Ask the small airplane pilot

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Don’t remember if we’ve done one of these before, and the search engine turned up nothing of the sort (although no search is perfect) so…

I’ve been flying small airplanes for nearly 9 years now. I really really enjoy it (that’s probably obvious to anyone who’s read a lot of my posts) and love talking about it. Maybe I’ll get a break from the arguments I’ve been having in Great Debates with this thread. Anyhow, if you’ve got questions, ask 'em and I’ll do my best to answer.

And any other small aircraft jockeys feel free to chime in - you can make this your thread, too.

2

Broomstick I’ve loved your posts.

Just to kick this bad boy off into the nether world of SDMB I’ll ask does AOA determine lift? My take is that it determines airspeed.

Ohhh. No worries…

3

The short answer is “yes”

Here’s a longer answer: lift is determined by angle of attack AND airspeed.

Here’s a longer and more detailed example/answer, that hopefully the people who know more theory than I do will confirm is correct:

Let’s assume a typical general aviation airplane with a weight 2500 lbs. In order to maintain level flight, the wing has to generate 2500 lbs of lift (if it makes more lift you would go up, if it makes less lift, you do down). Now, you can fly that puppy at a lot of different airspeeds. For a C172 or Piper Cherokee you could fly level at speeds between 50 knots and 100 or 110 knots (roughly speaking). Lift = AoA x airspeed. So if airspeed is low, angle of attack must be high. If airspeed is high, angle of attack is low (for level flight).

If you maintain the same AoA and increase engine power you won’t go faster, you’ll go up - because there will be more lift generated - but at the same airspeed (unless you make adjustments). If you maintain the same AoA and decrease engine power you will descend at the same airspeed.

Now, there are some exceptions to this - military fighters, for instance, can do a vertical climb on pure thrust, as one example - but for folks in my realm this is the rule of thumb to follow.

Where this can get complicated is the matter of drag. The greater the angle of attack, the more drag is created. The greater the airspeed, the more drag created. (Yeah, what a bummer.)

For each and every airplane there is one and only one combination of AoA and airspeed that produces the least amount of drag. And this is an important number for a pilot to know, because that’s the best glide speed. If your engine stops, it’s the angle of attack/airspeed combination that gives you the longest time in the air. Your motive force comes from gravity in that case, and it’s up to you to make it a controlled release of potential energy. Done properly, this allows you to land safely without power. This concept works on any size airplane - everything from a single-seat ultralight to a Boeing 757 like the Gimli Glider (or was it a 767?.. I can never remember exactly) up to even space ships like the shuttle - which lands without power, as a giant glider, utilizing angle of attack to control its descent and airspeed.

So it really is a very basic concept in aviation.

Oddly enough, it can also confuse the heck out of people. That’s because in civilian general aviation aircraft there is no direct way to observe the angle of attack. (I’m told there are military airplanes that do have true angle of attack indicators, but since I don’t fly them it’s sort of a moot point from my perspective). So you have this very important, fundamental thing you use every time you fly, but you can’t see it directly.

Because there is a relationship between airspeed and AoA, you can use your airspeed indicator as a rough indicator of AoA. If you’re in level flight at 50 knots, you know you will have a relatively high angle of attack (once again, assuming our typical airplane). If you’re in level flight at 100 knots, you’ll have a low angle of attack.

Level flight isn’t too tricky - especially if you’ve got a clear horizon and you can observe the angle the wing makes with it. That’s not an exact measurement, either, but it gives you a rough idea.

Here’s a little zinger - I’ve flown airplanes where 50 knots is nearly top speed, so that’s a low angle of attack, and I’ve flown airplanes where 100 knots is slower than “best glide” and therefore you have a relatively high angle of attack. In other words, these numbers can change every time you switch into a new airplane. So be sure to remember the numbers for the airplane you’re in today, and not the one you were in last week!

Now, here’s the rub, and there is where people can get hurt. If the angle of attack is too high, the airplane stalls. This concerns the wing, not the engine, so don’t mix it up with what we mean when we say a car “stalls”. In a stall, the airflow over the wing - the same airflow that helps generate the lift needed to keep you up in the air - becomes seriously disrupted and the wing ceases to generate lift and “stops flying”. At which point gravity takes over. So it’s important not to let this happen.

