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Are Avgeeks Hurting the Growth of Aviation?

My brother, the healthcare IT expert, tweeted something a couple of days ago that has really got me thinking.  He said,

“I wonder how often the jargon we use prevents people that could benefit from joining our various communities.”

I am well aware of how much jargon I use when talking about aviation because the other people I work with are well versed in this jargon, and it is just easier to use it with them.  When I go out with my friends, and our spouses or non flying friends are with us, it is hard to not talk about flying because it is such a huge part of our life.  My wife has grown used to this and does a pretty good job at engaging other people so that she isn’t just as bored as they are.

I know this is an American MD-80 but that is about where my knowledge ends.

I know this is an American MD-80 but that is about where my knowledge ends.

I must admit that even I have been uncomfortable around certain groups of aviation experts because I felt that my avgeekyness was simply inadequate to be in their presence.  I am pretty good at identifying most commercial aircraft though I am far from polished when you get into all of the different variants.  I doubt I will ever know which engines are on which aircraft, and I guarantee I will never know seating configurations or other things like that.  I just don’t have the spare brain bytes for that right now, or probably ever.

If I can feel uncomfortable in that environment, then I can only imagine how someone with even less aviation knowledge would feel.  There are a lot of people putting forth a lot of effort to try to increase interest in aviation, but I can’t help but wonder if we aren’t the ones standing in our own way.

It is one thing to show awesome pictures and videos or to even share a flight together, but how often do we scare someone off because we just know too darn much?  If someone is new to aviation and you get talking about Lycoming engines, or even worse high-bypass turbofans, then it is entirely possible you could intimidate them.  Even talking about relatively simple terms like crosswind, downwind, base, and final could scare them off if they aren’t ready for it.  None of us like to admit we don’t know something.

Even a simple beauty like this Piper Cub could scare someone off if they don't know the right jargon.

Even a simple beauty like this Piper Cub could scare someone off if they don’t know the right jargon.

I’m not saying that we should insult their intelligence or oversimplify the truly complex nature of aviation, but I think it is important that we be very careful with how we respond to people who show interest in this amazing community.

Avgeeks can be some of the most inclusive and friendly people I have ever met.  I have stumbled across friends from Twitter at various airports and ended up spending the rest of the day with them enjoying the wonders of aviation together.  These are people who I had never met in person, but that I had an immediate connection with because of our love of planes.

As I previously mentioned, I have also been amongst groups that left me feeling inadequate because of their ability to rattle off all sorts of numbers and statistics.  This is likely in large part due to my own insecurities, but I can’t help but wonder if other people feel the same way, and have been scared away from aviation entirely.

Aviation jargon is an incredibly important part of aviation, maybe even more so than most industries because of the time sensitive nature of what we do and the efficiency that jargon can provide.  Let’s be honest, it is a lot of fun to sound cool when spouting off a clearance, or trying to impress a girl by knowing all the pertinent data on Boeing’s newest aircraft (if you find a girl who is impressed by that hold on to her and never let go), but it could also scare someone off that is just too timid to think they could ever be that cool.

I’m not saying we need to eliminate this jargon, or even minimize it, because if we can’t sound cool while we look cool around planes, then what is even the point?  Am I right?  What I am saying is that we need to be very cognizant of how we are using that jargon to ensure that we are using it in ways that will be inclusive rather than exclusive.  We avgeeks are the only ones that will be able to rejuvenate general aviation, and ensure that it has the booming future that it deserves, and I know that none of us would ever want to scare someone away.

When in doubt start them on the basics.

When in doubt start them on the basics.

So the next time you ask a girl if she fell out of a B-17, cause she’s the bomb (I love that movie), make sure she realizes you are talking about an amazing airplane and not the latest development in cancer research.

October 26, 2015 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

There is No Black and White in an Aircraft Emergency

For better or worse, mostly worse, we live in a world today where many people take every snippet of news to extremes.  Much of this is driven by the 24 hour news cycle, and the obsessive need of every media outlet to be the first to break any news that might be even remotely relevant without checking for confirmation, or even the facts.  Sensationalism is the name of the game in the media these days, and it is causing many problems that really should not be issues at all.

There may be no sector of the world where this is more true than aviation.  Some of this comes from the relative ignorance of the public, the potential for major tragedies in flight, and the complex nature of what we do.  Unfortunately, many media outlets don’t even take the time to find real experts to support their stories, because, let’s be honest, the truth wouldn’t sell nearly as well as the sensationalism they opt to offer.  Instead they prefer to scare the public into thinking a situation is worse than it actually is.  That is exactly what happened with two recent emergencies that garnered a fair amount of attention.

The first was the engine fire of British Airways Flight 2276 in Las Vegas.  In short, there was an engine fire on the ground that caused the crew to abort their departure, and evacuate the aircraft.  They did a beautiful job of getting everyone to safety, and the aircraft was taken care of about as well as could be expected.

