Always Have an Out

No matter how simple the flight, there's often a learning experience that you can reflect upon to improve your future flights.  Each time I fly, I venture to fix something from the last flight, find something to learn from, or share something as a learning experience for others.

One of the things on my last flight that came up is always have an out.

In the middle of putting the plane on the ground, I had a moment where I actually thought to myself:

"Make a call now, or end up as the next YouTube pilot failure."

This is a screen capture during that situation.  I had just bounced.  If you were in my situation, looking down the runway, what would you have done?  While I know my exact location on the runway at this moment (thanks to the GPS in my ContourGPS - though this particular frame is from the GoPro), I'm not going to tell you because the only information I had for my decision is what you see right now.  As you can see, there's still a reasonable amount of runway left, and I didn't bounce too high.

What's the call?

I pressed on.  Why?  I know my ground roll is normally about 500-600' and I clearly had that and more left, despite being slightly off the ground.  I delayed my call, and that's when the line above popped up.  It was only when the plane didn't settle in the following few seconds that I decided to go around.

00:27 - [Bounce] Split second decision: land, there's still room
00:28 - [Bounce, bounce]
00:30 - Make a call now, or end up as the next YouTube pilot failure...go around.

[Video was here until Contour closed down for a bit, and it got lost.]
If you watch the video, you can see the plane actually settles right as I applied full power.  If you pause it right at that point, you can see a strip of asphalt off to the right of the runway.  That strip of asphalt is about 720' from the end of the runway, so I could've still stopped by my own and the official Cessna ground roll numbers had I not decided to go around.  Would that have been smart, though?  My argument would be no.  If I really had to get on the ground, sure, but why cut it so close when I could always go around?

Always remember your other options.  In my case there was no emergency, so there was no harm in going around provided I made that call with enough room to get back up off the ground.



I wasn't out of the woods after that call, though.  Literally.

After I lift off, you can see some rather imposing trees approaching quickly.  From having flown in before, I knew there was an opening to the right.  As I got closer, through both a call by Phil and my own constant search for an out, I turned right to give myself more room between myself and the trees.  I would assert that I would've cleared them without the turn, but the turn would have only given me more clearance in my direct flight path, so I took it.

We've been taught to look for outs at all times, but a lot of the time our margins of error are rather high in normal operations.  As I joked with another pilot after finally putting the plane on the ground, landing is a lot different on a 5500' runway compared to 2000'.  I can float for ages on a 5500' runway like and still land safely, but most instructors tell you early on that if you don't like the landing picture, go around, no matter how long the runway.  We're also taught as pilots to always keep an eye out for landing fields, especially when flying single engine and lower to the ground.  When you get into instrument flight, you start dealing with alternate airports, and with longer flights you may also get into intermediate, or en route, alternates.  You're always taught to have an out, but do you always have one in mind?

Looking for an out is something pilots are taught from the very beginning, but I don't think it's ever placed in generic terms.  We're taught to have specific outs in mind - alternate airports, go arounds, open fields, and so on - but it's not often that you hear an instructor explain the merits of always having a backup plan in general.  For some pilots, it's just a natural part of aeronautical decision making, but for others it's not necessarily so.  Some pilots need things spelled out, simply as a part of the way they learn.

The next time you fly, or even the next time you're driving, think ahead of your situation.  If [something] happens, you will [react in some way].  It sounds somewhat obvious, but think of the last time someone stomped on the brakes in front of you, and you had little time to react.  For a split second there, you almost thought you were going into the back of that person's car.  If there was a shoulder to your right, could you have used that?  Probably, and that would be a nice resource.  Without thinking of that ahead of time, though, the only reaction in your mind was stopping behind the car in front of you.  That thinking ahead gives your mind the opportunity to calculate everything ahead of time so that you're able to make quick decisions.

Always have an out.  Always remember that you have an out.  Always take that out when you doubt that your current course can continue safely.

Short Runway - Strong Crosswind

N172DR - C172R - 1.8 hours

Phil and I have had plans to go flying for a while now.  Originally, it was a flight back in May, but that got cancelled so I flew out west on my own.  I'm pretty sure there were a few plans in between, but more recently we were thinking of helping a friend get home to Upstate New York.  Those plans also got cancelled as well, so like the flight back in May, we thought we'd head up to State College, PA.  Yesterday, we decided that flight would be a little longer than we would've liked, so we cancelled those plans as well and opted for a challenge instead.

To be honest, that last paragraph reminds me a little of this:



Back in February of 2010, I went for a flight out of Harford County Airport (0W3), right after one of the Snowpocalypse storms.  If the 2000' x 40' runway wasn't enough of a challenge, some of the snow plowed off of the runway was piled at the ends.  It wouldn't be enough to force pilots to hit a 2000' x 40' target, though.  Why not add in a 24' telephone line 500' from the runway, and some giant trees just beyond that?  This is also not mentioning that I hadn't flown since August of 2008 prior to that.  Despite it being a challenge, I really enjoyed it.  I think that was the reason I enjoyed it, actually.  It's a challenge.

