Three rules of Aviation

[AuntPeggy]

The other night Hubby and I were talking. He asked, "You know what the three rules of aviation are, right?"

I responded with:
1. Fly the airplane
2. Fly the airplane
3. Fly the airplane

"Not that one", he said. So I tried:
1. Fly the plane
2. Don't hit anything
3. Don't do something stupid

"No, no."
1. Aviate
2. Navigate
3. Communicate

What about the three most useless things:
1. The fuel in the truck
2. The sky above
3. The runway behind

I'm sure there are others.

 

[Pilawt]

There are three rules for making consistent good landings.

Unfortunately no one knows what they are.

 

[Bob Noel]

> What about the three most useless things:

TSA
DHS
FAA Lawyers

 

[BillTIZ]

There are three rules for making consistent good landings.

Unfortunately no one knows what they are.

One Rule.. don't fight the airplane...
it can land its self..
when it is good and ready..

 

[wabower]

Most-said phrases by glass-cockpit crews:

1. Where's it going now?
2. Was that for us?
3. What'd he say?

 

[Pilawt]

Most-said phrases by glass-cockpit crews:

1. Where's it going now?
2. Was that for us?
3. What'd he say?

In Airbus cockpits:

1. Look what it's doing now!
2. It just did it again!
3. How do we make it stop doing that?

 

[Graueradler]

I have always disagreed with "fuel in the truck". Carry all the fuel you need with ample reserves but carrying fuel beyond that is just giving up margin in other important performance areas.

 

[Ted]

FAA Lawyers

There's one FAA lawyer who visits this board sometimes. I don't find him to be useless. I'd buy him a beer any day, in fact.

I have always disagreed with "fuel in the truck". Carry all the fuel you need with ample reserves but carrying fuel beyond that is just giving up margin in other important performance areas.

I've never had a time when I regretted having more fuel than I needed. You're far more likely to have something happen that will make you want additional fuel than to have something happen where the performance in other areas matters that much. The one thing I can think of would be short field takeoffs.

 

[Ted]

Three rules:

1) Every pilot is ALWAYS right. Just ask him/her. This includes when two pilots disagree.

2) Ask a question on something completely unrelated to aviation, and your answer will somehow get into flight techniques, instruction techniques, engine management, FAA, TSA...

3) The sky IS blue. You just have to high enough to find it.

 

[midlifeflyer]

There's one FAA lawyer who visits this board sometimes. I don't find him to be useless. I'd buy him a beer any day, in fact.

Besides, FAA lawyers are often the best first line of defense against overreaching FAA Inspectors.

 

[dmccormack]

1. Keep the shiny side up and the dirty side down
2. Ignore the line guy's take on the weather
3. The weather's probably not as bad as the breifer's making it seem

 

[Danos]

There's one FAA lawyer who visits this board sometimes. I don't find him to be useless. I'd buy him a beer any day, in fact.

Yup. Or a burrito

 

[ScottM]

1. The bigger the watch the better the pilot
2. A leather jacket is required per the MEL
3. Low wing is better than high wing

 

[Geico266]

1. Take offs are optional, landings are not.
2. I'd rather be on the ground wishing I was in the air, than in the air wishing I was on the ground.
3. There are old pilots and bold pilots, but there are no old & bold pilots.

 

[wsuffa]

1. The bigger the watch the better the pilot
2. A leather jacket is required per the MEL
3. Low wing is better than high wing

You left off the dork ba... er... epaulets.

 

[jhausch]

Take off quickly
Stay in the middle of the air
Land gently

 

[ScottM]

You left off the dork ba... er... epaulets.

That was the other one I was trying to think off!!! Thanks for reminding me.

1. The bigger the watch the better the pilot
2. A leather jacket is required per the MEL
3. A real pilot has four stripes on their epaulets.

 

[azure]

3. The weather's probably not as bad as the breifer's making it seem

The worst trouble I've gotten into has been from believing briefers who said it would be great flying weather.

 

[dmccormack]

The worst trouble I've gotten into has been from believing briefers who said it would be great flying weather.

Really?

I've found them universally pessimistic if you say you're VFR.

IFR they tend to work with you.

 

[steingar]

What's the difference between God and a pilot?

God doesn't think he's a pilot​

How many pilots does it take to screw in a light bulb?

One. The pilot just holds the bulb and the world revolves around him​

or​

Five. One to screw in the light bulb and four others to tell him the right way how to do it.​

What's the cheapest way to make your Skyhawk faster?

Sell it and buy a Cherokee.​

 

[jtheune]

There's one FAA lawyer who visits this board sometimes. I don't find him to be useless. I'd buy him a beer any day, in fact.



