The Pilot’s Manual: Ground School has introduced pilots to aerodynamics, airplane systems and flight instruments, human factors, weather, and flight operations.
Before taking to the sky, a pilot’s education begins on the ground.
Instructors:
Dr. Philip Greenspun
& Dr. Tina Srivastava
Private Pilot Ground School
All lecture notes, except Session 18: Special Lecture on Aerobatics, are provided in the following table.
SES # 1
TOPICS: Lecture 1: Introduction , Lecture 1 Q and A
SES # 2
TOPICS: Lecture 2: Airplane Aerodynamics
SES # 3
TOPICS: Lecture 3: Learning to Fly
SES # 4
TOPICS: Lecture 4: Aircraft Systems
SES # 5
TOPICS: Special Lecture: Oshkosh 2018
SES # 6
TOPICS: Lecture 5: Charts and Airspace
SES # 7
TOPICS: Lecture 6: The Flight Environment
SES # 8
TOPICS: Lecture 7: Navigation
SES # 9
TOPICS: Lecture 8: Helicopter Aerodynamics
SES # 10
TOPICS: Special Lecture: F-22 Flight Controls
SES # 11
TOPICS: Lecture 9: Meteorology
SES # 12
TOPICS: Lecture 10: Communication and Flight Information
SES # 13
TOPICS: Lecture 11: Aircraft Ownership and Maintenance
SES # 14
TOPICS:Special Lecture: The How and the Why of IFR
SES # 15
TOPICS: Lecture 12: Aircraft Performance
SES # 16
TOPICS: Lecture 13: Interpreting Weather Data
SES # 17
TOPICS: Lecture 14: Human Factors
SES # 18
TOPICS: Special Lecture: Aerobatics
SES # 19
TOPICS: Lecture 15: Flight Planning
SES # 20
TOPICS: Lecture 16: Seaplanes
SES # 21
TOPICS: Lecture 17: Small UAS Operations
SES # 22
TOPICS: Lecture 18: Weight and Balance
SES # 23
TOPICS: Lecture 19: Multi-Engine and Jets
SES # 24
TOPICS: Lecture 20: Flying at Night
SES # 25:
TOPICS: Lecture 21: Weather Minimums and Final Tips
Introductions
• MIT/Wellesley/Harvard/Other?
• Aero Background?
• Flight Experience?
• Purpose for taking this class?
– Fly an airplane?
– Fly a helicopter?
– Remote Pilot certificate?
Course Objectives
• Prepare for FAA Private Pilot Knowledge Test (“Written” as opposed to “Practical” test or “checkride”)
• Available in Airplane, Helicopter, Balloon, Glider, etc. variants
• We will concentrate on Airplane
• Prepare for FAA Remote Pilots UAS Test
• Help you get the most out of flight training
• Learn about the engineering
What’s Great about Aviation
• Realize the ancient human dream of flight
• Understand geology and human settlement by looking at the Earth from above
• Appreciate engineering achievements
• Use all of your capabilities: mental, physical coordination, emotional control
• Get to Martha’s Vineyard in 30 minutes! (and most places a little slower than if you’d taken a Honda Accord)
What you can do
• Nearby Airports: Norwood, Bedford, Lawrence, Beverly, Nashua, Marshfield, etc.
• All have flight schools for lessons and rentals of airplanes or helicopters
• Learn to fly in 10 hours: take off, cruise, land.
• Next 35-55 hours: learn to be safe as the only pilot in the aircraft, the FAA standard for cert.
Our local area
● Look at the map
Flying is faster than driving
● KBHB – Hiking in Acadia
48 states; 18 days; 50 hours
● About $5,000 in operating cost in a Cirrus SR20; see Philip’s weblog :
A 48-state tour of the U.S. by light aircraft
●January 4, 2018 by philg
Time to plan summer travel! Here’s an idea for pilots with kids: a 48-state tour of the U.S. in a four-seat airplane, hitting a bunch of historical sites, especially pre-Columbian, with at least a touch-and-go in every state. The tour should take roughly three weeks with about 50 hours of flight time in a Cirrus SR20 and cost about $5,000 for fuel and engine/prop reserves.
See
the route on Skyvector (note that coming down the spine of the Appalachians enables a lot of Eastern states to be knocked out without too much flying; staying on the east side of the West Coast states also saves quite a bit of flying time, though there is a lot of wilderness)
an annotated navlog with some information about what to do and see at each stop
A Cirrus SR22 with air conditioning would certainly be a more comfortable choice for this journey, but it could also be done in an even more basic plane, such as a Cessna 172.
