You know the kind of flight I’m talking about, the flight were you really aren’t into it. Maybe you really don’t want to fly that day or maybe you have done it so many times that you don’t think anything will happen.

See if any of these fit:

• You kind of do a haphazard airplane walk-around not really “looking” at anything.
• You may check the weather but not real hard.
• You taxi but you aren’t really looking around and clearing the area.
• As you taxi onto the runway, you glance at final and the runway, but you don’t really see anything.
• You advance the throttle, or thrust lever, roll down the runway, lift off and begin your flight.
• While you are flying, you aren’t really scanning for traffic, you aren’t monitoring your fuel, and you don’t have an emergency landing site
• In the traffic pattern, you occasionally make a broadcast announcement and vaguely state your position relative to the airport

Do any of these apply to you?

They have to me. It still happens to me, too.

Sure, I get bored and I get that, “It can’t happen to me” attitude.

What is the best way to combat that type of attitude?

Well, over the years I’ve learned to recognize when it is happening. I remind myself that accidents can happen to anyone. In no way am I special. There is no “no accident” magical umbrella over my head that is going to keep me from having an accident or getting violated. It can happen at any time and anywhere and usually without warning.

So how do I combat it?

I do it by flying with a purpose!

When I arrive at the airport, I remind myself that I have a purpose to this flight. A “mission,” you could say.

I remind myself that TODAY is the day that I have that accident that I always train for but hope will never happen. This is the day were I have to land my airplane in the proverbial Potomac River. This is the day where my engine will fail at V1 and I will have to accomplish my single-engine procedures and return to the airport and get all the passengers off safely.

But there is more to it too. This is also the day that I get to bring passengers back to flying. It is the day that I get passengers to trust regional airline pilots and the major carriers that we represent. It is the day when my crew and I can help passengers enjoy their trip and get them safely to their destination. 

If I have a purpose, I have a reason for doing my job better. And I have found that when I have a purpose, I enjoy flying a lot more and give my mind, my subconcious mind, direction and spirit which gives me a positive spirit and strangely enough, energy.

So, will I slip back into my old ways of “just flying?” Yeah—occasionally, I am sure. But—I have a tool for dealing with it and that is to remember that I have a “purpose” to my flying. No matter what the occasion.

Challenge yourself to have a purpose every time you fly, whether you are flying general aviation or professionally, and I think that you too will enjoy your flying more and you will find that your passengers will enjoy it more too.

To Your Flying Success,

Jeffrey

If I had to pick between flying in a snow storm and shooting an approach to minimums in icing conditions or flying around thunderstorms, I would most the time pick flying in a snow storm.

The reason is because snow storms, for the most part, are predictable. If you fly into a snow storm in the CRJ200 or CRJ700, unless the visibility is zero or you are experiencing severe icing, you are most likely going to make it in. If you don’t, then you go to your alternate.

Thunderstorms though are a completely different monster. Flying into a thunderstorm can make you and your passengers miserable. It can also damage the airplane. Not something you want to have to explain to the chief pilot.

The 2005 Nall Report, within the pilot-related accidents for the category of general aviation, accidents, “Nearly 25 percent of fatal weather-related accidents were due to encounters with thunderstorms. All involved pilots were in contact with ATC, but still flew into severe conditions.”

I think that is too many. Don’t you?

It is easy in hindsight to judge those pilot’s decision-making, but then again, we weren’t there so we shouldn’t be too hasty to judge. But one thing I do know…if maybe those pilots had just a little more training, maybe they would still be alive today.

OK, so here is my big tip for pilots flying around near thunderstorms, “Don’t fly into a thunderstorm!” Easy enough, right? Well, maybe not that easy.

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You might not have heard, but on June 30, 2010, air traffic controllers (ATC), specifically ground controllers and tower controllers, are now required to issue specific runway crossing instructions for each runway to be crossed.

In the past, ground controllers would say, “Taxi to runway 35R via (taxiway) Golf and Echo.” In the past, this meant that you could cross ALL intersecting runways on your way to the departure runway unless stated otherwise.

The new phraseology though now starts with the runway you are going to taxi to and then the specific route they want you take will be stated along with any runway crossings or hold short instructions.

Here is an example, “SkyWest 1234, Runway 35R, taxi via Golf and Echo, cross Runway 12, hold short Runway 35L.”

Do you see the difference? The runway you are ultimately going to taxi to is the first thing stated after your callsign.

Furthermore, let’s say you will have to cross multiple runway intersections, the ground controller will stagger the crossing clearances so that you you can more clearly understand the clearance. Using our example above, the ground controller would not have you cross Runway 12 and Runway 35L, in the same clearance. As always, there is an exception. If say there are two parallel runways, and their centerlines are less than 1,000 feet apart, the controllers may clear you to cross both runways in the same clearance. Don’t forget to read back the hold short instructions!

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There are 3 things you need to do if you are going to be a career pilot. If you haven’t noticed, the economy is supposedly not doing too well and neither is the airline industry for that matter. I really dislike all the “fear mongering” that is going on but it is hard not to get caught up in it. I saw a bumper sticker once that said, “If you aren’t totally disgusted, then you are not paying attention.” Unfortunately though this bumper sticker is a message for every pilot flying the line or attempting to make a career in aviation and that is — you need a backup plan.

The Aviation Reality

Too many future pilots decide on aviation all starry-eyed, dreaming of flying heavy-metal and find that when they do get to airline industry that the pay, life style, and the work rules are a hard thing to swallow.

As a new hire at a regional airline, you will only make about $19 per hour (before taxes and insurance) for the first year which I believe puts you in or very near the official poverty level of modern day America. Put on top of that that after your first year, your pay will go up to a whopping $27 per hour, your life will be a little easier, but not much.

It doesn’t help these days either that captain upgrades, even at the best regional airlines, are taking between 5 to 10 years now.

What can you do?

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It doesn’t matter whether you are flying a Cessna 152 or a Boeing 747, knowing how to taxi an airplane safely and efficiently are just as important as flying the airplane.

It is unfortunate, but numerous accidents occur every year because an aircraft collides with a vehicle because the pilot fails to clear the area or because it moves forward because the brake wasn’t set.

One of my flight instructors once asked, “How fast should you taxi an airplane?“

It’s a question asked by a lot of flight instructors. The answer you hear mostly is, “A brisk walk!” Or something similar. He looked at me and said, “Well, what’s a brisk walk?” At that point, I gave up and shrugged my shoulders.

He said, “Wouldn’t it be a speed that was safe? One that you could stop the airplane quickly in an emergency and always have control.” Again, I shrugged my shoulders and said, “Yea, I guess.“

Over the years, I learned how to taxi safely and with finesse. It really all made sense one day when I was watching the “Blue Angels” practice one day in Rockford, Illinois. We were waiting out a break in their practice session to be able to take off for Denver. Three Blue Angels were up practicing while three more were waiting at the end of the runway for their turn. The three in the air eventually landed and were taxing back to the ramp when I noticed how regally they were taxiing. They were in no hurry at all, if fact they were going just the right speed that spoke volumes about how important and good they were. I thought to myself, “Man, that looks cool!”

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