13-08-2012, 04:57 PM
AIRMANSHIP
AIRMANSHIP.doc (Size: 449.5 KB / Downloads: 52)
DEFINATION
airmanship is skill and knowledge applied to aerial navigation, similar to seamanship in maritime navigation. Airmanship covers a broad range of desirable behaviors and abilities in an aviator. It is not simply a measure of skill or technique, but also a measure of a pilot’s awareness of the aircraft, the environment in which it operates, and of his own capabilities
1.Airmanship can be defined as:
2.A sound acquaintance with the principles of flight The ability to operate an airplane with competence and precision both on the ground and in the air, andThe exercise of sound judgment that results in optimal operational safety and efficiencyThe three fundamental principles of expert airmanship are skill, proficiency, and the discipline to apply them in a safe and efficient manner
3. Discipline is the foundation of airmanship.
4. The complexity of the aviation environment demands a foundation of solid airmanship, and a healthy, positive approach to combating pilot error
5.The actions of Captain Alfred C. Haynes and the crew of United Airlines Flight 232 are often cited as an exemplar of good airmanship
6.They were able to maintain control of their crippled McDonnell Douglas DC-10, bringing it to a survivable "controlled crash" in Sioux City, Iowa, after a complete loss of all flight controls following an engine failure in July 1989. They did this by improvising a control scheme on the spot using differential thrust on the two working engines.
7.Captain Haynes credited his Crew Resource Management training as one of the key factors that saved his own life, and many others.
8.The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board occasionally cites poor airmanship as a contributing factor in its determination of probable cause in aviation accidents, although it is implicit in many of the pilot error causes it often uses. For example, in its report on the December 1, 1993 fatal crash of Northwest Airlink Flight 5719, the Board determined the "failure of the company management to adequately address the previously identified deficiencies in airmanship" was a contributing factor.
9. More recently, in the February 2, 2005 business jet accident at Teterboro Airport, NTSB investigator Steve Demko, speaking about the probable cause, said determining an aircraft's weight and balance before takeoff is "basic airmanship," a "Flying 101 type of thing."
10. And in the 2006 New York City plane crash that killed New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle, the NTSB cited "inadequate judgement, planning and airmanship" in its probable cause determination.
11.A "failure of airmanship" was also cited by U.S. Military Authorities in the Tarnak Farm incident in Afghanistan, where the pilot of a U.S. F-16 Fighting Falcon mistakenly targeted a 250-kilogram laser-guided bomb on Canadian troops in April 2003, killing four of them.[12] Airmanship covers operation of the aircraft and all its systems, so in military usage, this includes the weapons systems of combat aircraft.
INTRODUCTION
With the introduction of computerised control systems, the application of airmanship is certainly more broadly based and complex now than 50 years ago. Some might say it involves pilot proficiency, flight discipline, aircraft system and airworthiness knowledge, and skill in resource management, plus being fully cognisant of every situation and exercising excellent judgement.
A few years ago someone did say — in relation to the management of airline transport aircraft — airmanship is "the ability to act wisely in the conduct of flight operations under difficult conditions". If that is valid then the three-pilot flight-deck crew of Air France Flight 447, with 20 000 flight hours experience, failed their crucial airmanship test on June 1, 2009. The following statement is reasonably applicable to sport and recreational aviation. Good airmanship is that indefinable something, perhaps just a state of mind, that separates the superior airman/airwoman from the average. It is not particularly a measure of skill or technique, nor is it just common sense . normal understanding).
Rather, it is a measure of a person's accumulated learning — their knowledge and awareness of the aircraft and its flight environment, and of their own capabilities and behavioural characteristics. Combined with good judgement, wise decision-making and attention to detail in the application of that learning, plus a high sense of self-discipline.
Airmanship is the cornerstone of pilot competency
Competency has been defined as the combination of knowledge, skills and attitude required to perform a task well or to operate an aircraft safely — in all foreseeable situations.
For example, here is an extract from an RA-Aus incident report: "The aircraft, with instructor and student on board, was returning to the airfield when a pitch-down occurred. Not known to them the elevator control horn assembly had failed. Control stick and trim inputs failed to correct the situation, but a reduction in power did have some influence, though not enough to regain level flight. A satisfactory flight condition was achieved by the pilots pushing their bodies back as far as possible and hanging their arms rearward. A successful landing at the airfield was accomplished."
