INSIDE THE PC-12’S ELECTRO-MECHANICAL GEAR SYSTEM
FALL 2014 PILATUS OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSOCIATION
!
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+PILATUS PILOT-PROFICIENCY PROGRAM +
+STEERING CLEAR OF LOW
+
LOW-LEVEL
LEVEL WIND SHEAR +
+LOSS OF CONTROL STILL A GREMLIN +
+IRS PASSIVE-ACTIVITY RULES +
Pilatus aircraft owners and pilots prefer the advantages of
partnering with Tempus Aircraft Sales and Service:
Unmatched industry expertise
Outstanding customer service
“Attention to detail” philosophy
governing everything we do
Whether you’re looking for a trusted source for a new or
pre-owned aircraft, or you need a Pilatus Authorized Service
Center to maintain your PC-12, Tempus Aircraft Sales and
Service is here for you.
Contact one of our authorized Pilatus sales representatives for more information:
Centennial Airport (KAPA)
12260 East Control Tower Rd
Englewood, CO 80112
Bergstrom Airport (KAUS)
4309 Emma Browning Ave, Suite 112
Austin, TX 78719
Matt Rule
303.799.9999
mrule@tempusaircraft.com
Emmy Bateman
303.799.9999
ebateman@tempusaircraft.com
www.tempusaircraft.com
CONTENTS
PILATUS OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSOCIATION
4 I
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•
FALL 2014
•
VOLUME 17, ISSUE 3
12
36
36
50
D E P A R T ME
E N TS
S
6
FROM
FR
OM THE PRE
RESI
SIDE
D NT
8
NEW & NO
NEW
NOTA
TA
ABL
BLE
E
26 IR
RS PA
PASS
S IV
SS
VE-AC
E-AC
ACTI
T VI
VITY
T RUL
ULES
E
Pro
Pr
ovin
in
ng th
t e ti
time
me ded
e icated to yo
our
u bus
usin
us
in
nes
ess.
B JON
BY
JONATH
ATH
HAN
A LEV
LEVY
Y
28 PILA
PIILA
P
LATU
TUS
S PILOT
T PR
ROF
OFIC
ICIENC
NCY PROG
NC
O RA
OG
R M
GA
G
AININ
IN
NG MO
MOME
ME
ENT
NTU
UM
Learn ho
Le
h w to
o qualify for new
ew inc
cen
enti
tive
ti
vess
ve
o er
off
ered
ed
d by in
insu
su
ura
r nc
ce unde
un
nde
derw
wri
r te
ters
rs.
BY REB
REBECC
EC A LORB
ORBER
30
0 WE
WEEK
EKEN
ENDE
EN
DERS
DE
RS
34 MI
MIPA
PAD
PA
D
Professi
sio
ional
onal
al Charts for the iPad
Je
epp TC an
nd FD
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BY JOH
JOHN
N D. RULE
LEY
Y
46 2014
1 CONVENTION SESSION RECAP
BY JACK LONG
O , POPA BOARD MEMBER
FEATURES
12
PC-1
- 2 TIMES TW
WO
Pilatus Aircraft introduces a pure jet, FJ-44powered PC-24.
BY BILL
L COX
18
GEARING
G
E
UP
T e new PC-112 NG electro-mechanical landing
Th
gear system that makes the best even better.
B RON COX
BY
36 READING BETW
WEE
EN TH
THE
E LINES OF TAFS
Steering clear of lo
loww-le
wleve
le
vel wind shear.
BY SCO
CO
COTT
O C. DENNST
S AED
ST
ED
DT
42 UPSETT
T ING
G
L sss of controll re
Lo
r mains a gremlin, and here’s why.
BY JOHN MORR
ORRIS
IS
50 AI
A R JO
JOUR
UR
RNE
NEY
Y’S
S AM
AMAZING FLIG
GHT
AROU
AR
OUND
OU
ND THE
E WOR
O LD
It’s a 76It
6 da
day,
y 25,00
y,
00nm journe
n y that takes you and
your air
yo
irpl
plan
pl
a e to 27 countries and 36 total destinations.
BY JOD
DI ANN COD
DY
From the President
SUCCESSFUL SAVANNAH
2014 CONVENTION
E
tin Savannah Harbor on the banks of the
annah River hosted more than 240 atrepresenting more than 55 aircraft owners,
PC-12 fleets and 28 vendors. Aircraft arriving
at KSAV enjoyed a delicious barbecue lunch, courtesy
of our host FBO, Sheltair, and were greeted by Ignaz
Gretener, Pilatus Aircraft PC-12 program manager,
and POPA Board Members Joe Howley and Brian
Cleary. Special thanks to Epps Aviation for serving
as the Host Service Center for the Convention. Their
efforts were very much appreciated.
Keynote speaker John Lynch, CEO of the Royal
Flying Doctor Service in Australia, kicked off the two
full days of seminars focused on PC-12 information
and education. Lynch’s story of the RFDS’s history
and growth using the PC-12 in a very demanding
environment was eye-opening.
The first full day of the convention continued
with informative presentations from Tim Cloutier of
PlaneSense, Howard Cox of SimCom, Steve Hammack from Honeywell, and Dale Wright, National
Air Traffic Controllers Association. They covered a
variety of topics, each focused on providing valuable
tips on how PC-12 operators can improve their skills.
Copies of their presentations are available on the
POPA website in the Pilatus Knowledgebase.
POPA board member Jack Long led the final session of the day, a new accident review roundtable that
was initiated at this year’s convention. The response
from the members was very positive, and the round-
POPA19
will be held
at the Hyatt
Regency
Tamaya in
Santa Ana
Pueblo, N.M.,
June 11-13,
2015.
6 I
POPA
M AG A Z I N E
and every year, Laura Mason and the POPA Board of Directors strive to put
er an outstanding Annual Operations and Safety Convention. The challenge
ace becomes more difficult each year as the number of members attending
the interests of members change, and the benchmark is raised. Yet, once
echoes of “best convention yet” sounded this year from many attendees as
eaded home from POPA18 held in Savannah, Ga., this past June.
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table will be continued at future meetings.
On Saturday, the Honorable Christopher Hart, vice
chairman, NTSB, and Dr. David Strahle were the
guest speakers presenting sessions on automation and
NEXRAD, respectively. Pratt & Whitney and Pilatus
also gave their annual briefings. Lt. Col. (Ret.) Bryan
Anderson, USAF, closed the day with a special inside
look at flying the U-2 Dragon Lady. The convention
wrapped up later that night with a special evening of
art and jazz at the Jepson Center for the Arts.
A special thank you to our Annual Supporting
Partners and Convention Sponsors: Without their
support we would not be able to continue this convention year after year. We also greatly appreciate the
vendors who attended this year to support the PC-12
community and demonstrate the products they offer
for our planes. A final thank you to members we
serve who attended: We are rewarded each year for
our efforts with your positive comments and constructive feedback, and we encourage you to continue
to help elevate the Pilatus experience!
If you were unable to attend, we highly suggest you
consider attending next year. POPA19 will be held
at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya in Santa Ana Pueblo,
N.M., June 11-13, 2015. Mark your calendars now.
We look forward to seeing you there.
FALL 2014 VOLUME 17/ NUMBER 3
POPA BOARD
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Laura Mason
Phone: 520.299.7485
Fax: 520.844.6161 Cell: 520.907.6976
Laura@PilatusOwners.org
PRESIDENT
Joe Howley
VICE PRESIDENT
Brian Cleary
SECRETARY/TREASURER
Jack Long
BOARD MEMBERS
Dan Muller
John Zimmerman, Kristian Eide
BOARD ADVISORS
Pete Welles, Ray Torres,
Phil Winters, Tom Aniello,
Piotr “Pete” Wolak
AJ PUBLICATIONS STAFF
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Lyn Freeman
MANAGING EDITOR
Michelle Carter
SENIOR EDITOR
Bill Cox
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Hans Lubke
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
William Henrys
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Nina Harris, Paul Simington, Katrina Bradelaw,
Paul Sanchez, Wayne Rash Jr.
ART DIRECTOR
Robbie Destocki
PHOTOGRAPHY
Paul Bowen, Mary Schwinn,
James Lawrence, Lyn Freeman, Jodi Butler,
Gregory L. Harris
PUBLISHER
Thierry Pouille
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
Sophie Pouille
PRODUCTION MANAGER, U.S.
Guillaume Fabry
ADVERTISING SALES
Thierry Pouille, 561.452.1225
Brad Elliott, 561.841.1551
AD SALES COORDINATOR
Anais Pouille, 561.841.1551
CORPORATE OFFICES
1931 Commerce Lane, Suite 5
Jupiter, FL 33458
Telephone: 561.841.1551 Fax: 954.252.3935
FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS,
REPRINTS, BACK ISSUES
please log onto www.PilatusOwners.org
CONTACT THE EDITOR:
Lyn@AJPublications.com
CONTACT THE PUBLISHER:
Thierry@AJPublications.com
©2013 Pilatus Owners and Pilots Magazine is published quarterly.
All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form without written
permission from the publisher is prohibited.
Please send comments to the attention of the publisher.
PRINTED IN THE USA.
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New Products
YOUR VERY OWN
HEADS-UP DISPLAY
This device is not ready for your airplane but, in your car, it makes you
coolest guy going to or from the airport. Garmin’s heads-up display
(HUD) gives you turn-by-turn directions to your destination for easy
viewing while driving. The HUD receives navigation information from your
smartphone and projects it onto a transparent film on your windshield or
an attached reflector lens. HUD automatically adjusts its brightness level,
so its projections are clearly visible in direct sunlight or at night.
The unit provides estimated time of arrival and lane assist, as well as
read-outs on speed, traffic and even “safety” camera alerts. It works wirelessly with your Bluetooth smartphone and uses Garmin StreetPilot for
the iPhone or NAVIGON mobile apps. Get more at Garmin.com.
Make the World a Wee Bit Prettier
Cables can be ugly things, especially when they’re on the loose around the
house, in your car or even in your suitcase. Now One Kings Lane has created a
classy way to bring those serpents to bay. Witness the new Cordito, a stylish
and simple way to wrap your USB cords, ear buds, plugs, and chargers. The
Cordito holds three cables
and two plugs. Each Cordito
is made from premium leather
and precisely measured to
neatly hold your cords. If
you’re going to be mobile,
do it with some style. See the
Cordito at OneKingsLane.com
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QUIT SHOOTING
DISTURBING VIDEOS
Take your regular video camera into the cockpit
T
and all the images shot out the front of the
airplane will have an extremely annoying distortion caused by the propeller. Now you can
eliminate that disturbing effect with a brand
new series of variable lens filters and kits from
NFlight and Sporty’s.
This new technology is designed for specific
use on both the GoPro video cameras and the
Apple iPhone. The filters can be combined with
headset audio cables to make complete cockpit
videos. With the new Variable ND Filter, pilots can
adjust the light through the lens to suit different
conditions and different airplanes. The result is a
clear and professional video every time.
For the GoPro, the filter snaps onto the GoPro
waterproof case or skeleton case and is removable for use outside the cockpit. For smartphone
users, pilots simply attach the metal bracket to
the outside of their phones and line up the filter
over the camera lens.
Finally, a new Telephoto Lens Kit is available
for the iPhone 5/5S that makes it easy to record
close up shots of the ground or other airplanes.
