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Little Tricks

Over years I have collected some little tricks that other people have showed me or which I have read about in a book, on the internet etc.

Little stuff you will not find in any flying book.

Do you have any too? It can be anything – technical, operational, about engines, avionics. flying technique …
I had the idea this afternoon when I checked my oil.
It would be nice if you told us where you got it from.

I think it would be great if there were many basic ones too – for the ones among us who just started flying.

Last Edited by Flyer59 at 17 Nov 17:23

This was shown to me by Jim Barker, Cirrus mechanic extraordinaire from Cumberlaqnd, Wisconsin. Jim travels the whole world to fix and maintain Cirrus airplanes and he already has the status of a legend within the Cirrus community. He showed me this a year ago when he did the maintenance on G-YORC.

On many airplanes you will see cracks in the fibreglass because press the openers and let them snap against the edge of the oil door. Nothing serious, but ugly. If you put two cotter pins through the holes of the mechanism the latch cannot touch the fibreglass and your oil door will stay crack free :-)


Last Edited by Flyer59 at 17 Nov 17:20

How about this one? Once, in the USA i put the cowl plus on an airplane. My friend Frank, who was a military instructor, 767 captain and P-51 Mustang pilot saw that and showed me a better way.
If you put the rope that connects the two plus is behind the spinner, you could taxi and take off with the cowl plus in, my guess is that it would not be healthy for the engine and it would soon overheat.
Bit if you put the rope over the front of the spinner, the turning prop will pull the plugs out. I like that :-)

Last Edited by Flyer59 at 17 Nov 17:21

In flight training, I sometimes (depends on the student) use what I call the “polish ILS”. (It is named that way, because I got it from a polish pilot of an SZD Ogar who marked his maximum bank angle at touchdown that way).

Works as follows. You let the student mark the line between the runway and the horizon with a (removeable) pen:


(to be seen slightly above the camper vans)

In level flight this line is approx. at the horizon (depending on speed and configuration, of course).

He can then aim with this marking around 100-150 meter in front of the designated touch down point:

In the flare, this line then should be well above the horizon to keep the nose wheel in the air:

I have made very good results with this method to train proper aiming. My test-student used this though his first solo landings and he touched down with the main wheels first within 25 meters of the runway threshold in 9 landings in a row. I don’t use this method with all students, but it can help some people learn to estimate their touchdowns.

mh
Aufwind GmbH
EKPB, Germany

That is cool, and I love the name, “Polish ILS”… Guess what I will carry on my next flight ;-)

One that’s a bit similar:

If you don’t know the best glide speed Vbg for the airplane you fly – look to the wingtip. At Vbg the wingtip will be more or less parall to the horizon in most light planes!

As a VFR pilot I almost never bother with the autopilot. (The autopilot isn’t paying the flying bills, so why should it get all the fun??!)

But something an IFR pilot once thought me was once I got the runway designator (either from ATIS or ATC) to set the autopilot heading bug to that heading. It proves a good last “sense check” before entering a runway for takeoff and really make visualising the joining procedure much easier to visualise on arrival (as least on a traditional DI….probably not as much use on a glass cockpit).

EIWT Weston, Ireland

If you pack those removable pens you can use to write on overhead projectors, carry some glass cleaning papers (Einwegbrillenputztücher) to easily remove these marks.

Next one: If you are flying with a paper map and you need to divert, fold the map between your actual position and your new destination to form a temporary course line that you can feel on the map. Careful: doens’t work with iPads.

mh
Aufwind GmbH
EKPB, Germany

dublinpilot wrote:

set the autopilot heading bug to that heading.

You could also set it to the wind direction, if you like.

Talking about wind: Wind given from ground stations can differ from airborne wind a lot, especially if the station is hidden behind some trees. So keep in mind that a base leg with the nose pointing away from the airfield always means tailwind in the final.

Another neat wind indicator are wind turbines. In germany they turn counter-clockwise. So if you see a wind turbine turning clockwise, you are looking at it’s front and you have a tailwind. If they turn counter-clockwise, you have a headwind.

I you want to know how much directional control is left at a crossind landing, calculate the maximum wind correction angle for your approach speed at max demonstrated crosswind. This wind correction angle can be compared to the actual wind correction angle you use to fly the final on runway heading.

And if you are taxiing, always remember to make wind corrections on the ground, too. For most tricycle gears this means “climb into the wind and dive away from the wind”. So taxiing with wind from aft left results in holding the yoke in the fore-right corner.

mh
Aufwind GmbH
EKPB, Germany

a simple one – do you have a pen attached to your kneeboard with a rope/string?

LKKU, LKTB

Guys,
this is a great thread. If we manage to collect 100 or more tricks of this quality I could make pictures for each of them (or you send me pictures) and we could make them an eBook!

This one is very basic, but i flew with many pilots who didn’t think of it:

When you prepare for your approach switch on Carb Heat FIRST and then reduce the power to your preferred rpm. I used to fly my Warrior with "2000 rpm, white arc, flaps ten, trim 80 knots on base … "…. If you reduce the power first and switch on carb heat then you will have to add power again to arrive at 2000 rpm.

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