It was winter in the Tahoe Sierra and the desert basins. A cold front just went through, a high pressure was building. It was predicted to be clear and sunny.

The next morning it was totally socked in and even foggy. No wind. Further research found out that it was sunny up high in the ski resorts. Hope came back. A serious inversion of cold air settled in the valleys with warmer air above. This created a layer of clouds probably 300 to 800 feet thick.

Loretta had’nt done much cloud flying. Since many times, clouds mean bad air, she was anxious to do some “flying with the dragons” as she calls it.

We calculated it was worth the trip to the airport hoping the clouds would burn off as the sun heated everything.

The airport was socked in with a thick cloud layer. Good thing it was a Class G airspace airport for this type of flying. The ceiling was about 800 feet above the surface and not much more. The air was still, dark and cold. No general aviation traffic could either get in or out with the clouds so the Carson City, Nevada airport was silent until the Rotax two cycle started to idle.

A perfect time to hang around the airport and do some practice patterns with touch and goes in the calm air. Once we were up, it was nice air and it was starting to open up near the hills. We fly directly towards the sun shining through the clouds. As we got closer, we could see the hole was growing from the light shining through on the ground.

The hole was large enough to make it through. As we climbed next to the clouds the sensation of movement was a new experience for Loretta, “When you’re normally flying, you many times feel motionless. The clouds provide a captivating sensation of speed I have never experienced before”.

The cold moist air had pooled in the valleys had formed a stratus cloud layer just below the inversion. No vertical movement of the air at all. The moisture at the top of the inversion layer cooled enough the night before to condense and form the level clouds.

We could feel the warm air above as we climbed through the inversion. The warm air and the hot sun in your face was welcome to the cold and dreary morning. We climbed above into the warm blue sky with desert mountains clear of clouds. We had a nice ground reference next to the carpet of clouds.

As we climbed above, we could see many new holes forming all around as the clouds burned off. We were dressed for the cold with 12 volt electric gloves, so we decided to climb. We wanted to see what was blanketed and what airports might be open.

The mountains about ski area base elevation (8000 feet MSL) was clear and Lake Tahoe did not have an inversion. At 12,000 feet it did get cold, so we headed back to the airport. Calm air followed us all the way to landing. This was Loretta’s first flight through an inversion layer and closest ever to the clouds.

In This Flight We Learned:

1. Do your weather research to see if what you see is what you get

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2. Stratus clouds mean calm air with little vertical air movement, and generally pleasant air to fly in.

3. Inversions are amazing weather phenomenon with a pool of cold air below and warm air above.

4. We could fly this close to the clouds because we stayed in Class G airspace, where we can be “Clear Of Clouds” ground level up to 1200 feet AGL.

WARNING

Do not try this at home. Flying near clouds can be dangerous for two reasons. First, clouds create weather because of the change of state from air moisture to water droplets, and water evaporating and creating cold air and resultant downdrafts. Second is visibility – having a visual reference with the ground and being able to see other aircraft, and them see you.

Get many hours experience and know your cloud clearances for the airspace you are flying in before you fly near any clouds.

Dennis PAGEN, expert in micrometeorology and Sport Pilot weather said, “A cumulus cloud is the top of a thermal updraft”. This is true and will be the basis to our flight adventure today.

The concept is not to be scared of any cumulus that pops in the sky, but to know what type of air you will be entering based on the shape of the cumulus cloud. As we know from the weather to fly system, moisture and clouds can form their own weather.

The Good

Lets start with the good. The cumulus clouds that provide some texture to the skies, provide us enough bumps for moderate turbulence, and provide us flying conditions that will not bring us any bad or ugly stories.

Simply, the good cumulus are wider than they are tall. We know and see these all the time. It looks like a nice day. The cumulus are there but not that tall. You read the upper air tables and the air cools the typical 2 degrees C per 1000 feet altitude increase.

If you are used to flying in perfectly smooth air you may even be scary flying with nice looking cumulus in the skies. If you are an experienced instructor, you tell your student “these bumps are normal. This is typical for this type of flight”. You are not scared, but you are on your toes because the air is moving up or down and it is a significant factor in your flight.

The Bad

We move to the bad. This is where the thermals are stronger, the air is going up faster and down faster. This is where you start to wonder. You read the upper air tables and the air cools from 2 to 3 degrees C per 1000 feet altitude increase.

It is simply when the Cumulus clouds are as tall as they are wide. This could be considered an average nice day by the normal person walking on the street and looking up in the sky. Afternoon clouds predicted and a slight chance of a thunderstorm. If you decide to fly on an unstable day and fly in the late morning this will effect you.