We started the day early in weather that could only be described as "severe clear."  Clear weather, however, makes no mention of temperature or wind.  While it wasn't too incredibly cold, it was cold enough to put frost on the wings.  The wind only added to the chill at a steady 6 knots.  Phil preflighted the plane while I de-iced the wings of our plane, and several other aircraft on the way to put the de-ice bottle back inside.  Back outside, I got the interior all set up with Phil.  In the last flight narrative, I made fun of myself for the amount of technology I bring with me, but we essentially doubled it this time.  Phil had his GoPro, iPad, Dual XGPS150, and the audio setup.  I had my Contour, iPad, Garmin GLO, and audio setup as well.  Why not?

After starting and heading down to the end of Runway 35, I called Potomac to get my SFRA flight plan activated.  Apparently they didn't get it, though, so instead of bothering with Flight Service, Phil and I gave up the plan of a shortcut through the SFRA and just departed north, up and around it.  On climb out, my iPad was not agreeing with the Garmin GLO for whatever reason.  Phil ended up getting it sorted through cycling the power on both.  Once that was all sorted, I threw the blinders on so that we could both log time (and I could continue to chip away at the 40 hour instrument time requirement).

Because we didn't get an SFRA clearance, we flew a route that would hug the outside: DINUW LINSE TAFFI 0W3.  In order to log another approach, I flew the RNAV (GPS)-B off of TAFFI.

One of the issues with flying GPS approaches is that you never know whether or not the GPS database in the aircraft is up to date when it comes to renting from flight schools.  It all depends on the school, really, but the one I rent from tends to be pretty good about keeping the aircraft up to date.  The ever-so-trusty N172DR has a KLN-89B, and looking at the unit, it seems pretty simplistic.  If you're a flyer of an aircraft with a simpler-looking GPS, don't discount it too much as a lot of them have some pretty neat features buried in them.  Unfortunately, most of the CFIs don't know a lot of the features and normally only show you how to use the Direct-To feature.  That's nothing against them, really, as some fleets have different equipment in just about every plane, but it's tough to utilize the tools in front of you if you've never been shown how.  If you're not going to be shown the neat features, you might as well go learn them on your own.  The KLN-89B actually has a free simulator that's out there on the internet.  Unfortunately, I can't find a link from the manufacturer, but I did find a link through Software Informer.  If you fly with a different unit, there's probably a free simulator out there somewhere as well.  To be honest, the only reason I knew the KLN-89B had a moving map and an approach database was through the simulator in the link.

So, all that to say I was able to load the GPS approach after TAFFI through a little homework.  Since the GPS was only going to give me lateral navigation, I flew the approach with step downs.  Looking at the track in CloudAhoy, I didn't do too poorly.  At the far left, you can see a very subtle bend in the track, which is my turn over TAFFI.  After that, the more obvious turn in the middle is SNAZI, where you can see I turned a little more than necessary, and had to adjust closer to the field in order to land on Runway 10.  I'll review CloudAhoy in another post, but check out the screen capture in Debrief Mode.

When I began the approach, I checked BWI's ATIS as noted on the approach plate, as there's no weather station on the field.  It noted the wind was 040 at 9, meaning a nice crosswind for the approach, but nothing too unmanageable.  After the little sidestep at the end of the approach, I brought the plane in for what I thought would be a nice showing of my landing skills.  Unfortunately, the weather had other plans.  The 9 knot wind wasn't so much of a 9 knot wind as much as it was a gusty 9 knot wind.  It wasn't until I landed and checked the weather that I found out how gusty exactly.

In any case, here's the video of me fighting the crosswind down to the runway.  Closer in, you can hear Phil say "nosewheel," anticipating me hitting nose first as I bring it in typically flat.  I think I managed to hit the mains first, but wound up airborne again.  I couldn't get it to settle and the end was coming up quickly, so I went around.  Note the telephone line and giant trees at the end that I mentioned earlier, too.

[Video was here until Contour closed down for a bit, and all was lost.]
After going around, I wrapped the pattern back around to try the approach to Runway 28.  In the video, you can see that the wind sock shows the wind somewhat favored Runway 10, but the last time I flew here I used Runway 28, so I figured I'd try that.

The second approach wasn't any better than the first, so I went around.  The third attempt, however, was good enough to set down.  I won't say it looked pretty because it really didn't, but I at least made it down to the ground, despite a gust picking the right wing up slightly, causing me to drag the right wheel while trying to brake.  Thankfully, I had Phil to dump the lift by raising the flaps when I called it.

The video picks up on final, and you can definitely see how close you come to the trees and the telephone lines this time around.  Contour changed the style of the videos as well.  I'm not so much of a fan of the new overlay, but it is what it is.  Just make sure not to pay attention to the speed display.  It's not very accurate, which you can see as it still displays 70 mph when I'm pulling off the runway.

