• READ MORE: What Is the Rudder Used for in Flying?

Answer: According to an FAA spokesperson:  “Generally speaking, the FAA will accept [a pilot’s] last airman certificate application (Form 8710-1) or what they reported on their last medical application (Form 8500-8).” You should have access to at least one of those documents.

Pro tip: Moving forward, you may want to invest in an electronic logbook and save the information to the cloud, or at least record a digital image of each page of the paper logbook when you fill it up. If you rent aircraft, sometimes you can re-create your experience by cross-referencing your receipts. 

• READ MORE: Is There an Official Weather Briefing?

Do you have a question about aviation that’s been bugging you? Ask us anything you’ve ever wanted to know about aviation. Our experts in general aviation, flight training, aircraft, avionics, and more may attempt to answer your question in a future article.

The post What to Do When You Lose Your Logbook appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Answer: Rudder controls the side-to-side motion of the nose of the airplane—the technical term for this is yaw.

To make the airplane turn (bank), the pilot moves the yoke or stick in the direction they want to turn. This activates the ailerons, which are the outboard, moveable panels on the wings.

The downward-deflected panel is on the outside of the turn, and as the downward deflection increases the surface area of the wing, it generates more lift. The aircraft nose yaws toward the side with the wing generating more lift. From the pilot’s perspective, that yaw is in the opposite direction of the turn. As this turn is opposite to the direction of the turn the pilot wants, the technical term for this is adverse yaw. 

In the airplane, banking without using the rudders feels a little bit like someone pulling you sideways by the seat of your pants. It is poor airmanship as it results in an uncoordinated turn.

In an aircraft with a turn coordinator or slip skid indicator (the instrument that has a tube and ball in it that acts in response to lateral motion), note that if the airplane is banked only with aileron, the ball will be to the outside of the turn. To correct this, the pilot steps on the rudder on the same side the ball is deflecting to. This corrects the adverse yaw.  “Step on the ball” is the phrase you often hear. When flying an aircraft with a glass panel that has a triangle with a lateral moving base, the phrase “step on the line” is used.

The rudder controls the adverse yaw, and when correctly applied results in a coordinated (smoother) turn.

For more information refer to the Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (available on the FAA website or at brick-and-mortar stores) in Chapter 6, Flight Controls.

The post What Is the Rudder Used for in Flying? appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Answer: It depends on your mission and how many Ben Franklins you have to spare. Your sferics (short for radio atmospherics) equipment may represent the only real-time weather you’ll ever see in your cockpit.

Sure, panel-mounted and portable weather systems deliver their product in a timely fashion, but it will never be as immediate as your sferics device. Once you understand how to interpret your real-time lightning guidance, it can become a valuable asset in your in-flight aviation toolkit. 

Choices in the Cockpit

You have two options if you want lightning data in the cockpit: You can choose from ground-based lightning sensors or onboard lightning detection from a sferics device such as a Stormscope.

A Stormscope provides real-time data but does require some basic interpretation. Ground-based lightning, on the other hand, is a bit delayed and is only available through a data link broadcast at this time. Ground-based lightning is normally coupled with other weather guidance, such as ground-based weather radar (NEXRAD), surface observations, pilot weather reports, and other forecasts.   

Ground-Based Lightning

The ground-based lightning that’s now available through the Flight Information System-Broadcast (FIS-B) comes from the National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN). This network of lightning detectors has a margin of error of 150 meters for locating a cloud-to-ground strike. The ground-based lightning sensors instantly detect the electromagnetic signals given off when lightning strikes the earth’s surface.    

With 150-meter accuracy, I’d choose ground-based lightning any day. Don’t get too excited, though. Ground-based lightning is expensive (the data is owned by private companies like Vaisala), and you’ll not likely see a high-resolution product in your cockpit anytime soon.

SiriusXM satellite weather pulls from a different lightning detection network and includes both cloud-to-ground and intracloud lightning. It produces a 0.5 nm horizontal resolution lightning product. This means that you will see a lightning bolt or other symbol arranged on your display in a 0.5 nm grid.

Even if 50 strikes were detected minutes apart near a grid point, only one symbol will be displayed for that grid point. Same is true for the FIS-B lightning.

