Brrrrrrr, as the cold weather descends on us, we see a build up of frost on our windshields which delays our starts on the commute as we get going on our daily routines. The cold weather also affects a lot of our flying. There are two points which I discuss yearly as things you may want to particularly watch out for.

1) Frost on wings. Leaving a layer of frost on the wings can be a deadly experience. Not only does it add unaccounted weight, it can completely reshape the wing, ergo the airfoil. This can in essence make your wing much less effective, and can be a total buzz kill, for what could be an excellent winter morning flight. To eliminate the frost simply ask for a taxi over to the washrack. The water is warmer than the frost and will quickly melt it off the wings. One note of warning, you need to make sure that the outside temp is at or above freezing. This will keep the newly sprayed water that is on the wing from freezing again by the time you are to the run-up area.

2) Cold morning starts. This is when the crank-a-saurus monster is really at its worst. There are two issues you have to watch out for:

- Fuel atomization. The aircraft will need to be primed more than when it is warm (see cold start procedures in the POH). As an example, if you used five pumps in an Archer II in the summer, use eight in the winter. Next let the fuel sit for a while, count to at least 10 Mississippi. This will let the fuel vaporize a little. Then crank. If the aircraft does not catch right away, stop, use a little more prime, and try once more

- Batteries are not as efficient in the cold weather. Hence, they will run out of juice sooner than normal. This is why, if you are having trouble getting the aircraft going, you should try to get someone from MX, a CFI, or someone from the front desk to help. The battery will be running out soon. If we can help, it is easier to do it when there is some battery power left.

Make sure you allow the engine to warm up. It will take longer for the oil to warm, so please be patient. On training aircraft, make sure you see the oil temp gauge move at least a little. In higher performance planes, check the POH for proper temps prior to engine run-up.

Remember, our aircraft take care of us if we take care of them.

I have been remiss in not writing the Chief's Corner, but I'm back. (So is Chucky.) The winter is here and each year I recommend that you get your IFR skills up or do an instrument rating during the winter. This is the best time.

I am told that we have aircraft coming that have the Garmin 1000 in them. I like to think that we have many instructors who know how to use the glass cockpits. We will get training on the Garmin 1000.

If anyone has any question to do with the Chief's office, then please call me.

The San Jose Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) has just had its annual DPE meeting. Several topics were addressed. Three were interesting enough to present here. They were: (1) What happens when a CFI sends an applicant to take the test who is not qualified? (2) What if the airplane is unairworthy? (3) Amplified testing procedures under the provisions of the new Instrument PTS.

A Non-Qualified Applicant
All too often, examiners are faced with this situation. An applicant presents for the test, but his/her log book shows that he/she is not qualified to take the test. Two examples are:

1. The long cross country did not meet the requirements of FAR 61.109(a)(5)(ii). Usually, the distance was too short.

2. The CFI did not endorse the applicant's log book in accordance with FAR 61.39(a)(6).

Before the November meeting, the FSDO's policy was that in any of those cases, the DPE should issue an 8060-5 "pink slip." That means the application was disapproved. The DPE was supposed to keep the application. The applicant would then be required to schedule a retest and submit a new application signed by him/her and the CFI. The fees would be as for any failure and re-test.

The new policy, in this case, is for the DPE to return the application. No pink slip is issued. However, the DPE can retain the normal fee to compensate for the lost opportunity. When the applicant returns on another day with the required endorsements or experience, another fee can be charged to pay for the DPE's time.

It is important to note that the lack of required experience or endorsements is at least partly the CFI's error. Both the applicant and the CFI should check FAR 61 to ensure that the applicant meets all requirements for the test. However, it is the applicant who pays the monetary price if he/she is not qualified. Life is not always fair.

An Unairworthy Aircraft
Sometimes an applicant provides an airplane that is, for some reason, not airworthy. Typically this is because an AD or other required maintenance has not been recorded in the maintenance record. Normally, the applicant has had access to the maintenance logs prior to the test. If he/she finds an airworthiness problem prior to the checkride, the applicant needs to take action to have maintenance correct the problem, find another aircraft or cancel the checkride.

