Safety
With winter behind us and the warmer weather here, there will be more opportunity to get some actual instrument experience now that the worries of icing are diminishing. However pilots still have to be mindful of the potential for thunderstorms. Check the weather before you launch, inquiry with ATC on what they are seeing for precip and convective activity while in-flight or use a Stratus, both have their limitations you should be aware of. Use both for strategically avoiding areas of convection or heavy precip, not to tactically “thread the needle” through the storms. It sometimes hard to schedule a date for actual experience so check out the convective forecast products in Aviation Digital Data Service (ADDS, or aviationweather.gov) such as CCFP (Convective Forecast Products) and ECFP (Extended Forecast Products) that help with longer term planning.
Schedule time with one of our instrument instructors (CFI-I) who can help you sharpen your skills and give you confidence in flying actual IFR.
Industry News
There are a lot of rule changes happening this year. I described that Student Certificates as of April 1 cannot be obtained from your AME when you get a medical in last month's newsletter, here are more changes to be aware of:
More Sim Time Allowed for IFR Rating
Instrument students can now use up to 20 hrs of sim time towards their instrument rating versus just 10 hrs. This rule allows instrument students to credit a maximum of 10 hours using a Basic ATD (BATD) and a maximum of 20 hours using an Advanced ATD (AATD). Credit, using a combination of the two, however, may not exceed 20 hours. The simulator that we use at A & M Aviation is an AATD which has a Letter Of Authorization from the FAA, so the 20 hr rule applies.
ICAO Flight plans for Domestic Flights in October
We discussed this in our seminar in March, but as a reminder you will no longer be able to use the old familiar FAA Flight Plan Form 7233-1 for domestic flights come October 2016. The new ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) form will be required for VFR and IFR flights within the USA. This rule could be delayed again as it was last year, but be prepared and take a look at the link below and get familiar with how to use the form. Apps like Foreflight make this easy and are already set-up for it.
Area Forecasts Going Away
The old familiar Area Forecasts will be discontinued the second half of this year. There will be better, easier to use graphics to get the weather information you need. Instrument pilots who rely on area forecasts to determine whether to file an alternate airport will be able to use new graphical products to determine ceiling and visibility. Other weather products currently available from the National Weather Service that provide information similar to area forecasts, in graphical format, include surface weather analysis and prognostic charts, significant weather (SIGWX) charts, and airmets.
A & M will be sponsoring a seminar by a NOAA meteorologist, stayed tuned for specifics.
What's New at A & M
Seminars
We had to cancel the April Seminar as we could not secure the guest speaker, however we will have a representative from TRACON presenting in May which is a great opportunity to see what happens on the other side of the mic, and ask questions. Also as just mentioned a NOAA meteorologist will be presenting what’s new in weather products, the new products replacing the area forecast, and how to easily do a PIREP. This may also be in May; date to be determined.
Contact A & M if you would like to set up training or have any questions about us:
A & M Aviation, Inc.630-759-1555
www.aandmaviation.com
I welcome your feedback, let me know how to make the News-Flyer more valuable to you and what seminar topics you would like to see us cover.