Airline Transport Pilot Practical Test Standards Explained for Elite Performance


Book Description

Most pilots do not fully understand what is expected of them during the practical test. A pilot not understanding what is expected of them during the practical test for an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate can very easily lead to a failure. Most pilots do not review the ATP Practical Test Standards (PTS) completely prior to their practical test. Would any professional reaching the highest rating in any profession take a major exam without extensively preparing for the exam? By far most would not. Believe it or not this happens often with the ATP pilot certificate. This book will help explain the ATP PTS and allow a pilot to be fully prepared and confident to take the ATP Practical Test. This book is packed full of tips and techniques that will allow a pilot to be very successful on their ATP Practical Test. By the time a pilot qualified to take the practical test for the ATP Certificate, they are expected to know an immense amount of information. The ATP PTS helps organize that information, but just reading the ATP PTS most pilots will miss very important points. This book will help pilots understand the ATP PTS much better. Do risk failing your ATP Practical Test. Using this book in addition to the ATP PTS will greatly increase your chance of success.







A Human Error Approach to Aviation Accident Analysis


Book Description

Human error is implicated in nearly all aviation accidents, yet most investigation and prevention programs are not designed around any theoretical framework of human error. Appropriate for all levels of expertise, the book provides the knowledge and tools required to conduct a human error analysis of accidents, regardless of operational setting (i.e. military, commercial, or general aviation). The book contains a complete description of the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS), which incorporates James Reason's model of latent and active failures as a foundation. Widely disseminated among military and civilian organizations, HFACS encompasses all aspects of human error, including the conditions of operators and elements of supervisory and organizational failure. It attracts a very broad readership. Specifically, the book serves as the main textbook for a course in aviation accident investigation taught by one of the authors at the University of Illinois. This book will also be used in courses designed for military safety officers and flight surgeons in the U.S. Navy, Army and the Canadian Defense Force, who currently utilize the HFACS system during aviation accident investigations. Additionally, the book has been incorporated into the popular workshop on accident analysis and prevention provided by the authors at several professional conferences world-wide. The book is also targeted for students attending Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University which has satellite campuses throughout the world and offers a course in human factors accident investigation for many of its majors. In addition, the book will be incorporated into courses offered by Transportation Safety International and the Southern California Safety Institute. Finally, this book serves as an excellent reference guide for many safety professionals and investigators already in the field.







On Subscale Flight Testing


Book Description

Downscaled physical models, also referred to as subscale models, have played an essential role in the investigation of the complex physics of flight until the recent disruption of numerical simulation. Despite the fact that improvements in computational methods are slowly pushing experimental techniques towards a secondary role as verification or calibration tools, real-world testing of physical prototypes still provides an unmatched confidence. Physical models are very effective at revealing issues that are sometimes not correctly identified in the virtual domain, and hence can be a valuable complement to other design tools. But traditional wind-tunnel testing cannot always meet all of the requirements of modern aeronautical research and development. It is nowadays too expensive to use these scarce facilities to explore different design iterations during the initial stages of aircraft development, or to experiment with new and immature technologies. Testing of free-flight subscale models, referred to as Subscale Flight Testing (SFT), could offer an affordable and low-risk alternative for complementing conventional techniques with both qualitative and quantitative information. The miniaturisation of mechatronic systems, the advances in rapid-prototyping techniques and power storage, as well as new manufacturing methods, currently enable the development of sophisticated test objects at scales that were impractical some decades ago. Moreover, the recent boom in the commercial drone industry has driven a quick development of specialised electronics and sensors, which offer nowadays surprising capabilities at competitive prices. These recent technological disruptions have significantly altered the cost-benefit function of SFT and it is necessary to re-evaluate its potential in the contemporary aircraft development context. This thesis aims to increase the comprehension and knowledge of the SFT method in order to define a practical framework for its use in aircraft design; focusing on low-cost, short-time solutions that don’t require more than a small organization and few resources. This objective is approached from a theoretical point of view by means of an analysis of the physical and practical limitations of the scaling laws; and from an empirical point of view by means of field experiments aimed at identifying practical needs for equipment, methods, and tools. A low-cost data acquisition system is developed and tested; a novel method for semi-automated flight testing in small airspaces is proposed; a set of tools for analysis and visualisation of flight data is presented; and it is also demonstrated that it is possible to explore and demonstrate new technology using SFT with a very limited amount of economic and human resources. All these, together with a theoretical review and contextualisation, contribute to increasing the comprehension and knowledge of the SFT method in general, and its potential applications in aircraft conceptual design in particular.







