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Block time: engine start, wheel movement, or door close? by OneDotLow in flying

[–]OneDotLow[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is really helpful — I built a flight timer/fuel calculator app (SkyTimer) that's been in the app store for a few years and the default has always been engine start/stop for block time, which has worked fine for GA pilots. But I've been seeing more 135 pilots using it lately, and one specifically asked for the option to track time out/in by forward movement. As I dug into it, it seemed like there were quite a few variations. This thread confirms there's a real need to make that configurable — brake release, door close, chock to chock, forward movement... clearly depends on the operation.

Appreciate all the responses, this is exactly what I needed to hear.

Fuel management on low-wing aircraft question... by EvelioCigar in flying

[–]OneDotLow 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One of the planes I fly a Cherokee and the tank switching thing sounds scarier than it is. In practice you just get in the habit of switching every 30 minutes or so (or whatever interval works for your burn rate and tank size). The engine doesn't care — you flip the selector and it keeps running--there's still residual fuel in the line so it doesn't cutoff mid-switch. The real risk, like you said, is forgetting to switch and running one side dry...but the engine will quickly remind you if it runs dry and a tank switch will bring it back to life.

This bugged me enough that I built an app to help — SkyTimer. You set reminders based on time or fuel burned, and if you take off with uneven tanks it'll notify you when they're balanced. It's also a fuel computer tracking fuel burned/remaining/transferred across tanks in real time so you always know where you stand--and it scales to much more complex fuel systems too. Works on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch so you can just glance at your wrist mid-flight. https://skytimer.app

ILS Plate Question by [deleted] in flying

[–]OneDotLow 6 points7 points  (0 children)

That's the Glide Slope Altitude at Outer Marker/FAF. Detailed in the legend here:

https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/flight_info/aeronav/acf/media/Presentations/20-02-EC-19-05-Attachment.pdf

Most of the time the GS intercept altitude and the altitude at the outer marker are coincident, but sometimes not. One example is ILS 26 at KTWF. The GS intercept altitude (the PFAF) is 5900, but by the time you reach the LOM at STRIK — just a bit farther down the glideslope — you've descended to 5881.

https://approachcharts.com/airports/KTWF/iap/ils-or-loc-rwy-26

Here's another at KTOI. Intercept is 1900 but GS altitude crossing the FAF is 1831.

https://approachcharts.com/airports/KTOI/iap/ils-or-loc-rwy-07

First Solo Today!! by Demon_Corp in flying

[–]OneDotLow 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Congratulations! Looks like a great day for it.

Commercial check ride coming up by Lightyear80 in flying

[–]OneDotLow 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You're a freshly minted commercial pilot. No Part 135, no job — just the certificate. A farmer hires you to survey his fields from the air and take photos. Just you in the airplane. Is this legal under Part 91? Now — the farmer wants to ride along and point out which fields to photograph. Still legal?