Points for Pilots

  Rocky Mountains near Grand Teton National Park A simple rule: Do not try to cross the high parts of the Rockies when surface winds exceed 25 kts. The air can be so turbulent that you cannot keep the plane upright.  How about routes under these wind conditions where the mountains aren't quite so high, say 8,000 ft MSL or less? You can cross with suitable precautions that depend on whether you have tailwinds or headwinds. In the tailwinds case, you simply stay at least 2,000 ft above ground level (AGL), and all will be well.  This also works for the headwind case provided your engine is powerful enough to achieve sufficient ground speed.  Lots of small planes with engines producing 100 hp or so cannot do this. Our Zenith 601HDS, with 80 hp Rotax engine, is in that category. You then have two choices: You either don't fly, or if you have to fly for some reason, you fly low and exploit the terrain to overcome the adverse wind forces. This post describes how you can do so, using t

Nuts for fighting fatigue Years ago when an autopilot was a luxury option, homebuilt airplanes mostly did without them. But then innovative engineers, for example of the TruTrak company, came up with low-cost autopilot installations. That option, wonderful as it was, brought a new aspect to long-distance flying: the effect of fatigue. Surprised? Well, if your plane doesn't have an autopilot, nodding off due to fatigue is not an option, and if done anyway, it may prove deadly. Hence there is strong motivation to stay awake. With an autopilot on board, the plane flies itself for an extended period without any pilot input. Thus, nodding off is tempting, but wrong, of course. "Maybe I should close my eyes for a few seconds,'' the pilot reasons. "It cannot possibly cause a problem,'' the argument continues. Of course, all this is wrong. Seconds easily become minutes, with potentially disastrous consequences. How can a pilot fight this temptation? This post supp