Light Aircraft Standard Operating Procedures

[Big Pistons Forever]

I was reading the thread on the alternator testing issue. Variations on the "stupid flight school operating procedure of the day" seem to be a regular feature of this forum. I started to add a comment about an Ottawa school where I did a check out last year. Every radio on/off knob was shiny because the school procedures was to turn off every radio after you turn off the radio master switch
It then occured to me the real issue is the folks who run flying schools often have never operated outside a flying school environment. I think this is the reason the stupid or just plane silly procedures creep into flying school operations.

So experts of AVCANADA why don't we offer up some suggestions (with an explanation) on how light aircraft should be operated. The sanity check should be if they follow the SOPS then when newly qualified commecial pilot John/Jane Keener shows up for the first job his/her Chief Pliot won't spend the first 2 hours of training beating all the flying school bullshit out of them.

In a perfect world this will be a frame work for a generally accepted set of SOP's.

I will start with use of lights ( A personal pet peeve)

Nav lights: on with ac power energized (night only) { reason to alert others aircraft is occupied}

beacon: On before engine start {reason: to alert pesonnel near aircraft the engine(s) are about to start}

strobes: On as the ac enters the runway {reason: to make the aircraft conspicous as it enters the runway}

landing lights: On when cleared for takeoff or start of take off roll (uncontrolled airports) {reason: it is a secondary confirmation of the takeoff clearance for ATC and other nearby aircraft}
and anytime the aircraft is in the CZ/MF {reason : to make the aircraft more visible in airspace more likely to be crowded}

Note for those aircraft with no beacon (ie many Piper twins) the strobes are not a substitute for the beacon and should not be on when the aircraft is on the taxi.

[Tango01]

I would also use landing lights in busy VFR corridors/practice areas. Birds can also avoid you if they see your lights.

[Hedley]

My pet peeve: mixture.

1) after start, mixture lean (max RPM) for taxi. Reason? Avoid bottom plug fouling.

2) after landing, mixture lean (max RPM) for taxi. Reason? Avoid bottom plug fouling.

3) in cruise (AT ANY ALTITUDE) mixture lean (max RPM). Reason? Reduce fuel consumption. Even if you aren't paying for the gas, some day you may appreciate a few gallons extra at the end of the leg.

4) after application of carb heat, mixture lean (max RPM). Reason? Hot air has enrichened mixture. Re-leaning will produce more power and more heat, to make the carb heat more effective.

5) For takeoff, full rich mixture may not always be the best choice (Student discussion - why? How determine appropriate mixture setting?)

6) During descent for landing, rich mixture is NOT optimal and may result in considerable aircraft engine damage in some types (Student discussion - why?). Full rich mixture selection should be delayed as long as operationally possible - not at 8,000 when descent is commenced!

[Hedley]

On the subject of live/dead mag checks, keep in mind that the following AD, 76-07-12, recommends checking the mag switch every ONE HUNDRED HOURS:

http://www.tc.gc.ca/aviation/applicatio ... -07-12.htm

Not every frigging flight.

If you consider yourself some sort of amateur AME, and absolutely MUST perform the test, please do it at the LOWEST POSSIBLE RPM. Reason? Minimal unburned gas in the exhaust, so less damage when ignition is restored.

(b) With the engine at normal idle, rotate the switch key or lever through the "OFF" detent to the extreme limit of its travel in the "OFF" direction.

(c) If the engine stops firing, this indicates an airworthy switch.

[Cat Driver]

Nav lights: on with ac power energized ( night only )

Turning them on during daylight hours only burns out the bulbs.

[Hedley]

burns out the bulbs

Another pet peeve: cockpit lights left on all the time, so that they burn out and they aren't there when you need them.

[MichaelP]

During descent for landing, rich mixture is NOT optimal

I agree... But I got into trouble for advocating this by a TC inspector....
The inspector insisted full rich as soon as the descent commenced.
This inspector is a nice guy but he has his opinions.

