A big thank you is in order for Michelle Gill. New members in the last year, Michelle and husband Josh Chambers offered that if we came up with the paint, she would refurbish the chapter house deck. She spent a couple days, with her parents helping, pressure-washing and scraping our very old deck. Then a day of replacing a handful of boards and painting along with the help of Jorge Botero, Rori Ross, Moheb Keddis, Josh and Michelle’s parents. This will help our old deck last longer while we wait to learn when and where we will move in the next 2 to 20 years.
I have not talked flying inthis column for several
months. Instead, I have been using this space to
update our membership on various Chapter happenings. This month I want to talk a little about maintaining safe habits as we fly in this busy area.Most pilots based at
Manassas know the “unwritten” rule about arriving/departing VFR to/from the FLUKY gate, i.e.,
stay on the correct side of the train tracks while in the SFRA. This helps deconflict this busy traffic area. I propose we should extend that concept a few more miles westof Warrenton airport, KHWY. The acrobatic box and parachute activity are two reasons to never overfly KHWY so stay on your side of the tracks until west of KHWY. While departing KHEF there is not enough time to tune in to KHWY AWOS (it has a phone number to call in advance) so it is best to assume those are both active. ATC does not have time to remind you of those activities.
We all need to occasionally review the AIM for traffic pattern procedures for pilot-controlled fields. If the desired route of flight is left, your climb should continue straight ahead until within 300’ of the pattern altitude. Turning left sooner puts you in conflict with downwind traffic. Any right turn should not be made before reaching pattern altitude, at least. An earlier right turn conflicts with traffic entering on the crosswind leg. It is amazing how many creative pattern procedures we can observe in one session of pattern work. The often-heard call from an aircraft arriving several miles out usually has too much information in it. Traffic in the pattern does not need to hear 20 to 30 seconds detailing your plan to over-fly the field, head southeast, descend to pattern altitude, do a 180° turn and head northwest to enter the pattern. A simple “10 miles west landing XXX” will suffice. Update us when you are closer.
I was recently at my hangar late enough that aircraft could get in their night currency landings. A Blackhawk helicopter showed up to do just that. At the time there were no other aircraft in the pattern and I have no doubt they were making all their appropriate calls on CTAF but it got me thinking a light aircraft could easily show up to do a couple landings and become quite surprised by a torrent of wake turbulence from the Blackhawk, The repetitive hovering, go around and normal pattern maneuvers by this Blackhawk reminded me of the need to review again the wake turbulence we should expect from helicopters. Wake turbulence is addressed in AIM 7.4 but the only specific helicopter reference is the mention that light aircraft should maintain a distance of at least three rotors from a helicopter in a hover or in a hover-taxi. Think of rotor lengths varying from 25’ for an R-22 to 53’ for a Blackhawk. So, we should stay 75’ to 160’ away from a hovering helicopter, depending on its size. Is a helicopter in a hover over the grass next to the runway far enough away? Probably not. If it is hovering over a parallel taxiway, it may or may not be far enough away for you to use the runway safely. The AIM does not specifically mention how much distance to allow for a helicopter in forward travel, but the FAA recommends the “3-3-2 Rule.” That is 3 rotor discs, 3 miles and 2 minutes, so keep a hoveringmhelicopter 3 blade lengths away and when passing behind a moving helicopter, give it a 3 mile and 2 minutes buffer.
Every pilot needs a Flight Review within the past 24 months to fly. Historically we usually wait until the 24th month (or later) and look for a CFI to fly with. You do not see the term biennial used much anymore. The FAA would like pilots to consider doing a more ongoing method of staying current rather than getting a flight review in the 24th month. Under the FAA Wings program, if you attend three Wings credit classes (Ch 186 does two every month with our IMC Club and VMC Club meetings) and fly three one-hour Wings flight exercises with a CFI, your flight review expiration date will move forward two years. Yes, this is more work than the
minimum one hour of ground and one hour of flight required for a flight review but much more comprehensive. Look in your account on faasafety.gov for more Wings program info.
Blue Skies,
Bob