In this instance much of the extremism came from Twitter and other social media outlets where people completely shredded passengers who had taken their bags with them while evacuating.  While I agree that it was not the smartest move by these passengers, they certainly do not deserve much of the vitriol that has been thrown at them from the masses.  Rather than explaining further I would direct you to a piece written on the Airline Reporter website that does a far better job of conveying my feelings than I probably could.  Again, taking your bag in an evacuation is generally not the best idea, but there are certainly scenarios I could see that taking your bag could be justified, and you never know how you will respond in an emergency.

The second emergency that took place recently was the in-flight death of an American Airlines pilot.  While this is a terribly sad situation, the plane and the rest of the people on board were in no real danger just because one of the pilots was incapacitated.  For some reason the media is making a huge deal about the “co-pilot” having to land the plane by himself.  This is where ignorance and aviation colloquialisms come into play.  Again, I have been beaten to the punch by a much more qualified expert than myself so I would direct you to the writings of Cap’n Eric Auxier who very clearly and simply explains how the media has screwed up the reporting on this story.

Now I didn’t write this post just to direct you to other writers and their opinions, I have a point of my own to make.

As I alluded to in the title, there is no such thing as black and white in an emergency, nor do any of us know how we will respond in an actual emergency.  Because every emergency is incredibly unique there are always variables that will tweak the response of those involved.  The interesting thing about many of the extreme responses to this story is that not a single person I have seen respond has ever been in an actual emergency themselves.  They are surely out there, but I have not come across them.

In the military, as well as with the airlines, there are very clearly delineated emergency procedures and how to respond to them.  We refer to the first few steps of some of these emergency procedures as boldface in the military because they are written in bold and all capitals in our regulations.  All of these steps must be memorized because they are so important that there is no time to go looking through books for the procedure that you are supposed to follow.  Even with that being said, there are still situations where the best decision is to hold off on the boldface steps to return the plane, and its crew, safely home.

During my time in the C-130 I have been on board a handful of times when we had to shut down an engine, or perform some other emergency procedure.  Admittedly, shutting down one engine when you have three other good ones is not nearly as stressful as shutting down one of only two engines, but it is an uncomfortable situation nonetheless.  While each of these emergencies called for the same procedure to shut down an engine, not one of them was carried out in exactly the same way.

There is no black and white in an emergency, there is only an opportunity for a well-trained crew to make educated decisions that will ultimately lead to a safe outcome.  The safety record of the vast majority of aviation is a credit to the crews that have been well-prepared and have prevented many of these potential emergencies, and when they do happen, they have been mostly well handled saving many people a lot of heartache.  It is easy for armchair quarterbacks to question the decisions from the ground in the safety of their homes sitting behind their computer, but until you have been in an emergency you really have little room to talk.

Emergencies exist in every part of life in one way or another.  No matter how hard you try to prevent them they will eventually happen because that is just part of living.  We can mitigate them, and we can prepare like crazy so that we can respond appropriately when they do happen, but no matter how well we prepare we can never know how we will respond until an actual emergency is placed before us.

It is also important to keep faith in the pilots that safely transport us all over the world everyday.  If you don’t understand the terms we use in aviation and you are worried about what you hear on the news, ask someone who actually works in aviation and they can explain it better than the media.

The term co-pilot is merely in reference to the person sitting in the right seat of the flight deck.  It is incredibly common for us to fly with the most experienced pilot in the right seat, so that the less experienced pilot can gain experience in the left seat.  The reality is that no matter who is sitting in which seat, they are both qualified pilots that are perfectly capable of getting the plane safely to its destination.

So the next time the media or social media try to tell you that an emergency situation was handled wrong, or that someone in particular is at fault, take the time to do a little extra research and gather some more information.  The real information is out there if you will only take the time to find it.  No matter what you do find, never forget that no emergency situation is ever totally black and white.

October 13, 2015 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Working a Dropzone Can Be Lots of Fun

The dropzone is a fun perspective for some great pictures.

The dropzone is a fun perspective for some great pictures.

I often write about performing airdrops in the various different locations I have been to because it is one of the things that really sets us apart from civilian aircraft, and is one of the most enjoyable things that I get to do.  While it is a lot of fun from my perspective there is another perspective that I had never experienced, until recently, that plays a vital role in our mission:

The perspective from the dropzone.

I had always been curious as to what it would be like to view a drop from the ground, but we are generally too busy to take a day off to get out there and witness it.  However, I was unable to fly for the first month or so after getting to Japan while I waited on training, paperwork, and various other logistical issues so I took advantage of the opportunity and made a trip out to the dropzone to check it out.

I love it when you can see the rotation of the propellers in a shot.

I love it when you can see the rotation of the propellers in a shot.

