Unicom

When To Use The Gear
With respect to When To Use The Gear (March 2006), thanks for an excellent article! What has worked best for me is the approach and landing profile in the FAAs Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3A, <www.faa.gov/library/manuals) specifically intended for multiengine flying, but equally useful in flying complex airplanes.

I conduct at least two landing gear checks on every approach and landing! The first one is made on the base leg, which tells me it is okay to continue the approach. The second is done on final, telling me its okay to continue to a landing. Perform as many more landing-gear…

Battery Maintenance
With reference to Its Not A River In Egypt (Learning Experiences, January 2006), I do not agree with the crews judgment to fly the airplane with a known problem. The Barons batteries were in such a low state of charge they would not crank the engines.

External power should never be used when the internal battery power isnt sufficient to start the engine(s). Dead batteries require three to four hours to recharge fully from the aircraft generating system. Therefore they are not considered airworthy in a discharged state.

Batteries that have enough power to crank and start the engine(s) will generally recharge to a reasonable state of charge prior t…

What Did You Say?
I just finished reading Mean What You Say (December 2005). This is a very good article providing powerful information for pilots to include in the art of aviating, navigating and communicating. We do a pretty good job of aviating and navigating but we sure could use some improvements in communicating.

In his non-towered airports discussion, Frank Bowlin says you are either departing or taxiing into position and hold. I tell pilots to never, ever go to position and hold at a non-towered airport. Doing this puts your back to traffic that may be landing on that runway.

Several years ago, I was inbound at night to a non-towered airport on the ILS. We made…

Where Are You Going?
Your recent commentary (Editors Log, December 2005) ending with …you cant count on ATC to even know who you are and where youre going is so totally true its scary.

It reminded me of an incident that happened to me a couple of years ago. I had filed from Palwaukee, Ill., to Detroit Lakes, Minn., with a direct request. The standard departure for Runway 16 out of PWK is a hard right turn to a 360-degree heading. As I rolled out on 360 and went to Departure, I was given a further turn to 040. I thought that was for traffic, as I often have to go north toward Milwaukee before going northwest toward Minneapolis.

My next instruction, however, was to p…

How To Crash 101
For a safety magazine, the Crash Course sidebar on page 7 of the November issue is indeed a course on how to have a fatal crash. Suggesting that an approach should be flown with the stall horn blaring is an invitation to the classic stall-spin with no altitude for recovery.

A friend of mine was of the opinion that you should fly the pattern same speed, wind or not. Hes dead now-spun in on a windy day. And he likely at least had the recommended margin for a no-wind day.

Im not advocating faster is better-its not. Flying the right speed for the conditions is the answer. If theres no wind, fly 1.2 times Vso, not 1.3, not 1.25. And do this every landing…

Miles And Mics
In Octobers Accident Probe, Miles To Go, you note, The pilot was cleared for the ILS approach to Runway 5 at SPA and released to the local advisory frequency. Oh goodie: Another frequency change from ATC at low altitude, low speed, in actual IMC at 10:00 p.m. Another dead pilot.

Controllers and the ATC system have been killing pilots for generations with frequency changes and clearance deliveries at the most awkward possible times.

Just as the nosewheel lifts off the pavement, they give me a frequency change. As the aircraft is handed off from one controller to another, the frequency should be handed off also. Let the controllers change frequencies.If th…

On The Money
Your editorial (Editor’s Log, September 2005) on the FAA’s actions leading to eliminating the traffic information service (TIS) is on the money…and “money” is the operative word.

I have three airplanes with TIS in my company fleet after being proselytized at length by FAA propaganda and at agency seminars by the folks bringing us TIS services. We invested in Mode S/TIS transponders to enhance the safety of our operations in high traffic areas.

Personally, I think all buyers of this equipment should corner AOPA or some aviation attorney and file a class action suit against the FAA and the nimrods within it who sell us on buying into their safety mantra only…