![When it has been more than a decade since you were the PIC, there can be some jitters involved with a flight review. [Credit: CanvaPro]](https://flyingmag1.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/Flight-Schools-in-Michigan.jpg?width=10368&height=5184)
I have just returned from Billings, Montana, where I had the honor of attending the Montana Aviation Conference. The annual event is three days of aviation organizations and pilots gathering to attend workshops and seminars, view exhibit wares, and listen to speakers.
I was one of the speakers, administering the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) Rusty Pilots seminar. I have been traveling around the country doing these seminars since 2017, and I must say they bring me great joy. The seminar is approximately three and a half hours of ground instruction and can be used to help satisfy the required ground component for the flight review. The presentation is part illustrated lecture and part guided discussion.
Some of the people who partake of the events come in with looks of trepidation—they are worried it will be boring. According to the feedback I have received, thus far that hasn’t happened. Most of the people who attend these seminars find the program to be a good review. Sometimes they are surprised at what they remember, as well as what they have forgotten.
This time around the most frequently heard comment from the seminar attendees was how much the regulations have changed to support more opportunities for pilots to fly recreationally. Many of these changes have come in the past 10 years.
MOSAIC
The Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification (MOSAIC) rule was decades in the making and, in a nutshell, will make it possible for the holders of sport pilot certificates to, after receiving additional training and endorsements, fly larger, faster airplanes than those that were defined as light sport aircraft (LSAs) in 2004 with the LSA rule.
- READ MORE: Customizing Flight Review Can Make Huge Difference
- READ MORE: Three Tries to Land: Lessons in the Art of the Go-Around
LSAs were defined as aircraft weighing no more than 1,320 pounds for land planes with a maximum speed of 120 knots, and sport pilots were limited to flying these. Under MOSAIC, aircraft that were too heavy to be classified light sport, such as the Cessna 140, C-150 series, and C-172, can be flown by a properly trained and endorsed sport pilot. The new rule was discussed by conference attendees in terms of the revenue stream this potentially opens up at flight schools.
CFIs voiced some concern about how sport pilots can qualify for the certificate in as few as 20 hours. The question was posed about whether or not that is enough experience to give them the skills they need to fly a larger, faster aircraft.
That number is the minimum hours, but the metric for endorsing a pilot—any pilot for any certificate—has always been determined by the pilot receiving the training to ensure they demonstrate the knowledge and proficiency as set forth in the Airman Certification Standards (ACS).
Airspace Demon
Airspace—the definitions, symbology, communication, and entry requirements—still presents a challenge to some pilots during the flight review. You were required to know the information for your check ride, and to know where to look it up if you were unsure, yet this is one of the areas of knowledge that disappears the quickest when it is not reviewed on a regular basis. If you don’t use it, you lose it, is an apt description of “airspace fade.”
I could fund a pizza party for a Little League team if I had a dollar for every time I heard the excuse of “I don’t fly in that airspace.”
If this is you, don’t wait for your flight review to shore up the knowledge. Make a plan to go into “that airspace” and relearn the material.
The same goes for your airport operations skills. Several pilots mentioned how long it had been since they had gone to a towered airport, and they had some concerns. What if they got buried on the radio or said the wrong thing? What if the traffic pattern was too busy for them? These are valid concerns but easily addressed by getting some preflight review dual instruction from a qualified CFI.
Radio Mic Fright
Mic fright affects many lapsed pilots, especially when they want to get flight following for a VFR flight or file a flight plan.
The best advice I can give on this is to work with an instructor to create a “practice script” that you can use to become more familiar with the required phraseology, then go out and practice what you have relearned.
EFB vs. Paper
The use of Electronic Flight Bags (EFBs) and paper sectionals and charts also were debated. The FARs note the pilot should have all available information pertinent to the flight, which means navigational information, but the rules don’t say in what form it has to be.
The FAA has not stated a preference for one or the other. However, the flight school where you are training or the CFI you are training with might have a preference. The use of paper is growing less common, and the teaching of flight planning using analog paper, plotter, and mechanical E6B or even using a paper syllabus is discouraged along with the phrase: “They’re too hard to use.”
Please. Let’s be candid. If you can read and follow directions, you can use a mechanical E6B and/or a syllabus.
That being said, the EFB does cut down on cockpit clutter as you don’t have to sift through stacks of paper or wrestle a section chart to find information. A fingertip swipe gets you the information you need, and you can use the technology to create your navlog.
Just be sure you understand the theory and application of “TV MAKES DULL COMPANY” (True Course, Variation, Magnetic Course Deviation Compass heading) when you apply the technology.
Be smart about EFB use. Carry an extra charging cord, and make sure the device has enough battery life to at least get you to your first fuel stop just in case the cord fails. There are some pilots who noted they have a rule that they don’t take off unless the EFB and the backup devices that operate the apps are showing at least a 70 percent charge.
How Long Will the Review Take?
While there is a minimum hour requirement for the flight review, there’s no maximum hour and you cannot fail one. But if you fail to meet the standards of your certificate, understand that you won’t be endorsed until you get more training and practice.
A good rule of thumb is to expect at least one hour of dual instruction for every year you’ve been away from aviation. That’s a guesstimate. How long it will take to get your skills back is like asking how long does it take for a bad haircut to grow out—it takes as long as it takes.