Okay, I know better, and I tell the students to do this for their flight tests only... There are many things that are 'Flight Test Only'

Carb heat is my pet peeve... Using it for long periods when there's no visible moisture on a hot summer's day.
I warned a student about this.
Combined with the full rich mixture, the carb heat full on resulted in an engine 'failure' on final approach to Las Vegas on a hot summer's day.
Do we not understand why carb heat is optional?
I was not there when this incident happened, but the ex-student PPL told me about it... He realised that Michael might talk some sense some times.

Another is spinning... People who tell me they do three turn spins in a Cessna 152 are BS'ing unless they leave the power on and it's to the left.
Some of our 152's are hopeless... But the other day in BXJ, 1600 RPM produced 2.5 turns in which I could point out the ASI sitting at 45KIAS.

Power off, after the first turn watch the airspeed increase... 3 turns? No way, you are recovering from a spiral not a spin.
After one turn power off I demonstrate that with the CC fully back, full rudder applied, simply rotating the CC will roll you out of the non-spin!
In a true spinning aeroplane you will be in big trouble doing this but in a 152... It's not a true spinning aeroplane...
The 172 is a true spinning aeroplane when loaded, but in the utility range... Forget it!

Then there was the day the examiner told a chap after the flight test that stick forward should be applied before opposite rudder in spin recovery...
The Decathlon manual says this, but the aeroplane was not a Decathlon!
The placard in the Decathlon states standard recovery procedure as is outlined in the TC approved training documents, the Cessna manuals and most everything else.

I was very very annoyed and phoned the examiner myself.
He agreed, and all is well with the world again.

[GottaFly]

On the subject of live/dead mag checks, keep in mind that the following AD, 76-07-12, recommends checking the mag switch every ONE HUNDRED HOURS:

http://www.tc.gc.ca/aviation/applicatio ... -07-12.htm

Not every frigging flight.

If you consider yourself some sort of amateur AME, and absolutely MUST perform the test, please do it at the LOWEST POSSIBLE RPM. Reason? Minimal unburned gas in the exhaust, so less damage when ignition is restored.

Are we talking about at the end of every flight when we cycle our mag switch to off to confirm that the mags are, in fact, disengaged? Because if you think that we shouldn't do that after every flight, i'm sorry, but i completely disagree. On probably 2 occasions in this past year the ground has come unhooked from our airplanes, and if thats the case, i go no where near the propeller when it comes time to push back. As soon as it happens, i taxi our airplane on over to the AME so he can rectify the problem immediatly.

When it comes to the how part, i agree that the throttle needs too be at flight idle before we cycle the mags to off. I recall one of our instructors experienced an engine fire and burned out one of our mufflers while doing a mag check at 1500 rpm (rough guess) in a C150. Not smart.

I do believe we need to teach it right the first time (primacy).

Another is spinning... People who tell me they do three turn spins in a Cessna 152 are BS'ing unless they leave the power on and it's to the left.
Some of our 152's are hopeless... But the other day in BXJ, 1600 RPM produced 2.5 turns in which I could point out the ASI sitting at 45KIAS.

Power off, after the first turn watch the airspeed increase... 3 turns? No way, you are recovering from a spiral not a spin.
After one turn power off I demonstrate that with the CC fully back, full rudder applied, simply rotating the CC will roll you out of the non-spin!
In a true spinning aeroplane you will be in big trouble doing this but in a 152... It's not a true spinning aeroplane...
The 172 is a true spinning aeroplane when loaded, but in the utility range... Forget it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laPklVfCdAI

Don't get me wrong, not at all am i at all promoting this as being a sensible or safe things too do. Actually, it's kind of a dumb thing to do, but note her usage of aileron to keep the critical wing stalled.

[200hr Wonder]

Light use is a huge pet-peeve of mine, especially at night. How many times have I been blinded on the ramp when some door knob shines his landing light right at you and poof there goes your night vision. Thanks jerk water. At a well lit well used airport, provided you have your Nav lights on and your beacon do you really need to use your landing light to taxi? Certainly there are times when you do, but as you approach the ramp area how about you turn it off so that other pilots are not blinded when you pull into the parking area. This holds even more true for ramps that are well lit by street lights. Just a common courtesy.