I've never had a time when I regretted having more fuel than I needed. You're far more likely to have something happen that will make you want additional fuel than to have something happen where the performance in other areas matters that much. The one thing I can think of would be short field takeoffs.

If you follow the rules for W&B you will find yourself leaving things out of your plane that you would really like to have with you later. warm clothes and survival gear come to mind. It's a trade off like some many other things in life.

 

[Ted]

If you follow the rules for W&B you will find yourself leaving things out of your plane that you would really like to have with you later. warm clothes and survival gear come to mind. It's a trade off like some many other things in life.

This varies from plane to plane. For the planes you fly, that may be true. For the planes I fly and the trips I take, I never have an issue having full fuel and still meeting W&B limitations with all the equipment I need. Admittedly, I normally fly the aviation equivalent of an F-350, but I've never had problems doing with an Archer or Mooney, either, even taking off out of short strips.

 

[Everskyward]

I've never had a time when I regretted having more fuel than I needed. You're far more likely to have something happen that will make you want additional fuel than to have something happen where the performance in other areas matters that much. The one thing I can think of would be short field takeoffs.

You're not from Colorado.

 

[azure]

Really?

I've found them universally pessimistic if you say you're VFR.

IFR they tend to work with you.

It isn't so much the briefers as the fact that, a lot of the time the NWS just doesn't have a handle on the Lake Effect. They're a lot better than they were even 5 years ago, but still have a way to go. Just yesterday they were saying that a strong ridge building in would scour out the MVFR stratocumulus deck by mid-afternoon. It didn't happen until about 3 hours after sunset, and then more low scud started moving in from the Thumb.

Some briefers have enough savvy to evaluate how the forecast is actually playing out, but the ones who don't are worse than useless. Today I do most of my own briefing online when I can, and if I'm somewhere without wx and need to call a briefer, I'm always prepared with specific questions. I also have a whole slew of nearby AWOS numbers in my cellphone.

 

[dmccormack]

It isn't so much the briefers as the fact that, a lot of the time the NWS just doesn't have a handle on the Lake Effect. They're a lot better than they were even 5 years ago, but still have a way to go. Just yesterday they were saying that a strong ridge building in would scour out the MVFR stratocumulus deck by mid-afternoon. It didn't happen until about 3 hours after sunset, and then more low scud started moving in from the Thumb.

Some briefers have enough savvy to evaluate how the forecast is actually playing out, but the ones who don't are worse than useless. Today I do most of my own briefing online when I can, and if I'm somewhere without wx and need to call a briefer, I'm always prepared with specific questions. I also have a whole slew of nearby AWOS numbers in my cellphone.

True -- local conditions (lake effect, northward turn of east bound weather at the Allegheny ridge, fog in the I-79 corridor of WV) are all local conditions that are n't included adequately in briefs

 

[Ted]

You're not from Colorado.

That's true! In the eastern half of the country where I am, it's not a problem. If I moved to Colorado, I'd end up investing in turbochargers. Boost makes the world go 'round, after all.

Today I do most of my own briefing online when I can, and if I'm somewhere without wx and need to call a briefer, I'm always prepared with specific questions. I also have a whole slew of nearby AWOS numbers in my cellphone.

That's the way to go. I haven't called a briefer in close to a year, and that was part of the reason I bought my BlackBerry - so I could look at my online forecasts. You'll do a much better job of being able to look at and interpret forecasts than they will once you get comfortable with your area.

 

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

This varies from plane to plane. For the planes you fly, that may be true. For the planes I fly and the trips I take, I never have an issue having full fuel and still meeting W&B limitations with all the equipment I need. Admittedly, I normally fly the aviation equivalent of an F-350, but I've never had problems doing with an Archer or Mooney, either, even taking off out of short strips.

You need to spend more quality time behind a mighty Continental 85.

 

[dmccormack]

You need to spend more quality time behind a mighty Continental 85.

Or Lycoming 65 (which is probably more like 50)

 

[poadeleted20]

I have always disagreed with "fuel in the truck". Carry all the fuel you need with ample reserves but carrying fuel beyond that is just giving up margin in other important performance areas.

I've heard it said that the only time you can have too much fuel is when you're on fire. OTOH, too much fuel cause this accident which occurred due to tankering fuel. However, unless extra fuel will take me over max gross, I fill the tanks for even local flights -- I like having options.

 

[poadeleted20]

Really?

I've found them universally pessimistic if you say you're VFR.

IFR they tend to work with you.

After 40 years of doing this, it seems to me to be more of a bell-curve, with most of the time being right (or close), some of the time missing on the optimistic side, and some of the time missing on the pessimistic side. As such, I've learned never to assume that the briefers are being pessimistic.

 

[poadeleted20]

If you follow the rules for W&B you will find yourself leaving things out of your plane that you would really like to have with you later. warm clothes and survival gear come to mind. It's a trade off like some many other things in life.

