General Aviation

A role model in General Aviation Flight Training

The other day while browsing through African American Aviation History websites and blogs, I came across a name that I had heard many a times, but never got an opportunity (or simply being lazy maybe) to learn more about. So, I decided to spend some time, and read more about Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman (Jan 26, 1892 – April 30, 1926).

Bessie Coleman happens to be the first African American (Black) Woman pilot in the history of General Aviation. She also happens to be the first American (not the first African American, or Black female, but The First American of any race or gender) to hold an international pilot’s license. Now, who would have guessed that! Not me.

Early Life

Popularly known as “Queen Bess”, she was born in Atlanta, Texas and was the tenth of thirteen children to sharecropper parents, George and Susan Coleman.

Queen Bess began school at the age of six, used to walk 4 miles a day to an all-black, one-room school. Despite sometimes lacking even basic educational amenities, Bessie was an excellent student, especially at mathematics.

In 1901, Bessie Coleman’s life took a dramatic turn: George Coleman left his family. He had become tired with the racial discrimination that existed in Texas. He returned to Oklahoma (Indian Territory as it was then called), to find better opportunities.

When she turned eighteen, Bessie Coleman took all of her savings and enrolled in the Oklahoma Colored Agricultural and Normal University (now Langston University) in Langston, Oklahoma. She just finished one term and ran out of money and was forced to return home.

Career Moves

Manicurist job in Chicago

In 1915, at twenty-three, Bessie Coleman relocated to Chicago, Illinois, with her brothers, and worked at the White Sox Barber Shop as a manicurist. This is where she started hearing the tales of pilots or aviators from who were returning home from World War I. They told her stories about flying in the war, and Bessie Coleman started to fantasize about being an aviator herself. At the barbershop, Bessie Coleman met many influential Black men, like Robert S. Abbott, founder and publisher of the Chicago Defender, and Jesse Binga, a real estate promoter. Bessie Coleman managed to receive financial backing from Binga and the Defender, which capitalized on her flamboyant personality and her beauty to promote the newspaper, and of course to promote her cause. She could not gain admission to American flight training schools because she was Black and a Woman. Even other Black U.S. aviators would not train her. Robert Abbott encouraged her to go study abroad, to France. French women were already flying at this time in history.

Flight Training in France

Bessie Coleman learned French language at the Berlitz school in Chicago, and then sailed to Paris on November 20, 1920. She learned to fly in a Nieuport Type 82 biplane, and on June 15, 1921 Coleman became not only the first African American woman to earn an international aviation license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, but also the first African-American woman in the world to earn an aviation pilot’s license and the First American to earn an international pilot’s license. Determined to polish her skills, she spent the next two months taking lessons from a French ace pilot near Paris, and in September sailed back home for New York.

Airshow Performances

Bessie Coleman soon realized that in order to make a living as a civilian aviator—she would need to become a “barnstormer” stunt flier, and perform for paying audiences. But to succeed in this highly competitive arena, she would need advanced lessons and build a reputation. Returning to Chicago, she could not find anyone willing to teach her, so in February 1922, she sailed back for Europe again. This time she spent the next two months in France completing an advanced course in aviation, then left for the Netherlands to meet with Anthony Fokker, one of the world’s most distinguished aircraft designers. She also traveled to Germany, where she visited the Fokker Corporation and received additional training from one of the company’s chief pilots. She returned to the United States with the confidence and enthusiasm she needed to launch her career in exhibition airshow flying.

In September 1921, she became a media sensation when she returned to the United States. “Queen Bess,” as she was known, primarily flew Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny” biplanes and other army surplus aircraft left over from the war. In Los Angeles, California, she broke a leg and three ribs when her plane crashed on February 22, 1922. She made her first appearance in an American airshow on September 3, 1922, at an event honoring veterans of the all-black 369th American Expeditionary Force of World War I. Held at Curtiss Field on Long Island near New York City and sponsored by her friend Abbott and the Chicago Defender newspaper, the show billed Bessie Coleman as “the world’s greatest woman flyer” and featured aerial displays by eight other American ace pilots. Six weeks later she returned to Chicago to deliver a stunning demonstration of daredevil maneuvers—including figure eights, loops, and near-ground dips to a large and enthusiastic crowd at the Checkerboard Airdrome (now Chicago Midway Airport).

