Coaching Corner… Get out and about…

It’s great fun to visit new places, but as PCS Head of Coaching David

Hopefully, the spring weather has allowed those of us who were unable to fly over the winter to remind ourselves what flying is all about and regained our ‘recency’. Once we have done that, we are probably now thinking about spreading our wings and using our aircraft to do things we have either never done before or haven’t done for a long time. After all, that’s why we have spent so much time and effort to get – and keep – our aircraft airworthy.

Despite the best efforts of the GA Advisory Council, which the LAA actively supports, the number of UK aerodromes continues to decrease. However, whether our destination is threatened with closure or just looks an attractive place to visit, I’m sure that quite a lot of us will be considering flying into airfields which we have never been to before. These might be large aerodromes, or little strips, and each presents its own quirks and challenges, for which we must prepare ourselves carefully before taking them up.

A recent incident report should remind us that operating into an airfield with which we are unfamiliar requires planning and accurate flying, and I paraphrase it here. “Visibility was excellent and the wind roughly nine knots almost down the 350m long grass strip, which was narrower than my usual choices. I made a nice gentle landing roughly one third down the runway. As the aircraft was slowing I drifted to the left a little and my left main wheel caught the edge of rough grass, significantly slowing that side and turning the aircraft further into the rough. Both front wheels dug into the grass and the aircraft had sufficient momentum to tip onto its nose. The propeller was shattered and the spats were cracked but there were no injuries.”

The CAA’s SafetySense leaflet on Strip Flying (tinyurl.com/CAAstripflying) can provide a bit of guidance for those of us who are unfamiliar with such fields, and is expected to be updated shortly. However, nothing replaces the real thing, and so I recommend you prepare yourself as best you can. Apart from following the guidance in the SafetySense leaflet, and refining your short field techniques at airfields where you have more space, I strongly recommend you contact your local LAA Coach (tinyurl.com/LAACoaches) who can provide lots of guidance and practical advice and experience.

On the other hand, for those of us who normally fly from a strip, the thought of landing at an aerodrome with a long and wide runway might seem completely alien. Taxying may actually be of greater concern, as another recent

Below

Bottom report, this time from ATC, indicates: “The pilot of an aeroplane visiting from an unlicensed aerodrome landed and was instructed to vacate taxiway Charlie and taxi to the southern apron. The aircraft was then observed making a turn towards a vehicle access track linking taxiway Charlie with the based flying clubs. The aircraft was instructed to remain on taxiway Charlie, but he had already turned. He continued forward without my clearance.”

I also have to admit that landing, parking, and handling fees are a bit of a disincentive, and Heathrow is probably not a viable destination!

But we shouldn’t allow a fear of possible problems to prevent us using the aerodromes which are still available to us. If we do, we have no air access to large areas of the UK. Whether we intend to actually land at the major aerodrome, or at another airfield within the Class D airspace around it, we need ATC permission, and trying to gain (and understand) that permission is something which seems to terrify a lot of us. However, the controller only wants to be sure that the traffic they are responsible for can make a safe and ‘expeditious’ departure or approach and landing. If he or she knows we are going to follow the clearance they give us, they are content. They are not trying to catch us out on our ability to follow CAP 413 (the R/T manual) to the letter.

Rather than try to refresh the whole subject of radio communication here, I commend a document (tinyurl. com/EASAphraseology) which is available through the EASA website (yes I know, but the UK produced it for them). It was initially produced in a format which allowed the reader to listen to the messages, but it seems to have lost that facility. Nevertheless it explains the recommended messages clearly, although the references are European (unfortunately the UK CAA withdrew the purely UK version some years ago).

If we have concerns about visiting a large aerodrome, or flying through Controlled Airspace, why not see if your local Coach can help you through your first visit or two?

Airspace Infringements

If we believe comments on the various pilot fora, it would seem that Air Traffic Controllers are most unfriendly to private pilots. The monthly list of the MORs which the CAA receives would appear to back up that belief. That is of course not really the case, but ATC are required by law to report every ‘incident’ in which they are involved, and that includes any aircraft being inside controlled airspace without the necessary clearance. Hence the expression ‘Mandatory Occurrence Report’ or MOR.

