and they've always proposed that a system of user fees be implemented to replace the present fuel taxes used to fund the FAA and ATC. Theoretically, that would vastly reduce the cost paid by a Boeing 747 versus a Cessna 172 using the system, as they both might talk the same amount to ATC, and hence could pay the same amount for ATC services. Moving to a scheme like this effectively shifts much of the cost of ATC from the airlines to general aviation, so it's not surprising most airlines are backing ATC privatization.

So it was shocking that the White House announced a few weeks ago that there would be no user fees under the current proposal to privatize ATC. If the fuel tax is going away, and there are no user fees, who's paying for the system? The whole thing is starting to sound like voodoo math that doesn't add up. More likely, it's just a temporary bone being thrown to General Aviation to try to get our industry on board with this last push to privatize air traffic control. 

And that's just what EAA CEO Jack Pelton confirmed in an interview we did for this podcast. When I said, "Yes and coming back to user fees, to me it looks like the people trying to pass it have looked at all of the objections and basically have tried to throw a bone to each of these groups. So the bone to NATCA was we’ll protect your contracts. The bone to general aviation just in the last couple weeks was OK, no user fees. To me it looks like they’re looking to pass it at all costs." Here's Jack's reply:

"That’s exactly what they’re doing. This has gotten to be on the agenda of the administration or of Chairman Shuster. It’s clearly a 'I’ll do anything to get this thing through, and then we’ll let somebody else figure out what they got.' So like you said, they are just saying what do you need, what do you need, what do you need. And I think at the end Chairman Shuster and the White House is saying 'Just get this through and then we’ll figure out what we got after its through and what we how we are going to implement it.'"   

Please take time to listen to this podcast episode on ATC Privatization, and then take action by going to govt.eaa.org, where, by entering your name and zip code, you can quickly generate a letter that will be sent to your congressional representatives registering your objection to ATC privatization. Thanks for listening. Now let your voice be heard.

Low Cost, Garmin G5 Electronic Flight Instrument for certificated, experimental and LSA Aircraft – Garmin Interview

Garmin recently announced that their low-cost, G5 Electronic Flight Instrument will now be available for use in certificated aircraft. It fits directly into a standard 3 1/8 inch hole used for instruments in most aircraft, which reduces installation time and cost. On the Aviation News Talk podcast episode, I interviewed Garmin software engineer Joe Gepner, who helped design the G5. I've included a few notes about it below, and you can learn even more about it by listening to the podcast. 

The Garmin G5 is a direct replacement for a round gauge attitude indicator, and it was originally introduced for experimental and LSA aircraft in July 2016. Pricing of that version starts at $1199. Later, Garmin introduced a second page in the G5 that displays a HSI, so that it can also be used as a direct replacement for a DG, heading indicator, or HSI. If a pilot has two of these instruments in an aircraft, and the one displaying the attitude indicator fails, the one displaying the HSI can be switched in flight to display the attitude indicator.

In May 2017, Garmin announced a version of the G5 Electronic Flight Instrument that can be used to retrofit attitude indicators and DG/heading indicators in over 600 models of the most common certificated aircraft. That makes it easy for Cessna, Piper, Beechcraft and other aircraft owners to easily retrofit their aircraft with a low cost glass panel display. A single Garmin G5 for certificated aircraft sells for about $2500, and includes an installation kit, magnetometer and 4-hour backup battery.

When configured as a attitude indicator replacement, the Garmin G5 looks like a miniature version of a Garmin G1000 PFD (primary flight display). Like the G1000, it displays the six primary flight instruments: airspeed, altitude, vertical speed, an attitude indicator, HSI, and turn coordinator with slip/skid indicator. It also displays ground speed and ground track from a built-in GPS.

The experimental/LSA version of the Garmin G5 also has a built-in autopilot, though it’s expected that a future version with autopilot might become available for certificated aircraft too. To use it, two optional servo motors need to be installed. Listen to episode 14 of the Aviation News Talk podcast now to learn more about how owners can retrofit older aircraft with the Garmin G5 to add glass cockpit features and reliability to these planes.