This is the medium to severe bump tolerance zone. It is bad but it is not ugly. You maintain positive control of the aircraft most of the time but there are definite altitude and attitude changes as you fly though the bumps. This is where the flight instructor informs the student that this is normal but it will be bumpy. This is where the instructor is on his toes and must provide active control near the ground. Things could go bad if you are not experienced or you depend on a student to account for a down draft near the ground.

The UGLY

We now address the ugly cumulus. This is where the clouds look pretty, but the air is ugly. This is where most of us hope not to ever be, and we can plan on not being there. The cumulus clouds are taller than they are wide. The day starts of very nice and forgiving, but can go bad fast and get past any light sport aircraft limitations quickly. You can tell if it is going to this type of a day from the upper air charts with the air cooling from 3 to 4 degrees C per 1000 feet, or the weather people predicting there are going to be thunderstorms in the afternoon. If you have to simply watch the skies, you will see bad looking cumulus early in the day as discussed above, or medium cumulus clouds very early in the day.

Ugly air means lack of control and a good chance of a bad landing. Ugly can be avoided through using the basic "weather to fly" concepts.

Keep in Mind

1. Cumulus clouds are formed from enough moisture in the air rising and condensing, but if the air is dry and the sky blue you can still have the thermals with no clouds.

2. Ugly air cumulus can also be bad looking cumulus with higher wind looking tops. This is where you combine bad looking cumulus with wind creating the ugly situation.

How Can You Avoid the Bad, and Especially Ugly Air?

1. Fly early in the morning before the sun has a chance to heat the ground.

2. Study the weather and fly later in the morning in stable conditions.

3. Try and fly when the surface conditions are not different from the upper air 3000 feet above you.

Evaluate “Whether to Fly” and pick the good, minimize the bad, and completely avoid the ugly cumulus. Clouds provide for you markers in the sky to tell you what the air is doing, but they need to be approached with caution since they can create their own weather.

Always consider what you might have to do to get more airtime per flight and being prepared to fly in the cold will help this. Many times some of the most beautiful flying will be when it is cold.

The concept of just dressing warm to fly in an open cockpit airplane when it is cold works good most of the time. However, many people believe just dressing warm will work if it gets REALLY cold. Most of the time you need some sort of auxiliary heat to fly for and hour or more. I have tried it, it does not work.

If it is just below freezing (30 degrees F) with a 30 MPH wind chill (this is a slow PPC speed for example) this equates to -2 degrees F below zero wind chill. If it is a little faster and colder this can easily drop to –20 below zero wind chill. This is really, really cold. If your hands are out in the wind whey will not last.

Everyone I have seen dressing good with warm looking bar mitts and/or good gloves, can last maybe half an hour if it is really cold, than come back in agony with frozen hands.

The one I remember best was when it happened to me. The day started in Truckee California, sometimes the coldest place in the US. It was calm and nice, about 25 degrees F. It was a 30 minute flight to get back to my home airport but had to climb to 10,000 to get over a ridge and back to Carson City Nevada. I knew it would be cold but I did not expect what happened. While flying back 15 minutes into the flight, my hands got so cold I could not grab onto the bar. Flying it with the bar under my elbows seemed to work best and also squeezing the bar between my forearms provided enough control to safely land. What a lesson to learn! Something had to be done to fly when it was really cold.

The heat pads used by hunters to put in their gloves and boots are a great start. They are generally inexpensive and can be carried and used as required if you generally do not plan to consistently fly in the cold and really cold but could be used if you need them.

I soon discovered that the motorcycle shop had 12 volt electric gloves, socks, pants and jackets. The problem is solved. Hook this to your battery and you have a very efficient heating system for any 12 volt aircraft system. Think of the extra comfort and enjoyable time you can spend in the air. Great technology we can use from our motorcycle cousins. This will apply to all 12 volt aircraft systems, including enclosed aircraft with marginal heating systems.

You can easily run two pairs of gloves and one pair of socks off a common Rotax 2 cycle engine with a battery. If put some of those “hunter heat packs” near the students toes, and you can easily fly around for 2 hours in comfort dressed warmly. Heated gloves and socks running full blast provide plenty of heat when you also dressed warm. I added a simple voltage meter to the aircraft battery to help figure out if the system was charging or draining.

Each pair of gloves and socks are 22 watts – each totaling 66 watts for 3 sets.
This is quite a bit of juice. A hand held radio is only 5 watts output. Producing heat takes a lot of electricity. My simple ROTAX 503 puts out about 175 watts at full power and significantly less at idle. Adding a jacket at 77 watts in addition overloads the electrical system and drains the battery at idle but can produce enough electricity at 5500 RPM cruise. If you want the extra heat, perhaps a vest at 44 watts will help you squeak by.