Fatal Plane Crash

On April 30, 1926, Bessie Coleman, at thirty-four, was in Jacksonville, Florida. She had recently purchased a plane in Dallas, Texas and had it flown to Jacksonville in preparation for an airshow. Her mechanic and publicity agent, William Wills, was flying the plane with her in the co-pilot seat. About ten minutes into the flight, the plane did not pull out of a planned nosedive; instead it accelerated into a tailspin. Coleman was thrown from the plane at 500 feet and died instantly when she hit the ground (she was not wearing her seatbelt). William Wills was unable to gain control of the plane and it plummeted to the ground. Wills died upon impact and the plane burst into flames. Although the wreckage of the plane was badly burned, it was later discovered that a wrench used to service the engine had slid into the gearbox and jammed it, causing the plane to spin out of control.

Legacy and honors

Her funeral in Jacksonville, Florida on May 2, 1926 was attended by 5,000 mourners. Many of them, including Ida B. Wells, were prominent members of Black society. Three days later, her remains arrived in Orlando, Florida, where thousands more attended a funeral at the city’s Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church. Her last journey on May 5 was to Chicago’s Pilgrim Baptist Church. An estimated 10,000 people filed past the coffin all night and all day. After funeral services, she was buried in the Lincoln Cemetery.

Over the years, recognition of Bessie Coleman’s accomplishments has grown. Her impact on aviation history, and particularly African Americans in aviation, quickly became apparent following her death. In 1927, Bessie Coleman Aero Clubs sprang up throughout the country. On Labor Day, 1931, these clubs sponsored the first all-African American Air Show, which attracted approximately 15,000 spectators. That same year, a group of African American pilots established an annual flyover of Bessie Coleman’s grave in Lincoln Cemetery in Chicago.

In 1989, First Flight Society inducted Bessie Coleman into their shrine that honors those individuals and groups that have achieved significant “firsts” in aviation’s development.

A second-floor conference room at the Federal Aviation Administration, Washington, DC, is named after her. In 1990, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley renamed Old Mannheim Road at O’Hare International Airport “Bessie Coleman Drive.” In 1992, he proclaimed May 2 as “Bessie Coleman Day in Chicago.”

Mae Jemison, physician and former NASA astronaut, wrote in the book, Queen Bess: Daredevil Aviator (1993): “I point to Bessie Coleman and say without hesitation that here is a woman, a being, who exemplifies and serves as a model to all humanity: the very definition of strength, dignity, courage, integrity, and beauty. It looks like a good day for flying.”

In 1995, she was honored with her image on a U.S. postage stamp, and was inducted into the Women in Aviation Hall of Fame.

In November 2000, Coleman was inducted in The Texas Aviation Hall of Fame.

She is the subject of Barnstormer, a musical that debuted 20 October 2008 at the National Alliance for Musical Theater Festival in New York; the book and lyrics are by Cheryl Davis and the music is by Douglas Cohen.

In 2004, a small park in the Southside Chicago Hyde Park neighborhood was named “Bessie Coleman Park.”

Additionally, the Bessie Coleman park council was formed in 2005 as one of many responses to a serious increase in crime, shootings, and disorderly loitering in and near the park, at 54th and Drexel.

Notes
^ “Some Notable Women In Aviation History”. Women in Aviation International. http://www.wai. org/resources/ history.cfm. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
^ a b “Pioneer Hall of Fame”. Women in Aviation International. http://www.wai. org/resources/ pioneers. cfm#1995. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
^ “Texas Roots”. BessieColeman. com. Atlanta Historical Museum. 2008. http://www.bessieco leman.com/ Other%20Pages/ texas.html. Retrieved on 2008-01-22.
^ a b c d e f Rich, Doris (1993). Queen Bess: Daredevil Aviator. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press. pp. 37, 47, 57, 109-111, 145. ISBN 1560982659.
^ Powell, William J. (1934). Black Wings. Los Angeles: Ivan Deach, Jr.. OCLC 3261929.
^ Broadnax, Samuel L. (2007). Blue Skies, Black Wings: African American Pioneers of Aviation. Westport, CT: Praeger. p. 17. ISBN 0275991954.
^ “First Flight Shrine: Bessie Coleman”. First Flight Society. 2009. http://www.firstfli ght.org/shrine/ bessie_colman. cfm. Retrieved on 2008-01-22.
^ Texas Aviation Hall of Fame (14 July 2000). The Selection of Bessie Coleman for induction to the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame. Press release. http://www.bessieco leman.com/ Other%20Pages/ release_1. html. Retrieved on 2008-01-22.
^ Adam Hetrick (17 July 2008). “New Music: NAMT Announces Selections for 2008 Festival of New Musicals”. Playbill. http://www.playbill .com/news/ article/119576. html. Retrieved on 22 January 2008.
^ “Bessie Coleman Park and Council”. Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference. 24 March 2007. http://www.hydepark .org/parks/ BessieColemanPar k.htm. Retrieved on 2008-01-22.

