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PCC Presentation
With all the talk about doing a PCC, I thought I'd post a presentation I just
did at Tom Knauff's Safety Seminar last weekend. I know I posted this deep in the thread on PCC, but just wanted to give it more visibility for those who did not follow the thread. The presentation covers PCC, CAC, preflight check lists, landing check lists, and other check lists. I hope you take the opportunity to review it. It might have some insights that could be of value to you. I've received some very positive comments on it so far. The link is: http://www.mymedtrans.com/personal.htm Jim Vincent CFIG N483SZ illspam |
#3
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"Martin Gregorie" wrote in message ... On 06 Apr 2004 23:47:08 GMT, illspam (Jim Vincent) wrote: The PIC handles the controls and initiates the test for each control surface. The assistant reports which way the surface moves (up, down, left, right). It is up to the PIC to correlate the reported direction of movement with what (s)he commanded. Exactly the opposite of what I have always taught. As the PIC, I want to be in charge of the force put on the control surface and I want to see, hear, smell, feel that control surface through its entire movement. That means that my assistant is moving the stick and I am walking around the glider touching the control surfaces and looking at everything else. I never use "up, down, left, right". I substitute "toward me" and "away from me". Left and right are relative terms at best, and people often get it wrong. When you move the control stick towards a control surface, that surface alway goes up; move it away from the control surface and that surface always goes down...no ambiguity and no error! Vaughn The link is: http://www.mymedtrans.com/personal.htm -- martin@ : Martin Gregorie gregorie : Harlow, UK demon : co : Zappa fan & glider pilot uk : |
#4
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On Wed, 07 Apr 2004 10:25:13 GMT, "Vaughn"
wrote: "Martin Gregorie" wrote in message .. . On 06 Apr 2004 23:47:08 GMT, illspam (Jim Vincent) wrote: The PIC handles the controls and initiates the test for each control surface. The assistant reports which way the surface moves (up, down, left, right). It is up to the PIC to correlate the reported direction of movement with what (s)he commanded. Exactly the opposite of what I have always taught. As the PIC, I want to be in charge of the force put on the control surface and I want to see, hear, smell, feel that control surface through its entire movement. That means that my assistant is moving the stick and I am walking around the glider touching the control surfaces and looking at everything else. I never use "up, down, left, right". I substitute "toward me" and "away from me". Left and right are relative terms at best, and people often get it wrong. When you move the control stick towards a control surface, that surface alway goes up; move it away from the control surface and that surface always goes down...no ambiguity and no error! I use the PCC solely as a check on control function and will typically do it directly after rigging, connecting the controls and (preferably) after a second opinion on the connections but before taping wings etc. This way the rigging assistants are still there to help with the PCC and will be detained for the least time: everything after the PCC can be done by the PIC by himself. During PCC the calls of Left and right are only for the rudder - up and down for the rest. Of course its relative - the assistant is not told which way the surface will move and so has no preconceptions, but the PIC knows which way he moved the stick and hence which way an aileron or the elevator should move, e.g. if he moves the stick left and the assistant doesn't report 'up' for the left aileron then there's a problem. I do a complete walk-round after the PCC. This covers all the stuff you noted, tweaking control surfaces to check for play in hinges or control circuits and making a careful visual, tactile and auditory check of the entire exterior, cockpit and straps etc. This is never delegated. Following both PCC and walk-round the DI book is written up, any defects noted and the entry signed. -- martin@ : Martin Gregorie gregorie : Harlow, UK demon : co : Zappa fan & glider pilot uk : |
#5
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Jim,
Excellent presentation. Thank you very much for making it available to the whole soaring community. I am a new pilot and recently bought a Jantar Standard 3. I am not well versed in mechanical matters, so for the sake of safety I better ask: My Jantar Std 3 doesn't have automatic connectors for the ailerons and elevator. Does anybody know wheter this conecctions are of the L'Hotellier type? Regards Miguel Lavalle N5SZ At 00:00 07 April 2004, Jim Vincent wrote: With all the talk about doing a PCC, I thought I'd post a presentation I just did at Tom Knauff's Safety Seminar last weekend. I know I posted this deep in the thread on PCC, but just wanted to give it more visibility for those who did not follow the thread. The presentation covers PCC, CAC, preflight check lists, landing check lists, and other check lists. I hope you take the opportunity to review it. It might have some insights that could be of value to you. I've received some very positive comments on it so far. The link is: http://www.mymedtrans.com/personal.htm Jim Vincent CFIG N483SZ |