Also note that if you bring something along to push the radio buttons since this is near impossible with big gloves, you do not have to take off your gloves to change frequencies. A pencil eraser works great for this.

When it gets cold, turn your half hour flights of suffering cold into 2 hour flights where you are warm and cozy.

The hard core soaring pilot isn’t happy unless the nose of the aircraft is pointed at the ground but climbing at 2000 foot per minute into big cumulus clouds. The bigger the bump, the higher the potential climb rate. Happy to have clouds forming around and barely maintain visual contact with the earth. Wakes up and gets ready to fly after brunch is finished on Sunday.

The New Ultralight Pilot. Scared if has to react to any atmospheric movement what so ever. Lands immediately when first bump is felt, even if it is his own wake turbulence. Wakes up automatically three hours before sunrise to evaluate the weather and takes off 30 minutes before sunrise with a strobe.

Most of us are somewhere in between these two extremes. But we normally start off flying in calm air and develop a bump tolerance as we progress in our flying career.

What are bumps and turbulance?

Bumps and turbulence are simply the result if flying through air that is moving at different speeds and directions. Bumps is a common term used by pilots many times for lighter to moderately active air, where the word turbulence is used by pilots for stronger air. Turbulence is also the FAA definition for bumps. The terms “bumps” and “turbulence” generally can be used interchangeably.

Here we will focus on atmospheric turbulence which is the result of thermals or wind rather than mechanical turbulence, which is the result of flying in the lee side of buildings, trees or mountains.

The FAA provides a good definition of bumps and turbulence that we will use in our discussion here. Light turbulence are minor bumps you can feel but are not considered uncomfortable, with slight changes in altitude and attitude. Light chop is rhythmic bumps with little change in altitude and attitude.

Moderate turbulence is significant changes in altitude and attitude, but the aircraft remains in positive control at all times. There are strains against seat belts. Experienced pilots call it “BUMPY” and newer pilots are may be stressed and wishing they were safely on the ground. Severe turbulence is large and abrupt changes in altitude with the aircraft momentarily out of control. Extreme turbulence is when the aircraft is violently tossed about and practically impossible to control. Ultralight and Sport pilots should stay out of severe and especially avoid extreme turbulence.

How do we develop tolerance for light and
ultimately moderate turbulence?

Hopefully, your instructor took you up to fly in some wind and bumps before you started soloing to prepare and show you that they are not that bad if you know how to handle them. But when first learning to solo, your instructor provides you limitations so you avoid moderate bumps when first flying the aircraft on your own. This develops your ability to maintain altitude plus pitch and roll attitude by flying in relatively smooth air. Flying comfortably and perfecting your skills in calm air is the first step in developing skills for bumps. This could be 20 to 50 hours of air time in light air.

My bump proverb provided to students:
“Do not look for the bumps, the bumps will find you”

My bump proverb provided to students: “Do not look for the bumps, the bumps will find you”. Even though you do your “Weather to Fly” and predict the air conditions reasonably well, you will encounter turbulence in your desire for smooth air. Little bumps will feel big at first.

If you do the five step Weather to Fly procedure for sport pilots, you have a good chance of not having the bumps get bigger than you capabilities. A significant problem in getting used to bumps in not usually the ability to deal with them, it is the fear of the unknown. Gradually fly later in the mornings as the bumps usually increase and work up your tolerance slowly. Take a lesson from a qualified instructor in light to moderate turbulance.

If you know how to gage how big the bumps are, than it will help you realize if you are in light to moderate turbulence and can evaluate the situation. Realizing you are in light and not medium turbulence, is the first step to developing bump tolerance.

Here are some guidelines I use to describe light turbulence for ultralight and sport pilots based on flying a constant airspeed, constant throttle flying straight :

1. No more than five MPH variation in airspeed induced by the bumps.

2. No more than 20 degrees bank induced flying straight.

3. No more than 300 foot per minute variation up or down induced by the bumps.

You will probably get light turbulence even if you do your weather and hope for calm conditions. Soaring pilots will not even bother to go flying but new motorized pilots might consider this scary at first. Light turbulence should be easy to maintain control even for newer pilots. The secret is to evaluate how bad it is quantitivly, rather than let your emotions run wild and make bad decisions.

Moderate turbulence can similarly be described as:

1. 6 to 12 MPH variation in airspeed induced by turbulence.

2. 20 to 40 degrees bank induced flying straight.