If you don't follow the rules for W&B, sooner or later, you'll need that survival gear. Well, that assumes you survive what happens from being overloaded or out of cg, so maybe not.

 

[Ted]

You need to spend more quality time behind a mighty Continental 85.

No, no I don't. I'm happy spending lots of time next to a pair of mighty IO-540-C4B5s.

Anything you don't have is an option you're taking away from yourself. Not having fuel means you're taking away the option of flying longer. I seem to recall hearing that the #1 cause of engine failure was insufficient fuel. That's a really stupid reason to have to ditch your plane.

 

[Everskyward]

OTOH, too much fuel cause this accident which occurred due to tankering fuel.

Tankering fuel is not inherently bad but you need to pay attention to your CG and takeoff weight for the runway length and conditions. These people got their CG too far forward and couldn't rotate. Of course there were a lot of other problems with the operation too.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of
the accident was the pilots’ failure to ensure the airplane was loaded within
weight-and-balance limits and their attempt to take off with the center of gravity well
forward of the forward takeoff limit, which prevented the airplane from rotating at the
intended rotation speed.

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief2.asp?ev_id=20050208X00153&ntsbno=DCA05MA031&akey=1

 

[Pilawt]

I've heard it said that the only time you can have too much fuel is when you're on fire. OTOH, too much fuel cause this accident which occurred due to tankering fuel. However, unless extra fuel will take me over max gross, I fill the tanks for even local flights -- I like having options.

About a dozen years ago a Comanche made a fuel-exhaustion forced landing on a city street near KBUR. The airplane was damaged, but the four aboard were not seriously injured.

On the TV news that night (I saw it) the Fire Department spokesman, noting there was no fire associated with the crash, looked right into the camera, and with all sincerity said,

"Those passengers were very lucky there was no fuel aboard ..."

 

[flyingcheesehead]

I've heard it said that the only time you can have too much fuel is when you're on fire. OTOH, too much fuel cause this accident which occurred due to tankering fuel. However, unless extra fuel will take me over max gross, I fill the tanks for even local flights -- I like having options.

Waitaminute... They were tankering fuel OUT of Teterboro, one of the most expensive places in the country to buy fuel?

 

[midlifeflyer]

About a dozen years ago a Comanche made a fuel-exhaustion forced landing on a city street near KBUR. The airplane was damaged, but the four aboard were not seriously injured.

On the TV news that night (I saw it) the Fire Department spokesman, noting there was no fire associated with the crash, looked right into the camera, and with all sincerity said,

"Those passengers were very lucky there was no fuel aboard ..."

I love it!

 

[flyingcheesehead]

I have always disagreed with "fuel in the truck". Carry all the fuel you need with ample reserves but carrying fuel beyond that is just giving up margin in other important performance areas.

Unless, of course, you're on the leg out of KRUE in which case you should always depart with full fuel.

If you follow the rules for W&B you will find yourself leaving things out of your plane that you would really like to have with you later. warm clothes and survival gear come to mind. It's a trade off like some many other things in life.

Really, warm clothes, survival gear, etc. weigh as much as a gallon or two of fuel. If a gallon or two makes the difference, you've got problems.

I'm in the "fuel in the truck" camp, mainly because of a particular IFR flight where the weather did some wonky stuff - Was below minimums (unforecast) at the destination, and the alternate went from SCT090 to OVC001 in the space of 10 minutes - Luckily, we made it in just before the weather went below minimums, but I wasn't too nervous about the approach simply because if it was below minimums, I still had enough fuel to fly all the way home if necessary. Had I only had the required IFR reserves...

VFR, it's a little different, but only if you don't mind landing in a field or having less time to diagnose a mechanical issue (landing gear, etc.) should Bad Stuff happen. Fuel gives you options, and options are good.

 

[Graueradler]

I've never had a time when I regretted having more fuel than I needed. You're far more likely to have something happen that will make you want additional fuel than to have something happen where the performance in other areas matters that much. The one thing I can think of would be short field takeoffs.

I have - A Cherokee 140 near gross weight at 105 degrees F on take off at Baton Rouge. Encouraged me to add some performance mods to improve take off an climb.

 

[dmccormack]

I have - A Cherokee 140 near gross weight at 105 degrees F on take off at Baton Rouge. Encouraged me to add some performance mods to improve take off an climb.

Did it encourage you to look up the performance tables before takeoff??

 

[wsuffa]

Did it encourage you to look up the performance tables before takeoff??

Sometimes the performance tables are optimistic (as are the W&B figures). And every once in a while you mentally think you've brought gear up when you haven't (oops).

I put VG's on my Commander and it was one of the best mods I made.