Flight Training - August 2021 - 44

ADVANCED PILOT CAREER PILOT
FINALLY!
A CARD
FOR PILOTS.
RIDING THE WAVES
RECOGNIZING AND DEALING WITH MOUNTAIN WAVES
BY PETER A. BEDELL
4%
Cash Back1
on Select
AOPA Purchases2-5
A CASH BACK1
REDEMPTION IS APPLIED AS A STATEMENT CREDIT.
QUARTERLY BONUS POINT CAP OF 2,500 POINTS
Visit
AOPA.org/creditcard
to learn more.
*Certain points and purchases restrictions apply, see full Rewards
Terms and Conditions for full details at AOPA.org/creditcard.
1. Rewards points can be redeemed for Cash Back or other items provided
through AOPA Pilot Rewards. A Cash Back redemption is applied
as a statement credit. The statement credit will reduce your balance
but you are still required to make at least your minimum payment. A
minimum of 2,500 points is needed to redeem for Cash Back. Values for
non-cash back redemption items such as merchandise, gift cards, and
travel may vary. 2. Advertising, Aviation Insurance, PAC Donations and
AFI Donations are excluded. Visit www.commercebank.com/aopapilotrewards
for complete details on exclusions and bonus point categories.
3.Participating AOPA partners include: Aero-Space Reports, Aircraft
Spruce & Specialty Co., Jeppesen®, Pilot Workshops, SiriusXM®,
Sporty's® Pilot Shop. The listed AOPA partners are in no way affiliated
with Commerce Bank, nor are the listed merchants to be considered
sponsors or co-sponsors of this program. Use of merchant names and/
or logos is by the permission of each respective merchant and all trademarks
are the property of their respective owners 4. Please note that
merchants self-select the category in which transactions will be listed
and some merchants may be owned by other companies, therefore
transactions may not be counted in the category you might expect. Purchases
made using Near Field Communication (NFC), virtual wallets, or
similar technology may not be eligible for bonus points. 5. You will earn
4% Cash Back (1 regular point + 3 bonus points = 4%) for every $1 of
Net Merchandise Purchases on select AOPA purchases, 3% Cash Back
(1 regular point + 2 bonus points = 3%) for every $1 of Net Merchandise
Purchases made at select AOPA partners, 2% Cash Back (1 regular
point + 1 bonus points = 2%) for every $1 of Net Merchandise Purchases
made at FBOs (fixed based operators), aviation and auto fuel, and
flight schools, and 1% Cash Back (or 1 point) for every $1 of other Net
Merchandise Purchases. For example, if you spend $100, you will earn
100 points which is equal to $1 in Cash Back rewards. A maximum of
2,500 bonus points will be awarded per calendar quarter, per rewards
account. Please allow up to five business days after the transaction
posts to your account for bonus points to be awarded.
MANY YEARS AGO I WAS FLYING SOUTHwest
along the lee side of the Appalachian
mountains when I heard an interesting
conversation on the frequency between
the air traffic controller and the pilot of a
Piper Arrow.
The pilot said her airspeed indicator
was erratic and she wanted to land at
the nearest suitable airport. Dutifully,
the controller vectored the Arrow's pilot
to a nearby airport but didn't suggest
what might be the cause. I was getting
mountain wave but only about 10 knots
above and below my Beechcraft Baron's
normal cruise airspeed. I keyed the mic
and said, " mountain wave. " The controller
took the bait and mentioned this to
the Arrow's pilot, who didn't understand
nor did she care. She stopped short and
likely went on a potentially expensive
path of finding a " problem " with a functioning
airspeed indicator.
There was a high likelihood the
Arrow's pilot was flying on autopilot
44 FLIGHT TRAINING AUGUST 2021
equipped with automatic trim. While the
waves increased and decreased airspeed,
the autopilot would have dutifully done
its job holding altitude and trimming
away control pressure, masking the wave
conditions. My Baron's S-Tec 30 autopilot
doesn't have auto trim, but it does have
altitude hold, and occasionally on this day
it would squeal to prompt me to nudge
the trim up or down. Without an autopilot,
it would be clear to any pilot that
maintaining altitude would require a lot
of trim changes as he or she flew through
the up- and downdrafts.
What the Arrow pilot must have failed
to notice was the concurrent increase and
decrease in angle of attack as she rode
the ups and downs of the wave. If it was
affecting my heavier Baron by plus or
minus 10 knots there's a good chance that
Arrow was getting 15- to 20-knot airspeed
excursions, which would lead to considerable
changes in pitch between the tops
and bottoms of the wave. Likewise, a good
CHARLES FLOYD
http://www.AOPA.org/creditcard http://www.AOPA.org/creditcard http://www.commercebank.com/aopapi
Flight Training - August 2021

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