Get all the information at Sportys.com.
Finally.
The in-flight Internet you need
at the price you want.
BROWSE. SEND. RECEIVE.
STAY CONNECTED.
AFFORDABLE DATA.
The BendixKing AeroWave 100 provides high-speed
airborne Internet connectivity with satellite reliability
designed especially for general aviation aircraft.
Our simple, affordable service plans are based on
hours of use versus data use. Translation: you stay
connected without ever incurring expensive surprise
data use charges.
LEVERAGE THE CLOUD. IN THE CLOUDS.
Send and receive emails, monitor weather, text
message, browse, and more. With an MSRP of
$19,999, easy installation, and simplified monthly
data-use price structure, your AeroWave 100
high-speed airborne Internet solution has arrived.
Locate your Dealer at BendixKing.com
DEFUNDING OF DUATS
(DIRECT USER ACCESS
TERMINAL SERVICE)
IMMINENT
Where Are You?
It’s the smallest and lightest on the
market. As a personal locater beacon
(PLB), the ResQLink weighs in at just
4.6 ounces, less than a couple of energy
bars. And topping just 3.9 inches, it’s
smaller than the cell phone in your
pocket. Small and mighty, the ResQLink™ PLB is a full-powered, GPSenabled rescue beacon designed
for anglers, pilots and back-country
sportsmen. The device can broadcast
your exact location directly to rescue
satellites overhead.
The ResQLink PLB is a distress
The Federal Aviation Administration is attempting to defund the two companies (CSC
and DTC) who provide the common safety program called DUAT Service. This free
service to pilots, under contract to the FAA, is in danger of being defunded, placing the
cost of running this service directly on the backs of pilots.
DUATS has been available to pilots as a free service since 1989, providing access
over the internet, and even offers direct modem dial-in. DUATS has been the primary choice for pilots for pre-flight planning instead of voice-calling Flight Service.
DUATS service is accessible via common Web browsers and mobile devices, such
as smartphones and tablets. In addition, both equipment manufacturers and thirdparty software vendors (such as WingX and iFlightPlanner) depend on all or part of
the DUATS program to provide pre- and in-flight services to the pilot community.
Their interface to DUATS provides them and their users with assurance of their
quality interface to the FAA NAS (National Airspace Systems).
Since DUATS is a program built to strict FAA requirements and an approved
source for pilots to receive their required pre-flight briefings, doing away with this
service presents a possible safety issue. The FAA does not certify or directly approve any other sites available to the public. Without DUATS, pilots will be required
to evaluate other sources of weather to insure that they meet the FAA’s requirement. The DUATS program is also the only online flight-planning service that provides complete recording of all pilot online session activities as well as the provided
output. This information is available to the FAA within seconds, providing critical
information for Search-and-Rescue.
From a taxpayer’s standpoint, the FAA DUATS program is a transaction-based
competitive contract, which is one of the most innovative and cost-effective programs
in the FAA. Two vendors, in competition for market share, continuously innovate and
update technology at no cost to the FAA — benefiting both taxpayers and pilots.
According to a FAA study in 2013, DUATS provides over 130 million weather and NOTAM briefings, flight-planner generated logs, and flight plans filed as well as other valuable services per year to the aviation community (at a cost of $0.08/activity). In contrast,
the current Flight Service Station program, supporting only the lower 48 states, provides
4.6 million activities per year, at a cost of $140 million per year (cost of $30/activity).
By supporting our petition you will help get the message to the appropriate
people who can influence what the FAA does next. Go to DUATS.com/saveduats
to sign the petition.
radio beacon, which transmits location
information directly to Search and
Rescue forces letting them know you
need immediate assistance. A unique
identifier number is programmed into
each ResQLink at the factory. The
combination of 15 letters and numbers
is then registered to you as the owner,
assuring you the highest level of
protection. See more at Acrartex.com
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WATER IN YOUR EARS?
Nah, or at least not in your Sony headsets. Amp up your
workout in secure and cordless comfort, with this
Bluetooth® sports headset with NFC2. It features a
unique, behind-the-neck and water-resistant
design powered by a re-chargeable battery for up to
nine hours of listening or chat time.
Permission to hit the
gym granted.
T
he whole point of a corporate aircraft
FIRST
is to transport people and things to
LOOK
places that are sometimes inaccessible
or inconvenient to reach by airline.
Whether it’s a turboprop or a corporate
jet, the primary function of most business aircraft is to save time. While it’s true some smaller
jets can access relatively short strips that may be closer to a corporate
destination, most demand at least 4,000 feet for convenient operation.
Pilatus rolled out the first prototype of its proposed twin jet at Stans,
Switzerland, on Aug. 1, and it’s looking to capitalize on the utility
jet market. Pilatus employed a team of 24 horses to tow the PC-24
on the Swiss National Day holiday and help announce the company’s new model designation and emphasize its workhorse flight
and loading characteristics. In keeping with its penchant for using
abbreviations to summarize jet capabilities, Pilatus is calling the
airplane a Super Versatile Jet or SVJ.
PC-12 TIM
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P I L A T U S
F J - 4 4 - P O W E R E D
P C - 2 4
MES TWO
PILATUS AIRCRAFT INTRODUCES A PURE JET, FJ-44-POWERED PC-24. QBy Bill Cox
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PC-12 Times Two
The new Pilatus PC-24 was announced
at last year’s European Business Aircraft
Conference and Exhibition in Geneva. The
new aircraft will incorporate many of the
most desirable features of the existing PC-12
turboprop on a twin-jet platform.
Power for the PC-24 will be provided by
a pair of new-generation Williams FJ-44-4A
turbofans. The engines utilize Dual Channel FADEC and are rated for 3,435 pounds
normal takeoff thrust each. They also employ
Williams’ Exact passive-thrust vectoring
technology. This uses the Coanda effect to
provide a three-degree vectored thrust during
high-power operations. More than 5 percent
additional thrust will be available through
a new Automatic Thrust Reserve feature,
boosting max power to 3,600 pounds.
The engines also feature Williams’ Quiet
Power Mode, a self-starter that will provide
limited ground power and eliminate the
need for an APU. TBO has been set at 5,000
hours with an on-wing inspection of the hot
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section at 2,500 hours.
This new airplane is partially the result of
a Pilatus market survey that asked existing
PC-12 customers what features they’d like
to see in a new model. The answers were
almost universally “higher, faster and bigger” into the same unimproved short strips
that the PC-12 uses so handily and with the
same palletized cargo capability.
That’s a tall order for a pure jet. As a result, Pilatus engineers began design studies
five years ago, configuring a jet that could
carry roughly the same load as the company’s premier turboprop, fly 150 knots faster
and land in a short distance. In this case,
balanced field length is less than 3,000 feet.
Pilatus calculates that the PC-24’s short and
unimproved runway capability will open up
something like 21,000 additional airports
worldwide that aren’t available to other jets.
The PC-24 will be certified for singlepilot operation that will allow for as many
as 11 passengers. The Pilatus cabin is huge,
504 cubic feet, nearly twice the size of the
competition’s aft compartment. The cabin
will be similar to that in the PC-12 but four
feet longer. This will allow a variety of quickchange configurations, including all-cargo or
EMS missions.
More typical business layouts will accommodate two pilots and six to eight passengers with
plenty of room for baggage. Cabin dimensions
are 61 inches tall by 67 inches across, and the
PC-12
PC
12 Times Two
2017 PILATUS PC-24
Specifications
New Price:
$8.9 M
Engines make/model:
Williams FJ44-4A
Thrust (lbs):
3,600
TBO - hours:
8.8
Fuel type:
Jet A
Gross weight (lbs):
17,650
Std empty weight (lbs):
10,950
Useful load – std (lbs):
6,700
Max Ldg Wt (lbs):
16,250
Zero Fuel Wt (lbs):
13,450
Usable fuel – std (gal/lbs):
888.5/5953
Payload– full std fuel (lbs):
915
Wingspan:
55’ 9”
Overall length:
55’ 1”
Height:
17’ 5”
Wing area (sq ft):
332
Wing loading (lbs/sq ft):
53.1
Seating capacity:
1 + 11
Cabin doors:
1
Cabin width (in):
5’ 76”
Cabin height (in):
5’ 1”
Pressurization (lbs/sq in):
8.8
popular, pressurized, heated, cavernous, aft baggage compartment will still accept a shipping
pallet loaded by fork lift (with extreme care).
Pressurization differential is 8.8 psi which
will allow inflating the PC-24 to offer a sealevel cabin at 23,000 feet and an 8,000 foot
cabin at the airplane’s maximum operating
altitude of 45,000 feet.
Performance will be well into the
medium-jet class, comparable to the Embraer Phenom 300 or Cessna Citation CJ-4.
Climb at the PC-24’s max takeoff weight of
17,650 pounds will be over 4,000 fpm, and
an unrestricted ascent from near sea level to
FL450 should require only 30 minutes.
Max cruise is listed as 425 knots, slightly
slower than the Phenom 300 and Cessna
Citation CJ4, but on a typical 1,200 nm trip,
the difference in time en route should be no
more than 10 minutes. All three models will
probably be operated at 400-420 knots anyway to reduce fuel cost and extend range.
A paper aircraft will nearly always beat a
real machine in performance, so we probably won’t know for another year if Pilatus’s
projections are accurate. (The first flight is
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planned for early 2015.) But history suggests they will be.
All three aircraft in the class offer maximum range in the 1,900 nm class. The PC-24
will be able to carry nearly 6,000 pounds of
fuel for long-range, light-payload missions,
but it may experience shorter range, not because of any performance deficiency, but because its ability to operate from abbreviated
or unimproved strips may result in out-andback missions that don’t demand refueling.
The PC-24’s dual-wheel main-landing gear
swings inward into uncovered wells and is
designed specifically for rough runways.
Assuming Pilatus meets its performance
projections, it will have a pronounced
advantage in short-field performance over
the competition, both in takeoff and landing.
The PC-24 should record takeoff distances
well below 3,000 feet and landing requirements closer to 2,500 feet.
Pilatus estimates the PC-24 will sell for
$8.9 million in 2017 dollars, roughly what
the Embraer Phenom 300 and Cessna
Citation CJ4 cost today. For that reason,
again assuming the economy doesn’t tank,
Performance
Max Cruise Speed (kts):
FL300 425
Best rate of climb, SL (fpm):
4075
Time SL to FL450:
30 min
Maximum Operating Altitude (ft): 45,000
Stall – Vso (kts):
81
Max Range (nm):
1950
TO ground roll (ft):
2690
Ldg ground roll (ft):
2525
All specs and performance numbers are drawn
from official sources, in this case, the manufacturer’s website. All specifications are preliminary,
based on engineering estimates. First flight is
anticipated in late 2014/early 2015.
it’s probably a safe bet the PC-24 will be the
least expensive medium jet in the sky when
the first one is delivered. To date, Pilatus has
deposits on 84 aircraft.
If the PC-24 can even approach the level of
market penetration experienced by the PC12 (so far, the company has delivered 1,200
of its best-selling corporate turboprops), the
Swiss manufacturer could indeed be building what Pilatus Chairman Oscar Schwenk
dubbed an SVJ for Super Versatile Jet.