A flight operation, even in the most basic low-momentum ultralight, is a complex interaction of pilot, machine, practical physics, airspace structures, traffic, weather, planning and risk. When every flight is undertaken, it is not only the aircraft that should be airworthy; the total environment — flight planning, airframe, engine, avionics, atmospheric conditions, pilot condition and aircraft handling — should allow for the safe, successful conclusion of each operation. It is the perception — founded on the acquired underpinning knowledge — of the state of that overall flight environment and its potential threats that provides the basis for good airmanship and safe, efficient, error-free flight. Insufficient perception and insufficient self-discipline create a pilot at risk.
The bulk of sport and recreational aviation is undertaken by 'amateur' pilots (using the original meaning of the term; i.e. lover of a particular activity or pastime), but such pilots must still approach aviation with the continuig diligence of a professional. Less experienced pilots must acquire levels of airmanship consistent with their progress along the aviation learning curve.
Ensuring engine and/or airframe airworthiness prior to flight is a prime component of airmanship. Owner-pilots are totally responsible for the continuing maintenance of their aircraft, be it a hang glider or a high performance aeroplane. However — for the person accepting an aircraft they do not own/operate — airworthiness, unfortunately, is a matter of faith in the operator, and in the accuracy and completeness of the aircraft's maintenance record. Daily inspections and pre-flight checks cannot assure airworthiness — the pilot does not know what is hidden under the skin or within the engine.
Just as the term 'seamanship' implies a full appreciation of surface wave action and sea movement, so 'airmanship' implies a full appreciation of atmospheric waves, eddies, thermal activity and turbulence.
RISK MANAGEMENT
Most sport and recreational pilots accumulate only a small number of hours each year; about two-thirds of powered aircraft fly less than 60 hours. Perhaps such annual hours is enough to maintain physical flying skills learned at the ab initio flight school — if the pilot has established a program for self-maintenance of that level of proficiency — but maybe not enough to maintain a high level of cognitive skills; for example, situation awareness, judgement and action formulation. In addition, having completed flight theory studies sufficient to pass the basic aeronautical knowledge test and achieve the RAAO's Pilot Certificate, it seems that many, perhaps most, pilots leave it at that — so failing to expand their knowledge by further in-depth studies of flight dynamics and the application of the cquired knowledge; possibly because it involves sometimes difficult detail rather than the broad-brush approach of the flight school. Or, perhaps, assuming that the necessary knowledge will be acquired through subsequent flight experience, also assuming (I guess) that they will survive every learning experience in a condition to continue flying.
However, many pilots are just continually repeating the same flight experience — each year is the same as the last — so all they accumulate is a repetition of one year's experience.
They have no program of deliberately advancing knowledge and skills, nor have they really absorbed the safety basics that should have been drummed into them over the years — never turn back following EFATO; always maintain a safe airspeed; if the engine has been misbehaving never take off until the problem is identified and fixed; if the engine goes sick in flight don't try to make it back to base, land ASAP; don't continue into marginal conditions — turn back; and so on.
So a safety problem exists with some pilots. Many are just not ensuring that they accumulate adequate post-certificate knowledge and skills. In short, they never really learn much about flight dynamics and the atmosphere (and some of their accumulated beliefs are dangerously false); they lack other pertinent knowledge; and worse, they are just not listening or hearing. Be assured that every piot needs to know more.
The sound pilot must understand how the environmental parts relate and interact with each other, and judge the likely consequences of any action, deliberate non-action or random event.
A systematic approach to continuing improvement in airmanship, plus an ability for self-appraisal, is necessary to achieve that understanding.
The Flight Manual or Pilot's Operating Handbook for the powered aircraft model being flown must be fully understood, and the content recollectable when needed in an emergency. Every flight should be conducted correctly and precisely, using procedures appropriate to the airspace class and without taking shortcuts, even if just a couple of circuits and landings are contemplated.
To paraphrase Louis Pasteur's 1754 observation: 'Chance favours only those who have prepared'.
Pilots should be aware that fatigue, anxiety, emotional state — or flying an aircraft that stretches their skill level or just flying an aircraft they don't like — will affect perception and good judgement.
See the "I'M SAFE" checklist. Most studies of aircraft accidents or incidents reveal not a single cause but a series of interrelated events or actions that, being allowed to progress without appropriate intervention from someone, lead to an unplanned termination of the flight.
A U.S. Navy pilot once wrote "In aviation you very rarely get your head bitten off by a tiger — you usually get nibbled to death by ducks." However, U.S. Navy pilots are well-trained, well-informed, self-disciplined individuals who do not expose themselves to those situations where eventually the tiger WILL bite your head off.