THE COMMUNITY OF FLYING
by Josh Smith, General Manager

Well First of all, let me wish everyone a very Merry Holiday Season. I am sure we all have a lot on our minds. 2009 has been a very interesting year. Hopefully as the Holidays are upon us, we can put some of the worry and stress on hold, sit down with friends and family, and just connect with the Holiday spirit. I have two kids, one is turning 5 (Samantha) and the other is turning 3 (Wyatt) this January and it is particularly fun to watch the Holiday through their eyes. Everything is so new, shiny and amazing.

Please do not forget, if you would like to save some cash in 2010, (wow 2010, I thought we would have hover craft by now!) you can pre-pay your dues, and get a month free! Please contact accounting for more information.

I would like to thank the entire WVFC Party Committee for their effort in getting our Holiday Party together. It seemed that all had fun. A special thanks to Christine Kelly for throwing it all together, and as always doing a really spectacular job. A special thanks to the owners of the Pitts for allowing us to use it as a Holiday Party Picture back-drop. Also a hardy congratulations to Paolo Resmini for being named CFI of the year for 2009. It is always a difficult decision, as there are many great candidates to choose from. Great job Paolo!

On a sad note, the afore mentioned Christine Kelly, our Operations Manager, has decided to hang up her spurs with WVFC and and pursue new and different opportunities. Christine started with WVFC a little over 3 years ago at the front desk in Hayward. She moved up into the position of Operations Manager in the end 2007. Christine has been managing the front desk, events, safety seminars, and been doing a really good job at it. I have really enjoyed working with Christine, and will miss her a ton.

I really appreciate everyone who took the time to fill out the member survey. We got fewer people then I would have liked, however enough to get some very useful information. As always its very important for us to get as much feedback as possible, to ensure we are aware of the pulse of the members which in turns leads us to build a better business plan. If you did not get the opportunity to fill it out, please E mail me directly at gm@wvfc.org with feedback. In next months newsletter article I will get into more specific details on some of the changes we are looking to make. With the weight of the economy still looming, I can tell you a major focus will be to do as much as possible to maintain, and or lower overhead costs and keep our club as affordable as possible. We are also going to spend a lot of energy ironing out some of remaining wrinkles in our squawk process.

It would be a little remiss of me, if I just swept over the current political environment within the club. I am very concerned about it and about addressing members issues. Please know, that my door is always open. I enjoy the conversation , I look forward to feedback, and outside analysis. I will work diligently to shed light on key issues to alleviate misconceptions/perceptions as best I can. I think there are those that really want to help the club, fix the concerns, and see it grow and thrive. We all need to work together to achieve that. I will do a lot of out-reach and invite anyone who would like to sit-down and discuss issues to come and do so. I will work with the board to address members concerns, and we will do our best to come up with long term, viable solutions that help the club not only now, but into the distant future. Every solution will have to be a balanced well thought out change which will create an end result that is desirable and sustainable. I will do my damndest to assure that we keep our eye on the ball, and not get sidetracked over the next few months.

My interest is, and always will be, to do the best for West Valley Flying Club, and its Membership.

Thanks and again, have a safe and Happy Holiday, and Best wishes in 2010.

Josh Smith, GM WVFC

FROM THE DESK OF THE CHIEF - SAFETY IS NO ACCIDENT
WVFC Chief Pilot chief pilot@wvfc.org

Chances are you’ve heard the cliche “safety is no accident” many times during your flying career.  I figured, for the last newsletter article for 2009, we should take a look back at the year and see how West Valley Flying Club is doing safety wise, and how much more there is still to do in 2010 and beyond.

First, a history lesson. The good news is that we haven’t had a fatality or serious injury in over a decade.  We’ve averaged about 25,000 flight hours a year over that time, meaning the club has flown over a quarter of a million hours in the last ten years.  We’ve spent quite a lot of time this year analyzing the club accidents and incidents from this period.  To be perfectly frank, in some of the more major accidents, we probably just got lucky that no one was seriously injured or killed.  As a result of this analysis, we learned some important information.  Here’s a summary of those lessons and how it could, should, or might affect the club moving forward.