Performance Pilot


Book Description

Do you want to be a better pilot? Do you want to improve your judgment and skills in training, tests, and throughout your career? Why do the best pilots consistently perform to a higher standard? It is the mental game and preparation that separate the good pilots from the high-performance pilots. Professional athletes have relied on sports psychology and coaching for years to help improve performance. Pilots too can benefit from mental strategies, but until now there has been scant aviation-specific content on how to prepare to fly. In Performance Pilot, noted performance coach, Ross Bentley, and professional aviator, Phil Wilkes, reveal aviation-specific procedures, techniques, and strategies to help you methodically, deliberately, and more effectively prepare for, conduct, and evaluate your flying and consistently perform at the highest level. For pilots just starting out, Performance Pilot can help you create a foundation to build upon and use throughout your flying career. The lessons and techniques are equally relevant to pilots at any experience level, whether recreational or professional, civil or military. In short, this book will make you a better pilot. REVIEWS FROM PILOTS "I''ve had the opportunity to fly large four-engine transport aircraft on all seven continents, from combat in Afghanistan to remote ice runways in Antarctica. Every flight demands the highest level of performance from the crew to ensure safe operations. As a military flight instructor, I have flown with pilots of all experience levels. It is amazing to see the difference between pilots that prepare and those that don''t. This book has techniques for all experience levels designed to help any pilot develop their skills and performance. For those just starting out, the techniques in this book can help create a foundation they can build upon and use throughout their flying career. In short, the strategies in this book can help build better pilots." Lt Col Brent Keenan, USAF, C-17A Instructor Pilot & Squadron Commander "This book is relevant to any recreational, professional or military pilot looking to enhance their own performance and skills. As a current instructor of F18 fighter pilots, this is certainly a book I will recommend to all my students." Squadron Leader M A Saunders, RAAF Fighter Combat Instructor "Plenty of books describe the technical aspects of flying airplanes, but the human performance psychology has largely been ignored. There is very little information for pilots on how to improve on high performance skills needed for high-stress and high-workload types of piloting. This book addresses that gap and gives pilots an understanding of the best and most efficient techniques on improving their aircraft handling in a way that will garner real results without needing to turn a propeller. I only wish I had this book years ago." Anthony Crichton-Browne, Airbus A320 Captain, competition aerobatic pilot & aviation podcaster "During my training as a military pilot, I utilized some of the strategies described in this book. However, my personal implementation was haphazard and lacked the methodical and deliberate implementation required to apply them in an effective manner. This book describes the structure needed to effectively apply these learning techniques as well as introducing many new and complementary ones I had not considered. I am sure that my aviation training and subsequent career would have benefitted greatly had this text been available at the time." Jaimie Tilbrook, Former RAAF C130 Hercules Captain "Reading and practicing the advice in ''Performance Pilot'' will help enhance your airmanship. I know that after any of my flying students or colleagues have read ''Performance Pilot'', I''ll sleep better in knowing that their flying careers will take them much more safely throughout their local skies and beyond." Andrew Musca-Unger, Grade 1 Flight Instructor & glider pilot







The Smell of Kerosene


Book Description

This book puts the reader in the pilot's seat for a "day at the office" unlike any other. The Smell of Kerosene tells the dramatic story of a NASA research pilot who logged over 11,000 flight hours in more than 125 types of aircraft. Donald Mallick gives the reader fascinating first-hand description of his early naval flight training, carrier operations, and his research flying career with NASA. After transferring to the NASA Flight Research Center, Mallick became involved with projects that further pushed the boundaries of aerospace technology. These included the giant delta-winged XB-70 supersonic airplane, the wingless M2-F1 lifting body vehicle, and triple-sonic YF-12 Blackbird. Mallick also test flew the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle and helped develop techniques used in training astronauts to land on the Moon.