Stormscope Advantages

A Stormscope must be viewed as a gross vectoring aid. You cannot expect to use it like onboard radar.

Nevertheless, it does alert you to thunderstorm activity and will provide you with the ability to see the truly ugly parts of a thunderstorm.  Where there’s lightning, you can also guarantee moderate or greater turbulence.   

No lightning detection equipment shows every strike, but the Stormscope will show most cloud-to-ground and intracloud strikes. This allows you to see the intensity and concentration of the strikes within a cell or line of cells with a refresh rate of two seconds. It also lets you see intracloud electrical activity that may be present in towering cumulus clouds even when no rain may be falling.

Even if no cloud-to-ground strikes are present, intracloud strikes may be present. The Stormscope can detect any strike that has some vertical component (most strikes do). This is important since there are typically more intracloud strikes than cloud-to-ground strikes.

To emphasize this point, most of the storms in the Central Plains have 10 times more intracloud strikes than cloud-to-ground strikes. Moreover, during the initial development of a thunderstorm, and in some severe storms, intracloud lightning may dominate the spectrum. 

Also keep in mind that a sferics device does not suffer from attenuation like onboard radar. That is, it can “see” the storm behind the storm to paint cells in the distance out to 200 nm, but it does not see precipitation or clouds.     

Stormscope Disadvantages

It doesn’t take a full-fledged storm, complete with lightning, to get your attention.

Intense precipitation alone is a good indicator of a strong updraft (or downdraft) and the potential for moderate to severe turbulence in the cloud. Consequently, the Stormscope does not tell you anything about the presence or intensity of precipitation or the absence of turbulence.

Never use the Stormscope as a tactical device to penetrate a line of thunderstorm cells. Visible gaps in the cells depicted on the Stormscope may fill in rapidly. Fly high and always stay visual and you will normally stay out of any serious turbulence.        

A Stormscope display is often difficult to interpret by a novice. Radial spread, splattering, buried cables, and seemingly random “clear air” strikes can create a challenge for the pilot. It may take a couple years of experience to be completely comfortable interpreting the Stormscope display. Often what you see out of your window will confirm what you see on your display.    

Radial Spread

As the name suggests, the biggest Stormscope error is the distance calculation along the radial from the aircraft.

The placement of the strike azimuthally is pretty accurate. However, how far to place the strike from the aircraft along the detected radial is a bit more complicated and prone to error.

Lightning strikes are not all made equally. When the sferics devices were invented back in the mid-1970s, they measured the distance of the cloud-to-ground strike based on the strength of the signal (amperage) generated by the strike. An average strike signature of 19,000 amperes is used to determine the approximate distance of the strike.

Statistically, 98 percent of the return strokes have a peak current between 7,000 and 28,000 amperes. That creates the potential for error in the distance calculation. This error is a useful approximation, however, in that strokes of stronger intensity appear closer and strokes of weaker intensity appear farther away. 

In strike mode on the Stormscope, strikes are displayed based on a specific strike signature, whereas cell mode on the newer Stormscope models uses a clustering algorithm that attempts to organize these strikes around a single location or cell.

Cell mode will even remove strikes that are not part of a mature cell. Most thunderstorm outbreaks are a result of a line of storms. Cell mode provides a more accurate representation to the extent of the line of thunderstorms.

Radial spread is not necessarily always a bad thing. You can use it to your advantage to distinguish between false or clear air strikes and a real thunderstorm. Most of the strikes of a real storm will be of the typical strike signature and be placed appropriately.

As mentioned above, stronger than average strikes will be painted closer to the airplane. Looking at this in strike mode, a line of these stronger strikes will protrude toward the aircraft.  The result is a stingray-looking appearance to the strikes.    

You can confirm this by clearing the display.  The same stingray pattern should reappear with the tail protruding once again toward the airplane.

Clear Frequently

Clearing the Stormscope display frequently is a must.  How quickly the display “snaps back” will provide you with an indication of the intensity of the storm or line of storms.

You should be sure to give these storms an extra-wide berth.  Clearing the Stormscope in “clear air” will also remove any false strikes that may be displayed allowing you to focus on real cells that may be building in the distance.

