Windy out there

A windy evening this last Sunday. Winds at KSQL were 20+KTS and KSFO were 27G40. These high winds were due to a strong pressure gradient in the area as observed by very closely spaced isobar lines on this surface analysis chart.Each line represents a 4 mb difference in pressure. ATIS reports between KSFO and KSAC were confirming that large difference in pressure. KSFO 29.75 vs KSAC 29.58. Converting that to millibar (mbar) yields a 5.8 mbar difference. The delta between KHAF and KSAC was even larger at 7.5 mbar. The NWS aviation forecaster had this to say: IMPRESSIVE SURFACE GRADIENTS LOCALLY SFO-SAC RANGING FROM 5 TO 5.7 MB AND HAF-SFO 2.7 MB THIS EVE. SLIGHTLY LARGER SCALE PRESSURE GRADIENTS ACROSS THE AREA ARE NOT SUPPORTIVE OF PRESENT MEASURED WIND SPEEDS SO THE TREND HAS BEEN FOR LOW TO MID LEVEL WINDS TO LINK UP TO SURFACE WINDS BRINGING STRONG WIND GUSTS DOWN TO THE SURFACE.  VICINITY OF KSFO...IMPRESSIVE WIND GUSTS PEAKING NEAR 50 MPH THIS EVE.

Antennas - VOR in particular

I have flown mostly in 172s that all have two communication radios and two navigation radios. I have been accustomed to noting that there were two communication radio antennas on top of the aircraft and what I thought were two navigation radio antennas in a V-shape on the vertical stabilizer, i.e. one antenna for each Nav radio. A few weeks back I was looking at a 152 and its antennas. The 152 had one comm radio and one nav radio. Correspondingly it had only one comm antenna mounted on top of the aircraft but it still had the two antennas on the vertical stabilizer in a V-shape. I originally thought that maybe these antennas were installed in the case that an additional nav radio might be installed. After doing some additional research I found that the V shaped antenna is actually not two separate antennas but one antenna called a dipole. The dipole is a specific design for an antenna that consists of two identical elements that are joined in the center and feed a single radio or in the case of the 172s with two nav radios the antenna feeds both nav radios.

Comm Antennas

Nav Antennas

What is missing?

As part of the pre-flight you open the access door in the engine cowling to check the oil quantity and quality. As you glance in to the engine compartment you see this picture. Is there something wrong?

FAR AIM 2014

The 2014 FAR AIM has been recently published. So what has changed? Honestly, not much. For the typical GA pilot, there were little if no changes in part 61 or part 91 since the 2013 version. Same can be said for the AIM section. The most intriguing question is what do you think of the cover picture? Old school paint job on the plane but some cool background.

Runway and taxiway signs

The AIM does a fairly good job of explaining the various runway signs and markings. The text in the AIM and the various pictures provide a good basis for learning about these important markings and signage but it is sometimes easier to learn about these by seeing them in context. I am sure we all have looked out the window on a commercial flight at the various airport signs and have gained a better perspective on how they are really used. As another source of learning, the link below is a video that shows actual runway signs and markings in real life context. The relevant part starts at about the 26:40 minutes into the video and continues until about 30:40.
Video

A G1000 Flight Plan Tip

One of the things that seem to be a wasted opportunity is having a better way to load a flight plan into the GPS. We have a lot of great planning tools that we can use before we get into the plane to plan the route of flight but once we are ready to go it always seemed a missed opportunity that you couldn’t just load your pre-planned route directly into the GPS. It takes several minutes to load this into the GPS and is somewhat tedious. I friend of mine found an option to load a pre-planned route directly into a G1000. FltPlan.com allows you to create a navigation log and then download it on to a SD card in a format that the G1000 will recognize. I am not a user of FltPlan.com but it seems like a fairly complete application. A few tips to get this to work:

1. When you create an aircraft profile you have to select the option that it is a Garmin

2. There is a link at the bottom of the navigation page, in fine print, that you click on to download the flight plan

3. Once in the plane, load the SD card into the MFD upper slot, navigate to the Flight Plan catalog, scroll to an unused/free flight plan entry, then select import

Shadows on sectional charts

A tidbit from Air Safety Institute:
Did you know that mountains on the sectional charts are shaded to appear as though the sun is positioned in the northwest? According to NOAA, studies have shown that most people's visual perception has been conditioned to this view.

