FlyCRJ.com

Thanks for coming back! I hope you are finding this information on flying and on the CRJ 200 useful. Be sure to sign up for email updates or my RSS feed.

I respect your email privacy. You can unsubscribe at any time!

Last week I had to attend my semi-annual simulator proficiency check (PC) in the CRJ-200 at FlightSafety in Salt Lake City. As a captain, currently I’m required to do these training events every six months. All Part 121 and Part 135 pilots have either semi-annual or annual recurrent simulator proficiency checks that they have to accomplish to the airline transport (ATP) standards. Or it has to be something the FAA has approved. If you remember, I did a line-oriented flight training (LOFT) session awhile ago which is a little different but a great learning experience nonetheless.

Anyway, the whole event is a “safety” and currency issue. You get to experience scenarios that hopefully you never have to deal with in real life, but if you do, you have some experience and training from which to approach these challenges.

These training events have multiple objectives:

+ An engine problem at the most critical moment of takeoff which is V1 which may be either an engine fire, damage, or just a flameout. To make it a little more interesting, they reduce the visibility down to 500 feet.
+ System failures that can cripple your airplane if you don’t respond properly to what your airplane is telling you. Hydraulic failures and electrical failures are two favorite categories.
+ Put these together with flying in IMC conditions in mountainous terrain and you really learn a lot about your skill level.
+ …and many more!

For many years, my airline has been proactive in its training. And recently, they have gone to a two-day training event. The first day we get to do a few maneuvers that we never get to experience like high-altitude stalls, complex departure procedures in IMC weather, no flap landings, and different windshear scenarios. It is a non-jeopardy event which means if something goes wrong, you don’t “fail” your checkride you just get more training. Basically it takes a lot of pressure off you and gets you comfortable with flying the simulator again.

On this particular day, we practiced:

+  high-altitude stalls and how to recover from them
+ departure stalls and the recovery
+ windshear recognition and recovery for both windshear cautions (i.e, improving performance) and windshear warnings (i.e., degrading performance).

High-Altitude Stalls

These type of stalls are dangerous because in many ways they are slightly different to stall recoveries that we have always learned. In general aviation (GA) flying, once we either recognize the stall or are in the stall, i.e., when the wing stops generating lift, we have been taught to add full power, brake the stall by pushing forward on the yoke, and then regain level flight as soon as possible with minimal loss of altitude.

In the CRJ200, at altitude, say FL340 (or 34,000 feet MSL), if you encounter a stall, you have to be quick and decisive in your actions. Call for MAX THRUST, i.e., thrust levers to the stops, then push your arms forward and set your pitch attitude at 10 degrees down and lock your arms. Your goal is get the airflow back over the wings as quickly as possible, much like in GA days, but realize, you are going to lose about 4000 to 5000 feet in the recovery. Declare an emergency and don’t try to level the airplane until you have reached .70M. Then…and only then…begin to level out…slowly.

In this situation, you have to remember to be re-trimming the airplane for nose down, since at level cruise at FL340, you are trimmed for nose up. It might take you putting constant pressure on the trim tab, while the trim tab warning will be going off. If you don’t re-trim the airplane, and you relax pressure on the yoke, the nose could pitch up and you are now going to enter a secondary stall. Not good! If you don’t think this event in serious, read the NTSB report on Pinnacle Airlines Flight 3701.

Departure Stalls

Every pilot practices departure stalls. You learn them when you are doing your Private Pilot training and you learn them when you are flying a turbojet like the CRJ200. Why? Because for one reason, they are that important, and two, recognition is just as important as recovery.