Aging

Both ground-based and onboard lightning use a specific symbol to indicate the age of the data.

For Stormscope data shown on the Garmin 430/530, a lightning symbol is displayed for the most recent strikes (first six seconds the symbol is bolded). The symbol changes to a large plus  sign after one minute followed by a small plus  sign for strikes that are at least two minutes old. Finally, it is removed from the display after the strike is three minutes old.

Cells with lots of recent strikes will often contain the most severe updrafts and may not have much of a ground-based radar signature. Cells with lots of older strikes signify steady-state rainfall reaching the surface that may include significant downdrafts. 

Flight Strategy

A nice feature of a Stormscope is that you can quickly assess the convective picture out to 200 nm while still safely on the ground. Same is true for lightning received from the SiriusXM datalink broadcast.

However, for those with lightning from FIS-B, you won’t receive a broadcast until you are well above traffic pattern altitude unless your departure airport has an ADS-B tower on the field.  

As soon as your Stormscope is turned on, within a few minutes you’ll get a pretty good picture of the challenging weather ahead. If you are flying IFR, you may want to negotiate your clearance or initial headings with ATC to steer clear of the areas you are painting on your display. I’ve canceled or delayed a few flights based strictly on the initial Stormscope picture while I was still on the ramp. 

Another goal is to fly as high as allowable. You will benefit from being able to get above the haze layer, and the higher altitude will allow you to see the larger buildups and towering cumulus from a greater distance.

If you are flying IFR and you are continually asking for more than 30 degrees of heading change to get around small cells or significant buildups, then you should call it quits. You are too close, or you are making decisions too late.

Visual or not, the goal is to keep the strikes (in cell mode) out of the 25-mile-range ring on your Stormscope. If one or two strikes pop into this area, don’t worry. Just keep most of the strikes outside of this 25-mile ring.      

Don’t discount the value of a sferics device.  Add one of the data link cockpit weather solutions as a compliment, and you will have a great set of tools to steer clear of convective weather all year long.

The post Is Sferics Equipment Still Needed in the Cockpit? appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Answer: The pilot in question may have made a pilot deviation—like being at the wrong altitude—and was warned by air traffic control: “We have a number for you to copy, possible pilot deviation.”

• READ MORE: Who Checks the Localizer/ILS at an Airport?

It is called a “Brasher warning” as it was named after Captain Jack Brasher, a former Republic Airlines pilot who allegedly deviated from an assigned altitude during a flight between Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul in 1985.

According to the FAA, the deviation was approximately 700 feet. The crew was not informed of the deviation during the flight or after landing. Several months later, Brasher received notification that the FAA was investigating the alleged incident.

Given that several months and several hundred hours of flight had passed, neither Brasher nor his first officer had a clear recollection of the event.

• READ MORE: How Do I File a Pilot Weather Report Online?

The FAA determined that had the controller brought it to their attention immediately, the crew would have remembered the event and the circumstances surrounding it. Thus the procedure for immediate notification with the phrase “possible pilot deviation” was developed.

According to the FAA, the Brasher warning is not intended to be punitive but rather the goal is to gather information in a matter-of-fact way and learn from deviations to enhance safety.

The post What Is a Brasher Warning? appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Answer: The pilot doesn’t have the capability to “check” the localizer like you do a VOR in an aircraft, but you can check the Notices to Air Missions (NOTAMs) to see if the unit is in service. You also should identify it before use to be certain you are tuned in to the correct frequency. As far as who checks them for correct operation, that falls on the FAA.

According to an FAA spokesperson, “ILS certifications are event based; for example, upon first use with live air traffic or after an accident/incident.” Additionally, the FAA performs ILS flight inspections upon commission, periodically, and under special circumstances, such as after a runway has undergone repairs or modification.

You can find the details in FAA Order 6000.15 Note in Chapter 4 it states “maintenance personnel must provide notification in advance to control centers when planning and scheduling facility shutdowns. This allows sufficient time to coordinate maintenance activities across the NAS and minimize their impact to NAS users.” The shutdowns should be posted in a NOTAM, so make sure you check when planning a flight.

