[Pilots] G1000 Avionics and MORE FLYING!

[mnwingops at gmail.com]

Hello Everyone,

 

On Monday, March 20th, we will welcome the long awaited Spring Equinox in
our half of the hemisphere.  This finally means that we have more hours of
daytime operations for the utilization of our fleet.  Due to the tireless
efforts of our Aircraft Maintenance Officers and Contractor our fleet is
almost 100% operational.  It is no small feat to accomplish this in a
post-pandemic era of parts shortages, and they deserve our appreciation and
admiration.  Their biggest ask is that you fly our beautiful fleet!  

 

This winter has plagued us with less than desirable conditions and many of
us have been still adapting to the "new normal" in our lives.  This has left
our flying hours off track of achieving our requirement of 200 hours per
airframe.  They have done their jobs, now it's our obligation to do ours.

 

Capt. Bestul announced in February that he was able secure our pilots more
funded proficiency flying under the current A-12 (23-A-3031) mission, but
less than 20 sorties have been flown.  Currency does NOT equal proficiency.
As my father, a Naval Aviator said "I could be current in an F4 with a
couple of slings and tows, but I sure wouldn't be ready to go into the
fight."  I could be current back in an AH-1Z with a couple of hovers and an
autorotation or two, but I wouldn't want to take Col Hienz along or he might
never want to go flying with me again.  WingOps is going to rotate the G1000
NXi Aircraft through the Groups as much as possible so that pilots that have
not had the opportunity to fly and be checked out in this state of the art
avionics platform can have an opportunity.  Capt. Greg Erickson is the MNWG
ADO/Advanced Avionics Systems Manager and has a wealth of knowledge he is
ready to share with all of us.

 

Additionally, Maj Fitzhenry has worked to secure funded flying for mission
training and has reached out for input on what we want, but has not received
a lot of response.  It is our duty to our members, community, crew,
aircraft, and ourselves to continue to work to better our organization and
be safe and proficient on the missions we are asked to perform.  If your
unit has not organized a UBX, you are already falling behind.  Please reach
out to him directly if you have any questions or need assistance in planning
a training exercise.  Maj Fitzhenry is also recognized as a National
resource and is the is "tip of the spear" with sUAS training and program
creation and administration.

 

Maj Rossini is the ADO/Special Project Resource Coordinator and is ready to
assist you with getting the operational resources your unit needs.  If you
have a specific request for an asset type (e.g. G1000/182, G650/172) please
reach out to him so we can work to coordinate our efforts to support your
unit.

 

Example Based Learning

 

1.	This week, we had a failure of one of the two avionics cooling fans
in one of our G1000 aircraft.  The replacement of one of these panels is
well over $65,000.  During pre-flight, the pilot noticed that the cooling
fan did not appear to be cycling properly and immediately shutdown the
pre-flight check and contacted the DO.  After discussing this with the
Maintenance Contractor, I was advised that this abnormality could be an
indication of a much larger fault than just the cooling fan not functioning
within specifications and that aircraft needed to be grounded pending
further inspection.  This attention to detail and commitment to following
the checklist may have saved the panel. 

 

2.	We had an instance where a pilot thought they were released on a
sortie, but the mission was changed so the wrong sortie was input and
released.  This led to a lot of confusion and notifications being sent as a
result of a sortie being completed without a proper release.  Although a
verbal release from an authorized FRO is within regulations, make sure that
as part of your debriefing process you connect with your FRO that is
assigned in WIMIRS and make sure that everything is communicated and
understood before making the final closing notations to the sortie in
WIMIRS.  When possible, a text or full electronic WIMIRS release of the
sortie is preferred with the Mission and Sortie numbers so that both you and
your FRO are informed and confirmed. 

 

Please reach out to us at MNOPS if you have any questions.

 

Fly Often.  Fly Safe.

 

-Patrick

 

Maj. Patrick M. Wolfgram

Minnesota Wing Director of Operations

Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Air Force Auxiliary

(M)  <tel:763.656.7647> 763.656.7647

 <https://www.gocivilairpatrol.com/> GoCivilAirPatrol.com

 <https://www.gocivilairpatrol.com/> 

Volunteers serving America's communities, saving lives, and shaping futures.

 

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