All of Rod Machado’s books are now available as custom iPad applications or PDFs for your Andriod-based tablet. This includes Rod Machado’s new Sport Pilot “Airplane” Handbook, too. These are far more than just ordinary e-books for your iThing or Tablet. Download the free iPad book sample app and check them out for yourself. If you choose the iPad app, you’ll receive book updates any time Rod makes changes. Click here to ORDER.

Rod Machado’s IFR Handbook as an Audiobook!

Finally! It’s here! Welcome to your instructor in an audiobook. Written and narrated by veteran ground and flight instructor Rod Machado, this audiobook contains 30 hours of recorded material. It’s presented in a warm, conversational manner and spiced with humor. Rod’s tried and true methods of instruction, honed through more than 39 years of teaching experience, have achieved exceptional results with thousands of aviation students.
Now you can enjoy Rod’s popular Instrument Pilot’s Handbook during your daily commute, or at home in the comfort of your own chair. Download these MP3 files to your MP3 player (DVD does not play in car) and learn or review important concepts during those otherwise wasted hours that many of us spend driving. As one pilot said, “I felt like I had a flight instructor right there in the car with me.”
While you can listen to the first ten chapters of the book without referring to the text, you’ll still want to use the actual Instrument Pilot’s Handbook as a reference for reviewing pictures, graphs and many of the incidental ASRS stories scattered throughout the text. This exciting new audiobook is the key to learning faster and better, while maximizing use of your scarce time.  Click Here for product info, to order DVD or for direct download now!

Rod’s Books Available on Your iPad or iPhone

All of Rod Machado’s books are now available as custom iPad and iPhone applications, with unique capabilities. This includes Rod Machado’s new Sport Pilot “Airplane” Handbook, too. These are far more than just ordinary e-books for your iThing. Download the free book sample app and check them out for yourself. With these apps, you’ll receive book updates any time Rod makes changes. No more having to purchase a new book every year to keep up with major changes in aviation. While you’re at it, check out all of Rod’s new downloadable videos by clicking here.

The Ultimate “Minimalist” Private Pilot Syllabus

This link takes you to a page where you can download a PDF of the FAA’s original private pilot syllabus published in 1971. This syllabus was found in the back of the old FAA Flight Instructor Handbook which is no longer available. The newer flight instructor handbook no longer contains a syllabus.

This is a minimalist syllabus and is one of the very best syllabi I’ve found for preparing someone for the private pilot certificate–or the sport pilot certificate (no need to do electronic navigation or some instrument training). It’s the method by which thousands upon thousands of pilots successfully earned their pilot certificate over the years with minimum cost.

What makes this syllabus unique is that it’s a “Stick and Rudder” syllabus and makes no attempt to teach a student things he or she doesn’t need to immediately know during flight training. I heartily recommend using this syllabus for anyone training under Part 61 of the regulations. For students training under Part 141 of the regulations, they should use the syllabus the FAA has approved for that particular flight school.

And, of course, if you feel that other aspects of aviation should be added to this syllabus, then have at it. But please remember that your objective when teaching someone how to fly is to “teach them to fly.” Your objective is not to make them into the general aviation version of an “airline pilot lite.” Since private pilot training is already scenario-based by design, you’ll see that there are no make-believe flight scenarios in these lessons with which to distract the student. These lessons also assume that you’ll take your student to the practice area and actually “practice” the flight maneuvers listed. You are not expected to take your student on a cross country flight (however short) while you simultaneously try teaching them how to fly. (Read my AOPA Pilot Article titled, In Defense of Stick and Rudder Training due out in March 2012 for more info on the value of stick and rudder training.)

For the student reading this, keep in mind that this syllabus provides for ground instruction prior to each lesson. It’s important to understand that your ability to do well in the air is based on having a lot of good ground instruction. In fact, an acceptable format is to have at least one hour of ground instruction for every hour of flight instruction given. And you would be expected to pay for your instructor’s time at his or her full hourly rate, too (in the long run you’ll end up paying a lot less for your training as a result of good ground instruction).

What does ground instruction offer you? It makes the lessons far more meaningful. Good ground instruction and a lot of it is what allows students to solo in 10-14 hours and obtain their private pilot certificates in the range of 45 hours (training two to three times a week, of course). That’s a fact. Now, I realize that a one-to-one hourly ratio of ground to flight instruction is a lot for some folks (in particular, their instructors who want to fly), but this certainly isn’t an unreasonable request. Those flight schools offering accelerated flight training who are able to move students through the private pilot curriculum in three weeks or less (with approximately 42 hours of flight time) do so because they provide a lot of ground training prior to each lesson.

So try convincing your flight instructor to spend more time with you on the ground explaining the details of the lesson, reviewing what’s expected of you, running through the procedures, steps and techniques to be practiced.

Additionally, many of the higher order cognitive skills that are all the rage to teach nowadays (situational awareness, aviation decision making, risk assessment and so on) can be learned just as well on the ground or in a simulator as they can in the air (no, not all of them, but certainly most of them). In fact, these skills are often better acquired on the ground by reading good books, studying DVDs and/or attending aviation seminars in person or via the web.