Chapter 4 of FAA order 6000.15 also states that if a pilot reports a malfunction of navigational aid facility and it is confirmed by a second pilot, and there is no standby equipment, air traffic control operations or maintenance personnel must immediately request a NOTAM removing the potentially suspect navigational aid from operation until a flight inspection can validate proper operation and the ground equipment can be inspected and the fault corrected if one exists. Operations personnel can then request a restoration flight inspection to restore the unit to service.

The post Who Checks the Localizer/ILS at an Airport? appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Answer: In general aviation, one of the most cumbersome things to do while in flight is to file a pilot weather report, more commonly known as a PIREP. This has created the unfortunate situation that on any given day 98 percent of the PIREPs in the system are typically describing weather conditions at or above 18,000 feet.

It wasn’t all that long ago that the Enroute Flight Advisory Service (EFAS) was available primarily for pilots to receive weather updates while they were flying to their destination. More importantly, EFAS was the main outlet to file a PIREP such that it was guaranteed to be input into the system and become available for other pilots to see. This service was also called Flight Watch.

Given that EFAS was organized by Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCC), you simply put 122.0 MHz into your radio, keyed the mic, and referenced them by a particular center’s airspace you were located within. For example, if you were in the Jacksonville Center’s airspace in Florida, your initial call might have been, “Jacksonville Flight Watch, Skyhawk One Two Three Whiskey X-ray, 30 miles southwest of the Brunswick V-O-R at five thousand five hundred.” Then as long as you were more than 5,000 feet above the ground, someone from Flight Watch came on the frequency, and you engaged in a two-way conversation to file your PIREP.

• READ MORE: The Ins and Outs of Pilot Weather Reports

However, EFAS was terminated on October 1, 2015. This now leaves the arduous task of finding the right Flight Service Station (FSS) frequency, making contact, and hoping someone on the other end responds to your call. The frequency you use to transmit and receive is dependent on your location. Pull out your VFR sectional (paper or electronic version), find the nearest VOR to your location, and look for the frequency located on the top of the VOR information box.

Of course, the correct frequency to use may also be available through your avionics or one of the many heavyweight electronic flight bag apps.

This is the frequency you will use to transmit and receive. Below the box is the name of the particular FSS to use in your initial call. For example, if you are near the Brunswick VORTAC in Georgia, your initial call may be, “Macon Radio, Skyhawk One Two Three Whiskey X-ray, transmitting and receiving on 122.2, over.” This is the easy case.

• READ MORE: How to Wrap Your Head Around Weather

If there’s an “R” shown at the end of the frequency (e.g., 122.1R), then that means FSS will receive on this frequency and you will transmit on this frequency. And you’ll need to be sure you listen for its response over the VOR frequency. Make sure your volume is turned up and not muted on your VOR radio.

This column first appeared in the May 2024/Issue 948 of FLYING’s print edition.

The post How Do I File a Pilot Weather Report Online? appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Answer: According to the FAA, aircraft used by Part 141 pilot schools must be maintained under the same requirements as aircraft operated under Part 91. FAA regulations allow someone who does not hold a mechanic or repairman certificate to perform certain preventive maintenance under Part 91.

• READ MORE: Is There an Official Weather Briefing?

The regulation you are referring to applies to a certificated pilot. That is a private pilot, sport pilot, or higher—a student pilot is not a certificated pilot, therefore the student pilot doing preventative maintenance on an aircraft would not be permitted. In addition, 14 CFR Part 43 notes that maintenance can only be done when the aircraft is not used under 14 CFR Part 121, 127, 129, or 135. If the flight school also uses the airplanes for charter operations (Part 135), that’s another reason you cannot touch them.

The post Can Student Pilots Perform Preventative Maintenance on Aircraft? appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

I have been using 1800WXBRIEF.com and Aviation Weather Center for years since they don’t require a paid subscription. But according to the CFIs at the school I just started flying with, these are not considered legal weather briefings. 

Answer: The question asked begs another one: Legal to whom? 