#6
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The PIC handles the controls and initiates the test for
each control surface. The assistant reports which way the surface moves (up, down, left, right). It is up to the PIC to correlate the reported direction of movement with what (s)he commanded. he PIC knows the aircraft best. He is looking to make sure that the amount of throw is normal at the control surface, not at the stick. They do not correlate if something is incorrectly hooked up. The PIC and assistant should interact, rather than a one way conversation. The person at the wing should be watching the control surface and the stick, same with person in the cockpit. Regarding the thought in a follow on thread where the thinking is by having the PIC at the cockpit, he knows exactly what he is doing, I'm told of a story where the PIC was facing into the cockpit and moving the stick left and right, thinking he was applying aileron when he was actually doing elevator! By the PIC at the control surface saying move the control towards me, away from me, etc. eliminates most if not all potential failure modes and miscommunications. Jim Vincent CFIG N483SZ illspam |
#7
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Right on Vaughn, there seems to be an 'Atlantic Divide' regarding the
issue you are making. I've been instructed and have practiced doing the PCC the way Jim Vincent and you explain. I've voiced concerns about the US practice at many occasions such as daily safety briefings during contests. Here are again the points that make me favor putting the PIC at the control surfaces with an assistant at or better inside the cockpit: 1. Pilot can observe the amount and direction of deflection at full stick travel AT THE CONTROL SURFACE 2. PIC can determine amount of play at full deflection 3. He/she can apply a specific force to the controls while the assistant holds (locks) the stick or brake handle at middle and end of travel 4. This should be done during the outside assembly check while cirling the glider counterclockwise BY THE PILOT 5. If you don't have a trusted assistant to move the controls, go find or train one. There should be at least a tow pilot or a wing runner at hand, nothing wrong with asking your spouse. 6. I would trust an assistant much more with moving the stick/controls than having him handle the control surfaces, where is the bigger risk for damage? 7. Kill two birds with one stone, it is very natural to move around the glider sliding your hands over leading and trailing edges, checking connectors, try moving the hor. stab, checking winglets and so much more between doing the PCC tasks. At the end of the roundtrip I am quite certain that the ship is ready to go. Let's discuss this some more. We have here a classic situation where reason should prevail in determining which of two methods is the best to find and fix assembly and other problems. Herb, J7 As the PIC, I want to be in charge of the force put on the control surface and I want to see, hear, smell, feel that control surface through its entire movement. That means that my assistant is moving the stick and I am walking around the glider touching the control surfaces and looking at everything else. I never use "up, down, left, right". I substitute "toward me" and "away from me". Left and right are relative terms at best, and people often get it wrong. When you move the control stick towards a control surface, that surface alway goes up; move it away from the control surface and that surface always goes down...no ambiguity and no error! Vaughn The link is: http://www.mymedtrans.com/personal.htm -- martin@ : Martin Gregorie gregorie : Harlow, UK demon : co : Zappa fan & glider pilot uk : |
#8
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#9
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"Miguel Lavalle" wrote in message ... Does anybody know wheter this conecctions are of the L'Hotellier type? Regards Miguel Lavalle N5SZ Which ones? The ones on your Jantar or automatic ones? If you mean automatic ones then things are different to 'traditional' control runs that use 'l'hottelier' connections. In the traditional system a series of pushrods and bellcranks transmit stick movement from stick to surface. In some cases ( ASW20 and Grob elevator ) a pushrod connects directly to the control surface via a hottelier and ball joint mounted a small distance from the hinge line. In the wing control surface connections the in wing pushrods terminated in hotteliers extend into the fuselage and are connected to ball joints mounted on the belcrank arms. In 'Automatic' hook up different arrangments are made to connect things up. For example: on Schempp elevators a 2 pronged fork, permanently connected to the control run using bolted and secured connections, plugs into the elevator surface. My guess is that this is about 99% certain of being done correctly and without fault. ( I fly Schempp ships and I still DI and check before every flight ) Some ships (DG's) have an elevator pushrod that terminates in a 'C' shaped fitting. A roller bearing on the elevator fits snugly into the open 'C', a reliable automatic hookup but does need attention at assembly time. At the wing root you