Fortunately, most airplanes will give you warning. There’s the old reliable stall warning - which IS an actual angle of attack indicator, because a given wing will always stall past a certain particular angle of attack (remember that, it’s a very important concept). A few knots under the critical angle of attack this warning is supposed to go off. It may be a noise or it may be a light or it may be both, but it lets the pilot know - hey, bud, watch that angle of attack, you’re on the edge. But there can be other indications. Many airplanes will exeperience “stall buffet” near that critical angle of attack, they’ll actually physically shake and the controls might vibrate in your hands. Mind you, this isn’t some big rock and roll production, and someone not famillar with airplanes might miss it entirely, but it’s a big wake-up call to an observant pilot. In flight training, you spend some time flying near this edge of the envelope so you get famillar with the warning indications, and learn how to properly deal with a stall should one occur. (Although you really do NOT want one of these to happen near the ground!). Most airplanes are also designed so the angle of attack of the inner portion of the wing is physically - and always - slightly different than the outer portion of the wing. So, even if you do stall, there’s a very good chance you won’t stall the entire wing all at once. You’ll still be generating some lift and you’ll still have some control over what’s happening.

Now, back to why angle of attack is so important to understand, and why this has turned into a mega-post. Remember, lift is the combination of airspeed and angle of attack. If you stall a plane - the angle of attack is too high - and the airstream becomes disordered it’s as if you suddenly didn’t have any angle of attack - and at that point your airspeed doesn’t matter. So, while stalls typically occur at low airspeeds, they don’t have to. They can occur at ANY airspeed. And since angle of attack is the angle relative to your line of travel, your angle compared to the horizon is only relevant when you’re in level flight. In other words, you could be in a high speed dive and still stall your airplane. All you have to do is pull back too abruptly on the stick, increasing your angle of attack beyond the critical number.

Doing so, by the way, is eye opening - in flight training I had an instructor who had me delibrately induce stalls at normal flight speeds, what are called “accelerated” stalls. It can be quite a ride. And it also very firmly impressed on my mind that stalls don’t occur because airspeed is too low, they occur because angle of attack is too high.

But, as I said, a pilot in my shoes doesn’t have a means of directly observing AoA - we can only directly observe the airspeed part of the equation. Fortunately, in most circumstances, that’s sufficient for our needs.

4

My questions are more about the difficulties of getting a license. How long does it take to get? Is the physical grueling? If you list flying as your hobby is your health/life insurance higher? How much does it cost to rent a plane for a trip? Are planes expensive to maintain if you bought one? Have you had any close calls?

5

How about getting the clearance for a trip. How long does it take to get clearance? How much is it? How much of a hassle is it?

6

That depends partly on you.

Although there is a minimum time requirement, the big issue for most people is skill acquisition - if you’ve done the minimum time but your skills aren’t at a certain minimum, you will have to put in more time. Very few folks complete the course in the minimum time of 40 flight hours (although it is possible), and I think the average is around 70-80 hours right now.

IF you had the needed money and all you had to do all day was learn to fly, and you had no other distractions, you could probably complete the necessary requirements in two weeks and the minimum 40 hours flight time. BUT - most of us can’t do that. We have families, jobs, grocery shopping, etc. to worry about. So… I’d say most adults I’ve seen get into this take about six months to a year calendar time and 60-80 hours flight time, in addition to ground school requirements. Assuming no interruptions.

Me, I had interruptions. I moved from one state to another (which meant changing flight schools) I had to take time off for some surgery (which story is related in the Infamous Pimple Thread). I took time off when my father-in-law was terminally ill… So I took 4 years calendar time overall. I’ve know people to take as long a 10 years. I don’t recommend this, but it’s good to know that if you start and have to stop halfway due to life problems - physical, financial, whatever - it doesn’t mean you won’t do it eventually.