FIGURE #1
PC-12 NG ELECTRIC GEAR
GEARING UP
I
THE NEW PC-12 NG ELECTRO-MECHANICAL LANDING GEAR SYSTEM ‘THAT MAKES THE BEST EVEN BETTER’ QBy Ron Cox
n early April, I received an email from the POPA Forum in a posting talking about the
new electric gear being offered on the 2014 PC-12 NG.
At first I questioned why Pilatus Aircraft Ltd. would revert back to an electrical mechanical gear system that had been tried in older aircraft systems and found wanting.
Upon some reading, I realized that my assumption was completely wrong. Pilatus had
indeed created a gear system that enhanced the already outstanding PC-12 NG design
and made the gear compatible to its own futuristic PC-24 Twin Turbojet and other modern systems like the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
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Gearingg Upp
FIGURE #2
Gone were any thoughts of massive gear
boxes and clumsy actuator arms. Instead,
Pilatus has designed an efficient electromechanical gear system that is uniquely
controlled by its Modular Avionics Unit
(MAU) and motors that are self-contained in individual actuators attached
directly to the operating gear system. In
the process, they have saved 13 pounds
of weight and, with its dual 300 Amperage generators, the system has more than
ample electrical to operate the relatively
low electrical draw motors.
extensive performance and reliability
testing program was conducted by Pilatus
and the Tamagawa company. Tests were
conducted over a wide range of aircraft
operation loads, normal and emergency
gear operations, and environmental
conditions down to -55 C to ensure the
highest reliability factors in the General
Aviation turboprop market. Real-world
operations were conducted during cold
conditions in Canada and un-prepared
airstrips. This testing far exceeds the
normal mission profile of a standard PC12 NG.
By switching gear systems from
hydraulic to electro-mechanical, Pilatus
achieved some other maintenance savings
for the aircraft operator. The old hydraulic system required seven tasks. Four were
in the 100-hour inspection (150 hour for
FIGURE # 1 MAIN LANDING GEAR
ACTUATOR AND FOLDING LINK
(PHOTO ON PREVIOUS PAGE)
The new gear actuators are manufactured by the Tamagawa Seiki Co. of lida
City, Japan. They incorporate a 28V
motor with gear box, ball-screw linear
actuator, anti-wear pads, a self-contained
fault-monitoring system, a self-rigging
capability, and emergency gear extension.
If anyone has any doubts about the PC12 NG being an international designed
product, the new electric-gear system
should dispel that notion.
FIGURE # 2 EXPLODED VIEW OF THE
PC-12NG ELECTRICAL GEAR ACTUATOR
To ensure Pilatus’s high standard of
quality control in this new system, an
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FIGURE #3
Gearingg Upp
FIGURE #4
The EGES handle is pulled
U.S. PC-12 operating under FAA Part 91),
but all seven tasks were in the annual inspection.
The new electro-mechanical is life-limited
to 30,000 landings, up by 5,000 landings
from the former hydraulic-equipped aircraft.
Only one task is included in the 100-hour inspection and that is a visual inspection of the
extension and retraction mechanism. A onetime limited task requires the discarding of
the actuator anti-rotation pads every 12,000
landings. The three maintenance requirement tasks include an emergency-system
operational test, a spring-strut inspection
and a functional test of the electrical circuitry
related to the landing-gear main control
system. These three tasks must be completed
every 2,000 flight hours or at the annual
inspection, whichever comes first. The total
time to complete the 100-hour inspection
requirement is 0.25 hours, and the annual
inspection required items — 1.5 hours. A
significant savings from the hydraulic system
100-hour 0.4-1.5 hours for the 100-hour
inspection and 0.75 to three hours for an annual inspection, depending on the hydraulic
gear system condition.
A close inspection of the gear-system
schematic (Figure # 3) will show the following components of the electro-mechanical
gear system: Three electro-mechanical landing gear actuators (EMLGA), the landinggear relay unit (LGRU), the landing gear
control unit (LGCU), and the emergency
gear-extension system (EGES).
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FIGURE # 3 LANDING GEAR SCHEMATIC
The E-gear uses a self-rigging linear electromechanical actuator. In addition, the gear is
held in the up and down position by an electric
brake and is aided by an over-center spring in
the down position, ensuring positive locking
of the gear, once it’s in the down position. A
free-fall emergency-gear extension/Bowden
cable motor release is provided for emergency
extension of the gear in case of a failure.
FIGURE # 4 EMERGENCY LANDING GEAR
SYSTEMS – COMPONENTS
Though no additional maintenance after an
emergency-gear extension is required, the
pilot only has to reset the emergency-release
handle and raise the gear. Supplement 11 to
the PC-12 NG Pilot Operating Handbook
does require the pilot to “report emergencygear system use to maintenance.” This requirement maybe eliminated in the future, once
reset data is received by field-maintenance
facilities with no problems with the emergency-gear handle being repositioned into the
center console emergency-gear holder. At the
present to eliminate any possible maintenance
conflict, emergency-gear practice should be
conducted in an appropriately configured
simulator or practiced while the aircraft is on
jacks in an approved Pilatus Service Center.
FIGURE # 5 EMERGENCY GEAR
EXTENSION SYSTEM- SCHEMATIC
The use of the emergency gear procedure
is one of simplicity.
• A signal, sent to the MAU and
CVRDR (if installed)), shows EGES
system has been activated. No other
CAS message is provided showing
the extension of the EGES.
• The EGES, through the Bowden
cable, releases the mechanical lock
on each gear actuator
• The Bowden cable has two input
ends at the release handle and three
output ends, one on each actuator.
See Figure # 3.
• Bowden cables will release the
clutches on the actuators
• Gear will gravity-fall, aided by spring
packs and air loads on the MLG gear
doors
• Internal centrifugal friction brake
will prevent excessively fast landinggear extension, which could damage
gear
A placard installed below each of the
pilot’s side windows lists the applicable
speed and procedures to extend the gear,
using Emergency Extension Procedures.
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PROOF THAT YOU HAVE NOTHING TO PROVE.
Performance can’t be denied. You’ll feel it at the first push on the throttle. The Pilatus
PC-12 NG gives you the speed, range, short-field versatility and single-pilot ease required
for business or pleasure – and all the interesting areas in between. Of course, this powerful
turbine also delivers a healthy dose of exhilaration. And that’s all the proof you’ll need.
Pilatus Business Aircraft Ltd • +1.303.465.9099 • www.pilatus-aircraft.com
Gearingg Upp
The components of thee landing gear
extension & retraction are:
system, whether on the ground or in the
air. The MAU op
perates the MFD gear position captions an
nd landing-gear warning
tone when:
FIGURE #5
• LH MLG electro-m
mechanical landing
gear actuator (EM
MLGA)
• Flaps are sett to the landing position
(greater than 15 degrees)
• RH MLG EMLGA
A
• NLG EMLGA
• Airspeed is less than 130 knots
• Landing-gear relayy unit (LGRA)
• Power contrrol lever is set to IDLE
position and
d landing gear is not
extended.
• Landing-gear selector handle
• EGES
The PC-12 NG landingg gear is operated
by applying pressure to
o the landing-gear
selector handle, located
d in the flight
compartment center co
onsole. See Figure
# 3. The handle has two
o positions, UP
and DN. When either selection is made, a
signal is sent to the LGR
RU and the MAU.
Power is then supplied to the LH, RH
and NLG EMLGAs forr up to 30 seconds
by the LGRU to extend
d or retract the
undercarriage.
Fully retracted gear
protrudes approximately one inch
below the gearwheel well. The gear
in the retracted and
extended position is
displayed in Figure # 6.
At first I questioned why
Pilatus Aircraft Ltd.
would revert back to an
electrical mechanical
gear system that
had been tried in older
aircraft systems and
found wanting. Upon
some reading, I realized
that my assumption was
completely wrong.
Each EMLGA consists of an electrical
motor connected to a series of gears which
de-couple speed and momentum. The
gear train has a thrust bearing connected
to a ball screw and shaft. The ball screw
transforms the rotation of the gears to the
linear movement necessary to extend or
retract the landing gear. A motor brake is
then engaged when EMLGA movement is
stopped. See Figure # 2.
A more detailed explanation of the AIR/
GROUND functtions of the MAU, position and warningg systems, power supplies
in detail, and thee outputs for the aircrafts
multiple systemss are beyond the scope
of this article. Trraining during initial
and refresher cou
urses by knowledgeable
instructors will further
f
flesh out the intricacies of these syystems.
FIGURE # 6
The electrical power supply for the systems
is provided from the SECONDARY POWW
ER LINE through the LGRA. The circuit
breaker for the LDG PWR Line is routed
through the RH Power Junction Box. Two
other circuit breakers the LDG PWR PRI
Keeping with the
company strategy of
finding ways to add
value to Pilatus
products new and old,
the e-Gear addition
was a logical means to
accomplish that goal. Pilots will find the
new e-Gear system appreciable better
than the hydraulic system it replaces,
though there were no major complaints
about the system it replaces.
Special thanks to the folks from Pilatus
Aircraft Ltd for providing and assisting in
the technical drawings and specifications
regarding
the new electrical
the
di th
l t i l gear on th
PC-12 NG.
FIGURE #6
and the LDG PWR Sec protect
the LGCU.
Weight–on-wheels (WOW)
and proximity switches provide the
MAU with location and status of the gear
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Send Less
ess to thee IRS
S
FINANCE
IRS PASSIVEACTIVITY RULES
A
PROVING THE TIME DEDICATED TO YOUR BUSINESS
By Jonathan Levy
All tax practitioners are aware how unyielding the tax code can
those who lack sufficient planning and learn of the law’s
e requirements only after the fact. One recent tax court
e-affirming this lesson is Williams v. Commissioner, TC
o 2014-158 (August 2014), where a taxpayer lost out on
ctions from his aircraft business due to his failure to prohe court with sufficient proof of his day-to-day work.
ough the Williams case involved a piston aircraft marketed through a flight
school, its lessons are also relevant to aircraft owners engaged in charter or short-term
rentals. The taxpayer, Scott Williams, had decades of aviation experience although his
primary profession was providing other companies with telephone-skills training. In
the mid-2000s, Williams, through a company he owned, purchased a Cirrus aircraft
and enlisted the help of several flight schools in selling short-term rental and instruc-
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tion to members of the public.
Unsurprisingly, this aircraft-rental business generated losses on his tax return. This is usually the case
because the tax-depreciation schedule for most
General Aviation aircraft last only five years, allowing
the company to fully write off the cost of the aircraft
over this time (or even faster, if certain congressional
incentives, such as bonus depreciation, happen to
be available). This accelerated-depreciation schedule
creates the false appearance, for tax purposes, that the
aircraft is losing value very rapidly. When that mostly
fictional plunge in value is reflected on the tax return,
it usually results in the aircraft business showing a tax
loss, even if, in economic reality, the business is profitable. In such cases, aircraft owners typically desire to
lessen their tax bill by netting the tax losses generated
by their aircraft activity against the taxable income
they receive from other sources — which is exactly
what Williams sought to do.
The IRS challenge to Williams’s netting of the aircraft losses against his other income involved parsing
out his items of income and expenses into two categories defined in the tax code: active items versus passive
items. In this taxonomy, each item of income or ex-
pense must be associated with an “activity”
of the taxpayer (roughly, identifying which
of the taxpayer’s business undertakings the
item is associated with) and then determining for each activity whether that activity is
“active” or “passive.” The significance of the
active/passive distinction is that losses from
passive activities cannot be netted against
income from active activities — in other
words, losses from passive activities cannot
reduce the liability for taxes on income from
active activities.