If, during the test, the applicant states to the DPE that the records are correct and up to date, but the DPE finds a grounding omission, then the test is failed.

It is not cheating to go over those records with your instructor prior to the test to guard against failure due to an unairworthy aircraft.

If, during the preflight inspection, a grounding fault is discovered by the applicant, the test is not failed. That would be grounds for a discontinuation (or a change of airplanes) without prejudice.

The New Instrument PTS Some practical questions about the new IFR PTS were discussed at the meeting. They included:

1. The precision approach
2. The GPS approach
3. Aircraft with electronic flight instruments (e.g. Cirrus SR 20 & SR 22)

In the past two months, we've covered water in vapor and liquid form, and as you may have noticed recently, there is a third form of water - ice.

Ice affects us in two major forms - carburetor icing and airframe icing. You don't need to be inside a cloud to get either of these.

Carburetor ice can form in temperatures well above freezing; in fact, there is a high potential for icing when the temperature is less than 70F and the humidity is over 80%. There are two phenomena at work here. First, the temperature drops in a venturi because of the reduced pressure. And you can't get rid of the venturi in a carbureted engine since that's what makes the carb work. In addition, when the fuel vaporizes, the heat of vaporization is removed from the air, cooling it just as your skin cools when rubbing alcohol is put on it and evaporates. But, of course, you knew all that from ground school.

So, it's a beautiful summer day, 85F, 25% humidity, and relatively calm wind. Time to go for a flight! Tahoe, here we come. Since the first sign of carb icing in a plane with a fixed pitch prop is reduced power (even before the engine starts running rough), and the engine power decreases with altitude anyway, the onset of icing can be masked when climbing at less than full power settings. More likely, the problem will occur later in the flight. Descending into the Tahoe basin, you notice the engine running a bit rough, so increase the mixture - no help. Neither does decreasing the mixture. Then the engine quits. The problem is probably carb ice. The 85F in the Bay Area is about 60F over Echo Summit, and the relative humidity increases rapidly as the air cools. At reduced power settings, the pressure drop (and therefore the temperature drop) is greater than at full power. You may not notice the onset of carb icing until you attempt to go to full power - not the time to find you don't HAVE full power. Oddly enough, you can even get carb icing as you're idling in the run-up area for your flight back home.

Unfortunately, carb icing isn't the only kind of icing. Airframe icing can have some devastating effects on aircraft performance. Typically, when we think of airframe icing, we think of ice on the wings and other lifting surfaces, but there are two other types that need to be looked at briefly. Induction icing is a form of airframe icing that can block the induction air filter of a fuel-injected engine or otherwise restrict the opening of the air induction system. Instrument icing includes pitot tube icing, static port icing, and stall warning icing. Usually, when any of these occur, there is significant icing on the wings, as well, but you should pay special attention to these during the preflight in cold conditions. (You may want to give some thought to what will happen when you put your mouth onto the cold metal of a wing to suck on the stall warning. That may be another reason to invest in a stall warning tester.)

A frequently overlooked type of icing is what we see every cold morning in the winter - frost on the wings. Though there is little weight added because of the frost, the aerodynamic effects are significant. Frost that is as thick and rough as medium to coarse sandpaper will reduce lift by as much as 30% and increase drag by up to 40%. This leaves a really reduced airspeed margin on takeoff or landing. The FAA recognizes the problem in Part 91.527 which says (among other things) that you can't take off with frost adhering to the wings unless it has been polished smooth; or with snow or ice adhering to wings, stabilizing, or control surfaces. In addition to the normal clear-night frost on the wings, you can get frost by landing at an airport that's just above freezing. The plane has been cold-soaked at altitudes with temperatures well below freezing, so when you land, the cold wings cause the moisture in the air to become frost on the wings. Once, when landing in Ottawa, Canada, we had been flying the Pilatus at Flight Level 290 for a couple of hours at temps on the wrong side of minus 50 (when you're that cold, it makes little difference whether it's F or C). The temperature at the airport was plus 2C with a 1C dew point. Since we had cold-soaked about 2000 lb of fuel, as soon as we landed, we watched white hair growing on the wings. By the time we had unloaded the plane the wing looked like an old freezer in dire need of defrosting - the frost was nearly 1/2 inch thick and still growing.