I’d say it was more mentally grueling. Physically, it’s not that big a deal. Sure, at some point you’ll be practicing steep turns and those might put you under 1-1/2 to 2 g’s - but your typical roller coaster can inflict 3 or 4 g’s on you so you’ve probably experienced worse. Then again, you’re not expected to maintain personal control of a roller coaster that’s pulling g’s, so it’s a little different. Turbulence is not fun, and it’s more intense in a small plane - a good instructor will make sure you get to experience that, too, at some point. Finding out your airplane can stay aloft for 3 hours but you yourself only have a 2 hour bladder can be distressing. You’ll probably get a few scares, but they’re more like carnival ride “whoo-hoo!” than “oh-my-god-I’m-about-to-die” (usually). But really, unless you get into stunt flying or long endurance flights the physical aspects aren’t that big a deal.

The mental game is the tough one, but that would probably be a different post.

Yes.

Assuming you can even get life insurance. A lot of companies won’t insure pilots. On the positive side, there ARE companies that not only insure pilots, but seek them as customers. Sometimes, pilots have standard life insurance that covers everything BUT their flying time, then purchase an additional policy to cover them while flying.

So yes, becoming a pilot does complicate your insurance coverage.

Some health insurance policies also exclude injuries sustained while piloting, or even just riding, in general aviation aircraft. Again, in such cases you may be able to purchase a policy to cover you while flying.

I am fortunate in that the insurance I have from work does cover me while flying, but I double-check every year just to be sure they haven’t changed the policy.

That varies.

Airplanes are typically rented by the hour, and currently my prices range from $76 and hour to $97, depending on the particular airplane - and that includes fuel and oil in the price. But it’s not always as straight forward as it might seem. The cheaper planes are slower, so while it’s cheaper per hour, it might also take you more hours to get where you’re going. As an example, from my home to where my parents live it would be about a 3 hour flight in the El Cheapo - but only 1 hour 45 minutes in El Expensivo. So, if you do the math, the faster, more expensive airplane is actually cheaper to fly that trip because you spend less time in the air.

Um… well, there’s a cost, certainly…

Most folks I know spend somewhere between $1500 and $5,000 a year to maintain their airplane. That’s $125 to around $420 a month. So it’s roughly the size of a car payment if you look at it that way. And if you take care of your airplane, and keep up with maintenance, and take care of it, you can go years at that level. However - airplane parts are more expensive than comparable car parts. Typically 5-10 times more expensive. So when you have to replace something that can be VERY expensive. Engines are the worst - a new engine for even a small plane is easily $30,000-40,000. Fortunately, you can use a loan to pay for it. And, a typical small-time pilot might be able to go 15 or 20 years between engines. So when they’re good they’re very very good and when they get expensive they’re HORRID.

What I generally tell people is that if you can afford a luxury car or mid-range or higher SUV you can afford an airplane. They question then becomes do you want to spend that money on an airplane, or on something else? Small end plane owners typically own smaller houses, and older and less fancy cars, than others in their income bracket. It’s a matter of priorities. They’d rather spend the money on airplanes than a kick-butt car to drive around.

You can also opt for the “homebuilt” route, which IS cheaper, especially if you’re the actual builder and can therefore do most of the work on your own. On the other hand, there IS a higher risk associated with homebuilts (don’t try this if you’re a lousy mechanic) and they can complicate your insurance picture even more than a small Cessna or Piper

Yes.

I suppose you want to hear them?

I’m running out of my morning posting time, so I’ll get back to those later.

7

My instrutor sent me out on an extra cross-country because I was short of the 40 hours. :smiley:

[sub](Actually, I had logged time with dad – an instructor – but we didn’t count that time toward the training, as it was rather casual. So technically, I did have more than 40 hours. :wink: )[/sub]

Earning a helicopter license takes a minimum of 30 hours, but it took me longer. I spent a lot of time getting over an “airplane habit”. My pattern would be good, my approach would be good, my flare would be good… And then I couldn’t get the last bit down. My instructor couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t get it. Then it dawned on me: I made airplane landings with the stall horn blaring. Full-stall, short-field landings were the norm. (I wanted to save dad’s brakes, and also make the first turn-off.) In the helicopter you don’t keep pulling back on the stick until your wings stall, because they won’t. I realised that in the middle of a lesson, and when I made a perfect landing on my next attempt the instructor wondered what the hell happened.

I’d heard that the average was 50-60 hours.

8

Hiya broomstick,

Glad you started this thread. We seem to disagree about the general cost/benefit of light aircraft.