Aviation rules:
Pick airports such that we can land within 60 percent of available runway (i.e., FAR 121 airline safety margins)
Avoid IMC/IFR since a big reason for this trip is to understand the landscape rather than be inside a cloud, despite the high level of avionics and autopilot capability of the Cirrus.
No night flying in the mountains.
No IMC/IFR flying in the mountains.
Wait out any afternoon thunderstorms; fly the next morning.
Cross big mountain ranges only when winds aloft are 30 knots or less, ideally first thing in the morning.
No over-water operations (go around Great Lakes); saves having to carry a raft
Prep:
Update Cirrus with ADS-B transponder
Upgrade Jepp and Garmin subscriptions to cover all of North America
Get oil changed by East Coast Aero Club (good for 50 hours so plane will be just ready for another change upon return)
Send oxygen system out for recertification
Send in PLB for fresh battery
Best time of year? If the kids are substantially ahead of grade level, take them out of school around June 1 so as to avoid (a) peak summer school vacation crowds, and (b) peak summer temperatures that will compromise aircraft performance. For home-schooled kids, maybe start this trip on April 15?
Readers: Thoughts on the overall idea or route?
[The airports: KBED KSFM KLCI KDDH KOXC KTTN KGED KGAI KROA KAVL KGSP KCHA KPDK KMGM KDTS KNEW KHEZ KASL KROG KEOS KIDP KAVK KDHT KSAF KCEZ E91 KGCN KPGA KBCE KBVU L06 26U KGEG KCOE KMSO KWYS KCPR KAIA KPIR KBWP KSTP KDBQ KJVL KPWK ZOGEB KBEH KEYE KGLW KPMH KPKB KJST KSWF KPVD KBED]
Related:
Book review: Rinker Buck’s Flight of Passage (Piper Cub with no GPS as cross-country machine for two teenagers!)
Why you will love it
• A lot of people who have enough time and money to do anything they want, choose to fly.
• You’ll meet a lot of interesting people.
• Passion that pulls together people of all ages, education levels, nationalities, etc.
Is it safe?
• Statistically, traveling by light aircraft is less safe than being on JetBlue
• Only a tiny percentage of light aircraft accidents are related to mechanical failure
• Therefore, you can fly almost as safely as the airlines if you fly like the airlines:
– Recurrent training
– Develop and practice instrument flying skills
– Two-pilot crew
– Checklists
• All else fails? Pull the ballistic parachute!
Instructor: Philip Greenspun
• MIT Class of 1982(!)
• Pilot since 2002
• Airplane instructor at East Coast Aero Club (2005)
• Helicopter instructor at ECAC (2006)
• First Officer flying CRJ-200 for Delta Airlines
• type-rated for two jets (CRJ and Cessna Mustang)
• Usually flies the Cirrus SR20 ( has a parachute for the airplane, check it out HERE ), ( news ) Robinson R44, Pilatus PC-12 (sea turtles!)
Instructor: Tina Srivastava
• MIT Course 16, S.B., S.M., Ph.D
• Zero-G flight, satellite deployment testing
• Chief Engineer, Raytheon, $40M radar and electronic warfare program
• Pilot since 2012
• MIT Flying Club
• Working on IFR (completed stages 3 of 4)
• Usually flies the Cessna 172 (The Cessna 172 Skyhawk is an American four-seat, single-engine, high wing, fixed-wing aircraft made by the Cessna Aircraft Company. First flown in 1955, more 172s have been built than any other aircraft. It was developed from the 1948 Cessna 170 but with tricycle landing gear rather than conventional landing gear. The Skyhawk name was originally used for a trim package, but was later applied to all standard-production 172 aircraft, while some upgraded versions were marketed as the Cutlass, Powermatic, and Hawk XP. The aircraft was also produced under license in France by Reims Aviation, which marketed upgraded versions as the Reims Rocket. Measured by its longevity and popularity, the Cessna 172 is the most successful aircraft in history. Cessna delivered the first production model in 1956, and as of 2015, the company and its partners had built more than 44,000 units. With a break from 1986–96, the aircraft remains in production today.)
What you’ve read already … or what you’re going to read tonight!
– FAA Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, Chapters 1, 3-8, 12, 14-16
– FAA Airplane Flying Handbook, Chapters 1-3, 7-8, 10
– FAA Helicopter Flying Handbook, Chapters 1-4, 9
Don’t worry if you didn’t get everything.
Optional Supplies
Typical Private student has the following in hardcopy:
– A non-FAA textbook (not necessary)
– FAR/AIM (regulations plus official FAA info)
– Test Prep Book (ASA or Gleim);
– Airman Certification Standards (ACS)
Don’t forget a noise-canceling headset, e.g., Bose or Lightspeed. Everything is available at the front desk of a flight school.
