By Jim Timm 
December 2016
So far, the winter flying weather has been good, the temperatures are down, and the airplane/engine performance is up, so what more could you ask for. With all the flying events happening, and good places to fly for that Saturday morning fly in breakfast, it’s decision time to decide where to go. So, where ever you go, please do it safely! So far, as we approach the end of the year, it appears that everyone has been flying safer. Enjoy the holidays.
Have you installed your ADS-B equipment yet? We are nearly at the end of 2016 and we are required to be ADS-B equipped by January 1, 2020, not the end of 2020. Time is rapidly marching on, the deadline is coming up fast, and the FAA keeps insisting that there definitely will not be an extension of the deadline. While the ADS-B Out is mainly for the benefit of air traffic control, the In feature of weather and traffic information is going to be helpful to the pilot. Unless you do a lot of long distance traveling, the weather information in may not be too beneficial. However, if you fly much in the vicinity of the Bravo or Charlie airspaces in the state, or even near any airport, the traffic in information provided can prove to be extremely helpful for spotting and tracking potentially conflicting traffic. The benefit is obvious, because many pilots out there have recognized this benefit and have bought small ADS-B in receivers for this traffic alert feature. If only for the reliable in cockpit traffic information, the time is now to have the compliant equipment installed. The prices are most likely not going to be coming down and the installation shops are getting busier and busier. The airspace keeps getting busier and busier and anything that can enhance flight safety will be worth it. Put it on your Christmas List.
MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS
Another GPS Interference testing notice just showed up from the NTTR (Nevada Test and Training Range) near Las Vegas, NV. Testing will be conducted on:
Nov. 29 from 0300Z - 1200Z
Nov. 30 from 0530Z - 1200Z
Dec. 1-3 from 0530Z - 1200Z
Dec. 8 from 0530Z - 1200Z
Dec. 12-13 from 0300Z - 1200Z
Dec. 14 from 0530Z - 1200Z
The GPS testing impact will include WAAS and ADS-B. Pilots are advised to check NOTAMs frequently for possible changes prior to operations in the area. NOTAMs will be published at least 24 hours in advance of any GPS tests. Notify air traffic control if you encounter GPS signal problems providing date, time, and location.
The FAA facilities people have advised us that the remote communications outlet (GLOBE RCO) towers and equipment located on Pinal Peak near Globe have been upgraded and we should now have improved remote communications with Prescott on 122.3.
Luke AFB has announced that starting November 24, the RAPCON will be closed on holidays and weekends, unless NOTAMed otherwise, until further notice. They will remain open for special events such as NASCAR, Super Bowl, NCAA Final Four, etc. All air traffic control services during these periods, when the RAPCON is closed, will be handled by the PHX TRACON.
NOTE: during these periods when the RAPCON is closed, the Luke SATR Airspace is still active and the SATR air traffic is handled by the PHX TRACON.
Unfortunately, Gateway Airport (IWA) is still charging a $20 fee for parking at the general aviation terminal. The fee will be waived with the purchase of 10 or more gallons of fuel. Be aware of this if you are planning on flying in for a safety program at ASU and want to park at the G/A terminal.
Be advised that Mesa Falcon Field will have their main runway (4R - 22L) closed from Nov 28 thru December 19 for runway construction. The north, shorter, runway (4L - 22R) will be open, but carefully note taxi instructions to and from the runway during the construction period. With the present student activity, runway use at times could be a bit heavy, so use caution, and patience.
Please be aware, there are still a lot of major and minor construction projects going on at many airports around the state, and unfortunately, the activity will be going on for a while. Before you take off, make sure you check for NOTAMS at your destination airport so you don’t have a surprise awaiting you when you arrive.
The good news is that flight safety has continued to improve, and in this past reporting period there were only two accidents reported by the NTSB, and fortunately, neither of them involved any injuries.
We only have one more month to go for the year, and I hope we can continue to keep the accident numbers down and injuries, if any, minor. Please fly safe! See my December Accident Summary for details.
APA is still continuing to work with various airports around the state, providing the pilot and aircraft owner’s perspective in the process of updating their Airport Master Plans. An update of the Sedona Airport (SED), Flagstaff, and Grand Canyon Airport (GCN) master plans are currently in process.
THINGS TO DO - PLACES TO GO FOR BREAKFAST:
- The fly in breakfast at Coolidge Municipal Airport (P08) is on the first Saturday of the month.
- The second Saturday of the month, Ryan Field (RYN) a fly in breakfast is available at the restaurant. (Check NOTAMs before you go to make certain ramp construction has been completed.)
- The Mesa Falcon Field EAA Warbirds Squadron fly in breakfast and car show is on the third Saturday.
