Page 34 - Volume 16 Number 6

ON FINAL by David Miller
If You Have to Hand Fly your Airplane,
Should You Declare an Emergency?
That’s kind of a silly question isn’t it? Surely we have all logged hundreds or thousands of hours hand flying our turbine airplanes. Haven’t we? Maybe not. If you have been flying since the 1960’s like me, it wasn’t uncommon to do a lot of hand flying. Our autopilots just weren’t that great and they weren’t always working. We viewed autopilots as a real asset but one that might not be available on any particular day. When it failed, we cursed and hand flew on to the destination. A failed autopilot was a nuisance but not an emergency. We had a plan in the back of our mind to deal with it.
It’s different today. Most pilots begin their training with flight control systems vastly more capable than those of even ten years ago. And several light singles have autopilot features that include a “panic button” to right the aircraft in the event of a loss of control. Actual hand flying is always an option but one that is used fewer and fewer hours.
The amazing autopilot capabilities like those found in the Garmin G1000 and Collins Pro Line 21 have significantly increased the utility of our airplanes. Our situational awareness is remarkably better. And although some initial studies have indicated that flying with “advanced cockpits” is not measurably safer, I think we will find otherwise over the long term.
But, what happens when all the fancy stuff breaks? On a typical two-hour flight in my Mustang, the autopilot is engaged for 1+58. Indeed, it’s required to be operating for single-pilot certification and engaged in RSVM airspace. But, as I like to say, our late model sleighs are really several laptops connected by one or two engines and a set of wings. I don’t know about you, but I have had some issues with my home laptop. I have personally witnessed the two primary flight displays and the multi-function display go totally blank in flight and stay that way. Stuff happens. Sometimes we have to reboot and hand fly.
With 5,000-plus hours in his logbook, David Miller has been flying for business and pleasure for more than 40 years. Having owned and flown a variety aircraft types, from turboprops to midsize jets, Miller, along with his wife Patty, now own and fly a Citation Mustang. You can contact David at davidmiller1@ sbcglobal.net.
Are you ready?
Hand flying to ATP standards is not easy. Ask early Eclipse customers who trained and passed type-rating check rides with limited FMS and autopilot features and they will tell you it was some of the most stressful flying of their careers.
Miller’s Theory says, “The more cockpit automation we have, the worse we will screw up when we lose it.” This theory applies to even the most professional of pilots. It appears that Colgan 3407 and Air France 447 both ended tragically with the pilots’ hand flying the airplane.
I’ll bet not many of us have practiced hand flying from FL 390, accomplishing a STAR, and shooting an instrument approach to landing. It’s not like riding a bicycle. You can easily forget how to do it well. And we spend precious little time hand flying in the simulator. During initial type rating courses and recurrent training, there are just too many “boxes to fill” in the training syllabus. Maybe that should change. Next time you visit your training provider, ask them to set up an unexpected opportunity for you to hand fly in a challenging situation. Practice it until you feel comfortable. In the airplane, having a good mentor once in a while can be really valuable, in that we can practice learning how the airplane “feels” when we least expect to feel it.
So that hand flying can be an inconvenience again instead of an emergency.
Fly safe.
32 • TWIN & TURBINE JUNE 2012