PlasticPilot.net

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The actual text is slightly more detailled and complex, but here’s the fact: I’m no longer current.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.

For the last months I’ve been a low time pilot (read about the reasons here), and this will continue at least until summer 2008. The strategy I defined is working fine - I renewed my IFR rating last week. I will move to my new place by the end of march, and I will publish an update about being a low time pilot after a couple of months.

Renewing my instrument rating was an important step before changing homebase. What it takes to renew and IFR rating is a simple proficiency check flight… but with no recent experience, it’s not that easy.

My last instrument flight was last summer when I flew from Cannes to Bastia, with a DA40 TDI. My last flight with a PA32 Saratoga was in November was also my last flight, so my recent experience was low. Even if this meant more flight time and money, I decided to make a preparation flight with my instructor. Certainly a good idea…

The departure and en-route part of the flight were a non-issue. I had a good review of the procedures and checklists before, and the SID was an extremely simple “climb in the axis” one. Weather was fine, despite a medium wind from the north.

I slightly overshot the axis of the holding because I corrected too much for the wind, which was lower at holding altitude than at cruising altitude. The ensuing ILS approach was fine. I certainly had to concentrate much more to keep the needles centered than when I was flying more IFR, but applying the good practices (attitude indicator first) worked fine.

The second departure and en-route segment were also fine - apparently one never forgets about IFR. Weather was still fine, no single cloud to fly through, making the things easier. The second approach was VOR-DME which I had to fly at high-speed (160 kts). Ok, jet guys will say this is slow, but flying it single pilot is not so easy.

My descent management was not exactly good, and I did reach the minimum altitude with an excessive descent rate, so I undershot the altitude by a few dozen feet. Same thing on the check day would make it a failure…ooops.

My instructor pointed a couple of factors during the debriefing, helping me to identify the problems. One week later, I took my check-ride. Thanks to the previous training - and good conditions again - it was succesful. I made a couple of minor mistakes, but nothing problematic.

According to my strategy, my IFR rating is now valid for one more year. It is clear to me that my recent experience is not sufficient to manage an hard-IMC flight in adverse weather. Once again, it is not because something is legal that it is safe.

Before re-flying IFR solo, I will go through a refresher course, to remain on the safe side, but also continue to enjoy it…

Since I got my instrument rating, the question I heard to most from fellow pilots is “Is it not too hard to maintain it ? How many hours…”

The answer I give is always the same: “One flight a year !”

My Instrument Rating (IR) is based on my Single Engine Piston (SEP) class rating. The standard way to renew SEP is with 12 hours flight time (6 PIC), 12 landings and one hour with an instructor, once every two years (under JAA).
The IR has to be renewed each year, by flying with an examiner. The flight must include the following elements:

• One precision (ILS) approach
• One non-precision approach (LLZ, VOR, NDB)
• One go-around
• One track-reversal manoeuver (tear-drop, 45 / 180, procedure turn)
• One approach to stall
• One steep-turn

Fly all of it within tolerances, and the thing is done ! But don’t think it’s that easy…

One must not get confused: a valid rating does not mean that your skills are up to the task. If you don’t fly for a year and get the exam, the chances of success are quite low… It is a much better idea to first take a refresher / assessement flight, and additional training if required.

Failing an exam flight is not a glorious idea, because it has three consequences:

1. The IR privileges of the examinee are immediately cancelled
2. Additional training is mandatory before a new exam
3. The new exam must be with the same examiner

Because of this, renewing in a remote airport is quite risky, except if lot of spare time is available, but this is another story…

And once again, someone who flies IFR twice a year only is certainly not proficient enough to handle more than nice weather IFR. Various situations exist where pilots (including me) have to renew with very low practice, and the most important point is to be aware of what is legally possible, and what is reasonable.