FAA regulations, notably FAR 91.103, require pilots to obtain weather reports and forecasts. However, according to an FAA spokesperson, “the FAA does not prefer one weather source over another, nor do we define a ‘legal weather briefing.’ It is up to the pilot in command (PIC) to use a weather source that best suits their needs and allows them to meet the preflight planning requirements.“

That being said, there are some CFIs and flight schools that advocate paid subscriptions, such as ForeFlight, and free discreet login services, such as 1800WXBRIEF, because in addition to providing information, they also allow the pilot to file a flight plan. They also require an account, which means it’s easier to prove the pilot obtained a weather briefing prior to the flight because there will be a record of the login.

The latter is often one of the first things the National Transportation Safety Board checks when it investigates an accident or incident.

At the very least, a pilot should check TAFs, METARs, winds aloft, and NOTAMs prior to a flight. It is distressing how many pilots and pilots in training believe that listening to the ATIS/ASOS/AWOS at the airport or along their route constitutes a weather briefing. They don’t. 

Nor does looking out the window at the FBO. Any more than “pretty good” is a PIREP. 

The post Is There an Official Weather Briefing? appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Answer: Kudos to you for wanting to be proactive and doing your homework. A dirty or scratched windshield can be a potential safety hazard, and replacing a windscreen that was scratched by poor cleaning technique is not something you want to deal with. It can cost thousands of dollars in supplies and labor. If the aircraft is on leaseback to a flight school, it could also lead to a loss of revenue.

• READ MORE: How Do You Know When to Descend?

Windscreen Cleaning Tips

Plain water and a clean microfiber cloth are a good start. Rinse the windscreen first, then gently stroke it from top to bottom with a clean cloth. By clean, I mean fresh out of the pack. Don’t press hard and do not scrub in circles. Plexiglass, which is what the windscreen is made of, is relatively soft and you could put permanent swirl marks into it.

If you drop the cloth on the ground during the process, don’t use it again. It may have picked up a piece of grit that could scratch the windscreen.

Also, do not use a paper towel as it is too abrasive.

• READ MORE: Should I File an Initial Approach Fix?

Use a ladder to be sure you can safely reach the entire windscreen. Take care not to let any buttons, zippers, or other metal, such as a belt buckle, ring, or watchband, scratch the windscreen.

Do not use Windex on airplane windscreens—ever. The ammonia in Windex can weaken and compromise the plexiglass and give it a hazy appearance.

• READ MORE: How Do You Check NOTAMs?

Prist is a brand of cleaner made for aircraft windscreens. Follow the directions on the bottle. For stubborn dirt or smashed bugs, let the Prist soak in a bit before you begin to wipe up and down. Use gentle strokes.

Side note: Never use Prist on car windows because they are made from safety glass, which will become hazy when treated with the product. It becomes like a layer of soap and is a challenge to remove.

The post Should You Clean an Airplane Windscreen Before Every Flight? appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Answer: You have just described knowing the top of descent—that is, knowing how much time and distance it will take you to reach the predetermined altitude, such as the pattern.

• READ MORE: What Is an Outflow Boundary Shown on a Surface Analysis Chart? 

There are two basic means to do this.

First, determine how much altitude you need to lose. Let’s say you are at 3,500 feet and the traffic pattern altitude (TPA) is 1,000 feet. 3,500 – 1,000 = 2,500, so you need to lose 2,500. If you are descending at 500 feet per minute, 2,500/5 = 5 minutes to get to TPA.

Next, determine distance for descent. Take your current altitude: 3,500 feet. Subtract the traffic pattern altitude of 1,000 feet = 2,500. Multiply the altitude to lose by 3, so 3 x 2,500 = 7,500.  Divide this by 1,000 and get the approximately distance to the airport  = 7,500/1,000 = 7.5 miles.

• READ MORE: Should I File an Initial Approach Fix?

Looking at the VFR sectional, put a mark that is at the distance from the airport, especially if it is over a landmark like a lake, fairgrounds, etc., or if using GPS, refer to that. You can adjust your rate of descent if you are coming down too quickly when you have the distance in mind. 

Make a point to practice this. You don’t want to be that pilot who flies pattern altitude (or accidentally lower) miles from the airport, nor do you want to be the pilot who forgets to start a descent and dives into the pattern. But don’t worry. We have not had an aircraft stay stuck up there yet.

The post How Do You Know When to Descend? appeared first on FLYING Magazine.