3. 300 to 1000 foot per minute variation up or down in vertical speed from normal.

Soaring pilots seek moderate turbulence to provide the ability to climb and fly cross country by riding the updrafts. New ultralight or Sport Pilots would have their hands full maintaining control and would probably want to be safely on the ground. Experienced ultralight or Sport Pilots can handle moderate turbulence this but would be happier finding lighter air to fly in.

If you get into the situation of severe or even extreme turbulence, simply focus of flying the aircraft straight and level, stay away from the ground and find better air.

Summary tips for managing bumps and developing bump tolerance:

1. Do your Weather to Fly preflight preparation to predict what the air will be doing.

2. Learn to fly competently in calm air or light turbulence before you fly in moderate turbulence.

3. Evaluate the turbulence objectively and determine its real classification.

4. If you get in turbulence above your abilities or comfort level, focus on flying the aircraft straight and level and evaluate the situation to find better air.

Developing your abilities to actively control the aircraft and enjoy the air while flying through light and moderate turbulence, allows you to fly more and the ability to fly cross country.

This month we are going to cover my FAA practical test. I just finished my Designated Pilot Examiner course and can now issue Sport Pilot Certificates. The check ride or “Practical Test”, as the FAA calls it, is two parts. The "oral" which is first, and the "flight test" which is second. We will look at the flight test and related weather.

I must say that the FAA Sport Pilot group 610 lead by Marty Weaver, did an excellent job of teaching us the "FAA way" and testing us on the Sport Pilot procedures.

After the oral test in the early morning, it was time to head to the field to take the check ride. By this time thermals were popping, the wind was blowing, I was not really that enthused to fly and perform the required maneuvers with the air so bumpy. I was told that we were going to put me in the back seat, in a new trike (luckily I had flown an Air Creation GTE before), and have to perform the maneuvers. I was asked what do you think? I said looks bumpy, new trike, in back etc. Again Mark asked, Is this weather within your limitations and is it safe to fly?

Here is the first tip, listen carefully and understand the question. Ask “say again” if you need to.

Back to Mark’s questions about flying “Is this weather within your limitations and is it safe to fly, and do you want to continue the test?” It was within my limitations and it was safe to fly so I answered, “YES”. Even though the conditions were not optimum, we were told that the Instructor/examiner group at the seminar should be able to be proficient in different aircraft and challenging conditions. Any sport pilot applicant is always free to discontinue the test and continue it later if weather is not appropriate.

We were now into the meat of the test, the “Practical Test Standards” (PTS). Get this publication. ASA has a nice book costing only $5. This is what you need to know and practice. Make sure you get the one for your category. The Weight Shift Control Air craft and the Powered Parachute is in one book, while the Airplane and the others is in the book.

As we were taxing out I did voice my concern about the bumpy air and how it might be hard to maintain the tolerances in the PTS. Mark responded, do not worry, I will take this into account, you always have to use your judgment as an examiner and account for the weather conditions. Now I felt better about the bumpy air ahead.

We were taking the Test at the Sebring Airport. You must know the hold short line, taxi way signs, general airport markings. If you are being tested in a grass or farmers field, airport markings would have been covered in the Oral part of the exam already.

Mark had his “Plan of Action”, where all the maneuvers he had chosen to do during the test marked on a piece of paper. Once we lifted off and I flew straight down the runway I was at ease, in my own element. Since I was teaching all the maneuvers, I felt at ease performing them. Even though I was responsible for watching and avoiding air traffic, I asked Mark to help and inform me if he saw anything. We did the test maneuvers and it felt good. We came back, shut off the engine, and mark said that I passed. YA-HOO! He wrote up my temporary Sport Pilot certificate and endorsed my log book. I was a Sport Pilot.

Now it was time to see if it made a difference. I casually packed up my stuff, left the room, and raced to Lockwood Aviation who rents Light Sport Aircraft to Sport Pilots with the log book signoff for trikes, fixed wing and powered parachutes.

I presented my temporary Sport Pilot certificate, and asked to rent a weight shift control aircraft. Tisha asked to see my logbook endorsement which I showed her, and than simply asked, “Which one do you want?”

I responded “the new Air Creation 582 with that fast wing”. Tisha said “You know where it is, have fun”.

For my first flight in an N-numbered aircraft, I went back to the area where I took the practical and had a chance to run the high performance Air Creation wing through its paces. Very nice flying wing. Now I know why everyone likes it. A couple of touch and goes and it was time to come back to reality. More classes tomorrow and homework was still ahead.