The other amazing thing that a lot of students miss is the ability to perform a through and efficient pre flight inspection. Please take the time to explain to your students what every inspection is trying to accomplish. Way too many people do not understand for example how a nose oleo works, or the what would happen if say the alternator belt broke.

I would also like to see more use of a flow type of check. One of my great pet-peeves is people who do one check one way and then do the same check in a different order for what is essentially the same thing. For example the HASEL check just confuses people... Security and Engine, why not do a standard pre landing check and make it a HALT check...

[niwre]

I would also like to see more use of a flow type of check. One of my great pet-peeves is people who do one check one way and then do the same check in a different order for what is essentially the same thing. For example the HASEL check just confuses people... Security and Engine, why not do a standard pre landing check and make it a HALT check...

Difference of opinion. If a HASEL check is confusing for people then there are greater issues at hand. In my books security and engine are completely different checks. Or a better question would be how would you run through your safety check because there are 1001 ways and sayings that go along with them. Was taught under the CALL check system and now use HASEL cause I found that students missed fewer things using it.

[MichaelP]

For example the HASEL check just confuses people... Security and Engine, why not do a standard pre landing check and make it a HALT check...

I never understood why people do a prelanding check prior to stalls, spins, and even aerobatics.

I learned and I teach the HASELL check the way it was originally written.
I also teach the HALT check as it is used here, so the students can do it as per another instructors preference.

Here's my HASELL:

Height: sufficient, recovery by 2,000 feet AGL

Airframe: Approved to do the manoeuvre, (utitlity/aerobatic), configured (flaps, slats, gear etc)

Security: No loose objects, straps tight.

Engine: T's and P's, Carb heat and mixture as required, fuel pump?

Location: Legal? Field in Mind? (If the engine fails)

Lookout: Clearing turns.

HALT... The "A" assumes a lot!

As for flow checks... They work in most modern aeroplanes, but older aeroplanes require 'Vital Actions'. The old BUMPF checks and the GUMPS checks still work well.
When doing their IRs here in the Duchess, students are expected to know their GUMPS checks.

As a student I had to learn TTMMCPPFFGGHH full and free for takeoff, and BUMMCPFFGGHH for landing before they would let me fly the Cessna 150 on my first solo!
These were ATA style checks, and they have worked well for all of the 120 odd types I've flown including the Aztec!

Francois had a retired commercial pilot who'd learned at Victoria Flying Club many years ago and who in his old age decided to revisit little aeroplanes.
He got the prelanding checklist out... But this is not the best idea in a busy circuit, so Francois asked him if he remembered the checks he'd learned all those years ago on Vancouver Island... "Brakes off, undercarriage down...." the old man recited. The same checks I myself had to learn.

As an instructor I have to go along with the way other instructors teach their students. If I see the flow check I accept it.
But in my mind I still run through the checks that have kept me safe for years.

I think the most important lesson a student can have is awareness.
Checks when learned aid in awareness.

Checks from checklists should be read out aloud. The flow of words is different when a line is missed... and gets noticed.

Another check I teach is for enroute and arrival: FREDA N

Fuel - Enough, correct tank.
Radio - Who are we talking to, and who are we going to talk to?
Engine - Pressures, temps, leaned?, Carb heat check?
Direction - HI/Compass, correct heading?
Altimeter - Set to local pressure setting

Navigation - Route, how we get there, highest obstacle...

Works well with the diversion exercise, and for awareness enroute.

An interesting difference between Canada and the UK is the fact that UK checklists for the modern aeroplanes use the same order as the checks I wrote above.
Here in Canada each school has a different checklist. More confusion for students and renters going from one school to another...

[Hedley]

MichaelP wrote about too-early application of full rich mixture:

I got into trouble for advocating this by a TC inspector....
The inspector insisted full rich as soon as the descent commenced.

Welcome to our world My response would be: Where in the POH/AFM does it say to do that, in this particular aircraft? I know that Transport Inspectors don't care much about damaging hardware (they bounced a gear-up King Air off the runway at Gatineau and then flew back to Ottawa) but you should refer this guy to Teledyne Continental and ask them why their cylinders crack. Hint: it's not the stupid "inch of MP per minute", which is far more relevant to turbochargers.

