Student Finishes Private in Less
Than a Week Renee Kerckhoff's husband was listening as his wife spoke of her dream to fly, and a couple of years ago he bought her a Discovery Flight for their anniversary. Her dream transformed from an abstract wish into a reality that would require steadfast pursuit. In May of 2004 she started taking flying lessons with a young man who, it turned out, was more interested in building hours than seeing Renee achieve her dream. This became a pattern of start and stop through a variety of instructors until she'd accumulated almost 200 hours and still didn't have her Private pilot license.

She called American Flyers during the summer to see what we could do for her. She liked what she heard and decided to wait until she had the time to do everything at once. Ultimately, it took her less than a week to finish her Private. "It was a great experience,"she said.

Husband, Peter, and their two daughters support Renee's flying ambitions wholeheartedly. Renee was able to take her mother for a flight on her 75th birthday. Even though Mom was a little nervous at the time, now she brags about her daughter the pilot!

Although done with her Private, she's nowhere near done with her goals. She's planning on getting glass cockpit training and then she wants to become Instrument rated. All of this will help Renee and Peter achieve an even bigger objective: they want to do a touch and go at every airport in Missouri. Then Kansas. Then who knows where!

Did You Know…
During the 1982 Falklands war British pilots reported that penguins toppled over backward while gazing at the planes. This resulted in British navy pilots being banned from flying low over penguin colonies. During a 17 day investigation the UK government studied reactions of the suspect penguins as two helicopters flew from varying directions and heights overhead. The results are official: penguins do not topple over while gazing at helicopters. One might wonder, however, if perhaps penguins favor fixed wing aircraft.

Source: http://www.didyouknow.cd/

Ask the Pilot Professor
By Dr. Michael Bliss

Q: I got my private pilot certificate in the summer. Now that the weather is getting cold, I'd like to know what special considerations I should make while doing my flight planning.

A: One thing you can depend on is that in the fall of the year, every aviation publication will have an article or two addressing winter flying. These articles appear because we all need the reminder that the environment we will be flying in for the next several months will be quite different than the summer days we've just experienced. It would be good to read several of those articles to have in mind the hazards that winter flying present.

The question presented herein, however, is, more specifically, asking about a brand new private pilot who has earned his/her certificate in the summer and presumably has zero experience with winter flying. Rather than trying to go into depth, as most such articles do, on the three parties involved, i.e. the pilot, the airplane, and the weather, I would like to take a more basic overall approach as to some of the differences a first time winter flyer should expect.

Expect to see many more windy and gusty days as the fast moving cold fronts blow through. Make sure your crosswind and gusty landing skills are sharp. If it’s been a while, it would be a good investment to get with an instructor for an hour or two on a particularly windy day to hone your skills. Expect to dress much warmer, especially your feet. Many light general aviation airplanes have barely adequate heaters and an otherwise pleasant flight can quickly become very uncomfortable without adequate clothing and footwear.

Expect to give the engine enough time for the oil temperature to warm into the green before takeoff. If your hanger or parking place is near the departure end of the runway and you are used to blasting off without much thought to engine temperatures, make sure you check for oil temps in the green every time before departure.

Finally, expect to experience some of the most beautiful flying of the year. With the clear skies and unlimited visibilities of winter, along with the beauty of snow covered fields and mountains, you are in for a treat and winter may soon become your favorite time to fly.

Protecting Yourself Against the Cold
It turns out that everything your mother tried to teach you about being outside in cold weather is true. Anybody who's been there knows the coldest place on earth has to be standing on a ramp in the early morning, the wind rushing at you from across the barren field, sneaking around the edges of your coat and numbing your fingers as you complete the lonely job of preflighting your airplane. Even though the temperature may not seem that low, it's the wind chill that's doing the damage to you. The wind chill is the effect of the wind on people and animals. The wind chill temperature is based on the rate of heat loss from exposed skin caused by wind and cold and is to give you an approximation of how cold the air feels on your body.

As the wind increases, it removes heat from the body, driving down skin temperature and eventually the internal body temperature. Therefore, the wind makes it FEEL much colder. If the temperature is 0°F (-18°C) and the wind is blowing at 15 mph (13 kts), the wind chill temperature is -19°F (-28°C). At this level, exposed skin can freeze in just a few minutes.

The only effect wind chill has on inanimate objects, such as car radiators and water pipes, is to shorten the amount of time for the object to cool. The inanimate object will not cool below the actual air temperature. For example, if the temperature outside is -5°F (-21°C) and the wind chill temperature is -31°F (-35°C), then your car's radiator temperature will be no lower than the air temperature of -5°F (-21°C).

What is important about the wind chill besides feeling colder than the actual air temperature? The lower the wind chill temperature, the greater you are at risk for developing frost bite and/or hypothermia. Frostbite occurs when your body tissue freezes. The most susceptible parts of the body are fingers, toes, ear lobes and the tip of the nose. Hypothermia occurs when body core temperature, normally around 98.6°F (37°C) falls below 95°F (35°C).

The best way to avoid hypothermia and frostbite is to stay warm and dry indoors. When you must go outside, dress appropriately.
Wear several layers of loose-fitting, lightweight, warm clothing. Trapped air between the layers will insulate you. Remove layers to avoid sweating and subsequent chill. Outer garments should be tightly woven, water repellent and hooded. Wear a hat, because half of your body heat can be lost from your head. Cover your mouth to protect your lungs from extreme cold. Mittens, snug at the wrist, are better than gloves. Try to stay dry and out of the wind.

Cold Weather Starting
By Rick Freidinger, Director of Maintenance

It's that time of year again when the mercury starts to drop into the low 20's and below at night. There are probably as many variations on how to start any particular aircraft engine as there are people reading this. If you have a procedure that works well on your aircraft then that's the best one for you to use. While the procedure you use to start your engine may work for you every time, no matter what the temperature is you must remember than you can cause internal damage starting your engine at temps below 20° F without a good preheat. When the temperature falls below 20° F the engine gets what is called "cold soaked" which means even the when the sun comes up and the OAT gets into the low 30's or higher the engine temp and oil temp are still in the teens or below.

Two things happen during a cold start, first the oil does not flow freely which means lack of lubrication. The second thing that happens when starting a "cold soaked" engine is that certain parts of the engine heat up rapidly and expand while other parts stay cold longer and do not expand, causing tighter than normal tolerances inside the engine. Add these two factor together and you see how a cold start can really cause excessive wear and damage to the internal parts of your engine and dramatically lower the life expectancy of your engine. The time and money spent on a preheat will be paid back ten fold over the life of your engine.

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Ground Schools & Events

Congratulations Dean Kozel, Matt Stump, Luke Rollins, Moshe Reuven & Michael Sylkatis on Completing Your Private Written Class

Congratulations Mike Schwartz, Steve Fioritti & Ed Fiorito on Completing Your Instrument Written Class

How About You?

If you are about to tackle your Private or Instrument written there isn’t a better, more enjoyable and guaranteed class available. Plus the class includes two free hours of simulator!

If you haven’t heard yet, there’s a gathering of Dallas area pilots once a month in our hangar. Free food, hangar flying and informative seminar. You and your friends are invited. No cost or obligation to attend.

• Next Scheduled BBQ’s
• Saturday, December 2nd
• Saturday, January 6th
• Saturday, February 3rd

“Bring a Friend”

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