In that other train wreck of a thread, we discussed the costs of a small plane. And I will agree that a middle income family would be able to afford a 20 year old plane.

I thought you where arguing that a small plane is a good alternative to driving. I guess it depends on how you look at it.

Anyway, good work in that other thread.

9

Hey Boomstick!
So if the aircraft itself costs somewhere in the $400 / month range, what’s the cost for storage, fuel etc etc?

Also, how does it work if you take off from your home airport and land somewhere else. Do you need to have called a head of time to open an aircraft slot for you to “park” in? Do large airports (international airports) have slots for small planes?

And as an pilot (not full time I assume) can you recoup your costs by taking on charters? Enough to actually make money with small aircraft?

Thanks!

10

If you fly less than X hours a month, it is cheaper to rent than to buy.
(I forget what X is)
But if you own you of course have more access to the plane and a better say in how it is maintained.

Something every pilot should investigate is a flying club. Typically a group of pilots set up a non-profit corporation that owns the plane(s). This is generally cheaper than renting from a for-profit FBO* while you still have a say in the care of the planes.

Brromstick, what do you think of the Sport Pilot rules? Since I already have my PP-ASEL I’m curious what planes will come out if and when the rules ever get finalized.

Brian
*Fixed Based Operator. A place that rents planes, provides training, fuel, and maintenence (some or all of these)

11

How small are you?

12

D’OH! I was going to ask “How do you see over the dashboard?”

13

Flight instructor here.

Yes, it’s possible to do charter work. But for your average pilot with a plane, it would be waaaay too much effort for relatively little return.

Charter flying goes by a different set of flight rules than general aviation (Part 135 of the Federal Aviation Regulations). These rules are much more stringent as to aircraft operation, maintennance, pilot certification, and record keeping. I’ve been involved with some small charter outfits, and and it’s a tough business.

I as a flight instructor hold a commercial pilot’s license. But this does not mean I can just fly someone for hire in my Cessna 172 if they ask me. If I did, it would be considered an illegal Part 135 operation. I can SHARE expenses with a passenger, but they can’t pay the whole thing.

An exception to that rule outside of Part 135 is when I am hired for my pilot services, but I don’t also supply the aircraft. For example, my pilot friend owns his own airplane. If his wife (a non-pilot) called me and asked me to fly her in their airplane to meet her husband somewhere, I could do that and be paid for it legally. What I can’t do is take a paid passenger in an aircraft that I supply, because that’s considered charter.

Flight instruction and scenic rides are also exceptions to this under some circumstances.

Flight instructor school was more about regulations than anything else. At times I felt like I was really in law school.

BTW: Broomstick, I was glad to see you refer to angle-of-attack with regard to stalls.

Many, many experienced pilots will tell you that a plane stalls because it gets too slow. WROOONG!!! Speed is incidental to a stall. Although the speeds will correspond to the stall under many circumstances, they often will not. The definition of a stall is: the plane exceeded its critical angle of attack. Remember that for your next checkride folks.

14

Broomstick, you mentioned ultralights. Have you flown them? Are there many still in existence (i.e., has their popularity dimished over the past few years)? (This is a little OT, though…)

15

I was up at midnight last night?! Crikey, I’ve got to get to bed earlier. :slight_smile:

A small nit. You don’t climb because of excess lift. Excess lift would make you accelerate upwards. The next thing you know you’d be at FL 410 and still VFR. Lots of yucks.

Steady state flight always has lift = weight. Climbing, descending, or cruising at altitude that relation always holds. You climb because of excess power. When power generated = power required you hold altitude. When power generated < power required you descend. This last part explains why gliders tend to descend a lot.

Maneuvering flight is a different bag. I just have a thing re “more lift” or “excess lift” being used to explain climb in aircraft. Nice thread, particularly with regards to AOA. Carry on.

16

I’m happy to see there’s some interest in this thread. I’ll try to answer everyone’s questions, but between wanting to give inteligent, thoughtful answers and having a life to conduct I probably won’t be able to answer instantly. So please be patient, I’ll eventually get to everyone.

Hmm… to answer that I’m first going to introduce a little terminology and some definitions (don’t panic - I’ll make it quick and painless)

Flight plan- this is actually sort of obvious, in that it’s what you plan to do with your aircraft. However, there’s more than one type of flight plan, which I’ll get to later. I will point out, however, that it is very rare that the flight conforms excactly to plan.