The same expression ‘MOR’ has found its way into general use to include voluntary reports, which the CAA encourages pilots and others in the aviation industry to submit when they experience an incident or become aware of one. Because such reports can be of vital importance in providing information to prevent future accidents, readers will be aware that the LAA also strongly encourages such reports. However, whether the report is mandatory or voluntary, unless it fits the definition of an aircraft ‘accident’ or ‘serious incident’, which are the AAIB’s responsibility, the CAA is responsible for recommending whatever further action may be necessary. Sadly, the vast majority of reports submitted these days seem to concern airspace infringements.

When a report reaches the CAA, it usually asks the aircraft owner to ask the pilot to provide further information, which in the case of a reported infringement is usually a statement of what the pilot believes had happened, and what the cause(s) might have been. Although it seems that these requests for information often warn of possible serious actions that the CAA might take, it is up to the Infringement Co-ordinating Group to consider the incident and decide how to follow it up, and very few of its deliberations result in a curtailment of a pilot’s activities.

CAP 1404 describes the CAA’s review and actions process following airspace infringements, and in most cases the investigation produces no more than a letter offering advice to the pilot.

According to its own statistics, in 2021 up to November, the ICG considered 702 infringement incidents. Of these, 84 resulted in no further action being taken, and 440 pilots received advisory letters. As may be expected, a pilot who has been involved in a particularly serious incident, or more than one infringement, is likely to be considered to be in need of some further training. Of the pilots involved in the remaining infringement reports, 10 were asked to complete an online tutorial and test, and 103 attended the online Airspace Infringement Avoidance Course and 65 more pilots (9% of the total) were required to undertake additional training. It is worthy of note that only nine pilots had their licence privileges provisionally suspended while that training was completed, and no pilot’s licence was

Top completely revoked as a result of an airspace infringement.

So as these statistics demonstrate, although pilots who are alleged to have infringed controlled airspace are likely to receive a disconcerting request for information, the aim of the investigations would seem to be to improve the knowledge and training of pilots who may need it.

Cameras on aeroplanes

The number of in-flight action films appearing on social media continues to increase, and with hopefully better weather ahead I expect more of us will be carrying cameras, either to use for personal debriefing or to show our friends.

Above The EASA Phraseology guide is an excellent reference to help refresh your RT knowledge.

Below Don’t forget there’s a Technical Leaflet that can help, should you wish to mount a camera on your Permit aircraft.

An article in last September’s Coaching Corner gave some advice on flying while helping passengers take photographs or film from the air, but we may want a record of the flight when we are not carrying passengers. I should not want to encourage any pilot to film using a hand-held device, and especially not during a critical phase of flight, but if our hands (and attention!) are kept free, then filming should be possible in relative safety. Some form of attachment should be required.

Devices that are attached to the pilot (e.g. helmetmounted cameras) don’t need any particular approval, although common sense should be used to ensure that they don’t pose unnecessary additional risks to the aircraft occupants. For instance, you might think about how it, and any charging cables, might affect your ability to get out of the aircraft in an emergency, whether it affects your ability to fly the aircraft normally and, not least, where it might go if it falls off! However, there are quite a few requirements to be fulfilled if the camera is to be attached to the aircraft. If the aircraft holds a UK Certificate of Airworthiness, a Licensed Aircraft Engineer may be able to help under CAP 1369, but if the aircraft has a UK Permit to Fly, the LAA’s Technical Leaflet TL 3.24 (tinyurl.com/LAAcameras) lists the requirements.

Installations conforming to the requirements in TL 3.24 must be checked prior to flight by an LAA Inspector, who must then sign a Permit Maintenance Release (see TL2.04) in the airframe logbook to that effect. Installations that do not fit the requirements in TL 3.24 should be referred to LAA Engineering and are likely to require a modification application using form MOD2. As the leaflet states, once fitted, the installation must be carefully checked in flight for security and any adverse effects on handling or control feel. However, we must remember that if we know our flying is being recorded, human factors will come into play. We must not allow considerations about the ‘final cut’ affect how we go about our flying, it should only be a record of what happened, not an aim in itself. ■

TL are

The latest LAA Engineering topics and investigations. Compiled by Jerry

Parr