FLYING LESSONS is an independent product of MASTERY FLIGHT TRAINING, INC. www.thomaspturner.com. Also available in a downloadable pdf.
Pursue Mastery of Flight™
This week’s LESSONS:
Several weeks ago I asked readers to send in an example of good decision-making they had done in flight. So much of what we learn about flying comes from failure—accident reports—and it’s not often when we have a good example from which to learn. This week reader Steve Hoffman shares a little of his experience for our collective benefit:
When I was a young flight instructor (about 36 years ago), I realized that we’re taught to teach our students a soft field takeoff technique, and separately, a short field takeoff technique. As the inquisitive person that I am, I started thinking about what we should do if the field is both soft and short at the same time. Later, I took a student pilot to a field that was in fact short and simultaneously soft (grass). Landing was no problem, but takeoff was a challenge.
The field had a fence at the end, and just like in the books, it had a tree about 50 feet tall just past the fence. It was obvious to me that we had to use a soft field takeoff technique, as was apparent to me that we would not be able to get to Vx speed in the [Cessna] 152 we were flying for a short field takeoff due to the increased ground resistance had we not “popped” the plane into the air at below stall speed while staying in ground effect. The student did this successfully, but when he saw the fence and tree he forgot about our below-stall speed and was getting ready to pull up over the tree without realizing we absolutely had to stay in ground effect. As a hang gliding pilot (at that time), I instantly knew to immediately take control to gently swerve around the tree, in order to stay in ground effect.
After this we faced a mountain that sloped upwards faster than what the plane could climb, so we had to gently do a 180 degree turn to continue our climb in the opposite direction. This scared the student to death, and although we recovered without incident, I immediately knew I did something wrong. Not in the recovery, but rather in putting ourselves in a position in which such high level skills and quick instinctive thinking was required to save ourselves from crashing.
When I got back to the flight school, as part of my process to figure out what I did wrong, I shared this experience with all the other pilot instructors. I also wanted them to know about this particular airfield because I frankly wasn’t sure they would be able to recover if in the same situation. Of course, sharing and talking with others was my way to try to get some ideas as to what I did wrong in getting into that situation to begin with. That same day, I got called into the Chief Pilot’s office. He was really, really pissed off with me. The reason: he claimed it was all my fault in that I used the wrong technique for takeoff. He waived his hand across the side as he stated unequivocally that I should have used a short field technique instead of the soft field technique I used. I was shocked because he was not being constructive about his criticism, but rather quite accusatory. I was also shocked because instinctively, I knew that this was not the mistake I was really trying to figure out.
I can remember this like it was yesterday. Until today, I don’t know why he was so upset with me. Did he not realize that by showing his anger and implying that I am in trouble, he was encouraging a culture in which pilots will be too afraid to talk about incidents that absolutely become amazing learning opportunities? I also didn’t understand why he was so dogmatic about the need to use a short field technique. Of course, this could have been my mistake, but you don’t convince anyone when you are being a dogmatic boss. Although I did not yet know what I did wrong, I was fairly confident the soft field technique I chose was not the mistake I was looking for.
Later that day, I spoke with a friend who is an Aerospace Engineering professor. I told him what happened and he agreed with me that the soft field technique was correct. Since I was still in my early 20s, I asked him how he would suggest that I deal with the Chief Pilot. He suggested I write a letter to the FAA to describe the situation and ask them for their thoughts. Amazingly, I still have this letter and their reply from 36 years ago. I intentionally did not mention any names or even state which of the two techniques I used, in order not to bias the response. A couple weeks later the reply letter came (via US mail). FAA stated in their letter that if the field is soft, there is a good chance the C152 I was flying that day may never have even reached Vx, no matter how long the field was due to the increased ground resistance. When I took their reply to the Chief Pilot, he grabbed it from me and abruptly threw it on his desk while immediately dismissing me from his office without any discussion.
Sadly, from that time I was no longer assigned any new students, which was fine with me as I was at that time getting close to finishing my Electrical Engineering degree and with finals, really didn’t really have much free time to teach anymore.
Recently I learned that this same man became an FAA Designated Pilot Examiner and now is the Dean of an aeronautical college with many aviation awards he has received over the years. I am guessing that he probably still remembers me as I have always been outspoken. Hopefully he is not still pissed off with me, but based on my past experience with him, nothing would surprise me. Maybe, just for kicks, I’ll make contact with him just to sense how he responds to this. I would have the utmost respect for him if I could talk to him about this and he would take responsibility for his own mistake. Of course, we all talk about doing these kind of things, but it is so rare to meet someone that would actually take such responsibility.
