Flying 2014-01

max SPEED: mach 0.
85
max RaNGE: 3,600 Nm
max aLTITUDE: 45,000 FT
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EaN mEETS GREEN
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fuel-efficient, it had to be the most fuel-efficient super mid-size aircraft on the market.
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Range shown is based on NBaa IFR theoretical range at mach 0.80 with four passengers. actual range will be affected by aTc routing, operating
speed, weather, outfitting options and other factors.
CONTENTS
J A N U A R Y
2 0 1 4
V O L U M E
1 4 1
I S S U E
ON THE COVER
THIS CESSNA 180 SKYWAGON

WAS CAPTURED IN THE
SKIES OVER MCKINNEY,
TEXAS, BY PHOTOGRAPHER
SCOTT SLOCUM.
p.
36
AFTERMARKET STARS
SIX OUTSTANDING USED AIRPLANE BARGAINS

BY FLYING STAFF
FLYING EDITORS
CHOICE AWARDS
HOW TO SAVE MONEY

ON INSURANCE
44
TIPS FOR THOSE SEEKING

BETTER COVERAGE FOR LESS
BY PIA BERGQVIST
54
SNEAK PREVIEW:
DASSAULT FALCON 5X
48
THE CUTTING-EDGE 5X MARKS A

NEW ERA FOR THE FALCON JET
BY ROBERT GOYER
WE SELECT THE FIVE PRODUCTS THAT

MADE THE MOST REMARKABLE IMPACTS
ON GENERAL AVIATION IN 2013
AVIATION COLLEGE: A
BETTER CHOICE THAN EVER
58
FLYINGMAG.COM / 1 / JANUARY 2014
WITH THE SURGE IN AVIATION DEGREES,

NEW AND IMPROVED OPTIONS ABOUND
BY STEPHEN POPE
62
LAST-CHANCE
PILOTS
OVERCOMING A BIG MISTAKE
BY MARTHA LUNKEN
CONTENTS 72
BIGGEST
ENGINE EVER
WE FLY BOEING 777-300ER
BY LES ABEND
15
ON THE WEB
NEXTANT INTRODUCES THE G90XT
TOP 100 AIRPLANES:

PLATINUM EDITION
FLYINGMAG.COM/TOP100PLATINUM
FLYING NEWS & NOTES
FLYING SAFELY
FLYING OPINION
08 GOING DIRECT
WESTERN SWING
20 I LEARNED ABOUT
FLYING FROM THAT
ILLUMINATION
BY ROBERT GOYER
FAT, DUMB AND HAPPY
BY SAM WEIGEL
BY JIM GUNN
32 TAKING WING
62 UNUSUAL ATTITUDES
FLIGHT TESTING HAS ITS UPS AND
DOWNS BY MARTHA LUNKEN
FLYING S AVIATION
COLLEGE GUIDE
FLYINGMAG.COM/COLLEGE
64 GEAR UP
STAYING ON TOP
BY DICK KARL
12 FLYING MAIL
FEEDBACK FROM OUR READERS
READER LETTERS
15 AIRWAYS
THE LATEST IN AVIATION NEWS
EDITED BY PIA BERGQVIST
22 AFTERMATH
68 TECHNICALITIES
TOO LITTLE, TOO SOON
MOTORIZING MIXTURE
BY PETER GARRISON
BY PETER GARRISON
26 ON THE RECORD
BRIEF ACCIDENT REPORTS
72 JUMPSEAT
FROM THE NTSB
A 775,000-POUND ESPRESSO MAKER

WITH WINGS BY LES ABEND
28 SKY KINGS
THE TIPPING POINT
80 FLASHBACKS
BY JOHN KING
BY BETHANY WHITFIELD
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GOING DIRECT
FLYING NEWS & NOTES | BY rObErT gOyEr
Western sWing
Traversing The high counTry To nBaa
My trip to the National Business Aviation
Association convention in Las Vegas in
the SR22 a while back was a lot of fun,
both coming and going. It made clear the
value of turbocharging (and installed
O2) in a transportation airplane that
spends time out West.
I few VFR on my frst leg from Austin
Executive in Texas to Deming, New
Mexico, my favorite fuel stop heading out
West (great location, good 100LL prices
and friendly, knowledgeable people). I
wanted to see how the Cirrus, a 2011 GTS
with FIKI and an enhanced vision system,
would do at different altitudes along the
way, and I fgured it would be easier for
me to pick my VFR altitudes than to ask
Albuquerque Center for altitude changes
every 20 miles.
I was happy to see that despite the slight
added drag of the FIKI and EVS camera,
the Cirrus did pretty well 185 ktas at
12,500, 192 at 14,500 and 202 at 16,500.
For all of these altitudes, I was burning
right around 16 gph, so fuel fow was

not a big consideration when planning
altitudes. Despite a slight headwind, I
made Deming in about three hours.
Because of the expected traffc heading
into Las Vegas for the show, I decided to fle
IFR out of Deming and fy the airways west
toward Tucson, Arizona, north over the top
of Sky Harbor in Phoenix past Prescott,
west along the Grand Canyon and over
Lake Mead into North Las Vegas (KVGT).
LA Center handed me off to Las Vegas
Approach, and the friendly controller
there gave me vectors into KVGT over the
lake, just south of Nellis Air Force Base,
where I often see fghters chasing each
other but didnt that day, shucks. The
arrival into North Las Vegas couldnt
have been easier, though it was hard to
pick up traffc against the ground clutter
of the city streets.
While the elevations in Vegas are hardly
dramatic, I did notice just how fast you
move over the ground at higher altitudes.
A Bold And
Independent
look At AvIAtIons
BIggest Issues
high flighT
MY tRIp FRoM AustIn, texAs,
to lAs vegAs took Me
oveR soMe BIg RoCks, wIth
MInIMuM AltItudes Along
the AIRwAYs oF BetteR
thAn 10,000 Feet In MAnY
plACes, And the desolAte,
IF BeAutIFul, CountRY
Below. FoR FlIghts lIke
these In A pIston sIngle,
Its teMptIng to push thAt
dIReCt to Button, But
FlYIng the AIRwAYs Is A
sMARteR Bet, As theY let
You AvoId the plentIFul
speCIAl-use AIRspACe out
west whIle FlYIng oveR
the lowest pARts oF the
southwesteRn MountAIns
And plAteAus wheRe Most
oF the AIRpoRts hAppen
to Be. the Result Is peACe
oF MInd when Alls well
And optIons IF tRouBle
ARIses All FoR veRY
lIttle extRA Fuel.
Surveying the
high plateau near
tucSon, arizona, before
turning north for the
even higher ground of
northern arizona.
FlYIngMAg.CoM / 8 / JAnuARY 2014
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GoING dIrect | FLYING NEWS & NOTES
Back home in Central Texas, the elevations are typically around 500 feet
msl, and airplanes perform nicely.
The thick air makes for slower approach speeds over the ground
your IAS stays the same, it goes
without saying. Slower ground speeds
make for nice short ground rolls. At
higher altitudes, the faster ground
speeds mean faster touchdown speeds
and longer ground rolls. North Las
Vegas is around 2,000 feet msl, so I
was surprised to notice how much
faster I was covering ground coming
over the numbers.
At North Las Vegas, my landing on
12R was nothing to write home
about. I foated it and made an inelegant recovery after that. It wasnt
bad, but when youre arriving at a big
event, who wants to show up with
anything but their A game? I make
some of my worst landings at the end
of very long trips, which comes as no
surprise. Fatigue is not our friend.
Jets, Jets, Jets
The NBAA show was, as always, an
interesting one. There was no shortage of drama, including the surprise
announcement by Cessna CEO Scott
Ernest that his companys light-sport
aircraft entry, the 162 Skycatcher,
had, in his words, no future. Ernest
declined to answer further questions
about the issue and was visibly unhappy to be talking about the troubled program at a show where Cessna
had some great progress to share with
the public, including news that the
frst example of its Latitude jet,
launched at NBAA 2011, was literally
coming together. Cessna workers had
just mated the wing and fuselage, and
the midsize Pratt-powered jet was starting to look very much like an airplane.
Of course, the big news at NBAA
was Dassaults offcial launch of the
much-rumored SMS now offcially
called the Falcon 5X. The clean-sheet
airplane will boast one of the greatest
cabins in purpose-built business aviation. A fy-by-wire airplane with an
ingenious fight control system, including faperons, the 5X is slated to
be ready by 2017. (Read more in my
feature on the brave new jet on p. 48.)
In all, there werent many really
big news stories there were more
new airplane launches at the European
Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition in Geneva last spring than at

NBAA this year but the mood was,
if not upbeat, at least resilient. Its
been a tough past few years for many
in business aviation, and heaven
knows our governments sorry state of
affairs was a great cause for concern.
Still, based on the many conversations
I had with friends in the industry at
the show, one thing is clear: Theres
not an ounce of quit in any of us.
LeavING Las veGas
As simple as the arrival into Las Vegas
had been, the departure was anything
but, which is usually a good learning
experience. The departure I got with
my IFR clearance to Marfa, Texas,
some four hours distant, was the
Northtown Three, which took some
study. In simple terms, the departure
issue. In it, John and Martha will

explore every conceivable corner of
the safety world with the goal of
helping all of us reduce our risk and
increase our enjoyment of fight.
John and Martha will alternate columns, and youll see that their voices
and views contrast refreshingly.
As you may know, the Kings hold
the highest level of every possible
pilot category and class certifcate,
from lighter-than-air to seaplane
ATP; Martha was the frst woman to
hold that distinction. They are very
active pilots, fying around the country and around the world in a variety
of aircraft, from light helicopters to
their high-speed Falcon 10 bizjet.
The bottom line here is the Kings fy;
they fy a lot they each have about
13,000 hours in their logbooks
and they know the risk factors we all
As simple As the ArrivAl into lAs

vegAs hAd been, the depArture WAs
Anything but, Which is usuAlly
A good leArning experience.
has you turn slightly more toward the
west after you depart before intercepting a radial off the Las Vegas VOR,
fying that outbound to a fx and turning back toward Las Vegas before
heading off to the east, with altitude
restricted on every leg.
To fy it, I simply selected the departure procedure as part of my
fight plan in the Perspective FMS in
the Cirrus, departed and let the FMS
and GFC 700 fy the procedure,
which it did fawlessly, while I managed altitudes. Once youre on the
procedure, its clear why it was created: to keep airplanes clear of the
big rocks just west of the airport
while allowing them to climb to a
safe altitude in protected airspace.
KING-sIze WeLcome
This month, we welcome to Flying
Martha and John King, whose column Sky Kings premieres in this
FlYIngMAg.CoM / 10 / JAnuARY 2014
face because they face them too.

Ive known the Kings personally for
many years as instructors, colleagues
in aviation and friends. Ive known
them for even longer through their
videos, software and other products,
as many of you do as well. Their goal,
and ours, is to help us all understand
and cut the risks we face while fying,
whether were VFR at 1,500 feet agl
or RVSM at Mach 0.84 in the mid 30s.
Along the way, youll notice that
John and Martha think about safety
differently than most experts and
will admit their mistakes and weaknesses as pilots. Thats not only a
good thing; its a necessary thing. In
an aviation segment where we have a
long way to go before we attain anything resembling an acceptable
safety record, thinking about safety
in the same old ways is a surefre recipe for business as usual, and thats
one scenario we cant afford.
FLYING MAIL
dO YOU hAve A
sUbsCRIptION qUestION?
GO tO FLYINGMAG.COM/Cs
FLYING NEWS & NOTES | FEEDBACK FROM OUR READERS
Unapologetic on bizjets
Robert, I applaud your recent heartfelt plea to everyone urging us to stop
apologizing for our bizjets
[Unapologetic on Bizav,
Going Direct, November
2013]. We have every right
to be openly proud of our
industry, as you clearly
articulated. Twenty-fvethousand plus people along
with more than 1,100 exhibitors who recently gathered together in Las Vegas
for the annual National
Business Aviation Association convention and trade
show certainly were.
It is a proven fact that
companies operating business aircraft within a given
market segment typically

perform better than those
who do not. And while we
are at it, lets not forget
about the 1.2 million
people business aviation
employs, along with the
$150 billion it pumps back
into the economy.
Louis C. Seno
Via email
traffic jams
The I Learned about Flying
from That article in the
November issue [A Fast
Tour of OHare] brought to
mind an experience I had
years ago at LAX. While not
quite as hectic as Chicagos
OHare, it still has its challenges for a GA pilot. I had
fown in from Riverside Municipal Airport in California
in a Cessna 210 to pick up a
passenger at the commuter
terminal. After contacting
ground control for taxi instructions, I headed out for
25L among all the airline
traffc. Before reaching the
hold line behind a DC-10, I
heard a voice over the frequency ask, Ever hear of a
Cessna sandwich? I looked
back through the rear window, and all I could see
were two tires about 20 feet
from the tail of my airplane.
Ah, those were fun times.
John Hull
Via email
easy commUtes
I continue to be surprised
that more people do not
use general aviation to enhance their personal and

professional lives [Commuting in the Fast Lane,
November 2013]. I am fortunate to be qualifed and
equipped in my 99 Archer
III to commute from Trenton-Robbinsville Airport to
Morristown, New Jersey.
Its a 17-minute fight that
saves me what would be a
two-hour commute by car.
The commute keeps my
airplane exercised and allows me to stay sharp in
the demanding New York
environment. I keep a reliable 98 Honda Civic at
KMMU that gets me to
work from the airport. The
commute by airplane and
the fraternity of pilots and
controllers is something I
look forward to every day.
Art Telfeian
Cream Ridge, New Jersey
the new gUy

After reading the new guys
introduction [The Winding
Road, Taking Wing, November 2013], I thought, I
just passed the time reading
my own biography. From
the no-life kid in high school
with a Flying subscription
and Microsoft Flight Simulator onto fight school and
instructing to the current
state of being an airline pilot with a continued interest
in GA, Sam Weigel almost
described me to a tee. I look
forward to reading his articles and reading about how
my career is coming along.
Dave Keen
Grand Prairie, Texas
DownDrafts
Margaret Lambs experience
in mountain fying is well
worth your bringing the
hazards to the attention of
the fying public [Downdrafts in My Backyard, November 2013]. I would like
to add another caution to a
subject that I did not fnd
adequately covered in my
military and general aviation career. When fying on
the lee side of a wind blowing over a mountain, the

pressure is low. This makes
the altimeter think that
your airplane is higher than
it actually is.
I frst noticed that one
night when I was fying west
over the mountains in
northern New Mexico and
Arizona. The whole crew of
my B-29 was asleep at about
3 a.m. I could see the snowcovered mountains below,
but my altimeter said that
we were more than 1,000
feet above ground. Just to
be sure, I turned on the
landing lights and was
shocked to see that we were
barely clearing huge pine
trees. I quickly climbed to a
safe altitude.
Lorrin Peterson
Via email
Send mail to: edit@flyingmag.com or flying magazine, P.o. Box 8500, Winter Park, fl 32789
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Redundant Air Data Computers with Independent Airspeed & Altitude Pressure Transducers Redundant Emergency Batteries [30 Minutes Runtime or
2 Hours with Optional External Battery] Redundant Emergency GPS Receivers [Optional] Dual Sixpack Displays Dual HSIs Dual GPSS Computers
Evolution 2000:
Unrivaled Safety & Versatility, by Design.
GET CONNECTED
Aspens Connected Panel
technology connects your smart
portable device with your Evolution
MFD-equipped instrument panel
connectedpanel.com
aspenavionics.com/evolution2000
Copyright 2012 Aspen Avionics Inc. Aspen Avionics, Evolution Flight Display System, Connected Panel, and the Aspen Avionics
aircraft logo are trademarks of Aspen Avionics Inc. All rights reserved. U.S. Patent No. 8,085,168, and additional patents pending.
PIERCING THE DARKNESS

NEVER LOOKED SO GOOD.
The best gets even better in 2014. Cirrus Integrated LED Technology, a state-of-the-art multifunction wingtip lighting system that takes the latest luxury automobile LED lighting technology
and makes it uniquely Cirrus. Performance. Function. Convenience. And a cutting edge look.
LEARN MORE AT CIRRUSAIRCRAFT.COM/2014
2013 CIRRUS DESIGN CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
16
ROCKWELL
COLLINS
EVS-3000
AIRWAYS
FLyiNG NEWS & NOTES | EDiTED By PIA BERGQVIST
PLUS
SPORTYS
SMARTPHONE
WIND METER
p. 19
NEXTANT PLANS TO
ROLL OUT THE G90XT, ITS
NEW TURBOPROP RETROFIT,
AS SOON AS NEXT YEAR. THE
COMPANY PROMISES TOPNOTCH INTERIOR AND PAINT
UPGRADES ALONG WITH NEW
GE H80 POWER PLANTS AND
GARMINS POPULAR G1000
INTEGRATED AVIONICS.
nextant intRoDUces g90xt

UpDaTeD King air aboUT To hiT The marKeT
Nextant Aerospace, which in 2011 successfully introduced the 400XT a conversion
program that turns old Beechjet 400A
airframes into new airplanes recently
expanded its scope of business to include
turboprops. The company is starting out
with the G90XT, a transformed version of
the King Air C90 twin turboprop.
With a G1000 panel and GEs new H80
engines, the G90XT brings fresh technology
to aging airframes. The targeted price tag of
$2.2 million is more than $1 million lower
than that of a new King Air. However,
because there are major engineering
differences between the two airplanes,

Nextant G90XT airplanes cannot be serviced
at Beechcrafts service centers.
Nextant hopes to certify the G90XT next
year and plans to make the conversions in
Cleveland, next door to the 400XTi facility.
With about 1,500 King Air C90s delivered,
Nextant is not likely to run out of airframes
any time soon. Beechcraft has produced
more than 7,000 King Airs since it introduced the frst in the series of twin turboprops in the mid 1960s. Nextant said
additional King Air-based products may be
added in the future. Pia Bergqvist
g1000 avioniCs
NEXTANT CHOSE GARMINS G1000 INTEGRATED AVIONICS
PANEL FOR THE G90XT. WITH TWO 10-INCH PFDS, ONE FOR
EACH PILOT STATION, A 15-INCH MFD IN THE MIDDLE AND THE
INTEGRATED GFC 700 AUTOPILOT, THE SYSTEM PROVIDES THE
LATEST IN AVIONICS CAPABILITIES, INCLUDING REAL-TIME
WEATHER, SYNTHETIC VISION, WAAS, LPV APPROACHES, GEOREFERENCED CHARTS AND MUCH MORE.
ge h80 engine
THE NEXTANT G90XT WILL BE
POWERED BY THE NEWLY DEVELOPED
GE H80 TURBOPROP ENGINE, WHICH
IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING UP TO 800
SHAFT HORSEPOWER, HAS A 3,600 TBO
AND IS CONTROLLED ELECTRONICALLY.
THE ENGINE WAS INTRODUCED IN
THE THRUSH 510G A 10,500-POUND
CROP-DUSTER.
airways | FLyiNG NEWS & NOTES
Rockwell collins
eVs-3000 can Detect
leD lighting
mUlTiple Cameras proviDe besT view yeT