GottaFly wrote about "mags off" check:

2 occasions in this past year the ground has come unhooked from our airplanes

I believe you are referring to the P-lead becoming disconnected from the magneto, causing the magneto to be "on" (aka "hot") all the time.

Clearly, your maintenance is extremely poor. This is an extremely rare occurence with compentent maintenance. Obviously, in the face of such substandard maintenance - they can't even crimp a ring wire terminal correctly - you must adapt. One must wonder what other problems you are experiencing because of the poor maintenance.

Good luck. You're going to need it, if you keep flying those aircraft.

P.S. GottaFly: you misquoted me about spinning. Please re-read this thread.

[Hedley]

"dead mag check" ... just go to one mag in sequence on the shut down and look for a drop

Right! There is NO NEED to switch the mag switch to the OFF position EVERY FRIGGING FLIGHT - it is a ONE HUNDRED HOUR maintenance check, to be performed by the AME as per the 1976 Bendix Airworthiness Directive in the "miscellaneous AD" list.

I get the feeling everyone really, really hates their exhausts ...

Nothing pisses me off more, when someone is doing a mag check at 1700 RPM, if they accidentally switch the mag to OFF (instead of just right and left) they always, always insist on turning it back on again, which results in an incredible after-firing explosion in the exhaust.

This is really very simple. IF YOU ACCIDENTALLY SELECT MAGS OFF DURING THE RUNUP, LEAVE IT THERE. LET THE ENGINE STOP.

This gives the unburned gas in the exhaust a chance to evaporate, so that when you re-start the engine, the exhaust doesn't explode.

It's no big deal to accidentally select "off" during the runup. It is a big deal to immediately switch it back on again.

Sigh.

This just isn't rocket science.

a full run up before every flight

I sure don't do it on subsequent legs. Mag check in the taxi on the way out, and off I go.

It mystifies me why pilots love to beat the crap out of their prop blades by performing a complete runup before every flight.

[Cat Driver]

It amazes me to see how proven procedures have been corupted by the flight training world{read by TC}

The sooner TC gets out of running fligth training the better.

I sold my first fligth school for the simple reason I could not afford to keep fixing the equipment that my instructors broke through stupidity.

I had a policy of putting external control locks on my airplanes due to high winds in my area. The instructors would walk up to the Cessnas with a student and open the door, reach in and select full flaps for the start of their walkaround check....instant aileron and flap damage.

I wrote a directive that there would be no more lowering of flaps on the walk around as it is not in the Cessna POH.

They phoned TC and complained that I was interfeering in flight training, TC phoned me and started tearing a strip off me for interfeering in flight trainng, I was arguing that I had the right to determine how my airplanes were operated and as long as I did not do anything that was against the manufacturers operating proceedures TC could not force me to do anything....while I was talking to the TC moron on the phone I saw a instructor walk up to one of the Cessnas with a student and lower the flaps with the external control locks on and bent both ailerons....That was the turning point for me and I put the company up for sale.

There must be a process in place at TC whereby only morons are hired in the flight training department judging by what I have dealt with in my region.

[Big Pistons Forever]

200 hr wonder

Part of the problem is you do not know what a "flow check" is. It is not a HASEL check or any other of the nemomic memory aids. Instead a flow check is where you use the cockpit layout to check /acccomplish actions in a consistant way.

For example a landing/downwind flow check in a C172 would describe a circle aound the cockpit.

Center cockpit floor: Fuel on both
Centre instrument panel: Carb heat (if required)
mixture set for full power (usually full rich)
Lower left switch panel: landing lights on

lower left cockpit: brakes checked

this takes only a few seconds and gets all the important stuff whithout distracting from the flying the airplane and looking out the window . Nothing drives me wild like watching a student flying downwind with their head buried in the checklist working through a 10 item landing do list full of stupid items like Mags on both

Related to this is the problem every flying school I have ever seen did not understand the difference between a do list and a check list and what part of flight should be covered with a check list, a do list, or a flow check.

[Cat Driver]

Nothing drives me wild like watching a student flying downwind with their head buried in the checklist working through a 10 item landing do list full of stupid items like Mags on both

How in Gods name did this dangerous robotic use of unnecessary check lists ever get so ingrained in flight training? master switch on is another stupid check, how in hell do these people think they have beeh hearing each other on the voice operated intercom?