- The third Saturday of the month there is a fly in breakfast at Benson (E95) at Southwest Aviation. (There are special fuel prices for breakfast attendees.)
- Also on the third Saturday, around noon, a donation lunch is served by APA at the USFS Grapevine Airstrip next to Roosevelt Lake.
- The last Saturday of the month there is a fly in breakfast at Casa Grande Municipal Airport (CGZ). The Airport’s restaurant, Foxtrot Cafe, operating in the Terminal Building, is open 6:30am to 2:00pm Monday thru Saturday. On the last Saturday of the month they have a “Fly in Breakfast Special” available on the menu; the price for adults is $7 and kids $5.
Check with the APA Getaway Flights program and the online calendar for fun weekend places to fly.
I hope everyone has been able to get some safe flying time in last month. As for me, like many of you, my flying seems to get limited to the weekends, and we sure have been encountering a lot of windy weekends lately. Anyway, it seems like I’ve gained a lot of crosswind landing experience lately. Flying a light taildragger, some of that experience has been a bit challenging and exciting at times, but what the heck, it’s all been fun, exciting or not. However, from a safety standpoint, we have been encountering a lot of accidents lately, and some of them were pretty bad accidents. Please make certain your aircraft is in good operating condition and fly safely!
First off, I want to thank those that made the annual APA meeting in May. It was good to reconnect with some of you once again. Because there were no nominations put forth, the directors whose terms were expiring consented to running for office again and were reelected. The directors will be meeting in June to elect the officers for 2016-17, and the president elect will start the appointment of chairpersons for the various standing committees.
As time grows shorter for when we will be required to have ADS-B out equipment installed in our airplanes, there continues to be new information released regarding both programs and equipment. It’s pretty apparent there won’t be any slippage in the mandated implementation date, but there continues to be new information on equipment and compliance. Initially, there were a lot of questions on required equipment and how each installation would have to be accomplished, inspected, and certified. In what I thought was a major breakthrough by the FAA in making implementation much easier and cheaper for us, the FAA announced a new policy that simplifies ADS-B Out installations.
The FAA released a policy memo (AFS-360-2016-03-02) on March 2 that updates guidance on installation of ADS-B out systems, essentially allowing avionics shops to install ADS-B equipment on aircraft not covered by a supplemental type certificate (STC) and without having to obtain a new STC. The installer does have to obtain permission from the original STC holder. Earlier in the ADS-B upgrade process, the FAA was requiring that each aircraft model have its own STC. The FAA was concerned and wanted to ensure, as new equipment hit the market, that it worked correctly, so the original policy stated that it could only be installed via STC. They believed this would maintain a high level of their involvement and ensure that aircraft entering airspace (where ADS-B is required) are operating as intended and not creating chaos.
Now the FAA has issued the new policy, and it basically states, if the installation is a major alteration, it will still need field approval. This may be the case where a new antenna needs to be installed on a pressurized airplane, for example. A simple ADS-B out installation in a non-pressurized airplane will be a minor alteration and can be signed off by an A&P mechanic holding an Inspection Authorization, or by a Part 145 repair station, and doesn’t require direct FAA involvement. Basically, it’s a simple radio installation. With this change, the much feared bottleneck of getting last minute certified installations accomplished has been averted, and with a significant savings for many of us. (You can read the entire FAA March 2 Memo AFS-360-2016-03-02 here…)
MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS
The FAA is in the process of publishing a list of perhaps over 300 VORs they plan to decommission across the country. They will evaluate the impact of each VOR on approaches, departures, enroute, etc, and hopefully, they will also look to local users for comment. As soon as we obtain a list of those VORs on the decommissioning list that are in Arizona, we will advise you and the APA will be submitting the appropriate commentary to the FAA.
In a move to ensure that the Third-Class Medical Reform gets through the U.S. legislature, I noticed that it got attached to a defense funding bill that passed through the Senate’s Armed Services Committee. Passing with a 23-3 in favor vote, the bill, which would authorize $602 billion for the Department of Defense and other national security programs, also includes the pilot medical changes in the Pilot’s Bill of Rights 2. This action is in addition to the same thing that is attached to the FAA funding bill presently in process. I guess we now have to wait and see what comes out of the House of Representatives and finally goes to the President.
Two new instrument procedures will be published for Cottonwood Airport (P52) on May 26: RNAV (GPS) Runway 32, and MINGY One Departure (RNAV).
One of the changes on the Phoenix Sectional and TAC charts on May 28 will be the deletion of several abandoned airports. What the identifiers were or their locations was not given. Better check to see that your favorite airport is not one of them.
