AC 61-65E–Change 1—Certification: Pilots and Flight and Ground Instructors

FAA has updated AC 61-65E: Certification: Pilots and Flight and Ground Instructors with Change 1. This AC “Provides guidance for pilots and flight instructors on the certification standards, written test procedures, and other requirements contained in FAR Part 61.” It also includes recommended logbook endorsements that CFIs should use when logging instructional flights, endorsing students for solo and cross-country flights, and preparing customers for practical tests.

FAA published AC 61-65F on February 25, 2016, which includes changes to the procedure for obtaining a student pilot certificate.

The update, published January 6, 2014, includes important changes to the requirements for the ATP certificate and other revisions, which are outlined in the record of changes.

SkyVector.com Now Shows ‘Stadium TFRs’

SkyVector.com just announced that it depicts the so-called stadium TFRs (those covered by FDC NOTAM 9/5151). More information here.

On a side note, although SkyVector.com technically remains an unofficial source of charts, weather, etc., it is linked as a source of charts at the Lockheed-Martin FSS web portal.

Update on RNAV (GPS) Approaches

The FAA continues to publish more GPS-based instrument procedures. The latest inventory shows that as of February 6, 2014, there are 13,134 RNAV (GPS) approaches available for general use in the U.S. National Airspace System. (That number doesn’t include the RNP authorization-required procedures available only to pilots and aircraft that meet the requirements of AC 90-101A. More about RNP and AR procedures here.)

By comparison, there are 5,794 ILS, LOC, NDB, and VOR approaches (again, not counting CAT II, CAT III, and other procedures that require special training, equipment, and authorizations).

RNAV (GPS) Procedures
GPS (Stand – Alone)	140
RNAV (LNAV)	5,832
RNAV (VNAV)	3,254
RNAV (LPV)	3,375
RNAV (LP)	533
Total	13,134
Conventional Approaches
ILS	1,285
LOC	1,439
LOC (B/C)	72
NDB	780
VOR	1,273
VOR/DME	945
Total	5,794

Here’s a pie chart that shows the relative shares of different types of instrument approach procedures in the U.S.

Perhaps more important to general-aviation pilots is the fact that so many of the RNAV (GPS) procedures—especially those with LPV minimums—are at smaller airports that don’t have an ILS:

• 3,364 LPVs serving 1,661 airports
• 2,262 LPVs to non-ILS runways
• 1,535 LPVs to non-ILS airports
• 1,102 LPVs to ILS runways
• 2,020 LPVs to non-Part 139 airports (airports not approved for airline operations)
• 880 LPVs with DA < 250 HAT
• 854 LPVs with DA = 200 HAT

Handy WAAS and RNAV (GPS) Approach Fact Sheets

You can find a couple of handy FAA fact sheets on WAAS and RNP Approaches (which most of us know as RNAV (GPS) approaches at the FAA website, here.

The WAAS fact sheet outlines the advantages of a WAAS-capable navigator.

Required Navigation Performance (RNP) Approaches (APCH) succinctly explains the different lines of minimums and provides helpful references to ACs, the AIM, etc.

A Collection of Stall/Spin Videos

I’ve created a YouTube playlist, Stalls and Spins,  that features videos I recorded while demonstrating a variety of stalls, incipient spins, and spins. Most of the videos were captured while I flew the Extra 300L; a few show stalls in the Beechcraft A36.

You can learn more about the stall/spin/upset training that I offer in the Extra 300L at my website, here

Here’s a video from the playlist:

Stalls from Skidding and Slipping Turns

Accelerated (Turning) Stalls in a Bonanza

Many pilots are uncomfortable with stalls while the wings are banked, typically because they’re concerned that, at the stall, a wing will drop, and the airplane will depart into an incipient spin. In this video, I demonstrate stalls in an A36 Bonanza while banking at 45 and 30 degrees. As you can see, if the turn is coordinated, at the stall, the nose drops toward the horizon, but the bank angle remains essentially constant.

Because the airplane is turning, the stall occurs at an airspeed higher than it does in a straight-ahead, wings-level stall. An airplane in a level turn is accelerating (changing velocity because it’s changing direction), and therefore experiences more than 1G.

As the Airplane Flying Handbook notes:

The airplane will, however, stall at a higher indicated airspeed when excessive maneuvering loads are imposed by steep turns, pull-ups, or other abrupt changes in its flight path. Stalls entered from such flight situations are called “accelerated maneuver stalls,” a term, which has no reference to the airspeeds involved. (Chapter 4: “Slow Flight, Stalls, and Spins”)

In non-aerobatic aircraft like the Bonanza, we typically practice accelerated stalls while turning. As I explain, the first step in any stall recovery is reducing angle attack. After the wings are flying again, you can correct the bank and return normal flight.

To learn more about accelerated stalls, see other videos on my YouTube channel, including Accelerated Stalls from Steep Banks and Accelerated Stalls in the Vertical.

Accelerated Stalls in a Bonanza

Aviation Weather Center Updates

The National Weather Service has updated the design and features of its Aviation Weather Center website.

You can read about the changes here; background on the new design is here.

Recovery from Inverted/Overbank Attitudes

Here’s an exercise I do with students in my stall/spin/upset recovery courses. It demonstrates the importance of proper recovery–rolling back to upright flight–from an overbank or inverted attitude. Many pilots instinctively try to pull their way back to the horizon, a maneuver that typically leads to excessive airspeed, high Gs, and significant loss of altitude. More information is available at my website, here.