1)   Accidents and incidents seem to come in waves.  We’ll go a couple of years and be free of major accidents and then there will suddenly be one or more.  I’ve been around with previous chief pilots who were on the verge of celebrating an accident-free period and then all of sudden something, or several bad things happen.  Conclusion – there’s still a lot of randomness to the timing of these events.  Food for thought - with 2009 coming to a close with no serious accidents, should we be worried?
2)   There has been a lot of mystery surrounding WVFC accidents and incidents that have occurred over the years.  My philosophy has always been that there’s tremendous educational value to be had from many of these events.  As a result of this, earlier this year we produced a new WVFC “accident portfolio”, a set of laminated powerpoint slides that discuss each accident and incident from the past 7 years.  Hopefully, many of you have already seen one or more of these slides and have gained some insight from the review.  We’ve committed to getting these slides online early next year.
3)   We have historically managed post-accident analysis by looking at the pilot involved and thinking that because the pilot had say only 230 hours of experience that the solution to the problem was to raise the minimum for that plane to 300 and the problem will be solved.  I strongly disagree with this philosophy.  While some minimum experience should be required for most airplanes, we have actually gone ahead this year and reduced the minimums on most aircraft to try and encourage more people to fly those aircraft.  The real problem, more often than not, is the pilot not being prepared for a particular mission, not that they didn’t know how to fly the plane.
4)   The CFI team has spent many hours this year reviewing some of the more serious accidents and working together to try and spot the trends and similarities which made these trips end up as accidents.  Out of this analysis, we’ve found some important clues:

1. Big trip planning often gets done by relatively inexperienced pilots without the help or intervention from a CFI.
2. Pilots often plan trips to be too close to the date of the checkout or phase check.  Rather than ramping up slowly with some local trips, the accident trips have tended to be soon after the initial checkout.
3. People talk about the “killing zone”, a period of flight experience where the likelihood of being in an accident is greatest.  Where that time falls is often debated, some will say 200-500 hours, others will argue 400-1000.  But one thing just jumped out at me recently when we looked at the 5 or 6 most recent (2009) incidents at the club – all but one of the pilots had between 400 and 500 hours and the remaining one had just over 600 hours.
4. CFIs have a hard time saying “No”.  Being a CFI is being in the service of providing flight instruction.  Service businesses are built around the concept of “Yes” not “No”. We’ve worked hard this year both in team sessions and in one on one sessions, to explore aspects of how CFIs have sometimes just got to be “tough”.  They might need to tell a member that they’re not ready to complete a checkout, that they shouldn’t go one some big trip based on marginal experience, or their planned mission doesn’t have an appropriate risk profile.

So what does all of this mean for the future?  Here are some thoughts for 2010 and beyond:

1)   We’ll continue to leverage the accident portfolio, get it online, and try and extract as much value from it as possible.
2)   We’ll pay more attention to big trips.  As you may already know, there’s an extended rental agreement for longer trips. These come through our office, so we’re able to look for anything potentially worrying in terms of plane, pilot, readiness, planning etc.
3)   We’ll continue to work with the CFI team and keep up the awareness level when it comes to being able and comfortable to say “no” when the pilot just isn’t ready for something.  CFIs are always encouraged (and many do) come to the Chief Pilot Office with difficult cases looking for help and support.

Happy holidays, and safe flying in 2010.

AS THE WRENCH TURNS
by your friendly maintenance department, maintenance@wvfc.org

HAPPY HOLIDAYS -- FROM ALL OF US IN YOUR WVFC MAINTENANCE DEPARTMENT !!!!!!!!

Sometimes at Bay Area runways, the wind shifts around and we find ourselves taking off or landing with a tailwind.  The POH, of course, tells us about the increased distances involved for either scenario.  But the POH leaves out a lot.  First, the landing distances assume you’re holding the airspeed indicated on the charts.  And that isn’t as easy as it sounds.

