Flight Training - August 2022 - 5

LETTERS
Spins can be disorienting and intimidating at fi rst, but
practicing them heightens pilot awareness of both the
critical angle of attack at which the wings stall and
yaw-the two essential ingredients of a spin. Also,
some bungled aerobatic maneuvers can result in an
inadvertent spin, so getting comfortable with spin
recoveries is a must for aerobatic pilots.
VOR SYSTEM
I REALLY ENJOYED JULIE SUMMERS
Walker's article about VORs in the July
2022 issue of Flight Training and would
like to add an important detail. The ground
station reference to magnetic north for
each VOR was generally established many
years ago, and it no longer matches actual
magnetic north. Here in the Los Angeles
Basin, for example, VORs such as LAX
and PDZ (Paradise) have an offset of 15
degrees from true north, though changes
in the magnetic field over decades have
resulted in an offset of magnetic north
from true north about 11.5 to 12 degrees.
The offset
The loop requires that pilots look out the sides of
the airplane for orientation as the nose rises above
the horizon. The Extra's aural stall warning system
can chirp at any time during the maneuver and it's a
real-world example of how the wing can stall at any
airspeed and attitude. The cure for a high angle of
attack is reducing back-pressure on the stick, and that
will silence the chirp at any point during a loop.
HOW IT WORKS
BY JULIE SUMMERS WALKER
VOR SYSTEM
THE TAIL KNOWS
THE ANTENNA ON THE TAIL OF YOUR AIRcraft
knows something. And it is pretty
important. It receives signals from nearby
VOR (very high frequency omnidirectional
range) ground stations. The VOR system
consists of a ground component and an
aircraft receiver component. Ground stations
transmit radio signals on a designated
frequency. On your aircraft, there's a VOR
antenna, a VOR frequency selector, and
an in-cockpit instrument. The instrument
can be an course deviation indicator (CDI),
horizontal situation indicator (HSI), or
radio magnetic indicator (RMI). At VOR/
DMEs, distance measuring equipment
(DME) collocates with a VOR to give distance
from the VOR station.
The ground station is referenced to
magnetic north and emits two signals.
These are a 360-degree sweeping signal
and an omni-directional reference signal.
The signals are compared at the aircraft's
receiver and the difference between them
is displayed in the cockpit. The instrument
in the cockpit looks like a compass.
Centering the needle shows the radial the
airplane is on, giving the direction from
the station.
There are three classes of VORs:
terminal, low-altitude, and high-altitude.
Terminal VOR signals reach up to about
12,000 feet high and a radius of 25 nautical
miles. Low-altitude VORs are usable
up to about 18,000 feet high and 40 nm.
High-altitude VORs may be usable up to
60,000 feet high and 130 nm.
The FAA is phasing out some VORs
(in favor of GPS), but there are still hundreds
of VOR stations around the country.
If you get lost, they can quickly help identify
your position. They might be 1940s
technology, but it's nice to know you can
always find your way home.
julie.walker@aopa.org
40 nm
60,000 ft
45,000 ft
DID YOU KNOW?
The farther away you
are from a VOR, the
higher you need to fly
to get signal reception.
130 nm
18,000 ft
14,500 ft
1,000 ft
HIGH ALTITUDE
25 nm
12,000 ft
1,000 ft
TO
TERMINAL
FR
OBS
TO
TO
FR
FR
OBS
OBS
OBS
Omnibearing
selector knob
FR
Approximately
2 degrees per
dot deflection
1,000 ft
LOW ALTITUDE
TO
To/From
indicator
CDI needle
18,000 ft
Course Deviation Indicator
Course index
Unreliable
signal flag
TO
FR
TO
OBS
FR
OBS
FLIGHT TRAINING JULY 2022
15
for each VOR is
published in its
chart supplement
entry. An
excellent oral
exam question:
Where
would you find
this? Properly
updated GPS
devices should
reflect the
latest five-year magnetic field model update
including variations over time. Therefore,
ground tracks shown on such devices
shouldn't be expected to match VOR
radials, differing around Los Angeles by
about 3 degrees.
John Berg
San Pedro, California
LET'S GO PLACES!
The AOPA Poker Run National Flight Challenge encourages pilots
to get out and go places. Players collect their hand of virtual cards
following a 7 Card Stud-inspired format. Check in at different airports
around the United States and earn a new card at each check-in for a chance
to win awesome prize packages. The AOPA Poker Run National Challenge runs from July
1, 2022, to September 30, 2022. Visit seven different airports between July 1 and September 30,
and check in each time with the AOPA app (version 2.6 or higher). Each Pilot Passport check-in
generates a random card that is added to your hand. You can check in only once per day at any
one airport, but you can visit as many different airports in a day as you care to-and check in for
another card at each. Once seven cards have been added to your hand, the Pilot Passport system
picks the best five to become your final hand. What is in it for participating pilots? Well, how
about a nice Bose A20 headset, and an AOPA prize pack including a year of iFlightPlanner Premium
access, a year of AOPA membership with Pilot Protection Services Plus, and a $100 AOPA
Pilot Gear gift certificate? That will be the top prize awarded to one lucky pilot at the conclusion
of this challenge. Winners will be selected and announced on or before October 6, 2022.
FLIGHT TRAINING AUGUST 2022
5
That is, until pilot encounters stalls, spins, and
unusual attitudes. Then, all of a sudden, the old truism
just isn't true anymore.