WILLIAMS’ TWO ACTIVITIES
In Williams, the taxpayer was found to be
engaged in at least two distinct activities: the
aircraft business and the telephone-training
business. It then fell to the tax court to
determine whether each activity was active
or passive, and the key test in that regard was
how much time per year Williams worked in
each business.
The tax code states that any business is
passive, with respect to all individual taxpayers who cannot show “material participation”
in it, a test that involves counting up the
hours that the individual dedicated to working in that business during the given year. An
individual is considered to materially participate if he or she meets any of seven tests articulated in the tax regulations, with the two
most relevant of those tests being, (1) Does
the taxpayer devote more than 500 hours per
year to the activity, and (2) Does the taxpayer
both (a) devote more than 100 hours per year
to the activity, and (b) devote more time to it
per year than any other individual.
In Williams, it was never in doubt that
the taxpayer materially participated in the
telephone-skills training business, where he
worked full-time. The tax court easily held
that he materially participated by dedicating
more than 500 hours per year and found
him to be “active” in that business. What lost
the case for him, however, was his inability
to show material participation in the aircraft
business.
BURDEN OF PROOF MATTERS
Williams argued that, he materially participated in the aircraft business by devoting
more than 100 hours per year and devoting
more time than any other individual. Unfortunately, the law places the burden of proving
material participation squarely upon the taxpayer. The IRS needs to prove nothing. The
government is presumed correct, and lack of
clear evidence is interpreted in its favor. Williams was in the position of needing to prove,
at a trial taking place years after the fact, how
many hours he had devoted to the aircraft
business back in 2007, the year at issue. If he
had written contemporaneous notes of the
time he spent, he would have stood a better
chance, but he had no such records.
After emphasizing that Williams had
the burden of proof stacked against him,
the tax court noted that it would not accept
“a ball-park guestimate” of the hours he
worked, and, without the aid of any written
records such as time logs or day-planner
entries, Williams was unable to persuade
the court of his material participation and,
therefore, unable to net his losses from the
aircraft business against his income from
telephone-skills training, thus resulting in a
significantly higher tax bill.
His experience may serve as a lesson
to other aircraft owners seeking to use
tax losses from aircraft rental or charter
structures: A few moments spent jotting
down the time you work, notes sufficient to
credibly jog your memory years later and
corroborate your descriptions, may save
your deductions upon audit.
tion is that, in Tolin, the court was satisfied that
the individual was involved in the day-to-day
management/operations of the business.
In recent years, there has been a debatable trend for the tax court to carve out more
and more different types of work hours and
consider them “investment” in nature. Those
who are involved on a day-to-day basis in the
activities claimed as active are protected from
the dangers of this trend because the hours
they work count towards the material-participation hours thresholds, whether or not
the hours are considered investment time. In
contrast, those not involved day-to-day could
see their eligible hours eroded to the point
where they may be surprised to discover that
they fail the material-participation tests and
their activities have become passive.
CONCLUSION
‘INVESTMENT’ HOURS WEREN’T HELPFUL
This article is a brief introduction to a
complex area and does not raise or discuss
all of the relevant issues, but instead attempts
to single out a certain issue to provide some
depth of coverage. Aircraft ownership
should always be carefully evaluated with the
aid of qualified advisers.
Another noteworthy issue discussed in Williams is that the tax court did not allow him
to count the time he spent reviewing bills as
part of his material-participation hours. These
hours were considered to be of an “investor”
nature and were therefore excluded. This conclusion stands as an interesting contrast with
another tax court case decided this year, Tolin
v. Commissioner, TC Memo 2014-65 (April
2014), where, unlike Williams, the taxpayer
was allowed to count investor-type hours towards material participation. The key distinc-
Jonathan Levy is a board-certified
expert aviation-law practitioner and
legal director. Advocate Consulting
Legal Group, PLLC is a law firm whose
practice is limited to serving the needs
of aircraft owners and operators relating to issues of income tax, sales tax,
federal aviation regulations, and other
related organizational and operational
issues. Tax Disclosure: We inform
you that any U.S. federal tax advice
contained in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended or written to be use, and cannot be
used for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under federal
tax laws, specifically including the Internal Revenue Code,
or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another
party any transaction or matter addressed herein.
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POPA
O Safety
f y & Education
ducation
PILATUS PILOT
PROFICIENCY
PROGRAM GAINING
MOMENTUM
P
LEARN HOW TO QUALIFY FOR NEW INCENTIVES OFFERED
BY INSURANCE UNDERWRITERS QBy Rebecca Lorber
aunched the Pilatus Pilot Proficiency Program (PPPP –
as Quad P) last year shortly after the 17th Annual Ops and Safety Convention in Monterey, Calif. Much has
lace since PPPP was introduced to convention-goers.
y, at the 18th Annual Operations and Safety Convention in Savannah,
rst PPPP Completion Certificates and recognition pins were awarded to
o had finished the requirements of the program. Andrew Burnette (NG,
West Chicago, Ill.), Jack Long (Legacy, Owner-Pilot, Austin, Texas), Dan
Muller (Legacy, Owner-Pilot, Hillsborough, N.J.), Phil Rosenbaum (Legacy, OwnerPilot, Austin, Texas), Wesley Tuley (Legacy, Pro-Pilot, Quincy, Ill.), and Melanie
Walker (Legacy, Pro-Pilot, Hillsborough, N.J.) were recognized for their participation in the additional safety and educational opportunities provided through PPPP.
The six recipients this year were also the first to be eligible for the new incentives
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offered by the PPPP Insurance underwriting partners to
those who complete the program. Seven leading aviation
insurance underwriters have partnered with POPA to
encourage member participation. AIG, Allianz, Berkley,
Great American Insurance Group, Phoenix Aviation
Managers, W. Brown & Associates, and XL Insurance
America each offer an exclusive benefit only to members
who earn a PPPP Certificate of Completion.
The specific offers vary by company but range from
enhanced coverage and preferred pricing up to a 10
percent reduction in the aircraft hull premium. Details
of each underwriter’s program are available on the
POPA website and by contacting the aviation insurance brokers. As program participation grows, POPA
hopes to add several more underwriters to the partner
list. Check the POPA website to see the current list of
partners and their offers.
The POPA website serves as the interface for members who wish to participate in PPPP. A link to the
main program page is located in the top header. On the
main page are details of the program’s history, mission
and goals. To participate, members should plan on attending the Annual Operations and Safety Convention,
complete two knowledge courses and one flight course
annually, all in addition to their annual recurrent training. If a member is unable to attend the convention, additional knowledge courses may be completed instead.
A variety of topics and courses are available to fulfill
the knowledge and flight course requirements, allowing
members to choose courses based on their interests, operations and experience. The knowledge course topics were
chosen to align with the NTSB’s list of top safety initiatives. Sixteen required and 28 elective knowledge courses
have been chosen from a variety of sources, including the
FAA’s WINGS program, AOPA’s Air Safety Institute, and
several other third-party providers. New courses will be
added from time-to-time, and course credit may also be
earned by attending an on-site AOPA, WINGS or PilBAL
course. Credits received through the WINGS program
will be honored on a 1:1 basis. Many courses are offered
free of charge, while others require a fee.
To receive credit for coursework, members should
submit a course completion form, which is available on the POPA website. Credits are valid for one
year from the date of course completion, and PPPP
completion status may be earned at any time, although
formal public recognition will only take place during
the annual convention.
Questions about the program should be directed to
Laura Mason or POPA Board Member Dan Muller who
is serving as the PPPP coordinator. An email link to Dan
is provided within the PPPP materials on the website.
PPPP is quickly becoming an integral part of POPA’s
mission to help all PC-12 owners and operators achieve
the safest operations in the industry. By completing PPPP,
members will not only improve their flying skills, but
they may also qualify to save money on their insurance
premiums – further enhancing the valuable benefits PC12 owners, operators and pilots gain through their POPA
membership.
Hot Spotss
TRAVEL
{
G O T T A
G E T
A W A Y
}
LOOKING FOR THE NIGHT
LIGHT? GO NORTH, WAY,
WAY NORTH
BY MICHELLE CARTER
C
razy about the brilliant lights and bright nights? Does your day begin
when the sun goes down? Is dark your least favorite color?
Then set your Garmin for the private 3,000-foot airstrip at Chena Hot
Springs, Alaska, about 60 super-scenic miles from Fairbanks. If uncontrolled gravel
strips aren’t your cup of tea, fly into Fairbanks International (FIA) and catch the
shuttle to the Chena Hot Springs Resort. You’ll know you’re there when you pull up
to a super-sized ice blue igloo made, appropriately, of ice!
The luminescent ice building houses the Aurora Ice Museum and Gallery, the largest year-round ice environment in the world. More than 1,000 tons of ice and snow
(all harvested at the resort) went into the creation of the museum, which remains a
cool 25 degrees F inside. Something called an absorption chiller keeps the museum
chilly enough, even in the summer, to provide a gallery for ice sculptures such as a
life-sized polar bear and medieval jousters on horseback.
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But about those lights,
t ones that keep the
the
vvisitors trekking to Chena
Hot Springs year-round.
H
They are the celebrated
Th
aaurora borealis, the
Northern Lights, which
N
ccan be viewed from
aalmost any night-time
perch from late August
p
tthrough early April —
““solar activity, weather/
cclouds, and luck permit-
t ” the resort website
ting,
says. The resort suggests
a nap after dinner so
vvisitors can stay awake
from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. to
watch the show. Just walk
w
outside and look up!
But if the winter (or
summer) chill is a bit
much, you can also book
a ride on the Aurora
Coach — a heated van
tthat will take you to some
IF YOU GO...
CHENA HOT
SPRINGS RESORT
P.O.Box 58740
Fairbanks AK 99711
907.451.8104
CHENA HOT
SPRINGS AIRSTRIP
N65°3.11’ / W146°2.85’
Elevation 1195 feet MSL
Runway 3,000 feet
907.451.8104
of the best viewing sites
that benefit from the
absence of light pollution
in this remote corner of
the 49th state.
While you’re spending your nights looking
up, your days are open
for long soaks in the
natural Rock Lake, which
is heated to a toasty 107
degrees F by those hot
springs. “The waters are
timeless, but the resort
b
began
when weary goold
miners discovered th
m
hat
ssoaking in the ‘oh-soowarm’ waters helped
w
ttheir aching bodies,” the
website says.
w
Today Rock Lake is resserved for adults because
iit is not chlorinated.
Although it naturally
A
drains and replenishes
d
iitself two or three times a
day (and gets a powerd
wash once a week), the
w
sstate of Alaska doesn’t alllow children in untreated
w rs. But it’s the waters
wate
iin their untreated state
tthat draw throngs of
vvisitors each year who
bbelieve in the healing
powers of the sulphur
p
hot springs.
h
And for excitement,
how about dog-sled
h
rracing? Chena maintains
a kennel of 100 Alaskkan huskies acquired
ffrom sled-dog rescue
oorganizations and animal
sshelters and, within two
FAIRBANKS
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
6450 Airport Way
Fairbanks AK 99709
907.474.2500
h
hours,
instructors will
have you running a sled
h
with six mushers. You
w
ccan work with the dogs
eeven in summer when
ccarts replace the sleds.