Let’s take the case of a 5 knot tailwind.  As we know from the normal wind profile, the winds tend to be stronger the higher we are on the approach.  And in the normal approach, that results in lower airspeeds on final unless we add power, or are willing to accept a more rapid descent to hold the same speed with the same power setting.

With a tailwind, however, it’s different.  The wind gradient results in increasing airspeeds as you descend, and that means you’re landing longer than the already enlarged book numbers if you don’t get your speed down.  In case you hadn’t guessed, it’s easy to run out of runway before you run out of speed.

Your problems aren’t over just because you get the plane onto the ground, either.  What happens, for example, to your aileron, elevator and rudder control effectiveness?  It disappears at a higher ground speed than you’re used to.  Worse, after you’re slowed, you have to remember to reverse the controls to compensate for the winds.  And if you’re in a taildragger, you may have a view of the arrival end of the runway going sideways across your field of view unless you’ve really planted the tailwheel.  If you haven’t, you may be in the middle of a ground-loop before you know it.

And these problems can be small compared to what can happen when you go around.  What’s the typical go around procedure?  Full power, raise the nose to a normal climb attitude, and take up the first notch of flaps.  Before we even get to the gear and the rest of the flaps, let’s take a look at what happens during the initial climb out. 

Remember that wind shear we just came down through?  It’s still there.  But now, you’re going up through faster moving air as you climb.  Normally, that’s not a problem, but in this case, we are climbing through air that is increasing in speed – from behind you.  So, the faster you climb, the faster your speed drops, both from the pitch up, and from the increasingly fast tailwind.  And if you’re already at your book approach airspeed, it could drop quickly toward stall, which has just increased because of the flaps coming up at least part way.  That close to the ground, all kinds of interesting things can happen very fast.

So, what to do to avoid these problems?  First, avoid tailwind landings if possible.  Unfortunately, we can’t always, so the next consideration is to assess the reports or likelihood of wind gradient/wind shear.  In all cases, we need to be accurate and aggressive in glidepath and airspeed control, and in the case of wind shear or wind gradient, we need to be even more aggressive.

Plan ahead on the use of ailerons, and elevator control during roll out.

And finally, we need to remember on the go around, that there are two things to look for before beginning the clean up in addition to the power and the pitch.  The first is the positive rate of climb, but increasing airspeed is just as important. 

Landing unexpectedly is never a good idea, especially if you think you are climbing away.

SAYING GOOD-BYE
by Christine Kelly

Hello Membership,

I am writing to say goodbye.

January 4th of 2010 will be my last day as an employee of the club. I have been working at the club for about 3 years; beginning as a front desk employee and ending as the operations manager. In those 3 years I have learned a great deal, not only about the art of flying and management as one would should certainly hope! But I have come out of this experience getting to know a collection of human beings you would not necessarily expect to find in the same place and I have been a witness to their interactions with one another and to the collaboration of efforts between these diverse aviation lovers.

I have seen what the hard work of a few dedicated individuals produces and I have seen what happens when people stop working together. All I can say is; No gesture or suggestion is too small. The members make this club what it is, so please tell us what you think, get to know your fellow members and the hope is that this wonderful organization will continue to be available, to anyone so inclined, for another 35 years.

 It has been a privilege to work with and to serve the incredible individuals; staff, members and flight instructors that comprise West Valley Flying Club.

Thank you,
Christine

Coordination by seat-of-the-pants, sight and the ball

Looking at the ball is not the only way to know that you are coordinated.  If you are relaxed enough you can feel whether or not you are leaning one way or the other.  To regain coordination, push on the rudder in the direction of the lean. In straight flight (i.e. level, climbing or descending, but not turning) you can tell if you are coordinated by sight.  First check to see that the wings are level by looking at the wingtips and making sure that they are above (below in a low-wing airplane) the horizon by an equal amount.  Now, while keeping the wings level, look over or around the nose to see if the airplane is yawing.  If it is, stop the yaw with rudder.  If the wings are level and the airplane is not yawing, you are coordinated.  There is no need to look at the ball, but you can check it if you want. 