Like I mentioned in one of my earlier articles, we pilots like to use a lot of acronyms and memory aids to help us remember things in an easy and organized manner. Not that we are low on RAM or something, it’s just a way of filing and organizing information in our brains so it is easily accessible, and gets carried out as a well rehearsed orchestra with no chance of forgetting anything. Planned actions is another way of describing the usage of these acronyms.

One of the most commonly used acronym in IFR, or instrument flying, if called the 5 Ts:

1. Turn – Turn to the Course Heading
2. Time – Start the Time
3. Twist – Tune the Radio (VOR etc) and/or Twist the CDI
4. Throttle – Reduce the throttle; Go Down (descent) or Slow Down
5. Talk – Talk to the ATC

The 5 Ts are to be carried out in the order or preference noted above. Note, that Talk is all the way down the list. In other words, if you remember the Aviate, Navigate, Communicate, Manage checklist, talking comes after we have the aircraft under proper control and it is going where it is supposed to go. A lot of novice pilots in training initially have the tendency to prioritize the talking part. No need to buddy. Talking is at the bottom of our list.

With practice, you’ll be able to carry out all these procedures as a second nature. And the key word here is practice. And this is where the chair flying or dry flying comes in very handy. We will talk about the chair flying in one of our future articles. Here, watch this video and see if this makes any sense. If not, watch it again, and again until it does. If you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments section below.

Seeing Is Not Believing

Spatial Orientation

Spatial orientation defines our natural ability to maintain our body orientation and/or posture in relation to the surrounding environment (physical space) at rest  and during motion. Genetically speaking, humans are designed to maintain spatial orientation on the ground. The flight environment is hostile and unfamiliar to the human body; it creates sensory conflicts and illusions that make spatial orientation difficult, and, in some cases, even impossible to achieve. Statistics show that between 5 to 10% of all general aviation accidents can be attributed to spatial disorientation, and 90% of these accidents are fatal.

Spatial Orientation on the Ground

Good spatial orientation on the ground relies on the effective perception, integration, and interpretation of visual, vestibular (organs of equilibrium located in the inner ear), and proprioceptive (receptors located in the skin, muscles, tendons, and joints) sensory information. Changes in linear acceleration, angular acceleration, and gravity are detected by the vestibular system and the proprioceptive receptors, and then compared in the brain with visual information (Figure 1).

Spatial Orientation In Flight

Spatial orientation in flight is sometimes difficult to achieve because the various types of sensory stimuli (visual, vestibular, and proprioceptive) vary in magnitude, direction, and frequency. Any differences or discrepancies between visual, vestibular, and proprioceptive sensory inputs result in a “sensory mismatch” that can produce illusions and lead to spatial disorientation.

Vision and Spatial Orientation

Visual references provide the most important sensory information to maintain spatial orientation on the ground and during flight, especially when the body and/or the environment are in motion. Even birds, reputable flyers, are unable to maintain spatial orientation and fly safely when deprived of vision (due to clouds or fog).

Only bats have developed the ability to fly without vision but have replaced their vision with auditory echolocation. So, it should not be any surprise to us that, when we fly under conditions of limited visibility, we have problems maintaining spatial orientation.

Central Vision

Central vision, also known as foveal vision is involved with the identification of objects and the perception of colors. During instrument flight rules (IFR) flights, central vision allows pilots to acquire information from the flight instruments that is processed by the brain to provide orientational information. During visual flight rules (VFR) flights, central vision allows pilots to acquire external information (monocular and binocular) to make judgments of distance, speed, and depth.

Peripheral Vision

Peripheral vision, also known as ambient vision, is involved with the perception of movement (self and surrounding environment) and provides peripheral reference cues to maintain spatial orientation. This capability enables orientation independent from central vision and that is why we can walk while reading. With peripheral vision, motion of the surrounding environment produces a perception of self-motion even if we are standing or sitting still.

Visual References

Visual references that provide information about distance, speed, and depth of visualized objects include:

• Comparative size of known objects at different distances.
• Comparative form or shape of known objects at different distances.
• Relative velocity of images moving across the retina. Nearby objects are perceived as moving faster than distant objects .
• Interposition of known objects. One object placed in front of another is perceived as being closer to the observer.
• Varying texture or contrast of known objects at different distances. Object detail and contrast are lost with distance.
• Differences in illumination perspective of objects due to light and shadows.
• Differences in aerial perspective of visualized objects. More distant objects are seen as bluish and blurry.