Despite this experience, I did continue to discuss this incident with smarter and more experienced people than me so that fairly quickly I learn what were the actual mistakes I made to cause me to get into the situation for which I needed to use exceptional skills to save my student and my butt. Investigating incidents and our mistakes for the sole purpose of becoming better and not to find guilt in order to punish it, is fundamental to what has made aviation (an inherently dangerous activity), became as amazingly safe as it is today. But we must never put our guards down. We have to continue to be humble and learn from everything we experience.
Thank you, Steven. There are many LESSONS not only in runway selection, takeoff technique, flight instructor responsibility, and management and leadership.
Readers, what do you learn from reading about this experience?
Questions? Comments? Supportable opinions? Let us know at [email protected].
My friends and sponsors at Pilot Workshops extend this offer to all FLYING LESSONS readers in all aircraft types:
Debrief:
Readers write about recent FLYING LESSONS:
Reader and well-known airline pilot, flight instructor and YouTuber Brian Schiff writes about the October 26 LESSONS on Takeoff Targets:
Great stuff! I teach my students to have specific “benchmarks” on takeoff; otherwise – REJECT!
One such target is that in most jets – you should reach 110 knots by the end of the touchdown zone precision runway markings (3,000′ down the runway). Minor variations are okay if they make sense. For example, I’m only 105 knots, but I have a 5-knot tailwind and/or I’m heavy. Nearly every jet I’ve flown will reach 110 knots by the end of the precision runway markings–even a heavily ladened Boeing 727.
Thank you, Brian. Two days after we last spoke I was a passenger on a fully loaded A319 departing the 6000-foor runway at Burbank, California on a warm morning hoping the crew used such a benchmark as well—and reminded why it’s so important for pilots of lighter airplanes to know and use Takeoff Targets as well.
Reader Damon Overboe continues:
When I heard about [Richard] McSpadden passing, two or three things immediately popped to mind:
1. Your 50/70 rule. I brief this on every takeoff. I typically use the runway stripes to know my 50% point, and my Vr point. This helps also when doing touch and goes (C172s on 7000 foot runways). I was happy (although not surprised at all) to see that reiterated in your message.
2. It could happen to me. McSpadden was a big figure with AOPA’s safety institute. He was focused on safety on a daily basis. How did this happen to him?
3. Which then makes me think, don’t get complacent on #1. On the planes I typically fly (C172Ms), normal days I’m calling out 40 by 600, 55 by 1200; make sure I’m not just reciting this. And absolutely if hopping into another plane, know the takeoff calculations and adhere to it!
Those are indeed some of the ideas that prompted my LESSONS that week and the week following. Oh, and it’s the 50/70 rule, not my 50/70 rule. Thank you, Damon.
Reader Jim Cear adds:
Good work on performance checks on our aircraft. Well done. I’ve begun teaching the dynamics and behavior of single-engine aircraft during a rejected takeoff. The aerodynamic effects of closing the throttle at higher speeds when rejecting the takeoff can be startling to some.
That’s one reason we need to practice rejected takeoffs (RTOs) more frequently. This comment bridges from Takeoff Targets to the November 2 LESSONS on Handling Rejection—thank you, Jim.
Reader Marc Dulude writes:
Tom – you might recall that I flew a twin turbojet Citation aircraft. I’m not familiar with your term, “abort to climb.” In the case of abnormalities, the Citation memory item is either “Abort Takeoff” or “Climb to a Safe Altitude,” depending on the timing and severity of the abnormality. What is “abort to climb?”
I used this phrase to remind readers in aircraft that have such capability that a takeoff abort might include continuing the takeoff, but aborting the planned departure. You’re right, it’s confusing and I should have simply said as much and used the more colloquial and instructive “climb to a safe altitude”—which is how I describe it when I’m lecturing and instructing. I’m sorry I was unclear.
Last week’s LESSONS also included a Debrief discussion about checklist use, especially in flight when many light aircraft pilots are not taught and do not seem to use them. Reader Peter Gottlieb wraps up this week’s Debrief with a comment about that LESSON:
I was taught that whenever it occurs to you that you are bored, that is the time to figure out what you have missed. Pull out the checklist again. Reverify all engine gauges and settings. Get an update on destination weather conditions. Check fuel quantities against what was planned.