You can also perceive coordination in turns by sight.  Assuming constant airspeed, the rate of turn depends only on the angle of bank in a coordinated turn.  [Most training airplanes cruise between 90 and 120 knots so the constant airspeed assumption is not too far off.]  With practice you will know how fast the heading should change as the bank angle changes when you roll into a turn. As you roll you should be looking over the nose anyway for pitch control so perceiving bank and yaw is not so hard. A useful exercise is to fly several 360 or 720 degree turns with variable bank angle. As you steepen and shallow the bank during the turn you will notice the rate of heading change speed up and slow down.  Keep the turn coordinated or have someone demonstrate a variable bank coordinated turn and try to remember what it looks like. The ball itself is useful for fine adjustments.  In airplanes that have rudder trim you may want to use the ball to make fine trim adjustments in cruise flight, for example.
 
Slow down, speed up exercise.

In cruise, point the airplane toward a prominent landmark and establish an exact altitude.  When the airplane is stabilized exactly on heading and altitude, start slowing down.  Gradually slow the airplane to its minimum controllable airspeed.  For extra amusement, lower the gear and flaps when you are slow enough to do so.  After achieving minimum speed start a gradual speed up back to cruise airspeed.  The key to the exercise is to maintain exact heading and altitude.  Make the airspeed change slow enough so that there is no excuse for altitude or heading deviations!

During the slow down, speed up exercise you will notice that varying amounts of rudder pressure will be required to maintain heading with the wings level.  More rudder is required at high angles of attack.  You will also have time to see how the pitch changes with airspeed in level flight.  This effect is more noticeable if you do not use flaps.

Torque

P-factor, spiraling slipstream and torque all contribute to the need to use rudder when the angle of attack is not zero. [The relative magnitude of each of these effects is rarely mentioned!] But most airplanes don’t need any rudder input in cruise even though the wing is flying with an angle of attack large enough to generate lift equal to the weight of the airplane.  The reason for this is that the rudder is not straight.  It is attached to the fuselage at a very slight angle to trim for torque correction in cruise flight.  Therefore you will need some pressure on the opposite [left in American airplanes] rudder when flying faster than cruise.  Try a shallow dive to see the effect.  Don’t fly at airspeeds above the green arc unless it’s a smooth day.

Have fun with coordinated flight!

Hello everyone, I hope that the Holidays will be good to you. 

As you may know, the West Valley Flying Club is in a state of excited transition.  One board member recently resigned and another has been elected to take his place (welcome JP). And, the board is wrestling with many new initiatives with the goal of defining a new standard in personal ethics, club structure and overall operations excellence.

The important things on our plate are:

• Conflict of Interest Policy
• Squawk Bill of Rights
• Squawk Procedures
• By-Law revisions
• Adoption of a new Financial Audit Policy
• Roll out of a new Grievance Policy
• Introducing a new Phase Check Policy
• Defining new Membership Currency Requirements
• Design and use of a new Election Process providing voter anonymity
• Definition of the number of airplanes an owner can have on our line
• New initiative to put documents on the web for membership access
• Design and roll-out of a new web-site
• Making our IT system more robust while introducing new features

Whew! … For a volunteer board, that is a lot to do!  Some of these initiatives have been needed for a long time. And for the others? We are implementing those because they are the right thing to do.
 
Each task will begin by staff or the Board proposing candidate operational concepts. As they are initially developed, most of these will be vetted using committees made up of interested members that will give us added insight, experience and advice from their experience too.  When ready for 'prime time', the board will then adopt the new rules.

These changes are all important and they will affect our club's basic structure.  And, like all worth while and durable goals, we are conducting a methodical, well considered approach to changes that will correct existing deficiencies while seeking to avoid new and unexpected problems that might affect our performance. 

Unfortunately, as we transition, the changes will be unsettling to many affected staff and members.  And so we ask for your patience and understanding as we wend our way through the work.  It will take a while to realize the results. When complete, they will (we hope) be worth the wait. With your help, advice and patience, we’ll get there.

Best regards, 

Gary Waldeck