Noise abatement procedures at other airports

Often times when going to a new airport there will be a note about noise abatement procedures. For example the AFD may have a note that says “Noise abatement procedures in effect ctc arpt manager ….”. Calling the airport manager can be burdensome since they are not always there sitting at their phone waiting to answer your question. Sometimes noise abatement procedures can be found online on the airport’s web site and are in various formats. I ran across a new web site that is targeting to be a central place where airports can document the noise abatement procedures and pilots can have a single source to obtain them. Whispertrack, a firm based in Truckee, CA, just released the first ever online content management and distribution platform that allows airports to create, manage, centralize, publish, print, and electronically distribute airport noise abatement procedures. Whispertrack also claims to integrate with ForeFlight but I have been unable to find that information. It seems like it is still growing as a number of airports, e.g. RHV, MRY are listed with the note that states: "The airport is currently updating their noise abatement procedures. Noise abatement procedures will be available soon.". Nevertheless, this seems like a great direction. Check out  https://whispertrack.com/

Do you really need to carry VFR charts?

The question on if we are required to have charts or required to have updated charts for some of us is more of an academic question. Here is an interesting response from the FAA FAQ on this topic.

What is the FAA policy for carrying current charts?

The specific FAA regulation, FAR 91.103 "Preflight Actions," states that each pilot in command shall, before beginning a flight, become familiar with all available information concerning that flight. Although the regulation does not specifically require it, you should always carry a current chart with you in flight. Expired charts may not show frequency changes or newly constructed obstructions, both of which when unknown could crate a hazard.

The only FAA/FAR requirements that pertain to charts are:


• Title 14 CFR section 91.503[a] (Large and Turbojet powered aircraft)
• Title 14 CFR section 135.83 (Air Carriers-Little Airplane)
• Title 14 CFR section 121.549 (Air Carrier-Big Airplanes)

The FAA's July/August 1997 issue of FAA Aviation News on "current" aeronautical charts provided the following information:

1. "You can carry old charts in your aircraft." "It is not FAA policy to violate anyone for having outdated charts in the aircraft."
2. "Not all pilots are required to carry a chart." "91.503..requires the pilot in command of large and multiengine airplanes to have charts." "Other operating sections of the FAR such as Part 121 and Part 135 operations have similar requirements."
3. ..."since some pilots thought they could be violated for having outdated or no charts on board during a flight, we need to clarify an important issue. As we have said, it is NOT FAA policy to initiate enforcement action against a pilot for having an old chart on board or no chart on board." That's because there is no regulation on the issue.
4. ..."the issue of current chart data bases in handheld GPS receivers is a non-issue because the units are neither approved by the FAA or required for flight, nor do panel-mounted VFR-only GPS receivers have to have a current data base because, like handheld GPS receivers, the pilot is responsible for pilotage under VFR.
5. "If a pilot is involved in an enforcement investigation and there is evidence that the use of an out-of-date chart, no chart, or an out-of-date database contributed to the condition that brought on the enforcement investigation, then that information could be used in any enforcement action that might be taken."

Today is the day for new San Francisco Charts .... what changed?

Approximately every 180 days, new VFR charts are produced. New charts are needed because new obstructions get created, changes may occur to airport information or NAVAIDs, or there may be changes to airspace. Given that these changes don’t wait until the charts are published we also check NOTAMS. There is also another source that provides a list of some of the major changes that have occurred. The AFD, which is updated every 56 days, publishes changes since the last published chart. There is a section titled Aeronautical Chart Bulletin in the AFD that contains the major changes. For the San Francisco sectional chart there are no noted major changes as shown in the excerpt below:

However, take a look at the information listed in the AFD for the Los Angeles TAC. It shows that the El Monte airspace has changed from what is published on the chart. The charted airspace extends to 2,800 MSL whereas this notice amends that to 2,400 MSL. More importantly, the shape has slightly changed as well. The extension beyond the 4 NM radius actually shifted about 30 degrees clockwise in the amendment vs what is charted.. You would think with this change that there would be a NOTAM and FSS would know about this, but when I checked, there were no published NOTAMs and the briefer I talked to was not aware of this change. This change was only confirmed by a call to the airport manager that said in fact they had just received an email from the Tower manager confirming the change was in effect.