Unicom

First of all, “Playing Mental Defense” (March 2010) was an excellent article. I would like to offer clarification on a key technical point, however. Mr. Pestal correctly identifies “cognitive dissonance” as the condition of psychological discomfort experienced when competing cognitions occur. He also correctly described the human tendency to attempt to resolve the cognitive dissonance by utilizing denial, rationalization and other unproductive defense mechanisms as we seek to return to a state of psychological comfort. We in psychology refer to this process as “dissonance reduction” or “dissonance resolution.”

I couldnt agree more with your Editors Log position in Marchs issue, “Blame the Pilots.” Im far from convinced the Buffalo accident is indicative of a systemic training and certification problem. I agree that when a perfectly good transport category airplane is allowed to slow to stick-shaker speed and the wrong control inputs are made, theres an issue in the cockpit. But the Colgan captain had an ATP and thousands of hours of experience, so what exactly would this proposal mandating a minimum number of hours have prevented?

Treat and well-illustrated article on the whys and hows of pre-heating (“Pre-Heating,” January 2010). I, too, have an Archer II (at MMU). I invested in the sump and heating bands, which is the best you can do if you are poor. A heated hangar here will cost you your first-born male child and a kidney. However, I purchased a Makita one-kilowatt gas-driven generator. I leave it on my trucks tailgate, start it and plug in the bands and sump heater. I go back into the cab, have some coffee, do my pre-flight, and in 35 minutes, we are ready to go, assuming a 17-to-20 deg. F ambient temperature. If I am going to land and stay overnight, I bring the generator with me. It weighs about 35 lbs, and you have to tie it down so it doesnt move (it has gasoline in it). The Makita was about $1000 when I purchased it five years ago. There is now a lot of competition and there are nice units available starting at $500.

Excellent article on zero/zero takeoffs (“Cant See Nuthin,” October 2009). Another unmentioned consideration is visibility on the takeoff roll. On the early morning (oh-dark-thirty) ride to the airport, I could make out glimpses of the moon through a occasional break in the fog. I did a thorough preflight and powered up to launch. At approximately 35 knots, I lost sight of the runway environment entirely. I decided continuing the takeoff was a better choice than trying to abort and rotated the Skyhawk on the gauges at the proper speed. Completely losing sight of the runway before launch is a factor that should be added to previously mentioned considerations in the decision to go or not.

Regarding your article about fuel totalizers, we should not assume they are always precise without periodically verifying their accuracy. On every other fill-up, I write down what my Shadin indicates as the number of gallons used and compare it to the number of gallons required to fill up the tanks. I have found my totalizer indicates about two percent more fuel in the tanks than actually exist, and therefore will have to have the Shadin adjusted accordingly.

I read with interest your article on VFR into IFR conditions (“Inadvertent IFR,” October 2009). It seems to me you missed one of the most obvious aids to maintaining control of the aircraft: Engage the autopilot and fly the plane with the heading bug on the heading indicator. Nothing could be simpler. Using the autopilot keeps turns at appropriate angles and gives you time to communicate and sort things out. The only additional factor to keep in mind is to maintain proper trim.

If youre flying along and reduce power while maintaining the established pitch attitude, what happens to airspeed? It starts decreasing, right? To maintain the desired airspeed, wed want to pitch the nose down, wouldnt we? Depending on how stable the airplane is in its pitch axis, it may naturally pitch down, without pilot intervention; if its unstable, its pitch may not change. This behavior depends on how the airplane is designed and loaded. All the Cirrus AFM/POH is saying is that a good short-field technique requires touching down at the minimum airspeed. To achieve that objective, coordinating power reductions and pitch attitude is necessary for optimum performance. As it is in any airplane weve ever flown, including the Cirrus models. That said, some airplanes require a different technique. For example, airplanes like the Seabee or Lake amphibians-with their single pusher engines mounted on a pylon-respond opposite to other singles when power is adjusted. Instead of the nose wanting to drop when power is reduced, in these airplanes it may want to rise.

I am a longtime subscriber to Aviation Safety and recommend your publication to my clients as the best aviation magazine out there. However, in your August issue, the article on IFR GPS had what I believe were a few errors in an otherwise informative article. The author describes DH (decision height) as a height above sea level and DA (decision altitude) as “above runway.” This explanation is likely to confuse people trying to understand this concept because it is the opposite of the correct definition. Instead, DH is an agl altitude and DA based on msl. The FAA describes it similarly, using a few more words, as follows: “Decision Altitude/Height (DA/H): A specified altitude or height (A/H) in the precision approach at which a missed approach must be initiated if the required visual reference to continue the approach has not been established. Note 1: Decision altitude (DA) is referenced to mean sea level (MSL) and decision height (DH) is referenced to the threshold elevation.” The other statement with the potential to cause confusion was, “a WAAS box will automatically suspend when you pass the missed approach point,” which might lead one to think that a non-WAAS GPS will not. In fact both non-WAAS and WAAS GPS navigators suspend when passing the MAP.

Well guys, if theres an aviation subject, other than lean-of-peak EGT, guaranteed to generate a multitude of conflicting opinions, traffic patterns and entries at non-towered airports certainly qualify (Unicom, July). You are to be commended for your bravery in taking it on! Unfortunately, and like so many other aspects of aviation, there is seldom a “one size fits all” situation. As Im sure you are well aware, there is that faction who believe straight-in-approaches are blatantly illegal at non-towered airports. Then there is another group who will blunder straight in regardless of how many aircraft are in the pattern. As always, good judgment must prevail and, unfortunately, there seem to be those few who are totally immune to learning or exercising same! One advantage to the 45 is that it allows you to break off the entry safely if there doesnt seem to be an adequate interval within which to fit, make a 360 away from the airport and try again.

Congratulations to Tom Turner on another well-written article (“Instrument Rating: The First 100 Hours,” May 2009). Ive been flying GA aircraft in the IFR system since 1990. The conundrum of flying in real weather when most of the instruction is simulated poses real problems for the newly minted IFR pilot. My advice to the newbie would include a couple of additional recommendations. First, I would recommend a visit to your nearest ARTCC, which I think will clearly illustrate your contract with the controller, and will greatly simplify things. Second, learn your local weather patterns for the four seasons. Third, make up imaginary trips you may need to take and figure out by talking to a briefer and using online weather products how you would complete the flight. Fourth, file an IFR flight plan on every flight beyond the $100 cheeseburger run. Next, make up your own checklists for each aircraft you fly, having a LIFR checklist, a winter IFR checklist, a night checklist, etc. My checklist always starts the day before the flight: Check the progs, charge the handheld back-ups, fire up the 396 to make sure the weather comes up, etc. Lastly, spend some time with people who arent cavalier, but whove done the mission and learn the friendly clouds from the unfriendly. Ask the airport manager who the guys are at the field who fly in the weather. There are always those perfect practice days when its clear above 4000 feet and non-convective, but 800-and-2 on the deck.