ThroUgh poor weaTher
Cobham Unveils s-TeC 5000

DigiTal aUTopiloT
envelope proTeCTion among long lisT of
aDvanCeD CapabiliTies
S-Tec parent company

Cobham launched a
new autopilot, the S-Tec
5000, a dual digital
system with a number of
advanced capabilities
that are designed to
integrate with the cockpits of airplanes up
to business jets and turboprops.
In addition to typical
advanced autopilot
capabilities, such as
altitude hold, preselect,
vertical speed and indicated airspeed hold, the
new S-Tec fight controller will boast envelope
protection and straightand-level recovery (with

a feature-compatible
FMS), as well as threeaxis autotrim and altitude step down plus
an available analog
interface.
Cobham hasnt yet
announced pricing for
the S-Tec 5000, but it is
expected to be competitively priced against
existing aftermarket
digital autopilots.
Cobham says the product
will be available for
delivery in late 2015 or
early 2016. S.P.
S-Tec 5000 AT A GlAnce
3-axis dual digital autopilot with autotrim
designed for high-end business jets

and turboprops
he EVS-3000 enhanced vision system from Rockwell Collins

is among a new breed of forward-looking EVS camera
systems that combine multiple image sources to provide the
clearest view through poor weather yet, along with the
ability to detect LED runway lighting.
Available for use with head-up or head-down displays, the EVS3000s camera pod uses a proprietary multi-spectral sensor
developed by Rockwell Collins that the avionics maker says signifcantly improves detection of terrain, hazards and obstacles in
low-visibility conditions, such as fog.
The EVS-3000 is also the frst EVS with the ability to fully detect
LED lighting, which is becoming more common at airports for runway
and taxiway lighting. Previous generation infrared EVS systems
cannot detect LED lights.
Were bringing unprecedented accuracy in sensing whats ahead
during critical phases of fight, says Craig Olson, senior director of
Head-up Guidance Systems for Rockwell Collins. At the same time,
operators will experience enhanced reliability and lower cost of
ownership from our lower weight, more energy-effcient EVS solution.
The launch customer for the EVS-3000 is Embraer, which will bring
the technology to the Legacy 450 and 500 paired with Rockwell
Collins HGS-350 head-up guidance system.
The EVS-3000 cannot see through solid clouds, a limitation of all
EVS products. Unlike some other systems, the Rockwell Collins unit
does not require built-in cooling. EVS can be used to descend to lower
minimums on instrument approaches, even if the outside environment cannot be seen with the naked eye. Stephen Pope
envelope protection and alerting

one-touch, straight-and-level recovery
gps and pitch-control steering
Flying seeks
expeRt pilots
Are you an expert pilot with experience
fying a cool or unusual airplane? Whether
its an SR-71 or a human-powered
helicopter, wed like to hear your story!
If youve got a tale to tell, please email
Bethany Whitfeld, our managing editor,
at bethany.whitfeld@bonniercorp.com.
LEARN TO
FLY HERE!
FLIGHT GEAR
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External file folder

and chart pocket
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Sportys course goes beyond the

textbook to teach you real world
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confident pilot. Special Air Facts
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1.800.SPORTYS SPORTYS.COM
2014 Sportsmans Market, Inc.
FL1401B
mid-SiZe CeSSna
Citation LatitUde to
Get aUtothrottLeS
new addiTiOn The LaTesT in a LenGThy LisT
OF imprOVemenTs
Cessnas new Citation Latitude mid-size jet, rst announced at

the National Business Aviation Association convention two years
ago, keeps getting better and better. At the annual convention in
October, Cessna announced the Latitude will now be equipped with
autothrottles, giving the jet an edge in ease of operation typically
found in larger aircraft.
While autothrottles are the latest enhancement to come to the
G5000-equipped Latitude, they certainly arent the only one. Since
the jet was announced, Cessna has increased its range by 300 nm, up
to a total of 2,300 nm, and also enlarged the cabin. With a fat foor
and 6 feet of cabin height, the Citation Latitudes interior stretches
beyond 21 feet in length.
The jet program reached a key milestone in September with the
completion of the wing mate on the rst Latitude test article. Cessna
says the seven- to nine-passenger airplane is expected to make its rst
fight within the next few months. Bethany Whiteld
in The COCKpiT
WITH THE NEW ADDITION
OF AUTOTHROTTLES, PILOTS
BEHIND THE CONTROLS OF
THE G5000-EQUIPPED CITATION
LATITUDE WILL ENJOY AN EASE
OF OPERATION NOT TYPICALLY
FOUND IN MID-SIZE JETS.
Cessna TO OFFer TamaraCKs

aCTiVe winGLeTs
TaG winGLeTs prOVide perFOrmanCe BOOsT
Cessna Aircraft Company announced at the

National Business Aviation Associations business
aviation convention in October that it has entered
into an exclusive agreement to offer TAGs aftermarket active winglets at Cessnas Citation service
centers. The initial offering will be for the Citation
CJ series, not including the CJ4. TAG is in the process of certifying the winglet system and has completed about 100 hours of fight-testing on a
CitationJet test bed. The company hopes to start
delivering STC kits in 2015.
TAG claims the winglets improve the performance of the light business jets in certain fight
conditions. While no direct comparison data is
available yet, TAGs founder and CEO Nick Guida
says customers can expect a reduction in fuel burn
and increased range capabilities. In June, a TAG
team few the CitationJet from Sandpoint, Idaho
(KSZT), to White Plains, New York (KHPN), a distance of 1,853 nm, claiming an unofcial world
record distance for the type of airplane.
The big difference between TAGs winglets and
traditional winglets is that a control surface located
on the trailing edge of the wing unloads the wingtip during high-load situations, eliminating the
need for additional structural support that would
dip into the airplanes useful load. Joe Hepburn,
Cessnas senior vice president of customer service,
says it is plausible that no change in the fatigue
life will result from the winglet installation. Guida
says nonactive winglet installations can reduce the
fatigue life by as much as 40 percent. P.B.
TAMARACKS ACTIVE TECHNOLOGY LOAD

ALLEVIATION SYSTEM (ATLAS) DEFLECTS IN
MICROSECONDS IF A LOAD IS IMPOSED ON THE
WING, EFFECTIVELY DEACTIVATING THE WINGLET
AND REMOVING THE ADDED STRESS OF THE
ADDITIONAL WING SPAN.
SportyS Smartphone
Wind
meter
measure wind speeds anywhere
portys has introduced a nifty unit that could come in

handy, particularly for pilots fying into airports that
dont have metar capabilities. The Smartphone Wind
Meter allows you to check the wind speeds anywhere
you are using something you likely already carry:
your iPhone, iPad or Android device. The system works
through a bright-red miniature hemispherical cup anemometer, which connects through the headset jack.
The $49.95 unit works through a free app called Vaavud
Wind Meter. Current compatibility includes most iPhones
and iPads as well as Samsungs Galaxy S2, S3 and S4. Once
the unit is connected and the app is activated, your smartphone will display actual, average and maximum wind
speeds numerically and graphically.
While Sportys claims the Wind Meter is durable, the
company advises against using it in fight. P.B.
Correction: The Personal Locator Beacons feature in our December issue listed the incorrect price for the Breitling Emergency
watch, which begins at $14,825 or $15,750 with the bracelet as shown in the issue.
King Air C90GTx. More than just a business icon. For generations, the King Air 90 series has
delivered the means to go more places, with more people, in more comfort, at less cost. The
King Airs rugged landing gear and robust airframe make gravel runways, dirt strips and remote
airelds as accessible as big-city airline hubs. It is little wonder that, today, King Air stands as
the most popular business aircraft in the world.
For more info, contact: U.S. and the Americas +1.316.676.0800
EMEA +9714.433.1763 |Asia-Pacic +65.6423.0321
Visit us at Beechcraft.com.
2013 Beechcraft Corporation. All rights reserved. Beechcraft is a registered trademark of Beechcraft Corporation.
I LEARNED
ABOUT
FLYING
FROM
THAT
F LY I N G s a f e ly | B Y J i m G u n n | N O . 8 7 5
FLYING ReAdeRs shARe

LAstING LessONs FROM CLOse
CALLs ANd NeAR dIsAsteRs
To see more of Barry ross

aviaTion arT, go To BarryrossarT.com.
Fat, Dumb anD Happy

a regular flight takes a turn for the worse
There I was: fat, dumb and happy. My
friend Tim and I had taken my 1977
Mooney 201 from Camden, South
Carolina, to Myrtle Beach to get the oxygen cylinder flled. We fled IFR on the
outbound leg at 7,000 feet msl and had to
fy the ILS at Myrtle Beach to get through
some thin, low clouds. We were probably
legal for a visual approach, but we few
the ILS for practice anyway (its still free!).
On the return trip, the ceiling and

visibility were unlimited, so we few back
VFR with fight following. Tim is a U.S.
Air Force Sikorsky HH-60G pilot, fight
instructor and evaluator. He only recently saw the light and got his fxed-wing
license, so I let him fy home for practice.
About fve minutes after we leveled off
at 4,500 feet msl, the engine made one
loud shudder, and the engine analyzer
F LY I N G M A G . C O M / 2 0 / J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 4
indicated three dead cylinders. I took

control of the aircraft, established my
lift-over-drag max airspeed of 91 knots
indicated and pressed the nearest button on the GX50 GPS. The closest airport was Hemingway-Stuckey, with
3,000 feet of runway at 12 miles, and
Florence Regional, with 8,000 feet at 13
miles. It was just a 60-degree heading
change to Florence, so we turned direct.
I L e a r N e d a B O u t F LY I N G F r O m t h a t | F LY I N G s a f e ly
The local area at this point consisted

of the recently plowed feld almost under us and a forest of tall southern pine
trees between the feld and the airport. I
informed the controller that we would
sheriff arrived. The rest of the day was

spent talking to the FAA, insurance companies and a local news reporter. The reporter was disappointed that the crash site
didnt look like a plane crash and didnt
at about 2,000 Feet agl, we were

more tHan 7 miles away From tHe
airport, anD it was obvious tHat
we coulD not gliDe tHat Far.
We had been monitoring Shaw Air

Force Base approach control, so I immediately declared an emergency with them
and stated my intentions. Tim squawked
7700 without even being asked. Shaw
switched us to Florence approach, and
the litany was repeated. During this process, I switched on the boost pump, put
the throttle and prop to the wall, and
verifed that the engine was not responding. The prop was windmilling at 1,700
rpm, and we had a 600 fpm sink rate.
As I surveyed the local terrain, I
asked Tim to switch to the other fuel
tank. Still no luck. At about 2,000 feet
agl, we were more than 7 miles away
from the airport, and it was obvious
that we could not glide that far. I asked
the controller if there were any closer
airports, and she replied negative.
not be able to make the airport and

would be landing in the feld below us. I
asked her to mark our position on radar
and alert the local sheriff.
At this time, another pilot came over
the radio and said, Why dont you try to
land on a road? I have never been a fan
of landing on country roads with an
engine-out emergency there are too
many problems with cars, trucks, power
lines, ditches, etc. The feld was defnitely the best option.
At 1,500 feet agl, I started a left,
270-degree turn to set up for my desired
landing pattern into the prevailing wind.
I set half faps and 70 knots indicated
airspeed. Tim had only fown high-wing
aircraft and asked if the door should be
opened. I said no and told him that I
would also be leaving the Mooneys stubby little landing gear up. At about 200
feet agl, I asked Tim to set full faps and
put the engine in idle cutoff.
As the aircraft entered ground effect, I
started to fare and held off until about
48 knots indicated. The aircraft touched
down gently and slid about 60 yards.
Just prior to stopping, the boarding step
caught the dirt, and the airplane turned
90 degrees to the right and came to a
gentle stop. Lets get out of here in case
of a fre, Tim said. So we did.
After we exited the aircraft, it was apparent that the only damage was a broken boarding step and a bent prop. After
a couple of minutes, I got back in the airplane, turned the master switch back on
and called ATC to tell them that we were
OK. The same pilot who suggested that
we land on a road relayed this message.
About three minutes later, the local
really want to do the story. The cameraman did not even remove the
lens cap, and we did not make the
nightly news. I did have to call my
lovely wife to ask her for a ride home
and tell her that I got a little dirt on
the bottom of her airplane.
This incident was caused when
the single drive shaft/ignition points
that make both of the magnetos
work failed catastrophically. The
engine was only windmilling and
was not going to restart no matter
what we did. The next day, the recovery company jacked up the airplane,
put the gear down, put on a new D
magneto and temporary prop. They
few it to their shop for repairs.
We were lucky to make it out of
the incident unscathed and took
away these lessons:
1. Make your emergency
landing decisions on the ground
at 0 airspeed prior to the fight.
2. When an emergency happens,
maintain aircraft control, analyze
the situation and land as the situation dictates.
3. Fly your plan, and dont try to
make the impossible happen.
4. Use all available resources,
but disregard extraneous inputs.
5. Let the insurance company
worry about the dirt on the prop.
6. When you land off airport,
enter X000 in your logbook for
the landing site. I learned this from
Tim because helo pilots do this all
the time.
7. Read rule No. 2 again!
AFTERMATH
ACCIdeNt ANALYsIs
thAt GOes behINd ANd
beYONd the Ntsb RepORt
F LY I N G s a f e ly | B Y P e T e R G a R R I s O N
Too LiTTLe, Too Soon

A Novice Pilot RuNs out of eveRythiNg he Needs
It was an old story. A relatively
inexperienced pilot practicing
landings got too slow on fnal
approach, stalled and crashed.
The pilot, 56, was fying a
club Cherokee 180, a type in
which he had logged 13 of his
130 hours. He was making a
short round-robin cross-country
fight, ostensibly for practice,
with landings at two airports
along the way. He had landed at
the second of them, taxied back
and was making a second
approach to Runway 17 when
the accident occurred.
The National Transportation
Safety Board attributed it to the
pilots failure to maintain
airspeed during an approach in
gusty crosswind conditions.
The NTSB report on the
accident (ERA12FA163) says the
wind was from 230 at 13 knots
gusting to 20, but that is
somewhat misleading. The
numbers come from tabulations
of hourly automated observations at the uncontrolled airport.
In the frst place, the wind
speeds on those tabulations are
listed in miles per hour, not
knots, and so during the course
of the hour preceding the
accident the wind actually
averaged 11 knots; gusts of up to
17 knots occurred with unspecifed frequency. There is no
offcial information about what
the wind was doing when the
accident occurred, but a witness
who ran to the scene after seeing
the airplane go down reported
that the surface winds were
only 5 to 7 knots, with some
stronger gusts. The mention of
gusty crosswind conditions

probably exaggerates the role of
wind in the accident.
Initially approaching the
airport from the south, the pilot
had overfown it at 2,000 feet,
made a sweeping right turn,
joined the pattern on the 45 and
completed a routine approach
and landing. The ground track
of his second circuit was similar
to that of the frst, but he was
slightly higher and considerably
slower as he turned base to fnal
a little more than a mile from
the touchdown point, which is
displaced 800 feet from the
threshold. As he approached the
runway, he got progressively
slower and dropped below the
glideslope, which was marked
by a 4-degree four-light PAPI.
The last groundspeed and height
recorded on his GPS, still a
quarter mile from the aim point,
were 45 knots and 69 feet agl;
16 seconds earlier, he had been
at 49 knots and 197 feet. The
second fnal approach was, on
average, about 20 knots slower
than the frst.
The gross weight stalling
speeds of the Cherokee are 59
knots clean and 53 knots with
40 degrees of fap. Accident
investigators determined from
the wreckage that the faps had
been set at about 25 degrees.
Between 25 and 40 degrees, faps
add more drag than lift, but lets
say the gross weight stalling
speed was around 55 knots. The
airplane was well below gross
weight, however, having taken off
with 36 gallons of fuel and fown
only about 45 nm with a couple
of landings before the accident.

