System

Anything that can go wrong, will, and at the worst possible moment-so states Finagles corollary to Murphys Law. This notion is drilled into pilots from the beginning, so that it becomes second nature to have a plan to handle all sorts of potential failures that could be experienced in flight. Engine failure: check. Instrument and system malfunction: got it covered. Communication failure: no problem. GPS failure… Uhhh, what? Hang on a minute.

Weve discussed the benefits of personal standard operating procedures (SOP) for our own flying. Weve taken the main elements (Using an SOP in GA, September 2016) and began creating our own (DIY SOP Considerations, February 2017). Meanwhile, we tried to wean you from your do-list in favor of a flow and check (Change Your Checklist, October 2016 and DIY Flow and Check, January 2017). In this final article, we assemble a personal SOP for a light GA single.

In Wx Smarts, we go beyond the basics you learned in flight school. Sure, you know that winds are stronger at higher altitudes, and that you find fronts near where the jet stream is, but why? What makes the winds flow from the southwest at 20,000 feet when theres a storm system approaching? Lets go past the usual weather playbook to look at why the given upper-air pattern is in place.

Over the last few months, weve run a series of articles to guide you towards your own personal SOP. The final article of that series is in this issue. But, youd be wise to ask if you really need an SOP for general aviation flying. After all, do you really want to further complicate the process of flying a small plane in IFR? Do you really want to fly, Just like the airline pilots? Part 91 doesnt have that thick book of requirements that impedes (guides?) the pros. Do you really want to trade the liberation and fun of GA flying for that kind of strict regimentation?

President Donald Trumps first budget proposal, released in March, aims to privatize air traffic control. General-aviation advocacy groups were quick to rally against the effort, although AOPA said it was open to discussion as long as user fees were off the table. The airline industry has been lobbying since Trumps election for the formation of a nonprofit corporation to run the national airspace system, with a board of directors dominated by airline representatives. Proponents say the change would create a more stable funding mechanism for ATC than todays budget-driven method, but GA opponents say the change would amount to handing the nations airspace over to the airlines.

Im not sure why you think general aviation is dying as you state in your Remarks in March. Kit aircraft are flying off the shelves and many are backordered. Deposits are even flying in for aircraft kits that arent in production yet. We have so much business instructing that we have to turn some away due to not enough pilots and aircraft in the fleet.

Keeping your instrument-flying skills sharp is like high school football. No, not the social activities after the game; we mean the combination of drills and scrimmage. This sim challenge is a bit of both. The scrimmage part is that youll practice in the context of a (nearly) complete flight. The drill part is that flight is focused on one skill: the anvil descent.

Before October 2016, formal enforcement was the only tool available to Aviation Safety Inspectors (ASIs). This time-consuming process could take years to resolve and absorbed a lot of FAA resources better used elsewhere. Enforcement was unsuitable in many cases where the violation was unintentional and the pilot displayed a cooperative attitude and desire to set matters straight.

The note is correct as written-and an IFR GPS alone is fine. Now follow me down a logical rabbit hole to understand why, as well as see how GPS and digital tech in general are changing how we fly IFR.

While we certainly dont need to examine weather accidents to remind us that weather can be a killer, reviewing them can be a good teacher. The accidents well review attracted only a couple paragraphs in the local newspaper and were quickly forgotten, but every incident has the potential to save lives. Well try to understand their story by digging into radar and weather data and poring through the NTSB archives and try to find just how these pilots got themselves in trouble and what lessons we can learn.