Becoming a pilot, Part 1

Before I even knew that I wanted to be a pilot, growing up near Ft Lauderdale International Airport, I spent countless hours in a parking lot near Runway 9L listening to the air traffic controllers broadcast over speakers tethered to light poles. I wasn't seeking anything in particular, but I've always been drawn to airplanes and this was about as close as you could get to them.

Unbeknownst to me at the time, I was learning a new language and beginning my journey to becoming pilot in command of a passenger airplane. While most would find sitting in a parked car listening to these repetitive transactions incredibly boring, it was the only place I wanted to be at that moment. Over and over again, I would hear the controller instruct Delta, American, United and others "Runway Nine Left, position and hold" and I would hear an airline pilot repeat the instruction back.
Even though I hadn't yet taken my first flight lesson and didn't even really know that becoming a pilot was within my reach, my subconscious apparently was hard at work painting a picture for me to one day notice. And thankfully, luckily, I was paying attention at the right time in life.

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Who's learning how to fly?

Everyone that walks through our doors has 2 things in common -- (1) they've always been obsessed with airplanes and (2) they finally have some time to devote attention and resources towards learning how to fly them.

The COVID crisis has really put a spotlight on the time part of that equation. More flexible work schedules mean that you can still put in 16 hour days, but start/end times don't matter as much, just as long as the work gets done. If you wanted to sneak out to the airport for a flight lesson on Friday morning, that now becomes really do-able.

Also for many, the days of airline travel all week made personal flight lessons simply unrealistic and while we may return to that lifestyle sometime soon, it is not happening anytime really soon. That means there is a lot more time to get to the airport, which is a prerequisite for flying an airplane yourself.

We're also seeing some other unexpected but very cool trends:

- Spouses are becoming very interested in accompanying their partners on the journey, if not to take it all the way to pilot, then to at least learn basic aerodynamics, operations and how to land just in case the situation arises

- Teenagers dealing with the nuances of hybrid or at-home learning are also wanting to turn their passion for airplanes and their time spent on flight simulators into something more tangible and real, like actually physically flying an airplane

No matter your current situation and what COVID has done to upend your lifestyle, it is a unique time to learn how to fly. The benefits to your psyche, your outlook on life and your health are endless -- and these days, we all need to be a little more optimistic about things.

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Immersive Training: NY to LA [part 4/8]

Flying into busy urban airports is a challenge. Flying into less busy rural airports is a different kind of challenge. 

First, they’re not so easy to find. Looking for a runway located in the middle of hundreds of miles of fields sounds easy, but is usually not the case.

Second, they usually don’t offer the amenities that larger, busier airports do. But, that is usually a beautiful thing. What it means is less chain restaurants and more local home cooking. 

Third, if you appreciate mid-century architecture and design, you’ll really find some special buildings, airplanes, hangars, etc. 

During our trip, just before we landed at Denver Int’l, we stopped at Emporia KS for fuel. Different kind of airport, different kind of experience, but a part of the country that I hadn’t seen before and enjoyed every minute of it.

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Immersive Training: NY to LA [part 3/8]

To one degree or another, most pilots fear landing at Class B airports. It’s a valid concern, but like most things, can be overcome with experience. You just need to try it a few times, survive it and improve at it. 

Not all “bravos” are the same, so a great way to approach it is to start at the less busy ones (i.e. KPIT, not KJFK). During our trip to LA, we landed at KDEN , which was a bucket list airport for our client and since I'd never landed there, thought it was pretty great also.

Like most things in aviation, the key to success is planning and the 3 areas to pay most attention to are:

1. Who will you likely be speaking to? Multiple approach controllers, tower, ground, ramp/apron, FBO -- it's a long list but one that you can prepare for and even rehearse if you wanted to.

2. What approach/runway can you expect? It's somewhat a roll of the dice, but winds and direction you're approaching from will usually dictate your initial options, then parking convenience could play a factor. This means that if the general aviation/FBO ramp is adjacent to a particular runway, approach/tower could set you up for that runway, if traffic/spacing allows.

3. How to taxi to parking? Approach/landing is one thing, taxiing at a Class B is another. They are large pieces of real estate with complex charts and endless taxiways. Again, try to plan your likely route ahead of time, write down your taxi instructions if needed and take your time (though not too much time if in KORD ;-)

Short story, Class B's are complicated, but the experience is worth it!

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Immersive Training: NY to LA [part 2/8]

When you’re learning how to fly, all experience matters. Imagine being a student pilot, taking off into real weather and flying solely by reference to instruments for over an hour. It’s a lot at first and not even required to become a private pilot, but we believe there is only upside. Not only is it an awesome experience but it actually demystifies a ton of uncertainties in a new pilot’s mind and is a major confidence booster. And it’s all done with total safety in mind — your instructor (as always) is fully prepared to take over if needed, but also perfectly content letting you figure it out, while helping guide on the nuances.

Student pilot departing IFR

Student pilot departing IFR

Immersive Training: NY-LA

We teach people how to fly every single day. What makes us different is how we do it.

Rather than staying within a 25-mile radius of home base as is standard practice, we take every opportunity we can to get pilots on the road to experience the adventure, challenges and decision-making skills needed to successfully enjoy flying.

Flight training isn’t just about learning how to land, avoid stalls and other fundamental maneuvers. It’s about seeing the whole picture, thinking ahead and really becoming “pilot-in-command” of your flight.

In this 8-part series, I’ll break down each leg of our most recent XC from NY-LA with a student pilot in N383AP — a 2018 Cirrus SR22T affectionatly known as Alpha Pop.

The No-Go

This is a tough post to write.

I always say that making the no-go decision is a hard thing to do.

We’re pilots and we are programmed to get the job done. We battle finicky airplanes, bad weather and all manner of x-factors to get our passengers from Point A to Point B.

But part of our job is to make tough decisions. And sometimes, the decision is to not carry on and to abort the immediate mission.

This has never been an easy decision for me to make but I’ve had to make it a handful of times and it gets a little easier with time. The reasons for the decision have always primarily been to weather (i.e. not being able to make it through a line of storms) and health (no/little sleep the night before), though there have been other reasons like an airplane just not acting exactly right.

I say it’s a tough post to write because I want to deliver 100% of the time and I will initially see an aborted mission as a failure. But then I come to realize that keeping my passengers safe and comfortable is actually a success and that although a flight may not go, it’s a relatively small deal and can never be the wrong decision.

CX 2020

Every year, Cirrus Aircraft holds an annual gathering of training centers, service centers and other partners.

The result is usually an interesting conversation about training, safety and innovation. That last word gets thrown around a lot in life and the media. But I think Cirrus Aircraft actually pushes hard to make sure that they are holding true to it. That’s why we partner with them exclusively.

In a few hours, we should know what’s coming in 2020 for the SR & SF series aircraft. I hope that there are significant updates for the SR series, though I struggle to imagine what they could be.

At this point, I think the single engine piston aircraft is pretty tricked out. But I am usually proven wrong and hope to be this time also.

#p6aviation #cirrusaircraft #cx2020 #cirrus #generalaviation #flightinstruction