Supposing that it weighed 1,900
pounds, its stalling speed would
have been under 50 knots. The
target approach speed, 30
percent above the published
stalling speed, would have been
around 70 kias.
A 10-knot wind 60 degrees off
the nose produces a 5-knot
headwind component. The
groundspeeds in the high 40s,
therefore, probably represent
airspeeds in the low 50s. The
calculation is superfuous,
however; whatever the wind,
the Cherokee stalled. Whether it
stalled out of unaccelerated
fight or because of some abrupt
AS he ApproAched
The runwAy, he goT
progreSSiveLy SLower
And dropped beLow
The gLideSLope.
action by the pilot, we cant
know. A pilot witness reported
that the Cherokee porpoised
several times when very low on
the approach, and then, at an
altitude of 50 feet, pitched up
suddenly. Another witness
reported the wings rocking
hard a behavior that seems
consistent with the forecast of
gusty crosswinds but was not
mentioned by the frst witness.
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Both of these descriptions suggest a

pilot who was working to control the
attitude of his airplane while failing to
deal with the two fundamental
requirements of airspeed and height.
If there were gusts, their role is
unclear. As far as pilots are concerned,
a gust is simply a sudden change in the
speed of the wind, either an increase
or a decrease, or in its direction. At
altitude, wind gusts can come from
any direction, but close to the ground
they have to be horizontal. When gusts
are expected and really any time a
strong wind is blowing because its
speed may fuctuate pilots are
advised to add a few knots to the
approach speed.
As is customary in discussions of
fying slow, everything is expressed in
terms of speed. Speed, however, is just
a surrogate for angle of attack.
An old hangar riddle takes this
form: A Cub is fying at 50 kias into a
25-knot headwind. The wind suddenly
dies. What happens? Pilots give various
answers, ranging from Nothing,
because the airplane is part of the air
mass to The airplane stalls.
The correct answer actually
depends on how long a time frame you
consider. Initially, the only thing that
happens is that the airspeed indicator
registers a 25-knot dip. Nevertheless,
the Cub does not instantly stall because
its angle of attack has not changed,
and so air is fowing over the wing
in the same way as it was before the
wind died, although at a lower speed.
Because of the lower airspeed, however,
the wing loses lift three-quarters of
it, given the numbers in the question.
The airplane therefore drops out from
under the pilot.
Now, suppose the airplane has a bit
of altitude, and the pilot does nothing.
Consider a paper airplane thrown too
hard: It arcs upward, stalls, then drops
its nose into a dive and resumes
gliding. The Cub is no different. The
wing might stall momentarily unless
the pilot reacted quickly to the loss of
lift by pitching the nose downward.
Even if the pilot did nothing, the Cub
would drop its nose because of the
upward pressure on the horizontal tail
produced by its mushing descent. It
would dive and regain fying speed. It
might overshoot, but after a couple of
oscillations it would settle back to its
trimmed speed. This is the behavior of

all naturally stable airplanes, model
and full-scale alike.
But it is not the behavior of all pilots.
If we encounter a downdraft while
cruising at altitude, we pull back on the
stick or increase power or more likely
do both because we attach importance
to maintaining altitude accurately. On
the ILS, we handle brief excursions
from the glideslope with elevator and
longer-term ones with power. Our
habit, in other words, is to manage
altitude ourselves, not leave it to the
natural, but slower-acting, dynamics of
the airplane. Furthermore, our normal
reaction to a transient loss of altitude is
to pull back, and it works, provided
that we have some surplus airspeed. If
we have no airspeed margin and this
pilot didnt then the appropriate
reaction would be just the opposite:
Push the nose down. Unfortunately, we
use the pull-up reaction so much more
often that, despite stall-recovery
training, the push-down one does not
become instinctive.
Why our Cherokee pilot allowed
himself to get so low and so slow
shades of Asiana at SFO well never
know. One noteworthy thing about this
approach, however, and also about his
previous one, whose ground track was
nearly identical, was the length of the
fnal approach. The FAAs recommendation for the traffc pattern is to turn
base when the touchdown point is 45
degrees behind you. This implies that
after the power reduction on downwind you fy only as far past the
touchdown point as you are laterally
from the runway probably no more
than half a mile. If the distances from
power reduction to base turn, from
base to fnal, and from fnal turn to
touchdown are the same, you should
dispose of about a third of your altitude
on each segment. Flying correct
heights and positions in the pattern
wont keep you from getting too slow,
but it can help keep you from getting
too low, and that is half the battle.
This article is based on the NTSBs

report of the accident and is intended to
bring the issues raised to our readers
attention. It is not intended to judge or to
reach any defnitive conclusions about the
ability or capacity of any person, living or
dead, or any aircraft or accessory.
WE TREAT YOU LIKE A NAME.

NOT AN N NUMBER.
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Insurance Company, youre a pilot with a unique history and needs. We dont
make you go through a third-party broker with no authority to say yes when the
numbers say no. Only Avemco connects you directly with a decision-maker
empowered to solve problems and approve coverage based on your situation, not
what some rulebook says. Avemco is rated A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best* and has
been treating pilots as individuals for over 50 years.
Get a free quote and get a free hat.

Call (800) 276 5206 or visit avemco.com/FLYING
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and conditions of any insurance policy issued by Avemco. In the event that a policy is inconsistent with the information described herein, the language of the policy will
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ON THE RECORD
F LY I N G s a f e ly
The FOLLOwING ARe

exCeRpTs FROM NTsb RepORTs
OF GeNeRAL AvIATION ACCIdeNTs
PIPER PA-28-180
Canton, Connecticut/INJURIES: 2 Fatal

The pilot was fying to the destination
airport at night on the second day of a
long cross-country trip. Radar data
showed that when the airplane was
about 12 miles from the destination
airport, it began to descend. The airplane eventually descended into trees
and terrain about 6 miles from the
destination airport, at an elevation
nearly 400 feet below the airports
traffc pattern altitude, and 1,400 feet
below the maximum elevation fgure
published for that area.
A state police helicopter dispatched
to search for the airplane following the
accident reported that the terrain surrounding the accident site was surprisingly dark, and that some of the
only nearby ground lighting came from
a parking lot about 1 mile beyond the
accident location and along the airplanes course. According to the aeronautical information manual, lights
along a straight path can easily be mistaken for runway lights at night. The
pilots logbook indicated that he had
fown 1 hour at night in the accident
airplane in the preceding year. Given
the pilots lack of recent night fying
experience, it is possible that he initiated the early descent because he had
mistaken the nearby parking lot lights
for those of the destination airport.
PROBABLE CAUSE(S):
The pILOTs FAILURe TO MAINTAIN

CLeARANCe FROM TeRRAIN whILe
peRFORMING A NIGhT vIsUAL AppROACh
TO AN AIRpORT. CONTRIbUTING TO The
ACCIdeNT weRe The dARk NIGhT ANd
The pILOTs LACk OF ReCeNT expeRIeNCe
FLYING AT NIGhT.
Just log on to:
yingmag.com/cs
BEECH 95-A55
Millville, New Jersey/INJURIES: 1 Fatal, 1 Serious

The pilot receiving instruction was
conducting a simulated engine-out
emergency landing when the accident
occurred. Several eyewitnesses
reported that the airplane began to
roll to the left while it was in fight.
One eyewitness reported hearing the
airplanes engines increase in power.
During postaccident interviews, the
fight instructor stated that the left
engine was at the idle power setting
to simulate the engine failure for
landing; however, he could not recall
the events that took place during the
accident sequence. Examination of
the airframe and engines revealed no
anomalies or malfunctions that would
have precluded normal operation.
Review of the private pilots medical
history revealed nothing to suggest a
medical cause for impairment or incapacitation. Therefore, it is likely that

during the landing fare, the pilot
receiving instruction added power to
the right engine and failed to properly compensate for the increased
asymmetrical thrust, which resulted
in a loss of control.
PROBABLE CAUSE(S):
The pILOT ReCeIvING INsTRUCTION FAILed

TO MAINTAIN AIRpLANe CONTROL dURING
The sIMULATed eNGINe-OUT LANdING.
CONTRIbUTING TO The ACCIdeNT wAs The
FLIGhT INsTRUCTORs FAILURe TO TAke
TIMeLY ReMedIAL ACTION.
SKY KINGS
F L Y I N G S A F E LY | B Y J O H N K I N G
The Tipping poinT
HOW ONE EVENT TRANSFORMED THE WAY

I THINK ABOUT FLYING
Every pilot knows that fying is an
intense mixture of uncommon rewards offset with exposure to risk.
After all, while airplanes provide
some of the greatest pleasures in our
lifetimes, they do have to reach a lethal speed just to get airborne and
then fy at thousands of feet above the
ground. Balancing the risk/reward
equation is something my wife and
fying partner, Martha, and I have
been thinking about ever since we
had our airplane accident.
To understand how transformative
this event was for us, let me go back in
time. Flying had us hooked right from
the start. As soon as the opportunity

arose, we learned to fy together and
enjoyed every minute of it. It didnt
take long before we started exploring
the country in our airplane. The day
after we got our certifcates, we took
off in our Cherokee 140 from our
home feld in Indianapolis on a fying
trip that took us to Arkansas and Florida, and before we had our certifcates
for a week, we made our frst international trip to Grand Bahama.
Instead of returning to Indianapolis
from northern Florida, we turned left
and went to California. We explored
the length of the state, looking for a
NO-NONSENSE
RISK MITIGATION FOR
PILOTS LIKE US
place we might want to move to. We

ultimately settled on San Diego. We
were having a grand time. Flying provided everything we loved learning, seeing the world from above and
exploring with unparalleled ability.
At that time, you had to have 200
hours of fight time to get an instrument rating, and at hour 201, we each
went for our instrument check rides.
At just under 300 hours, we had a
checkout of less than a half-hour in
the Piper Comanche we had just purchased and took off the next day from
California to fy in one day to Indianapolis. The instrument ratings and
the more capable Comanche expanded our ability to travel in our own
airplane, and we took full advantage
of it. We used our airplane for personal transportation and for our business, and we manufactured
opportunities to fy every way we
could imagine, even when fying on
the airlines made far more sense.
But there was a problem. We were
scaring everyone who cared about us
and even some who had never met us
before. People felt that we thought we
were invulnerable and that we took
too many risks. People were concerned
that we were overconfdent and overly
optimistic. It worried people that we
were in so much of a hurry and that
we advanced too quickly to a higher
performance aircraft. We were the
kind of pilots who frightened people.
And those people were right. On
that very frst long trip, we had numerous close calls. On the way to Arkansas, we couldnt fnd the grass strip
we had chosen as a fuel stop because
of a fresh covering of snow and got
low on fuel looking for an alternate.
In northwest Florida, we got caught
by low ceilings and visibilities and
circled our destination airport in the
mist multiple times before getting suffciently lined up with a runway to be
able to land. As VFR-only pilots in
Louisiana, we climbed through a hole
in a forming cloud layer, which resulted in getting trapped on top over
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an area of low ceilings and visibilities.

We absolutely terrifed the FSS operator when we called to fnd the nearest
hole so we could get down and land.
On the way to Houston, we sorted
our way through gathering cumulus
clouds. By the time we reached the
runway, we were so exhausted that
just before touchdown we saw the
wrong number painted on the runway
in front of us but landed on it anyway.
In Tucson, Arizona, we made our frstever night landing after fying over the
mountains in the dark.
The saga continued everywhere we
went. When concerned pilots were
courageous enough to confront us regarding our fying habits, we didnt
take it well. In Albuquerque, New Mexico, as we were preparing our Comanche for a night fight over the
mountains to California in a snowstorm with snowfakes the size of
dimes, a pilot kept questioning us
about why we didnt wait until morning. Our impatient reaction was that
we knew what we were doing.
Maybe our impatient reaction wasnt
entirely our fault. Pilots and many
fight instructors have not been
trained to effectively counsel pilots
who take unnecessary risks. There
was an implication that we had no
judgment and lacked good decisionmaking skills. We tended to resent
that. After all, we owned our own
business and were doing well. In our
minds, we clearly had good judgment
and decision-making skills.
The counseling certainly didnt
work. We continued to have close call
after close call with no change in our
behavior until we had our inevitable
accident. After a generator failure, we
elected to continue fying on top of an
overcast layer. When we arrived at our
destination, we had a completely discharged battery. In our frst emergency
descent through the icy clouds, we
never saw the ground and climbed
back to 10,000 feet to get on top again.
Back on top, after an anxious discussion about alternatives, we decided
our only option was another trip back
down through the ice. Just seconds
after seeing the ground in the dusk,
we landed in a cornfeld. The unsecured luggage and tool kit behind us
came forward, hit Martha, sprayed her
blood all over the cabin and pinned us
against the panel. This earned Martha

a trip to the emergency room.
The accident changed everything for
us. It completely transformed our attitudes about risk management. You
might say we became born-again pilots. But even though our attitudes
changed, we didnt really know what
to do when we began to see our old
behavior in other people who mattered to us.
By now, we were teaching two-day
ground schools for a living. We traveled in a circuit and generally returned to the same city every two
months. We taught relatively large
numbers of pilots, and we became
very impressed with, and fond of,
those who choose to learn to fy.
Tragically, it was not uncommon for
us to return to a city in two months
to me. Neither one of us confronted

the doctor.
A couple of weeks later, the phone
rang. It was the FAA inspector. John,
I thought youd want to know. The
doctor is dead, he said. He had gotten
into low ceilings and visibilities on a
solo cross-country fight and ran into
the mountains.
This put me into a blue funk. I
thought about quitting teaching fying
because I didnt want to be a part of an
activity that resulted in such superb
people coming to grief. Finally someone said to me, John, why dont you
just resolve to do everything you can
to make a positive difference? Im
glad I listened to the advice.
Martha and I love fying just as
much as we ever did, maybe even
more. We have fown continuously
The accidenT changed everyThing

for us. iT compleTely Transformed our
aTTiTudes abouT risk managemenT.
and learn that one of those spectacular people we had just taught had
died in an airplane crash. I can name
dozens. These were not foolhardy
people. Like us, they just didnt understand the risks they were taking.
In each case, the death was considered a local tragedy.
The tipping point came when I had a
student in my class who was both a
physician and an Episcopalian priest.
He was a pillar of his community. What
concerned me about him was that he,
like I had been, was too impatient.
During the class, I became concerned
that his impatience could be a serious
risk factor when it came to his fying.
In those days, the FAA had to administer the knowledge tests. So I suggested that the FAA inspector talk to
the doctor. The inspector said to me,
John, I cant just pick someone out of
your class and give him a lecture because you told me to. Why dont you
talk to him? I said, Im just a traveling ground instructor. He wont listen
since we started in 1969 and still use

general aviation almost exclusively for
personal transportation. Flying uses
almost every aptitude a human being
has physical skill, emotional control, 3-D problem solving and, yes,
decision making. I think the fact that
fying uses so many aptitudes is one of
the reasons it is so much fun.
But our unusual view of aviation has
made us extremely aware that there
are also risks associated with fying.
We know they can be managed and
doing so does not in the least have to
take the fun out of fying.
As we learned from the well-intentioned folks who were so unsuccessful
in getting us to change our behaviors,
those advocating risk management
have to use a vocabulary that is both
insightful and acceptable to the listeners. Balancing risk and reward is certainly not an easy subject, but its the
subject about which we hope to have
a continuing dialog with you in this
column.
Sean invites you to
inspire
the next generation

of aviators
Without the guidance of mentors I had at EAA, I wouldnt be
who I am today. I, along with 42,000 other pilots are now helping
light that same spark for kids through EAAs Young Eagles program.
Since 1992, volunteer pilots my personal heroes have fown
more than 1.8 million kids as part of the program. The Young Eagles
program has had a huge impact on general aviation.
Sean D. Tucker
Airshow performer & Young Eagles chairman
Become one of Seans personal heroes by joining EAA

and becoming a Young Eagles volunteer pilot.
EAA.org/join | 800.564.6322
TAKING WING
F LY i n g o p i n i o n | B Y S A M W E i G E L
illuMinaTion
THE STRUGGLES AND REWARDS OF LEARNING TO FLY

When I set out to learn to fy at the age
of 13, I did not actually want to learn to
fy. I wanted to be a pilot, and if I could
have snapped my fngers and instantly
acquired all the necessary skills and
knowledge, I would have. I am sure I
am not alone in this; I have since met
many would-be pilots entranced by the
idea of fying their own shiny new Baron to the Bahamas but markedly less
enthusiastic about the prospect of frst
guiding an aging Cessna to Duluth. To
the uninitiated, fight training must
seem an unnecessarily arduous and
repetitive process, complete with thick
textbooks and written exams. And then
there are the vagaries of weather and
maintenance and the frustration of
lining up ones schedule with that of
the airplane and instructor.
As much as wed like to tell prospective pilots differently, learning to fy is
not a particularly easy undertaking.
There are a great many new concepts
to cram into ones skull and often an
equal number of mistaken notions to

be discarded. In my case, I had read a
great deal about fying beforehand,
had logged hundreds of hours on Microsoft Flight Simulator, had gone
aloft a few times and had even taken
the controls for a few minutes. Based
on these snippets, I thought that I had
a solid grasp on the basics, and in my
youthful ignorance, I fgured that
fight lessons would be an enjoyable
lark, a time-building formality.
Reality came as a bit of a rude awakening. My primary memory of those
frst lessons is a discombobulated feeling of disorientation. It seemed that all
my senses had conspired against me,
that nothing was as it should be, that
even the familiar terrain of my childhood was a foreign country passing
beneath my wings. Furthermore, I discovered I was prone to airsickness. I
became overwhelmed with nausea
shortly after landing during the frst
six or seven lessons, making a beeline
TALES OF WHEN
FLYING, DISCOVERY
AND LIFE CONVERGE
APRIL 17, 1997, MY 16TH BIRTHDAY:

MY INSTRUCTOR, JERRY GRAHAM,
CONGRATULATES ME ON SURVIVING
MY FIRST SOLO AND AN EQUALLY
HARROWING CASE OF HEADSET HAIR.
for the restroom as soon as the prop

stopped turning. And just when I
seemed to be making progress, I hit a
frustrating plateau. I could get the airplane down to the fare reasonably
well, but many of my landings resulted
in bounces, thuds and awkward gyrations down the runway, especially if
any crosswind was involved. After one
particularly diffcult lesson, I tearfully
proclaimed that I was throwing in the
towel. My mother, God bless her, convinced me that things would get better.
And of course, they did. The initial
spark came from an unexpected
source: Sportys Pilot Shop sent out a
promotional video that contained a
segment by Barry Schiff on crosswind
landings. He likely didnt explain it
much differently than my instructor,
t a k i n g w i n g | F LY i n g o p i n i o n
but it suddenly clicked for me. I made

much better landings during my next
lesson and barely got airsick to boot.
This was a terribly exciting development. Other things began to click: making control effortless by trimming every
time I changed power or airspeed, staying coordinated by feel without constant reference to the ball or keying the
mic without tripping over my tongue.
Each new discovery, each formerly diffcult thing that now made sense, became immensely satisfying. My initial
diffculties long forgotten, I found that I
was actually pretty good at fying. As a
socially awkward teenage boy, this
boost in confdence was a godsend, but
it proved a double-edged sword. An
adolescent ego is a dangerous thing to
infame, and by the time I turned 15, I
had become downright cocky.
Over the years, I have found time
and time again that when one is feeling
pretty confdent aloft, aviation has a
way of exposing ones weaknesses, destroying hubris and enforcing respect.
My introduction to this principle was
a dramatic one. My instructor, Jerry
Graham, and I were fying to Rush City,
Minnesota, a short 20-minute jaunt
from my home airport in Cambridge. I
was in a hurry to get airborne and had
rushed the fight planning, turning
down Jerrys offer of a kneeboard on
my way out the door. Confdent in my
dead-reckoning calculations, I left the
sectional chart folded on my lap. Right
on cue, a small town appeared ahead,
though, to my consternation, the airport was not where it should be. In
fact, the name on the water tower was
not even Rush City. I belatedly attempted to unfold the chart and divine
my position as my formerly smooth
aircraft control went to hell. By the
time I found Rush City, I was fustered
and seething not at myself but at my
instructor for not telling me I was going the wrong way. Of course, Jerry
knew exactly what he was doing.
I landed on Runway 16, taxied back
to the threshold and shoved the throttle in for takeoff. The run seemed to
take forever, and when I glanced to the
right, I caught a bemused expression
on Jerrys face. I realized that I had left
the carb heat on and the faps at 40.
These oversights rectifed, the little
C-150 was much more amenable to
fight, but now I was really steaming,
and the trap was set. On the next landing, I was utterly distracted and simply
forgot to fare. The nosewheel hit hard;
the Cessna bounded skyward, and a
textbook pilot-induced oscillation ensued. The third bounce was the highest
yet, and the pneumatic reed stall horn
wailed in protest. At this point, I made
my only good decision of the day and
poured on the coals; had I not gone
around, I am certain I would have
ripped the nose gear off the frewall.
Jerry calmly requested that I make a
full-stop landing and taxi to the pilot
lounge. I was sure he was about to ban
me from fying his airplanes for life.
Instead, Jerry bought me a Coke
from the old vending machine and
explained that fying accidents are seldom the result of one solitary screw-up
and are usually caused by a chain of
better than expected, but I tended to

fnd trouble when I least expected it.
Thus it was on a beautiful summer evening shortly after my checkride that I
loaded the C-172 to max gross weight
with myself and three friends, took off
from a soft grass strip and forgot to
accelerate in ground effect, very nearly
stalling into the tall pines alongside
the runway. Ill never forget bracing for
impact as branches fashed past the
wingtips, shaking violently as soon as
Id gingerly nursed the airplane back to
fying speed and the dead feeling in
the pit of my stomach that lingered for
days afterward.
No, learning to fy is not easy, despite
what the fight school brochures say. It
is hard; it is expensive; it is occasionally
uncomfortable, even frightening. And
yet, it is immensely rewarding in ways
The nosewheel hiT hard; The Cessna

bounded skyward, and a TexTbook
piloT-induCed osCillaTion ensued.
errors. A good pilot, he told me, is one
who can recognize a chain being built
and break it before it results in an accident. In my case, Jerry said, breaking
the chain meant accepting that I am
human and will make mistakes and
should simply correct my mistakes
when they happen and not dwell on
them or assign blame. This was an
amazing insight to someone who
tended to obsess over fying mistakes
for weeks on end, given that my whole
identity was tied up in my newfound
skills as a pilot. Learning to let go of
my mistakes that day in Rush City was
a major milestone both in learning to
fy and in the process of growing up.
Other milestones followed. I had
nightmares for weeks before my frst
solo; the actual event was perfectly
smooth, though the empty right seat
seemed like an impossible apparition.
Likewise, solo cross countries that
once seemed like herculean undertakings turned out to be perfectly manageable compilations of small, familiar
tasks. Each of these events went far
no sales pitch can explain, in ways that

go far beyond a mere certifcate or even
the lifelong skills that one acquires. The
reward is in the challenge itself and
how, in the process of rising to meet it,
you discover things within yourself
that you didnt even know existed. This
illumination changes you forever,
turns you into a pilot not because
you possess a certain skill set or knowledge base but because you were there.
You sweated it out in the noisy cockpit
of an old Cessna that smelled of damp
and avgas as you nervously picked
your way from lake to highway to river.
Finally Duluth came into view, and the
chirp of your tires on its beautifully
long runway was the sweetest sound in
the world. At the FBO, you climbed
out, stretched and patted the old girls
cowling as you thanked her for keeping
you safe on your frst solo cross country. In that moment, you realized that
all the pain and frustration of learning
to fy was worth every second. Heck,
you wouldnt even trade it for a Beechcraft to Bimini.
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Photo by JIM RAEDER
the stars oF the used Market have a Few things

in CoMMon. despite their value and general
utility, they are oFten overlooked, whiCh Can
Make theM great Bargains For savvy Buyers.
he used airplane picture has

gone through some big changes in recent years, and none
have been more dramatic than
those that have occurred in
the market for piston airplanes, which are still selling for far less
than they did before the downturn of
2008. While certain brands and models
of used airplanes are in greater demand
than others for a variety of reasons, others are surprising values, sometimes
because theres a more popular choice
in the same niche, as is the case with the
Aeronca Champ, which is often overlooked by buyers who have their hearts
set on a Piper J-3 Cub. Youll fnd that
the same is true with every airplane in
our lineup here.
When looking for a used plane, its
critical to take in the whole picture. Buyers need to factor in required repairs (a
pre-buy inspection by your mechanic,
not theirs, is critical), with existing engine life and condition constituting the
most critical factors. Then you need to
add paint and update the interior, if necessary or desired. Next is an analysis of
the avionics, which vary greatly from
airplane to airplane. Sometimes a portable GPS will complete the package;
other times, youll want an entire avionics makeover with fat panels, engine
monitoring equipment and a new autopilot, improvements that can add a third
or more to the purchase price.
An airplane thats been pre-updated
with avionics and an overhauled engine
can be a great bargain, as youll get the
benefts of the new equipment at a fraction of the cost. For project airplanes,
getting them updated and overhauling
the engine can raise their cost substantially, while still making them tremendous bargains compared with new
models. Robert Goyer
specs
Make/Model
1968 Cessna 180
cost New
$17,950
Typical cost Today
$100,000 to $150,000
Cessna
180
skywagon
rugged and reliaBle
cruise speed (75 percent power)

141 knots
A larger, more capable derivative of

the popular Cessna 170, the Cessna
180 was introduced in 1953. Like
the 170, it is a high-wing, singleengine airplane with conventional
landing gear the standard for its
era. The design of the 180 was
strong enough that its tricycle counterpart, the 182, became one of the
most successful airplanes ever built.
While the Cessna 180 has not
been produced for more than three
decades, it is still many pilots favorite. The tailwheel confguration
allows for better handling on unimproved surfaces and makes the
gear easy to convert to foats and
skis. The 180 also carries a heavy
load, and the massive faps allow
for slow approach speeds and high
sink rates, letting the humming
six-cylinder Continental engine
power the airplane into and out of
pretty much anything that can be
considered an airstrip.
Since the 180s on the market all
have aging airframes, they come in
Useful Load
1,265 pounds
Full Fuel payload

875 pounds
standard Avionics
Cessna ARC
Usable Fuel
65 gallons
Takeoff Distance
625 feet
Landing Distance
480 feet
popular Aftermarket Options
Engine upgrades, tundra tires, Scott
tailwheel, long-range tanks, shoulder harnesses, STOL kit, one-piece windshield,
interior upgrades
cOsT
AvAiLAbiLiTy
ecONOMy
UTiLiTy
FeATURes
vALUe
Photo by scott slocuM
various confgurations and conditions. Many modifcations were

made through the years, the most
signifcant of which were done by
1965. Most 180s seat four people,
but some later versions have seats
for six. If you are looking to do offairport fying, you should search for
a 180 with tundra tires, Cleveland
brakes and a beefer tailwheel.
The panels of the early model
180s were very bare by modern
standards. Most GPSs installed in
180s are at least a decade old. Unless you absolutely love fying by
pilotage or VORs, panel upgrades
are worth looking into.
Despite the aging feet, 180s command high prices because they are in
short supply. A decent 180 will set
you back around $100,000, and if you
want an upgraded one, you can
expect to pay another $50,000. If you
are lucky, you can fnd an early generation 180 for as little as $60,000,
but you will likely have to put a lot of
work into it. Pia Bergqvist
Range (75 percent power, no wind,

with reserves)
622 nm
specs
Make/Model
2005 Cirrus SR20
cost New
$280,000
Cirrus
sr
20
Modern and Fast on a Budget
The Cirrus SR20, a four-place,
200 hp, fxed-gear composite single,
is in many ways the most revolutionary light general aviation airplane of
the past 30 years. Compared to the
200 hp Piper Arrow, a popular legacy
sheet-metal high-performance retractable gear four-seater, the SR20 is
about 15 knots faster with a much
roomier cockpit, modern avionics,
simplifed engine operation and terrifc fuel economy.
Arguably the most noteworthy
feature of the SR20 is its cabin,
which is incredibly roomy by light
GA standards. That Cirrus accomplished this while also making it a
145-knot cruiser is remarkable.
With a lot of glass, theres great
visibility; the seats are very comfortable and crash-worthy, with
strong belts; and the interiors hold
up very well.
The SR20 is an excellent crosscountry airplane, with typical cruise
speeds of around 145 knots, great
avionics and decent range. Earlier
models, those built in 2003 to 2005

in particular, can be had for around
$160,000 with a brand-new engine,
prop and chute. The whole-airplane
recovery parachute system in the
SRs add value but also periodic
maintenance costs.
The airplane is an excellent IFR
cross-country mid-performance
platform that is great for two adults
and bags or two grown-ups and two
small children. For a $150,000 airplane, the SR20 has an impressive
amount of capability, and the Continental IO-360 six-cylinder, 200 hp
model is smooth and fuel effcient,
though expensive to overhaul.
There are many SR20s on the
used market, and sellers price
them aggressively weve seen
them as low as $100,000 with a
run-out engine or by taking care
of all the necessities and still
charging a competitive price, making the SR20 an excellent option
for pilots looking for sleek and
modern transportation. R.G.
Typical cost Today

$160,000
155 knots
with reserves)
785 nm
Useful Load
950 pounds
Full Fuel payload
375 pounds
standard Avionics
Avidyne Entegra, Dual Garmin GNS430,
S-Tec 55X autopilot
Usable Fuel
54 gallons
Takeoff Distance
1,478 feet
Landing Distance
853 feet
Avidyne DFC90 autopilot, GNS430W
navigators
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Make/Model
1989 Piper PA-46 Mirage
cost New
$417,000
Typical cost Today
$250,000 to $350,000
Pipers goal with the pressurized,

six-place PA-46 Mirage, introduced
in 1989, was to take a good airplane
and make it even better. Thats
sometimes easier said than done,
but the changes Piper made to the
original Malibu on which the Mirage
is based exceeded customer expectations. These days, early Mirages can
be had for well under $300,000,
making them an exceptional value
when you consider what youre getting for the money.
Part of the lasting appeal of the
Mirage, which remains in production to this day, was Pipers decision
to retain everything buyers loved
about the Malibu and fx the things
they didnt. Piper switched from the
troublesome 310 hp Continental
TSIO-520 to the 350 hp Lycoming
TIO-540, upping the Mirages cruise
speed from 200 knots to 215 knots
without sacrifcing range despite
the higher fuel burn. Piper chose to
retain the PA-46s long, thin wing,
which has a high aspect ratio that
provides a somewhat bumpier ride

in turbulence but offers better highaltitude effciency. The engine-wing
combination gives the Mirage a
range of about 1,055 nm, which is
remarkable for a cabin-class piston
single with a 25,000-foot ceiling
and respectable useful load.
Another signifcant change was to
the quality and appearance of the
interior and furnishings, which were
lacking in the original 1984 Malibu.
The result is that coveted example of
a good design made better through
refnements rather than wholesale
design changes.
Many current Mirage owners have
made cockpit improvements, adding
Garmin GNS 430 or 530 navigators
in some and upgrading to Aspen or
Garmin G500 glass in others. Bottom line, if youre ready to move up
to the fight levels in an airplane that
can do it all in pressurized comfort,
the Mirage makes a persuasive argument that one engine is better than
two. Stephen Pope

with reserves)
1,055 nm
Useful Load
1,238 pounds
Full Fuel payload
518 pounds
standard Avionics
BendixKing Silver Crown IFR package
Usable Fuel
120 gallons
Takeoff Distance
1,090 feet
Landing Distance
1,020 feet
Variety of avionics upgrades available,
including WAAS GPS, automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast, Garmin and
Aspen glass cockpits
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Photo by JIM RAEDER
piper
pa
-46
Mirage
pressuriZed travel For less

215 knots
specs
Make/Model
1978 Cessna 172 II
cost New
$29,950
Typical cost Today
$40,000 to $60,000
Cessna
172
skyhawk
all-around value

122 knots
In production from 1957 to today,

with a 10-year break starting in the
mid 1980s, the Cessna 172 Skyhawk is in many ways the epitome
of the light general aviation airplane. With four seats, enough
power to make it a passable transportation machine, legendary fying manners and a sterling safety
record, the Skyhawk has a lot going on for pilots looking for an affordable recreational fier or
short-haul transportation machine.
There are lots of 172s out there
too. With about 43,000 Skyhawks
produced over the years, the airplane is in plentiful supply in the
existing airplane market, at least in
theory. In fact, many of those airplanes are long gone, and of the
ones still around, later models are
desirable to most prospective buyers. Problems include crumbling
interiors, antiquated avionics and
corrosion. For our money, the best
value in a Skyhawk can be found in
those built in the last 10 years of
Useful Load
907 pounds
original production, from the mid

70s to the mid 80s.
The other star is a new production (pre-2005) model with the
BendixKing Nav II (not G1000)
avionics package. Those airplanes
are well-equipped and capable and
will likely require little additional
investment if the engine is good.
The good news is that more recent Cessna 172s are outftted
with one of the best engines in GA
history, the four-cylinder carbureted Lycoming O-320. A low- to
mid-time engine with a factory
overhaul or one completed by a
quality shop can greatly add to the
security of the buy.
Prices for Skyhawks remain reasonable, with a plentiful supply
and a soft market. That said, the
feet is aging at a rapid pace, and
the best 172s are being snapped
up by fight schools and personal
buyers looking for an airplane that
can do a lot for a relatively small
investment. R.G.

with reserves)
540 nm
Full Fuel payload

546 pounds
standard Avionics
Cessna ARC
Usable Fuel
54 gallons (long range, most popular
option)
Takeoff Distance
805 feet
Landing Distance
520 feet
Improved seat and tracks, shoulder belts,
long-range tanks, Rosen sun visors, metal
replacement panel, JPI engine monitor
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Make/Model
1974 Beechcraft B55 Baron
cost New
$77,250
After half a century of production,

the Beechcraft Baron has established itself as one of the best twinengine airplanes ever produced.
The B55 may lack some of the creature comforts and higher power of
its newer family member, but the
airplane offers great utility.
With a generous fuel capacity,
owners have the option of excellent
range or heavy-load carrying. The
club seating was an offering for
Barons with a larger fuselage, but
the B55 also has space for up to six
seats. Depending on the model
year, it was offered with either
260 hp or 285 hp Continental engines. Beechcraft mass produced
the B55 Baron in the late 60s and
early to mid 70s, and there are still
many good ones available.
The B55 was designed well, and
few aftermarket STCs exist. The
most common one is the Colemill
conversion, which traded up the
engines and added winglets.
Colemill, which is no longer in
business, also had an option for tip

tanks. Another aftermarket option is
vortex generators, which decrease
the stall speed and allow for landings on shorter runways. Avionics
upgrades are likely the most popular
modifcations for the airplane. Since
panel space comes at a premium,
Garmins G500/600 series has been
popular of late, as have Aspens tubes.
One curiosity about the Baron,
like the Bonanza, its single-engine
sibling, is the throwover yoke, a
standard design for the B55. Dual
controls were an option, and conversions are still available if you
prefer having two yokes.
Baron owners love the redundancy
of two engines, but with twice the
fuel burn and essentially twice the
maintenance costs of single-engine
pistons that produce similar speeds,
twin ownership can get costly. The
good news, however, is that you can
buy a Baron relatively cheaply. A
nicely upgraded B55 can be found
for about $125,000. P.B.

188 knots
with reserves)
765 nm
Useful Load
1,966 pounds
Full Fuel payload
1,150 pounds
standard Avionics
Collins IFR
Usable Fuel
136 gallons
Takeoff Distance
1,340 feet
Landing Distance
940 feet
Engine upgrades, GAMIjectors, electronic
engine monitoring, vortex generators, air
conditioning, autopilot, avionics
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Photo by PAul bowEn
BeeChCraFt
B
55
Baron
aFFordaBle twin redundanCy
Typical cost Today

$100,000 to $175,000
specs
Make/Model
1946 Aeronca 7AC Champion
cost New
$2,095
Photo by JIM RAEDER
aeronCa
7
aC
ChaMpion
the other two-seat taildragger
Its no wonder nonpilots often confuse the Aeronca Champ with that
other favorite post-war trainer, the
Piper J-3 Cub. Both are rag-andtube, tandem-seat taildraggers that
rolled out of their respective factories in eye-pleasing shades of yellow. But despite appearances,
Champ owners know a secret that
even many J-3 afcionados havent
caught onto yet in some important ways, the Champ is the better
airplane.
The frst 7AC Champ few in
1944 with a 65 hp Continental
A65 engine, two seats, fabriccovered wing and fuselage, and
control sticks all hallmarks of
the J-3 design. But the Champ has
a roomier cockpit and can be soloed from the front seat. The pilots
also sit a touch higher and farther
forward over a subtly drooped
nose, giving the Champ exceptional forward visibility.
The Champ incorporates an improved door thats less drafty than
the J-3s; more forgiving landing

gear; and carb heat, magneto and
fuel selector knobs conveniently
positioned next to the pilots left
hip. Theres no electrical system in
the 7AC Champ, so unless you opt
to upgrade your airplane or buy a
later version of the Champ with an
electric starter, youll have to get
used to hand propping.
The original 7AC weighs about as
much as a Cub with a similar useful
load. Thanks to slightly improved
aerodynamics, the Champ is about
5 knots faster in cruise. As far as
infight handling, theres not a huge
difference between the Cub and the
Champ. Both are well-mannered.
Aeronca built more than 7,200
of the original Champ, and its not
hard to fnd a good one these days
in the $20,000 to $30,000 range.
Project airplanes can be had for
much less, while fully restored
Champs normally top out at
$40,000. That makes them a
bargain. S.P.
Typical cost Today

$20,000 to $30,000
73 knots
with reserves)
260 nm
Useful Load
510 pounds
Full Fuel payload
426 pounds
standard Avionics
None
Usable Fuel
14 gallons
Takeoff Distance
450 feet
Landing Distance
700 feet
Battery-powered electric starter,
transponder
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How to Save Money

on InSurance
here are some ways To lower your premIum
wIThouT sacrIFIcIng your coverage.
by pIa bergqvIsT
a Few years back, a cessna 172 pIloT had Trouble sTarTIng
hIs aIrplane and decIded To hand-prop IT near The Typhoon
resTauranT aT The sanTa monIca aIrporT. no one was InsIde The
skyhawk. The engIne spun up, and The aIrplane made a solo
TrIp across runway 21. In The process, IT made a busIness
jeT go around and enTered a hangar on The oTher sIde oF The
runway. The propeller proceeded To chop up The Fuselage oF
a beechcraFT baron ThaT was parked InsIde The hangar.
illustration by Chris Gall
At the time, an annual insurance policy on a Cessna 172 would have been
around $1,000. The claim was likely
in the hundreds of thousands. There
are not many products you purchase
that you hope to never use. But insurance truly fts that profle. And the
owner of that Skyhawk was likely
very happy to have it.
The old adage that says insurance
is expensive until you need it is also
true, and it is hard to determine what
having enough coverage means. If it
were a jet that the 172 chopped up
instead of a Baron, the claim may
have exceeded the $1 million limit
that is so common in the industry.
With a bad policy, you could lose everything. With too much coverage,
you are wasting your dollars. The key
to fnding the right policy at the best
price is getting the right insurance
provider to guide you.
The IndusTry
There are many options in the aviation
insurance world. There is everything
from direct underwriters to major brokers to local mom-and-pop agents.
About a dozen underwriters provide
general aviation insurance. Some of
the major players include AIG, Global