Finally, for any student reading this, send your instructor this link. Let him or her know that you are interested in using a “minimalist” syllabus (this one or another one your instructor prefers) for flight training. Of course, your instructor knows best and will decide whether or not this fits his or her training philosophy.

Sincerely,

Rod Machado

Rod’s Books Available on Your iPad or iPhone

All of Rod Machado’s books are now available as custom iPad and iPhone applications, with unique capabilities. This includes Rod Machado’s new Sport Pilot “Airplane” Handbook, too. These are far more than just ordinary e-books for your iThing. Download the free book sample app and check them out for yourself. With these apps, you’ll receive book updates any time Rod makes changes. No more having to purchase a new book every year to keep up with major changes in aviation. While you’re at it, check out all of Rod’s new downloadable videos by clicking here.

A Turn for the Better

During a memorable flight review several years ago, my applicant rotated, established a positive climb rate, retracted the gear, crossed his ankles, then retracted his legs by drawing them back under the seat. As nearly every force on earth appeared to yaw the airplane to the left, this fellow sat there calm and serene, like a pilot Buddha in a meditative posture.

I couldn’t help but say, “Excuse me, Lotus Blossom, where are your feet supposed to be?”

I think he replied with an “Ohhmmm,” then promptly put his feet on the rudder pedals. It quickly became clear, though, that his feet had little or no intention of participating in any effort to fly coordinated. Foot faults are not confined to tennis.

By way of contrast, I recently flew with a fellow in a high performance airplane who had me smiling the entire flight. It turns out that he knew something about the rudder pedals, probably because he once towed banners in a hefty taildragger. During a climbing left crosswind turn, in the presence of the airplane’s strong left turning tendencies this fellow applied constant pressure on the right rudder pedal while using a little right aileron to sustain a perfectly coordinated, medium banked left turn. The nose was continuously aligned with the airplane’s curved path, neither pointing outside of it (a slip) or inside of it (a skid).

Rolling out of the left turn for the crosswind leg, his right leg applied additional pressure on the right rudder pedal and a tiny amount of right aileron for a perfectly coordinated rollout. During these pattern maneuvers, it was easy to tell that all his turn entries and exits were perfectly coordinated, but not for the reason you may suspect. When rolling into or out of any turn, the lateral movement of the airplane’s nose appeared to stop as the airplane rotated about its longitudinal axis. That’s the takeaway point here.

Sure, you can fly coordinated by looking at your inclinometer, or by the seat of your pants (assuming you wear your pants when you fly, which I highly recommend). But you can also coordinate the flight controls by controlling the lateral movement of the airplane’s nose by looking directly over the cowling. To do so, you must understand that your rudder pedals serve one very important purpose: They point the nose in the direction you want it to point.

For instance, in straight and level flight, when you roll into a left turn, adverse yaw wants to pull the nose opposite the direction of turn (to the right). Coordinating the turn requires looking over the cowling and applying sufficient rudder to keep the nose from yawing to the right, but not so much that it yaws to the left. During the roll in, the nose should appear stationary as the airplane rotates about its longitudinal axis. When rolling out of a left turn to the right, adverse yaw wants to pull the airplane’s nose to the left. Coordinating the rollout requires that you look directly ahead and apply sufficient rudder to keep the nose from yawing to the left, but not so much that it yaws to the right. During the rollout, the nose should also appear stationary as the airplane rotates about its longitudinal axis. The key here is that when rolling in or out of any turn, the airplane’s nose won’t show any significant lateral (sideways) motion if the turn is properly coordinated.

How can that be? After all, once the turn is started, doesn’t the nose begin moving with the turn? Yes, it does, but since airplanes have inertia, it just doesn’t move all that fast. That’s why you can make a coordinated roll into the turn at a reasonable rate while the nose initially appears not to move. During a coordinated roll out of a turn at a reasonable rate, the lateral motion of the nose appears to cease as the bank is reduced. That’s why the heading remains nearly constant as the rollout begins. To fly coordinated, you should apply appropriate rudder pressure to stop any initial lateral motion of the nose (i.e., yawing) when rolling into or out of a turn at a reasonable rate. This is the same principle that allows you to practice your rudder and aileron coordination by rolling right and left about a distant reference point while your heading remains nearly constant.

Once you’re established in a bank, rudder pressure is adjusted to keep the nose aligned with the curving path made by the airplane, instead of it pointing inside or outside the turn. Sure, you need some outside reference by which to sense this curved path, but once you have that, you can keep the nose pointed in the general direction of turn. Practically speaking, however, it’s the pressure sense on your derriere that helps you keep the airplane coordinated once you’re established in a turn (unless you fly standing up, and I wouldn’t stand for it).

A graduate of the Maharishi Yogi Flight Center might assume the lotus position after liftoff, but hopefully you don’t fancy that idea. It’s far more fun and far safer to fly coordinated, and this is even easier to do now that you know how to control lateral nose movement with your rudder pedals. The results should produce a turn for the better and not for the worse.