There are so many useless things being taught in flight instructing that it is pathetic.

Once again ....

WHO IN FU.K IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS NONSENSE?...

Hell it is not only in flight training, I remember one day when I was doing an annual IFR check ride in my Geronimo and seeing as the temperature was 30 degrees C and it was CAVU I chose to not turn on the pitot heat. the inspector said you failed to turn the pitot heat and I can fail you for that.

So I said fu.k it and released the parking brakes and taxied back to the apron....he got all upset because I had taxied back and I said no problem it's my airplane and my license and I'm God damned if I will allow you to insult me with such B.S.

Anyhow he said yeh, but that is the way we have to do things....anyhow we went back out and finished the ride whch I passed the same as I'd been doing since before he was old enough to say airplane.

[200hr Wonder]

Lets look at a typical 172 prelanding check:

Mast on - Duh...
Mags on Both - How did they get to left or right?
Circuit Breaks In - I have caught a popped T/C at that point...
Carb Heat Hot - Well now do we really need to do that? How about Carb Heat Appropriate
Mixture Reach - See above
Fuel On Both - In a 172 beyond about 65 redundant as you always fly on both, some older models recommended above 5000 use left or right, so this could very depending on model. A piper of course you need to choose L or R
Temp and Pressure - Green - That one is a good thing to peak at
Belts Secure - Yup cause the Cessna lap belt is notorious for coming undone
Cabin Secure - Good idea after a longish flight where you may have pulled out a CFS, your water bottle, etc.
Breaks - Check - A good idea in case they are not.

So about 50% of the check list is useless. What I love is that according to a Pacific Region Examiner they want you to use the check list as in pull it out on pre landing now. WTF? Yes lets keep a pilots head in the aircraft during the most critical phase of flight. That will work well when they are Solo in say a busy MF with no one else watching out for them.

The biggest problem with the TC way of flight training is it does not create pilots with good decision making skills! They want the drool infested barf back. Which is why most checklists in FTU aircraft seem to be laminated I think.

I had the please of working with one DFTE who would pose questions to a student like: You are at this point in a flight and you experience a complete electrical failure what are you going to do? And aside from saying do the electrical failure checklist, the examiner was looking for where you would go, would you keep your radio on? Turn it off till a certain point? Go to an intermediate airport? Continue on to destination? What she was looking for was that a student in that situation would think logically through a situation and come up with a safe and reasonable solution. We need more of that in flight training!

One exercise I like to do with my students on about there third or fourth trip to the practice area is something like: "OK we are in the practice area, lets go home, I want you to take me there, just tell me what you are doing and why". Let my student make all the decisions to get back. Of course they are going to make some that are perhaps not optimal, and I am there to stop any unsafe ones, but after the flight we can sit down and say things like: Why did you choose to descend at 1500RPM 15 miles from the field? And discuss the pros and cons of that discuss as well as possible alternatives. I can spend as much time on a debrief like that as I can on the preflight, I think that sort of discussion can be more useful than a PGI at times! Not enough instructors spend time talking about that sort of information.

[Cat Driver]

Temp and Pressure - Green - That one is a good thing to peak at

Are we to assume a pilot does not keep a constant check on the engine instruments?

So in that this check is being done as a pre landing check suppose you found no oil pressure would that mean you would cancel the landing until you could get oil pressure?

The whole flight training system is a joke.

[THEICEMAN]

You guys are right...this cabin check nonsense can be too much...

But at the same time, it does train the young guys to rely on the checklist...although it's bebelala

[GottaFly]

Clearly, your maintenance is extremely poor. This is an extremely rare occurence with compentent maintenance. Obviously, in the face of such substandard maintenance - they can't even crimp a ring wire terminal correctly - you must adapt. One must wonder what other problems you are experiencing because of the poor maintenance.

Good luck. You're going to need it, if you keep flying those aircraft.

I disagree. In a school with 1 or 2 airplanes this would be a problem. But in a school with 15+ airplanes, the chances are much greater that at least one of them at any given time is going to have some sort of problem. I just happened to be the one to fly the airplane when it happened.

