Title: Safety Through Information
1Safety Through Information
- Getting the information you need to fly safely
even when youre in new territory
By Grant McHerron
2Youve all heard these, right?
- Praemonitus, praemunitus
- (Fore-warned is Forearmed)
-
- Be prepared
- Baden-Powell the Boy Scouts
-
- Knowledge is Power
- Sir Francis Bacon
- Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's
ignorance. - Confucius
- No Campaign plan survives first contact with the
enemy - Carl von Clausewitz
-
- Planning is everything, the plan is nothing
- Dwight Eisenhower
3Pilots Have Known This For Almost 100 Years
- "The success or otherwise of the airway is in
the hands of the people who do the work the
pilots. In their hands rests everything. No man
can be born a fully-trained pilot no pilot can
ever be fully trained. All pilots should ever be
learning, ever striving to increase their own
efficiency. Efficiency begets confidence, and
thus safety. So aim at being safe"
Captain Travis W. Shortridge "Blind Bad Weather
Flying" Slipstream Magazine, 1930 (pilot of the
ill-fated Southern Cloud)
4Legally, you must be prepared!
- CAO 95.54 4.2 CAR 233
CAR 239 - The pilot in command (that's you) has to
-
- Plan the flight for the route to be followed and
any aerodromes to be used (and any alternates),
covering - Current weather reports forecasts
- Airways facilities available their conditions
- Conditions of any aerodromes their suitability
to your aircraft - Air Traffic Control rules procedures pertaining
to the flight - Carry (with easy access to) the information you
need during the flight, including - Maps covering the proposed area of operation
showing aerodromes, controlled airspace,
prohibited, restricted and danger areas along the
likely flight path - Any other information instructions required
5Today may not be like Yesterday
- You must have current information available to
you -
- You need this information in your home area as
well as when you go to a new area -
- Never assume you know what's going on because you
flew here yesterday - always look for what's
changed, new info, etc
6What's stopping you?
- "Who's got the time? The weather is right now!"
-
- "I don't need the latest maps - my parts don't
really change." -
- "I just fly where I know and don't go elsewhere."
- "It's too hard to stay up to date."
- "It's not like I'm flying at an airport and can
just drop by the pilot's shop." - "We're recreational fly under their radar."
7Sources of Knowledge
- Government Sources
- ERSA, AIP, VFR Guide
- NOTAMs
- Maps
- VNC, VTC, ERC Low,TAC, PCA
- Geoscience,LIC NSW, VICMAP, etc
-
- BoM
- TAFs, METARS, etc
- ABF
- Pilot Training Manual, Operations Manual
- Website
8Save the Trees!
- ERSA, AIP, etc
- http//www.airservices.gov.au/flying/default.asp
-
- CASR, CAR, CAO, etc
- http//casa.gov.au/scripts/nc.dll?WCMSSTANDARDp
cPC_90902 -
- Briefing Services
- http//www.airservicesaustralia.com/brief/
- http//www.airservicesaustralia.com/NOTAMMAPS/INDE
X.ASP - http//www.airservices.gov.au/Brief/areabrf.asp
-
- TAFs, METARs NOTAMs
- http//reg.bom.gov.au/reguser/by_prod/aviation/
- http//www.airservices.gov.au/brief/html.asp?/cgi-
bin/avreq?area30 -
- ABF
- http//abf.net.au/links.htm
- http//www.abf.net.au/SZ.htm
-
9It's all Geek to me!
- How to read a TAF
- AIP GEN 3.5 - 25
- http//www.canberragliding.org/jforum/posts/list/7
3.page -
- Decoding NOTAMs
- http//www.flyingineurope.be/notam_decode.htm
- Understanding NOTAMs - Part 1 Part 2
- http//bathursted.ccnb.nb.ca/vatcan/fir/moncton/We
eklyTopics/Archives/20040404/CurrentTopic.html - http//bathursted.ccnb.nb.ca/vatcan/fir/moncton/We
eklyTopics/Archives/20040411/CurrentTopic.html -
- VFR Guide
- http//www.casa.gov.au/scripts/nc.dll?WCMSSTANDAR
DpcPC_90008 - Airspace Regulations Summary
- http//www.recreationalflying.net/tutorials/naviga
tion/airspace.html
10Flying Somewhere New?
