Social media can be a great networking tool for pilots. It’s a great way to connect with other pilots, build industry contacts and it’s a quick and easy way to keep up with the latest happenings at your favorite aviation companies. But it can also ruin your career. And using social media inappropriately can prevent you from getting hired in the first place.
It’s not secret that hiring managers use social media to screen applicants. If you’re qualified, and the job comes down to you and two or three other people, social media can make or break your chances of getting the job. If the hiring manager visits your Facebook page and finds picture after picture of you partying with your friends and posts bashing your current employer, they’ll likely toss your application out the window. If you want to secure a job as a pilot, keep these social media “dos and don’ts” in mind.
DON’T:
Post photos of yourself doing illegal things. Facebook profiles can tell you a lot about a person. Drinking alcohol with your friends might be fun, but if you’re under 21 (or if it’s just illegal where you live) then you are giving future employers the idea that you don’t care about rules. And your decision to post photos on the internet after a party tells hiring managers that you lack discretion. An employer needs to be able trust you with an airplane worth hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars, along with company information. Photos that display a lack of responsibility and lack of discretion will automatically raise a red flag.
Post photos of yourself doing questionable things at work. Remember this story about the “pilots of Instagram”, in which the author reports that all of those harmless photos of sunsets taken by pilots around the world are actually being taken illegally? Before you post photos from work, remember that someone is always watching. Even if what you’re doing is harmless, those who don’t understand your job might perceive it differently.
Trash-talk airlines/airports. The aviation industry is an incredibly small one. Talking badly about airlines or people in the aviation industry in a public space will almost certainly turn out bad for you. If you had a terrible experience with an aviation business or a person in aviation, take it up directly with them, and refrain from venting your problems on social media channels.
Bash your current school or employer. One of the biggest red flags for hiring managers is a prospective employee that openly complains about his or her employer or school. If you are publicly bashing your current or past employer, what will stop you from making waves in a new company if they were to hire you?o
Use expletives or profanity, or spread negativity. Keep it professional, especially if you’re going to be looking for a job in the near future. Constant negativity tells a future employer that you’ll just bring negativity to the job, which nobody wants.
Include your location or other sensitive information. Discretion is important in aviation, and if you don’t protect yourself and your own personal information, like where you live or where you currently are, an employer might question your ability to keep company issues private. And for your own sake, make sure you protect your private information.
Post anything that you don’t want the whole world to see. Once you post something online, it’s there for the world to see, even if your profile is set to private. All it takes is one friend to, say, become offended and share your photo with others. And particularly offensive photos often go viral, right? You can’t count on deleting things that you regret – by the time you delete it, it could already be circulating to the masses.
Forget about spelling and grammar! Bad spelling and/or grammar reflects your intelligence level, and a future employer won’t be impressed if you constantly misspell things, or if you post only in text message abbreviations. Take the time to spell check.
DO:
Post photos responsibly. Everyone loves good photos. Just make sure you’re not posting photos of anything illegal or questionable. Airplane photos are good. Drinking a beer in the pilot seat at 20,000 feet, not so much.
Use privacy settings. Protect your personal information by using the privacy settings. But don’t think that your private profile is actually private.
Promote aviation and flying in a positive way. It’s good to be enthusiastic about flying, and future employers will look favorably on you for promoting aviation in a positive way.
Use social media to network professionally and promote yourself. It’s absolutely okay and encouraged to use social media to connect with others in the industry and to promote yourself and your professional accomplishments. If you do it in a professional and positive manner, you’ll benefit from social media in the way that it’s meant to be used.
Social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are great for networking, expanding your own knowledge and sharing your aviation experiences with others. Make sure it’s a positive influence in your life by protect yourself and your future aviation career. Keeping your profiles professional, private and positive will ensure that future employers will see you in the same way.