Getting the Private Pilots License
• Flight Training
• Apply for Student Pilot Certificate
• Exam for 3rd class Medical Certificate
• FAA Private Pilot Knowledge Exam
• “The Written”
• Variants for Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
• Checkride (Practical Exam)
• Oral section
• Flight section
Meenakshi Asokan
• First experience: passenger on fly-out with MIT Flying Club (Feb 2016) – Inspired me to become a pilot .
Spring 2017:
• PhD student in Neuroscience, Harvard, cross registered for 16.687
• Knowledge before the course: " air flowing around the airplane surfaces create magic, very important magic and some more magic "
• Enabled me to become a pilot, laid the foundation for the aviation experiences in the rest of my life
May-Sept 2017: Student Pilot
• Two years of savings -> lessons at East Coast Aero Club
Sept 29, 2017: Private Pilot
• 👍 😃
After PPL
• Spin training and aerobatics lessons in Decathlon
With the MIT flying club
2000 ft, south-bound
Spoke to Kennedy Tower!!!
With friends
With more friends
With family
Why do I love it?
• Fun: beautiful views and experiences, and the surge of excitement every single time I have the controls.
• Challenge: Something new (and rewarding) to learn from every single experience.
• People: Amazing to meet and interact with the aviation community.
The FAA Written Exam
• Computer-based multiple-choice 2.5-hour test
• 60 questions
• Part of question bank is published
• New questions introduced continuously so know the principles!
• Answers are shuffled
Passing is 70. If you sit through this class and earn less than a 70, Philip will buy you lunch.
Getting the most out of this class
• Read the FAA books three times before taking the test.
• Use a test prep book
• Take practice tests from Sporty’s Study Buddy (here)
• Free 6-month AOPA student membership (here)
• Physics question? Learn from a Ph.D. physicist and pilot in See How it Flies by John Denker (here)
Testing and Grading
Final Exam
– 60-question final exam simulating the FAA Knowledge Test
– Take it at home with a web browser
For-Credit (3 units) Students
– Show up for all three days
– Score at least 70 on the final
CFI Endorsement for the real test
– Request sign-off PDF via email from Philip (FAA certificated flight instructor) – Go to a flight school and take the real test
– Fail: Philip buys you lunch
Aero/Astro majors: The FAA material is designed for people as young as 16 and without any technical or scientific training.
Sample Question
Why is frost considered hazardous to flight?
A. Frost changes the basic aerodynamic shape of the airfoils, thereby increasing lift.
B. Frost slows the airflow over the airfoils, thereby increasing control effectiveness.
C. Frost spoils the smooth flow of air over the wings, thereby decreasing lifting capability.
Sample Question ( with answer in green)
Why is frost considered hazardous to flight?
A. Frost changes the basic aerodynamic shape of the airfoils, thereby increasing lift.
B. Frost slows the airflow over the airfoils, thereby increasing control effectiveness.
C. Frost spoils the smooth flow of air over the wings, thereby decreasing lifting capability.
The Best-laid Plans
Day 1 (Tuesday)
This Intro
Aerodynamics
** Break **
Learning to Fly
Airplane Systems
** Oshkosh at Lunch! (pizza provided!) ** Charts and Airspace Navigation
** Break **
Flight Environment
Helicopters
F-22 with Randy “Laz” Gordon
MIT Flying Club
Day 2 (Wednesday)
Meteorology
** Break **
Comms, Radar, ATC
Aircraft Ownership
** Lunch Break **
IFR Performance Weather data
** Break**
Human Factors
Aerobatics with Marc Nathanson
Day 3
Flight Planning
** Break **
Seaplanes
sUAS (drones) with Michael Holzwarth
Night flying
Multi-engine and Jets
** Brazilian Air Force Lunch **
Weight and Balance
Weather Minimums and Parting words ** Break **
App Planning & Engineering with Tyson Weihs
Welcome Again
• Welcome again to our class and to the community of aviators.
• Better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air than in the air wishing you were on the ground.
• But remember that humans have been wishing to be in the air for tens of thousands of years. You’re going to be some of the lucky few to be in the air and also control your destiny through the air.
Questions?
● 5 ,4, 3, 2, 1, now I got the power here
Q&A Review
Gyroscopic Procession
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHGKIzCcVa0&feature=youtu.be
– Starts at 6:06
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cquvA_IpEsA
Mechanical Computer
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1idnAH9Y4
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