The flight attitude of an airplane is generally determined by the pilot’s visual reference to the natural horizon. When the natural horizon is obscured, attitude can sometimes be maintained by visual reference to the surface below. If neither horizon nor surface visual references exist, the airplane’s attitude can only be determined by artificial means such as an attitude indicator or other flight instruments. Surface references or the natural horizon may at times become obscured by smoke, fog, smog, haze, dust, ice particles, or other phenomena, although visibility may be above VFR minimums. This is especially true at airports located adjacent to large bodies of water or sparsely populated areas, where few, if any, surface references are available. Lack of horizon or surface reference is common on over-water flights, at night, or in low visibility conditions.

Visual Illusions

Visual illusions are familiar to most of us. As children, we learned that railroad tracks —contrary to what our eyes showed us— don’t come to a point at the horizon. Even under conditions of good visibility, you can experience visual illusions including:

Aerial Perspective Illusions may make you change (increase or decrease) the slope of your final approach. They are caused by runways with different widths, upsloping or downsloping runways, and upsloping or downsloping final approach terrain. Pilots learn to recognize a normal final approach by developing and recalling a mental image of the expected relationship between the length and the width of an average runway (Figure 2).

A final approach over a flat terrain with an upsloping runway may produce the visual illusion of a high-altitude final approach.

If you believe this illusion, you may respond by pitching the aircraft nose down to decrease the altitude, which, if performed too close to the ground, may result in an accident (Figure 3).

A final approach over a flat terrain with a downsloping runway may produce the visual illusion of a low-altitude final approach. If you believe this illusion, you may respond by pitching the aircraft nose up to increase the altitude, which may result in a low-altitude stall or a missed approach (Figure 4).

A final approach over an upsloping terrain with a flat runway may produce the visual illusion of a low-altitude final approach. If you believe this illusion, you may
respond by pitching the aircraft nose up to increase the altitude, which may result in a low-altitude stall or a missed approach (Figure 5).

A final approach over a downsloping terrain with a flat runway may produce the visual illusion of a high-altitude final approach. If you believe this illusion, you may respond by pitching the aircraft nose down to decrease the altitude, which, if performed too close to the ground, may result in an accident (Figure 6).

A final approach to an unusually narrow runway or an unusually long runway may produce the visual illusion of a high-altitude final approach. If you believe this
illusion, you may respond by pitching the aircraft nose down to decrease the altitude, which, if performed too close to the ground may result in an accident (Figure 7).

A final approach to an unusually wide runway may produce the visual illusion of a low-altitude final approach. If you believe this illusion, you may respond by pitching the aircraft nose up to increase the altitude, which may result in a low-altitude stall or a missed approach(Figure 8).

A Black-Hole Approach Illusion can happen during a final approach at night (no stars or moonlight) over water or unlighted terrain to a lighted runway beyond which the horizon is not visible.

In the example (Figure 9), when peripheral visual cues are not available to help you orient yourself relative to the earth, you may have the illusion of being upright and may perceive the runway to be tilted left and upsloping. However, with the horizon visible (Figure 10), you can easily orient yourself correctly using your central vision.

A particularly hazardous black-hole illusion involves approaching a runway under conditions with no lights before the runway and with city lights or rising terrain beyond the runway. These conditions may produce the visual illusion of a high altitude final approach. If you believe this illusion, you may respond by lowering your
approach slope (Figure 11).

The Autokinetic Illusion gives you the impression that a stationary object is moving in front of the airplane’s path; it is caused by staring at a fixed single point of light (ground light or a star) in a totally dark and featureless background. This illusion can cause a misperception that such a light is on a collision course with your aircraft (Figure 12).

False Visual Reference Illusions may cause you to orient your aircraft in relation to a false horizon; these illusions are caused by flying over a banked cloud, night flying over featureless terrain with ground lights that are indistinguishable from a dark sky with stars, or night flying over a featureless terrain with a clearly defined pattern of ground lights and a dark, starless sky (Figure 13).

Vection Illusion: A common example is when you are stopped at a traffic light in your car and the car next to you edges forward. Your brain interprets this peripheral visual information as though you are moving backwards and makes you apply additional pressure to the brakes. A similar illusion can happen while taxiing an aircraft.

