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Course Name:
ALC-915: AirVenture 2022 VFR Approaches that Kill
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Review

When flight planning, you should consider all aspects of the flight including the approach that you may or will make into the destination airport.

According to 14 CFR Pt 1, Aeronautical Decision Making is a systematic approach to the mental process used by pilots to consistently determine the best course of action.  The process of risk management includes these six items:  Identify sources, determine fact or perception, make some false assumptions, determine the probability of occurrence, consider the cost of a risk gone bad, and establish a tolerance level of the risk.

Action items to consider when analyzing risk include minimizing or sabotaging your habits, your self-confidence (not arrogance), and whether you have an aggressive vs passive attitude.  Over-confidence and under-confidence often leads to unnecessary risk-taking or the inability to perform when needed.

There are traps that can cause accidents that are often a path, well-traveled and trusted, but covered up and hidden.  They can become a form of attractive bait.  Often these items are known as normalization of deviance.

If you do the calculations correctly for aircraft performance, you will be clear of a 50’ obstacle but depending on several factors, you might not clear it by very much.  Don’t forget to compute outside air temperature and pressure for density altitude.

Destination airport considerations might include items such as field elevation, runway length, runway slope and Go-around procedures.  During a visual approach to the runway, you should take a moment to observe the runway environment and surrounding area for items that shouldn’t be there, or obstacles you were not expecting.

Occasionally there are intersections with driveways or roads with runways.  In each case, the aircraft traffic has the right-of-way, however, collision avoidance is of utmost importance.  Expect the unexpected.

As you saw in the videos, sometimes runways are not level from end to end, sometimes there are slopes at the approach end that must be avoided, and these conditions will alter the appearance of the runway during approach.  Your depth perception will be greatly altered when approaching a runway over the water.  Also, there are occasions that the runway environment lighting will not be lit until the pilot turns them on, the area around the runway will be just a black hole where not much can be seen until the lights come on.

Demonstrated crosswind is a crosswind in which a test pilot landed the make/model aircraft.  It is not considered a limitation of the aircraft.  Your maximum crosswind will vary based on your skill and proficiency level.  Contrary to what some might believe, or tell you, large aircraft are affected by wind, and crosswind.

Wake turbulence is created by any aircraft in flight but can be avoided with proper knowledge, planning and actions.  Wind shear is detectable by instrumentation and pilot reporting. Both wake turbulence and wind shear should be avoided if possible and if encountered, it’s best handled if the pilot has had training in avoidance and recovery.

Wildlife, whether birds, deer, or other creatures do pose a risk to the safe operation of aircraft.  Even little insects like to build nests in openings that can cause instrumentation to indicate incorrect data.  See, avoid, and eliminate the risk is by far the best policy.

Stabilized approaches are key to successful landings and involves keeping airspeed and glide path and course controlled and constant.  Make sure that during short field landings, your braking is kept under control and never allow your safety margins to disappear.  The runway surface conditions are not regulated, but you will be asked about their condition so they can be reported when the weather is marginal.

Part of situational awareness is knowing the runway orientation, markings and signage for your departure and arrival airports.  Don’t be confused with runway numbering that might be similar to another runway.

14CFR91.213 discusses the method of operating an aircraft when there is inoperative equipment.  The determination includes whether or not the equipment is part of the required equipment per the POH, whether it is required for the flight to be performed and whether it is documented and placarded.  If you have an autopilot, it is best to learn the various ways to disengage the autopilot in case of an emergency.