Ice can accumulate on the wings during flight as well. It comes in a variety of forms: impact ice (snow hitting the leading edge and sticking), rime ice (solid, wet particles of ice hitting and sticking), clear ice (liquid, supercooled water touching the airplane and freezing on contact), and mixed ice (a combination of clear and rime).

Impact ice doesn't spread much past just the most immediate area of impact and has little effect on aerodynamics or weight. Rime ice, on the other hand spreads a bit more, and because of the very irregular shape, seriously degrades aerodynamic flow over the wings and tail. It also comes off the plane easier than clear ice because of the aerodynamic drag caused by its shape and the air pockets trapped within the structure.

Clear ice is a more solid layer of ice that initially is about the shape of the leading edge of the wing, but then it builds forward, up, and back from the leading edge of the wing. It adds weight (and builds very quickly) and starts reducing lift by changing the airfoil to something that Cessna, Piper, etc. didn't intend. More importantly, and potentially more deadly, when the wing has ice on it, the tail has even more. Then when you lower the flaps, the center of lift moves aft, increasing the required downward lift on the tail. The additional lift may not be available due to the icing, and one gets a tailplane stall. Less deadly, the effect may just be that you can't flare to land. In fact, most airplane POHs recommend landing with no flaps if there is ice remaining on the wings.

There is only one airplane in the club certified for flight into known icing conditions (the Cessna P210), though some of the Cirrus SR-22s have TKS systems to protect the plane if icing is encountered unexpectedly. The anti-ice and de-ice systems of most small planes are sufficient only to allow one to escape icing conditions, not to penetrate them knowingly. None is certified for severe or extreme icing.

It's that time of year; frost and icing are common, extra care is required in flight planning, preparation, and alternative destination consideration.

The iceman cometh.

I passed my private pilot checkride in September of this year. As per our club policy, I took the mountain checkout in October. WVFC organized a Las Vegas Fly-in in November, and I decided that my wife and I would fly 733KK - a Cessna Superhawk, from SQL to LAS.

When booking the plane, I noticed that another renter had it until 1pm on the day I was scheduled to leave. I booked it from 1pm until 5pm the next day.

My plan was to pick up the plane in SQL, pick up my wife in Byron, cross the Sierras through Tioga pass, travel down Death Valley, possibly land at Furnace Creek (lowest airport in the US), then on to Vegas. The forcast tailwinds were very favorable, and the trip was expected to take 3 hours and 15 minutes. I always use 9 gph when planning my flights, which gives me approximately 4.5 hours - over an hour of reserve, so no fuel stop should be necessary. It would just be getting dark when I landed at LAS - I'm pretty comfortable with night landings, so I wasn't concerned about that.

The day I picked up the plane, the renter who had it before me was late returning, so I didn't get to the plane until 1:30. During the pre-flight, I found that there were only about 20 gallons of fuel remaining - I called for fuel, but there was no response. Either the fuel truck was very busy or the fuel service was closed that day (it was the day after Thanksgiving). Since the clock was ticking, I decided to fly to Stockton, get fuel at the fuel island, then head back to Byron, pick up my wife, and head out.

Those first two legs were uneventful, and we were off - but it was a much later start than I wanted. It was nearly 3pm - I would be well over the high part of the Sierras before it got dark, but I knew the last hour or so of the flight would be in total darkness. I briefly considered canceling but I had a non-refundable $200 hotel room booked! I know, I know… I shouldn't consider that when deciding on go/no-go, but I thought things would be fine.