Aerospace, Starr Aviation, Phoenix
Aviation Managers and USAIG. Major
brokers include AOPA Insurance Services, Falcon Insurance and Hardy
Aviation Insurance. There is also one
underwriter you can purchase a policy from without a middleman
Wichita, Kansas-based Avemco.
Many underwriters will quote only
a specifc risk to one broker, a system
referred to as locking rates, which
makes it diffcult to shop around. The
aviation insurance business is quite
specialized, so you will likely get good
service from whichever broker you
decide to do business with. However,
the right broker could save you money
and headaches in the event of an accident. More on that later.
If you need aircraft insurance today, the news is good. According to
Jan DAngelo, former vice president
and branch manager at Chartis Aerospace, a prolonged period of low
claims, particularly in the commercial
world, and a relatively high amount
of available capital have increased
the number of companies offering GA
insurance. Companies, such as Britt
Paulk, Aggressive Aviation and QBE,
entered the market in the past decade

with very competitive offerings. As a
result, some pilots are paying less for
their aircraft insurance policies than
they are for their automobile coverage. An insurance policy that I paid
$1,025 for in 2007 is now quoted at
around $850 under the same conditions. Rate reductions appear to have
exceeded 10 percent across the
board, according to several industry
experts. For jet owners, that adds up
to thousands of dollars in savings.
Another reason for the lower rates,
according to Bill Snead, the president
of AOPA Insurance Services, is that
computer-based quotations are now
offered by some companies, making
the quoting process quicker and more
effcient and increasing the competitive pressure between companies.
Computerization is also starting to
eliminate rate locking.
However, Snead feels the market is
beginning to turn. That could either
mean the insurance companies are
feeling that there is less capacity and
less need to compete on a price-only
basis, or frankly, it could mean they
are not making enough proft or any
proft, and they simply have no
choice, Snead says.
FIndIng The rIghT broker

Just as it is important to fnd the right
real estate agent when you purchase
a home, it is important to fnd the
right insurance broker for your
needs. You are likely in good hands if
you contact one of the major brokers.
But a local agent may give you more
personalized service.
When I write someone a new insurance policy, I like to go out and
check out the plane and go fy with
them, if possible, says Jerry Clemens, owner and founder of Clemens

Insurance Agency in Parsons, Kansas.
Clemens doesnt do that to get a free
fight. He may learn something about
his customer that he wouldnt have
learned as an agent on the other end
of a phone line. When the time comes
to renew the policy, Clemens automatically shops around to make sure
he provides the customer with the
best possible rate.
If you own an unusual airplane,
you should turn to a type club, such
as the MU-2 Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, Pilatus Owners and
Pilots Association, or the American
Waco Club. These clubs are likely to
have a few suggestions on brokers
that can provide you with the best
quotes for your situation.
Once you have selected an agent,
provide him or her with very detailed
information. This will result not only
in the best quotes but also a policy
that is right for you. The last thing
you want to do is to buy a policy that
doesnt cover what you need to have
covered, Snead says. The insurance
company doesnt want that, the
agents dont want that, and the owners dont want that.
The number of hours you have
spent fying different types and classes
of airplanes is one of the main factors
that contributes to what limits of liability you can qualify for, what rate
you will pay or whether you will qualify for insurance at all. But there are
other elements that may factor into
the quote. What you use the airplane
for and where you fy make a difference. International fights, for example, may require additional insurance.
Generally, policies cover everything
but listed exceptions, so read the fne
print. Mike Adams, the vice president
of underwriting at Avemco, suggests
obtaining a sample policy before committing to a contract.
Technical airplanes, such as the
Pitts, typically warrant higher rates
because they pose a higher risk for
the insurance companies. Again,
there are certain companies that specialize in those types of airplanes.
New companies, however, may not
yet be educated enough to know the
difference. When Aggressive Aviation
Insurance emerged a few years ago,
the insurance on Clemens Pitts went
from about $3,200 to about $1,500

per year. Unfortunately, that rate was
not sustainable. But at least Clemens
saved a signifcant amount of money
for a few years.
ways To lower your premIum

For pilots, there are several behaviors
and actions that insurance companies
have identifed as good indications of
low risk, and these will reduce your premium sometimes by as much as 10
percent. Check in with your insurance
provider before each renewal to update
him or her with any information that
may provide you with new discounts.
Regular Training: Studies show
that pilots who regularly participate in
some type of fight training are less likely to have an accident or incident than
those who dont. While the cost of training will likely exceed the insurance discount, the benefts are immeasurable. In
some cases, as with jet and turboprop
aircraft owners, recurrent training is
required in order to maintain coverage.
Avemco has a safety rewards program that provides an annual premium
credit for customers who do any FAASTeam WINGS pilot course, as well as
for those who go up with an instructor
annually. Where you get your training
can also make a difference. Participation in training programs at highly respected facilities, such as FlightSafety
or SimCom, will result in the best rate.
New Ratings: Adding new ratings
can also help with insurance costs. On
many of the aircraft Avemco insures,
an instrument rating almost always
gets an annual premium credit,
Adams says. Depending on the complexity of the airplane, a commercial
certifcate versus a private certifcate
may be worth a credit or two. The
recent acquisition of an airline transport rating could get you a further discount. Any added ratings, even a
seaplane rating, obtained during the
policy year could qualify you for as
much as a 10 percent credit with Avemco under the companys safety rewards
program. However, additional training
or ratings are required to qualify for
credits in subsequent policy years.
Hours: The more you fy, the lower
your premium up to a point. Hours
in type also matter. In some cases, you
may need to fy with an instructor for
25 hours or more, depending on the
complexity of the airplane, before the
QueStionS
to aSk
Your
aGent or
Broker
When you shop for agents,
you should ask them a few
simple questions to get an
idea of whether the person
on the other line or other
side of the desk is somebody you feel comfortable
doing business with.
Do you work in all aviation
insurance markets available
in the state?
Can you offer discounts for
membership of the type club
and other industry organizations I am a part of?
Do you specialize in any
particular area of general
aviation?
Do you automatically shop my
rate when it comes time for
renewal?
Are you able to provide a sample policy for me to review?
What makes policy A better
than policy B, and why should
I avoid policy C?
Give me an example of a policy youve written for a situation that is similar to mine.
insurance policy will cover solo fight.

Hangar Parking: While parking
your airplane in a hangar will increase
your cost of ownership, the reduction
in your insurance premium will pay
for some of that additional cost.
Partnership: One way to save a
lot of money, not only on insurance
but also on the general ownership of
your airplane, is by entering into a
partnership. Most companies allow up
to three pilots to be named on your
policy without any additional cost.
However, the policy rate will be dictated by the least experienced pilot.
You likely wouldnt want to partner
with an inexperienced pilot, but you
can pretty much rest assured that if
your insurance company is willing to
insure a pilot for the same cost as you
alone, he or she is probably a safe bet.
For partnerships where each partner
owns less than 20 percent of the aircraft, there are some ways around high
hull premiums that would result from
a partner with little fight experience.
Each individual owner could pick up a
nonowned policy. If necessary, each
partner can also purchase liability coverage beyond the partnerships limits.
Flying Clubs: Getting a deal for
fying clubs can be diffcult because
the club must generally cover a broad
scope of pilot experience. But there
are good rates to be had. The Aircraft
Owners and Pilots Association has a
new program that is based on the
number of active members. There
may be 20 people in the club, but if
only fve of them are fying, the insurance rate is based on the fve members, Snead says. Also, as a member,
you dont need a nonowned aircraft
policy unless you want higher liability
limits or fy airplanes outside the club.
Aircraft Rentals: If the only airplanes you fy are rentals, there is a
chance that you dont need to purchase any insurance. Ask the rental
company two questions: Am I named
as an additional insured on your policy? Is there a waiver of subrogation
when I fy your airplanes? If the answer to these questions is yes, you
dont need insurance. However, in a lot
of cases, the answer will be no. If you
need to purchase a nonowned aircraft
policy, you may need only enough
coverage for the deductible or a limited amount of liability insurance to
cover yourself over and above the
limits of the FBOs policy. But you

may also need hull insurance.
Figure Out What Makes the
Most Sense: You will have to determine if you need to buy enough insurance for the most expensive airplane
you fy or the one you fy most regularly.
Association Membership:
Members of trade associations or type
clubs may qualify for discounts of several percentage points. If you own a
jet, that discount could add up to hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.
Lower Liability Limits: Lowering liability limits is one way to save
money on the policy premium. But
even if you think your liability exposure is not very high, there may not be
a signifcant savings in reducing liability coverage. If you dont have any assets, you could consider going without
liability insurance, since the damaged
party and the insurance company are
unlikely to go after someone from
whom nothing can be recovered.
However, some consider it a moral

obligation to carry liability coverage.
Dont Crash: The biggest thing
you can do for your insurance rate is
maintain a claim-free record. Hopefully, you will never have to make a
claim on your insurance policy. But if
one day you have a landing mishap or
do something silly, such as let your airplane take off on its own, a good insurance policy will back you up. It is up to
you to make sure you have just the
right amount of coverage without paying too much for it.
life inSuranCe for PilotS

You are probably aware that general
aviation activities are excluded from
life insurance policies and that you
have to pay extra premiums in order
to be covered. Group policies often
exclude GA, so if your employer provides life insurance, you will likely
require a separate policy. Make sure
you provide the agent with information about what types of fying you
do and what types of aircraft you fy.
There are, for example, policies that
cover certifed GA aircraft but not
experimental ones. You also need to
have a discussion about how much
coverage you need based on your
number of dependents, debt level
and other factors.
You can choose either a term life
policy, where the price is set for a
period of time as long as 30 years,
or a more expensive universal policy, which covers you until you reach
a certain age, generally 99 years.
Since the term life has a lower annual premium, it may make the
most sense, but be aware that if
you live past the expiration of the
term, you can expect much greater
premiums if you still need coverage.
There are four rate levels that are
associated with life insurance: super preferred, preferred, standard

plus and standard. If your agent
tells you: Youve qualifed for standard plus, it is not necessarily a
good thing. Often pilots dont qualify for super preferred. With nearly
200 companies providing personal
life insurance, rates for a $1 million
policy, which is a common coverage level, vary greatly. Quotes can
range from about $1,150 to $5,000
per year for a 45-year-old pilot, so
shopping around is defnitely
worthwhile.
Being a member of an association
may help. AOPA, for example, offers
competitive rates for its members.
The Pilot Insurance Center in Addison,
Texas, specializes in pilot-specifc life
insurance. By meeting certain criteria,
such as no prior at-fault aviation accidents or FAA violations and having
an instrument rating, 250 hours of
total time and fve calendar years of
experience, you can qualify for the
much desired super preferred rates.
Bill Fanning, co-founder of the Pilot
Insurance Center, claims that, through
this program, his rates come out as
much as 20 to 30 percent lower.
Sneak Preview:
Dassault
Falcon 5X
we reveal the secrets oF this
cutting-eDge Design, the
First in a Forthcoming lineup
oF neXt-generation Falcon jets.
By roBert goyer
couple of weeks before the

National Business Aviation
Association convention, at a gathering of journalists in Paris,
French aircraft manufacturer Dassault launched its latest jet, the
Falcon 5X, a twinjet. The project
had been known as the SMS,
though Dassault had never officially revealed any
details of the program. The 5X, a 69,500-pound
large-body bizjet, now occupies a peculiar place in
the Falcon lineup. It is a rung below the flagship
Falcon 7X, a tri-jet and the first fly-by-wire bizjet.
The 7X was launched at the Paris Air Show in
2005 and earned certification in 2007.
But in many ways, the 5X is more airplane
than its larger, longer-range and more expensive

hangar mate. It has a better cabin, more efficient
engines, more advanced avionics and a far more
sophisticated digital flight control system.
The program has been ongoing for several
years and has been kept under tight wraps. Secrecy has become standard practice with major jet
makers when it comes to new programs. Only so
much secrecy is possible, however, as the manufacturer needs to work with hundreds of contractors and thousands of workers around the globe
to bring a project like this to launch. The result is
leaks. Weve known about this program for a
while now, though we didnt know all the details,
and a few that we thought we did know turned
out to be wrong.
UNLIKE THE THREE-ENGINE 7X, THIS FLY-BY-WIRE

FALCON IS A TWINJET AND FEATURES EMERGING
SAFRAN SILVERCREST ENGINES, WHICH ARE SAID TO
INCREASE FUEL EFFICIENCY BY UP TO 15 PERCENT.
Today, Dassault is already cutting

metal for the rst 5X. The company
plans to y the rst example in about
a year and to earn certication for it
by early 2017, an ambitious schedule
but one that Dassault has every condence it can make.
In terms of construction, the 5X is
a conventional airplane, by modern
standards at least, with largely sheet
metal and milled aluminum structures complemented by at least ve
different kinds of composites, all
using highly accurate and automated processes from fiber placement to resin transfer molding.
Composites are used in the nose,
horizontal tail and rudder, nacelles,
wing roots, and wingtips.
Dassault says the end result of the

program will be a fast, modern, widebody jet with a range of 5,200 nm and
one of the best cabins in the bizjet
world. It will compete against the Gulfstream G450 and Bombardier Global
5000, two formidable opponents.
Then again, the 5X has the noteworthy advantage of being a newer
design than the American and Canadian jets, so Dassault designers had
the luxury of including features the
competition doesnt have.
That sounds easy enough, but its
not. The cabins of both the G450 and
G5000 are impressive, large, luxuriously outtted and light-lled. Moreover, the jets are both highly efcient
twin-engine airplanes with impressive
ranges, not an easy target for an enhanced legacy Falcon to hit.

So Dassault designers came up
with a clean-sheet airplane with
nearly every element constituting a
revolutionary advancement for the
French manufacturer.
clean-sheet approach
Its hard to know where to start the

discussion of the new jets innovative
features. The new fuselage, with a
cabin width of 86 inches, is wider
than any Falcons and is comparable,
if not slightly bigger, in every dimension to the Global 5000 and substantially larger than the G450. With a
cabin height of 6 feet 6 inches, it has
the tallest cabin in the segment to
THE 5X BOASTS THE MOST SPACIOUS FALCON JET

CABIN EVER, WITH 6 FEET OF CABIN HEIGHT, BIG
WINDOWS AND AN ADAPTABLE CABIN DESIGN.
DASSAULT FALCON 5X:

PRELIMINARY SPECS
boot. Complementing the sheer size

of the cabin are 28 all new windows,
which are the largest on any Falcon,
making the cabin one of the brightest passenger seating areas of any
bizjet, save the G650.
The 5X has a new-to-Falcon wing,
fuselage, ight control system and
empennage, which have led many to
speculate that the 5X is the rst of a
new lineup of Falcons something
no one at Dassault is spending much
energy trying to deny.
Like the 7X, the 5X is a y-by-wire
airplane, something we expect to
become the norm in large bizjet design over time. Based on the technology of the 7X, the 5Xs ight control
system is even more advanced. In the
FIRST FLIGHT
2015
HEIGHT
24.5 FEET
CERTIFICATION
2017
CABIN WIDTH
7.2 FEET (FLOOR LEVEL)
COST
ABOUT $45 MILLION
CABIN LENGTH
38.7 FEET
CONSTRUCTION
CONVENTIONAL ALUMINUM
WITH COMPOSITES
CABIN HEIGHT
6.5 FEET
ENGINES
SAFRAN SILVERCREST
THRUST
11,450 POUNDS
BAGGAGE CAPACITY
155 CUBIC FEET
MAX TAKEOFF WEIGHT
69,600 POUNDS
AVIONICS
EASY (BASED ON HONEYWELL
PRIMUS EPIC)
RANGE (8 PASSENGERS,
THREE CREW WITH
RESERVES)
5,200 NM
FLIGHT CONTROLS
FLY-BY-WIRE
MMO
MACH .90
PASSENGER SEATS
9 (TYPICAL CONFIGURATION)
LONG-RANGE CRUISE
MACH .80
WINGSPAN
85.1 FEET
CEILING
51,000 FEET
LENGTH
82.6 FEET
BALANCED FIELD LENGTH

5,250 FEET
5X, the pilot controls the airplane in a

conventional way, using the sidestick, rudder pedals or airbrakes.
The ight control computer then applies those commands to the ight
control surfaces in a variety of combinations in order to get the very
best performance, efciency and
passenger comfort possible.
Up front will be a ight deck that

looks similar to that in the 7X, with
sidestick controls and an array of
large at panels. Ultimately, Falcon
5X buyers will get the choice of one
or two HUDs, which are built by the
new supplier Elbit. The enhancedvision system, also built by Elbit, is
mounted in a recessed channel on the
SiLverCreSTS
revOLUTiOnarY eFFiCienCY
HOW WILL THIS NEW ENGINE HIT ITS NUMBERS?
When you read that Dassault

is expecting the 5X to be 30
percent more cost effective to
operate and that its fuel burn
will be 15 percent lower than
airplanes with existing, comparable engines, youd be right to
wonder if such claims can possibly be true. But there are
good reasons to believe they
will come to pass.
First, Safran, the company
behind Silvercrest, is a $5 billion
global engine corporation that
builds engines, and a lot of
them, for some of the most
popular airliners in the world,
including the king of them, the
Boeing 737. Its credibility is as
solid as its R&D is cuttingedge. So we go in assuming
the company
knows what its
talking about
and it believes
the claims will
become fact.
Moreover, theres
no way that Dassault
would put an entire program
at risk with an engine that
wont make its numbers.
So how will the Silvercrest
do it? The engine, which has
a power-to-weight ratio of 5:1,
is a low-parts-count, mediumbypass design that uses a
ve-stage turbine and a fourstage axial compressor to
power a 42.5-inch fan blisk (a
one-piece unit) that was designed with 3-D modeling processes. A low-parts count,
unimaginably tight tolerances
and ingenious cooling mechanisms combine to create a really hot combustion section to
get every iota possible out of
the jet fuels potential energy.
After rst ights that were
scheduled for late 2013, Safran plans to begin production
in 2014 for certication in
2015, well ahead of the 5Xs
entry into service.
upper nose. The new EVS will be better at distinguishing between atmospheric radiance and the runway
environment and will be able to see
a wider range of light sources, including LEDs. The HUD itself will
combine the enhanced vision and
computer-generated (synthetic) vision, along with all aircraft primary
instrumentation into a very powerful
single display.
In back, passengers will have better
seating than that of even the best international airline cabins, with a
cocoon-like approach that puts everything at arms reach, including access
to power and Internet, and quick
transitions of the seat from business
to rest or sleep mode. There are up to
six full berths on the 5X. One feature
thats caused a lot of discussion in
the bizjet community is the light feature that Dassault calls a sky light,
which is always presented in quotes,
as if to imply its not a real window.
The wing of the 5X is a marvel. Unlike Gulfstreams also marvelous and
elegantly efcient wing on the Mach
.925 G650, the wing of the Falcon
features numerous ight control surfaces with a total of eight ight control devices on each wing: three
leading-edge slats, an aileron, a aperon, two airbrakes and a conventional ap. The trailing edge, like on
other Falcons, is beautifully curved,
and winglets complete the package
aesthetically and functionally. Dassault did all of this while cutting the
wings weight by 500 pounds, which
it partially achieved by using the digital ight control to mitigate high-G
events, thereby lowering the G-loading and requiring less structure with
equivalent or better safety.
The aperons are an ingenious
multifunction surface that the digital ight control system can make
use of like an aileron for roll control,
like a ap for increased lift/drag, or
as a differential surface to complement the aileron, thereby improving
the lift coefcient. The digital ight
control system manages all of this in
a way a synchronized team of a dozen pilots never could, applying combinations of aperon with aps and
ailerons, differentially or in concert,
to maximize ight performance.
It will also do two things that are
unique, to our knowledge, in a y-by-
WITH FLY-BY-WIRE FLIGHT CONTROL, THE NEWEST

FALCON JET WILL OPTIMIZE EFFICIENCY THROUGH
THE USE OF ADVANCED AILERONS, AIRBRAKES
AND SOMETHING NEW: FLAPERONS, INGENIOUS
MULTIFUNCTION FLIGHT CONTROL DEVICES.
wire airplane: provide the ability to

integrate rudder with nosewheel
steering for maximum authority on
the ground in gusty conditions and
use aperons in concert with the ailerons to allow a steep approach, such
as at London City Airport. In this conguration, the ailerons deect upward and the aperons downward to
drag and steepen the angle of the
nose for better visibility.
new power
Also new on the 5X are the engines.