Precisely. But as I wrote last week, it goes deeper than that. We are most likely to skips steps or forget something when we are busy—as I described from the event that solidified inflight checklist use into my habits. Use down time to ask and answer the age-old piloting questions “what happens next?” and “what happens after that?” But include checklist use every time you transition from one phase of flight to the next (for example, leveling off from climb), so the day you are distracted or overwhelmed it’s your normal pattern to use the printed checklist once you think all your flow-pattern memory actions are complete. In addition to the down times in flight, that’s the real value of inflight checklists: to protect you from workload and distraction. Thank you, Peter.
More to say? Let us learn from you, at [email protected].
Share safer skies. Forward FLYING LESSONS to a friend
Please help cover the ongoing costs of providing FLYING LESSONS through this
secure PayPal donations link. Or send a check made out to Mastery Flight Training, Inc. at 247 Tiffany Street, Rose Hill, Kansas USA 67133. Thank you, generous supporters.
Special thanks to these donors for helping with the Mastery Flight Training website rebuild:
Karl Kleiderer, Jeffery Scherer, Ken Newbury, William Eilberg, Wallace Moran, Lawrence Peck, Lauren McGavran, Stanley Stewart, Stu and Barbara Spindel, Danny Kao, Mark Sanz, Wayne Mudge, David Peterson, Craig Simmons, John and Betty Foose, Kendell Kelly, Sidney Smith, Ben Sclair, Timothy Schryer, Bruce Dickerson, Lew Gage, Martin Pauly, Theodore Bastian, Howard Greenberg, William Webber, Marc Dullude, Ian O’Connell, Michael Morrow, David Meece, Mike Gonce, Gianmarco Armellin, Mark Davis, Jason Ennis, William Moore, Gilbert Buettner, Don Denny, John Kolmos, LeRoy Cook, Mark Finklestein, Rick Lugash, Tom Carr, John Zimmerman, Lee Perrin, Bill Farrell, Kenneth Hoeg, William Jordan Jr., Mark Rudo, Boyd Spitler, Michael Brown, Gary Biba, Meaghan Cohen, Robert Chatterton, Lee Gerstein, Peter Tracy, Dan Drew, David Larson, Joseph McLaughlin, Nick Camacho, Paul Uhlig, Paul Schafer, Gary Mondry, Bruce Douglass, Joseph Orlando, Ron Horton, George Stromeyer, Sidney Smith, William Roper, Louis Olberding, George Mulligan, David Laste, Ron Horton, John Kinyon, Doug Olson, Bill Compton, Ray Chatelain, Rick McCraw, David Yost , Johannes Ascherl, Rod Partio, Bluegrass Rental Properties, David Clark, Glenn Yeldezian, Paul Sherrerd, Richard Benson, Douglass Lefeve
Thanks to our regular monthly financial contributors:
Steven Bernstein, Montclair, NJ. Robert Carhart, Jr., Odentown, MD. Randy Carmichael, Kissimmee, FL. James Cear, South Jamesport, NY. Greg Cohen, Gaithersburg, MD. John Collins, Martinsburg, WV. Paul Damiano, Port Orange, FL. Dan Drew. Rob Finfrock, Rio Rancho, NM. Norman Gallagher. Bill Griffith, Indianapolis, IN. Steven Hefner, Corinth, MS; Ellen Herr, Ft Myers, FL. Erik Hoel, Redlands, CA. Ron Horton. Robert Hoffman, Sanders, KY. David Karalunas, Anchorage, AK. Steve Kelly, Appleton, WI. Karl Kleiderer. Greg Long, Johnston, IA. Rick Lugash, Los Angeles, CA. Richard McCraw, Hinesburg, VT. David Ovad, Resiertown, MD. Steven Oxholm, Portsmouth, NH. Brian Schiff, Keller, TX. Paul Sergeant, Allen, TX. Ed Stack, Prospect Heights, IL; Robert Thorson, Reeders, PA. Paul Uhlig, Wichita, KS. Richard Whitney, Warrenton, VA.
Pursue Mastery of Flight
Thomas P. Turner, M.S. Aviation Safety
Flight Instructor Hall of Fame Inductee
2021 Jack Eggspuehler Service Award winner
2010 National FAA Safety Team Representative of the Year
2008 FAA Central Region CFI of the Year
Three-time Master CFI
FLYING LESSONS is ©2023 Mastery Flight Training, Inc. For more information see www.thomaspturner.com. For reprint permission or other questions contact [email protected].