Piaggio Aero P180 Avanti II

A recent assignment for Instrument Ground School has peaked my interest in a very unique aircraft. I am currently writing an article on the Piaggio Aero Avanti II, one of the most intriguing business aircraft on the market. Its bold design and five bladed "push" turboprop engines give it an unmistakable look. I remember seeing it for the first time in FLYING magazine and at first I couldn't decide if I liked it or not. But that undecided feeling soon turned into a full blown fascination with the aircraft. Sure, there are the powerful and luxurious Gulfstreams, and the sleek Learjets to gawk at. But the Avanti II introduces performance, luxury, and style to the world of VIP turboprop aviation, maybe even spilling a little into bizjet territory.

I will post my article at a later date, once written. But for now I encourage you to take a look at this airplane and its features and see why I have fallen in love with this most alluring aircraft.

http://www.piaggioaero.com/#/en/products/p180-avanti-ii/overview

Mental Check

Yesterday something interesting happened to me that I haven't yet experienced in aviation. When I got to the airport in the morning, Amy told me we were just going to preflight the plane and fly without really doing much briefing on our lesson. The winds were supposed to pick up at around 9:30 and so it was best we get in the air before that. I knew mostly how to do the approaches she was going to teach me, so I felt briefing was not necessary.

After I had the plane preflighted, I went back into the hangar to get a drink and gather my things before the flight. As Amy and I walked back out, she commented "See this?" She pointed to her hair. "Its a natural windsock. I don't think the wind is coming from 320.

AWOS (Automated Weather Observation System)is exactly what it sounds like. It reports weather at the airport like wind speed, direction, altimeter setting, ceiling (cloud layer) sky condition (visibility), etc. On this day, AWOS was reporting winds 15 knots at 320 (north being 360). Amy said "I don't think the wind is coming from 320, that just doesn't sound right." Sure enough, as we taxied to do our run up on the ramp, we looked at the windsock. The wind direction was almost 180 degrees from what AWOS was reporting!

As we started our run up (the preflight check before takeoff, usually done on the ramp or out of the way of other taxiing traffic)we heard Oliver (another instructor) and his student on final for 35. The weather was still reporting wind at 320, when in reality it was directly behind them! They were about to land in a tailwind with about 15 knots. We observed their plane coming in fast and high, a very unstabilized approach. Amy was about to inform them to go around when we saw the nose pitch up and heard the roar of the engine as the plane started its go-around. Amy, notified the FBO of the problem and then had it corrected.

What I have learned from this experience is to constantly question your surroundings. If something doesn't feel right, don't blow it off. Ask yourself if you have the right information, if you have completed all of the proper checklists, what is the situation now, and how can it change for the better or worse? If you feel uneasy about something, DONT FLY until you have identified the problem.

And by observing the other aircraft, I can affirm what has been drilled into me time and time again. If the approach doesn't feel right, go around. Don't try and salvage the landing, you might not be able to salvage the aircraft afterwords.

Landing Competition and Flour Drop!

Each year, Hesston College aviation has missions week, where various aviation alumni come and speak on their experiences in mission aviation. The even is the entire weekend with various speakers and a meal. But the think I a personally looking forward to is the Hesston College Aviation Larks Rally. This is a time when the aviation students compete in two competitions: The Landing competition and the flour drop.

I'm not sure of all the details, so I will update you after this event takes place. I believe the landing competition is to see who can land in the shortest distance, between two markers. Either that or there is specific markers to see who can land between them. The flour drop sounds pretty straight forward in that teams will overfly the field and try to land their flower sack on a prescribed target.

I still need to get a team together, and I have two weeks to do that. The competition takes place on Saturday, April 10. Be assured I WILL post after this event to tell details and stories on what happened. I might even get some really good pictures!

Acronyms

I apologize for my lack of posting lately. College, as it were, just gets busier as the semester goes on. However, I realize that there are those out there (namely family members) that check my blog faithfully and because of that I have decided to make it a goal to post at least once a week.

Instrument is going well, although a combination of bad weather and health have kept me from progressing as fast as I would like. I am, however, confident that I will obtain my rating within the next few weeks. Focus and determination is what is what is needed.

Before I became a pilot, I didn't think much of acronyms. To me they were just silly words that meant the person was too lazy to actually say the phrase. But in aviation, acronyms are almost essential to safety and smooth function of the flight. Acronyms in aviation serve there purpose as memorized checklists. While the same information is on a physical checklist, it speeds up the flight and reduces pilot load if you have that checklist memorized. I AM NOT ADVOCATING FOR THE MEMORIZATION OF ALL CHECKLIST MATERIAL. This is dangerous, as you might miss something vital. But there are certain elements that can be memorized using a helpful acronym.

One simple example that most pilots use is the GUMPC check. This stands for Gas (fuel selector valve set to both), Undercarriage (In the down and locked position, verifying you have a wheel on either side), Mixture (rich), Prop (spinning), Carburetor heat (on). This is used on the downwind leg to final, or at the final approach fix to final in instrument. It means the pilot can quickly have his descent checklist done without having to fumble with a card while concentrating on his approach.

