CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 13 Issue 3 - 11

ASI mESSAGE
A friend who flies a high-performance turboprop is a data wonk. He
downloads data from his flights, graphs it, tables it, studies it, and
occasionally contacts me with some interesting observations about his
flying. His latest work came after watching an ASI analysis of a couple of
accidents where pilots in high-performance airplanes lost control while
obviously hand-flying during the two-minute drill in demanding conditions.
My friend began wondering about his own such proficiency hand-flying
in the two-minute drill and, with a reason for a new data hunt, he went
back through graphs of his recent flights. Aircraft performance graphs
revealed the exact moment he engaged the autopilot. On a typical threehour
flight, he was hand-flying the airplane for a total of about two minutes,
and even more concerning, those two minutes were usually in straight,
non-maneuvering flight. He typically hand-flew the aircraft straight out
on departure up to a few hundred feet, and then again on final approach a
few hundred feet from landing. The autopilot flew most of the maneuvering
on departure, en route, and through the approach and terminal phase. I
confessed that my profile-flying 4GA loaded with the latest Garmin
avionics and autopilot-would mirror his data set.
Certainly, proficiency in working advanced avionics and using the autopilot
as a supporting tool is critical in aviation's two-minute drill. Especially
so when flying high-performance aircraft where the tempo is fast and
crisp. Football teams develop their passing game, run game, and clock
management to exacting standards in the two-minute drill. Relying on
just one of those elements isn't enough. In aviation, our two-minute drill
requires proficiency to aviate, navigate, and communicate. We must
maintain our proficiency in hand-flying the airplane so we are comfortable
flying the aircraft exactly where we want it. Ironically, autopilots may
not be available under the most demanding flying conditions: circling
approaches, go-arounds into visual patterns, or strong turbulence, for
example. As ASI accident analyses have revealed, if we don't maintain
proficiency hand-flying in placid conditions, we will struggle to do so in
demanding conditions when the autopilot can't handle it.
Work on your two-minute drill. Maintain proficiency in hand-flying the
airplane through the departure, up to your final cruising altitude and again
starting descent, and through the initial approach fix, on approach all
the way to touchdown. The confidence you'll gain may one day prove vital
to success in a two-minute drill, in tough conditions where one critical
mistake could be devastating.
Fly safe!
Richard G. McSpadden, Jr.
Senior Vice President, AOPA Air Safety Institute
Richard McSpadden is a commercial pilot and CFI with more than 4,500
hours in 30 years of flying a variety of civilian and military aircraft. He is a
former F-15 pilot and Thunderbirds leader for the U.S. Air Force, and he has
extensive experience in aviation safety, including ground, flight, and special
event operations.
Email: richard.mcspadden@aopa.org
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 13 Issue 3

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