MY OPINION

ARTHUR ROSEN

THIS AND THAT

FAA

A couple of months ago I wrote about how helpful the FAA was in re-instituting the VOR A approach and Cat D approaches at Scottsdale (SDL) Airport. They were published April, 2012. While flying and listening to the SDL ATIS I heard that the VOR A approach was not available. I called the tower to discuss this, and they were never made aware of the new approaches. I then called TRACON to inform them and found out that no procedure was in place to notify airports of changes in approaches or departures. After our conversation TRACON has instituted new procedures to let airports know of any changes. This could have been a serious safety issue and glad that it was not.

Sky Radar

I deal with a lot of retailers in and out of Aviation. I have never dealt with anyone that did not give a thirty day price guarantee on their product, until now. I bought a Sky Radar ADS-B IN unit after they dropped their price $150.00. Two weeks after I received my unit they dropped the price another $220. In addition their 7 day ground shipping charge was $30.00. Their product is excellent however I can’t recommending buying from them as I feel ripped off. I was also in touch with Sky Radar on several occasions, and they knew I was writing a column on their ADS-B In.

There are other players in this field now, and I suggest you check them out before making a decision.

WINGXPRO

I have made many flights with WingX. They keep adding informational videos to their Web site. Their tips are very informative, and I keep learning new ways to fully utilize this product.

After flying with Synthetic Vision for a while, I decided this is not a product for me. I receive terrain avoidance from the moving map page. I do not need duplication. On a VFR flight I keep my head up looking outside and refer to the moving map when needed. I would definitely buy the Seattle Avionics geo referenced charts if you fly IFR.

OSHKOSH

Won’t be making it to Oshkosh this year. I think there will be a lot of interesting product introductions. Check out Clarity ADS-B IN. They have already reduce their price. Remember XM Weather is $55 a month, and the ADS-B units are now little as $600. This means the payback is now only 11 months.

HOMEBUILTS

I have a hangar neighbor that built a Vans RV7A and has flown it over 150 hours a year since finishing his project over a 5 year period.

Another friend is just finishing up his RV7A. He built the whole project in his workshop at home, and it will probably be painted and complete by time this goes to print. He has more equipment on his RV7 that the airliners would be jealous of, including ADS B IN and OUT. Their are so many buttons on the stick he will never have to remove his hand for almost anything.

It’s time the FAA recognize the quality of equipment being put on experimental aircraft and allow these products on older certified aircraft. Wouldn’t it be nice to have an autopilot for 1/3 the cost of a TSO’d autopilot. On older aircraft, TSO’d equipment is too expensive to justify the purchase. We would be a lot safer fleet if the FAA would open their minds. I bet that will never happen.

PODCASTS AND BLOGS

Times are changing. It’s hard to write a column that is relevant as I usually write a column two months in advance of published date and submit the final column 1 month in advance. With the advent of both audio and video podcasts along with blogs that are posted online information is more current. That means if publications like PLANE AND PILOT NEWS are to survive the columnist must write more of a generic story then one that is on current and hot news, as everyone will be aware of that news as it happens. Product reviews are good because I can try to educate the reader to assist in making their decision. There are several columnist for this publication that do an excellent job in providing information that won’t be stale by time you read it.

TRAINING

In previous columns I stated it’s not only the hours one has but most important is the training one has. The airlines have the ability to train their pilots to the highest levels, but they don’t. The reason is cost. The sim is booked almost 24/7 and there is not enough time to perform tasks outside of what is expected. Airlines throw their pilots in the simulator to get through the basic recurrent training. The pilot doesn’t want to do anything else in the sim once their ticket is renewed. The airlines don’t want to do any further training as it cost money. There are so many scenarios that aren’t covered in the sim such as coffin corner of high altitude flight, icing on decent, stalls and many others. So our airline pilots are not as well trained as we think they are.

I was incorrect when I stated that all pilots need a college degree to fly for the airlines. I talked to Roger Cohen, President of the Regionals. Roger stated that a degree is not necessary to fly for the Regionals. I then talked to a Delta Captain and Delta now requires a degree. Talking to US Air, they do not require a degree. Southwest Airlines does not require a degree, however it is preferred that one has a degree. SWA pilot requirements for hours and turbine hours is the highest in the industry. Sim time does not count. One must also have a 737 type rating before completing the hiring requirements.

I personally feel that SWA has the best trained and most capable pilots of any airline. Their are great individual pilots at all the airlines. The FAA has no requirement that one must have a degree to be an airline pilot.

I was also corrected by Roger that current FO’s are not grandfathered under the proposed 1500 hour rule. The FAA, not Congress, will determine what is needed when they issue their rule making decision. The airlines are asking to grandfather the current FO’s so there won’t be a shortage of airline pilots.

As I stated earlier I still believe it is not the number of hours one has, but the training they have. Flying around in circles as a flight instructor to build hours just doesn’t cut the mustard. More sim training is needed where pilots won’t be graded for their mistakes, but the airlines don’t have enough available sim time.