The FAA DPE course went on with Sun N’ Fun next. Phil Lockwood said he wanted to get his N-numbered aircraft to Sun & Fun, but did’nt have anyone to get it there since it was N-numbered and his crew was booked to drive the vehicles to the Sun N’ Fun event so I volunteered for the job. It would be better to fly than to drive. Phil agreed and said “Fly it there.”

After a few days of decompression at my cousins house, I finally showed up about noon on Monday. Cumulus popping, but nothing looking to bad.

It was about 60 miles from Sebring to Lakeland. I plotted out my cross country course, Phil Lockwood explained the route, and I programmed the GPS for the South Lakeland Airport. The wind was blowing directly from Sebring to Lakeland on the ground. The cloud movement verified this wind direction.

I took off, headed out to Lakeland. It was pretty bumpy and at least an hours flight so I climbed up above the cloud base which was about 5000 feet. Once I got above the cloud layer, it was smooth but cold. Even though there were plenty of landing areas below, you always think about engine failures on cross country flights. The engine was a Lockwood special, and ran smooth and steady. I love it when the engine sounds so good.

At 5000 feet, this was the first time I was cold in Florida, but it beat the bumps. With a tail wind and the bar tucked under my arms, that single surface wing was hitting a 60 MPH ground speed.

An uneventful flight to Sun N’ Fun South Lakeland airport was spiced up with some wind and thermals coming into land, but some extra airspeed and a little throttle helped blast through the sporty air for a nice touchdown.

First off, why are ground reference maneuvers required to become a sport pilot? They are simply used to demonstrate a level of pilot proficiency. These specific maneuvers are not performed typically during every flight, but the principles and elements are used to develop the pilot’s skill in analyzing the effect of wind and other forces acting on the aircraft in flight.

Ground reference maneuvers require a higher level of skill because your altitude and track can easily be measured to references on the ground. Even if you are going to stay within the ultralight arena, the ground reference maneuvers enhance your airmanship and mastery of the aircraft.

Generally all of the practical test standards (PTS) checkride ground reference maneuvers should: Be conducted so that the minimum altitude over the ground for any part of the maneuver should be 600 feet AGL for airplanes, 400 feet AGL for Weight Shift (trikes), and 200 feet AGL for PPC. An important note on this: This means that the maneuver must be started at least 100 feet above this minimum value to allow for altitude tolerances of minus 100 feet from the starting altitude .

• Maintain a constant ground track in calm conditions or high winds
• Maintain airspeed +/- 10 knots (for airplanes and weight shift control only)
• Roll into and out of headings +/- 10 degrees
• Divide attention in and out of the cockpit to adequately maintain ground track and watch for other aircraft

Most competent ultralight pilots welcome the opportunity to increase their flight skills and enjoy learning precision ground reference maneuvers.

As a FAA examiner screening sport pilot applicants to take check rides, I have heard many times, “I am not worried about the flight portion of the checkride, I have been flying ultralights twenty years, I know how to fly”. Yes, knowing how to fly is one thing, but performing specific ground reference maneuvers to sport pilot tolerances is another. Simply, if you do not know what the specific maneuvers are and have not practiced them, you will fail the practical test. Here is your opportunity to get started.

If you are going to be taking your sport pilot check ride, start practicing these maneuvers when you go flying. Find an instructor who knows how to perform the maneuvers and can critique you. Do not show up for a checkride unprepared.

Low Pass

We are going to start with a ground reference maneuver not required for the checkride, but I feel is the best maneuver to start with near the ground. The rest of the maneuvers will build in this technique. This is typically known as a “low approach” to general aviation pilots, or simply a “low pass” down the runway. This is what I use to get students used to flying near the ground and have them develop the proficiency for determining their height above the ground. This is the exercise learned before performing landings. It is simply flying down the center of the runway at a constant altitude following a straight line. Airports or your landing strip is a good place to do this.

The objective is to stay over directly over the center line at a constant altitude and not drift side to side. Powered parachutes do not have to worry about airspeed since they have no airspeed control. However, airspeed for trikes and fixed wing should be at approach speed or at least 1.3 times stall speed at a minimum and typically 1.5 times stall speed. You should always be flying well above stall speed any time you are flying close to the ground.

Start in calm air twenty feet high. Precise power adjustments are needed plus slight pitch changes are needed for trikes and airplanes. You start practicing high but work your way down in altitude as you master the technique, until you can touch a wheel at will as you skim inches high right over the center line. As you develop the technique, you can expand to crosswinds and more active air. This exercise is fun and the foundation to learning how to fly in reference to the ground.

