Time for our annual MEMBER SATISFACTION SURVEY. We are using Survey Monkey to help collect the data. To take the survey, please goto: 2008 WVFC Membership Survey. The information that you supply is very helpful to not only tell us where we are at, but it also helps us figure out what plans we need to make for the future. As is always the case the club is here to serve the membership and my goal will be to figure out the best way to do that.

Open Board Meeting on October 16, Palo Alto classroom 7:00PM in the Palo Alto classroom. Topics for discussion include: resolution readings, financial reports, ops reports, marketing and other activities to help during current economic times, charging for no-shows and late cancellations, open topics. This board meeting is open to all members so come on in and join us.

I would encourage bargain hunters to view the blue dot on the aircraft information pages. The blue dots disclose various special rates on the aircraft. In many cases aircraft owners have established block rates and other discounts which can help lower the cost of flying.

A reminder that WVFC will be at AOPA. . If you would like to add your enthusiasm to the booth, please E mail Christine@wvfc.org to volunteer. We will provide free passes to anyone who is willing to represent the Club at our booth. AOPA is also looking for volunteers to help park planes. For more information go to the aopa website.

A reminder of the mods in Cassi: We have made the MX status board and squawk screens more accessible and easier to use. If you would like to view the status of an aircraft and its MX history, simply click on the N# when you are in the Cassi schedule. This will take you to the MX status of that aircraft (inspection timelines), plus current squawks as well as the entire squawk history. This will open up in a separate window allowing the user to stay with their original schedule request. See example on right -->

Please remember to take the Members Satisfaction survey. This information is very helful to us as we business plan and come up with new ways to improve the Club.

Thanks and stay safe out there!

Josh

Before we proceed let me define a few terms per WVFC policy

1.) An Airplane Discrepancy
An airplane discrepancy is a noted issue or problem with an airplane. A discrepancy is a report to maintenance informing them that a piece of equipment is either broken or malfunctioning. It implies that a maintenance event is required. The spectrum of discrepancies is vast. Discrepancies can be anything from a bent static wick, to a bent propeller, to a tail strike, to an engine failure.

2.) Squawk report
At WVFC we could say that a Squawk a considered a discrepancy red alert!
Squawk means ground the airplane.
It is considered the highest priority of discrepancy. When a discrepancy is written onto the Squawk sheet in the airplane-key-book it tells everyone that the last PIC who had possession of the airplane, has deemed the airplane to be un-airworthy, that the airplane is unsafe for flight and it must be grounded. WVFC policy dictates that when an airplane is Squawked via the sheet in the airplane-key-book, the airplane must be grounded.

We are now beta testing a new Squawk form in some WVFC airplanes with the goal of helping pilots write more comprehensive discrepancies.

3.) Aircraft Condition report
A Condition Report is a lower priority discrepancy. When a discrepancy is written onto a Condition Report in the key-book, it tells everyone that the acting PIC who made the report noticed some issue with the airplane. The PIC considered the discrepancy to be minor and in his opinion the maintenance may be deferred until the next regularly scheduled maintenance event. He has deemed the airplane airworthy and safe for flight.

Airplane discrepancies are an important part of our aviation world. We need to be aware of discrepancies when we come across them and then we need to handoff the discrepancy to the expert mechanics who can address the discrepancies. It is vital that this handoff from pilot to mechanic include precise, detailed information of what the pilot observed. We pilots should not try to diagnosis a problem, that is the mechanic’s job. We should explain in detail what we have witnessed and report what we were doing when we saw a certain thing occur. Give atmospheric conditions, give specific RPM settings and drops, give any and all details you think might be relevant.

As much as practical, we pilots need to be sure we do our homework before we pass off a discrepancy to the maintenance department. All discrepancies addressed outside of the regularly scheduled maintenance event window are very expensive, especially when the airplane must be ferried for service, Everyone’s belts are tightening and it is important we vet issues as completely as possible when we have an airplane in our possession.

Our mission at WVFC is to have safe and affordable airplanes.

For many people the affordable is becoming less and less of a reality. Our goal must be to have a maintenance event only when there is truly a problem. I am the first to admit that 100% attainment of this goal is impossible, but I know we can do a pretty darn good job when we try. If everyone is willing to take ownership of their part in the discrepancy process, and only hand the front desk an educated, well written discrepancy report, we will have safe airplanes at the most affordable prices. This will help to keep our Club strong.

If you see something that might be a problem but you are not sure, that is okay - we are an educational organization. I’m not asking you to do anything outside of your comfort zone or abilities. Do confess that you don’t know if you are seeing a problem, but do state your concerns.  In this case  ask for help - ask a CFI or staff member. We will help walk you through a discrepancy. If there is no one to ask, be on the safe side and just Squawk/ground the airplane if you think it is appropriate. Document the discrepancy and leave a message for the front desk via voicemail 650.856.2030 and tell them what you did and they will alert the maintenance department.