The Garmin 430 didn't seem to know about my first checkpoint, O24, so I punched in the NIKOL intersection instead (same path - just a little longer). This should have been a clue to me. I should have taken the time to punch in the whole flight plan prior to leaving, but instead I decided to just use a series of direct-to segments, always using the DME and NAV units as backup.

We passed through Tioga pass at 11,500. There was some light chop, and I had to climb to a little over 12,000 to give myself plenty of clearance over the highest part of the pass. I was expecting to lose a lot of altitude on the other side because of the mountain wave, but for some reason, there wasn't much updraft on the windward side nor was there much downdraft on the leeward side. We were into the valley by now, and I turned to the heading of my next checkpoint - Pine Valley. The GPS didn't know about that airport either. Nor did it seem to know about Furnace Creek. I'm comfortable navigating by VOR and DME, so it was a little disturbing, but not catastrophic. Unfortunately, the height of the mountains prevented my NAV units and DME from functioning at 11,500 in the valley. Well, that leaves pilotage. I kept asking my wife to look for cities or other landmarks that were on the chart, and although I felt like we were on our route, I wasn't absolutely sure.

When I arrived at Pine Valley, I contacted ATC and announced my position and asked them to verify it. They did, so I felt much better. Still without navigation aids, I decided to continue on to my next checkpoint - Furnace Creek. By now it was getting dark. My navigation was turning from pilotage to dead reckoning. Since there were still mountains around - albeit below my altitude, I thought it prudent to ask ATC for a vector to confirm my heading of choice. They gave me a number that was the same as my current heading. Time enroute should be 22 minutes at my current groundspeed. (The GPS was still giving me all this information). I started the chronograph on my wristwatch.

It was now dark, but everything was under control. Scanning my instruments, I found that my left fuel gauge was showing about 1/4 remaining and the right showed 1/2. I'm used to this on my plane. For some reason the two gauges tend to show different burn rates, but when I dip the tanks, they tend to show approximately the same quantity of fuel after a flight. I would have liked for them to show the same thing, though, because it made me wonder about what would happen when the left gauge actually showed empty... just one more thing on my mind. I kept going through the instrument scan and got to the vacuum gauge. The needle was pointed straight down - no vacuum indicated. Check the DG and the attitude indicator - they look fine. I'm thinking to myself that maybe the gauge is just messed up.

I arrived at Furnace Creek and turned to my final heading. (I had changed my destination from LAS to HND because another pilot on the fly-in had discovered the cost of tie-down at LAS was $75 per night, and the cost of fuel was $4.50 per gallon!) When I leveled out, I did a quick scan of the instruments and noticed that the attitude indicator was fully deflected to the right - HOLY CRAP! I have to admit that this really disturbed me. I thought, "I'm in an unusual attitude! Need to correct this immediately." Luckily, I looked out the window and the horizon was where it should be (there was a lighted city in the distance and the moon was throwing a lot of light). I knew then that the vacuum indication was not simply a bad vacuum gauge. As if on cue, the DG just started spinning clockwise in a never ceasing manner. I had a flashback to my checkride. The DE had said to me, "Hey, this is a great plane, but if you are going to fly in IMC you should consider a backup vacuum source." At this point in time, this seemed like the most astute statement I had ever heard. Although I was not in IMC, it was dark, and that's a close approximation.