Copyright 2012 by Rod Machado. Originally appeared in AOPA Pilot magazine.

Rod’s Books Available on Your iPad or iPhone

All of Rod Machado’s books are now available as custom iPad and iPhone applications, with unique capabilities. This includes Rod Machado’s new Sport Pilot “Airplane” Handbook, too. These are far more than just ordinary e-books for your iThing. Download the free book sample app and check them out for yourself. With these apps, you’ll receive book updates any time Rod makes changes. No more having to purchase a new book every year to keep up with major changes in aviation. While you’re at it, check out all of Rod’s new downloadable videos by clicking here.

The Cost of Learning to Fly

At a recent aviation seminar, I listened to a fellow lament the substantial cost of learning to fly. He confessed to spending upwards of $14,500 to obtain his private pilot certificate. Ka-ching! To him, aviation was too expensive for the average Joe. So I asked a few questions about his flight training experience. Here’s what I discovered.

When our friend, Lament Man, signed up for flight training the FBO suggested that he train in the airplane he’d most likely fly after receiving his certificate. That resulted in scheduling a technically advanced (glass cockpit) airplane for his lessons.

When I asked The Lamenter how he’d selected a flight instructor, he said the FBO simply assigned him one—as if they opened a closet, pulled one off a rack and said, “Here, make this fit.” Furthermore, he never used any type of flight simulation device at home to assist in his training. The FBO told him to stay away from desktop simulators because they don’t handle like real airplanes.

Are you hearing the warning klaxons sound? Our friend made choices that dramatically increased the cost of his flight training, most likely doubling the price he paid for his private pilot certificate. Surely there’s a way to earn the private license at less cost, right? There is. Let me explain.

If you elect to do your primary training in a technically advanced airplane (TAA), then you should have a technically advanced bank account. That’s one having a big pipe that moves money from your bank directly to the FBO’s bank. TAAs often rent at twice the cost of traditional two- and four-place aircraft. If you’re on a budget, there’s no good reason to start training in anything but the simplest airplane that you can afford. If that’s a J-3 Cub or an LSA, all the better. Learning in an airplane with traditional gauges instead of a glass cockpit won’t make you less of a pilot. But it will most definitely make you a pilot. As a budget conscious primary student, that is your objective. You can learn to poke buttons on advanced avionics equipment just as easily right after you graduate from private pilot school.

Here is where it’s important to understand our all-too-human nature. People respond to incentives, and flight instructors are people. Given a choice between a TAA and a basic training airplane, and without any input from you, a flight instructor might suggest that you learn in a TAA. And why shouldn’t he? To him it’s exciting, because the cockpit lights up like a Christmas tree on steroids. So, unless you can afford to fly such a machine, you’d better say that there’s no way you’re going to pay for a TAA today. Persist to insist on flying an affordable basic trainer. If the instructor suddenly feigns a long-term illness or claims he’s been called to join the French Foreign Legion, then you’ve just eliminated an instructor who was more interested in flying an airplane for his entertainment than flying with you for your training. Ka-ching! You’ve just saved some money.

Walking into a flight school without any idea of the type of instructor you want and need is also a very bad strategy. This is why you want to be an educated consumer. You want to find a flight instructor who loves to teach, and who uses a very simple and practical syllabus that emphasizes the essentials of stick and rudder flying.

In one sense, some parts of our aviation training industry have come under the influence of a very big Jedi mind trick. What trick is that? It’s the belief that it’s not possible to produce a safe, competent private pilot close to the minimum flight time specified in the FARs. While the reasons for this are far too numerous to elaborate here, let it be said that a private pilot taught primarily with emphasis on stick and rudder skills is far less likely to end up bending an airplane or a few bones. Statistically, nearly half of all accidents are the takeoff, approach, landing, stall and spin type. Good stick and rudder skills are the antidote to these problems.

So how can you identify a good stick and rudder instructor? I suggest you find out how long on average it takes for an instructor’s students—those who train two to three times a week—to obtain their private pilot certificate. Compare these numbers to the national average training time (approximately 70.1 hours) and the FAA minimum time for the private certificate (40 hours). You’re looking for an instructor capable of training closer to the FAA’s minimum than to the national average training time.

Finally, Lament Man’s FBO wasn’t incorrect in stating that a desktop flight simulator doesn’t handle like a real airplane. On the other hand, I’ve flown real airplanes that didn’t handle like real airplanes. When using a desktop simulation device, you’re not trying to replicate the actual flying experience. Your objective is to reinforce the motor, perceptual and cognitive skills you learned on the previous lesson. Any reasonable desktop simulator will serve this function, and such a device can easily reduce the time and cost of flight training by 10%.

Is flight training too expensive? It almost certainly will be if you’re not an educated consumer. So, find yourself a good flight instructor, a two-place steam gauge airplane, some simulation software and you’re in a position to earn a private license at a much more reasonable cost.