System

The AOPA Air Safety Foundations annual Nall Report found an increase in accidents involving amateur-built aircraft. The statistics from 2008 showed the highest rate of fatal accidents and fatalities in 10 years. The 27-percent lethality rate in these accidents was 10 full percentage points higher than that for accidents in type-certificated airplanes, according to the report.

The needle on my GA-o-meter registered an optimistic uptick this morning. In other words, Im getting more submissions for On The Air, IFRs much-loved back page. Over the past five years at the helm of this magazine (five years exactly with this issue), OTA has been my barometer for how much people are flying light GA and in what way.Theres a predictable uptick every spring and Im beginning to see it. History says it should peak in May and then spike again in August or September. Winter sees fewer submissions, and the ones that do come in are mostly from airline pilots or folks running all-weather aircraft.

To get a better understanding of the intent of the Airman Certification Standards, lets take a closer look at the holding procedures task under the air traffic control clearances and procedures area of operation.

If the FARs and the AIM comprise the bible of flying, the practical test standards (PTS) would be favored hymn books. But, just as the worlds religions occasionally modernize themselves, the FAA is getting ready to burn PTSes on the pyre in exchange for a completely new system.The new system, known as the Airman Certification Standards (ACS), is a major overhaul of the certification process effecting every license and rating. Whether youre thinking about adding to your ticket, are an instructor or you simply plan to get an IPC, it would behoove you to know a little about these changes before they arrive. The last thing you want is that deer-in-the-headlight look if the instructor asks you to review the pertinent ACS.

There is an old joke that has three people arguing over what is the smartest machine in the world. The first one says, The smartest machine is the electronic computer. It can solve any problem in a fraction of a second.

Solar Impulse, the one-of-a-kind solar-powered aircraft designed to fly around the world, is now in Dubai, where it will launch in March. The aircraft was built and tested in Switzerland. It was then disassembled and flown to Dubai aboard a cargo airplane. Andr Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard, who have led the effort, said they are confident in the aircrafts capability and their own training, and they will take turns as pilot. The expedition is expected to take 25 days of flying, and will be completed in stages over four or five months. Some legs above the Atlantic and Pacific will require five to six days of nonstop solo flight. The aircrafts wings measure about 236 feet across, and carry more than 17,000 solar cells.

On a recent IFR flight, climbing through 500 feet, I noticed the tach was low by 300 RPM. It had been normal just moments before when I checked it on the takeoff roll. Just as it really sunk in that something was amiss, Tower called to hand me off to Departure. I declined, asked to land immediately and alerted them to the abnormal condition. The discrepancy didnt reappear on a second run-up, or ever since.

Turning cockpit technology into mission capability takes more than reading manuals. Meld the surfeit of data into your decision-making process to get more from your pixels.

In January, a database update for some Bendix/King KLN and KLX products rendered them unsafe for use under IFR. Jeppesen apparently delivered some bad data to Bendix/King that contained incorrect dynamic magnetic variations for all terminal and en route waypoint records. Bendix/King quickly posted a corrected database and got the word out to customers through about every channel imaginable. Still, its a sobering thought how dependent weve become on data that has a potential, however remote, of being corrupt. As far as we know, no in-flight incidents occurred as a result of the problem.

The FAAs Advisory Circular 90-108 just feels wrong. In it, section 8 itemizes circumstances where a suitable RNAV system (including GPS and GPS/WAAS equipment) cannot be used.