The dropzone itself is really nothing more than an open piece of land that we have permission to drop stuff on.  We can’t exactly go dropping stuff wherever we want because it could end up causing some serious damage on the ground.  To prevent that type of mishap, we have designated areas that have been approved for airdrops where we can practice our craft in a safe and secure way.

Part of making it a safe process is having someone on the ground to verify that the dropzone is clear and that we are safe to drop.  They also can provide wind information and visual references to make our drop more accurate.  While we certainly could kick stuff out the back without someone on the ground, they make our efforts much easier, effective, and safe.

Something that I had not really anticipated once we got out to the dropzone was how much time we would spend waiting around.  When you are in the plane performing airdrops the whole sequence seems to move pretty rapidly, but on the ground it moves much more slowly.  It was actually nice to see it from this perspective because it helped me to realize how much time we actually have in the air and that it is all a matter of slowing the process down and taking the necessary time to do things right.

The best view for an airdrop is always from the last plane in the formation.

The best view for an airdrop is always from the last plane in the formation.

While there was nothing groundbreaking that I learned while helping out at the dropzone, It was a great opportunity to gain some appreciation for the work that others do to make our mission possible.  Flying involves a collaborated effort from a number of different agencies.  From air traffic controllers, to dropzone personnel, to crew chiefs and maintainers we often take the work of all of these support agencies for granted, but we never could do what we do without them.

So the next time you fly make sure you take a minute to thank the people who support us doing what we love.  Take a minute to chat with the line guy at the FBO, he probably loves planes as much as you.  Surprise the mechanic with a case of his favorite beverage, he may have been up all night working so that your plane would be ready to fly in the morning.

And for heaven’s sake thank every air traffic controller that you ever meet because they are one of the true unsung heroes of aviation.  They safely move tens of thousands of aircraft all over the world without anyone ever knowing their name or face.  Millions of people travel without ever thinking about ATC and that is because they are so freaking good at their job.

If you get a chance to spend a day with any of these invaluable personnel make sure you jump on it, because it will give you a new perspective on their job, and it will make the system as a whole that much safer and more effective.

Here are a couple of shots showing the drop sequence from the ground.

 

Moments before the drop.

Moments before the drop.

The bundle leaving the aircraft.

The bundle leaving the aircraft.

I sure hope that chute comes out.

I sure hope that chute comes out.

Of course it did, we work with professionals. Just to be clear I am not standing under where this load is falling.

Of course it did, we work with professionals. Just to be clear I am not standing under where this load is falling.

Fully deployed and falling safely to the ground.

Fully deployed and falling safely to the ground.

Another successful drop due to the collaboration of multiple agencies.

Another successful drop due to the collaboration of multiple agencies.

October 11, 2015 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Lessons Learned: If You Don’t Use It You Lose It

I had an incredibly humbling experience last week that I feel is important to share as an aviator where it is vital that we share our experiences that others may learn.  I really need to get back to writing these posts because I have seen great value in sharing my experiences, or if nothing else just in writing them out for my own analysis and benefit.

First let me set the stage for what happened.

In flying the C-130 we have essentially two types of missions that we perform, airland flying and tactical flying.  Airland would be something similar to flying on an airline where we fly longer legs into various different airports transporting personnel and cargo.  Tactical flying is what makes us more unique; flying at low altitudes, in formation, and performing airdrops.  As you might imagine tactical flying is more challenging and requires more work from everyone on the crew before, and during, the flight.

Before last week I had not been on a tactical mission in about three months, and had not personally been in the seat for one in more like five months (I had been at instructor school for two months where I was watching students rather than actually performing tasks).  I had only had one airland flight during that time which had actually gone really well so I felt pretty confident going into my flight last week.  I had also briefed for two other tactical flights the week before so I was starting to get some idea of what to expect on my flight, or at least I thought I was.

A couple of other variables that I also feel are important to mention are that this was my first flight in the local area in Japan, my instructor had not flown in about a month, the copilot is also new to the local area having had only a handful of flights, the pilot had just been returned to flying status after a significant break, and she was getting a no-notice checkride from none other than our commander.  A no-notice is jut what it sounds like; you show up to fly and when you sign in you find out that you will be getting evaluated on the flight.  It tends to add a certain level of stress.

On top of all of this we had a pretty complex mission profile because we were trying to drop at two different drop zones with a potential to fly up to six different routes, none of which I had ever flown.  The mission commander would also not be part of the majority of the tactical portion of the mission due to some weird scheduling that required him to support a checkride.  There were actually a total of 4 checkrides being performed on the three planes in the formation.

Now that you have endured the setup, let me explain what happened.