As an added bonus, in
A
tthe spring months, the
kkennel often has puppies
whom they are hoping
w
yyou will help socialize!
Chena offers seasonal
ffour-day, three-night
packages that celebrate
p
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the Northern Lights or
dog-sledding with lots of
time for relaxing soaks,
horseback riding and
those naps in your suite
at Moose Lodge.
Be sure to call ahead
about 48 hours before
you plan to fly in to their
airstrip so they can update you and know when
to expect you.
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TWO AIRPORTS TO
PICK FROM AT
MADDEN’S IN
MINNESOTA’S
NORTH WOODS
BY MICHELLE CARTER
earning for the perfect $100 hamburger?
Consider Madden’s on Gull Lake — one of
Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes with more than
9,000 acres of water — which offers every possible water sport as well as four highly rated golf
courses carved through the north woods.
Thuringer, Madden’s
Th
Best of all, you can fly
m
man-in-the-know on
into one of two General
fl
flying in; he can be
Aviation airports, East
Gull Lake (9Y2), with its rreached at 800.642.5363
or ben@maddens.com.
2,600-foot grass airstrip, o
or Brainerd Lakes
While you’re there,
Regional (KBRD), with
yyou can pick up your
its 7,100-foot concrete
sseaplane certification at
runway. Madden’s will
Wings Over Water and
W
pick you up at either one ccheck that particular
after you’ve experienced iitem off your bucket list.
some of the most beauYou will train with Mary
Y
tiful lake country flying
Alverson, one of the top
A
in the world. Check in
sseaplane pilots in the
ahead of time with Ben
Upper Midwest, a comU
Y
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m
mercial
pilot and a
flight instructor in both
fl
ssingle- and multi-engine
lland and single-engine
sseaplanes. Wings Over
Water will provide you
W
with the opportunity to
w
eearn your certification in
a Super Cub 160, and six
hours of flying time is inh
ccluded, the average time
necessary to complete the
n
p
program.
Views of the golf
ccourses, lush gardens or
Gull Lake are promised
G
iin all the guest rooms at
Madden’s, whether you
M
cchoose a cabin or hotel
aaccommodation. And
iif personal rejuvenation
iis part of the vacation
pplan, don’t miss The Spa
aat Madden’s. After an in-
dividual water ski school
or trap-shooting session,
you can relax while you
watch the sun set over
Wilson Bay on Gull Lake
and indulge yourself with
a hot stone massage.
For at least one meal,
make reservations at the
Dining Room at Madden
Lodge, an upscale restaurant that sits on Mission
Point at the entrance to
Steamboat Bay. Surrounded by water on three sides,
you aren’t like to miss out
on a view of the lake. For
casual dining, head for
the Classic Grill on the
Classic Golf Course where
you can sit outside under
broad umbrellas while
you watch the action
aacross the green.
Be sure to scan the
upcoming events on the
u
Madden’s website for
M
sspecial events like the
Food and Wine Weekend
F
when the resort hosts
w
ccelebrity guest chefs
tto work with its own
cchefs to offer activities,
demonstrations and
d
eeducational sessions — as
well as delights for your
w
palette such as Smoke It!
p
((which has nothing to do
with tobacco), Jamaican
w
ffood Stations and the
Whole Animal Bash on
W
tthee Beach.
One of the last events
oon
n the calendar each
yyear is the Orvis Muskie
SScchool in the fall where
ggu
uests learn to fly fish
fforr the muskellunge, the
ulttimate predator that
u
ssw
wims in North Americcan
n freshwater.
Since this is the north
wooods and snow comes
w
eearrly and often, Madden’s
tthrrows a Closing Party
iin October when the
sseaason comes to an end,
aan
nd the resort shuts down
un
u
ntil the first week in
April. Because so much
A
iis packed into seven
months, reservations for
m
22015 are already in order.
IF YOU GO...
EAST GULL LAKE
AIRPORT (9Y2)
10790 Squaw Point Road
East Gull Lake MN 56401
218.828.9279
BRAINERD LAKES REGIONAL AIRPORT KBRD
16384 Airport Road, Suite 5
Brainerd, MN 56401
218.825.2166
MADDEN’S AT GULL LAKE
11266 Pine Beach Peninsula
Brainerd MN 56401
800.642.5363
Maddens.com
WINGS OVER WATER
800.642.5363
WingsOverWaterSeaplanes.com
ORVIS MUSKIE SCHOOL
866.531.6213
Orvis.com
MiPad
i ad
d
ELECTRONICS
simplifies revisions. Traditionally, Jeppesen subscribers got
individual pages with changes
every 28 days and spent time
replacing old pages in their
binders. Electronic revisions
are much faster. And electronic
subscriptions are cheaper than
getting all those pages in the
mail – a full year of electronic
coverage for the lower 48 costs
$787 vs. $1,241 for paper.
Needless to say, given all
those advantages – and the
runaway popularity of the iPad
among pilots – Jepp TC quickly
became a hit, and that brought
recognition by none other than
the FAA. The combination of
an iPad and Jepp TC was the
first off-the-shelf commercially
available electronic charting
solution authorized as a complete replacement for paper
approach plates for airline use
— after the iPad passed a rapid
decompression test.
However, Jepp TC didn’t
quite replace
q
p
the paper
p p airwayy
PROFESSIONAL
CHARTS FOR THE IPAD
E
JEPP TC AND FD
By John D. Ruley
e square black
ots carry? Open
ses and I guarl find at least
irway manual:
nder with text,
l/approach/
s and airport
ry thin paper,
r en-route charts.
roNav (formerly
NACO) charts are common
among private pilots, when you
get to the big leagues, Jeppesen
(a division of Boeing) is the
world standard.
That said, FAA charts are
what you’ll find on most
electronic chart viewing apps –
largely because, as government
documents, they’re available
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without paying a license fee.
Until 2009, the only way to get
electronic Jeppesen charts was
an application called JeppView
for Notebook and Tablet PCs.
There was no way to get Jeppesen instrument charts (particularly approach plates) on other
portable devices.
Two years ago, Jeppesen
began offering approach plates
and airport diagrams on an
e-book viewer, and last year
the same capability arrived
on the iPad through Jepp TC.
This quickly caught on because
it saves a lot of weight – paper IFR charts for the lower
48 states weigh a whopping
22 pounds, not counting the
binders! Jepp TC also greatly
2 0 1 4
manual – it did not provide
en-route and area charts. Those
still came on paper. This year,
that changed: A new app,
Jepp FD, provides a complete
replacement for all the paper
in a Jeppesen Airway manual:
Plates, diagrams, charts and
even the airway manual text
(which is provided in PDF
format for viewing in iBooks).
On startup, Jepp FD defaults
to a page that includes an enroute chart and allows you to
enter your origin and destination airports and specify a
route using waypoints. Pressing an “apply” tab will generate
the route and scale the chart
to show it. You can then zoom
in on any route segment. An
on-screen button, shaped
like an airplane, lists airports
on the route. Tap on one and
you’ll get a list of available
terminal charts. Tap on a chart
and it will come up. By default
it’s scaled to fit on the screen,
but there is an option
p
to have
it fit to the width of the screen
instead. If you have an iPad2
or external GPS, your airplane
position can optionally be
shown on airport diagrams.
Tapping an on-screen route
button takes you back to the
en-route chart.
While all the information
from paper en-route charts is
available in Jepp FD, it’s not
always immediately obvious.
Some details (waypoints and
airway numbers, for example)
only show up when you zoom
in. Other details are available
only by request. For example,
tap-and-hold on an airport
icon, and a pop-up window will
appear offering runway and
communications information.
With a GPS and ship’s
position enabled (using an
on-screen button that looks
like a stylized arrowhead),
you can choose “north-up” or
“track-up” orientation. The
latter is the closest thing I’ve
Jepp FD isn’t perfect. At this point,
it’s just a chart viewing and GPS
mapping application, without the add
vanced flight planning, weather and
other features offered by JeppView.
seen to a moving-map display
on the iPad, with labels always
oriented properly, in contrast
to ForeFlight and other apps
that display scanned charts,
which often have the text
upside-down or sideways
depending on what direction
you’re flying.
I tested Jepp FD on a
four-hour leg flying home to
California from a vacation in
Jackson Hole and Yellowstone
earlier this year. I had generally
good results once I got used
to the app, though I quickly
realized that it’s not a true moving map – even in “track-up”
mode. If you make a turn, the
on-screen airplane symbol will
start moving off at an angle. An
easy work-around is to switch
momentarily to “north-up”
mode and then back to “trackup” mode. And I didn’t figure
out how to look up Center frequencies until after I got home.
Turns out, it’s in the comms
section of the pop-up page for
any airport.
Jepp FD isn’t perfect. At this
point, it’s just a chart viewing
and GPS mapping application,
without the advanced flight
planning, weather and other
features offered by JeppView.
But over time that’s going to
change. Jeff Buhl, senior product manager for mobile solutions, told me that on-screen
FA L L
“rubber band” flight-plan
editing is due in the next major
release, and other features,
including weather, are planned
beginning next year.
Once or twice a year, I fly
on a charity mission to Mexico
with a group called Liga International (The Flying Doctors of
Mercy). Until now, that always
involved getting a Mexico trip
kit so that I’d have en-route
charts and approach plates for
my route south of the border.
The next time I make one of
those flights, my trip kit will
be electronic, downloaded to
Jepp FD on my iPad. It will save
weight, money and time!
For more information, browse
ww1.Jeppesen.com/index.jsp.
John D. Ruley is an instrument-rated
pilot, freelance writer and recent
graduate of the University of North
Dakota Space Studies graduate
program (Space.edu). He is also a
volunteer pilot with LigaInternational.
org, and a member of the board of directors of Mission Doctors Association
(MissionDoctors.org). You can reach
him by email to jruley@ainet.com.
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LOW-LEVEL
WIND
SHEER
READING
BETWEEN
THE LINES
OF TAFS
T
STEERING CLEAR OF LOW-LEVEL WIND SHEAR Q By Scott C. Dennstaedt
here’s no doubt that terminal aerodrome
forecasts, simply known to pilots as TAFs,
are perhaps the most detailed aviation forecasts available. If you call Lockheed Martin
Flight Services for a standard briefing or get
an automated DUATS briefing, you can bet
the farm that any TAFs along your proposed
route and at your departure and destination airports will be a part of
this briefing. There are, however, some finer details about TAFs that
instructors fail to pass along to their students. The top one on the list
includes a forecast for non-convective low-level wind shear (LLWS).
Probably the most misunderstood aviation forecast among pilots and instructors is one for non-convective LLWS. In a TAF,
this forecast appears in coded form with a WS code such as
WS020/15035KT. Such a forecast for non-convective LLWS can also
appear in AIRMET Tango. I will discuss this a bit later. In a preflight
briefing, pilots hear the term “wind shear” and immediately equate
this with thunderstorms and severe turbulence. It’s a common misconception, but non-convective LLWS, as it appears in a TAF, is not
ordinarily a forecast for turbulence. In fact, in most cases when this
is forecast, the air is glassy smooth.
