Headset hair and ice in Dallas

We’ve been covered in a (thin) sheet of ice here in North Texas – so not only am I not trying to fly anywhere, I’m sitting at home and avoiding the roads as well.

Okay, I guess headset hair is not the hottest topic around the flight schools nor at the work water cooler, but for those of us who fly in light planes for business it’s something to consider. For those who aren’t aware the noise level in a single engine plane at cruise is about 89 decibels, which is painful but not permanently damaging unless you are exposed to a lot – of course, if you’re a pilot you’re going to get a bunch of exposure! Which is why we're always wearing a headset. So, "which headset is the best" is one of those perennial questions – probably because there’s not good single answer that will cover everyone in all situations. The most popular style is one with big ear cups and a pressure strap that fits over your head like so -



These headsets work wonderfully, you won’t notice the noise of the plane, you’ll be able communicate with your passengers and air traffic control effortlessly. However, just like wearing a ball cap, you will show up at your destination with “headset hair.” I lived with this for awhile, but when meeting clients I want to present the best image I can – nice clothes, clean cut, etc. and messed up hair just doesn’t work for me. I decided to try a new style called “in the ear” or ITR, specifically the Clarity Aloft unit.



The noise level is slightly higher, but the microphone works great, there’s no clamping pressure on my head (and after 8 hours of flying this is most appreciated), and best of all, my hair looks nice when I get to my client meetings.

Vain? Perhaps. But I’ve found that in sales, looking professional can help make a prospective client’s first impression of you a good one.

Clear skies and tailwinds!
Mike

Beating the weather (Part 3)

Okay, here is the final installment on dealing with the weather from a VFR pilot’s perspective. In the future, I’ll have some more posts about specific weather conditions around the country and how best to deal with them.

Now for the “executive summary” of ways to cope with (or beat) the weather when you’re flying on a VFR ticket for business (or pleasure) –

• Learn all you can about the weather in your geographic area – and do it by season
  
  • What’s safe in the winter in Texas is not necessarily safe in the summer and what’s safe in the summer in Michigan may not be so safe in the winter.
  
  
• Create some flexibility in your schedule
  
  
• Have an alternate plan
  
  • Book a refundable airline ticket just in case
    
  • Be ready to drive
  
  
• Always be ready to land if conditions deteriorate
  
  • In 2007 there were 51 crashes due to VFR pilots flying into bad weather, with 32 of them being fatal.
    
  • Put your pride away and land

Okay, with the weather discussion finished for now, stay tuned for happier topics!

Clear skies and tailwinds!
Mike

Beating the weather (Part 2)

Coping with bad weather is like any other risk management technique – you can accept, mitigate, or avoid.

To accept a weather related risk you need to make sure that you ask yourself 2 important questions –

     1. Will this action violate any aviation regulations?
     2. Will this action compromise my safety?

If the answer to both of these questions is no, then go ahead and accept the risk. Remember, just because it’s legal to do something does not mean that it’s safe. Also, good training is necessary to develop the understanding to properly answer question 2. The weather that you can fly in as a visual only pilot is very limiting, so most of the time this is not a practical option. However, weather differs around the country by season and it is possible to accept a certain level of risk safely depending on your exact situation.

If you choose to avoid the risk, you can select an alternate method of transportation for this trip – driving or airlines. One could also choose to delay or reschedule the trip. As a VFR pilot, I have chosen this path many times. There is an old saying in aviation- “It is much better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air, than to be in the air wishing you were on the ground”.

The final option is to mitigate your risk. To do this you can elect to leave earlier in order to land before the weather situation worsens. This does not always work out as planned – so if you choose this option, be prepared to land or turn around. Another method is to fly part of the way, land and wait out the weather, and then continue. This usually works best if you have a narrow area of bad weather associated with a frontal passage.

Stay tuned for the last installment…

Clear skies and tailwinds!
Mike

Beating the weather (Part 1)

As promised, here’s my first installment on weather… It’s easy to fly when the weather is perfect – but how often does that occur? Unless you’re based in Palm Springs, probably not very often. So what can you do to get where you need to go, when you need go, and do it safely?

A little background first – I have a pilots certificate (government speak for “license”) that authorizes flight under Visual Flight Rules, or VFR. Basically, this means that I can fly day or night as long as I do NOT fly into a cloud or go above 17,999 feet. So, when there are low clouds, fog, mist, or precipitation I cannot launch. This has definitely been a challenge and most people admit that while you can do business VFR, it will dramatically improve your reliability if you can operate under Instrument Flight Rules, or IFR. The IFR pilot has much more flexibility and dispatch reliability is over 90% (depending on the season and where you live) as opposed to my personal record of 61%. As much as I desire the IFR certificate, I haven’t had the time to pursue one yet.

So, how do I cope…that’s part 2!


Clear skies and tailwinds!
Mike

Happy New Year!

I know I'm a couple of days late, however we had family in town and I've been busy. Better late than never though!

My travel plans for Christmas got changed due to weather, which will now be the first topic I'll be covering. You can expect the first installment early next week.

Clear skies and tailwinds!
Mike