Practical Test Ground Reference Maneuvers – As you start practicing these maneuvers you start in calm wind. After mastery with little wind, the maneuver becomes more difficult as the wind increases. Ground reference maneuvers wind considerations:

• Ground speed will be the same when the airplane has the same headwind component.
• Ground speed will be the same when the airplane has the same tailwind component.
• Steepest angle of bank is required at the points where the airplane is flying downwind.
• Shallowest angle of bank is at the points when flying upwind Crab angles.
• Aircraft will have to be crabbed into the wind the greatest amount where it is flying crosswind.
• There is no crab angle when the airplane is flying directly upwind or downwind.

Rectangle Course

The most basic ground reference maneuver that is a TASK in the Sport Pilot Practical Test Standards for all categories is the rectangular course. This is where you learn to fly straight ground tracks to form a rectangle. The maneuver simulates a typical airport pattern. How this becomes a precision maneuver is maintaining a specific altitude, performing the turn to exit on the precise heading, and maintaining a precise ground track in the rectangular box accounting for wind. Fixed wings and weight shift control must maintain a constant airspeed plus or minus 10 knots from the reference airspeed started at the beginning of the maneuver. This maneuver is first practiced in calm winds, but eventually you must become proficient in windy conditions. Objectives for the maneuver are:

• Timing the start of a turn so that the turn will be fully established at a definite point over the ground.
• Timing of the recovery from the turn so a definite ground track is established.
• Estimation of a ground track and the determination of the appropriate “crab” angle.

Weight shift control, powered parachutes, and open cockpit fixed wings can plan the maneuver straight over selected roads, fences, or other course because you can easily see the ground in front. For best results when planning a rectangular course for the typical enclosed airplane, the flight path should be positioned outside the field boundaries just far enough that they may be easily observed from either pilot seat by looking out the side of the aircraft.

The smaller the rectangular course or closer the track of the aircraft is to the field boundaries, the steeper the bank necessary at the turning points.

We will look at the rectangular course diagram to discuss the maneuver in wind. You would typically enter down wind, entering at a 45 degree angle from the left and enter at the position between numbers 2 and 3. After you enter the down wind, you have no crab angle. This is equivalent to entering the downwind leg of an airport pattern. Your turn at position 3 must be more than 90 degrees to roll out to the precise crab angle into the wind. Between position 3 and 4 you maintain a ground track parallel to the course leg.

Note that you must be dividing attention inside the cockpit to monitor altitude and adjust throttle to maintain the altitude, and outside the cockpit to maintain the proper course and look for other aircraft.

Your turn at position 4 is less than 90 degrees because you are first crabbed into the wind as you turn up wind where there is no crab angle. From position 4 to 1 is the up wind or equivalent to the final approach of an airport pattern. This is the slowest ground speed since you are flying directly into a head wind.

Your turn at position 1 is less than 90 degrees since you must establish a crab to account for the right cross wind. You maintain your ground track by adjusting the crab angle into the wind for this cross wind leg. Your turn at position 2 must be more than 90 degrees since you started with a crab angle and must turn extra to enter the down wind leg of the rectangular course. You roll out into the down wind with the fastest ground speed since you are going down wind. Before you get to position 3, you exit he course by turning 45 degrees to the right. Note that throughout maintaining your ground track accounting for the wind, you must monitor altitude and adjust throttle to maintain plus or minus 100 feet, plus the fixed wing and weight shift must monitor and control airspeed plus and minus 10 knots.

This is a great practice exercise you can do while doing touch and goes or just flying around your field.

S-Turns

The next step in developing proficiency with ground reference maneuvers is the S-turns over a road or straight line. The aircraft ground track is semi circles of equal radii on each side of a selected straight line on the ground. Here we build off rectangular course objectives with constant turning in alternate directions, compensate for wind drift during turns, orient the flight path with ground references, follow an assigned circular ground track, and arrive at specified points on assigned headings.

We will use the S-Turns over the road diagram to describe this maneuver in wind. You establish your altitude and airspeed and enter from the down wind to establish the first semi circle radius. You fly directly perpendicular over the straight line and go into your turn. Since you are flying down wind this will be the greatest bank angle of this maneuver just after you cross the road, At position 2 you are crabbed into the wind and continue your semi circle so that between positions 3 and 4 you fly perpendicular over the road.

Flying from position 4 to 5 you are into a head wind so your bank angle will be much shallower to fly upwind and maintain the same size semi circle during this upwind leg. At position 5 you are crabbed into the wind and must turn more abruptly and increase your bank angle as you go downwind. You need to roll out and be perpendicular to the straight line to complete the maneuver. Many times during the Checkride Test I have the applicant continue with four total semi circles .