Read More »
Tuesday, 22 September 2015
Saturday, 4 October 2014
Rules of the Air
1. Every takeoff is optional. Every landing is mandatory.
2. If you push the stick forward, the houses get bigger. If you pull the stick back, they get smaller. That is, unless you keep pulling the stick all the way back, then they get bigger again. 3. Flying isn't dangerous. Crashing is what's dangerous. 4. It's always better to be down here wishing you were up there than up there wishing you were down here. 5. The ONLY time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire. 6. The propeller is just a big fan in front of the plane used to keep the pilot cool. When it stops, you can actually watch the pilot starts sweating. 7. When in doubt, hold on to your altitude. No-one has ever collided with the sky. 8. A 'good' landing is one from which you can walk away. A 'great' landing is one after which they can use the plane again. 9. Learn from the mistakes of others. You won't live long enough to make all of them yourself. 10. You know you've landed with the wheels up if it takes full power to taxi to the ramp. 11. The probability of survival is inversely proportional to the angle of arrival. Large angle of arrival, small probability of survival and vice versa. 12. Never let an aircraft take you somewhere your brain didn't get to five minutes earlier. 12a. Stay out of clouds. The silver lining everyone keeps talking about might be another airplane going in the opposite direction. Reliable sources also report that mountains have been known to hide out in clouds. 14. Always try to keep the number of landings you make equal to the number of take offs you've made. 15. There are three simple rules for making a smooth landing. Unfortunately no one knows what they are. 16. You start with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience before you empty the bag of luck 17. Helicopters can't fly; they're just so ugly the earth repels them. 18. If all you can see out of the window is ground that's going round and round and all you can hear is commotion coming from the passenger compartment, things are not at all as they should be. 19. In the ongoing battle between objects made of aluminium going hundreds of miles per hour and the ground going zero miles per hour, the ground has yet to lose. 20. Good judgment comes from experience. Unfortunately, the experience usually comes from bad judgment. 21. It's always a good idea to keep the pointy end going forward as much as possible. 22. Keep looking around. There's always something you've missed. 23. Remember, gravity is not just a good idea. It's the law. And it's not subject to repeal. 24. The three most useless things to a pilot are the altitude above you, runway behind you and a tenth of a second ago. 25. There are old pilots and there are bold pilots. There are, however, no old bold pilots. Flying Advice "Keep the aeroplane in such an attitude that the air pressure is directly in the pilot's face." - Horatio C. Barber, 1916 "When a flight is proceeding incredibly well, something was forgotten." - Robert Livingston, "Flying The Aeronca" "The only time an aircraft has too much fuel on board is when it is on fire." - Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, sometime before his death in the 1920's "Flexible is much too rigid, in aviation you have to be fluid." - Verne Jobst "If you can't afford to do something right, then be darn sure you can afford to do it wrong." - Charlie Nelson "Just remember, if you crash because of weather your funeral will be held on a sunny day." - Layton A. Bennett "I hope you either take up parachute jumping or stay out of single motored airplanes at night." - Charles A. Lindbergh, to Wiley Post, 1931 "Never fly the 'A' model of anything." - Ed Thompson "Never fly anything that doesn't have the paint worn off the rudder pedals." - Harry Bill "Keep thy airspeed up, lest the earth come from below and smite thee." - William Kershner "When a prang seems inevitable, endeavour to strike the softest, cheapest object in the vicinity, as slowly and gently as possible." - advice given to RAF pilots during W.W.II. "Instrument flying is when your mind gets a grip on the fact that there is vision beyond sight." - U.S. Navy "Approach" magazine circa W.W.II. "Always keep an 'out' in your hip pocket." - Bevo Howard "The Cub is the safest airplane in the world; it can just barely kill you." - attributed to Max Stanley, Northrop test pilot "A pilot who doesn't have any fear probably isn't flying his plane to its maximum." - Jon McBride, astronaut "If you're faced with a forced landing, fly the thing as far into the crash as possible." - Bob Hoover "It occurred to me that if I did not handle the crash correctly, there would be no survivors." - Richard Leakey, after engine failure in a single engine, Nairobi, Africa, 1993. "If an airplane is still in one piece, don't cheat on it. Ride the bastard down." - Ernest K. Gann, advice from the "Old Pelican" "Though I Fly Through The Valley Of Death I Shall Fear No Evil, For I Am At 80,000 feet And Climbing." - sign over the entrance to the SR-71 operating location on Kadena AB, Okinawa "You've never been lost until you've been lost at Mach 3." - Paul F. Crickmore "The emergencies you train for almost never happen. It's the one you can't train for that kills you." - Ernest K. Gann, advice from the "Old Pelican" "If you want to grow old as a pilot you've got to know when to push it, and when to back off." - Chuck Yeager "Never fly in the same cockpit with someone braver than you." - Richard Herman Jr, in "Firebreak" "There is no reason to fly through a thunderstorm in peacetime." - Sign over Squadron Ops desk at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ, 1970. "An airplane might disappoint any pilot but it'll never surprise a good one." - Len Morgan "To most people, the sky is the limit. To those who love aviation, the sky is home." Quantas Gripe Sheet:
Remember,
it takes a college degree to fly a plane but only a high school diploma
to fix one, but never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of
humour.