This is big news and a big departure
for Dassault. The Safran Silvercrest
engines (also announced for the Cessna Longitude last spring) will enter
service as the most efcient engines
in their class by a long shot. The engine, with 11,450 pounds of thrust,
boasts up to 15 percent better fuel
efciency, Dassault claims. For readers who might have glossed over that,
a 15 percent increase in fuel efciency
is a huge improvement. To illustrate
this, Dassault calculated the range of

the airplane on 10,000 pounds of fuel
compared to its main competitors on
the same fuel load. Dassault claims
the 5X can y better than 450 nm
farther than its main rivals. The result of this and other factors will lead
the 5X to be 30 percent less costly to
operate than its competitors, which,
again, is a big deal.
In addition to being miserly on
fuel, the Silvercrest engines will be
more than 10 decibels better than
Stage 4, the most rigorous noise regulations, while producing 40 to 50
percent fewer emissions than currently allowed under the most stringent emissions standards.
perFormance
As everyone knows these days, range

is king, and the 5,200 nm range of
the 5X is an impressive gure, especially since it will do it on less fuel.
That range is for a real trip too, with
eight passengers and three crew
members own at Mach .80. Max

operating speed for the 5X is .90, so
its as fast as the 7X, and Dassault
expects that shorter ights will be
able to be own at very high speeds,
though it hasnt quoted a gure yet.
Landing speeds are as impressively
low as the cruise speeds are high,
with a typical VREF approach speed of
around 105 knots, which is as slow as
the best midsize jets. New generation
carbon brakes with brake-by-wire,
along with the ight control system
managing the drag devices and the
big thrust reversers on the Silvercrest
engines, will help the jet get down
and stopped in a hurry.
With the launch of the 5X, Dassault has created an airplane that will
have an immediate impact on a growing and increasingly important market segment. We strongly suspect that
the airplane, with its great cabin, impressive efciency and advanced safety features, will inspire new, even
larger Falcons down the road.
very year, the editors at Flying

get together to select a small
group of new products that have
had an impact on the world of
aviation during the previous calendar
year. The airplanes that made the cut
this time around were unusual choices
for us. The Citation M2 was not certied
as we went to press; it is expected to earn
approval very soon. Cessna has built
hundreds of CitationJets, the model on
which the M2 is based, so the basic airframe is proven. The features that make
it new the Garmin G3000 avionics
suite and a great new interior are
low-risk propositions as well. The second
airplane in our award-winning lineup is
the Vans RV-12, a light-sport aircraft
with an impressive heritage. Created by
Dick VanGrunsven, the founder of the

most successful kit airplane maker in
history, the RV-12 has been ying in kit
form for a couple of years, but in 2013,
Vans introduced a factory-built version.
While we recognize a couple of airplanes here, we also celebrate innovation
on a much smaller scale. Three of our
award-winning products, the new Stratus 2 automatic dependent surveillancebroadcast receiver and AHRS sensor, the
David Clark Pro DC-X noise-canceling
headset and the Garmin VIRB action cam,
will t and happily coexist in your ight
bag and the cockpit of your airplane. So
congratulations to the winners of this
years Flying Editors Choice Awards on
advancing innovation by bringing out
great new aviation products.
CITATION M2
TAKING THE CITATIONJET TO A NEW LEVEL
In reworking the CitationJet into the M2,
Cessna took an already great model and
made it better. The new airplane is more
modern, with Garmin G3000 avionics;
more comfortable, with a beautifully appointed interior done by Cessnas own
design house; substantially faster, with
cruise speeds of up to 400 knots; and
priced competitively, at around $4 million. The model was intended to help
bridge the gap between the entry-level

Mustang, which features a suite based on
the Garmin G1000 avionics platform, and
the CJ1+, which Cessna discontinued
earlier last year. The message Mustang
buyers gave Cessna was that they loved
their little jets but wanted something
faster and roomier that still retained the
pilot-friendly cockpit of the Mustang.
Mission accomplished.
STRATUS 2
REPEAT FOR STRATUS TEAM
For the second year in a row, we present an Editors Choice
Award to Appareo, ForeFlight and Sportys for a product
called Stratus. This year, the hardware goes to the Stratus 2,
the latest update. When we ew Stratus last year, we liked it
but wanted more features. The team behind the receiver
listened and created Stratus 2, an automatic dependent
surveillance-broadcast receiver with a highly accurate WAAS
sensor that now adds a remarkably accurate AHRS. The AHRS
information is displayed on a separate app, provided free by
Appareo, that looks like a primary ight display but is for
advisory or emergency use only. As with Stratus, the followon product is the result of collaboration among Appareo (the
hardware manufacturer), ForeFlight (which brilliantly integrates the ADS-B data into its leading app) and Sportys
(which helped conceive, manage and market Status 2).
DAVID CLARK
DC PRO-X HEADSET
COMPACT ANR MODEL IS A HIT
When David Clark rolled out its latest headset, the compact DC
Pro-X, it looked like a departure from its traditional product
lineup. But it turns out the DC Pro-X is in every way a David
Clark headset rugged, reliable and of exceptional quality; its
just designed for different kinds of missions. Because its smaller
with on-ear instead of over-the-ear cups, the DC Pro-X cant
provide the kind of passive noise attenuation as other, larger
David Clark models, but thanks to smart design and excellent
automatic noise reduction, it does provide noise cancellation
that is very good for such a lightweight and comfortable headset, and it does it at a cost thats very attractive. And because
its a TSOd headset, it can be used in the cockpit of turbine
aircraft with operators that require one. While the DC Pro-X is
great in jets, its adequate for many piston or turboprop missions
too when pilots want lightweight but good noise cancellation.
GARMIN VIRB
ACTION CAM FOR HIGH FLIERS
Its not often that we award a Flying
Editors Choice Award to a product we
learned about in the fourth quarter of the
year, but this year, we make an exception
for the Garmin VIRB, an action cam thats
tailor-made for aviation. The VIRB hit
stores in October and quickly attracted
customers, with everyone from big chain
retailers to aviation catalog outlets placing
large orders. The reason was simple. The
VIRB beat the industry-leading GoPro in
just about every regard, with more attractive design, much better battery life,
easier set up, and remote-control and
menu operation, while offering the same
kind of stunning high-denition video as
the competition. Look for a full report on
the VIRB soon. To top it off, Garmin had
the foresight to provide great remotecontrol capability in its new D2 aviation
watch, which can control up to 10 remote
VIRB cameras at once.
VANS RV-12
CERTIFIED LSA SHINES
This Flying Editors Choice award goes to

the RV-12, an airplane that has been
around for a while but was delivered in
completed form for the rst time in 2013.
With the RV-12, Vans Aircraft, known for
its fast and slippery two-seaters and a
popular four-place low-winger (the RV10), created a light-sport aircraft that hit
a sweet spot in the market while earning
high marks from owners/builders. The
only problem was that many buyers
wanted one but didnt have the time to
build it, so Vans decided to produce an
S-LSA version of the airplane that pilots
could simply buy and y. In a market
where most LSAs are slow sellers, Vans
hit the mark with the RV-12, delivering a
model true to the companys kit-built DNA
while bridging the gap between the homebuilt and certied world.
AVIATION
COLLEGE:
A BETTER
CHOICE
THAN EVER
FOR MANY FUTURE PRO PILOTS, A SPECIALIZED EDUCATION IN

AVIATION IS A SMART CAREER MOVE. HERES WHY.
BY STEPHEN POPE
ts an annual rite of passage

for millions of high school
seniors: anxiously checking
their mailboxes for thick envelopes and weighing their
options about where to go to
college. For that special breed of student who couldnt imagine anything
less than a career in aviation, the
choices become somewhat clearer. If
your goal is to become an aviation
professional whether you aspire
to be a pilot, an air trafc controller,
airport manager, unmanned aerial
vehicle operator or something else
enrolling at an aviation college could
be your surest ticket to that dream job.
If youre a young person contemplating your career choices (or if you
have kids whove reached that age)
youve probably received plenty of
advice about how to crack the civilian aviation job market. If your aim is
to become a professional pilot, one of
the traditional paths is to sign up for
ying lessons at a local ight school.
That leaves you free to pursue a degree in something completely outside

of aviation say, computer science
or international nance giving you
a fallback education should you one
day lose your medical or wind up the
victim of an airline furlough. Theres
certainly wisdom in that suggestion,
but it might not be the best choice for
long-term success for every pilot.
If your objective is to land a job ying for a major airline, its important
to understand that the rules of the
game have changed in favor of getting an aviation degree. Youve probably heard that the FAA has increased
the minimum requirements needed
to land that rst airline job. As of August 2013, airline rst ofcers must
hold an ATP certicate versus a commercial ticket. The requirements to
obtain an ATP have changed as well
and if you graduate from an accredited aviation college or learn to
y in the military, you have a leg up
on other aspiring pilots.
For a standard ATP allowing you

to apply for a job with a regional or
major airline, you must have logged
1,500 ight hours and be at least 23
years old, the same as before. Whats
changed is the creation of a new restricted category of ATP license that
allows you to y as an airline rst ofcer with fewer hours and at age 21.
Earning a four-year degree from an
approved aviation college lets you obtain an R-ATP license with just 1,000
hours. Learning to y in the military
drops the requirement to 750. And
if you earn an associate degree from
an accredited aviation college, youll
need 1,250 hours for the R-ATP.
Still, because the new ATP rule is
so new, very few colleges have received approval from the FAA to offer the reduced hourly requirements.
The good news for college-bound
students coming up through the
ranks, as well as recent grads, is that
the FAA has agreed to grandfather
aviation college graduates for ve
years. That gives colleges and universities time to submit their degrees
for approval without generating winners and losers who fall on either
side of an arbitrary date.
CAREER GOALS
For the right type of person, pursuing an aviation degree can offer the
surest path to a long and rewarding
career and quite possibly make
you a better professional pilot. The
opportunity to become 100 percent
immersed in aviation subjects is
another strong factor for college students who choose an aviation program over other degree paths. For
instance, even if you like numbers,
getting an accounting degree when
what you really want to do is y jets
can be counterproductive.
As an incoming freshman at an
aviation college, youll be totally
engrossed in aviation from the moment you step on campus, said Craig
Smith, a senior at Western Michigan
University, who has his sights set on a
career as a corporate pilot. Youll get
to know fellow aviation students very
well as you eat, breathe and sleep
aviation together day in and day out.
For most of the aviation students
here, thats exactly the environment
they were looking for.
Smiths experience as a student at
a four-year aviation college is fairly
typical of most undergrads on a professional pilot career track. He spends
most of his time in class, studying, ying and working, with ground school,
simulator sessions and a full-time
course load occupying the majority of
his waking hours. By their junior or
senior year of college, many ight students also begin instructing part time
at their schools. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the nations largest aviation college with main campuses in Florida and Arizona, will even
pay the cost for you to earn a Master
of Business Administration while you
build time and make a little money on
the side as a ight instructor.
Smith is also actively involved in
Alpha Eta Rho, the international aviation fraternity. Founded in 1929, its
the worlds oldest aviation fraternity,
with more than 60 active chapters and
more than 50,000 alumni worldwide.
The coed professional organization
has undergone a resurgence in recent

years, as students and fraternity leaders have expanded Alpha Eta Rho and
sought to improve all facets of the
organization. The group holds annual events around the country and
partners with groups, such as the Boy
Scouts, to get young people interested
in aviation. Probably the best aspect
of joining the fraternity is the opportunity for networking. Alpha Eta Rho
even provides members with mentoring from among its professional pilot
alumni ranks.
WHAT IT COSTS
There are substantially less expensive ways to learn to y, and for many
would-be professional pilots, college
life is not part of the plan. For many
learners, nondegree ight schools are
a great deal and t their personal and
professional development goals better
than a unversity program would.
Today, however, the value of a degree program is better than ever.
Frank Ayers, chancellor of EmbryRiddles Prescott, Arizona, campus,
says that in addition to the benet
of needing only 1,000 hours for the
R-ATP license to y for the airlines,
many Embry-Riddle students also
receive scholarships. They can anticipate top-quality ight instruction in
modern, glass-equipped airplanes as
they earn a degree that reinforces the

education and practical skills needed
for ying jets. Embry-Riddles Daytona Beach campus in Florida, for
instance, is the only one in the country with a full-motion level-D Bombardier CRJ200 ight simulator for
students. Youre not likely to gain that
kind of exposure earning a degree in
something outside of aviation.
I look at it this way, Ayers says. If
youre going to be a surgeon, is it better to get a business degree or a degree in the area you plan to specialize
in? Earning an aviation degree, you
dont just learn to y, you learn a safety culture and are imprinted with that
culture. It becomes a part of your life,
as you are taught from day one to be
a professional pilot, with an emphasis
on the word professional.
Embry-Riddle students we talked
to said ight training at the university will cost them between $65,000
and $95,000 for a wallet full of pilot
licenses through their commercial
multi and CFI-I. The tuition costs for
the top aviation schools, meanwhile,
are on par with out-of-state costs at
other competitive universities around
the country.
But there are reasons why you
might not want to attend an aviation
college. The all-in cost to learn to y
through a college-training program
ENROLLING IN A COLLEGE FLIGHT PROGRAM IMMERSES ASPIRING PILOTS IN THEIR

CHOSEN FIELD, WHERE THEY LEARN ALONGSIDE OTHER PASSIONATE YOUNG AVIATORS.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA INVESTS

HEAVILY IN CUTTING-EDGE ATC SIMULATORS.
will almost always be higher than at a
Part 61 ight school. Training with a
large Part 141 school will set you back
roughly the same as the cost at many
colleges, but at the ight school you
can probably pick up your ratings faster. For some students, an aviationspecic degree, which often can equate
to a more rigid, strictly by-the-numbers
approach, might not match their particular learning style. And keep in mind
that the airlines dont really care if your
degree is in aviation, and so again,
pursuing a degree in some other eld
could serve you better.
As with nondegree aviation programs at nonuniversity afliated
schools, there is the opportunity to
stay on as a ight instructor after graduating. Arizona State University even
offers former students the chance to
instruct at locations around the country by virtue of its exclusive relationship with ATP, one of the countrys
largest Part 141 ight schools, with
35 training locations from coast to
coast. That gives ASU grads some
intriguing choices for where they can
go to instruct after graduating, as
ATP offers students jobs anywhere it
has openings. American Flyers, another national ight school, has a
similar relationship with Nova Southeastern University in Florida.
CHOICES, CHOICES
Deciding which aviation college to attend is as much about what you hope
to gain from the experience as it is
about earning a degree. With more
than 150 colleges and universities
across the country offering some
sort of aviation degree program
many of them online your choices
AVIATION UNIVERSITIES LIKE EMBRY-RIDDLE PRIDE THEMSELVES ON OFFERING THE

LATEST TECHNOLOGY, INCLUDING GLASS COCKPITS AND ELECTRONIC CHARTS.
abound. These range from dedicated
aviation schools like Embry-Riddle
(with campuses in warm, good-weather
climates) to small community colleges
and liberal arts schools to some of the
countrys biggest universities.
Christine Zavodnik, a senior at The
Ohio State University who will graduate this spring with an aviation degree
through the College of Engineering,
said learning to y was on the top
of her list of priorities, but she also
sought the big-school experience so
many crave. Its great having the little
aviation world here on campus and
then being able to leave that and be a
part of bigger things at OSU, she says.
While most aviation colleges have
behind conventional six-pack instruments before moving on to glass.