ATC - Air Traffic Control

Clearance - this is what we pilots call the permissions, instructions, and so forth we get from ATC. So, if ATC gives you permission to enter a particular airspace, we say you are cleared to enter it, and if you do so you have obeyed your clearance. If you file a flight plan, ATC may tell you “cleared as filed”, or they may give you a different clearance to follow.

VFR - Visual Flight Rules. This is when your primary navigation is by eyesight, looking out of the cockpit. Everybody can fly VFR.

IFR - Instrument Flight Rules. This is when your primary navigation is by instruments, and you must file an official flight plan and fly with clearance from ATC. In order to legally fly IFR, you require an IFR rating, which requires additional training and testing beyond the basic private pilot license.

Now I can answer your questions. If I’m flying VFR and I stay out of airspace around busy airports where I require a clearance from ATC in order to enter the area, I don’t have to file a flight plan with anyone, and I don’t have to get a clearance, and I don’t have to even talk to ATC. I just get into my airplane and go where I want to, weather permitting. Just like I can get into my car and drive wherever I want to without getting permission. Given the wide-open spaces and vast rural areas in the United States that exist between cities, that’s a lot of territory.

I will also add that this is a characteristic of the United States - other countries may have far more stringent rules and requirements. Some countries have no general aviation at all.

All that said, it is in my best interests to plan my flight thoroughly beforehand, particularly if I am going any distance. And I certainly have the option to file what is know as a VFR flight plan with Flight Service. But that’s not a request to go somewhere, that’s mostly a mechanism where, if I am overdue to arrive somewhere, they have some clue where to send the search parties. While I am filing such a thing with flight service they will also inform me if there are special airspace restrictions or other things I should be aware along my intended route. One memorable Saturday afternoon I was planning to fly from Gary, Indiana over Joilet, Illinois, then further north to Aurora. Well, while talking to Flight Service the briefer informed me of a hot air balloon festival along my route and two amateur rocket clubs that had launch permission to 5,000 feet in two different locations, and then he started talking about skydive operations… at which point I decided that maybe I wanted a route with a little less activity in my path. So there can be real benefits to filing a flight plan, or just talking to Flight Services, even if it’s not required.

[small disclaimer for the pilots: I will simplify the following so we don’t get bogged down in regulations. I want the non-pilots to stay interested, not fall asleep :slight_smile: )

Now, let’s say I did want to fly over the city of Chicago to, say Palwaukee airport with is just north of the big city. Well… I have to pass by Midway and O’Hare, two VERY busy airports along the way. If I pass within a certain distance of those airports I have to talk with ATC. That’s what’s meant by controlled airspace, it’s under air traffic control (more or less - like I said, I don’t want to get too bogged down here). So, I would dial in the proper radio frequency and say something like “Midway, Cessna 2273J, request permission to transit your airspace south to north”. Most of the time they’ll say something like “Cessna 73J, radar contact, squawk 1234 and maintain heading and altitude” The “squawk” bit means tune my transponder to that frequency (this helps them keep track of me) and the rest means “keep going as you are”. But sometimes they’ll need to steer you around other traffic, or they’ll ask you to change altitude. Sometimes they’ll ask you to call them when you pass a certain landmark. Sometimes they’ll say “Do not enter”, which means just that. In which case you have the option of circling outside their airspace, waiting for permission, or you have to go around. And that’s about all there is to that, other than doing what they ask you to do.

Unless, of course, that might result in something unsafe. A pilot always has both the right and the duty to avoid accidents. So if the controller ever tells you to something unsafe, you say “can not comply”. But don’t do that unless you really have to.

Which brings me to two more terms. If a controller gives you a command and barks “EXPEDITE!” into the microphone it means do it now before someone gets hurt. If a pilot says “MAYDAY” then it means I have a serious emergency and I need help before someone gets hurt, at which point ATC will fall over themselves trying to get traffic out of your way and render any assistance they can. Needless to say, neither term should be used lightly.

