The Gremline Forum: Flight Safety news and correspondence

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The Gremline Forum & Letters to the Editor

Correspondence should be sent to postmaster@gremline.com. The views expressed on this page are those of the correspondents only. All correspondence will be reviewed by the editors prior to publication. Time and space preclude publication of all correspondence, but we will do our utmost to publish items in the public interest and representative selections of correspondence where there is ongoing debate. The editors reserve the right to edit, condense or precis submitted material.

 

 

Our Apologies

In March 2008 our Pilot Shop affiliate ‘Flight Store’ cancelled its Affiliate Programme without prior notification (or any notification at all). For this reason our Pilot Shop pages were scrambled for a time while we rebuilt our site. Our Pilot Shop has been discontinued for the time being, but our Bookshop is still live. We hope to provide an alternative Pilot Shop in the future.

 

Important News Release: April 2008

 

Extension of London Area Lower Airspace Radar Service (LARS)

The London Area LARS was introduced in September 2007. The service is being extended from April 2008 to cover the area north of London.

 

 

1 April: all three sectors will operate from 08.00-20.00 local time, seven days a week except for Christmas and Boxing Days when all three will be closed. Please note that although LARS will help you fly safely through London’s busy airspace you will still remain responsible for terrain clearance and separation from other traffic.

 

For a full description of the new service see the UK AIP section ENR 1-6-3 at www.ais.org.uk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gremline News

Gremline was relaunched in 2007 as a free resource. Articles will be added to this site at approximately monthly intervals. We welcome your views on this site and any comments or news that you might wish to see published (subject to our general Conditions). To register for e-mail updates mail us at postmaster@gremline.com. When first registering, it is worth checking that your e-mail client is not mistakenly identifying Gremline mails as spam. Updates are mailed to opt-ins and link-partners at the end of each month or the beginning of the month following. Please check your spam filter or Bulk folder and ensure that Gremline mails are whitelisted or marked as Not Spam. Please note that our regular mailings never contain attachments. If you receive mail purporting to come from Gremline and showing an attachment, delete immediately. Please help keep Gremline free by supporting our Shops, Affiliates and Advertisers.

 

 

To the Editors

 

From the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (Australia)

Guys

I have just seen the Gremline web site for the first time. I had two opposing reactions that I'd like to share. I am webmaster for the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, Australia. I don't have an aviation background but I've been doing this job for the last 10 years.
      My first reaction was: I hate the blue type! Please change it to something else, preferably nice plain black.

      The second reaction was: the information was very good. I'm not a pilot but the article on Accidents on Landing was excellent. Very knowledgeable and well written.
      Poking about under the hood confirms my initial view - this site is many years behind the times in terms of the technology that drives it. But that is not a criticism. In fact it is a perfect example of how excellent material is the most important element of any web site. Simple, basic design works for most people. Only web geeks get hung up about the technical stuff.
      Overall, a very good site, just get rid of the blue text!
Cheers
Bruce Bowden
CASA Webmaster

It’s good to hear from Down Under (excuse our Northern Hemisphere chauvinism!) Sorry that you object to the blue text — this is the first complaint we have had on this score, and most of the people we have contacted over a couple of incarnations of Gremline seem to like it. Your comments on our material are appreciated. Our intention from the outset was to produce useful information simply and without gimmicks. Our prehistoric software is perfectly adequate for this purpose and avoids the financial/time commitment involved in introducing more sophisticated technology. As specialist journalists we are much more concerned with flight safety than with keeping up with the internet Joneses.

 

From SATCO Exeter

Our article Orbits in the Visual Circuit, based on an incident at Exeter International Airport UK (posted December 2007) was forwarded to the Senior Air Traffic Control Officer, Exeter, for comment. We have received a constructive response, which is published in full in the body of the article. This article, and the previously posted To Extend Downwind or Not to Extend? seems to have generated some discussion in GA and ATC circles. We welcome further contributions to the debate.

 

From the UK Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety

Congratulations. I have just come across your site and thank you for the link to our work.

I think it’s very important to have a good supply of reliable information to assist the General Aviation community. Well done. Keep me posted on developments.