In short, I had the worst flight I have ever had.  I was slow in my callouts.  I completely forgot certain procedures.  If I’m being totally honest there were multiple times I kind of zoned out and was overwhelmed.  Just to be very clear, we were never in an unsafe position, and no rules were broken.  I simply was a useless crew member for much of the flight.  I have known the pilot for a few years now and she said it wasn’t that bad so I am sure a lot of my disappointment and frustration came from my own personal standards of performance.

It can be incredibly difficult to try to do a task that you have done hundreds of times, but not remember how to do it, or at least not do it as well as you know you are capable of performing.  My last flights had been at instructor school where I was critiquing role-playing instructors and had been deemed worthy to not only perform these tasks, but to INSTRUCT them, and now I couldn’t even do it myself. It was probably the worst I have ever felt after a flight.

It is amazing how quickly you lose abilities when you do not use them.  I could go through the procedures in my head just fine but in the plane I struggled to keep up.  It seriously made me question my abilities and whether or not I even enjoyed what I do anymore.  If this was the end of the story I would apologize for being so depressing, but fortunately there is a good ending.

I flew again last night and it was dramatically better.  Interestingly, I had an instructor that has a reputation for being really tough, which intimidated me a little bit, but maybe that was exactly the challenge that I needed.  I was engaged for the entire flight and knew exactly what was happening the entire time.  My situational awareness was so much greater in providing useful inputs to the crew and what was going on during the mission as a whole.

I was still a little slow with some things, but everything happened in time to get the mission done.  I was once again a useful crew member and it reminded me of exactly why I love what I do.  I still have plenty to work on, as all aviators must continually work at honing our craft, but it was so refreshing to get closer to the level at which I was used to performing.

I don’t know that I can convey all of the lessons that I learned from this experience, but there are a few very clear lessons worth mentioning.

The first lesson is that you are bound to lose abilities that you don’t use.  We all have reasons that we are kept away from flying, or any other activity that we perform, and when that happens we will inevitably lose some of our ability to perform that task.  It is important to keep that in mind when we try to perform that task again so that we don’t overextend ourselves and end up in a dangerous situation.

In tandem with that understanding is not being intimidated to go back to something we love just because it has been a long time.  Maybe life has prevented you from flying for a long time so you are scared to get back up in the air, but there is no reason to be scared.  Book a refresher lesson or two with a good instructor and before you know it you will be on your way to rebuilding those good habit patterns and enjoying the wonder that is aviation.  I was amazed at how quickly it all started to come back to me last night as I built upon each task that I performed correctly.

Flying is just like many other activities in that it takes a lot of practice to become good at it, and in reality you never stop learning because literally every situation is unique.  Taking breaks is just part of life and in some instances can actually be good for recharging your batteries and helping you to remember how much you love something.  Just understand what your limits are and don’t be discouraged when it takes some time to get back into your groove.

As I have said many times before, don’t be afraid to ask for help either.  There may not be a better group of people than flyers when it comes to helping fellow flyers.  It is a passion that cannot be easily explained to others, but for those who have it no words are needed to understand each other.

October 6, 2015 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

C-130J Crash Reminds Me of the Dangerous Nature of Aviation

There are few sights more somber than the memorial honoring those we lost.

There are few sights more somber than the memorial honoring those we lost.

Flying is an inherently dangerous venture for man as we were created as land-dwellers with our eyes to the sky longing to be there.  Due to this inherently dangerous nature, I have often heard it said that if you stay in this business long enough you will know someone who loses their life in it.  This is a near certainty as a military member.

It turns out that it took five years for me.

As avid followers of aviation, I am sure you are all aware of the C-130J that crashed near Jalalabad, Afghanistan last week.  Very little has been released on the accident itself, which is good because it does no good to speculate before all of the necessary information can be gathered to understand what actually happened.

What has been released are the names of the airmen that lost their lives in this tragedy.  For many people these are simply names.  For others they are American Heroes, and rightly so because they are.  However, there is a small group of people who knew them, and I just happen to be one of them.

The first time I met Capt Jonathan Golden he was simply Officer Trainee Golden in the early days of Officer Training School at Maxwell Air Force Base.  By no means were we close friends during our time at Maxwell, but I was always impressed with the quiet leadership of Jonathan.  While I never flew with him, I would imagine that he is exactly the type of pilot I would have loved working with.

It always impacts me as an aviator when I hear about a plane crash, and even more so when it is a military aircraft.  There is nothing we can do to bring these great servants back, but what we can do is learn from this accident so it never happens again, and we can hold them in our memory so that they are never forgotten.

So before you go and fly again take a moment to make sure that you are being as safe as you can be, and take a moment to remember the names Capt. Jonathan Golden, Capt. Jordan Pierson, Staff Sgt. Ryan Hammond, Senior Airman Quinn Johnson-Harris, Senior Airman Nathan Sartain and Airman 1st Class Kcey Ruiz.  They gave their lives doing something they loved so that we can all remain free.

October 5, 2015 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.