Turns Around A Point

• Build off S-turns objectives in a continuous turn.
• Further perfect turning technique.
• Understand the radius of the turn is a distance which is affected by the degree of bank used in turning with relation to a definite object.
• Develop a keen perception of altitude.
• Perfect the ability to correct for wind drift during turns.

Using our turns about a point diagram we enter at position 7 down wind and establish the steepest bank angle since we are traveling downwind. At position 5 we are crabbed to the left and decreasing bank as we head up wind. At position 3 the bank is the least and continues to shallow until it starts to increase from position 1 through position 7 where it becomes the steepest flying down wind.

A good technique is once the maneuver is started at position 7, you locate points that you should be over for positions 5, 3 and 1 so you can cross check your distance from the center point. Many times it might be hard to determine the wind direction and the objective of the task is to stay an equal distance from the point. This is the most difficult maneuver to fly in wind because if you start your up wind turn to soon, you will drift over the center point. This is the most common mistake flying in wind.

Common errors for all ground reference maneuvers:

• Failure to clear area before performing maneuver
• Failure to establish proper banks in turns
• Failure to recognize wind drift
• Failure to maintain altitude within tolerance
• Failure to maintain consistent airspeed (weight shift and airplane only)
• Inadequate visual look out for other aircraft

In Summary

Learn and practice ground reference maneuvers to become a better pilot and be able to get through these tasks of the Checkride. These maneuvers are new for most ultralight pilots and must be practiced to become proficient. We used a perfect world in our descriptions above with wind directions exactly parallel or perpendicular to the reference lines and flight directions. The wind is usually not exactly this perfect, so you must make adjustments to maintain the proper ground tracks. This adapting to real life wind is part of your ability to master that aircraft. Have fun flying!

Almost every article I write, my wife and business partner, Loretta, edits to improve its readability, content, and understanding. You probably thought that I was a natural writer banging out these articles every month…not true. You may think I take all the pictures and do all the video shooting…not true. You may think I run the Adventure Productions business on my own…not true. You may think I do it all…not true.

This is my attempt to provide credit where credit is due…to my wife, Loretta for helping to make this all happen.

It started long ago when I was looking for a companion. I figured that since I loved aviation, I better find someone who had the same passion for flying as I did. I found her. She and I have been to 16,000 feet in a hang glider. Loretta became a soaring Paraglider pilot. We’ve traveled the globe pursuing our passion for filming all forms of aviation and producing numerous films for other aviation enthusiasts to enjoy.

During our initial years together, we each worked 9-to-5 jobs, with aviation as a hobby. We began filming our aviation adventures and I wanted to ultimately make filming and production a full time career.

One day I asked, “Sweetheart, can I quit my high paying engineering job to pursue a career making films for sport pilots? You could also quit your
high paying secure job to help me. And, by the way, we should probably sell our dream house to lower our overheads so we can weather any economic storms.” Not many wives would agree to such a sacrifice, but Loretta did.

She jumped right into designing a web site and figured out how to setup an online store. This, when Internet shopping was in its infancy. Loretta figured out how to create a web empire that continues to climb higher in the search engines. She uses her artist eye to get fabulous shots of all sorts of aircraft.
Whether it is while perched on some craggy outcropping to capture paragliders soaring by or standing in the hot sun to catch a low pass of a light sport aircraft down the centerline of the runway.

I think the best way to provide Loretta the credit she deserves is to share with you some anecdotes that give you a glimpse of her essence, each with a quote that amuses me to this day.

“It’s not my problem…Is it?”

I asked Loretta to join me to fly over the Sierras for a local EAA chapter breakfast to give a presentation on the benefits of the Sport Pilot license. My weather analysis showed that it was going to get windy and the thermals would be booming as the day progressed. I figured we needed to get back before that happened. The flight up over the 9,000-foot MSL mountains was great. However, the breakfast meeting was drawn out with numerous enthusiastic and the “medical” questions. We finally finished.

Knowing it was going to be terribly bumpy with winds creating rotors over the mountains, I asked: “It’s going to be bumpy and uncomfortable on the flight back. Is this OK with you?” Loretta responds was “If you think it’s safe to fly, lets go. You’ve got a seat belt to keep me from falling out…don’t you?”

We got tossed around as we climbing out from the airport. Gaining a glimpse of Lake Tahoe, I could see from the wind lines on the lake that we were in for much worse. Weighing whether to continue or turn back I asked, “It is going to get even more turbulent. Is that OK with you?

We’re going to get severely bumped around and it could be scary. Do you want to continue?” Loretta’s response, “Bumps don’t bother me. Besides, you’re the Pilot and it’s your responsibility to fly the aircraft. It’s not my problem…Is it?”