Best wishes

Robert Gifford

Executive Director

 

From the Editor of ‘Flight Safety’, the Bulletin of the General Aviation Safety Council (UK)

Dear John,
I have had a look at Gremline and am impressed. My personal view is that the more good quality flight safety material there is out there, the better, and I should welcome co-operation between Gremline and GASCo. We are setting up a link to your web site and I attach a note about GASCo for you to include in your information.
[The work of the UK General Aviation Safety Council and the UK Confidential Human Factors Incident Reporting Programme is summarised in our UK Links section.]

From Charles Strasser, Chairman, AOPA Channel Isles
Dear John,
I will mention your excellent web site in my next RR.
Kind regards
Charles

From the Chief Executive of the UK Flight Safety Committee
I have not seen you before but was impressed with your facilities. Keep up the good work.
Regards

Ed Paintin

 

From Martyn Pegg, Vehicle & Operators Safety Agency (UK)

Just reading through your note on aquaplaning and noticed you refer to ABS as Automatic Brake System. It is in fact Antilock Brake System. Hope this helps and thanks for the good site.

Thank you for your message about 'ABS' and for your kind comments about our web site. It's nice to know that someone is paying attention! I agree with your comment that ABS in road vehicles means 'Antilock Brake System' -- the design being developed from the original 'Maxaret' system introduced by Dunlop in the 1950s and fitted to some early British jet aircraft. However, most modern airliners have some sort of Automatic Braking System that may be selected by the pilot before landing or before beginning the takeoff run. So, 'ABS' can refer to either 'Antilock Brake System' or 'Automatic Brake System'. We are both right, but our aquaplaning article was written in the context of aircraft systems.

 

 

From Brett Jones, USA
I am a student at the Air Force Institute of Technology in Dayton, Ohio. My thesis project involves wind tunnel tests for ground effect. I found your article very helpful in my understanding of ground effect and I will be sure to cite it appropriately in my thesis. Your web site was not only useful for my current research, but I will be starting flight school with the Navy this summer, so I will be involved with aviation for a long time.
[The article “Accidents on Takeoff — Ground Effect” was republished in October 2007.]
Glad we could be of help. There are two further references that may be of use to you: ‘The Anatomy of the Aeroplane’ by Darrol Stinton, and ‘Flying Qualities and Flight Testing of the Aeroplane’ by Darrel Stinton. Both are available from our Bookshop.

 

 

From the Editor

 

A Passing Thought …. On Life Jackets
I saw a pilot donning a life jacket before setting off on a flight and thought, “Wise chap.” Then I noticed that he was wearing a self-inflating life jacket that would inflate automatically as soon as it was immersed. That could have left him trapped by his inflated life jacket inside a sinking aircraft. When I mentioned this potential hazard he thanked me and said it had never occurred to him that a life jacket designed for sailors was unsuitable for use in an aircraft. Check yours!

 

 

Converting from Heavy Metal to Light Aircraft
The following is an extract from a letter from Gremline’s Managing Editor published in the February/March 2005 issue of The Log, the Journal of the British Air Line Pilots Association.
“…. Most airline pilots begin their training on simple single–engined prop aircraft, progress to twin pistons and then, clutching their fresh ATPL, step up to heavy metal and gradually forget all they learnt during their few hours on light aircraft.
      My active interest in flight safety involves reviewing all accidents and incidents that involve UK registered General Aviation aircraft. I am becoming aware of accidents and incidents to GA aircraft being flown by pilots holding professional licences and with several thousand hours flying experience. My concern is that at least some of these pilots have few hours on the GA type involved and no real currency on type, despite many thousands of hours on heavy metal.
      Minding an Airbus while it trundles across the Atlantic does not qualify any pilot to safely operate a Pitts S-1C or a Rutan Long-Ez, to select two types featured in AAIB accident reports.
      I understand the attraction of purchasing a recreational aircraft to counter the flight deck atmosphere but recommend that professional pilots recognise the need for structured training and regular airborne time when converting back from heavy metal to light aircraft.

 

 

 

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