Category: Aviation Flight Training

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Welcome aviators and airplane geeks to the show where we talk about learning to fly, living to fly, and loving to fly. Spring is upon us and for many this is the season where we start flying again from a winter break. It also is the season of dynamic changes in weather and strong winds. Tonight we are going to discuss one of the most important topics and one that can prevent most landing accidents; crosswind landings and how to set our personal limits.

Joining us this evening we have with us aviators from a variety of backgrounds including flight instructors, new pilots, and airline pilots. This should be an interesting discussion and most importantly I hope you will learn something about setting your own personal crosswind limits.

Pre-Flight Checklist:

Before we begin our discussion of crosswinds we have a few announcements:

• April 15th episode will be the recording from our live show at Sun N Fun 2015 and if you missed the live discussion this would be a great way to listen in. We normally break the record for the longest live podcast at Sun N Fun and hope to do it again this year. Make sure you listen because we always have some very special guests.
• Feedback: Thanks for the e-mails and very positive comments on how you are enjoying the new/old format of the show as we get back to our roots and the original charter of this podcast to entertain but also to provide teaching moments you can discuss with your friends and instructor. Please visit StuckMicAvCast.com if you have a question or feedback.
• Please visit our sponsor AviationCareersPodcast.com If you or someone you know is interested in a career in aviation this will help them navigate a path towards their career goal. AviationCareersPodcast.com provides career coaching, interview preparation, and the largest online directory of scholarships so visit AviationCareersPodcast.com today.
• Rick Felty visit Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Museum, where many Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum planes are exhibited.
• Victoria discussed a $500 scholarship her employer is offering to cover any type air training. You can find the information on their website or in the ACP Scholarship Guide.

Cruise Flight:

Crosswind Landings – What is Your Limit?

• Personal Minimums
• Crosswind limitations
• Tips And Tricks
• What are our wind challenges?
  • Gusty Winds
  • Wind Shear
  • Cross Wind
• Max demonstrated crowsswind
• Safe ground handling
• Pilot limitations : stress, lack of recent experience, fatigue, etc.
• Determining your crosswind based on airspeed and crab angle.

After Landing Checklist:

~Pick Of The Week~

Victoria – Aircraft Wrecks in Arizona and the Southwest: A site dedicated to history of crashes complete with modern pictures.
Rick – Video of an Extra300 doing maneuvers.
Carl – FDOT Airport Directory. You can get a spiral bound copy with all Florida airports including military.
Russ – Wind History: A great website to get detailed historical wind data for local airports. Averaged 2006-2010.
Tom – Flightintel app for Android or iOS: wind and weather information for 50 miles around you.

The next episode of Stuck Mic AVCast will be broadcast LIVE at Sun n’ Fun! Carl, Tom, and Russ will all be there, stop in and say “hi!” Rick and Victoria will also be on the live episode.

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Pre-Flight Checklist:

Carl, Tom, Paul, the other Tom, Russ, and Eric are all on this episode to discuss how to be prepared for an in-flight fire.

Eric announced that Polk State University recently had their first hiring visit from Express Jet, which gave conditional offers to seven of his students. Eric also announced that he actually got to get in an airplane today for some observation in a 172.

Carl announced that the 2016 edition of the Aerospace Scholarships guide will be out shortly on Amazon.

Paul has been mentoring a friend named Doug that recently completed his private rating in 12 days, and then went ahead and finished his commercial rating.

Tom Frick announced that he recently taught a student named Mark through his private rating so he could fly drones.

Cruise Flight:

• Carl recently had a flight where smoke was detected in the bathroom of the plane he was flying. He discussed the procedure of the pilot and flight attendants investigating where the smoke is coming from.
• Eric said smoke and fire is discussed in training, but might not be trained enough for it in a form of practice.
• Eric said you don’t have time to pull out a checklist and flip through it, you must have “immediate action items” that you memorize and do immediately.
• Paul discussed a fire he had on a flight and how he got back to an airport safely. He said his instructors trained him very well to be prepared for a fire emergency.
• Paul also discussed another fire he heard about where a crew did not land a plane with a fire because they were going through checklists, not wanting to land overweight, etc. rather than just landing the plane, which ultimately crashed.
• Tom W. and Carl discussed procedures and equipment for dealing with laptop and phone batteries which sometimes catch fire on a plane and are almost impossible to put out.
• Tom also mentioned that it’s a good idea to practice these procedures in the simulator because when the cockpit fills with smoke, you can’t see the controls and sometimes you need to just know where the controls are.
• Three components to a fire: oxygen, heat, and fuel. If you take any one of those away from the fire it will go out.

After Flight Checklist:

~Picks of the Week~

Russ: FAA Instrument Flight Procedures Gateway-which lists charts and upcoming changes at all airports. You can also create an account to get updates to airports you use.

Tom F: Garmin Pilot– A comprehensive suite of  Android navigation apps designed for GA and corporate pilots

Paul: Everything Explained for the Professional Pilot– A book that explains flight rules and regulations without confusing jargon.

Carl: Fore-Flight– Electronic flight bag and apps for pilots

Tom W: Wind Map– a website that shows wind patterns to help you plan your flight

Carl: Sunset Pub and Grill at Lincoln Park airport– A great restaurant to eat at and watch planes take off and landLincoln Lincoln