Page 39 - Volume 20 Number 9

us4t Have in Your Airplane
VNAV Climb we did as the traffic passed several hundred
Get more comfortable using this one. It could be your “stay out of jail card.” Flying in airspace around major hubs is getting more challenging
feet below. Would we have collided without the RA (resolution advisory)? I will never know, but I was really glad to have the extra computer on board that day. And
GEO-REFERENCED CHARTS
I used to draw my little airplane on the charts. It was fun but never accurate. And I had trouble finding a magenta crayon. Today, I clearly see my
every day. “November 921 X-ray Tango, descend via the JFRYE 3 arrival except cross GREGS at one-one thousand.” On RNAV arrivals there are mandatory speeds, altitudes, block altitudes and more that can overload your “personal computer” and ruin your day. Add weather and any abnormality and you can easily make a mistake. The kind of mistake that gets you a “call this number “ from the controller. With the software capabilities of VNAV however, it’s a matter of programming the FMS and monitoring the autopilot’s performance, dramatically reducing the chances of a “close encounter” with the FAA. Plus, using VNAV allows
Aren’t you amazed at how much traffic you never see? Twenty years ago, my traffic avoidance system was normally Patty saying, “Did you see
m6
ou more “head out of cockpit” time.
little airplane everywhere. For me, this is most helpful during taxiing, when the ground controller (while pissed off and eating potato chips) says, “November 921 X-ray Tango, right on Alpha, left on Charlie, Delta, Romeo, cross 22 Left, hold short of the right.” All I have to do is quickly write this down, scroll in the range on MFD map, and follow my little magenta airplane.
All while eating potato chips. Did I miss anything?
Fly safe.
y5TCAS
y passengers were too.
that guy, he was really close!” Today, I get a more formal warning, “Traffic, Traffic” with a
growing yellow ball depicting the
airplane and his relative altitude.
And for about $100,000 extra (in the case of the Citation M2) you can buy the ultimate: TCAS2. This system analyzes the relative position and speed of each transponder-equipped airplane and actually commands you to climb, descend, or monitor your present altitude until the conflict is resolved.
Don’t think it’s worth a hundred grand? I didn’t until recently. Descending into Mesquite, TX (KHQZ) in visual conditions at 3,000 feet, Regional Approach called out traffic 500 feet below. I saw it on the display at 400 feet, closing, and not in radio contact with the controller. First, came the “TRAFFIC, TRAFFIC” call. Now, less than a mile away, it was time to do something. Simultaneously with the controller’s order to climb 1,000 feet , my PFD lit up with red command bars showing an immediate climb and the loud instruction, “CLIMB, CLIMB.”
SEPTEMBER 2016
TWIN & TURBINE • 37