I contacted ATC and told them that I had a vacuum pump failure and that I was operating without my DG and my attitude indicator. I again asked for a vector (I was pretty sure I was on course, but I wanted to make sure). The vector they gave me was the same as my course. I dialed in LAS VOR on both NAV units - nothing. I tried BLD VOR. Nothing. I have to admit that I was pretty stressed at this point. I kept looking back at the attitude indicator. I really wished I had one of those rubber covers to go over it. The DG had stopped spinning now. I found it pretty easy to just check the magnetic compass rather than the DG, but I still wished I had a cover for that instrument too. Then ATC cranked the pucker factor up a notch - "733KK, this is Joshua Approch. I'm going to lose radio and radar contact with you for the next 20 miles. After that, you should be able to contact LAS approach on 125.025. They have been made aware of your situation." "Ok, thanks Joshua Approach...." So, for the next 10 minutes (which seemed like an eternity), I was traveling using my view of the horizon, my magnetic compass, and my turn coordinator. I'm very glad it was a clear night and the light of the moon was helping me see the horizon. The left fuel gauge was showing 1/8, and the right was showing 1/4. I was still 30 miles from LAS. Assuming I could burn all the remaining fuel, I had 1.5 hours - plenty of time. But then I did the other math problem. What if the engine feed from the right tank is restricted? What if I only have 1/8 of a tank remaining? That's 1/2 hour. That's still enough to get to LAS/HND, but I throttled back to a lower RPM to conserve fuel anyway.

After the 10 minutes passed, I clicked the PTT, "Las Vegas Approach, Skyhawk 733KK with you at 11,500." Then the response, "Skyhawk 733KK, this is Las Vegas Approach. We are aware of your situation. We are going to bring you in to Henderson by overflying the approach end of runway 25 at LAS, then you'll turn to 170 degrees and fly a straight in to Henderson. Are you familiar with the area?" Although, I've flown into LAS on commercial flights numerous times, I had to say, "No, I'm not familiar." ATC said they would give me vectors.

At this point, I could see the lights of Vegas, but I could also see a mountain ridge between me and there. Was I high enough to clear the ridge? Your mind plays tricks on you in this situation. Of course I was high enough, but I checked the charts to make sure.

As I cleared the ridge, ATC cleared me into the Bravo to descend and maintain 4500, and vectored me over the strip, over LAS and into Henderson. It felt really good to touch down.

I learned a lot on this trip. Some of the things I'll do differently are listed below:

1) Carry instrument covers. I know I can fly the turn coordinator, but seeing the attitude indicator stuck to one side is really distracting. Covering the DG would also have been nice.

2) NOTE that the GPS data does not necessarily have all the airports that are on the VFR charts. Flying over the Sierras at 11,500 means that a lot of the time, VOR reception is not possible. Relying on pilotage and dead reckoning is fine, but it's not OK at night.

3) Personal limits. I'm going to get my instrument rating, and I'm not going fly into unfamiliar airports at night anymore.

4) Don't fly at night without a backup vacuum pump.

5) Get the oddities fixed. I know that the FARs say fuel gauges only need to be accurate when they read empty, but when the stress level rises, those small things seem a whole lot worse.

There are good aviation days, and then there are really good aviation days. I am normally burning the candle at both ends on Fridays, but this particular Friday was a bit different. Today I needed to complete a mission, and, to my luck, it was a flying mission. This is the first bonus. It can be hard at times to justify some flights, but when you are requested to actually complete a mission, well, this eliminates all sorts of guilt that could be associated with the expense of flying. Next, I was able to use a friend's aircraft, and someone else was picking up the tab on the fuel. Bonus and bonus. Now Roger is into his third bonus. Well, the mission was to drop off one pilot at Hollister, the second at Watsonville, and make it back to KPAO. This particular cargo threw me into extra bonus rounds because both the pilots are a generation ahead of me and have great stories to tell and wisdom to lend. They get a cocky guy like me to shut my mouth as the wisdom coming in through the ears is much better than that shooting out the pie hole.

The flight's start was a little edgy, as the aircraft being used was a 65 M20C. Now, the older M20C's are the Chihuahua of aircraft.

1. They like their owner and no one else.

2. They are small (more of a problem for my cargo than for me).

In any case, Roger smoothed out the curves. The flight to Hollister was easy, we landed in 3K overcast to find two beautiful bi-planes sitting out in front of Vintage Wing's hangar. (More points are being added on.) We then found one other WVFC member hanging out with a friend, and we were all convinced that our grease meters were reading low, and as such needed to go to the local café and fill up on additional cooking oil and caffeine.

