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Scud Running
In general aviation, scud running is a practice in which pilots lower their altitude to avoid clouds or instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). The goal of scud running is to stay clear of weather to continue flying with visual, rather than instrument, references. This practice is widely accepted to be dangerous, and has led to death in many cases from pilots flying into terrain or obstacles, such as masts and towers, normally referred to as controlled flight into terrain, or CFIT; however, even instrument-rated pilots sometimes elect to take the risk to avoid icing or embedded thunderstorms in cloud, or in situations where the minimum instrument altitudes are too high for their aircraft. Scud running is occasionally described as "maintaining visual contact with the ground while avoiding physical contact with it" or "if the weather's too bad to go IFR, we'll go VFR."FAA AC60-22 "Aeronautical Decision Making" A procedure under instrument flight rules (IFR), called a contact ap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
General Aviation
General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other purposes. However, for statistical purposes ICAO uses a definition of general aviation which includes aerial work. General aviation thus represents the " private transport" and recreational components of aviation. Definition The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) defines civil aviation aircraft operations in three categories: General Aviation (GA), Aerial Work (AW) and Commercial Air Transport (CAT). Aerial work operations are separated from general aviation by ICAO by this definition. Aerial work is when an aircraft is used for specialized services such as agriculture, construction, photography, surveying, observation and patrol, search and rescue, and aerial advertisement. However, for statistical purpose ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aviator
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they are involved in operating the aircraft's navigation and engine systems. Other aircrew members, such as drone operators, flight attendants, mechanics and ground crew, are not classified as aviators. In recognition of the pilots' qualifications and responsibilities, most militaries and many airlines worldwide award aviator badges to their pilots. History The first recorded use of the term ''aviator'' (''aviateur'' in French) was in 1887, as a variation of ''aviation'', from the Latin ''avis'' (meaning ''bird''), coined in 1863 by in ''Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne'' ("Aviation or Air Navigation"). The term ''aviatrix'' (''aviatrice'' in French), now archaic, was formerly used for a female aviator. These terms were used more in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Instrument Meteorological Conditions
In aviation, instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) is a flight category that describes weather conditions that require pilots to fly primarily by reference to instruments, and therefore under instrument flight rules (IFR), rather than by outside visual references under visual flight rules (VFR). Typically, this means flying in cloudy or bad weather. Pilots sometimes train to fly in these conditions with the aid of products like Foggles, which are specialized glasses that restrict outside vision, forcing the student to rely on instrument indications only. Distinction from Visual Meteorological Conditions The weather conditions required for flight under VFR are known as visual meteorological conditions (VMC). IMC and VMC are mutually exclusive. In fact, instrument meteorological conditions are defined as less than the minima specified for visual meteorological conditions. The boundary criteria between VMC and IMC are known as the VMC minima. There is also a concept of "marg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Controlled Flight Into Terrain
In aviation, a controlled flight into terrain (CFIT; usually ) is an accident in which an airworthy aircraft, under pilot control, is unintentionally flown into the ground, a mountain, a body of water or an obstacle. In a typical CFIT scenario, the crew is unaware of the impending disaster until it is too late. The term was coined by engineers at Boeing in the late 1970s. Accidents where the aircraft is out of control at the time of impact, because of mechanical failure or pilot error, are not considered CFIT (they are known as ''uncontrolled flight into terrain'' or ''UFIT''), nor are incidents resulting from the deliberate action of the person at the controls, such as acts of terrorism or suicide by pilot. According to Boeing in 1997, CFIT was a leading cause of airplane accidents involving the loss of life, causing over 9,000 deaths since the beginning of the commercial jet aircraft. CFIT was identified as a cause of 25% of USAF Class A mishaps between 1993 and 2002. Accord ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Contact Approach
A contact approach is an approach available to aircraft operating on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan, where the pilot may deviate from the published instrument approach procedure (IAP) and proceed to the destination airport by visual reference to the surface. It is similar to a visual approach, except that the pilot is not required to have the destination airport nor the preceding aircraft in sight at all times during the approach, and the visibility requirements are less stringent. Overview Only pilots may initiate a request for this type of approach; regulations prohibit air traffic control (ATC) from asking pilots to perform them. A contact approach will only be issued if the aircraft is operating clear of clouds with at least 1 statute mile (1.6 km) of flight visibility, with a reasonable expectation of continuing to the destination airport under those conditions. Additionally, the reported ground visibility at the destination airport must be at least 1 statute mi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scud (cloud)