So what do I mean by doing our homework before passing off a discrepancy to maintenance.  It could mean being sure we understand our equipment, for example:
1. We need to refer to the POH to make sure we really understand our equipment. We don’t want to Squawk something because we are ignorant. The largest number of avoidable, false squawks I’ve seen over the years are squawked avionics - radios and autopilots. Pilots sometimes just plain don’t know how to work an avionic stack. Believe me I sympathize, there are a lot of different avionics out there. Something as simple as understanding how to work the squelch function can go a long way is saving time and money and avoid cancelled flights.
2. Another one I’ve seen repeatedly is a pilot’s inability to start a hot fuel injected engine. We pilots can avoid frustrating ourselves and running down a ship’s battery due to improper technique by referencing the POH before starting a hot fuel injected engine, especially when we are new to the equipment.
3. Know about fuel imbalances in the C172S. See the AS THE WRENCH TURNS article http://www.wvfc.org/news/06apr.html
4. I bet you can come up with a few examples yourself.

What issues are we seeing currently? We are getting many transponder discrepancies. Some reports have been confirmed, some have not. Since we are getting many transponder Squawks I’d like to give some information and make some suggestions.

Here are two sample photos of transponder antennas. On WVFC airplanes you will see one of these types of antennas, inverted, on the airplane belly. They are UHF antennas, very short. If you see two UHF antennas on the belly, one will be a transponder antenna, the other a DME antenna.

Preflight your antenna:
These antenna are placed on the belly of the airplane, behind the engine and they collect oil and grim. Pilots need to check the transponder antenna and determine if the antenna is secure and clean.  If it is grimy, GENTLY wipe it off with the oil rag. Never yank on the antenna. Inspecting, and cleaning the transponder antenna when required, should be a part of every pre-flight.

If during your flight you think you may have a transponder problem here are some things to think about and some things to help you vet the problem.

Make sure the transponder is set to the “ALT” mode.

Did you ever wonder why some transponder mode selector knobs have many positions? The C172S airplane transponders selector knob has 5 positions, OFF/SBY/TST/ON/ALT.
OFF = Box is off.
SBY = Standby power to enables code selection.
TST = Self-test function, the transmitter is disabled. All display segments are illuminate.
ON = Enables the box to transmit MODE A (airplane I.D.) reply pulses only.
ALT = Enables MODE A and MODE C (altitude reporting).

A transponder needs to warm up before it can be effective; it can take between three and six minutes for it to warm up when placed in the ALT mode.

If you have a situation where ATC says to you, “Your transponder appears inop,” you need to make sure it is set to the ALT mode. If it is OFF, you ought confess to ATC that it was OFF. Turn it to ALT and tell ATC it may take a few minutes before they get a signal. Ask them to report when they pick up your signal.

Some people will recycle a transponder. But what does this mean? It means different things to different people. To some it means turning the box to OFF and then back to ALT. When you do this the warm up cycle will begin again and it isn’t useful. You may have to wait 3 minutes for the box to cycle fully on. Some people think recycling means resetting the 4 digit code in the transponder box. If ATC suggests you recycle your transponder you may ask them to clarify what it is they want.

If your transponder is set to “ALT” do a bit of trouble shooting. I suggest you fly at or above 1,200' AGL and then ask ATC for a transponder readout. If ATC still reports a problem ask for more info:
You can ask these questions:
-“Do you see me at all? ”or “Do you have primary target?” Primary target means they can see you (MODE A) but they do not have an altitude readout for you.
-“Are you getting a MODE C readout?” which means, is my altitude encoder working. If they say yes, ask them, “What is my altitude readout?” It should be within a few hundred feet. Always round up or down to the nearest hundreds of feet, do not report in tenths.

If time permits request a frequency change to a different controlling agency to verify the report. For example, if KPAO tower reports a problem, verify it with NORCAL. If both agencies report the same problem, this will help maintenance when they trouble shoot the Squawk.

However, if one agency says you have a problem but a second agency says you do not have a problem, you might not have a problem. The problem might be with the equipment of the first controlling agency. If you Squawk a transponder in this instance you might be sending maintenance on an expensive wild-goose-chase.

If a problem was reported during your flight where are some things you can do and think about after landing. Check the antenna. If the antenna is grimy please wipe it off. On the Aircraft Condition sheet report what ATC said, state what you did and what was observed. If the antenna was dirty, state that it was dirty and tell us if you wiped it down after your flight. Ask the next pilot to confirm the discrepancy. To guarantee you are aware of all written discrepancies you need to check the Maintenances Status Board before every flight.

If you confirm a problem with two controlling agencies when you were at or above 1,200’ AGL and the antenna is clean when you land, Squawk and ground the airplane.

If you do not confirm with two controlling agencies and you were not at or above 1,200’ AGL, you may not have gotten accurate information.  If this is the case, please don’t ground the airplane. In this case write an Aircraft Condition report that might look like this: “KPAO reported MODE C appears inop, flew only in pattern at KPAO, 800’AGL and lower. Did not confirm with any other controlling agency. Next pilot please confirm discrepancy.”