This form of wind shear is typically found in the warm sector
ahead of the cold front and south of the warm front. But it’s also
quite prevalent in the overnight hours during fair weather conditions coupled with clear skies and calm wind at or near the surface. Even though wind seems to be the common denominator,
atmospheric stability is the catalyst behind most non-convective
LLWS occurrences.
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Wind Shearr
By definition, wind shear is a marked
change in wind speed and/or wind
direction over a given distance. Wind can
change direction as you are flying along at
a particular altitude. This is referred to as
horizontal wind shear. If the marked change
in direction and/or speed occurs over a
layer of altitudes, it’s referred to as vertical
wind shear. When the wind shear occurs
near the surface, it is referred to as low-level
wind shear and abbreviated LLWS.
We know that wind naturally tends to
increase in speed with increasing height,
but it normally does so fairly gradually.
But what if the winds are nearly calm at
the surface and increase to 45 knots just
2,000 feet above the ground? That’s an example of vertical speed shear, also known
as non-convective LLWS.
When the winds are expected to
increase rapidly with height within 2,000
feet of the airport’s surface, a forecast for
non-convective LLWS will likely be issued
in a TAF for that airport. The forecast
for non-convective LLWS found in a
TAF tells the pilot about the potential for
the wind speed to increase quickly with
height above the ground within a shallow
layer. That is, faster air at the top of the
wind shear layer is moving over slower air
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near the bottom of that layer. There also
may be an accompanying shift in wind
direction with height in this layer as well.
Keep in mind that it’s not the same
horizontal and vertical wind shear that
may be experienced in the vicinity of
deep, moist convection or thunderstorms,
hence the name non-convective LLWS.
Forecasts for convective and non-convective LLWS have very distinct differences.
In a TAF, convective LLWS will typically
contain a reference to thunderstorms (TS
or VCTS) and will contain CB, which
stands for cumulonimbus, in the cloud
group.
Also, the surface winds are typically
forecast to be strong and gusty. While
convective LLWS can occur at any time of
the day or night, most convective LLWS
occurs in the afternoon and early evening
when thunderstorms are the most prevalent. Here are three examples of forecasts
for convective LLWS.
1. FM132200 33010G20KT P6SM VCTS
SCT015 BKN040CB
2. FM131600 22013G35KT 3SM TSRA
BR BKN035CB
3. FM140000 VRB20G55KT 1/2SM
+TSRA FG BKN015CB
As mentioned earlier, non-convective
LLWS can occur in the warm sector of
an area of low pressure, but it can frequently occur in the presence of a strong
nocturnal temperature inversion. Frontal
non-convective LLWS can occur any
time of the day or night and normally
has the characteristics of light winds
at the surface and cloudy skies but can
be strong and gusty when the weather
system is associated with an intense area
of low pressure. Here are three examples
of TAFs non-convective LLWS when associated with a frontal system.
1. FM111600 13010KT 5SM -RA
OVC015 WS020/27055KT
2. FM120100 VRB03KT 4SM BR
OVC008 WS015/25045KT
3. FM120900 19018G30KT 3SM +SHRA
BR OVC005 WS020/17075KT
On the other hand, nocturnal nonconvective LLWS occurs in the overnight
or early morning hours, often with light
winds and clear skies. This is a manifestation of radiational cooling and likely
occurs in the region under an area of
high pressure. Here are three examples of
the nocturnal version of non-convective
Wind Shear
LLWS you might see in a TAF.
1. FM221100 19004KT P6SM SKC
WS015/17040KT
2. FM230800 VRB03KT P6SM SCT010
WS010/22035KT
3. FM230400 00000KT P6SM SKC
WS020/23055KT
In both cases of non-convective LLWS,
the LLWS code “WS” will be included
in the TAF immediately after the cloud
group. Let’s take a closer look at this misunderstood forecast group. Assume the
following snippet from a TAF.
FM130300 17005KT P6SM SKC
WS020/23055KT
The first element to the immediate right
of the WS code is a height above the
airport, in this case 020 or 2,000 feet.
This represents the top of the wind shear
layer. This altitude is typically one of
three values: 010 for 1,000 feet AGL,
015 for 1,500 feet AGL or 020 for 2,000
feet AGL. Even if the WS layer extends
higher, the maximum height that is forecast is 2,000 feet.
After the forward slash, the next group
contains the true wind direction followed
by the wind speed in knots at the indicated height or 230 degrees at 55 knots
in this example. This implies indirectly
that the wind is rapidly increasing from
the surface through the indicated height
although this says nothing about the wind
direction throughout this shear layer.
Effectively this forecast translates into
“the wind at 2,000 feet is 230 degrees at
55 knots.” But it does not imply there will
be turbulence at 2,000 feet AGL or below.
In most cases, you’ll find smooth conditions in this wind shear layer, especially
for the nocturnal instance of non-convective LLWS.
The catalyst for the development of all
non-convective LLWS is atmospheric stability. We also know that temperature normally decreases with increasing altitude.
This is generically referred to as a lapse
rate. A lapse rate is simply a change of
temperature over a change of increasing altitude. Anytime the temperature decreases
with increasing altitude, it’s referred to as
a positive lapse rate. If the temperature
increases with altitude, that’s referred to as
a negative lapse rate or more commonly
labelled a temperature inversion.
The larger the lapse rate is, the greater the
atmospheric instability. An unstable environment (large lapse rate) promotes vertical
mixing and provides for a more turbulent
air-flow potential. On the other hand, a
stable atmosphere (small or negative lapse
rate) inhibits vertical mixing and provides
for a laminar and non-turbulent flow.
One might suspect that vertical speed
shear (faster air flowing over slower
air) could cause the air to overturn and
produce turbulent eddies within this
wind-shear layer. However, just about
all non-convective LLWS occurrences
feature a strong temperature inversion.
Any kind of overturning or vertical mixing
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Wind Shear
(ABOVE LEFT) Non-convective LLWS will usually occur in what is referred to as the warm sector of an area of low pressure. This is usually located to the south of the warm front
and to the east of the cold front. (ABOVE RIGHT) Meteorologists at the Aviation Weather Center issue a forecast for widespread areas of non-convective LLWS as seen here
for western Washington. This is actually a graphical AIRMET (G-AIRMET), which is the successor to the legacy AIRMET. In a G-AIRMET, LLWS is separated from other adverse
weather, such as widespread non-convective moderate turbulence and sustained surface winds greater than 30 knots.
introduces the potential for turbulence;
however, an extremely stable layer such as
this tends to dampen or resist vertical mixing. Simply put, any air that is forced to
ascend within this stable layer will expand
and cool and immediately finds itself in
warmer temperatures aloft, due to the inversion. The air is forced to return back to
its original altitude almost immediately. In
other words, this air has neutral buoyancy
and doesn’t want to rise or sink.
So why does the air accelerate rapidly
with height? The extreme stability, courtesy
of the temperature inversion, eliminates
upward and downward motion or vertical
mixing (neutral buoyancy). This promotes
a laminar flow, and the effects of surface
friction are no longer “felt” at heights a few
hundred feet above the surface. This allows
the flow of air just above the tree tops to
accelerate uninhibited and insulated from
surface friction below through the depth of
the wind-shear layer. You can think of this
as a faster-flowing river of air (called a lowlevel jet) located just above the surface. The
stronger and deeper the inversion, the less
likely there will be any kind of turbulence.
TAFs are one way to identify the potential for non-convective LLWS. However, not all airports are served by a TAF.
Meteorologists at the Aviation Weather
Center also issue a forecast for widespread
non-convective LLWS that is expected to
cover an area of at least 3,000 square miles.
You’ll see this issued as part of AIRMET
Tango. AIRMET Tango can be issued for
one of three different reasons, namely, nonconvective moderate turbulence, sustained
winds over 30 knots and non-convective
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In the end, I don’t get
too excited when I see a
forecast for non-convective LLWS, especially
when it occurs in the
overnight hours. It’s not
a forecast that should
instill fear in a pilot.
In most cases, it’s a nonevent that you may not
even notice was there.
LLWS below 2,000 feet AGL. It’s unfortunate that this is issued under the auspices
of AIRMET Tango, suggesting to the pilot
the potential for turbulence. As explained
earlier, the air is normally smooth in most
situations where this is forecast.
So if non-convective LLWS isn’t a forecast
for turbulence, why is it forecast at all? When
the sky is clear and surface winds are light,
the nocturnal version of this phenomenon is
just as common as low-level thermal turbulence is during the afternoon in the summer.
Unless you were fixated on your groundspeed approaching an airport late at night
or in the early morning hours, you probably
flew right through it without even noticing
that it existed. In most cases, nocturnal nonconvective LLWS isn’t usually forecast.
Nevertheless, there are several situations
where you should pay close attention. First,
if you are departing from an airport with
a high density altitude, non-convective
LLWS can make for a difficult climb if the
low-level jet is off your tail. It’s not uncommon for the winds to be light or calm at the
surface although they may be 30 knots or
more just above the tree tops. With light or
calm winds at the surface, you may not realize that, during the initial climb to pattern
altitude, the prevailing wind is at your back.
The most important one to watch out for
is when non-convective LLWS of 50 knots
or greater is coupled with the potential for
moderate to heavy rain showers (SHRA
or +SHRA) or thunderstorms (TSRA or
+TSRA) as shown in the snippet below.
FM120900 19018G30KT 3SM +SHRA
BR OVC005 WS020/17075KT
As the moderate to heavy rain falls through
the low-level jet, some of the momentum of
the jet gets directed downward toward the
surface of the earth. This is like taking a fire
hose and deflecting it downward toward
the ground. The downward momentum of
that low-level jet creates the potential for
wet microbursts or downbursts. In this case,
the magnitude of the non-convective LLWS
event and convective outflow can make for
a real interesting approach to land.
In the end, I don’t get too excited when
I see a forecast for non-convective LLWS,
especially when it occurs in the overnight
hours. It’s not a forecast that should instill
fear in a pilot. In most cases, it’s a non-event
that you may not even notice was there.
Scott C. Dennstaedt is an instrument flight instructor
and former NWS meteorologist. He also teaches aviation weather to pilots online and in person throughout
the U.S. To learn more about aviation weather, you
can visit his website at AvWxWorkshops.com.
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Q&A
By Ted Otto
SUMMER 2014 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Question #1: What does the Probes-Off CAS message mean?
Question #1 Answer: The probes off CAS message means
the probes switch is off and SAT is 10 degrees or less.
Question #4: What is the procedure for a Pusher CAS message, or
CAWS pusher caution, in flight?
Question #4 Answer: Carry out the pusher test. Shaker No.
1 and No. 2 are active but it will not push. Flaps can be at
any position as well as power. If is does not reset DO NOW
STALL THE A/C.
Question #2: What are the max demonstrated crosswind speeds?
Question #2 Answer: Max demonstrated crosswind are:
O flaps= 30 KTS, 15 flaps=25 KTS, 30 flaps=20 KTS, 40
flaps=15 KTS.
Question #3: What indications are we looking for during the boost
pump test?
Question #3 Answer: Test each pump separately. We must
hear the pump run and, in the NG, we should see that fuel
low press CAS go away, and then come back on after we
turn the pump off.
