My brain hurts (flight plan math) ...

[Snakum]

Studying for a BFR, and no longer have my trusty Sporty's calculator. If I remember correctly, the following is correct, n'est-ce pas?


(Distance(nm)/Groundspeed(kts)) x 60 = Leg Time(min)

(Leg Time(min)/60) = Time(dec) ---> GPH/Time(dec) = Leg Fuel


I can't believe I actually went to college and used linear algebra and trig on my job for four or five years. Jesus ... I gotta get back in school and knock the cobwebs off.

Danke Schon!

Ming Wing Chung

 

[skyking1976]

Studying for a BFR, and no longer have my trusty Sporty's calculator. If I remember correctly, the following is correct, n'est-ce pas?


(Distance(nm)/Groundspeed(kts)) x 60 = Leg Time(min)

(Leg Time(min)/60) = Time(dec) ---> GPH/Time(dec) = Leg Fuel


I can't believe I actually went to college and used linear algebra and trig on my job for four or five years. Jesus ... I gotta get back in school and knock the cobwebs off.

Danke Schon!

Ming Wing Chung

Looks like the schoolin' payed off... Right on the $

SK

 

[Snakum]

Merci Sky. The studying is coming right along, and I can pull about a 90% on all the on-line PPL practice tests. Thanks for all your help!

A question on BFRs ... are they usually as thorough as a PPL checkride? I mean, is there usually a comprehensive oral then a ride to PTS standards, etc.? How long do they usually last?

Thanks again ...

Rev. Billy Ray 'Sonny' Jackson Jr.

 

[skyking1976]

It depends on who you get for the BFR and what your experience level is like. I have had some that were just as easy as a stall series, steep turns, simulated engine failure, and a few touch and goes. I have heard of some CFI's acting like examiners though. They will give you an in depth oral exam followed by the entire PPL checkride. Once again, it really all depends on the CFI and your experience level.

Sky "Mephistopholes" King

 

[BoeingBoy]

Biennial Flight Review

It's supposed to be a refresher/check-up/learning experience...if you're current the flying is no big deal...if you're not, it allows you to get current. It's not a checkride...it's not pass/fail...if you're really rusty and can't figure the math out then you should get more instruction before being signed off. The whole point is to make sure you're a safe pilot. Interview a few CFI's and ask them what to expect...you are paying the bills...get your money's worth.

 

[FracCapt]

I've been flying for over 10 years, and I've never had a BFR(company 135 checkrides have always satisfied that requirement), but I've given plenty. When I give a BFR, my objective is to teach as much as I possibly can. It's not merely an evaluation. Many pilots don't ever even open a FAR/AIM after their checkride. That's a problem...regs change. I flew with one guy that took me down the interstate at 2000', and was about 2 miles from entering a TFR(that has been in place for at least 2 years) when I questioned him about it. It was something I neglected to cover during the ground portion. He flew out of this airport all the time, I figured he was intimately familiar with it. He didn't know it existed. He even admitted he had flown through it several times in the past because he didn't know it was there.

Don't get worked up over any BFR....consider it a learning experience, not a "test". If by some miracle the same instructor you took your last BFR with happens to still be around when it's time for the next one, I recommend NOT using that instructor. Get another instructors input. Every instructor is different.

You may also want to make the BFR a dual purpose thing....like checking out in a new airplane at the same time. It may take a couple hours instead of just the required one hour, but probably not unless it's a vastly different airplane than you've ever flown(like those new Cirrus with full EFIS).

 

[Snakum]

Thanks for the feedback all!

I've flown about ten hours since 9/11, and have around 200TT in the book (probably 50 dual not logged, didn't start logging till 1995). I've finally gotten to the point I can afford to fly again a little, and so I'm trying to get current and finish up the IR, for which my checkride was a couple weeks away when 9/11 happened.

Not knowing exactly what to expect, and having been away for so long, I've been going slowly and thoroughly thru the Jepp PPL book and can pull a 90+ on practice tests. I've also been 'chair-flying' a C152 thru the PTS to refamiliarize myself with the manuevers, checklists, and where everything is located. I should be squared away for whatever kind of BFR I get. The time studying certainly hasn't been wasted, even if my BFR is an easy one.

Thanks everyone for all the help.

Minhberg the Jewish Pig Farmer

 

[bobbysamd]

Flight Reviews

A question on BFRs ... are they usually as thorough as a PPL checkride?

Not necessarily. A good flight instructor will tailor a flight review to needs of his/her client. For example, if I had someone come to me who does a lot of night flying, I would emphasize night operations in the oral, discussing such things as use of the red flashlight, rods and cones, and various types of vertigo. The flight would include such things as landings without a landing light, night emergencies and hoodwork, and enough night takeoffs and landings to make the person night current.

A lot also depends on how well you and your instructor know each other. If I gave a flight review to someone I had never met, I would be relatively thorough on the ground portion until I was satisified the client possessed at least the degree of knowledge appropriate to his/her pilot certificate. On the other hand, if the client was a person I had worked with before or someone with whom I was familiar, I might just verify enough to satisfy myself that the person knows his/her stuff.

At ERAU, all instructors received proficiency time in each aircraft in which they were qualified. So, at the end of the semester, many of us would get together and give each other flight reviews and comp checks. Aside from it being a professional courtesy, we all knew what we knew. This was before the mandated one hour ground training-one hour flight training, as set forth below.

I mean, is there usually a comprehensive oral then a ride to PTS standards, etc.? How long do they usually last?

Requirements for flight reviews are set forth at 14 CFR 61.56(a):

(a) Except as provided in paragraphs (b) and (f) of this section, a flight review consists of a minimum of 1 hour of flight training and 1 hour of ground training. The review must include: (1) A review of the current general operating and flight rules of part 91 of this chapter; and

(2) A review of those maneuvers and procedures that, at the discretion of the person giving the review, are necessary for the pilot to demonstrate the safe exercise of the privileges of the pilot certificate.


(emphasis added)


The one-hour ground-one hour flight are only minimums. If you're current, that may be all you need. Someone like me, who hasn't flown in 10 1/2 years, would make a starving flight instructor rich.


Hope that helps some more. Good luck with your BFR. You sound like you're already well prepared.