PlasticPilot.net

“Negative”
That one is rather clear: the controller can not accept my request. It is usually followed by cause, which can range from traffic to reserved airspace, via many others. It’s never pleasant, but pilots know, understand, and accept that. Depending what is denied, the plans have to be slightly or drastically changed, or even cancelled.

“Radar Service Terminated”
There are many ways to keep IFR traffic separated from each other. The most obvious and frequent is use of radar by controllers. They know the position of each aircraft, and provide guidance. It’s convenient and efficient. It’s somehow reassuring to know that I’m a “blip” with a position, a label, and an altitude on the controller’s screen, even if it does not take any of my pilot’s responsibilities away.

But radar coverage is not present everywhere, particularly in lower airspace and regional airports. Aircraft are then kept separated from the other and from the obstacles using procedures. Typically, all aircraft are kept in holding at different altitudes, and fly the approach one after the other. It’s perfectly safe, as long as pilots flow procedures as published. In case of deviation however, there won’t be any friendly voice in the radio to issue a warning.

When leaving radar coverage, or before transfer to a non-radar equipped ATC service, comes that famous “radar service terminated” message. It always sounded like a “don’t mess it up now, you’re on your own, kiddo”.

“Say intentions”
From all the standardized vocabulary used between controllers and pilots, this is probably the worst sentence of all. Controllers use it when they have no idea what a pilot will do, either because something got denied (see “Negative”) and there are no obvious options, or because the pilot just declared an emergency.

Typically, if a pilot has doubts regarding the landing gear extension, he will require a low pass in front of tower for visual inspection. The controllers will look using binoculars, and then report to the pilot. This could be something like “Sorry, no landing gear visible. Say intentions”.

For a pilot, not having a plan is not a glorious situation. In the best case, “say intentions” means that I’m with no plan, and in the worst case, it means that I’m in an emergency. There is only one positive thing in “say intentions”: ATC will help to solve the problem, whatever it is.

If there are other things you don’t like to hear, or if you want to take part in the preparation of the “Three things ATC don’t like to hear from pilots” post, leave a comment.

I’m a tall pilot - slightly over 1m90 - and it’s not always easy. Cockpit designers do their best, but some planes can’t simply be flown by pilots over 1m80. The Liberty XL2 is not a good memory in this respect, so I won’t even mention it.

My head did hit plane ceilings on a couple of occasions because of turbulence, and that’s no good. In most planes I have to set the seat in full backwards position, and sometimes this is not really enough. Bringing a Piper yoke to full deflection is not possible if I carry a too large kneeboard.

Here are a couple of photos taken in various planes, showing the distance left between my head and the ceiling. At first, the PA28 Archer II. The space is not that large, but the leg room is fine.

Its bigger sister PA32-Saratoga offers a bit more space for head, but this is at a price of a very low visibility over the dashboard. Not that much of an issue when flying IFR, except when it comes to flare. Because of the club seating - passengers in row 1 are flying backwards - the pilot’s seat can’t be taken backwards enough, and any kneeboard can possibly prevent to take the yoke to full deflection. On the plus side, the club seating makes possible to slip an A4 sized kneeboard between co-pilot and passenger seats.

One of the best aircraft I flew regarding overhead space it the Bonanza. There’s not plenty of horizontal space, but the cockipt it rather high, vertically speaking. Another good thing for cockpit organisation is the presence of a pocket below the pilot’s seat, very practical for checklits.

What about the plastic plane then ? The DA40 cockpit is slightly different, as the seat can’t be adjusted, and the stick is fixed into the seat. To fit (almost) all pilots, the rudder pedals can be adjusted to various depths. Once the canopy is closed, it gets quite close to my head, so I get deep in the seat when the ride gets turbulent.

I did not found a suitable picture from a C172, but regarding cockpit access and vertical space, it’s a pleasure to fly it. I don’t push the seat to the fully backwards position when flying the C172, because of the special position for boarding…

If you have personal feed-back on cockipt space, let me know in comment… particularly if you’re in the opposite situation, and fly with cushions

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Because of the horrible bug, no comments are allowed on this post. Here is one that Sylvia from www.fearoflanding.com sent me per e-mail:

I have the opposite problem - I’m just under 1m53. Funnily enough, I like the Saratoga too as it allows me to go further forward than most planes. It’s probably the only plane that I edge back a little bit to get the right fit. The C172 is a pain, I need a cushion behind my back to be able to comfortably reach the pedals. Really I’d like a pillow underneath as well to lift me up a bit but I end up too embarrassed.

I’ve not flown many other planes. I used a very small cushion in the Tobago - I think I have pretty much used cushions on every plane except the Saratoga.

We carry a step-ladder around with us too as I can’t check the oil without it!

* Sylvia *

If you’re a fan of this blog, you know that I stopped flying after leaving Geneva for Frankfurt. I don’t regret the move, life is much better now, even if all is not yet stabilized. I already have plans to resume flying in August, when I’ll be back to Geneva for a couple of days, and I will also visit a friend who is instructor in London.

Longer term plans are not clear now. I’ll have to find a club here in Frankfurt. I already identified some, but this will all depend on budget. The objective is still to keep my SEP and IR valid, and this is exactly why I won’t fly before August: I need 12 hours after the 5th of August to renew my SEP. If you want to read more about my strategy, click here, here and there.

My last flight took place on the 14th of March (slightly after the one mentionned in the last like above), so a critical point in time passed by last week: my SEP privileges are suspended ! According to the JAR-FCL regulations, no one can act as pilot in command if he / she did not flew within the last 90 days.

The actual text is slightly more detailled and complex, but here’s the fact: I’m no longer current. My license and ratings are valid, but I can’t fly as pilot in command without flying with an instructor. Some clubs impose stronger rules, depending of aircraft type, pilot experience, but all have to respect the bottom line defined in by the JAR-FCL.

The currency regulation is one of the things that will always make flying different from driving. Anybody with a valid driving license can jump in any car, and go. Not only pilots need type specific training, but also recent experience. However, there is no real control at private level. Rental pilots are somehow controlled by their school / club / FBO, but not before each flight. The control over owners is even less, nearly inexistent.

It’s only during periodical flight checks that examiners make sure that pilots still meet what is required by regulations, including medical certification. Despite all of that, there are some outlaws… I don’t know any exact numbers, but I know of some accidents involving pilots with no valid license, or with no valid medical certificate.

I won’t become one of them.