get to play a different game! My Ventus uses two different systems. The flaps are driven by a rotating 'torque' tube. The bit in the fuselage is permanently hooked up and as the wing is fitted a very simple 'dog clutch' connects the flaps to the drive. The Ailerons and brakes are a devilishly clever system. On the wing root rib a bellcrank is fitted, one arm connects to a traditional run inside the wing to the control surface, the other arm, protruding straight out from the root rib, is terminated in a roller bearing. The roller bearing slides into a funnel shaped receiver in the fuselage as the wing is fitted. When the wing is in place the fit between the bearing and the funnel or horn is reduced to zero. The horn is permanently connected to the control system so 'voila' automatic hookups. Could you convert a traditional ship to automatic hookups? I suppose so given enough time and money. Worth it? Not really. Rather spend a quiet 5 minutes before every flight going over your ship properly and making sure everything is in order! Ian |
#10
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I think the reasons people skip PCC or doing it wrong is due to the fact
that there is no consistent method and some of the methods suggested are way too much hassle such as putting another pilot in the cockpit instead of asking the nearest person to hold the controls. Also the suggestion that the PIC must seat IN the cockpit doesn't make sense, since you can't see the controls from the cockpit. Lets Keep it simple! The more complicated we make it the less will comply. The same results can be achieved by the PIC moving the stick while any bystander can hold the controls. See comments below. Ramy "Herbert Kilian" wrote in message om... Right on Vaughn, there seems to be an 'Atlantic Divide' regarding the issue you are making. I've been instructed and have practiced doing the PCC the way Jim Vincent and you explain. I've voiced concerns about the US practice at many occasions such as daily safety briefings during contests. Here are again the points that make me favor putting the PIC at the control surfaces with an assistant at or better inside the cockpit: 1. Pilot can observe the amount and direction of deflection at full stick travel AT THE CONTROL SURFACE The same observation can be done when standing near the cocpit. 2. PIC can determine amount of play at full deflection Better determining amount of play at the stick when the assistant holding the control surface at full deflection. 3. He/she can apply a specific force to the controls while the assistant holds (locks) the stick or brake handle at middle and end of travel PIC can ask the assistant to apply more or less force. 4. This should be done during the outside assembly check while cirling the glider counterclockwise BY THE PILOT This should be done before or after the PCC according to your checklist. Trying to do all at once is risking forgetting an item. 5. If you don't have a trusted assistant to move the controls, go find or train one. There should be at least a tow pilot or a wing runner at hand, nothing wrong with asking your spouse. My spouse wouldn't even reach the rudder pedals. Should I readjust the pedals for her or should I skip the rudder? Training one or asking the tow pilot to leave the tow plane is not an option. 6. I would trust an assistant much more with moving the stick/controls than having him handle the control surfaces, where is the bigger risk for damage? The biggest risk is to put a non pilot in the cocpit. He/she may retract the gear instead of the spoilers! 7. Kill two birds with one stone, it is very natural to move around the glider sliding your hands over leading and trailing edges, checking connectors, try moving the hor. stab, checking winglets and so much more between doing the PCC tasks. At the end of the roundtrip I am quite certain that the ship is ready to go. Again, this should be done separatly and not simultaniously. Let's discuss this some more. We have here a classic situation where reason should prevail in determining which of two methods is the best to find and fix assembly and other problems. I would like to hear arguments against doing a PCC the simple way - PIC standing outside the cockpit moving stick and rudder and observing the controls while the assistant is holding the control surfaces. Again, the simpler it is the more likely it will be done. Herb, J7 As the PIC, I want to be in charge of the force put on the control surface and I want to see, hear, smell, feel that control surface through its entire movement. That means that my assistant is moving the stick and I am walking around the glider touching the control surfaces and looking at everything else. It is more natural to feel the controls with the stick rather than at the control surface. I never use "up, down, left, right". I substitute "toward me" and "away from me". Left and right are relative terms at best, and people often get it wrong. When you move the control stick towards a control surface, that surface alway goes up; move it away from the control surface and that surface always goes down...no ambiguity and no error! Vaughn The link is: http://www.mymedtrans.com/personal.htm -- martin@ : Martin Gregorie gregorie : Harlow, UK demon : co : Zappa fan & glider pilot uk : |
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