Ground School

Pilot Resources and Human Factors

Lesson Objective

In this lesson the student will be introduced to the flight training syllabus, company procedures, the training campus and the resources needed to successfully complete the flight training course.

Lesson Content

This lesson is split into three parts:

Training Environment

Training Syllabus

According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) a person wanting to acquire a private pilot license has to complete ground training, flight training and has to log the appropriate amount of aeronautical experience. These requirements can be found within Part 61 Subpart E - Private Pilot if the student is attending a Part 61 course, however a Part 141 course will have different minimums. The HHA private pilot course has its own training syllabus, which can be found on Sharepoint, and is called the 141 Private Pilot Rotorcraft Helicopter Training Course Outline (TCO).

Expectations

Before beginning any training it is important to set expectations, both from the instructor and student's side. This will be done during one of the first grounds and the importance of punctuality, preparation and professionalism is the key areas to discuss.

Pilot Resources

What are some resources and material that you as a student can use to prepare you for your training? Here I've included a list of resources and a short description of what that resources covers. The FAA has also created a website with links to Aviation Handbooks & Manuals

Federal Aviation Regulations / Aeronautical Information Manual (FAR/AIM)

The FAR/AIM is often seen as a drag from most pilots, it's a book covering necessary regulations any pilot should know and contains a information manual on a myriad of topics published by the FAA. It's nothing to be afraid of, it's super helpful and just takes a little time to get used to. There's a new version being published each year and its important to stay up to date if there are any changes.

Link to FAR / Link to AIM.

Helicopter Flying Handbook

This book is a great resource for understanding how helicopters work. It takes you through everything you'd need to know from aerodynamics to systems and emergency procedures.

Link to PDF

Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge

The PHAK provides basic knowledge that all pilots should know, and it introduces pilots to knowledge that will be needed as they progress in their pilot training.

Link to PDF

Sectional Aeronautical Charts

The sectional charts are aeronautical charts used for navigation and flight planning, they can be found online or be purchased as physical copies.

Link to online publications

E6B Flight Computer

The E6B Flight Computer is a useful tool that allows any pilot familiar with it to convert airspeeds, fuel amounts and make wind corrections. This is needed for flight planning.

Link to online version

Robinson R-22 Pilot Operating Handbook (POH)

The holy grail for any R-22 pilot, this book is a must have.

Link to PDF

Human Factors

Understanding the human factors behind pilot's and their decision making is a key skill for any pilot. This topic can be quite vast and covers a lot of different areas. We use the PAVE acronym, specifically the P for Pilot to help us remember some of the key information that we should be aware of.

Aeronautical Decision Making (ADM)

Aeronautical decision making is the systematic approach pilots take to consistently determine the best course of action in response to a given set of circumstances. We have two more acronyms that can help us understand this process; PPP and DECIDE. These are two ways to understand how we see, interpret and take actions in given situations.

PPP, the simplest of the two:

DECIDE, adds more nuance to the process of interpreting information and taking action:

Resource management in the Cockpit

Flying any aircraft is an intense, resource heavy task. Smaller aircraft are usually piloted by single pilots, while larger aircraft have two pilots. In these situations it is important to divide tasks, make prioritizations and first and foremost; Aviate, Navigate, Communicate.

As mentioned we have single- and multi-pilot operations, for single-pilot we call it Single-Pilot Resource Management (SRM) and for multi-pilot we call it Crew Resource Management (CRM). CRM can however also include other non-pilots, delegating tasks to passengers, relying on ATC for assistance etc.

Another important concept is Situational Awareness, the ability to see the bigger picture and understand what is going on around you, so you can make safe and timely decisions. Having the ability to pick up on radio calls for yourself or others, spotting traffic and having leftover brain-bytes to see what is going on around you is vital for any pilot.

Fitness for flight

Before any flight, all pilots should make sure that they are fit-to-fly. We have a handy acronym, IMSAFE, which reminds us of what we should be mindful of before we go fly.

IMSAFE

We also use FRAT (Flight Risk Assessment Tools) to help us identify risks associated with flights. At HHA we have a Manifest we fill in on Teams.

Hazardous Attitudes

Hazardous attitudes are dangerous attitudes any pilot can have. It is important to identify these attitudes when they present themselves and provide an antidote to make the correct decision.

AMIIR

#ground-lesson-ppl #ppl