LeTourneau University in Longview,
Texas, takes that concept one step further by offering initial pilot training in
a eet consisting exclusively of Citabria taildraggers purchased new from
American Champion Aircraft Corp.
Not only are training costs lower in the
bare-bones Citabrias, the school has
also noticed an improvement in the
ying skills of its students, says Lauren
Bitikofer, chairman of the universitys
ight sciences department.
Were extremely pleased with
the stick-and-rudder skills of our pilots who learned to y in the Citabrias, he says. Starting its students
DECIDING WHICH AVIATION COLLEGE TO

ATTEND IS AS MUCH ABOUT WHAT YOU
HOPE TO GAIN FROM THE EXPERIENCE
AS IT IS ABOUT EARNING A DEGREE.
upgraded their eets with the latest
Garmin glass-equipped models, some
schools maintain older eets. Ohio
State, for example, has a mix of Cessna 152s, 172s, Piper Arrows, a Cessna
310 and a Cirrus SR20. This helps
keep training costs lower than those
at schools with all brand-new airplanes. The obvious trade-off is a lack
of experience with the newest cockpit
technology though some students
argue they would rather learn to y
in taildraggers before moving them

to G1000 Cessna 172s after they earn
their private turned out to be a great
decision, Bitikofer says. Every new student who comes to the school learns
to y in taildraggers, as opposed to the
schools previously offered option of
learning to y in the Citabria or 172.
LeTourneau is the only aviation college in the country that has
switched to an all-taildragger eet
for primary ght instruction, though
TO HONE THEIR SKILLS, LETOURNEAU UNIVERSITY

STUDENTS LEARN IN CITABRIA TAILDRAGGERS.
several schools offer taildragger
ight training, including aerobatics
at many colleges, a number of which
have their own aerobatic teams that
compete against each other for the
Collegiate National Championship
through the International Aerobatic
Club. Students can also show off their
talents at the annual National Intercollegiate Flying Association Safety
and Flight Evaluation Conference,
better known as Safecon. The competition brings more than 300 students
from 30 colleges and universities from
across the country together to vie for
team and pilot honors in spot landing,
target drop and other categories.
Another unusual aspect of the ight
training program at LeTourneau,
a Christian college, is its bush pilot
school. Cameron Laramee, a sophomore who is working toward his commercial license in the Skyhawk, will
soon transition into a Cessna 206 and
start his bush pilot training as part of
a career path that includes aspirations
to y for a Christian mission in Africa.
When I visited LeTourneau, I fell in
love with the school, Laramee said.
There was nowhere else I wanted
to go. The fact that I could learn in a
taildragger, move into a glass-panel
airplane and then transition to bush
ying made the choice easy.
NONFLYING DEGREES
Of course, becoming a professional
pilot isnt the only reason to consider
attending an aviation college. The
University of North Dakota, one of
the countrys biggest and best-known
aviation schools, offers seven fouryear aviation degree options, including a highly rated air trafc controller
SENIOR CHRISTINE ZAVODNIK SAYS SHE PICKED OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOR ITS TOP-QUALITY
FLIGHT TRAINING COMBINED WITH THE ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME CHANCE TO GO TO A BIG SCHOOL.
degree program and one of the countrys rst majors in unmanned aerial
systems. The school has 1,300 students
in its aviation undergrad, masters and
doctoral programs, along with 117 aircraft, making it one of the largest aviation universities in the nation.
About half of UND Aerospaces current students aspire to become airline
pilots, says Don Dubuque, director
of extension programs at the school.
But a growing number are looking
for careers outside the cockpit. And
for good reason. Dubuque says that
drone operators who graduate from
UNDs UAS program can expect to
earn $60,000 to $75,000 per year
right out of school versus a fraction of
that for ight instructors and greenhorn regional airline rst ofcers.
Overseas deployments for unmanned
aerial vehicle operators can boost pay
to $120,000 to $150,000, levels airline pilots see only after many years
in the business.
The demand for UAS operators
is quite strong, and the pay reects
that, Dubuque says. All unmanned
aircraft students also learn to y in
real airplanes, he says, and they are
encouraged to go on to earn their
CFI. It makes them all the more
marketable to companies seeking
well-rounded individuals.
UND Aerospace has also made
a huge investment in ATC technology with a highly regarded degree
program that makes extensive use
of tower, approach and center simulators, including a state-of-the-art
360-degree tower simulator. The
school is also one of the few colleges
that offers helicopter ight instruction. Somewhat surprisingly, the
challenging weather in North Dakota

that prevails throughout much of the
regular academic year is also a draw
for students who relish the opportunity to learn in the sort of real-world
environment theyll likely experience
once they start ying for a living.
Of course, students who attend
schools like the Florida Institute of
Technology and Embry-Riddle can argue that theyre afforded many more
good-weather days that translate into
fewer ight cancellations the bane
of student pilots everywhere. But if
you dont mind the cold and are one
of those who seeks out challenging
weather, another great choice is Utah
Valley University, which has amassed
an all-Diamond eet of DA40 singles
and DA42 twins at its campus in Provo
and offers a professional pilot Bachelor of Science degree program that
ranks among the best in the country.
There are so many good aviation
colleges offering so many excellent degree programs that choosing the one
thats right for you probably isnt any
easier than the decisions other prospective college students face. For a full
list of accredited aviation colleges
and universities, visit yingmag.com/
college. That will at least get you started in your search. If your goal is to
learn to y, attending an aviation college will get you behind the controls
of some fantastic airplanes as you interact with enthusiastic instructors
and other passionate young aviators,
all while living your dream of learning
the art and science of becoming a welltrained pro. For those of you just embarking on that path, we offer you the
best of luck, as well as some simple but
sage advice: Have fun up there!
F lY i n G O p i n i O n | B Y M A R T H A L U n K E n
flight testing has its

uPs and downs
LAST CHANCES AFTER A BIG MISTAKE
A student pilot called recently about
scheduling a private practical test and
mentioned that he had logged several
hundred hours over a number of years.
He then explained hed surrendered his
private pilot certifcate after an accident well, actually, after two accidents. Somehow hed avoided any FAA
action on the frst one, a sort of a variation of CFIT CFAM, controlled fight
into the side of a mountain, while trying to stay VFR in low ceilings and poor
visibilities. But when he got into trouble again this time with a passenger
the FAA decided a re-examination
was in order. He was trying to take off
in an unfamiliar airplane from a short,
grass runway way over max gross
weight with a high-density altitude and
no wind. He said hed pulled it off (in
more ways than one) several times before, but the Beech Musketeer he was
fying during his second accident was
different from his familiar Cessna 172.
His only good decision that day was

to abort the takeoff a tough call
when youre passing the point of no
return. With things going very wrong
very quickly, it means very decisively
giving up and pulling the power.
And you may veer off the side or the
end of the runway and careen through
weeds, ditches and maybe into trees,
consciously choosing to bend tin but
with good chances of walking away.
The alternative, desperately making
it fy, often means stalling in an impossible climb or climbing turn. You
rarely walk away from a burning,
shattered composite or twisted metal
mess of junk that used to be an airplane. In accidents I saw in almost
three decades with the FAA, I was
amazed at the integrity of the cockpits
and cabins in general aviation airplanes that had been fown through
the crash (thank you, Bob Hoover).
Im not sure its possible to teach
this make it a gut reaction to that

rare but worst-case scenario but Ive
sure tried. Im convinced it requires
reinforcement and that single-engine
pilots should use a spoken takeoff
briefng like the ones used in multiengine operations. Before taking the
runway, arm yourself thoughtfully
with a mantra like: Anything catastrophic before liftoff or with runway
or overrun left, chop the power and
put it on the ground. Past the end of
the runway up to ____ feet (msl), pitch
to best glide, keep the wings level, get
the faps out and pop the doors open.
Keep it fying, and land as slowly as
possible into whatevers ahead.
Notice the altitude is missing because that depends on your skill level,
recent experience and the airplane
youre fying. I dont subscribe to the
traditional 500 feet before turning
back to a runway. For me and Im in
the air more days than not its more
like 800 to 1,000 feet. Think about the
precious seconds it takes to accept the
fact that the engine has quit and to
execute the unpleasant, counterintuitive action required to shove the nose
down to maintain fying speed. Think
about the number of fatal accidents
ILLUSTRATION BY MATTHEW LAZNICKA
UNUSUAL ATTITUDES
A NO-HOLDS-BARRED
LOOK AT PILOTS, PLANES
AND LIFE IN THE AIR
U n U s U a l a t t i t U d e s | F lY i n G O p i n i O n
that have occurred since airplanes

were invented because pilots tried
turning back from low altitudes and
found themselves fying the aeronautical equivalent of a refrigerator.
So my applicant had made an incredibly dumb decision in attempting
that takeoff but made the diffcult and
wise decision to abort a decision
that probably saved his life and that of
his passenger. The FAA accepted his
private certifcate for temporary deposit at the FSDO in exchange for one
with student privileges only (dual instruction and solo practice). Evidently,
there was damn little of either because
he wasnt able to work a weight and
balance calculation on the retest. The
feds gave him another try, but this
time he got only as far as the prefight
inspection hed never used checklists and couldnt identify things like
static ports and pitot tubes. Two failed
attempts, neither getting as far as an
engine start, meant the temporary
deposit of his certifcate became permanent. He could agree to a voluntary
surrender or the FAA would issue an
emergency revocation, and that precious document in his wallet that said
Pilot Certifcate would be scrap paper.
If youre serious about getting your
certifcate back quickly, voluntary surrender is a better option because you
can start immediately, while the revocation usually requires waiting a year.
But either way, you start from scratch
applying for a new student pilot
certifcate and medical, studying and
being recommended to take the written, passing it, logging the minimum
dual instruction Part 61 requires in
preparation for the practical test, getting a CFIs fnal recommendation and
passing the practical test. Fortunately,
all your previously logged time counts
toward the total required time.
I was impressed that this man no
youngster had persevered, and I
wasnt too concerned about the 70 he
scored on the private written. Think
about your score if you had to take that
sucker over again. But as we launched
into the oral, things began to look ugly,
and I got a really, really bad feeling.
And I really, really didnt want this guy
to hit another roadblock. So before we
got to the Ill-have-to-issue-a-pink-slipon-this-oral point, I asked him what
he thought about the weather. Well, he
thought the ceilings were getting pretty low and that we probably wouldnt
be able to fy. Before he could ask
about continuing with the oral portion, I was issuing a Letter of Discontinuance. And then I issued a lecture.
He probably wasnt a bad stick;
after all, hed fown successfully well,
usually for many years. But it had
been in rural areas with no knowledge
or concern about density altitude, performance charts, weight and balance,
checklists, interpreting weather reports
and forecasts, airspace restrictions,
notams, radio navigation, and communications. I know a lady named Sophie
Gilgean a gracious, patient, knowledgeable, beautiful, fercely demanding
and kick-ass fight instructor who
teaches at a nearby airport. I told the
709 re-examination of the pilot. I dont

know if he was unhappy about the paperwork or his marital life, but he treated the pilot like public enemy No. 1,
and another EAA chapter member,
Steve Brightwell, called me about this
unpleasant, harsh attitude. His friend
was upset enough about the bent Chief,
but he was now almost catatonic at the
thought of taking a fight test from an
FAA inspector. The avionics guy happily handed over the fle to me when I
suggested I fnish up the paperwork
since Id be doing the re-exam anyway.
Steve and I had devised a plan. When
Steve was sure his friend was comfortable fying Steves J-4, the two of them
went joy riding on a Saturday morning.
Steve said he had to drain his sumps,
so they landed at Lunken Airport and
as we launched into the

oral, things began to look
ugly, and i got a really,
really bad feeling.
applicant he could schedule with another examiner but that I wouldnt fy
with him again until he worked with
Sophie and she told me he was ready.
He agreed that an hour or so of ground
school probably wouldnt hurt. After
considerably more than an hour or so,
Sophie signaled he was ready, and he
rescheduled the test. I was right; he was
a pretty good stick, but now he knew a
lot more. He had an idea of what he
didnt know, and he walked away with
a new private pilot certifcate.
One more 709 story, and then I
promise to quit. A local pilot ground
looped and bent his Aeronca Chief
while landing at a rural airport in
southern Ohio when I was an inspector
in the Cincinnati FSDO. It was a fender
bender, but a freaked-out neighbor
called highway patrol, and that always
means the feds get involved.
A sourpuss avionics inspector, who
didnt like airplanes or pilots, was
working the fle, which would involve a
taxied to the terminal building. With

his friend at the controls of the idling
J-4, Steve jumped out and ran inside,
and I ran out and leapt into the right
seat before the pilot could react.
Cmon, lets go shoot a few landings at Blue Ash, I said. Then drop
me back here and pick up Steve.
He did a fne job, and I told him to go
in peace, sin no more and promise not
to give Steve any grief about our trick.
Some 20 years later, I put the left
wingtip of a Cub into a pickup truck
while taxiing to a barn from the front
seat with no forward visibility on a
steeply uphill, unlit sod strip in the
dark. (Yes, it was more about sanity
than competency.) The FAA wasnt
much interested, but the insurance
adjustor who investigated a knowledgeable, friendly, helpful guy
looked vaguely familiar. Only after he
left and I read his card did I realize he
was the Aeronca driver Id fown with
all those years before.
FLYING OpiniOn | BY dick karl
Staying on top
How JetBlue works to keep Its edge

In May, J.D. Power and Associates
awarded JetBlue highest honors in airline customer satisfaction among lowcost carriers. It was the ninth consecutive
year the airline received a J.D. Power
award. In August, as a guest of Senior
Vice President of Operations Jeff
Martin, I got a chance to see the inner
workings of a highly successful airlines
approach to maintaining that edge. As
a lifelong airline pilot wannabe, I found
it to be a fascinating experience.
The program for pilots is called Leading Edge (get it?), and it is a two-day
voluntary captain experience that is all
about teamwork, operational leadership and customer focus. Our program
started innocently enough as Marcus
McCall, a buff captain leader, corralled
the group at a local hotel and marched
us three blocks down to JetBlues headquarters in Long Island City, New York.
The building is new and shared with
MetLife. Security is tight. Once in the
JetBlue side of the house, things are,

well, very blue and very bright.
Standing ramrod straight yet possessed of a welcoming demeanor, the
handsome Capt. McCall set the stage.
Though he was the pilot face of the
program, the programs content was
the product of Randal Vegter and Greg
Inozemcev, both managers on the organizational effectiveness team, and Captain Gus Nicoll. Randal was my tour
director. He didnt look like Capt. McCall;
he seemed more shy and less military in
his bearing. Over the next two days, I
saw exactly how talented and wise Randal Vegter really is.
JetBlue seeks to inspire humanity in
air travel. It knows that those J.D. Power awards are largely based on its innovative product: frst bag checked for
free, unlimited complimentary infight
snacks and beverages, all-leather seats
(and the best leg room in coach) and
that well-known infight entertainment
system with many channels of DirecTV.

Yet any other airline could provide
the same product. In fact, JetBlue licenses its infight entertainment system to competitors. So that is not the
secret sauce.
The secret ingredient is the people.
The point of the course is to let captains learn about their own leadership
styles and experience the power of
working together. A video clip featuring board Chairman Joel Peterson
made an interesting point: Not living
up to your potential doesnt let others
down as much as it lets you down. Former General Stanley McChrystal, also
a board member, made a similar point
on leadership. He urged captains to be
all they can be, not a surprising refrain
from an Army general, but its relevance to the topic at hand was obvious.
At the coffee break, pilots commented
about being re-inoculated with the
Blue Juice. They seemed glad for the
booster shot.
As the teamwork portion of the course
got underway, a simple point made me
stop and think: Why did the Wright
Photo CoURtESY oF JEtBLUE
GEAR UP
FROM the
OpeRAtING ROOM
tO FLIGht Ops: A
sURGeONs JOURNeY
Gear up | FLYING OpiniOn
brothers succeed when many others

didnt? Answer: Because there were two
of them. This theme of relying on others, of respecting their different roles
and their various backgrounds, was a
recurring point. The relative viewpoints
of the fight attendants as compared to
the pilots caused some reaction. Arlene
Daley, an infight team leader from Fort
Lauderdale, Florida, was in the audience to give voice to these differences.
While you worry about the clearance
and wheels-up time, we have 150 restless passengers consumed with their
own anxieties. They worry about connections, about the people meeting
them, about the safety of the fight. The
more we can learn from you [the pilots], the easier our job is. Twenty-fve
heads nodded slowly.
A tour of the systems operations center gave us a chance to see who did
what. Dispatch, customer service coordinator, crew services duty manager,
maintenance control duty manager,
infight duty leads, crew recovery coordinator (this does not involve recovering from appendicitis but from
irregular fights, duty hours, etc.), load
planning and air traffc systems controller stations were all manned. When
we fetched up at the screen of an air
traffc systems controller named Chris
Gottlieb, things really came alive.
Chris is exactly the guy you would
want to look out for your place in the
ATC system. Passionate, knowledgeable and fearless, he made it clear that
he fghts for JetBlue. Just because another airline decides to bunch all their
fights into La Guardia at 6 p.m. does
not mean that JetBlue must pay the
price at Kennedy. I am all over them
about that, he said.
The captains had taken a series of
self-assessment questionnaires aimed
at determining what their leadership
styles were. These were divided into
four groups: D (Dominance), characterized by direct communication,
risk-taking and decisive behavior; I (Infuencing), marked by sociable behavior, impulsiveness and persuasive
personality; S (Steadiness), marked by
loyalty, a team-player attitude and predictability; and C (Conscientiousness),
characterized by accurate, perfectionist
and systematic behavior. I predicted
that most pilots would be Ds decisive and direct. I was wrong.
Only two captains were Ds. McCall

told me that this was almost always the
case. JetBlue pilots tend to be Cs and
Ss, which tells you how fnely tuned the
companys hiring process is. JetBlue has
captains that are steady, loyal and accurate because it hires for these attributes.
Once each leadership style had been
defned, we learned how to work with
each type. When dealing with those
Ds, using brief direct statements and
showing them the simplest, quickest,
most practical way to be productive
works best. For the Is, a different approach yields best results. Allowing
time to verbalize, using open-ended
questions and establishing dates for
checkpoints work best for this crowd.
A dinner on the top foor of a nearby
hotel was marked by bonhomie, excellent food, free-fowing adult beverages
and a spectacular view of the Manhattan skyline. I learned that each class
costs some money, but JetBlue is betting
pilots handed in their answers. Then

they were assigned to consortia of fve,
where each captain was charged with a
group of questions. He or she led the
discussion, but the fnal answer was the
captains responsibility. I watched with
Randal behind one-way glass as a group
of captains wrestled with the answers
for exactly 25 minutes. Amazingly, the
group effort was always better than the
sum of the individual scores. Even captains who had performed poorly on the
exam led the others to a correct answer.
On the day I watched the process, there
were 17, 49 and 61 percent improvements in overall scores when compared
to the average of individual efforts.
I have sat through my share of teambuilding exercises in medicine, but
this was by far the most compelling
session I have ever witnessed. A quote
sticks in my mind: Ninety-eight percent of what a captain does or decides
is in the [quick reference handbook] or
Why did the Wright brotherS Succeed

When many otherS didnt? anSWer:
becauSe there Were tWo of them.
that the return on investment is worth
it; there are about 20 a year. Pilots are
paid line rates to attend. This is the
kind of investing successful companies
are known for. The word of mouth has
been highly positive, and captains
compete for slots. The next morning I
saw why.
You are stranded in the Himalayas
and separated from your climbing party. The next several hours will determine your chances of survival. Each
captain strains to answer the life-ordeath questions that follow.
An example: You are working hard
and perspiring. You fear dehydration
and subsequent hypothermia. You
should slow down and remove your: a.
wool sweater; b. cotton, long-sleeved
undershirt; c. knit ski cap.
There are 12 such questions about
things that an average line pilot may
never have thought about. I know I
hadnt. After seven and a half minutes,
available from dispatch or other sources. This is about that 2 percent.

