JUNIOR PILOT SHOP

We have brought in some great gift items for those future pilot.
Above: left to right
Terry bath towel with airplane; small luggage shaped
like an airplane (backpack or with wheels); t-shirt with
barnstormer, Air Force Pilot, astronaut; pilot hat;
night light jumbo jet; cup & sippy cup.
HOW CUTE?

FLIGHT SCHOOL PAYMENT CHANGES
As long as Raritan Valley Flying School has been in business we have offered prepayment bonus with varying percentage.

Effective November 1, 2010

Prepayment of $1000 - 5% bonus for credit card

All flights are payable upon receipt via cash, check, credit card or prepayment.  We must have a credit card on file for all students and renters.  

Open accounts are only for customers who have airplanes based at 39N.

From the Right Seat by Peter Rafle

Looking over the statistics of aircraft accidents, it is clear that 40 % of the accidents occur while landing.  Not far behind are accidents during takeoff.  Landing accidents include hard landings, runway overruns, landing short, and loss of directional control.  Every accident ends with loss of control of the aircraft.

How do pilots avoid landing accidents?  Here are a few suggestions.

1.   Practice landings.  Keep current and stay sharp.

2.  Speed control.  Be precise about the speeds proscribed for your airplane.  Think about and plan for the proper speed throughout the approach.  On final, stabilize the speed with pitch, while controlling your rate of descent with power.

3.  Pick an aim point and plan to land within 200 feet beyond it.

4   To reduce ballooning in the flare, raise the nose slowly and maintain back pressure on the yoke so that the airplane lands on the main mounts. 

5.  Keep your eyes out to the end of the runway so that you can judge the sink rate and maintain directional control on the center line.

It future columns, I will discuss more factors in landing safely.  

MEET N' GREET 

Safety Corner

I have always believed that flying was a mental game.  After all, you do not have to be an athlete to fly an airplane.  You certainly must be in good health and have good eye-hand coordination.  But, most of all, pilots need to be consciously aware of what they are doing and what they want the airplane to be doing in the seconds, minutes immediately ahead.

In the current world of  "multi-tasking", pilots must control the airplane, listen and respond to controllers, look out for traffic, be aware of oil pressure, cylinder head temperatures, the radial or track they are following, etc......

A human can only really do one thing at a time.  Multi-tasking is really a rapid succession of  different tasks.  In the cockpit these many tasks, completed well, result in a seamless control of the aircraft. 

If one lets any one of these tasks dominate his/her attention to the detriment of other critical tasks, loss of situational awareness, or loss of aircraft control can result.  Disciplined attention and conscious thought must always be applied to flying airplanes.