- Look for charts (aviation topographical) -
start assessing airspace boundaires, what
airports/airstrips/ALAs are in the area, what
Area Forecast zone is it in -
- Go to the ABF site and start checking for PZs,
SZs Hazards -
- Use the ABF member directory to find people in
the area and CALL THEM to learn which land
holders can be relied on for launch/landing plus
any transient or seasonal problems that may not
be on the ABF site (crops being sown/harvested,
livestock, etc) -
- Check ERSA entries for all airports in the area
- Start building up a mental image of the 3D
picture of the space you'll be flying in
(landscape, boundaries, hazards, etc) and do some
"what if" thinking of how you'd fly for various
wind conditions - what you'd watch out for, etc. -
- Mark up your maps reference cards (cheat
sheets) with information so it's easy to find all
you need when you're in the air
11A Few Days Before
- Watch the weather forecasts, synoptic charts
trends - Check for NOTAMs
-
- Check ABF site again and give balloonists with
local knowledge a call
12Let's go fly near Mildura
- Check out the ABF site for info about the area
-
- Look at the Planning Chart of Australia - find
it's in area 30 on WAC 3458 -
- Get the maps for the area (WAC, ERC LOW 2,
VICMAP topographicals - Meringur Merrinee) -
- Look up Mildura in the ERSA to get code (YMIA),
frequencies notes -
- Look up AirServices web site for TAF/METAR and
NOTAM info -
- Start reading/viewing thinking
- Get ABF member directory and start finding people
in Mildura to call
13Here's a TAF/METAR
- MILDURA (YMIA)
- RAIM GPS RAIM PREDICTION 151401
- YMIA
- TSO-C129 (AND EQUIVALENT)
- FAULT DETECTION
- NO GPS RAIM FD OUTAGES FOR NPA
- TSO-C146A (AND EQUIVALENT)
- FAULT DETECTION
- NO GPS RAIM FD OUTAGES FOR NPA
- FAULT DETECTION AND EXCLUSION
- 10160308 TIL 10160337
- 10161007 TIL 10161016
- 10161036 TIL 10161053
- 10170306 TIL 10170333
- 10171003 TIL 10171011
- 10171032 TIL 10171049
- 10180305 TIL 10180329
- 10180959 TIL 10181007
14Here's some NOTAMS
- MILDURA (YMIA)
-
C0048/09 - RWY 18/36 DECLARED DISTANCE CHANGES
- RWY ASDA
- 18 1139
- 36 1139
- FROM 09 140455 TO PERM
-
C0022/10 - RWY DECLARED DIST AND GRADIENT CHANGES
- RWY TODA
- 09 1950(2.18)
- 27 1980(1.62)
- RWY 09/27 TRANSITION SFC INFRINGED.
-
- 18 1199(2.36)
- 36 1199(2.39)
-
15Be Willing to help
- Provide information to the ABF so the website can
be updated - PZs, SZs, hazards, etc
- Help make that section of the site something of
benefit to all of us -
- Be available for calls from other balloonatics
who are going to fly in your area -
- Online forums (downwind.com.au? Aunty Monkey?)
-
- Social experiences with other pilots ("Hangar
flying")
16It's all about Airmanship
- Somehow airmanship, which is not just flying,
but is everything flying means, is a very
neglected subject If only young pilots would
forget that a joy stick is in many ways only a
secondary consideration, that circuits and
landings do not make a pilot, that they never
will learn all that the air can teach them, and
that advice from old hands should never be
disregarded well, lots of young pilots would
still be pilots!
Captain Travis W. Shortridge "Blind Bad Weather
Flying" Slipstream Magazine, 1930 (pilot of the
ill-fated Southern Cloud)
17Thanks for making it to the end
- Grant McHerron
-
- mcherron_at_gmail.com
-
- 0422 914 949
- www.flymefriendly.com
- www.planecrazydownunder.com