Flying on Vacation

There is nothing cooler than renting an airplane while on vacation. I have had some amazing experiences while on vacation including being able to see the scenery from the air.

Sometimes people look at me funny when I tell them that "I flew on vacation." That comment will naturally get construed into something different like: "You mean, you flew commercially out to Phoenix?" or sometimes I will get "You flew YOUR plane to California?"
Nooooo - "I got checked out in an airplane and was able to rent it for a nice scenic flight."

Flying while on vacation can be a challenge. First of all, of the family members on vacation with you, its probably just you that wants to fly, and second, you will need to make time for the checkout and then the rental. This is a big commitment in time especially if your time is limited.

The other challenge is of personal nature. You are going to be flying in a strange airplane, in a strange area, with a map you probably looked over only moments before flying. When checking out in Phoenix, being able to fly amongst the mountainous areas was a treat and a challenge - From Chicago, the closest thing to a mountain is the 30 foot sand hill in the Indiana Dunes.


One of my most memorable experiences was in Maui, Hawaii. I got checked out in a Cessna 172sp. I think we logged .4 on the hobbs and did two take offs and landings. I took my sister-in-law and her husband up for a tour of some of the islands and then did the same with my wife. The sights were amazing.

Another memorable experience was in Arizona. Being that my wife has family in Phoenix, it only made sense to get checked out at one of the flight schools at Deer Valley Airport. I chose Westwind. Since it is a flight school, they follow very strict guidelines regarding aircraft checkouts, and basically made me do a Private Pilot Check ride. I had to take a written test, and do an hour of ground, followed by 1.5 in the air. I asked if we could do some commercial maneuvers instead of the routine private maneuvers, and he agreed. I think he was delighted that we were not following the same old syllabus he was grinding through hour after hour.

My two favorite experiences flying in a sectional other than my home area were my two most drastically different experiences. The laid back atmosphere of Hawaii and their instructors had me spending more time having fun flying myself than the Phoenix experience, but Phoenix was still really fun, and I am now checked out for life - I just have to show proof of currency, BFR, License, and medical.

Checking out in an aircraft while on vacation may be a commitment in time and a bit of a challenge, I guarantee it is worth it - Find the nearest airport next time you are on vacation and don't be intimidated by the checkout. Just think of it as a learning experience, because it really is!

Phrasology

Reading through the usual flying rags, I love reading articles on communications and talking on the radio - mentioning the need to be brief and deliberate with the phraseology. IFR Magazine comes to mind right now when I think of articles written on the subject with an emphasis on being super quick, concise and to the point with no extra pauses or chatter. It is generally understood that you should not waste any air time and that it is a precious commodity.

Flying regularly in the Chicago airspace, especially IFR, I totally understand the need to be brief and to the point, but sometimes I think there are some instances where adding a little "thanks for your help", or a "see ya later" after a hand off is nice. This is not appropriate for Chicago Approach (any time of day!), but hey, we are all human - adding that element to the drone of the day helps out everyone and I'm sure I speak for some of the lonely controllers over at KSBN on a not-so-busy labor day morning - apparent by the fact that we made a 20 mile straight in for Rwy 9R, taxi back and then departure to the north with no other aircraft in or outbound.

Thanks South Bend - you rock... Seeeee yaaaa.

AIM / FAR or FAR / AIM

There is nothing better than curling up with a good book late at night, in bed. Especially if it is the AIM / FAR! Nothing could put you to sleep faster.

Or possibly not?

The other night I dusted off my copy of the AIM / FAR to look up something in the AIM portion regarding flight plans. Boy, talk about getting re-acquainted with an old friend and to my surprise, I didn't fall asleep at all.

As I was thumbing through the various sections, I started to think - "this is probably the most forgotten book in aviation." There is so much information that I FORGOT was in there! Airport traffic pattern diagrams, Flight plan forms, communication phraseology, and the list goes on.

We as instructors take for granted the information we learn over the years and sometimes forget where we learned it. So much of this information is contained in the AIM and it begs our attention at least at BFR time. From now on, I think I am going to dedicate some time to reviewing some of the components of the AIM at BFR time. Im already getting my questions lined up...

"So, your IFR flight plan is automatically closed by the tower - How do you know for sure, and where does it say that?"

The 2010 edition comes out this month - I just ordered the new edition. As the title of this post questions - is it AIM/FAR or FAR/AIM - I don't have the answer to that one.

Flying in Ice

I was having the ground school portion of a Flight Review with a pilot the other night and the subject of airframe icing came up. The student said that they were terrified of flying in icing conditions. I told them that they should be!

The first thing that I asked was "what criteria do you use when determining whether to make a flight or not when it is winter time." The answer was a 45 degree ground temperature, and that they wouldn't fly higher than 4000 ft.

I would say that is an acceptable first step and should keep you safe, but a deeper analysis into the current weather conditions would be in order. The name of the game is "options". How thick is the cloud layer? Where is the freezing level? What kind of aircraft are you flying and does it have ice protection of any sort? Where are the bases relative to MEA?

The regulations say that we aren't allowed to fly in "known icing conditions." What this basically means to me is that if there are clouds, or precipitation, and the temperature at that altitude is less than freezing - That would be known icing - I GUESS?!?! I think the regulations are a little ambiguous so that it gives some wiggle room.

Bottom Line - if you don't have any anti-ice / de-ice equipment on your airplane, its best to be conservative. Take the car if you have to go that bad.

VFR Flight Plans

I was having a conversation with my mentor and flight instructor this past weekend and we stumbled upon the subject of VFR flight plans. I say "stumbled" when I should really pick a better word, but the subject came up when he asked if one of my current students filed a VFR flight plan on his cross country. I was actually taken aback. Not only was there enough anxiety about making sure I covered everything for the cross country, but this added to the pile!

How could I have skipped over this?

Well, a quick scan of the new syllabus that I am using makes no mention of them. So, wondering if they are still being taught, I called upon my good friend who is in charge of the aviation program at one of the local colleges. He said that they ABSOLUTELY make their students file VFR flight plans and often times call Flight Service to make sure that they are actually following through.

Hmm - My quest for the perfect flight training syllabus continues.

After thinking about it, when my students file a VFR flight plan, I could always just call a Flight Service Station to see if they closed their flight plan to see if they made it to their destination airport instead of trying to figure out what the phone number for the tower is and calling them! Of course, I have asked students to call me when they land so that I know all is well, but that doesn't always happen. I know - This is kind of like mother hen - but that's how I roll...