After every flight, Qantas pilots fill out a form, called a 'Gripe Sheet' which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The mechanics correct the problems; document their repairs on the form, and then pilots review the Gripe Sheets before the next flight. Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by Qantas' pilots (marked with a P) and the solutions recorded (marked with an S) by maintenance engineers. By the way, Qantas is the only major airline that has never, ever, had an accident. (not including the Rolls Royce turbine blade that split up in mid flight...) P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement. S: Almost replaced left inside main tire. P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough. S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft. P: Something loose in cockpit. S: Something tightened in cockpit. P: Dead bugs on windshield. S: Live bugs on back-order. P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute Descent. S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground. P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear. S: Evidence removed. P: DME volume unbelievably loud. S: DME volume set to more believable level. P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick. S: That's what friction locks are for. P: IFF inoperative in OFF mode. S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode. P: Suspected crack in windshield. S: Suspect you're right. P: Number 3 engine missing. S: Engine found on right wing after brief search. P: Aircraft handles funny....... S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be serious. P: Target radar hums. S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics. P: Mouse in cockpit. S: Cat installed. And the best one for last.................. P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer. S: Took hammer away from midget.
Life is simple. Eat, Sleep, Fly.
|
Monday, 15 September 2014
Take-off, Approach & Landing Circuits
Circuits are where all your preparatory work from exercises 1-11
come together, and where you will learn to land your aircraft, drawing
on and honing the skills you have learned to date.
This will include climbing, climbing and descending turns, medium turns,
straight and level, descending, and stalling.
We will begin with an outline of what circuits are, and then fill in all the details. Initially, as with almost every new exercise in flying, it can seem a little intimidating with everything that has to be learned, but just give it a little focused attention, and sooner than you may expect it will just come naturally, like a song in your mind that you just cannot seem to stop.
If you are lucky, I may even sing you a "circuit checks" song in the video section!
There are five basic legs to circuits:
take-off leg
crosswind leg
downwind leg
base leg
final leg
Which way to turn in the circuit?
The STANDARD circuit direction is to the LEFT. Wonder why? Where does the pilot sit? Yes, on the left! So where is it easier to see the runway from when flying circuits? The left of course! So it makes sense that if you do a left hand circuit, and the airfield remains to your left, that you, as the pilot, will have the best view of your landing path, no matter where you are in the circuit. It just makes life easier. You will refer to each leg as "left crosswind", "left downwind" and "left base".
BUT
Very often you will be expected to do a NON-STANDARD, RIGHT HAND circuit. This is usually due to terrain, or for noise abatement. The names of each leg remain the same, but will be referred to as "right" instead of "left", as in "right crosswind", "right downwind" and "right base".
Left or Right Circuit?
If the airfield is on your RIGHT HAND SIDE, then you are Right Crosswind / Right Downwind or Right Base, and all your turns will be to the Right and you will be flying a Non-Standard Right Hand Circuit Pattern.
If the airfield is on your LEFT HAND SIDE, then you are Left Crosswind / Left Downwind or Left Base and all your turns will be to the Left and you will be flying a Standard Circuit Pattern.