“You, shut up and fly”

Another time we had an opportunity to fly a cross-country trek to Zion National Park. We figured a two-hour out and return. It was a beautiful flight until we got to the edge of the park. There was a 20 MPH wind. The 2000-foot cliffs were producing a severe rotor.

I was very worried about the consequences of getting into the rotor. But, I knew we always had the option of turning downwind. As concerned as I was for the flying conditions, I also wanted to make certain that Loretta got the film shots that I wanted.

I began to direct her to shoot here, point the camera there, and don’t miss that shot. In the meantime, also concerned with the conditions, Loretta began backseat piloting. Suddenly there was a long silence. And then I heard, “You, shut up and fly. And I’ll get the shots.”

After that I focused on maintained altitude and avoided the rotors. Loretta got some wonderful shots of the glowing sunset lit cliffs. We finished with a lovely tailwind flight back to camp.

“They all put their pants on one leg at a time”

Today, Loretta has become pretty good at answering most questions about Sport Pilot, even from career instructors and commercial pilots. Just the other day I asked her, “Don’t you get a little intimidated answering questions from these professional pilots working for the government or the airlines?“ Her response, “They all put their pants on one leg at a time.”

“It’s a Life Changing Experience”

At every fly-in or air show we attend, the number of private pilots inquiring whether they can also be Sport Pilots has increased. They wonder if it is really true that they can fly with just their drivers license as a proof of medical fitness.

The most moving and rewarding experience of each show for Loretta and myself is giving new hope to those who thought they would never be able to fly or haven’t flown in years because of some sort of medical situation.

“It’s a life changing experience for them, whether they do go on to fly or not.” Loretta reflected one night after a show. “To see the change that comes over them as they hear that, yes indeed they can fly as a Sport Pilot. Oh my…It gives me goose bumps. They get this amazing gleam in their eye and such a wide grin on their face. Wow! It doesn’t get any better than that.”

It was the beginning of the Trike Odyssey trip and all was in place. The Hawaiian Flying Team of Gerry Charlebois, Andy Doughty, and Armin Engert had arrived in Reno three days ago, assembled their trikes and had agreed to be ready to take off at sunrise May 14. We were all excited about finally leaving on our barnstorming trip over some of the most beautiful and challenging terrain in the continental United States.

Days before, the wind was howling from the west each afternoon which worried me greatly. At 4 AM the morning of our first flight, I checked the upper air which was generally predicted light and variable in the morning with after noon west winds 10 to 20 MPH. However, today it was supposed to be partly cloudy, a new trend not seen for over a week. We were going to takeoff at the Carson City Airport which is around 4700 feet MSL and had to climb over mountain ranges close to 9000 feet high on our first day planned route.

Loretta and I drove down in the dark not being able to see the clouds what ever they might be. As I pulled my trike out of the hanger, preflighted it, checked the cameras, all was well. By this time the clouds were visible. A nice layer of stratus clouds was above us with a horizon of blue sky in the direction of our flight. The nice layer of stratus clouds means minimum vertical air movement. The sky looked like a morning of smooth air.

The complete operation of four instructors plus seven students who would also chase us with gas, sprung into action when I announced "it looks good, let’s Fly".

As I expected, the air was completely still, and as smooth as the stratus clouds as we climbed together on our first leg of the journey. We flew out into the sunshine and the skies cleared as we flew into the Nevada desert.

We were all elated at the smooth air and great flying conditions. The students were eager to fly now since the first flight went off without a hitch. The sun was beating down on the desert as we took off with the students at about 10:30 AM from Hawthorne Nevada. We decided to climb up over a 9000 foot range and head straight to Mono Lake California. With the extra weight and high density altitude, we had to use the thermals to help us climb. With the cold nights and the hot days the thermals were booming up out of the desert about 11:00 am. It was bumpy as we climbed to 12,000 to get clearance over the range. We could now see Mono Lake in the distance.

We descended towards Mono Lake which was white around the edges hopefully attracting less heat from the sun to give us some relief from the turbulence we were now in.

As we approached the lake we were rewarded with smooth air as we had hoped. It was approaching high noon. Flying around Mono Lake was magical. The air was smooth and the lake looked like a mirror. After we circled the lake we decided to fly over to the mono craters. Just as we left the water and white beaches, the thermals from the hot desert were booming and it was extremely turbulent. We decided to head straight for the Lee Vining Airport to get out of the turbulence. We had already flown four hours are were tired from our first day. We all fought our way through the bumps to the airport.

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Paul Hamilton

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