Beyond 90 degrees of bank, pulling on the yoke
can make the houses get bigger, sometimes at an
alarming rate. Similarly, during stalls and spins, the
airplane may be in an extreme nose-down attitude
yet pulling on the yoke doesn't raise it. It's as though
the airplane has developed a mind of its own, or it's
possessed. All of it feels terribly bewildering and
wrong-especially during an unintentional loss of
control in fl ight.
This tension and confusion is just the area that
unusual attitude training is meant to address. And
the AOPA Extra 300L is an ideal aircraft to cut
through the fog.
The two-seat aerobatic aircraft is rated for
plus or minus 8 Gs with two people aboard, so as
long as it's got altitude, it's strong enough not to be
bothered by a heavy-handed pilot's mistakes. And
all pilots make mistakes, especially during novel
or ambiguous situations they haven't encountered
before, and when exposed to high gravitational
forces that are foreign to them.
Also, the Extra has " honest " fl ying qualities. It has
no quirks or peculiar corners of the fl ight envelope.
Its performance is spectacular, but its behavior is
precise and predictable.
Bruce Williams, a veteran fl ight instructor who
owned fl ew the Extra 300L for two decades before
donating it to AOPA, said the biggest benefi t to spin
training is the hyper-awareness to stalls and spins
that comes from repeatedly fl ying at the edge of
an airplane's critical angle of attack. The crossover
point from controlled fl ight to an aerodynamic stall
becomes easily identifi able and well known.
AOPA will produce and share video content that
emphasizes these points during the time the association
operates the Extra.
" Practicing recoveries from accelerated spins,
fl at spins, and multi-turn spins is all well and
good-but it misses the point, " Williams said.
" The unintentional stalls and spins that result in
accidents tend to take place at low altitude where
recovery may be impossible regardless of pilot
technique. The key is teaching stall/spin avoidance
in such a way that pilots never unintentionally lose
control of their aircraft in the fi rst place. "
In the Extra, pilots can explore turning stalls,
deep stalls, accelerated stalls, secondary stalls, and
cross-controlled stalls knowing that they aren't taxing
the airplane's capabilities. No matter how badly
they bungle a maneuver, this unlimited aerobatic
airplane will recover without complaint.
It's the aerial equivalent of learning to drive in
snow by going out to a big, vacant, icy parking lot and
doing donuts, one after another. Sure, it's fun to do,
and for many teens in cold climates, it's the highlight
of driver training. But its real purpose is safety.
In the Extra during a right-turning stall, for
example, at high engine power, it's common for the
airplane to snap to an inverted position when it
reaches its critical angle of attack and departs controlled
fl ight. That's an eye-opener the fi rst few times
it happens, but it's no crisis.
The recovery procedure is identical to all other
stalls: Lower the angle of attack (by releasing back
pressure on the control stick) to break the stall.
Then adjust pitch, power, and bank to recover to
level fl ight.
The Extra fl ies like other airplanes-there's just
more of everything. More power, more roll rate, and
the rudder and elevator authority. Every pilot tends
to over-control at fi rst, then they settle down and
quickly get the hang of it.
The Extra's wings are symmetrical and there's
zero angle of incidence-so the airplane fl ies pretty
much the same right-side up or upside-down. The
wings have no dihedral, so there's no inherent stability
or rudder coupling. If you're fl ying straight and
level and a wing dips, you can't pick it up with opposite
rudder. Roll and yaw forces are totally separate
and independent.
Aside from its control sensitivity, however, much
about the airplane is conventional and feels familiar.
There's an aural stall warning and light airframe
buff eting before the stall break. Visibility through
the bubble canopy is excellent, especially from the
Spins can be disorienting and intimidating at fi rst, but
practicing them heightens pilot awareness of both the
critical angle of attack at which the wings stall and
yaw-the two essential ingredients of a spin. Also,
some bungled aerobatic maneuvers can result in an
inadvertent spin, so getting comfortable with spin
recoveries is a must for aerobatic pilots.
The loop requires that pilots look out the sides of
the airplane for orientation as the nose rises above
the horizon. The Extra's aural stall warning system
can chirp at any time during the maneuver and it's a
real-world example of how the wing can stall at any
airspeed and attitude. The cure for a high angle of
attack is reducing back-pressure on the stick, and that
will silence the chirp at any point during a loop.
The aileron roll is a fun, confi dence-building maneuver in
the Extra, largely because of its extremely rapid roll rate.
There's almost no adverse yaw, so the only control input
required is aileron.
FLIGHT TRAINING JULY 2022
35
I FOUND MAX!
THANK YOU, AS ALWAYS, FOR A
tremendous Flight Training publication.
The " Extracurricular " article by Dave
Hirschman in July 2022 caught my eye.
And so did Max! Spotted on p. 35 in
the spin stream. At first I thought that
was the face of an exasperated pilot who
bungled a maneuver. Now I understand
it's an intentionally hidden figure. Oh,
what fun! Thank you and keep the blue
side up, well, unless you don't mean to.
Killian Madden
Worcester, Massachusetts
We welcome your comments. Please email
flighttraining@aopa.org. Comments will be
edited for style and space.
FLIGHT TRAINING JULY 2022
35
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15
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6
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N
S
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S
W
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W
E
E
E
E
E
E
3
12
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172°
352°
CHARLES FLOYD
CHARLES FLOYD
STEVE KARP
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Flight Training - August 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - August 2022