In the CRJ200, here is how you do the departure stall (in the simulator):

1. Stabilize the airplane at 10,000 feet MSL and set thrust 45% N1 (Easy technique: Pull the thrust lever back to the stops then advance an inch forward. That should be about 45% N1.)
2. Call “BUG Vref FLAPS 20 +5” (Usually around 159 knots at 47,000 lbs.)
3. On speed, call “FLAPS 8, FLAPS 20, GEAR DOWN“
4. Top of the speed bucket start a 20 degree bank turn. Your scan should focus mostly on the altimeter and roll scale/pointer all the while making minor adjustments with the trim tab to avoid having to use too much back pressure. Be sure not to put too much trim in though because you will soon have to take it out and it could affect your recovery.
5. At stick shaker, call “MAX THRUST” and slowly rotate to wings level, 10 degrees nose up pitch and hold it there. If you do it right you should not get the stick shaker. Smoothness is the key! But if you do get the stick shaker, just keep in on 10 degrees.
6. Once you notice a positive reversal of the vertical speed indicator, call “GEAR UP“
7. Recover any altitude lost while holding the nose up 10 degrees and when the speed reaches the bottom of the speed bucket and you are back at your entry altitude, put the command bars on the horizontal line and hold it there. THIS is the most critical step!
8. At the top up the speed bucket, call “FLAPS 8, FLAPS UP, BUG 200“
9. Adjust the thrust levers to maintain 200 knots.

Windshear Recognition and Recovery

Over the years, airports have gotten a lot better at providing information on possible windshear at airports. If you listen to an ATIS, they will broadcast possible low-level windshear (LLWS) if the conditions exist. But, if you are at an airport where they don’t have this equipment, all you have to do is be aware of the wind conditions around you to determine if windshears are possible, then brief and plan for the possibility.

But no airport warning system is as good as a pilot recognition of the event. You should be aware of “unplanned” changes in airspeed like fluctuations of ± 15 knots of airspeed, changes in vertical speed of 500 fpm, pitch attitude changes of 5 degrees or more, and 1 dot (or more) displacement from the glideslope.

Your goal during possible windshear conditions should always have a  stablized approached, use minimum thrust reductions, use the most suitable runway for the wind conditions, use vertical guidance like an ILS or VASI, and maybe use an approach speed that is 5 knots fast which is the top of the speed bucket.

Windshear "Warning" and "Caution" Displays of the Primary Flight Display (PFD)

The CRJ200 windshear alert (caution) and warning system is part of the Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS)  and uses the radio altimeter for height above terrain information. It is armed from 10 feet to 1,500 feet AGL on takeoff and vice-versa on landing.  

If you encounter an alert windshear, an AMBER (yellow) ”WINDSHEAR” message will be displayed on the primary flight display (PFD). There is no escape guidance because an alert is based on increasing performance. I typically continue the approach and monitor my instruments.

However, when the CRJ200 aural warning system says “WINDSHEAR, WINDSHEAR, WINDSHEAR” and displays a RED  ”WINDSHEAR” message on the PFD, you have to take action immediately.

Here are the steps that you need to be taken:

• During the first two seconds of a windshear warning, the autopilot will begin the recovery but will then disengage.
• Press a TOGA button on either side of the thrust levers
• Set thrust levers for MAX THRUST which is to the stops
• Follow the flight director commands
• Monitor vertical speed
• Increase pitch attitude as necessary but if stick shaker starts, then reduce pitch slightly to stop the stick shaker
• Occasional stick shaker is acceptable though
• Remember altitude before airspeed
• No gear or flap changes till clear of windshear

Note: Do not stall the airplane while trying to escape the windshear. Windshear warnings take priority over all other warnings EXCEPT stall warnings.

If you would like to know more of this aspect of the CRJ200, then download my ebook, “The CRJ200 Quicknotes Study Guide” here.

In my next post, I’ll discuss more of the proficiency check and talk about some of the guidelines I use when I perform steep turns, single-engine maneuvers, and much more.

To your flying success…

Jeffrey

P.S. What have you experienced during your last PC or LOFT? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Related posts:

• Proficiency Checks: Just a Given for Pilots
• Simulators and IFR Proficiency
• Rejected Takeoffs in the CRJ-200
• CRJ-200 Recurrent Simulator Proficiency Check – Part 2
• Double Check Your FMS and the GPS Waypoints