Posts

Showing posts from October, 2020

Icing and Performance

Icing is one of the most dangerous environmental conditions an aircraft can face. Icing is most commonly formed in supercooled clouds and can form at temperatures at or slightly above the freezing point. Icing forms as a result of supercooled droplets make contact with a control surface. The control surface itself may be colder than 0 degrees Celsius, and as a result, when the supercooled droplet makes contact, ice forms (FAA,  Advisory Circular AC 91-74B.pdf ).     Icing is dangerous for all aircraft due to its ability to directly affect the aerodynamic performance of a lifting surface. When an aircraft starts accumulating ice, the chord line of the wing increases, weight increases, drag increases while the laminar flow is disrupted, and the aircraft's critical angle of attack decreases. This means that the pilot will have to increase power and pitch to produce the same amount of lift to keep the aircraft flying at the same altitude and maintain directional control ...

Ethical Dilemmas in Flying

              Ethics in all aspects of aviation are necessary for safety during the day-to-day activities in flying.   As a pilot, being aware of the ethical dilemmas that may exist during a flight can lead to a safer flight.             One of the first lessons taught to a student pilot are the five hazardous attitudes to flying.   They are anti-authority, impulsivity, invulnerability, macho, and resignation; each of these non-ethical attitudes have a remedy.   Anti-authority exists when the pilot is aware of any rules that they might be breaking, and simply says. “this doesn’t apply to me.”   The rules are usually right, and no one should actively seek to break the rules.   Impulsivity occurs when the pilot is making decisions urgently, without thinking about the potential consequences.   Taking your time to problem solve and allowing you...

Intro

 Hello Class, I'm John Clancy.  I'm 23, and I live in San Diego, California.  I originally studied biology, but I found a passion for aviation a few years ago, and ultimately decided to pursue that path. Now, I run an online business selling drone services under part 107, and flight instruct through a flying club at KCRQ under part 61.  I look forward to taking this course and meeting everyone along the way!