If you do a “confirmation flight” and no problem is observed please note that on the Aircraft Condition report. You might write something along the lines of, “Per KPAO tower and NORCAL approach, transponder function was normal.”

We are operating in a very complex environment with some very sophisticated equipment. We need to do our best to understand our equipment. We need to rely on each other and help each other as we walk through vexing and sometimes unclear issues. We appreciate it when you own the discrepancies you bring to our attention, when you help us vet the issues. Let WVFC CFIs and staff help shepherd you through this process when you need help.

WVFC Flight Instructors Improving Your Flying Experience!

There are some things cooking behind the scenes at WVFC.

Pre-Solo Phase Check:
More than a year ago, CFI Patti Andrews saw a need to update the Private Phase Check. She collaborated with many of her CFI colleagues and revamped the Phase Check. The new packet will be available in few weeks. Thanks to Patty, Kyp and all the other CFIs who have helped to improve this process.

Low Altitude Mountain Checkout:
CFI Rob French had a student who wanted to fly to Columbia.  The student’s only interest in getting a full blown mountain checkout was to go to Columbia. She didn’t have any interest in going toward the really high terrain. Thus Rob proposed a comprehensive Low Altitude Mountain Check, a.k.a. “the Columbia Checkout.” He canvassed his colleagues, sought ideas and built a consensus. His labor was fruitful; we now have a path for those who wish to visit the foothills without having to complete the full mountain checkout. Details will be available at the WVFC location and on the website by Oct 15. Be certain to understand the limitations imposed on members when completing this type of checkout.

Crosswind Trainer:
Sometimes students and pilots who wish to shake the dust off of a pilot certificate run into vexations when they greet a crosswind on the runway. If this sounds familiar for you, you may want to meet CFI Dan Dyer. He is the owner and operator of the “Xwind 200 Crosswind Landing Simulator.” His services have helped many of our members. If you are interested ask your CFI to help you arrange a session or two in Dan’s simulator. For more info you can go here: http://www.dandyercfi.com/xwindsim/.

Happy and Safe Flying!

Lucy

We have had some requests for a maintenance seminar. Well your wish is our command. This coming Thursday, October 9th at 7PM, we are going to have a general discussion maintenance seminar, with bbq at 6PM included. This will be held at the Palo Alto maintenance facility with topics including; carb heat, the engine and its oil, temps and open discussions. I look forward to seeing you there and having a good time going over the systems and related maintenance of WVFC aircraft.

Going green and saving green. We have recently seen an increase in the excessive use of aircraft lighting systems. This seemingly minute area of aircraft operation can have a very meaningful effect on the rental price of the aircraft as well as the amount of waste the plane generates. What we are seeing is full use of every aircraft light during the day, while the aircraft is on the ground or in the air. Not only is this wasteful, it really does not make much sense.

Let's look at the rules and recommendations, light by light.

- First the position or nav lights. These particular lights are only required to be on during aircraft operation, from sunrise to sunset. Its alarming to see an aircraft during the day, in its tie-down, with all the position lights on. This is neither required nor recommended by the FAR AIM. It is, simply put, wasteful.

- Second the anti collision lights. If so equipped, aircraft with either red and or white anti collision lights should be used during any aircraft operation. Note, they should not be used where they can cause harm or be detrimental to other pilots. It also helps to alert pedestrians and pilots that the aircraft is, or will be operated.

- Third are the landing lights system. The only time they are absolutely required is for night flight on aircraft for hire. I would suggest that for any aircraft, it is a much safer proposition during night operations to have a working landing and or taxi light. I do not feel it is even safe to move a plane under its own power at night unless the landing light system works. In FAR AIM, section 4-3-23 paragraph c, it encourages pilots to use their landing lights on the take-off roll and in and around airports to increase the ability to be seen by other pilots. This of course should be based on " Aircrafts manufacturers recommendations of operation of landing light and electrical systems should be conserved".

Based on the above recommendations we can call see there is no recommendation to have the nav lights on during the day at all. Hopefully we can eliminate this use. We can also see that the landing light is not required for ground operation during the day at all. It seems silly I suppose, however the excessive use of electrical systems on the ground does a couple of things.

1. It keeps the electrical system in a constant state of discharge. Alternators rarely charge above 1000 RMP, let alone keep up with a full electrical load. This causes the battery to wear out quicker (both an expense and disposal issue) and if you were to compensate by increasing the RPM's, now fuel burn, brake usage and other areas are expensed.

2. It takes away from the total life of the bulb. Average landing light replacement is $200 for a 60 hour bulb. Essentially the base cost of an aircraft maintenance goes up $400 per every 100 hours, or raises the price of the plane $4/hr. Plus we have to throw the bulb away, adding to waste issues.

Again, my biggest hope would be to at least eliminate the usage of landing light on the ground during the day and the use of nav/position lights at all during the day. I would say the higher percentage of pilots have all operating lights on while they are just idling in the tie-down. Hopefully I have demonstrated that this is as unnecessary as it is costly and wasteful of resources.

Your Friendly MX Department :)

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