Scenario Based Flight Training

Our goal is to train the most qualified and safest pilots in the world. With Scenario Based Training we do not simply teach you to pass a test, we teach you to become a proficient and safe pilot.

“Train like you fly!” Each lesson is created using real life scenarios that you will face. You will be prepared for the real world having seen it already during your training.

Critical decision is a must! We teach you the skills necessary to apply the knowledge you have gained.

Become an exceptional pilot! Upon completion of our training, you will be capable to flying anywhere in the world in any conditions.

“The more realistic the situation is and the more you are counted on to perform, the better you will learn! SBT emphasizes the practical application of knowledge.”

Lesson 10: Aerial Survey

Dual Flight Lesson

Lesson Time: 1.2 hours Flight Training – 1.0 Ground Training

Scenario

You are employed by an aerial survey company that uses onboard sensors to map property boundaries. This requires the pilot to fly the aircraft accurately over prominent landmarks at a precise altitude while correcting for winds. Some survey tasks require you to orbit over a specific landmark and maintain a constant radius from the landmark. There may be other survey aircraft working the same area, so it is important to be alert and prepared to take evasive action if necessary.

Note: a commercial pilot certificate is typically required for this position; however, the pilot skills needed to do this job are the same flight skills that a private pilot will need in traffic pattern operations. Your job today is to survey a road intersection at a certain lat/long position and the borders of the section that surround that ground reference. Because of the equipment on board the aircraft, your fuel is somewhat limited, so plan to gas-up at an airport near the survey site between missions.

Scenario Objective

The purpose of this lesson is to introduce the student to the elements associated with ground reference maneuvers and practice review maneuvers with guidance from the instructor.

Elements of This Lesson

• Ground Reference Maneuvers
• Rectangular Course
• S-Turns Across a Road
• Turns Around a Point
• Fuel Management
• Single-Pilot Resource Management
• Landing Practice

Notes to the PT

Being able to pilot the airplane by using objects and references on the ground is one of the essential skills of a pilot. After all, the runway is an object on the ground and we must learn to maneuver around the runway, line up on the runway, and land on the runway every time. The Ground Reference Maneuvers have the following two things in common:

1) They help new pilots learn perspective. Most people don’t know what things look like from 1,000 feet up in the air so they need to develop judgment on distance when viewed from that vantage point. Your instructor will probably have you fly Ground Reference Maneuvers at the same attitude above the ground that your home airport’s traffic pattern is flown. This is on purpose to help you develop the judgment to tell when you are too far or too close to the runway on downwind and in the turns of the traffic pattern. The airport’s traffic pattern is the ultimate Ground Reference Maneuver, so practicing these maneuvers is the same as practicing for the traffic pattern.

2) These maneuvers help pilots to divide their attention. By now you have seen that the job of piloting does require you to do, or at least monitor, many things at once. Pilots invented the idea of “multi-tasking” before that word was ever coined. Ground Reference Maneuvers require you to maintain a set distance from objects on the ground, but at the same time you must fly the airplane at a constant altitude. This means you will constantly be looking outside at the object and inside at the altitude. This teaches you the ability to maintain awareness inside and outside