My favorite by far though is the three series of acronyms used to verify that you can fly instrument. TOMATO FLAMES, FLAPS, and GRABCARD. TOMATO FLAMES is used to verify that you can fly VFR in day conditions, TOMATO FLAMES + FLAPS is used to verify that you can fly VFR night. TOMATO FLAMES+ FLAPS + GRABCARD verifies you can fly in IMC conditions (assuming you are instrument rated that is).
Here we go:

T achometer
O oil pressure gauge
M anifold pressure gauge for each atmosphere engine
A irspeed indicator
T emperature gauge for each liquid cooled engine
O il temperature gauge

F uel level gauge
L anding gear position indicator
A ltimeter
M agnetic heading indicator
E mergency locator transmitter (ELT)
S eat belts

F uses
L anding lights
A nticollision lamps
P position indicator lamps
S ource of power

G - Generator or alternator
R - Radios for navigation (ADF/VOR/GPS...)
A - Attitude Indicator
B - Ball (inclinometer)
C - Clock
A - Altimeter (sensitive)
R - Rate of Turn (or turn & slip)
D - Directional Gyro (Heading Indicator)
*another D can be added for DME or RNAV above FL240

And there you have it. Other acronyms include AROW (used to verify aircraft documents are in order), AAVIATE (verify the aircraft has had proper maintenance and inspections), UNOS (North/South Turning Error with magnetic compass), ANDS (acceleration error with magnetic compass).

I hope this has satisfied a small portion of the postings that have been lacking. Until next week! (hopefully!)

Instrument Flight

Starting off the new semester has gone well. I feel like I've gotten back into the flow of things, which has been good. Last semester my goal was to get my Private Pilots license by Christmas, a goal which I effectively achieved. I am very grateful that this happened, for I think if I would have taken my checkride after a three week break, I would have needed a few review flights. Now the challenge for me is to push myself in my instrument studies. The first part of my life long dream has been fulfilled. I hold a private pilots license. The temptation will be complacency, something which I would rather live without. I am confident with lots of focus, passion, and good weather I can tackle the challenges of instrument flight without a problem.

I have started instrument ground school but unfortunately haven't had the chance to fly yet. This entire week has been foggy or overcast. You might ask why I'm not flying. After all I AM learning instrument flight, why not go up in instrument conditions? Flying in IMC (Instrument Meteorological Conditions) required IFR clearance, and working with that while training is quite difficult. There will be a time, a little later, where we will fly actual, but for now we need to wait for a clear day.

Amy is my instructor again and she informed me that the instrument rating is achieved a lot quicker than the private pilots license. She estimates, if the weather cooperates, that I could be finished with it around spring break in March. Lets hope so!

Private Pilot!

I now write as a private pilot! It is amazing, but not hard to believe that I was able to fulfill my goal of getting my license in one semester. Earlier on I was doubtful, as the weather for a couple weeks in a row just didn't cooperate. And with my busy schedule at school, my goal seemed a bit to ambitious. But, like I said in my last post, effective time management and motivation can go a long way in accomplishing your goals.

I had initally scheduled my checkride for early Monday (14th), but low ceilings moved it to Wednesday. Tuesday evening it took me quite a while to fall asleep. I was up early wed. morning ready to go. I was extremely nervous, but the entire thing went really well! The examiner, Dr. Lay, briefed me before we started on the order of events and then we started the checkride. It started with an oral exam, which took about 45 min and then we headed out to the plane for the practical test. During that flight, from the moment we stepped into the plane, I was being watched on how I handled every stage of the flight. This was the final examination, and he tested me in every element I learned this semester. When it was over, we parked at the hangar, had a postflight debriefing with my instructor and he signed a temporary license for me. Let me tell you, I was quite excited when he pushed the paper across the table, smiled and ask me to sign on the line. I was a private pilot!! Dr. Lay said it would take 110-120 days for me to receive the actual card. This is the Federal Government we are talking about. I sure hope I get it by then.

Next semester I will start right away on getting my instrument rating. But for now, I'm kicking back and enjoying the Christmas Break. So until my next post, have a Merry Christmas and a holiday.

Time Management

Once again I'm afraid I will have to start my post with an apology. These last few weeks have been crazy and the workload keeps piling. So I'm sorry it has taken this long to post. There are about two weeks left in the semester and I'm finding that all of my work is catching up to me. Papers have been assigned and finals need to be studied for. But most important of all, I have my FAA written exam and checkride fast approaching.

I have been studying for both like a madman, whilst juggling all of my other school work. I have also been progressing through Stage 4, the final stage, quite quickly. My first night flight was Monday, and I had a night cross country last night to Wichita. It was my first time flying into class C airspace and what and experience! On approach the tower told us to keep our speed up, as a Learjet was on final behind us. So we flew the approach right below the yellow arc at 120 knots. Fortunately Wichita's runway is long enough we didn't need to worry about our ground roll distance, so speed wasn't a critical factor.

I have another night cross country tonight with a local solo tomorrow. I am working on polishing up my maneuvers and cross wind landings so they are in tip top shape for my checkride. I must admit I'm quite nervous. But I might as well get used to it, since I know I'll have many more to come!