The take-off and final legs don't get given a direction like left or right, because they remain the same no matter in which direction the circuits go.
Circuit Heights
Circuits are, by convention, flown at 1000 feet above circuit altitude. This means that if your airfield elevation is 3700 foot, then your circuit altitude is 4700 ft. If your airfield elevation is 100ft, then your circuit altitude is 1100ft. This is true most of the time, but not always!
Sometimes Circuit heights are published in the AIP's that are different from the standard height, eg. Virginia Airports circuit in Durban North, elevation: 20ft - circuit height : 800ft. Richards Bay's circuit, elevation 108ft - circuit height : 1500ft.
Assumptions may be wrong
Before assuming an airfield you are flying to has a standard circuit pattern and or height, it is best to check.
The big boss baddie in the Steven Segal Movie "Under Siege II", said it so well when his goon told him our hero was dead, but that he hadn't seen the body:"Assumption is the mother of all f*$%-ups!" he said. Prophetic words, since they were later all killed by the "dead" cook, Segal.
So, don't be taken by surprise by a "dead cook"; look your destination airfield up in the AIP's Airfields Directory to discover if it has a standard circuit, or boasts something more challenging. (Or ask your Instructor).
Circuit Checks
In the circuit, there are certain checks that are mandatory as well as advisable. You are expected to learn these off by heart, unlike your ground checks for which you are expected to use your checklist.
These are:
After Take-off checks - to be started by 300ft Above Ground Level (AGL) at the latest.
Downwind checks - abeam the tower (or when you get a word in edge-ways on Downwind).
Finals checks - to be started by 300ft AGL latest, before your landing.
During your training, you will be learning some checks for items that do not exist in your training
aircraft. Here's why:
Training aircraft are by their nature very basic. As soon as you have your PPL, you may convert to larger and usually more complex aircraft. If the checks for these more complex aircraft are not already entrenched in you, you are very likely to forget them, which could have disastrous and expensive results. These checks are "gear down", "pitch", "fuel pump on/off", (high wing gravity fed training aircraft don't have fuel pumps, but their low wing counterparts do. It is advisable to have this check in your check list arsenal even if you initially train on high wings).
For the time being, the circuit checks you don't understand are "place-markers" for when you graduate to more complex aircraft.
After Take-off Checks
Downwind Checks
Finals Checks
Read More »
We will begin with an outline of what circuits are, and then fill in all the details. Initially, as with almost every new exercise in flying, it can seem a little intimidating with everything that has to be learned, but just give it a little focused attention, and sooner than you may expect it will just come naturally, like a song in your mind that you just cannot seem to stop.
If you are lucky, I may even sing you a "circuit checks" song in the video section!
There are five basic legs to circuits:
Which way to turn in the circuit?
The STANDARD circuit direction is to the LEFT. Wonder why? Where does the pilot sit? Yes, on the left! So where is it easier to see the runway from when flying circuits? The left of course! So it makes sense that if you do a left hand circuit, and the airfield remains to your left, that you, as the pilot, will have the best view of your landing path, no matter where you are in the circuit. It just makes life easier. You will refer to each leg as "left crosswind", "left downwind" and "left base".
BUT
Very often you will be expected to do a NON-STANDARD, RIGHT HAND circuit. This is usually due to terrain, or for noise abatement. The names of each leg remain the same, but will be referred to as "right" instead of "left", as in "right crosswind", "right downwind" and "right base".
Left or Right Circuit?
If the airfield is on your RIGHT HAND SIDE, then you are Right Crosswind / Right Downwind or Right Base, and all your turns will be to the Right and you will be flying a Non-Standard Right Hand Circuit Pattern.
If the airfield is on your LEFT HAND SIDE, then you are Left Crosswind / Left Downwind or Left Base and all your turns will be to the Left and you will be flying a Standard Circuit Pattern.
The take-off and final legs don't get given a direction like left or right, because they remain the same no matter in which direction the circuits go.
Circuit Heights
Circuits are, by convention, flown at 1000 feet above circuit altitude. This means that if your airfield elevation is 3700 foot, then your circuit altitude is 4700 ft. If your airfield elevation is 100ft, then your circuit altitude is 1100ft. This is true most of the time, but not always!
