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Anti-Authority

Do you ever resent the FAA for making so many rules? This is an anti-authority attitude. It can be very hazardous because it can lead to poor decision making out of spite.

It’s ok to question the FAA about their many rules and feel free to even publicly denounce their many rules…..but only while on the ground. When you are in the air, you must fight against your anti-authority tendencies and remember this:

The rules are written in blood!

Most of the rules are there because somebody died doing something that was legal at the time. The rules don’t guarantee your safety but they do provide a framework of general safety limits.

Signs of an Anti-Authority Attitude

If you find yourself thinking some of the thoughts below (in bold) then you are experiencing anti-authority to some degree.

  • “Don’t tell me what to do.” The rules are usually telling you what to avoid, and while this may be inconvenient, there is a usually a pretty good reason. Follow the rule for now and find out why that rule exists after you land.
  • “This is a stupid rule.” It very well may be a stupid rule but professionalism and strict adherence to rules and procedures greatly enhance your survival chances.
  • “These rules don’t apply to me because I’m a better pilot than those who died.” Incorrect, you are a worse pilot than those who died in many ways. For example, you are letting yourself succumb to a hazardous anti-authority attitude. Those pilots who died before this rule existed were significantly more professional than you are being right now. Put down your pride and be safe.

Anti-authority goes hand-in-hand with invulnerability and is particularly dangerous because it leads to some of the most dangerous activities. Pilots who fly VFR into IMC or break up the plane doing unscheduled aerobatics usually suffer from both of these two delusions.

The rules and safety

Are the rules safe enough? No.

As pilots, we need to have personal minimums that are more restrictive than the rules. This is a personal decision and it will be different for everyone. For example, you only need 1 statute mile of visibility to fly in class G airspace, during the day, under 10,000 feet.

However, sticking to a higher minimum like 3 miles is probably a good idea.

Have you ever heard the phrase “8 hours bottle to throttle”? It means that you need to leave 8 hours time between drinking alcohol and flying. A better personal minimum that many use is “24 hours bottle to throttle”.

Be well aware of this attitude and decide in advance that you will be a professional pilot who follows the rules, even if you disagree with them.

 

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Cruising Altitude

When flying anywhere you need to climb, cruise, and then descend. But you must comply with the rules and fly at certain predetermined altitudes.

The Rules: Neodd and Sweven

When you are flying above 3000 feet AGL you must fly at an even-numbered thousand feet if you are traveling west. That is what sweven means. If you are traveling directly South, or on any Westerly heading then fly on the even-numbered thousands.

Conversely, if you are traveling East or directly North, fly at an odd thousand (neodd).

For IFR flights to the East you will fly at 5000 or 7000 or 9000 feet, etc….

For VFR flights you must be 500 feet above these altitudes. So a VFR flight to the West would cruise at 4500 or 6500 or 8500 feet, etc….

These rules are for cruising altitude, meaning that if you are flying up above 3000 to practice an emergency descent then you can just climb to whatever altitude you want.

Why is this rule in place?

This rule is a bit of a compromise between safety and simplicity.

When two planes approach head-on their closure speed, the speed at which they are approaching each other, is very high. Even a relatively slow 152 will approach another 152 at around 180 knots TAS if they are head-on. For faster planes like an arrow traveling at 150 knots the closure speed is 300 knots!

It is safer to fly at these altitudes because VFR planes flying East will always be 1000 feet vertically separated from VFR planes flying West. Furthermore, they will be separated by 500 feet from all IFR traffic.

This is great, but there is a problem! What if planes approach nearly head-on but both traveling East? One of them could be traveling 010 degrees (which is East of North) and the other could be flying at 170 (which is East of South).

This is where the compromise comes in. The rule could split the compass into 4 segments but then it would be more complicated and difficult to remember.

Always stay vigilant looking for traffic that might be climbing/descending, not following the rules, or might be at a near head-on angle.

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How low can you fly?

How low can you legally go?

In very sparse areas, you can fly as low as you want but you must be high enough to make a safe emergency landing. 91.119(a)

If there is any kind of human presence, including people or property, then you must be at least 500 feet away from them or 500 feet above. This is pretty low. Use the ground elevation and your altimeter to determine your height above the ground. 91.119(c)

In most places there are people and structures spread out, so 500 feet above should be considered the limit. The 500 feet away rule really only applies over open water and truly empty areas of land. Continue reading “How low can you fly?”