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Aviation Instructor's Companion Guide, Bootcamp and FSANA, Best rate of climb, ACS latest Intel

February 2023

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Why I wrote a companion guide to the Aviation Instructor’s Handbook


In case you didn’t know, I finished my latest book, a companion guide to the Aviation Instructor’s Handbook, FAA-H-8083-9B.  Everyone student we contact in flight instructor training at CFI Bootcamp complains about the book.  People say that they read it, but it is too hard to read, and many details are easy to forget.  


My friend said, “The problem is that it isn’t operational, meaning you can’t read it and can’t use much of the chapter's information in the real world. He is right. There is so much theory in the FAA handbook that you miss some valuable concepts. It’s also way dense and extensive.


So, I took every chapter, took the important concepts, and showed you how to use them in daily flight instruction.  The book is called “Aviation Instructor’s Handbook - “A Field Guide.”  It’s written and now sits in formatting, awaiting the image placements and table of contents generation.  Without images, it was 54 pages of practical information.  I also made a pop-up box in each Chapter where I took the most important things I talked about and put them front and center for you to use right away.


There should be between 3 and 4 images per chapter. The images will go at the end of each chapter to provide a visual recap of what I wrote. So, in the end, the book will be about 64 pages. Manageable.


The book is being released at the Flight School Association of North America’s Conference in Orlando, FL, on March 2nd.  It will be available on our website online store shortly after that.   





CFI Bootcamp is Exhibiting at the FSANA Conference


We will be exhibiting at the fast-approaching Flight School Association of North America (FSANA) March 1 - 3 in Orlando, FL.  The location is the Rosen Plaza.  Please stop by and meet Mike if you are coming to the show. Also, let us know if you are coming so we can update you on booth opening times, etc.  Send a quick email to mike@cfibootcamp.com.


This conference focuses on the needs of flight schools and connects vendors with schools during the event.  FSANA also does advocacy, accreditation, AeroCamp, and other things.  Go to fsana.com for more information.


CFI Bootcamp will be there to do the following things:

  1. Speak about Flight Instructor Training in various panels.

  2. Gain information about Part 141 certification with FAA personnel.

  3. Look for Flight Schools to partner with to teach/use CFI Bootcamp’s proven system to create CFIs in locations across the US.

  4. Release Pathways.  A Smart Syllabus that you can teach directly from.  It has all the content needed to teach any ground or flight lesson.  

  5. Release the Aviation Instructor’s Handbook - Field Guide.

  6. Release our new CFI PTS Laser Focus Study Guide—Organizes study sessions for students in CFI training.


If you are in town or attending the conference, stop by and say hello,



How is the best rate of climb for an airplane determined?


The best rate of climb speed, or Vy, is the airspeed that, if used, will cause the airplane to climb in the shortest amount of time.  It can be used to get to an altitude with a tailwind quicker and get out of rough air faster, among other things.  Its cousin is the best angle of climb or Vx.  Using this speed will cause the airplane to climb the highest over a given distance.  In this article, I’ll explain how the best rate of climb is determined.  In next month's newsletter, I’ll cover how Vx is determined.


Once you change the flight path of a powered airplane for a climb, the airplane experiences an acceleration and needs to overcome a rearward component of both lift and weight to climb.  That takes energy.  The energy for that comes from the engine in the form of power.  At any given altitude and speed, the airplane requires an amount of power to maintain the altitude and speed.  Going fast requires a lot of power (Due to parasite drag), and so does going very slow (Due to induced drag).  When not using full power to maintain level flight, the difference between what you are using and what's left is the excess power available to use to climb.


The image below shows the power output of the propeller at a particular altitude.  The speed with the most power available is the best rate of climb speed.




When Using the best rate of climb, the airplane will climb to the highest altitude in a given time.  With a headwind or a tailwind, the distance traveled across the ground changes; however the time to an altitude doesn’t.


In next month's article on how Vx is determined, you will see that the wind plays a significant part in changing the climb angle.





When will the new ACS’ come out?  My latest Intel.


So as many of you know, the FAA published a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) to add the last of the ACS’ and some PTS’s to be part of the FAR.  They also extended the comment period.  That ended on February 11th.  The FAA will now take all of the comments and determine if the rule needs to be modified etc.


After a determination of any changes is made, the FAA can release the ACS’ and PTS’s at any time.  Typically, they are published to FAA.gov and have an effective date of around 30 days later to allow for any training or testing changes.  

The earliest that I expect to see this is about two months.  However, speaking to someone with more info said they believe this is about a year away.


I’ll keep you posted.


Three PROTIPS.


1. Chair fly the memory items on the emergency checklist. Use your emergency checklist for your airplane and practice them at home; Better yet, get access to an airplane that isn’t being flown and sit inside and practice.  Memory items should be practiced frequently.  Using the airline mode of proficiency every 6 months is a good idea.


2. Groumdspeeds to know for quick calculations. Some quick mental math can pay off when estimating.  Put the following into memory.  74, 90, and 120 knots.

 

74 knots/hr is 1.2 miles per minute

90 knots/hr is 1.5 miles per minute

120 knots/hr is 2.0 miles per minute.

 

3. Trim when the airspeed is constant. It reduces the time and frequency of trimming.  Any time the airplane changes speed, it will require a change.  While it’s ok to trim while the speed is changing, the final trimming won’t be done until the speed is stable. So trimming too frequently robs you of time.  Also, trimming when the speed is stable will result in fewer trim changes.


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