Features

In 1984, I sold the 1975 Cessna 172 I had operated for nine years and acquired a 1978 Mooney 201. I immediately put the airplane to work on a multi-stop trip around the country, quickly discovering how efficient it was. On the last leg of that trip, from St. Petersburg, Fla. (KSPG) to Mansfield, Mass. (1B9), I flew the 1029 nm nonstop in 6.7 hours using 52.4 gallons of fuel. That’s an average of 154…

According to Scotland-based Trig Avionics, “A UAT solution will often be more expensive” than a 1090ES-based solution because the latter uses relatively common Mode S transponders: The 978 UAT standard employs a separate transceiver—and U.S. operators complying with ADS-B OUT via 978 UAT still will need a Mode A/C transponder in the foreseeable future, until the FAA says otherwise.

Even though ADS-B will be mandated on January 1, 2020, what does that mean? Where will it be mandated? Can you get a waiver? For the answers, start by referring to FAR 91.225, Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS–B) Out equipment and use. The table below summarizes the FAR’s requirements, which basically substitute ADS-B OUT where a Mode C transponder is required now.

About the time this issue of the magazine hits your mailbox, the FAA will hold what its labeled a Call to Action summit designed to engage the aviation industry in meeting the January 1, 2020, deadline to equip aircraft with new avionics technology. The invitation- and industry-only event is set for October 28 and is the agencys latest high-visibility attempt to encourage users of all affected aircraft and airspace to equip with technology complying with the FAAs NextGen standard, namely, ADS-B OUT. The table on page 15 details where itll be required.

Over the past several years, the FAA and industry have promoted establishing and adhering to personal minimums as a way to manage the risk inherent in personal aviation. These are viewed as self-imposed limitations based upon personal experience, training and certification, equipment or other factors. Some people grumbled and others enthusiastically embraced the concept. Your reaction, as well as mine, depends on how you and I approach the subject. One way to look at personal minimums is to think of them as creating margins separating us from greater risk.

In his seminal book Stick and Rudder, Wolfgang Langewiesche states the rudder “…causes the greatest difficulty for beginners,” and “….even the more experienced pilot often has trouble using it correctly.” Commenting on improper rudder use as a contributing factor in accidents, he states, “In the typical fatal accident, which involves a stall and a spin, misuse of the rudder is almost always partly to blame….”

This I know: If you see something with your own two eyes, you probably can avoid it. Happened to me just last month. A regional airliner, working with ATC, was approaching its destination. I was working my way around the Class C airspace, at the center of which the airliner was aimed.

Compared to landing, taking off is relatively simple. Our instructor lets us make the first takeoff of our very first flying lesson—or at least makes us think we made the takeoff. If everything goes right, it’s easy. But how do you know everything is going right? And how do you know what to do in the scant seconds available if something is going wrong?

One of the really cool things about modern avionics is what they can do with basic information. A common example is pushing the “Direct” button, entering a destination and seeing the device pop up the on-course heading, the current ETA and a great-circle route overlaid on a moving map. Long gone are the days when we’d ask ATC for a vector to a distant point and “follow along on the Loran.” Another cool thing many of these boxes and related software can do is calculate a descent rate or angle while we’re en route and looking for the point at which we can begin a constant-rate descent to our destination.

When everything in the IFR system works as it should, it can be a beautiful thing: Pilots coordinating with controllers to ensure safe, orderly flow of traffic to and from an airport, controllers anticipating a pilot’s needs and granting their every request. Everyone knows their role, and they take pride in doing their jobs with precision and professionalism. But when things aren’t working as they should, it can get ugly.