Anyhow, continuing on our journey, as I approach Palwaukee, I’ll have to talk to their control tower. And that’s much the same as befoe: “Palwaukee Tower, Cessna 2273J, request permission to land” and they’ll usually come back with “73J, you are cleared for runway 34” Sometimes they’ll tell you you’re second or third in line for the runway. But I don’t need to call ahead (an exception will be dealt with later in this, another mega-post). A public-use airport is just that, public, and if you show up they’ll try their best to accomodate you as rapidly as possible. Now, if I did fly into, say, Midway, they might make me wait to squeeze me in between the jet traffic, but I have as much right to be there (at least in theory) as the airlines. On the other hand, I don’t like sharing airspace with passenger jets - it’s somewhat like riding a skateboard down the freeway. Your vehicle is very much outclassed by the heavier traffic. Which is why most of us small guys prefer small airports the big boys don’t use, or mid-size airports where they’re used to a mix of traffic.

Now, for a very busy airport it might be wise to call ahead, even if it’s not necessary, especially if you want to store your airplane in a hangar overnight - they might run out of hangar room, in which case your airplane stays outside. Some airports charge “tie-down” fees for storing your airplane, and you’ll want to know about ahead of time. Some have landing fees. Some don’t. So really, a phone call before you take off might be prudent, especially going into a large airport. For a really small airport, you might want to make that phone to ask if they have fuel to sell, or if they have anyone on premsis on, say, a Sunday morning in case you need something. Many airplanes have a phone line with a recording on it giving you current weather, which is very handy to know as well. One time when I flew into Fort Wayne - which is sort of like Midway as far as airspace classification, regulations go, and also has big jet traffic - I called ahead to ask when their heavy traffic times were and delibrately planned to arrive at a time other than rush hour. (I still wound up behind an F-14 and in front of a 737. Oh well, I tried…) There’s no penalty for calling for information, and frequently some real benefit.

Airports always seem quite willing to find someplace to put your airplane. Small planes like I fly can be parked on grass or dirt, so if they run out of hangar space and pavement they’ll park you on the front lawn of the terminal building if they have to. When they grounded everyone on 9/11/01 a LOT of airplanes wound up parked on grass, but room was found for everyone.

O’Hare International - which is about as busy as an airport can get - still allows small general aviation airplanes. I knew a couple flight instructors who used to fly a Cessna 150 into O’Hare around once a year, apparently for yucks and to put “ORD” in their logbooks. They usually did this around 2 am, so as not to tick off ATC too much - during a peak time they last thing ATC is going to want to see is a C150 (a very slow plane) knocking on their door to be let in among the Big Boy Jets. It would really mess up their traffic flow, and they might even be able to get away with telling you to go elsewhere if things were that busy. They might suggest your little airplane might be comfortable at, say, Waukegan, Palwaukee, or Schaumberg rather than O’Hare. But if they can accomodate you they are obligated to do so.

Is all that a hassle? Well… some people think so and never fly into airports with towers or over big cities. Me, if I have a reason to go to a place like that I do so - if you plan your flight thoroughly it’s about as much hassle as taking the correct exit off the freeway on a long trip. If you haven’t flown into a place like that for awhile it’s usually no big deal to find someone to double-check your plans, or help you rehearse a little for the radio calls you’ll need to make if it makes you feel a little more confident.

The relationship between ATC and pilots isn’t adversarial (usually - we can all name exceptions) but more collaborative. For instance, at the towered airport nearest to me (which is not very busy) they’re usually quite accomodating. So, if an instructor wants to bring a student there the tower will let the instructor decide if he wants the student to make a full stop landing, or go-around, or land and take off again immediately. A pilot can request a particular runway, rather than waiting to be assinged one. Although traffic patterns normally require all turns to be to the left, you can request a right-hand pattern and if traffic is VERY light ATC might set you up for that - with the caution that if several other planes show up the tower might have to warn you off until they land. So really, it’s more requests and negotiation than commands and orders. The busier things are the more commanding ATC becomes - but it’s their job to put safety ahead of your convenience in that case.