When it comes to customer service,
JetBlue is serious. Making the point
that the J.D. Power award is based on a
relatively small sample size, JetBlue
collects input from thousands of passengers per day. When asked on a 0 to
10 score whether a passenger would
recommend JetBlue to a friend or colleague, the airline is looking for those
passengers who say 9 or 10. These are
the wow answers. JetBlue has ascribed a dollar amount to the bottom
line for moving a negative customer to
neutral and moving a neutral to a promoter. If done with one passenger per
fight, in a year, the dollar amounts are
in the tens of millions.
Next time you fy JetBlue, look for
the captain or frst offcer to come out
of the cockpit, pick up the microphone,
look down the aisle and say hello. Shes
probably just out of Leading Edge.
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technicalities
F LY I N G o p i n i o n | B Y p e t e r g a r r i s o n
CUttING thROUGh
the MYths tO Get tO
the FACts OF FLIGht
the AUtO-LeAN IN the AUthORs

hOMebUILt FINds A desIRed eGt
ANd hOLds It. ReveRtING tO MANUAL
OpeRAtION Is eAsY.
Motorizing Mixture
There musT be a beTTer use for hands and eyes

Early last year, Robert Takacs, a Georgia Mooney pilot doing business as
Flight Enhancements Corp., wrote me
in response to a column I had written
on mixture. He thought I might be
interested in a gadget he and an associate had developed. Called AutoLean, it was an electric servo control
for mixture. At the time, it was usable
only in experimentals, but they were
applying for STCs for installations in
production airplanes.
My interest was piqued, but only
slightly. I didnt quite see the point.
Of all the tasks involved in fying an

airplane, setting the mixture doesnt
seem to be one of the more burdensome, and once its set, thats that.
But sure, I said, send me the kit,
and he did.
Its main elements were a miniature linear actuator, a control unit to
mount on the instrument panel and
a somewhat bewildering bunch of
miscellaneous hardware and electrical bits. (An EGT thermocouple is
optional if you dont already have
one.) There was an installation
manual and a separate POH supplement for the pilot.

The face of the control unit has
three switches and a fault light. A
rotary switch in the center allows you
to select peak EGT or a desired offset
from among the usual suspects: 25,
50, 75, 100 or 125 degrees Fahrenheit either rich or lean of peak (ROP
or LOP, in the parlance of the mixture besotted). Flanking it are two
toggle switches. One of them simply
motors the servo toward rich or lean.
The other selects whether you want
to hold at peak, at some offset on
either side, or at the present EGT,
whatever that happens to be.
Since instrument panels are set up
in so many different ways, some of
the installation details were left to
the ingenuity of the installer. The
main challenge was to secure the
servo alongside the existing vernier
mixture control while avoiding interferences with all the other stuff
crammed behind the panel. A vernier
control also presents a special problem: It automatically locks in position
unless the button is pressed, but the
servo needs it to move freely. The
instructions proposed a couple of
solutions. One was to remove the
locking ball from the vernier altogether so that it becomes a simple
push-pull control. Reluctant to burn
any bridges, I didnt do that. The
somewhat funky-looking alternative
that leaves the vernier function intact
is a strap that holds the button down
but is readily detached. The servo
itself connects to a collar around the
vernier shaft with a quick-release
ftting, so its easy to revert to manual
operation if you want to.
The instructions recommended
connecting the computer to the EGT
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T E C H N I C A L I T I E S | F LY I N G O p i n i O n
probe on the frst cylinder that

reaches peak. My engine, a turbod
200 hp Continental, has GAMI injectors that keep the EGTs pretty well in
sync with one another, and I always
lean by the turbocharger inlet temperature, so I tapped into the TIT
terminals on the Alcor analog EGT
gauge instead.
After many interruptions and a
few minor stumbles, I fnally got the
system up and running about six
months after receiving the kit.
Takacs must have secretly felt that I
was either the laziest, the slowest or
the most incompetent person he had
ever had to deal with, but he managed to sound cheerful and supportive in his emails.
The frst practical test of the system took place at 12,500 feet. My
habit is to lean to 50 LOP immediately after takeoff and climb at
27/2,300. Since the MP remains constant, the mixture was already more
or less leaned for cruise when I
reached 12.5. Peak EGT changes a
little during the climb, however; so
after leveling out, I normally re-adjust the mixture and end up at a fuel
fow around 8.3 or 8.4 gph at
which I would expect to see a true
airspeed of around 170 knots.
The big moment: I fastened the
strap across the vernier button,
manually enriched to around 50
ROP the Auto-Leans computer
likes to start searching at 25 or more
ROP snapped the quick-release
onto the vernier shaft collar, selected 50 on the rotary switch, selected LOP on the right-hand toggle
and watched.
My frst question how the gadget would manage to fnd peak EGT
when the servo speed was visibly
much faster than the thermocouple
response time was soon answered.
The servo moved in a series of short
steps, pausing to let the EGT catch
up. You could practically see it
thinking and maybe even feeling a
little impatient. In less than a minute it had settled at what looked to
me like a bit more than 50 LOP
maybe 65 or so. The fuel fow was
8.1 gph and the TAS 174 better
performance than I was expecting to
see. This was surprising; the AutoLean does not promise to improve
your performance, after all, just to

do a better job of controlling your
mixture than youre likely to do
yourself. Most likely it was an instance of a perverse tendency I have
noticed in fight testing for initial
results to appear unexpectedly
promising and for later ones to fail
to match them. After all, 174 knots
is the magic 200 mph a number
the builder of a 200 hp four-seater
wants to see.
The Auto-Lean has all the usual
advantages of a computer over a human. It thinks about only one thing
all the time I guess some human
pilots do that too, but its not exhaust
gas temperature and it is never
feels more comfortable running his

naturally aspirated Lycoming 360 on
the rich side of peak, uses a protocol
that is different from mine. He tells
the gadget to hold the EGT at which
the engine naturally settles after the
frst power reduction, around 150 to
200 ROP. The computer locks onto
that temperature and gradually leans
the mixture to hold it as he climbs.
After leveling out, he sets cruise
power, turns the rotary switch to 50
and selects ROP on the toggle. Now
the computer identifes peak EGT,
enriches to the target of 50 ROP and
holds that temperature.
Im a chronic late adopter, but I
often fnd myself belatedly taking a
The AuTo-LeAn is noT quiTe A

singLe-Lever engine conTroL, buT
iT goes jusT fAr enough, As fAr As
mixTure mAnAgemenT is concerned,
To Achieve A nice bALAnce.
distracted. But it has a basic limitation.
Once the computer has identifed the
temperature that is, say, 50 degrees
LOP, it just holds the temperature,
not the offset. If peak EGT changes,
it doesnt know.
Pilots whose airplanes have good
instrumentation and who are mindful of EGT know that peak EGT does
not have a fxed value; it is affected
by a number of variables, including
power setting and altitude. If, therefore, you set your EGT after takeoff
and the Auto-Lean holds that temperature, it will no longer be at the
same offset from peak when you
reach cruising altitude. The change
will be small, but the whole point
here is precision, so once youve leveled out in cruise, you would probably want to repeat the searchand-lock process.
Flight Enhancements website
(fightenhancements.com) includes
a pretty full description of ways to
manage mixture with the AutoLean. Takacs, who like many pilots
liking to a convenience that I frst

saw as a frivolous complication. In
1969, I wondered why anybody
needed DME when a clock, a chart
and an E6B were already in every
airplane. In 1979, I believed that a
word-processing computer represented no signifcant improvement
over my typewriter. By the same token, I have always felt vaguely hostile to single-lever engine controls
because I suspect they would probably incarnate a different philosophy
of engine management than my own.
The Auto-Lean is not quite a single-lever engine control, but it goes
just far enough at least as far as
mixture management is concerned
to achieve a nice balance. Why
should recip pilots have to control
mixture manually? Auto-Lean removes that somewhat time- and attention-consuming distraction while
leaving it to the pilot to decide what
mixture to use and when to use it.
Despite my Luddite leanings, Im
getting quite fond of it.
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JUMPSEAT
F LY I N G O P I N I O N | B Y L E S A B E N D
FLYING THE
HEAVY METAL WITH
AN AIRLINE CAPTAIN
a 775,000-Pound esPResso
MaKeR with wings
FLYING THE BOEING 777-300ER
Although I was slightly dejected by a
schedule that returned me to night
fying after six months of daytime
trips to London, I was re-energized by
the fact a new airplane was in my
future. I would be fying a 300ER series 777, a relatively recent addition
to our airlines feet. As an added bonus, the airplane has an espresso
maker in the frst-class galley.
A 777-300ER is a noticeably immense airplane. How can a 5-foot-8inch man possibly lift such a thing?
At 242 feet long, a 777-300ER is
shorter than the new 747-800 by just
8 feet. It has a max takeoff weight of
775,000 pounds. A GE90-115BL, the
worlds largest and most powerful
engine, produces 115,000 pounds of
thrust. The airplane has a fuel load of
approximately 48,000 gallons. Our
airline confgures the 300ER for 303
passengers, a complement of 12 fight
attendants and up to four cockpit
crew members. Max cruise speed is

.89 Mach. Amazing stuff.
After greeting my two copilots, Rob
MacDonald and JD Hay, in JFK Ops, I
expressed my virgin status in not having fown the 300ER. They smiled,
indicating that the airplane had become a routine on their schedules.
Good. They were pleasant and relaxed. Having fown with them on
previous trips, I knew they were more
than competent to hold their captain
by the proverbial hand.
My typical nonchalance of reviewing
fight-plan data faded into mild amazement as I absorbed the numbers of
our proposed takeoff weight and associated V speeds. At almost 600,000
pounds, our rotation speed was 155
knots, about 10 knots faster than a typical departure speed in the 200 series.
Our return takeoff weight from London was about 643,000 pounds, giving us a rotation speed of 165 knots.
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CAMERAS WHILE IN CRUISE FLIGHT.
My Cherokee Six has diffculty indicating that speed going downhill.
With paperwork in hand, the three
of us trotted out the door of Ops.
Upon arrival in the cockpit, I deposited my bags in the usual places. Despite my 200/300 differences review a
few days prior, I still glanced around,
ensuring that the cockpit was basically a 777. JD offered me a tour of the
cabin, and I was pleased to accept.
As I moved aft away from the cockpit, I scanned the eight partitioned,
lay-fat seats in frst class. The seats
refected an intricate attention to detail, the epitome of comfort for modern air travel. Although narrower, the
52 seats in the business class cabin
were essentially equal in amenities to
their frst-class neighbors.
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J U M P S E A T | F LY I N G O P I N I O N
The 250 seats in coach were endless;

it was almost as if a funhouse mirror
had been positioned to make the rows
populate uniformly toward infnity.
Having made a few trips to the tail of
the 200, my memory was sending signals that I should be at the back of the
airplane already. But as per the dimensions, we had an extra 33 feet to
travel. While introducing myself to the
aft galley fight attendants, the part of
the crew that I wouldnt see again until
our bus ride to the hotel, I peered up the
stairs into their bunk area. It wasnt spacious, although it did offer the appearance of a quality college dorm room.
On the return to the pointy end, JD
opened the door to the fight-crew
bunk room, situated just behind the
bulkhead of the forward galley. It is a
steep climb to a cozy, but comfortable, area. Two wide reclining leather
seats are positioned side by side with
enough space in between to allow a
relatively easy crawl into either of the
two bunks behind them. The bunks

are separated by a divider and are
provisioned with reading lights, eyeball vents, an interphone and dropdown oxygen masks. Our emergency
escape from the fight-crew rest area
is a breakaway hatch in the foor that
allows us to drop into the forward
section of the frst-class cabin.
Cockpit prefight preparation proceeded as normal with the exception
of the performance chart review for a
potential engine-out scenario that
would have us returning to the runway over the maximum landing
weight of 554,000 pounds. The charts
indicated that due to higher approach
speeds, runway length was a lot more
critical on the 300ER, especially if
wet conditions prevailed. Duly noted.
The instrument panel contains a few
subtle differences. As an example, the
stand-alone clock has been removed
and integrated within the PFD. Where
the Rolls-Royce Trent engines on the
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200 use EPR as the primary reference

for thrust, the GE engines on the
300ER use N1 rotation. EPR gauges
are absent from the engine instrument
and crew alerting system display. And
as a refection of global change, a noelectronics selector knob has replaced
the no-smoking selector knob.
A not-so-subtle change is the addition of a camera button on the display
select panel of the right side glareshield
eyebrow. The select panel allows various aircraft systems schematics to be
displayed on the desired cockpit MFD.
Because of the 300ERs length, dragging the landing gear off the taxiway
and onto the turf is a real threat.
Pressing the Cam button provides a
split screen from three cameras positioned to provide a view of both main
landing gear and the nose gear.
The view from the cameras is great
fun and a great tool, but it can be disorienting without a certain amount of
practice. I learned early in our taxi
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JUMPSEAT | FLYING OPINION
not to focus on the image but rather

to confrm that my direct visual steering was being accomplished safely.
After being cleared to line up and
wait on Runway 22R, I recycled the
no-electronics switch to chime the
fight attendants of our impending
takeoff. I asked my copilots if they had
any last words of advice. Their response
was a short and simple chorus of
chuckles. With a grin, I pushed the
thrust levers forward. We accelerated
at a noticeably brisk and powerful pace.
Once airborne, I felt a subtle lightness on the fight controls. Perhaps the
control feel software was different
than on the 200. Other than departing with 15 degrees of faps versus the
200s typical 5 degrees, all other operations were the same. The FMS and
CPDLC systems offered a few more
convenient bells and whistles, but for
the most part, cruise fight held no surprises on our 6:22 trip to Heathrow.
My single complaint is the fact that
the airplane runs out of wing before it

runs out of power. The act of climbing
to altitude is never a problem and is
oftentimes accomplished at more than
by 10,000 feet on the descent. I made

no exception with the 300ER.
I was mildly apprenhensive of striking the tail skid because of the extra
Because of the 300eRs length, dRagging

the landing geaR off the taxiway
and onto the tuRf is a Real thReat.
2,000 fpm. The issue is that the initial
maximum attainable altitude is typically
no higher than FL 360. At lower fight
levels, fying above turbulence can be
problematic across the North Atlantic.
As for the landing, well, sometimes I
surprise myself, and in this case, my
crew. As with most airplanes, I enjoy
hand fying. If weather requirements
permit, I click the autopilot off usually
33 feet of fuselage. But the airplane

protects itself through a sensor that
detects a high deck angle and actually
reduces pitch unbeknownst to the errant pilot. Despite my paranoia, I found
the concrete of Heathrows Runway
27R with barely a whisper from 12 tires.
It was a great frst impression. I can
only hope for more and, of course, a
good cup of espresso.
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F L ASH BAC K S
25
BY BETHANY WHITFIELD
A LOOK BACK
AT FLYING MAGAZINE
25 AND 50 YEARS AGO
WE TOLD the tale of two pilots who

hopped into a Piper Tri-Pacer and
Piper Colt after seeing a tornado near
Lake Village Airport in Indiana. They
followed the storm which produced
violent turbulence along with hail in
excess of two inches in diameter and
bore witness to its immense path of
destruction from the air in an attempt to
alert others by radio of its location. The
two men, who had no prior experience
in storm observation or tracking, were
subsequently awarded with Public
Service Awards by the chief of the then
U.S. Weather Bureau for their efforts.
YEARS
AGO
OUR COVER FEATURED THE PIAGGIO AERO P.180 AVANTI FLYING

OVER NORTHERN ITALY. THE AERODYNAMIC CONFIGURATION
BOASTED GREAT DRAG REDUCTION THANKS TO ITS LOW
WEIGHT AND SMALL WING.
IN ERR OF EXPECTANCY,
Peter Garrison explored the

potentially fatal dangers of
failing to react to changing
circumstances and allowing
preconceived notions to
overshadow new scenarios.
Garrison examined how
such hesitation could be
particularly perilous during
approach and landing, when
expectations of anticipated
outcomes are strong.
WE TOOK the Model 402 Lancer, a twin-engine trainer from

Champion, for a test ride. At $12,500, the airplane provided
an economical option albeit one without great engine-out
performance for pilots seeking to get their feet wet in a
twin. Just three dozen were built.
50
YEARS
AGO
WE DETAILED the state of Biggin Hill, the storied aireld

that served as the master-ghter control center during the
Battle of Britain. Despite attempts to change with the times
and escape its reputation as the beat-up Battle of Britain
base, the airport still retained some signs and remnants of
its unforgettable World War II history.
OUR COVER FEATURED R.W. REIDS KREIDER-REISNER 34

FLYING OVER NEBRASKA. RENOWNED AUTHOR AND FORMER
FLYING CONTRIBUTOR RICHARD BACH SHOT THE PHOTO OUT

OF THE WINDOW OF HIS FAIRCHILD 24.
A L L N EW F R O M
T H E M O ST S PE CTAC U LA R B O O K O N
A I R C RA FT E V E R PU B LI S H E D !
More than 150

spectacular color photos
and 200 illustrations
reveal the distinctive tails,
wing shapes and handpainted details, and more
Over 1,600 ight
facts and gures
Written by pilots and
aviation journalists Mark
Phelps and Robert Goyer,
Editor-in-Chief of FLYING
magazine
240 PAGES
10 X 11 INCHES
$40.00
www.yingmag.com/book

Flying 2014-01

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