Sometimes Circuit heights are published in the AIP's that are different from the standard height, eg. Virginia Airports circuit in Durban North, elevation: 20ft - circuit height : 800ft. Richards Bay's circuit, elevation 108ft - circuit height : 1500ft.
Assumptions may be wrong
Before assuming an airfield you are flying to has a standard circuit pattern and or height, it is best to check.
The big boss baddie in the Steven Segal Movie "Under Siege II", said it so well when his goon told him our hero was dead, but that he hadn't seen the body:"Assumption is the mother of all f*$%-ups!" he said. Prophetic words, since they were later all killed by the "dead" cook, Segal.
So, don't be taken by surprise by a "dead cook"; look your destination airfield up in the AIP's Airfields Directory to discover if it has a standard circuit, or boasts something more challenging. (Or ask your Instructor).
Circuit Checks
In the circuit, there are certain checks that are mandatory as well as advisable. You are expected to learn these off by heart, unlike your ground checks for which you are expected to use your checklist.
These are:
Training aircraft are by their nature very basic. As soon as you have your PPL, you may convert to larger and usually more complex aircraft. If the checks for these more complex aircraft are not already entrenched in you, you are very likely to forget them, which could have disastrous and expensive results. These checks are "gear down", "pitch", "fuel pump on/off", (high wing gravity fed training aircraft don't have fuel pumps, but their low wing counterparts do. It is advisable to have this check in your check list arsenal even if you initially train on high wings).
For the time being, the circuit checks you don't understand are "place-markers" for when you graduate to more complex aircraft.
After Take-off Checks
| B | Brakes --------- ON/OFF for pressure |
| U | Undercarriage -- UP |
| P | Power ---------- FULL |
| P | Pitch ---------- SET |
| M | Mixture -------- RICH/SET |
| F | Fuel pump ------ OFF |
| F | Flaps ---------- UP/COWL FLAPS OPEN |
| L | Landing lights - OFF |
| B | Brakes --------- ON/OFF for pressure |
| U | Undercarriage -- DOWN |
| M | Mixture -------- RICH/SET |
| P | Pitch ---------- SET |
| P | Power ---------- SET-CHECK WHITE ARC |
| F | Flaps ---------- 10 degrees |
| F | Fuel pump ------ ON |
| H | Harnesses ------ SECURE |
| H | Hatches -------- SECURE |
| L | Landing lights - ON |
| C | Carb heat ------ COLD |
| U | Undercarriage -- CHECK DOWN |
| F | Flaps ---------- 30 degrees/as required |
Saturday, 13 September 2014
AIRSPEED INDICATOR OR TRUE AIRSPEED INDICATOR MARKINGS
AIRSPEED INDICATOR OR TRUE AIRSPEED INDICATOR MARKINGS
Airspeed indicator or true airspeed indicator markings and their color code significance
White Arc- 50 - 95 - Full Flap Operating Range
Lower limit is maximum weight Vso in landing configuration.
Upper limit is maximum speed permissible with flaps extended
Green Arc-58 - 128.5- Normal Operating Range Lower limit is maximum weight VS1 with flaps retracted.
Upper limit is maximum structural cruising speed
Yellow Arc- 128.5 - 165- Operations must be conducted with caution and only in smooth air
Red line- 165- Maximum speed for all operations.
SYMBOLS, ABBREVIATIONS AND TERMINOLOGY IN AVIATION
GENERAL AIRSPEED TERMINOLOGY AND SYMBOLS
KCAS-- Knots Calibrated Airspeed is indicated airspeed corrected
for position and instrument error and expressed in knots.
Knots calibrated airspeed is equal to KTAS in standard
atmosphere at sea level.
MPH CAS-- Miles per Hour Calibrated Airspeed
KIAS Knots Indicated Airspeed is the speed shown on the
airspeed indicator and expressed in knots.
MPH lAS-- Miles per Hour Indicated Airspeed
KTAS-- Knots True Airspeed is the airspeed expressed in knots
relative to undisturbed air which is KCAS corrected for
altitude, temperature and compressibility.