And that’s the story on VFR flight. IFR flight is a little different, and I don’t have an IFR rating so I’m not really entirely conversant with the procedures (IFR pilots feel free to jump in and clarify things). The big difference with IFR is that your under the direction of ATC at all times during the flight. You must file a flight plan - in this case, it’s not a directive for search and rescue (well, you hope not!) but more a reservation for time and attention from ATC. At an airport with a tower, they’ll tell you when to take off, what direction to go, and so forth. You can take off IFR from an airport without a tower, but in that case ATC gives you a “window” of about 5-10 minutes (if I recall correctly) during which you must take off - and on a busy day that “window” might be 1/2 an hour, 40 minutes, or more after your initial call. If you miss that window, you have to cancel the first plan, file again, and go back to the end of the line. So, once in awhile, you can see pilots running through the airport building and charging out to their airplanes to meet that deadline. Anyhow, once you’re high enough to appear on radar, you call ATC and let them know you’re there, and they direct you from there.

As I think I mentioned earlier, you can’t legally fly IFR without an IFR rating. Aside from legalities, to attempt to do so would be extremely foolish, and quite likely fatal. VFR pilots are given minimal training in IFR flight, but it’s ONLY for emergency purposes, to get out of a bad situation.

A pilot flying IFR is expected to follow ATC instructions exactly and promptly. The pilot can request a change, or ATC can impose a change, but nothing is done on a whim. A pilot can also ask to cancel his IFR clearance - he might do so if he flies out of bad weather into a clear, sunny location, for example - in which case he reverts to VFR flight. Or, if weather deteriorates unexpectedly while the pilot is aloft he can request an IFR clearance from the air, but I gather they really would prefer you to avoid those situations whenever possible.

Now, there are situations where a pilot might be required to call ahead. What I said about controlled airspace assumes you’re in a conventional GA airplane with transponder and radio - but there are airplanes without transponders. There are even airplanes without radios. If such an airplane wants to fly to an airport where such equipment is normally required, they will have to ask permission first.

A real life example: A group of ultralight pilots and homebuilt aircraft enthusiasts wanted to fly into an event at Meigs Field in Chicago (obviously, this was back before Mayor Daley backhoed the runway). Now, ultralights are normally forbidden to enter controlled airspace at all, and a homebuilt without transponder or radio is barred from the airspace above Chicago. But these guys wanted to make an exception. So they wrote to the FAA in advance (a couple months in advance) and said they wanted an exception made and what did they have to do to get permission. The FAA said they had to describe the number and sorts of aircraft, at least one licensed pilot had to be in charge of the group, and that person had to have a working radio. They had to give the FAA an exact description of their planned flight path over the city, and indicate where, if an emergency landing was required, they could land. They had to take off from a particular airport, and travel as a group. The person with the radio had to maintain contact with ATC the whole way.

Well, they complied with the requests, submitted all required information, and received a letter from the FAA granting them permission. On the appointed day they gathered at the designated airport. They called the ATC facility they had been told to call and told them they were taking off, how many were in the group, and their expected arrival time. And they flew to Meigs, landed, and basically repeated the exercise to return home.

A deaf pilot, who can’t use the radio, would have to do something similar prior to flying to an airport with a tower - contact ATC ahead of time, let them know he won’t talk to them over the air (in case you’re wondering, towers have “light-guns” that allow them to visually signal airplanes without working radios), and receive a time frame in which he has permission to arrive.

The other time a VFR pilot would require permission ahead of time is when crossing an international border. In such a case, you have to call ahead of time to let them know you’re coming and when you expect to arrive. You also much file an international flight plan prior to take off.

17

Braggart

But we still love you :wink:

18

I’m 5’3"

Most airplane seats are adjustable, and I adjust 'em. When necessary, I use an extra seat cushion (sometimes two).

Rudder pedal extensions are available.

One of our local pilots works as a captain for Southwest for a living. He’s shorter than I am. According to him, the seats on a Boeing 737 are also adjustable, and he has no more problem seeing out the front than anyone else. There are a lot of small pilots, because as a general rule being shorter (and lighter) is usually more an advantage than a disadvantage, particularly in small airplanes.

19

Señor Broomstick, you rock. Great thread. Keep it up.

A small correction, however. It’s commonly known that IFR stands for I Follow Roads.

And you pegged the collaborative effort between pilots and ATC.

ATC: I’ll guarantee separation if you’ll do what I say.
Pilot: Well, I’ll do what you say if you’ll guarantee separation.

20

Ummmm. Broomstick’s a female MonkeyMensch.