Hollister is one of the few old military airports that still really feels like one. Many of the hangars are open, with interesting things to look at. We proceeded to the Ding-A-Ling Café. A very kitsch feel to this establishment. It's small, generally an aviation crowd only, cool wait staff, and a full menu. Trust me, friends, this is not a cuisine, but a greasy spoon, and as such fits the bill nicely. Anyone who has B&G on the menu makes my tummy smile. The hash browns are as hard as shingles on the outside (which is the way I like them), eggs are good (I had the jalapeño and sausage omelet)… booo yawh. The coffee was hot, the conversation was even better, and many laughs were to be had. All in all, Roger says give the Ding-A-Ling a try. Two big thumbs up.

Roger Wilco, over and out.

November's post-Thanksgiving fly-in brought several members to Las Vegas for a fun weekend in spite of one crew's less-than-uneventful flight (see "Lessons Learned" above). Several others got night current at the Night Currency Clinic earlier in the month. And way back in October, Gyora Peer and his family won the Pumpkin Carving Contest, earning a $100 gift certificate to use for aircraft rental. The big event, of course, was last weekend's Holiday Party… lots of people, great food and drink, elegant music, annual awards… a good time was had by all. Congratulations to John Pyle, who was named CFI of the Year!

The Activities Committee is working on lots of great ideas for 2005, starting with a Ski Trip to Tahoe. In addition, we'll be having a Baby Shower for our favorite GM at noon on January 3 (if you didn't know, Josh and Kelly are expecting!) Please contact Patti Andrews at whatsup@wvfc.org to inquire or RSVP for either, and stay tuned for details of these and later events in 2005.

We're always on the lookout for energetic new members to help out with club events. If you've got ideas you want to suggest, or if you want to help out, please write to us at activities@wvfc.org.

How to Pass Your Checkride
Wednesday, December 8, 7:00pm, Palo Alto
Presenter: John Pyle, CFII DE
John Pyle, San Jose FSDO Designated Pilot Examiner, will share how pilots can improve the odds for passing the checkride.

Flying the Bay Tour
Wednesday, December 15, 7:00pm, San Carlos
Presented by: James Roach, CFII
Learn how to handle the airspace and communication required to circumnavigate the San Francisco Bay. This trip, commonly known as the "Bay Tour," will take you through Class B, C, D, and E airspaces and will require you to talk to numerous control towers (including SFO) and approach controllers. This seminar will discuss the normal procedures, the different options, and all of the communication required to fly the Bay Tour.

Jim Roach is a flight instructor at West Valley Flying Club. He holds CFI and CFII ratings. In addition to providing flight instruction, he also teaches white water rafting, swiftwater rescue, and snowboarding.

The club has four ground schools in session or starting soon. Membership at WVFC is not required, so feel free to invite along a non-member friend or acquaintance who is also interested in learning how to fly. You may begin attending any ground school mid-session.

SQL Private Pilot Ground School meets Tuesdays from 6:30 pm with instructors Justin Warren and Peter Long. The cost is $200. The next session will commence Jan 11. For information, contact Justin Warren at justinwarren@sbcglobal.net or Peter Long at plong@outback-aviation.com.

PAO Private Pilot Ground School meets Thursdays from 6:30 pm with instructor Kyp Kypta. The cost for the course is a once-only charge of $100, after which you may attend any and all sessions as often as you like. Current session runs November 4 through December 30. Contact Kyp by email at lkypta@earthlink.net.

HWD Private Pilot Ground School will meet Tuesday nights from 6:30-9:30pm, starting on January 11 and running 10 weeks. Cost is $200 per student. Contact instructors Sandy Wiedemann at syzygy2002@mac.com, or Eric Jewell at eric@flywitheric.com.