August 3:  Fly Day

As always, when there is Blue Skies above I get the urge to get in some engine time on the Clown Plane.  Why you may ask? For one, one of the worst things you can do with an airplane is not to fly it.

Ok, why is it bad not to fly your airplane you ask?  Aside from frequently flying helps keep you current and in practice, it helps keep all the parts and pieces active and moving. And in reference to metal parts helps keep them lubricated. The gremlins of aircraft are  corrosion, rust and depending on the aircraft, delamination.

Ideally, you’d fly often in order to keep your engine happy (distributing clean oil throughout the system to protect against corrosion and heating it enough to drive off water from the crankcase). Some consider you inactive if your not running the engine at least 5 hours a month and some old school consider 10 hours a month a minimum.  In Michigan the winter months most often make this hard to do.

One option you have is to preserve your engine in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions, often called “pickling” the engines for the winter. Now this is a lot of work and prevents you from flying on those nice winter days when your hanger doors are not frozen shut and the taxi ramps to the runways are clear of ice (or most of it).

Another option is to ground run you engine and taxi around for maybe 30 minutes or so. at least monthly. This keeps the tires from taking a set and helps keep things moving and lubricated.  But  I always preheat my engine any time  the air temperature is less than 40F    before starting my engine.  Its never a bad thing to warm the battery either.

If you’re not properly preheating your aircraft in cold temperatures, you’re likely causing substantial––not to mention expensive––damage to internal engine components. In fact, running a cold engine for just 60 seconds can cause as much wear on your engine as 500 hours of normal cruise operation. And, if the temperature drops low enough, one cold start can cause major destruction of your engine right after takeoff. That’s why it’s so critical that you take the aircraft preheating process seriously.

So now you know why frequent flying is a good thing so lets get back to going flying.

Number one item I check is the weather. I want to know what is the visibility. Is it VFR (visual flight rules)  or IFR (instrument flight rules)? Next is the ceiling (how high are the clouds) and how windy is it.  Since I am a VFR and a “fair weather” flyer that’s important.  My next check is the wind speed, direction and is it gusty?

If all of these items are satisfied I then check the NOTAM’s ( Notice to Airmen) which is a notice filed with an aviation authority to alert aircraft pilots of potential hazards along a flight route or at a location that could affect the safety of the flight.  Items like are the runways closed at my airport or the one I may be flying to? Or notifications of runway/taxiway/apron status with respect to snow, ice, and standing water.

And then there are the TFR’s (Temporary Flight Restrictions) telling me “airports and areas” that are temporarily not available for me to fly in or around because important people like heads of state (i.e.: president/ VP) are there.  And lots of other important information that helps me make a decision to fly or not.

And today all the criteria I have set for myself were met and we went flying.

With all that said, today I had a friend of mine along whom I am working with to be a companion flyer.

The purpose  is to help make my frequent passenger more knowledgeable so if I need assistance they can help and not suddenly be thrust into a panic situation cause they have no idea what to do.

These  flying periods are fun, informative, and designed with the non-pilot in mind. The companion / frequent flyer  learns to be an effective cockpit crew member and  become more comfortable in light aircraft so flying is more enjoyable!

Over the course of the flights they get to be knowledgeable of how the airplane flies and responds , how to read an aeronautical chart to find an airports radio frequency, run way lengths and directions,  how to talk to on the radio, what the instruments tell you (airspeed, altitude, level indicator), what to do in an emergency and much more.

I have found that those individuals who fly with me often enjoy are much more comfortable and confident when we are flying. A win for me and them and a good day of flying was had by us both.