One thing i'm finding with the flight training business is that a lot of the problem lies in the AMEs not the people who operate the school. We always pester our AMEs to fix the little things that matter on the airplanes but they often are so busy they want to get an airplane in and out so they can bring in their next airplane. This isn't always the case, but on some occasions, especially in the summer, it is.

[MichaelP]

It seems like Cat Driver managed to hire some real idiots if they kept bending his ailerons... I would have given them a bollocking the first time and a bill the second!

I had my own flying club a few years ago with hazardous tailwheel aeroplanes for which a flow check could not work...
If a pilot did not know his checks on the third flight we'd taxy back to the hangar.
If I rented an aeroplane to you, I needed to know you would be safe.
In several years of operating tailwheel aeroplane I had two broken props.
It was the aerobatic nosewheel aeroplane that was a total loss... After that incident I'd insist on anyone I'd have the faintest idea would loop my aeroplane to try it with me the first time... Great fun flicking in the vertical with the engine stopping, or to level off the top of the loop.

The problem I had in the UK was the dumbed down Cessna pilots would have few options to continue to fly but buy into a Jodel group or something.

Whereas we can teach a person to fly a Cessna, flow checks and all, we are not then preparing that person to be able to fly anything else!

People are amazed at the number and types of aeroplanes I have flown, but I was very lucky... Although I was taught to fly in the Cessna 150, I was taught to fly aeroplanes.
Some of the disciplines we teach may not be relevant to what we fly now, but may be relevant to the future.

Here is a Canadian example:

I had to teach a chap to fly in a school 172, TC did not permit him to learn in the 206 he owned and already flew very well.
Knowing that the 206 was to go on Amphibs I modified my BUMPF checks a little.

Brakes off
Undercarriage Down, This is a land landing, confirm the mirror, roll the aircraft for contrast, look for the front wheel on the float.
etc

Brakes off
Undercarriage Up, This is a water 'landing', confirm the mirror, roll the aircraft for contrast, look for the front wheel on the float.
etc

I did some fun flying in that 206 on amphibs after I got Terry to check me out.

I always like to hear the checks done, and I still call them out myself...
Okay, some of these checks are irrelevant, but the flow of the audible checks is the same. The irrelevant checks confirm a certain thing is not fitted or whatever.

Looking down at the fixed gear in a Cessna 172 one day might produce a surprise... Oops I'm flying a Cutlass RG!

[Cat Driver]

I have used the same check for landing an amphibian now for over fifty years.....I always ask this turning final....


" Where am I landing and where is my gear? "

That has saved me from landing with the gear up on a runway in an Amphibian twice, once in a PBY Water Bomber after a very long day and once in a Cessna Tu206 on Whip Amphibs, when another pilot sitting in the right seat distracted me during my pre landing check.

I can't even remember how many different amphibian aircraft I have flown over the years but that check has served me well regardless of airplane type.

And MichaelP, yes some of my instructors were frustrating in their lack of a thought process.

But I had six singles, one twin and a helicopted and needed a lot of instructors so what could I do?

The question that needs to be asked is why are these instructors not able to think?

[Cat Driver]

While we are complaining about stupid habits and stupid actions during the pre landing check...here is one that really irritates me.

Props full fine for landing with power being developed as the prop/'s are selected full fine.... and the airplane is not even close to landing.......drives me nuts.

[Lurch]

While we are complaining about stupid habits and stupid actions during the pre landing check...here is one that really irritates me.

Props full fine for landing with power being developed as the prop/'s are selected full fine.... and the airplane is not even close to landing.......drives me nuts.

I had a school teach us to go full fine way back on final on the twin, the noise drove me nuts. Lets just say that procedure went away as soon as I stopped flying their plane

[Cat Driver]

Yeh, it just does not make sense.

The airplane is descending for a landing..ie.. going down hill why in hell would you need fine pitch?

High RPM results in unnecessary friction and unnessary wear of the engine so why in hell do these schools teach bad engine handling proceedures?

I teach props full fine as the throttle/'s are closed for the landing....

...then they are in the proper position for the next take off.