How to Prevent Spatial Disorientation

• Take the opportunity to personally experience sensory illusions in a Barany chair, a Vertigon, a GYRO, or a Virtual Reality Spatial Disorientation Demonstrator (VRSDD). By experiencing sensory illusions first hand (on the ground), pilots are better prepared to recognize a sensory illusion when it happens during flight and to take immediate action. The Aeromedical Education Division of the FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute offers spatial disorientation demonstrations with the GYRO and the VRSDD in Oklahoma City and at all of the major airshows in the continental U.S.
• Obtain training and maintain your proficiency in aircraft control by reference to instruments.
• When flying at night or in reduced visibility, use and rely on your flight instruments.
• Study and become familiar with unique geographical conditions where flight is intended.
• Do not attempt visual flight when there is a possibility of being trapped in deteriorating weather.
• If you experience a visual illusion during flight (most pilots do at one time or another), have confidence in your instruments and ignore all conflicting signals your body gives you. Accidents usually happen as a result of a pilot’s indecision to rely on the instruments.
• If you are one of two pilots in an aircraft and you begin to experience a visual illusion, transfer control of the aircraft to the other pilot, since pilots seldom experience visual illusions at the same time.
• By being knowledgeable, relying on experience, and trusting your instruments, you will be contributing to keeping the skies safe for everyone.

Medical Facts for Pilots Publication AAM-400-00/1 Revised by: Melchor J. Antuñano, M.D. Prepared by Federal Aviation Administration Civil Aerospace Medical Institute Aerospace Medical Education Division

Pilot or a passenger, we all have wondered what would happen if the airplane that I’m flying in is hit by lightning?

We know that friction causes drag.  What we may not realize is that this same friction also creates static electricity.  As an airplane flies through the air it continuously creates a static charge, especially on the aircraft control surfaces.  This situation is only made worse when flying through any kind of precipitation or even worse, volcanic ash.   Static wicks which are attached to the trailing edges of control surfaces are designed to help dissipate this charge to the surrounding air.  Static wicks protect not only our flight instruments and radios but also the flight surfaces themselves.  Without the static wicks attached, the static charge on the surface would try to “jump” the un-conductive control hinges to the rest of the aircraft.  This “jump” or arc could cause permanent damage to the surface itself if the static charge had the opportunity to build sufficiently.  To further protect against this damaging “jump”, manufacturers also attach conductive bonding strips to keep the static build-up to a minimum.

The airplanes are primarily made of aluminum which is an excellent conductor of electricity.  This conductive property of aluminum creates a “Faraday cage” around the airplane protecting its’ contents. This “cage” shields the contents inside from the current that might be present on the surface of the Faraday cage.   Although there is a lot of static electricity on the outside skin of an aircraft, the aluminum conducts the electricity away from the interior and towards those static wicks.

Now some aircraft are not manufactured with traditional aluminum but with a high-strength composite material; like the Beechcraft Premier or Cessna Columbia.  Fortunately, engineers have designed strike protection into the composite material by making one of the layers a graphite cloth and aluminum ply.  This ply, which is highly conductive, also serves to create the same “Faraday cage” affect that is found on traditionally manufactured airplanes.  Some composite airplanes also have an additional layer of protection against lightning strikes by installing Metal Oxide Varistors (MOV) throughout the circuitry.  MOVs are designed for failure.  If an MOV senses a sudden surge of current (from say a lightning strike) than it is designed to break and protect the rest of the aircraft’s delicate electronic systems.

So obviously with all these various lightning strike/static electricity protection systems, engineers are designing aircraft with the assumption that aircraft stand a reasonable good chance of being struck by lightning.  In fact, it is believed that most commercial aircraft are struck up to twice a year. Most of the time, a lightning strike is a minor event (thanks to those protective systems).  The only evidence left behind in most strikes is a small lightning entry and exit point.   In the photo below, you can see where lightning made a small entry point on the top part of the aircraft’s radome (nose) and you can see the exit point about 6 inches lower.

Sometimes aircraft damage from a lightning strike is more severe.  Lightning has been known to pop circuit breakers (which fails aircraft systems), magnetize control surfaces, punch large holes through aluminum (although this is extremely rare) and flicker or even cause the failure of some glass cockpit displays. This leads us to the next question, has an airplane ever crashed as a direct result of lightning?

I wish I could say no, but accident investigation evidence says otherwise.  The Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) through the Aviation Safety Network lists several airplane accidents where lightning was a direct contributing factor in the accident.  You can see the list for yourself.  The most recent listing is a Dornier 228 that on December 04, 2003 took a direct lightning strike that the crew immediately reported.  The lightning apparently damaged the rudder and made aircraft control very difficult.  Fortunately, there were no fatalities although but the aircraft was considered a total loss.  There are older accidents listed as well by the Aviation Safety Network and some of these, although very tragic, have benefited travel safety today in the form of better design and engineering in aircraft systems.