FALL 2014 QUESTIONS
1. At what altitude should the cabin be when the A/C is at 14,000 feet?
2. What fluid is used for the brakes?
3. What is the distance the passenger seat can travel?
4. What is the crew event store CAS Status message mean?
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L O S S
O F
C O N T R O L
I N
F L I G H T
UPSETT
S
LOSS OF CONTROL REMAINS A GREMLIN,
GREMLIN AND HERE’S WHY QBy John Morris.
ome articles are worth repeating and some require updating.
This one falls into a little of both types of previous articles by
me and other contributors to POPA. It is a subject that should
be constantly reviewed for the continuous safe operations of
the PC-12 and for all aircraft operators.
Past accidents involving air carrier operations have caused
federal agencies to (again) require upset training due to apparent pilot inability to recognize and recover from an upset event (loss of control
in flight (LOC-I). To be fair, airlines (U.S. to be specific) are operating with
a near-perfect safety record. But this issue is just part of a growing concern
about systems automation and how it may be affecting the pilots’ ability to actually fly the airplane. Reliance on instrument and crew redundancy may also
be causing pilots to ignore basic fundamentals of aerodynamics and the causal
effects during an upset event requiring the pilot(s) to interpret ALL the instruments, in a timely manner, to make corrective actions.
This is not just an airline industry problem.
The General Aviation community has experienced LOC-I events at a much greater frequency,
including the PC-12. And under very similar
circumstances.
The FAA earlier this year issued drafts of (updated) Advisory Circular (AC) 120-109A, Stall
Prevention and Recovery and Advisory Circular
(AC) 120-UPRT, Upset Prevention and Recovery
Training. The titles of these ACs explain their
purpose and both are primarily intended for Part
121 Air Carriers but with the acknowledgement
of its value for all aircraft instructors and operators. Already in circulation for GA is AC 61-67C
change 1 (2007), Stall and Spin Awareness training, which addresses basically the same topics.
It could be assumed that GA pilots would be
more attuned to the basic aerodynamic fundamentals than airline pilots. Why? Probably because
GA aircraft are more often flown single-pilot with
experience in lighter, slower, lower flying aircraft,
requiring them to think more about basic flight
fundamentals than those flying the big machines
as part of a crew. This is also when kinesthesia (the
sensing of changes in direction or speed of motion)
is developed and assumed to be retained.
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That may be have been true in the past, but more
and more GA aircraft are being equipped with digital instruments and avionics that rival the airlines,
go faster and can operate in the flight levels.
Simulator upset and in-aircraft upset (acrobatic) training is of course going to help with reviewing and refreshing recovery techniques, but for
how long? Unless the pilot maintains (acrobatic)
proficiency concurrent with his or her normal
flight activities, the “learned upset response curve”
drops quickly after the upset-training refresher.
What I believe needs to be accomplished by
the pilot before or after an “official” upset-training course is to maintain a mental proficiency regarding the basic fundamentals of aerodynamics
and how that relates to the aircraft being flown.
I really believe that the vast majority of pilots,
once out of a formal flight-training environment,
forget or are very slow to remember the basics
because of the inherent safety built into the
aircraft being flown. From time to time, LOC-I
accidents happen during airline operations but
more frequently during GA operations. And
for lack of a better explanation, when this type
of event occurs, it often points to a lack of basic
airmanship skills.
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Loss off Control
What are the basic aerodynamic fundamentals? Referring to AC 61-67C (condensing only for purposes of brevity), here are
the following commonly used terms:
A. Stall/spin terms and effects
1. Angle of attack
2. Airspeed
3. Vso
4. Vs1
5. Va
6. Load factor
7. Center of gravity
8. Weight
9. Altitude and Ttemperature
10. Snow, ice, frost
11. Turbulence
B.Distractions
C.Wing contamination effect on stall
warning, stall speed and stall recovery
1. Autopilot masking effect
How many times have we heard the
term “AoA”? It is THE key. Where I believe
Angle of Attack begins to lose focus is with
published airspeeds. Some pilots incorrectly assume that maintaining at or above a
published airspeed will keep the critical AoA
from being reached. The same assumption
of not reaching critical AoA is given, based
on pitch attitude with sufficient indicated airspeed. The fact is that critical AoA will always
be based on relative wind to the reference
line of the wing, along with relative wind as a
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function of airspeed and (pitch) attitude. In
climbing, descending or straight/level flight,
if the wind flow changes direction and the
AoA does not follow, then the wing can/will
stall. A sudden wind shift due to turbulence,
wind shear, wing contamination (which can
all occur inside weather systems) can cause
part or all of the wing(s) to stall. Even light,
uneven ice accumulation that was not immediately shed with de-Ice equipment can have
a detrimental effect at low to mid altitudes.
Besides weather, what other factors can
accelerate reaching critical AoA? Weight
and aft center of gravity can have an effect
becausethe aircraft’s natural critical AoA was
achieved at an earlier stage. Finally, reliance
on autopilot’s masking an approaching upset,
and/or pilot-induced distraction has been
proven to cause LOC-I.
All of this is about recognition and
prevention, which of course is the optimal
solution to not having an LOC-I.
But what about recovery from an upset?
This is the area where, understandably, off
ficials do not wish to dwell. Everyone wants
a positive outcome by prevention, but that is
not the real world. I would like to think that
no pilot intentionally seeks an upset event,
but stuff happens!
This is part of the mental training that I
am writing about. It has to do with aerodynamics and how, by understanding the
basics, a pilot can make the correct decisions
in a timely manner to correct the unanticipated upset. The remainder of this article will
be focusing on PC-12 operations.
I have been asking my clients for almost
two years, through test questions with
multiple-choice answers, about how they
would react to becoming inverted while in
their PC-12. The answers were to be in order
of importance and have been somewhat
consistent but not definitive. Almost all first
responded that they needed to have more
information. I thought being inverted was
all the information needed! But that showed
to me, even while in a ground school, they
hesitated to react, which is a major problem
toward recovery from an LOC-I.
I choose inverted because of the engine
torque and the likelihood of becoming
inverted, or near inverted, as a result of
an inadvertent stall while operating the
engine at cruise power or greater. Almost all
responded to “power reduced to Idle” as the
first step. Absolutely critical since the engine
torque, in this scenario, is the reason for
turning inverted rapidly.
After reducing power to idle, the next
two steps are where we all need as much
understanding about aerodynamic forces as
possible.
Pushing on the yoke, AKA reducing AoA,
was almost the unanimous answer, with the
debate centering generally on which is first,
power or push? Part of this particular discussion falls into the “what if I am not fully inverted” and that “more information” question.
I have had some clients make the comment “un-load the aircraft,” specifically the
Loss off Control
wings regarding the first step. Load factor
(definition): Ratio maximum load aircraft
can sustain to the gross weight of the aircraft
– measured as “G.” Putting “G” loads on a
normal-category aircraft is not what anyone
wants to do, but in an upset event that is
probably what is going to happen — and rapidly — unless un-loaded. Va (re-emphasized
in the current AC) has been long determined to be the maximum airspeed (based
on aircraft gross weight) that full or abrupt
control movements can be applied to an aircraft without sustaining structural damage.
Maintaining at or below Va when attempting
to recover from inverted flight will be a tall
order but hopefully we can be close.
What then is the third step? Roll the
aircraft (shortest direction) back towards the
horizon. The question mark is because I have
read several articles and have had discussions with acrobatic pilots who regard using
rudder as the third step. I believe it should be
aileron first, because of the aileron/rudder interconnect already incorporating the rudder
(zero flaps configuration /47 and /47E), and
for the non- /47 aircraft due to the already
built in stability of the PC-12. Rolling the
aircraft back toward level with the horizon
will reduce the G forces that will be induced
while in a steep bank and simultaneously
attempting to maintain altitude.
Put it all together and it doesn’t seem that
difficult to recover, if inadvertently upset. Just
pull power to Idle, push the yoke forward
(initially) to reduce AoA and roll the aircraft
toward horizon. Piece of cake!
Problem: The startle effect causes a diff
ferent reaction without thinking. Almost
universally the first reaction is to pull on
the yoke. I have done it myself, and I am
supposed to know better! Startled because
the AoA indication (if observing it) did not
show an imminent stall, the stick pusher did
not activate to protect. The AoAs are reference tools primarily used for prevention by
indication. The stick pusher is designed not
to react until both AoAs indicate together,
for three seconds, that a stall exists from both
AoAs. However, the stick shaker may activate
during the upset and then possibly the stick
pusher, both as a result of the upset and, possibly, the initial pilot reaction of pulling back
on the yoke.
The initial reaction, as difficult as it may
seem, is to look at the situation first. A lot of
action can happen in three seconds. Absolutely reduce power to Idle; then whatever
degree of inversion we should be initially
pushing (at least lightly) while rolling the
wings back toward the horizon (one of the
best inventions for the attitude indicator is the
sky pointer. Where the sky pointer is pointing, go there!). Once wings are approaching
level, if our head is actually level as well, we
can pull yoke pressure as well as power.
The mental training is really thinking
about the “what if ” and applying known
information to convince yourself to do it
right. Obviously, it is better to never get
into the upset scenario but, like all things,
training, preparation and a healthy dose of
ego-checking will make us all safer.
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Accident
ccident Review
eview
2014 CONVENTION
SESSION RECAP
A
By Jack Long, POPA board member
At the recent POPA convention, I facilitated a discussion of
fatal accidents: two in PC-12s and two in TBMs. The goal
discussion was for each pilot in the room to walk away
some tangible adjustments he or she could make to their
that might prevent a similar accident. In order to accomthis, we started by establishing the important facts surding the accident and attempted to deduce the “accident
.” We then solicited ideas from the group about changes
they could make in their training, checklists, personal minimums, or in-cockpit procedures to increase the probability of
breaking a similar accident chain.
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Many informal accident discussions devolve
into assigning blame and passing judgment. “That
pilot was an idiot…I’d never be so stupid.” Or
“that pilot was not properly trained…I am welltrained and thus this event could never happen
to me.” It is a natural protective instinct when
thinking about such tragic events. We all want to
rationalize why such a terrible thing could not
happen to us.
We tried to avoid that line of reasoning. We are
not judges of law and casting blame or passing
judgment on the accident pilots serves no purpose. Assigning blame can be a way of avoiding
a deeper discussion of the chain of events that
led to the accident. Most accidents are the result
of many factors, and focusing only on the final
“link” in the accident chain may not the best way
to learn as much as possible about the full cause.
For the purposes of this discussion, we operated under the assumption that the accident pilots
were reasonably intelligent and reasonably welltrained individuals. The accident pilots may have
made crucial mistakes, but we tried to
assume they were mistakes any one of us
could have made in certain situations.
There is not enough space in this
article to review the discussion of all
four accidents, so I will summarize the
discussion of two.
• New PC-12 NG owner
SANTA FE, N.M., SEPT. 29, 2008, PC-12 NG
• Departed Akron, Ohio, at 0716 and flew
KMDT > KTEB > KLBB and crashed at
KSAF at 2216
Full NTSB report is available at Pilatus
Owners.org/popa2014/ (the first accident
listed). A summary of some of the facts of
this accident are:
• Private pilot license, 54 years old, 2,500
hours total flying time, 87 hours PC-12
time
• Completed SimCom initial training
course July 2008
• About 8.5 hours flight time on the day of
the accident within about 15 duty hours.
• Controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) in
night VMC (clear sky) conditions
• The pilot had been prescribed two
medications for Attention Deficient
Hyperactivity Disorder which the toxicological report showed were present n his
body at the time of the accident. Use of
these medications had not been reported
on the pilot’s medical applications. The
FAA does not currently allow medical
certification for a diagnosis of ADHD
requiring the use of medication.
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Accident Review
The discussion of this accident brought
up several learning points from the group
about things the pilots in the room may
consider changing in their flying to break
a similar accident chain:
• Set personal minimums for maximum
flying time and duty time, perhaps using
Part 135 or Part 121 rules as a guideline.
Stick to these personal minimums strictly.
• Load and fly an instrument approach
procedure for night operations (especially
in a mountainous area), even in “severe
clear” conditions.
• Take FAA guidelines about medication
use seriously. There can be a tendency
to assume that if we can drive a car and
perform other everyday activities while
using certain medications, we should be
fine for flying. Fight the tendency to make
that assumption.
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MONTROSE, COLO., MARCH 22, 2014, TBM
The preliminary NTSB report for this accident is available at http://pilatusowners.
org/popa2014/ (the last accident listed). The
final NTSB report has not been issued. The
information at the link above also includes
some unofficial information from news
reports and FlightAware which may or may
not be accurate. A summary of some of the
facts (including unofficial information) of
this accident are:
• Private pilot license (press reports)
• New TBM owner (press reports) – just
acquired aircraft a few weeks before
• Pilot and four passengers killed
• Apparent loss-of-control on the RNAV
35 approach to Montrose, Colo. (KMTJ)
• Reported weather at KMTJ was 3000
BKN, -RA, 5C.
• The last valid FlightAware data showed
the groundspeed at approximately 128
knots, which would translate into an IAS
of about 85 knots given the winds and
the altitude.
• Based on FlightAware data, it appears
the pilot had pulled the power back to a
low level (perhaps idle) for the descent
from cruise to the initial instrument
approach altitude. While leveling off
(perhaps with the autopilot engaged),
airspeed bled off quickly
This accident required several assumptions
in order to have a productive discussion,
but nonetheless some interesting learning
points were articulated:
• The importance of extensive mentorpilot time when transitioning to a highperformance turbine aircraft for the first
time. Resist the temptation to do the bare
Accident Review
minimum mentor-pilot time required by
insurance and view mentor-pilot time as a
benefit to be maximized.
• Personal weather minimums for newly
transitioning pilots flying without a mentor
pilot should be conservative.
• Perhaps the most interesting take-away
from the whole discussion for me was the
substantial risk presented by flight idle
descents, especially in IMC. Two participants offered suggestions for reducing the
and the PowerPoint slides on the POPA
website to draw your conclusions. The
accident report data is at PilatusOwners.org/popa2014/ and the slides can be
found in the Pilatus Knowledgebase (PilatusOwners.org/pilatus-knowledgebase/)
under the POPA Convention section. You
must be logged-in in order to access the
Knowledgebase.
Discussing accidents can be difficult
and emotional. None of us wants to think
these horrible events can happen to us
and our families. By taking a factual and
open-minded approach (“I do make
dumb mistakes sometimes…”), perhaps
we can modify our approach to flying
to protect ourselves from allowing one
mistake to cause an accident.
888.386.3596
[[[WO]XIGLMRGGSQ
WEPIW$WO]XIGLMRGGSQ
(1;ˆ9>%ˆ182
Discussing accidents
can be difficult and emotional. None of us wants
to think these horrible
events can happen to us
and our families. By taking a factual and openminded approach (“I
do make dumb mistakes
sometimes…”), perhaps
we can modify our
approach to flying to
protect ourselves from
allowing one mistake to
cause an accident.
risk of getting too slow after such a descent.
First, whenever descending at a power
setting that would result in an unsafe speed
in level flight, keep your hand on the power
lever as a reminder that power will need to
be increased when leveling. Second, when
the “1,000 FT above” alert is issued by the
altitude-alerting system, use that as a cue
to touch the power lever and check that the
power is set properly for the level-off.
We also discussed two other accidents
for which you can review the raw data
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TRAVEL
AROUND
THE
WORLD
AIR JOURNEY’S
AMAZING
FLIGHT
AROUND THE WORLD
IT’S A 76-DAY, 25,000NM JOURNEY THAT TAKES YOU AND YOUR AIRPLANE TO
27 COUNTRIES AND 36 TOTAL DESTINATIONS. QBy Jodi Ann Cody
N
early a century and a half ago, author Jules Verne imagined that
a trip around the world could be done in as few as 80 days. Now,
thanks to Air Journey, you can fly your own airplane around the
world and still trim a few days from Verne’s legendary number.
“It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time,” said Air
Journey’s Thierry Pouille. “Take people around the world.”
So at the Sun ‘n’ Fun Fly-In in 2007, Pouille offered the trip for the
first time. “At the time I remember wondering if I was crazy. Then I started asking people to
put down a $5,000 deposit, and I came back with $50,000 in my pocket.”
Since that time, interest in piloting oneself around the world has grown, and Air Journey’s
Round the World trip sells almost strictly by word of mouth.
“It’s just one of those things that’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” pilot Steve Walenz said
about the trip. “You just do it.”
He took his wife Judy and son Brian and flew around the world with Air Journey. His
TBM sports a flag decal from every country he visited, but his favorite was Egypt. “I loved
seeing the pyramids,” Walenz said. “It’s the place where civilization began.”
Pouille’s route around the world is similar in many ways to the path described by Verne,
with adventurers leaving the east coast of North America (Quebec City, Canada, to be exact)
and traveling across the Atlantic to Europe. After spending the first 18 days there, the group
heads south to the Mediterranean Sea with stops at Marrakesh, Malta and Santorini. Next
comes the Middle East, with visits Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Dubai.
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Air Journeyy
The subcontinent is next with stops in
India and Thailand then on to Malaysia,
Singapore, Indonesia, Bali, Cambodia,
Laos and Vietnam. The group then turns
north to Hong Kong, Taipei, South Korea
and finally Japan. The last leg crosses part
of Russia and the Kamchatka Peninsula
and ends in Seattle, completing the 76
days of Air Journey’s offering.
While flying is an important part of
the mission, it isn’t everything. The group
spends two to three days in almost every
location, resting, recreating and sightseeing. Air Journey arranges the finest resorts and hotels along the way. Gourmet
restaurants are the bill of fare, and there’s
always time to take it easy.
The success of these trips around the
world is not left to chance. Air Journey operates a journey headquarters in
Florida which tracks the group’s progress
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Jules Verne would
have undoubtedly been
impressed with Air
Journey’s technology
along the way. Each pilot
carries an iPad that has
been loaded with the
day’s details, the SID,
the STAR, the expected
approach, the weather
and the likely routings.
and serves as a clearinghouse for weather
updates or unexpected circumstances
that pop up along the way. Pouille stays in
constant contact.
A concierge travels a day or two ahead
of the group to insure that hotels and activities are as advertised and acceptable to
Air Journey’s requirements. On a recent
trip, the concierge gave a hotel room the
white-glove test, and it came up short.
After she pointed out the room’s deficiencies, the hotel changed out the carpet and
steam-cleaned the room. The concierge
met the group at the airport the next day,
and no one was ever the wiser that there
had been an issue with one of the rooms.
Air Journey also spends a lot of time
personalizing the trip for each airplane.
For example, on one trip, a client was an
avid ice skater so Pouille and the concierge arranged visits to ice rinks along
the way all the way around the world.
“It’s the coolest thing I’ve ever done,”
said Citation Mustang pilot Doug Armstrong, who made the trip two years ago
Air
i Journey
Jou neyy
with his wife and three kids. Everyone
had specific jobs to make the trip successful, from packing to readying the aircraft
for each leg. Thirteen-year old Megan
Armstrong became a master of the right
seat, easily handling instrument clearances and frequency changes after only
about a week of experience.
Jules Verne would have undoubtedly
been impressed with Air Journey’s technology along the way. Each pilot carries an
iPad that has been loaded with the day’s
details, the SID, the STAR, the expected
approach, the weather and the likely routings. And because of the limited availability of 100LL Av Gas along the way, Air
Journey’s Round the World trip is limited
to jets, turboprop or pure jet.
Flying around the world had
been on Armstrong’s radar for some
time, but it was not something he
imagined in his immediate future.
He had heard a lot of the excuses people use
to cheat themselves out of the 25,000nm
ultimate around-the-world trip: “I can’t be
away from my business that long,” or “I’m
not going to live out of just one suitcase.”
But when he sold his businesses, Armstrong
said he could find no real reason not to
pack a single suitcase and go. “I don’t think
anyone cared what they were wearing after
the first week,” Armstrong said.
“You need to be at the top of your game,”
Armstrong added. “If you’re not, take an
experienced co-pilot from Air Journey.”
The company even makes their Cessna
Mustang available along the way for pilots
who would like to fly a leg or two and
build some jet time.
Trips around the world are not without
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Air Journey
their warts. Occasionally a plane has a mechanical issue, but Air Journey is experience
at arranging service and support from the
major airframe and engine manufactures
around the globe. Parts are overnighted,
and the aircraft continues on its way.
Sometimes weather can be an issue.
“We’re flying for our own enjoyment, so
there’s no sense in scaring ourselves by
flying into harm’s way,” Pouille said. If
anyone on the journey is uncomfortable
with the weather, the flight is scrubbed
for the day or until bluer skies prevail.
Air Journey handles most everything
for the client pilot. In addition to the preflight briefings and flight planning, they
wade through the mound of paperwork
from the 27 different countries enroute.
“The regs are about the same everywhere, but the paperwork is different in
54 I
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every country,” Walenz said. “And trying to
understand the controllers over Pakistan
was a big challenge. When we got over to
Hong Kong, I thought we’d died and gone
back to the United Sates. We had American controllers! I do a lot of flying in the
Caribbean, and that’s international. But it
was definitely challenging sometimes, and
the Air Journey guys are real pros.”
To say that there are only few giggles
along the way would be unfair. “We went
to this place in Thailand where they have
fish that eat the dead skin off your feet.
That was probably the craziest thing I’ve
ever done in my life. It tickled my feet so
much it was unbelievable!” Walenz said.
“Most little kids don’t get out of their
home towns, but my kids have been all
around the world and done all this amazing stuff. Their aperture is wide open
now,” Armstrong said with some pride.
“There was a lot of satisfaction in flying
the airplane in places like Japan and Russia. It’s the kind of flying that 95 percent
of pilots don’t get to do. You could throw a
dart at a calendar and pick any day on that
trip and I could tell you stories from that
day. I have a story from every single day.
It’s by far the coolest thing I’ve ever done!”
“It was just a blast,” Walenz said. “The
whole trip was way above expectations. It
was just fantastic, one of those deals you
do once in a lifetime!”
The next trip is scheduled May 11
through July 23, 2015. For more information visit AirJourney.com
Left to Right: Charlie Huggins, Pilot, and Bob Wilson, President and Founder of Wilson Air Center
SECOND TIME’S A CHARM
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Contact Mike LaConto, Avionics Sales Manager,
for your customized configuration, pricing
and availability.
770-458-9851
- Bob Wilson, President and Founder
Wilson Air Center
eppsaviation.com
PDK - Atlanta
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