I would like to encourage people to check-out some of the new aircraft we have on the flight line. At Palo Alto there are 2 new aircraft. The Mooney Acclaim N98FL, one of the fastest factory built, single engine piston aircraft available. Equipped with the G1000 avionics suite, O2, A/C, this aircraft is built for those that want to go far and fast. Additionally there is a G3 Turbo SR22 N683SR equipped with the Avedyne panel, O2, Black Leather interior is another aircraft equipped to take you on those long cross-country trips. Check-out procedures for all of the new aircraft have been established.

We are begining to add Avionics/Aircraft manuals are on the website. We will begin to down-load .pdf documentation and quick links for aircraft manuals and operating handbooks. To find this information, use the link at the top of each aircraft page, currently listed as Check for Avionics Manuals. This will take you to a links page for the appropriate documents. The link will eventually be changed to read just : Check for Manuals ..,If you have any documentation or links you think others could find helpful, please forward them to me.

Speaking of the website, I am putting together a wish list for the www.wvfc.org website. Over the next 3 months I will be putting together a project plan for a website redesign. If you have ever looked for a feature that does not currently exist, or see where we could do some things better, please E mail me your thoughts/request. I would like to collect all of the "must have" items by the end of September.

Between the current economic pressures and the low visibility due to the multiple fires the clubs flying hours were down in July. Fortunately due the change in visibility, August is looking a lot better. We are closely monitoring business costs to ensure that we remain financially sound.

Thanks for your support.

Josh

One of the very things that make a pilot successful is also the very thing that may lead a pilot to an early grave via an airplane accident. Pilots are goal oriented, we are "can do" people. By golly we'll reach our goal even if we kill ourselves and others in the process. Many pilots have sacrificed their lives trying to make their destination. Pilot need to know when meeting a goal is a dangerous proposition and be willing to amend or abandon a goal at least temporarily.

"Get there itis" is the tendency of a pilot to become focused on one goal, getting to his or her destination, at the exclusion of all of other concerns and consideration. This is tunnel vision at its worst. This mental condition will grossly affect the judgment of a pilot and impair his ability to make sound and safe multifaceted decisions that will impact the safety of a flight. Some WVFC pilots who have given into this mental mindset have been responsible for bodily injury and severe aircraft damage. One can pick through accident records and learn of many fatal accidents that have had "get there itis" as a factor. From the WVFC archive here are some stories that illustrate the danger of "get there itis." One of the most egregious accounts culminated in a surprisingly "good" outcome. The pilot, a father, and his toddler son spent a long night in the cold mountains in a totaled airplane. The father had a broken back and foot. Had the pilot been 10 feet lower on his path to the accident site they would have been crushed to pieces. Like the rest of us, this pilot was a "can do" person. He was determined to meet his goal and arrive at his destination. On his fateful night flight he disregarded severe weather warning and pressed to the destination in IFR conditions in the mountains with icing and wind-shear and hard turbulence to boot! Eventually both pilot and airplane were overwhelmed.

On a different flight a pilot flew an IFR flight from Carlsbad (KCRQ) to Palo Alto (KPAO). Sixty miles away from Palo Alto the pilot declared minimum fuel*. After the minimum fuel declaration the pilot proceeded to pass up five airports hedging his bets that he would meet his goal of reaching KPAO with more than fumes to spare. He didn't make it. He landed well short of the field and nearly totaled the airplane. The pilot was unharmed. His external factor - he was trying to catch his airline flight out of San Jose airport later that day, he didn’t make his flight.

Another day, another pilot. This pilot had had a very stressful day and his schedule had gotten out of control. He was running behind schedule and would not be able to leave the airport at the planned time. When he began his flight planning his originally planned departure time had come and gone hours earlier. Several hours behind schedule and mentally exhausted he launched with blissfully ignorant passengers on board. The subtle myopic goal mindset gripped him. He crashed the airplane on landing at his destination. No people were injured. The airplane sustained $75K in damage. Accident factors included fatigue, sun in the pilot's eyes during landing, high density altitude and runway illusion.

The myopic mind set that is exhibited in "get there it is" rears its ugly head in other aspects of our flying life. For example the airplane checkout process. Sometimes a pilot believes he or she should be checked out in a relatively short time, or by a specific date, or he may have set strict timelines to complete the process. This mindset sets the stage for a rush job. Pilots who are in the rush-job-mindset will sometimes try to hijack the checkout process by believing they are better equipped than a CFI to assess their abilities. This pilot may push a flight instructor to bestow privileges before they are earned. A good CFI will not be pushed; he will be steadfast in his demand for excellence on the part of his client.

A pilot who succumbs to the rush-job-mindset imposes self-made handicaps on himself. He may not give appropriate time and energy to the study of the aircraft or to gain an understanding of the nuances of the ship and avionics. He may not cancel a flight and disappoint his passengers by stating, "I'm too tired to fly today. I have decided to cancel the flight until tomorrow. Now I'm going to get a good dinner and good nights sleep." Would it surprise you if a pilot who is always in a hurry is one who nearly kills himself due to "get there it is?"

Don't be so fast to point the finger and call the pilots in the situations above dummies; it could have been you or me making those flawed decisions. "Get there itis"is an insidious mental mind set. We can never predict what external factors will take a person who generally exhibits good judgment and lead him into the myopic mind set of"get there itis."

On the other hand, the good news is that there are many WVFC pilots who have fought off this dangerous urge, exercised sound judgment and safety prevailed. There are many examples of pilots who recognized a situation for what it was and made sound conservative decisions. These pilots had terminated a flight prior to reaching a destination airport; they have grounded themselves or delayed departure when they saw signs that the situation had either deteriorated or the idea of pressing a plan bode a poor outcome. In other words, these pilots had an awareness which was broad and didn't collapse into tiny tunnel vision.

Their ultimate goal didn't override other considerations. Here are a few examples:
In one situation a pilot grounded himself after a long day. He was tired and deemed himself un-airworthy. He extended the airplane another day before flying home – he missed a day of work and inconvenienced others, but everyone arrived home safely. Another case was a pilot who watched the weather deteriorate (it wasn't in the forecast) and instead of pressing on she landed early parked the plane and called home for a ride. Her husband drove 100 miles one way to get her and a friend drove her back the next day to get the airplane.

In another case the pilot heeded a low oil pressure at cruise and a slightly rough sound to the engine. He made a precautionary landing at the next possible airfield. Later we found that one of the pistons had begun to split in half. A couple more minutes of pressing on and that pilot would have tested his emergency skills when he landed in someone's back yard.

Take a moment and Google "get there itis" to see the amount of material that exists on the subject. Please remember the old saying, "When you have time to spare, go by air." As in flying, as in life, let us not be so wrapped up in the destination we miss the obvious signs that are buzzing around us lest we find ourselves in a situation we would regret.

Be conservative in your flying!

Have fun, clear skies and smooth tailwinds.

Lucy Geever and Josh Smith

MINIMUM FUEL- Indicates that an aircraft's fuel supply has reached a state where, upon reaching the destination, it can accept little or no delay. This is not an emergency situation but merely indicates an emergency situation is possible should an undue delay occur.

Make sure safety is part of your goal -THEN go pursue it