VA-- Maneuvering Speed is the maximum speed at which full or
abrupt control movements may be used.
VFE-- Maximum Flap Extended Speed is the highest speed
permissible with wing flaps in a prescribed extended
position.
VNE-- Never Exceed Speed is the speed limit that may not be
exceeded at any time.
VNO-- Maximum Structural Cruising Speed is the speed that
should not be exceeded except in smooth air, and then only
with caution.
VSO-- Stalling Speed or the minimum steady flight speed at
which the airplane is controllable in the landing
configuration.
VS1-- Stalling Speed or the minimum steady flight speed
obtained in a specific configuration.
Read More »
KCAS-- Knots Calibrated Airspeed is indicated airspeed corrected
for position and instrument error and expressed in knots.
Knots calibrated airspeed is equal to KTAS in standard
atmosphere at sea level.
MPH CAS-- Miles per Hour Calibrated Airspeed
KIAS Knots Indicated Airspeed is the speed shown on the
airspeed indicator and expressed in knots.
MPH lAS-- Miles per Hour Indicated Airspeed
KTAS-- Knots True Airspeed is the airspeed expressed in knots
relative to undisturbed air which is KCAS corrected for
altitude, temperature and compressibility.
VA-- Maneuvering Speed is the maximum speed at which full or
abrupt control movements may be used.
VFE-- Maximum Flap Extended Speed is the highest speed
permissible with wing flaps in a prescribed extended
position.
VNE-- Never Exceed Speed is the speed limit that may not be
exceeded at any time.
VNO-- Maximum Structural Cruising Speed is the speed that
should not be exceeded except in smooth air, and then only
with caution.
VSO-- Stalling Speed or the minimum steady flight speed at
which the airplane is controllable in the landing
configuration.
VS1-- Stalling Speed or the minimum steady flight speed
obtained in a specific configuration.
Wednesday, 18 June 2014
LETTER TO MY Colleague (student pilot).
My advise to you is to never give up on what you truly believe in. There are ups and downs but what really makes your effort count is achieving a desired end result.
Flying training may or may not turn out to be what you’ thought it to be, but if you really have the passion burning inside of you then nothing will ever quench that fire.
There are times you meet instructors that will make you hate flying or make you believe that you can’’t fly, do not be dismayed as there is nothing like a bad student, there are only a bad teachers. We all learn things differently, your
learning capability might be either shorter or longer but what really matters is seeing you handling the machine(aeroplane) by yourself, taking off and landing, not putting yourself in a dangerous situation, and knowing how to handle a bad situation.
Finances might also be a hindrance for you but don’t worry, it would only take more time for you to finish your training but you will definitely get your wings and license and also feel good about yourself, your effort and determination.
Do not compare yourself with others because there is no competition in flying. Enjoy your training because it was meant to be enjoyed and stop racing with others. Flying training is not a Formula 1 car racing game.
Most of all, do no give up and remember to keep the fire burning and may you continue to soar higher and higher.
My advise to you is to never give up on what you truly believe in. There are ups and downs but what really makes your effort count is achieving a desired end result.
Flying training may or may not turn out to be what you’ thought it to be, but if you really have the passion burning inside of you then nothing will ever quench that fire.
There are times you meet instructors that will make you hate flying or make you believe that you can’’t fly, do not be dismayed as there is nothing like a bad student, there are only a bad teachers. We all learn things differently, your
learning capability might be either shorter or longer but what really matters is seeing you handling the machine(aeroplane) by yourself, taking off and landing, not putting yourself in a dangerous situation, and knowing how to handle a bad situation.
Finances might also be a hindrance for you but don’t worry, it would only take more time for you to finish your training but you will definitely get your wings and license and also feel good about yourself, your effort and determination.
Do not compare yourself with others because there is no competition in flying. Enjoy your training because it was meant to be enjoyed and stop racing with others. Flying training is not a Formula 1 car racing game.
Most of all, do no give up and remember to keep the fire burning and may you continue to soar higher and higher.
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