If you fly into Ak Chin Regional Airport (A39), be advised they now have an AWOS in service on 126.90.
Significant construction is going on at Gateway Airport (IWA) and the ILS will be down from time to time. If you are doing instrument training, be sure to check NOTAMS before taking off to check on availability.
Be aware, there is a significant amount of airport construction activity going on many of the airports in the Phoenix and Tucson areas, and also around the state. Be sure to check for NOTAMs before taking off for another airport so you don’t encounter a nasty surprise when you get there.
The June accident reporting period was certainly not very good. During this reporting period there were six accidents reported with two of them being fatal, involving three fatalities. Three of the accidents reported this period were devoid of information and it would be safe to assume they were not serious from a personal injury standpoint. See my June accident summary for details, and please make certain the airplane you are flying is airworthy and fly carefully. We don’t want to continue at this present rate.
APA is still working with various airports around the state, providing the pilot and aircraft owner perspective in the process of updating their Airport Master Plans. An update of the Sedona Airport (SED) and Grand Canyon Airport (GCN) master plans are currently in process.
THINGS TO DO - PLACES TO GO FOR BREAKFAST:
The fly in breakfast at Coolidge Municipal Airport (P08) on the first Saturday of the month has stopped and will restart the first Saturday in October.
The second Saturday of the month, Ryan Field (RYN) fly in breakfast is available at the restaurant next door.
The Falcon Field EAA Warbirds Squadron fly in breakfast and car show on the third Saturday has ceased operation for the summer and will restart in October.
The third Saturday of the month there is a fly in breakfast at Benson (E95) at Southwest Aviation. (There are special fuel prices for breakfast attendees.)
The monthly fly in to Grapevine Airstrip, next to Roosevelt Lake, will stop for the summer, but will resume on the third Saturday of September.
The last Saturday of the month there is still a fly in breakfast at Casa Grande Municipal Airport (CGZ). The Airport’s restaurant, Foxtrot Cafe, operating in the Terminal Building, is open 6:30am to 2:00pm Monday thru Saturday. On the last Saturday of the month they have a “Fly in Breakfast Special” available on the menu; the price for adults is $7 and kids $5.
Check with the APA Getaway Flights program and
the online calendar for fun weekend places to fly.
thru this restricted area at any time. The restricted area isn’t very large, and I don’t think the UAV student pilots using the area are any better than our student pilots, and I would consider giving the area a wide berth. Be aware, and avoid a serious problem.
Be aware, there is going to be a significant amount of airport construction activity still going on in the Phoenix and Tucson areas, and around the state. Be sure to check for NOTAMs before taking off for another airport so you don’t encounter a nasty surprise when you get there. Also, be sure to add TFRs to your preflight checklist.
The past aviation accident reporting period was relatively good with only one accident being reported by the NTSB. The bad news, however, was that it did involve four serious injuries. Perhaps the efforts put forth by the Wings Safety Teams with all the safety briefings has begun to pay off. Based on the low accident/injury rate in 2015, I hope we can get the pilots in Arizona to continue this trend and have a safe flying year in 2016. For more details go to my February Aviation Accident Summary report. By next month, enough of the 2015 NTSB accident information should be available to permit preparation of an accurate year end summary and comparison to previous years.
APA is still working with various airports around the state, providing the pilot and aircraft owner perspective in the process of updating their Airport Master Plans. An update of the Sedona Airport (SED), Deer Valley Airport (DVT), and Grand Canyon Airport (GCN) master plans are currently in process.
THINGS TO DO - PLACES TO GO FOR BREAKFAST:
·The firstSaturdayof the month fly in breakfast is at Coolidge Municipal Airport (P08).
·The secondSaturdayof the month, Ryan Field (RYN) fly in buffet breakfast should have restarted. However, breakfast is available at the restaurant next door.
·The Falcon Field EAA Warbirds Squadron fly in breakfast and car show is on the thirdSaturday.
·The thirdSaturdayof the month there is a fly in breakfast at Benson (E95) at Southwest Aviation. (There are special fuel prices for breakfast attendees.)
·Also on the third Saturday, around noon, a donation lunch is served by the APA at the USFS Grapevine Airstrip over at Roosevelt Lake.
·The last Saturday of the month there is still a fly in breakfast at Casa Grande Municipal Airport (CGZ). The Airport’s restaurant, Foxtrot Cafe, operating in the Terminal Building, is open 6:30am to 2:00pmMondaythruSaturday. On the last Saturday of the month they have a “Fly in Breakfast Special” available on the menu; the price for adults is $7 and kids $5.
Check with the
APA Getaway Flights
program and online calendar
for fun weekend places to fly.