June 2012
Some years back, I was with a group of other pilots on a houseboat trip. After a few days on (and sometimes in) the water, I called flight service for a weather briefing before flying home, and discovered a line of thunderstorms was moving in. So I started diversion planning, and got out my sectional charts (still paper in those days).
One of the other pilots laughed and called to his wife, “Come here and look at this!” It was the first time he’d seen someone doing serious flight planning in quite some time. That is a problem, because, as this table shows, poor planning can kill you.
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PHASE OF FLIGHT LETHALITY
Weather 62%
Maneuvering 58%
Approach / Descent 39%
Takeoff / Climb 16%
Fuel Management 11%
Source: 2010 Nall Report
(aopa.org/asf/publications/10nall.pdf)
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Weather accidents almost always involve a pilot who doesn’t bother to get a weather briefing, fails to update it en route, or ignores what the briefer says. Takeoff and climb accidents often result from a pilot failing to do a weight and balance computation or failing to check density altitude before attempting to depart. Approach and landing accident causes include collisions, likely due to poor planning that results in nonstandard pattern entry (42 percent lethal) and botched instrument approach procedures, often due to failing to properly brief the approach to be flown (75 percent lethal). And while fuel management accidents can be caused by operational error (switching to a dry tank) or contamination, the majority is due to poor planning.
In other words, improper flight planning increases not only your odds of having an accident, but also the odds of an accident you won’t walk away from. All too many pilots seem to forget the basic rules of flight planning once they finish primary training. Here’s an example…
A couple of years ago, I had to divert while on my way home from a medical mission trip to Mexico. The airplane wound up in Palm Springs, Calif. (KPSP), where I rented a car and drove home. Another pilot was kind enough to say he’d fly me down to pick it up—which certainly beat a full day’s drive—and I gratefully accepted.
I’m pretty sure he got a weather briefing, but if he did any other flight planning it wasn’t obvious. When we met at Modesto (KMOD), he helped me stow my flight bag, started the airplane, reached up to the GPS and set a direct route to KPSP.
I was—to put it mildly—a little surprised. “What about the mountains?” I asked. He shrugged and switched to the terrain view. With that set up, we took off, climbed to cruise altitude and headed down the valley. After an hour or so, I asked, “How close will this route take us to the Edwards Air Force Base restricted airspace?” He shrugged again, switched to a regular map view—and sure enough, our route cut the corner off R-2515. His solution: plug in a custom waypoint a mile or so outside it, to keep us (barely) clear.
As we approached Palm Springs, the pilot simply lowered the nose (this was a high performance retractable) and flew pretty much directly to a downwind entry at almost 200 knots, communicating only minimally with the tower.
As I got out of the airplane, I told him how grateful I was for the ride down. Mentally I was thinking, “…and that’s the last time I’m flying anywhere with this guy!” I was extremely uncomfortable with his lack of flight planning, and his general approach to cross-country flight.
A year or so later, I learned that the same pilot came very close to a loss of control accident. In his defense, he was performing a mercy mission, but he overloaded the airplane, didn’t do a weight and balance check, and found that after takeoff he could not trim the airplane for hands-off level flight.
I could go on, but you get the idea. It’s only a matter of time before this guy becomes a statistic. I just hope he doesn’t take anyone else with him. Presumably, pilots who’ve read this far don’t have the same cavalier attitude toward planning—but we all do share a common problem: the planning approach we were shown in primary flight training isn’t what we actually use. When was the last time you got out a sectional chart and physically drew a line on it?
As it happens, I’m in the process of planning a flight from KMOD to Big Bear City (L35), a new destination for me. Here’s how I’m planning that flight.
I’ve started by drawing a line on the chart—not literally, but electronically. I’m currently using ForeFlight on my iPad, but I could do this using any flight planning software. A direct route would cross high terrain, so instead, my route will be direct to the Shafter (EHF) VOR, then direct Palmdale (PMD) VOR, and then direct to L35.
Since I’m an IFR pilot, I’m also looking at what would be required for an instrument approach. The only one available is RNAV (GPS) 26, which starts from an initial approach fix at OKACO, 13.1 miles due east of the airport. That’s best reached by taking my VFR route to PMD, then flying V386 to OKACO by way of SOGGI, an intersection about 15 miles northeast of L35.
Having found what looks like a usable route, I used the iPad to get a standard weather briefing, even though the flight’s still several weeks away. Why bother? Because looking at the briefing early gives me a chance to acquaint myself with the route—if the synopsis mentions locations I’m not familiar with, I can look them up. An advance look at the briefing also gives me a heads-up for issues involving airspace, navaid outages and the like.
For a general sense of what to expect weather-wise, I’m watching the Weather Channel and using weather.com, looking not only at the long range forecasts for my departure and destination, but also for critical locations along the route. The segment between EHF and PMD crosses high terrain and is likely to be the main trouble spot if a weather system moves in. I’ll look for any pilot reports or other indications of trouble there during my final weather check less than an hour before departure—and I’ll call Flight Watch and ask for an update on my way down.
Since I’ve never flown into L35, before doing it for real I will set it up and “fly” it several times, both VFR and IFR, in Microsoft Flight Simulator. While not a substitute for flying a real airplane, that gives me a good sense of what the route will look like, and allows me to practice the instrument procedure.
It also forces me to think through how to handle pattern entry, which is an issue as L35 isn’t a tower-controlled airport. Assuming Runway 26 is in use, coming from the northwest I’ll adjust my route to stay west of the airport until far enough south to turn back for a standard 45-degree entry to a left downwind, slowing to normal pattern speed and making appropriate radio calls to verify that’s what other people are doing and alert other pilots that I’m on the way in. Of course if it’s IFR I’ll have to rely on air traffic control for separation until I break out of the soup on final.
As for fuel, I’m fortunate to be flying an airplane with almost six hours’ endurance when fully tanked. ForeFlight calculates the time en route at a bit over 2.5 hours, so there will be no need for an intermediate stop, and I’ll have lots of options if weather or other factors require a diversion. Close alternates could include Apple Valley (KAPV) or San Bernardino (KSBD) which are both in driving range of Big Bear City. Distant alternates—in case of widespread bad weather—could include Fox Field (KWJF) near Lancaster, or Bakersfield (KBFL). If the weather’s bad enough to preclude landing at either of those, I probably won’t be flying at all.
I won’t do a formal weight and balance calculation, because I know from experience that with just two people, normal baggage and full tanks, I’m well below max gross weight and within limits. If I were carrying four people, it would be a different matter. I will do a runway length calculation before departing on the way home, because at 6,752 MSL, L35’s field elevation is high enough to make density altitude an issue, particularly on a hot day.
With these issues thought through, I believe I’ve got a good chance of getting to Big Bear safely. I hope you’ll take similar steps before your next cross-country flight! –JDR
John D. Ruley is an instrument-rated pilot, freelance writer, and recent graduate of the University of North Dakota Space Studies graduate program (www.space.edu). He is a volunteer pilot with www.ligainternational.org, which operates medical missions in northwest Mexico. He is also a member of the board of directors of Mission Doctors Association (www.missiondoctors.org). Send questions or comments to editor@www.piperflyer.com.
