Training & Sims

Its easy to munge DA and MDA into the single concept of minimums. Yet, decision altitude (DA) and minimum descent altitude (MDA) are very different concepts. As the names suggest, DA is a decision point while MDA is the lowest altitude allowed without visuals.

Advisory Circulars are perhaps the least-read material published by the FAA, quite possibly due to their bureaucratic-sounding name. But if youre willing to go on a little scavenger hunt, youll likely find in-depth information on some of your favorite topics. There are hundreds of ACs, from how to build an airport to the inner workings of airworthiness standards. Of course, most of these have limited appeal, but if you just want some good nuggets about operating in the system, there are plenty of pilot-friendly items, too.

A low morning fog crept onto the airport as I cleared a CRJ-900 regional jet for takeoff. The RJ lifted, passing just above the vaporous wall, and I switched him to Departure. I waited, watching for something I dealt with every day as an air traffic controller, but had never witnessed.

Wingtip vortices aren't the only type of disturbed air concerning pilots and controllers. According to the 7110.65's Pilot/Controller Glossary, wake turbulence includes "thrust stream...

Some of you are already yawning, thinking to yourselves, With GPS and moving maps, who needs VHF nav anyway? To an extent, thats a valid argument, especially regarding VORs. But, there are still a lot of localizer and localizer back course approaches out there, and you may have to fly one. You shouldnt entirely dismiss VHF navigation just yet.

I havent flown in a year. There, I admitted the embarrassing truth. Shame on me. Its time to rejoin GA, which Im starting through some recurrent training. In March I wrote here in strong support of cockpit-specific training-something I also needed. You see, my airplane has a lot of cool toys Ive yet to really master. Garmin kindly offered to train me on the primary combination and it was an eye opener.

After nearly 10 years of lobbying by general aviation advocacy groups, the FAA in March released a draft proposal aiming to overhaul light aircraft certification. Aviation authorities in Europe released their final report in March on last years fatal Germanwings flight, concluding that airline officials couldnt have done anything to prevent the crash, since nobody told anyone at the airline that first officer Andreas Lubitz was suffering from mental-health problems. Women in Aviation International held their annual conference in March, in Nash-ville, Tennessee, with more than 5000 people attending. Responding to a shortage of pilot applicants for entry-level airline jobs, JetBlue has launched an ab-initio flight training program, the first of its kind in the U.S.

Reader feedback and questions from past issues of IFR. We read em all and try to answer most e-mail, but it can take a month or more. Please be sure to include your full name and location. Contact us at IFR@BelvoirPubs.com.

Reader Durocher went on to point out that many countries have varying levels of Instrument certification/licensing. While each level is permitted some IMC flight, only the most advanced levels get the same capabilities the U.S. offers a private pilot with an instrument rating. The idea is to provide basic instrument flight training without the intricacies of departures and approaches, then permit IMC flight only enroute, with VMC-only take-offs and landings.

It seems pretty obvious-start the procedure turn (PT) past the remain within fix and dont exceed the specified distance. But, there are other considerations such as having enough time and distance to make the FAF altitude inbound. Then, theres the Buchannan Field VOR Runway 19R approach at Concord, CA (KCCR). Here, the chart clearly shows that the procedure turn begins after HUKVI. Or does it?

Most approaches of the same type, particularly RNAV (GPS) approaches, seem essentially the same. The fixes and the minimums are different, but just about everything else is similar enough to other approaches to give a proficient pilot a been there, done that feeling. This thinking can lead us to simply check that the weather is good enough before departure, rather than actually studying the entire procedure before launching.

On the heels of the controversy about logging time in a simulator, the FAA has given us an InFO that unequivocally provides clear guidance about when we can log an approach. Thats guidance that weve been lacking, so were glad to see it.