The Transactional Pilot

I tap on a location I observe to be free of obstructions, offering a clear approach corridor and suitable landing surface, and after I get the dot on my apps chart, I change its name to an approach course, e.g., like F17, or G18, and use those designators (you can make up any letter/number you wish), as Field/Approach 170 degrees, or for the other as Grass/Approach 180 degrees. The letters can be for road, crop, highway or water, or whatever looks better-as always, the closer to roads, the better for emergency services access.

Editorial Staff

Wednesday, April 24, 2019 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Pilots advocate for enhanced night flight safety by pre-marking potential emergency landing sites using EFB apps and warn against the dangers of low-level flight in Class G airspace due to proliferating obstructions.
Concerns are raised regarding the critical placement of backup instruments, particularly in glass cockpits, which often impedes effective scanning and can worsen spatial disorientation during partial panel flight in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC).
An aviator's experience with a landing gear motor failure highlights the essential need for pilots to know and practice emergency procedures for redundant aircraft systems, such as manual gear extension.

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I read Mike Hart’s article “The Transactional Pilot” in April’s issue with much interest, especially regarding his night-flight concerns since I really enjoy night flying in familiar territory; it is those flights over the unfamiliar space that raises concerns. Enter the EFB app and its ability to locate possible emergency sites during the daylight leg(s), by entering those locals as custom or user waypoints.

I tap on a location I observe to be free of obstructions, offering a clear approach corridor and suitable landing surface, and after I get the dot on my app’s chart, I change its “name” to an approach course, e.g., like F17, or G18, and use those designators (you can make up any letter/number you wish), as Field/Approach 170 degrees, or for the other as Grass/Approach 180 degrees. The letters can be for road, crop, highway or water, or whatever looks better—as always, the closer to roads, the better for emergency services access.