[Video was here until Contour closed down for a bit, and all was lost.]
As I exit, you can barely hear me coordinating with the aircraft holding short of the runway, who I later joked with about the luxuries of longer runways.  Because I don't have any specific audio editing software, or audio hosting for that matter, I made it into a short YouTube clip:

After that departure, we headed back to JYO and I put the hood back on.  Closer to Frederick (FDK), I remembered that they now have a tower and that I would need to avoid their airspace, or call them up.  I opted for the former by climbing above it.  The controller seemed to have his hands full with a couple pilots still adjusting to the relatively new tower, and I didn't feel like adding to his workload.  After turning south, I handed the controls over to Phil so he could get in a landing.  Compared to my landings, his was nice and smooth.


Here's the evidence:

[Video was here until Contour closed down for a bit, and all was lost.]

After I got home and checked the weather, it turns out that BWI's weather information updated right after I flew the approach.  This report matches more of what I felt:

KBWI 171454Z 04012G21KT 10SM CLR 08/M03 A3059 RMK AO2 SLP359 T00831028 51019

For the non-pilots among us, this is saying that the weather at BWI (KBWI) today, at 1454 UTC (171454Z), had wind from the northeast at 12 knots gusting to 21 knots (04012G21).  The rest is sky conditions, temperature and pressure.

Definitely an airport I would return to - wind or not. I loved the challenge.


Hours:
Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 1.8 - 74.2 (of 50)
Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 1.3 - 9.6 (of 40)

Review: Barnstormer Recording Cable

For the longest time I've wanted to have the cockpit and air traffic dialogue captured, if only for the funny moments back and forth.  I've had to try to explain a few of them, and they just don't have the same effect in writing as they would if you heard them.  My failure to switch from Potomac to Winchester (OKV) CTAF back in April would've been hilarious to have on tape.  Unfortunately, you can only barely hear my laughing in the background of the recording from the ContourGPS.  Luckily, my friend Phil found a solution.

Phil bought himself a voice recorder and an audio cable that converts the different jack sizes and allows a pass-through for your headset.  The cable is manufactured by Barnstormer Audio, and the story of it arriving to me was quite the saga.

As I was on vacation at the beginning of September, I was looking at various aviation tools (and probably munching on a Fractured Prune donut from right down the road).  One of the tools I looked at, and eventually purchased, was the audio cable.  Phil gave me a link and warned me that they took a little prodding to get the order off to you, but I pressed on anyway and bought it for $34.95.  The checkout page noted there was a backorder on the cables, and to expect things to take slightly longer.  Looking back at my email and PayPal accounts, my transaction went through at 16:44 on September 2, 2012.  After it all went through, I made mental notes of concession for the backorder and the holiday weekend.

One week?  Nothing.  Okay, expected.
Two weeks?  Nothing.  Partly expected, but an update would've been nice, even just to say "still waiting."
Three weeks?  Nothing.  At this point, an update should really be happening.
I sent an email requesting the status on September 23.  No response.
Four weeks?  Nothing, and no response to my email, so I sent another on October 1.  No response.
A couple days later?  Nothing, and still no response to my email.
I sent another email on October 3.  No response.  This email, like all of the others, indicated that all I was looking for was an update.  Unlike the others, however, I included that I would have to take action with PayPal if I didn't hear back by Friday of that week.  PayPal's official policy is that you have up to 45 days to submit a dispute, but I didn't want to press up against that deadline.

I believe it was one or two days after that I received a response through PayPal's resolution center asking me to remove the hold so that the item could be shipped, and that the backorder issue was noted when I purchased the product.  As I noted above, this is very true.  The issue, however, was the complete communication blackout.  Selling products to pilots, I would have thought that would have been an understandable expectation.





As far as the performance of the cable goes, it seemed to have done really well on my last flight.  The video in my last post is proof that it works, and works well.  The video does have audio from both sources - the ContourGPS and the voice recorder through the cable - mixed together, so if you're thinking it picked up a lot of background noise, it's probably the audio from the ContourGPS.

To me, I feel like they have a good product.  It works, and it's really simple.  It just feels like a great idea with poor execution.  Don't get me wrong, though.  I'm not dismissing them.  In the end, I'm hoping the emails I sent, along with dealing with the PayPal dispute, left somewhat of a mark that will push them to fix the communication issue.

It really does actually pain me slightly to say that the product itself is well worth the money spent on it, but that you might be waiting a while to get it.  My verdict is that if time isn't an issue, it's well worth it, but make sure to set yourself a reminder to start the dispute process if you haven't received it within the 45 day time frame.

For what it's worth, at the time I'm writing this, one of the distributors (Aircraft Spruce) is reporting a backorder through March 2013.

www.barnstormeraudio.com