Pannus, or scud clouds, is a type of fractus cloud at low height above ground, detached, and of irregular form, found beneath nimbostratus, cumulonimbus, altostratus and cumulus clouds. These clouds are often ragged or wispy in appearance. When caught in the outflow ( downdraft) beneath a thunderstorm, scud clouds will often move faster than the storm clouds themselves. If the parent cloud that scud clouds pair with were to suddenly dissipate, the pannus cloud accessory would not be able to be told apart from a fractus cloud formation. When in an inflow (updraft) area, scud clouds tend to rise and may exhibit lateral movement ranging from very little to substantial. Formation Pannus clouds are formed as the warmer (and often more moist) updraft of a thunderstorm lifts the relatively warm air near the surface. These clouds condense as the warm, moist air saturates through ascent and is pushed outward from the storm. Scud clouds are very commonly found on the leading edge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Above Ground Level
In aviation, atmospheric sciences and broadcasting, a height above ground level (AGL or HAGL) is a height measured with respect to the underlying ground surface. This is as opposed to height above mean sea level (AMSL or HAMSL), height above ellipsoid (HAE, as reported by a GPS receiver), or height above average terrain (AAT or HAAT, in broadcast engineering). In other words, these expressions (AGL, AMSL, HAE, AAT) indicate where the "zero level" or "reference altitude" - the vertical datum - is located. Aviation A pilot flying an aircraft under instrument flight rules (typically under poor visibility conditions) must rely on the aircraft's altimeter to decide when to deploy the undercarriage and prepare for landing. Therefore, the pilot needs reliable information on the height of the plane with respect to the landing area (usually an airport). The altimeter, which is usually a barometer calibrated in units of distance instead of atmospheric pressure, can therefore be set in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Airspace Classes
The world's navigable airspace is divided into three-dimensional segments, each of which is assigned to a specific class. Most nations adhere to the classification specified by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and described below, though they might use only some of the classes defined below, and significantly alter the exact rules and requirements. Similarly, individual nations may also designate special use airspace (SUA) with further rules for reasons of national security or safety. Abbreviations used in this article ICAO definitions On March 12, 1990, ICAO adopted the current airspace classification scheme. The classes are fundamentally defined in terms of flight rules and interactions between aircraft and air traffic control (ATC). Generally speaking, the ICAO airspaces allocate the responsibility for avoiding other aircraft, namely either to ATC (if separation is provided) or to the aircraft commander (if not). Some key concepts are: * Separation: Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mean Sea Level
There are several kinds of mean in mathematics, especially in statistics. Each mean serves to summarize a given group of data, often to better understand the overall value (magnitude and sign) of a given data set. For a data set, the '' arithmetic mean'', also known as "arithmetic average", is a measure of central tendency of a finite set of numbers: specifically, the sum of the values divided by the number of values. The arithmetic mean of a set of numbers ''x''1, ''x''2, ..., x''n'' is typically denoted using an overhead bar, \bar. If the data set were based on a series of observations obtained by sampling from a statistical population, the arithmetic mean is the ''sample mean'' (\bar) to distinguish it from the mean, or expected value, of the underlying distribution, the ''population mean'' (denoted \mu or \mu_x).Underhill, L.G.; Bradfield d. (1998) ''Introstat'', Juta and Company Ltd.p. 181/ref> Outside probability and statistics, a wide range of other notions of mean ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Visual Flight Rules
In aviation, visual flight rules (VFR) are a set of regulations under which a pilot operates an aircraft in weather conditions generally clear enough to allow the pilot to see where the aircraft is going. Specifically, the weather must be better than basic VFR weather minima, i.e. in visual meteorological conditions (VMC), as specified in the rules of the relevant aviation authority. The pilot must be able to operate the aircraft with visual reference to the ground, and by visually avoiding obstructions and other aircraft. If the weather is less than VMC, pilots are required to use instrument flight rules, and operation of the aircraft will be primarily through referencing the instruments rather than visual reference. In a control zone, a VFR flight may obtain a clearance from air traffic control to operate as Special VFR. Requirements VFR require a pilot to be able to see outside the cockpit, to control the aircraft's altitude, navigate, and avoid obstacles and other aircr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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