Back, guys, with Joel and Bob for our last part
of this communications series.
Something a little different.
It really has more of a pre-flight twist to this,
some things you should or should not be doing on pre-flight.
And one of the most important things as a student pilot,
you should go out and you look at
and you will ask everybody in the pilot shop,
what headset should I buy? - Oh, yeah.
And if you asked 10 pilots, you'll get nine different answers.
But the use of those headsets, where does it start?
Well, it starts on pre-flight.
So, when you get in the airplane, you turn the master switch on,
check your fuel gauges, and you put your headset somewhere.
Where do you put it?
Well, I know where you're going this.
I know he has a story related to all of this.
I don't have a story.
Bob, where do you put your headset?
Today?
I do not put it on the yoke.
- Okay. - All right.
I do, maybe, hang it on the throttle or I'll actually put on the floor.
I don't put it up on the dash
because the first time I put it up on the dash,
you yelled at me and told me, "You want a scratch in the windshield?"
I did that once.
- Same with kneeboards, too. - Kneeboards, right.
All you do is take kneeboards and put it on there.
And the other one is I put it on the yoke
and probe the push-to-talk switch. - All right.
So, as you put on the yoke, then, you get out and you go check the controls.
Yeah.
Well, what's that thousand-dollar headset doing while you're moving the controls?
Well, here's the best part of it, it was your headset.
So, as you’re poised to talk in your headset.
So, that was great.
- This was before I bought [unin]. - Rental rates just went up.
That's correct, yeah.
But nevertheless, yeah, I wish I had an audio recording of you
yelling at me about the push-to-talk.
He yells a lot as instructor. - You didn't just put
the headset on yoke. - I know.
But, here's the best part of it.
Did you know what the best fix for that was?
A piece of duct tape about that long, right over the yoke.
And it was over and we've continued the flight.
He yelled at me the rest of the time.
But, the headset placement is a big deal
and it can really make a difference between breaking things
and not breaking things. - Right.
So, what we do, we get in, we plug the headsets in
because in some airplanes the plugs are under the dash,
some are over here.
It depends on what your rental fleet has.
I always hang the headset on the throttle
because that's the first thing you're going to do when you get in.
You're going to sure reach for the throttle.
Sure. - After your pre-flight,
you walk around, you get in.
The next thing you want to do,
what do you do when you slide the seat forward?
Well, I scoop my seat forward.
This is another thing you've taught both Bob and I.
Right. So, you're going to reach down with one hand
and on the other hand everybody wants to grab
that plastic up on the dash.
Well, how many rental airplanes do you see with the crack of plastic?
- Most of them. - Ninety percent of them.
All right, well, Cessna has a little handle here
or they got a metal dash.
Some pipers have a little hand holder.
They do, yeah.
Citation jets got a hand holder at the top here.
Every airplane has for you to slide forward to adjust your seat.
Well, you want to adjust that first; then, put your seatbelt on;
then, close the door. - Right.
Because if you close the door first, you can't reach down for the seatbelt.
Or, the seatbelts dangling out and flapping.
Or, you got that nice headset that you borrowed
and the cord's hanging out the door.
I didn't do that.
Nobody knows. There's no video of that.
There's no MzeroA video of that.
So now, you're strapped in, we're going to go to pre-start checklist.
Well, I've seen students do this.
They'll put their headset on.
Well, with the quality of the headsets... - Yeah, it's so good.
you can't really hear what's going on.
And until that master switches turn, avionics master,
you don't have intercom.
So, your instructor can't even communicate.
So, then, take the headset and put it around your neck.
That also indicates outside other people that you're going to start the airplane.
You turn your master on, the beacons on.
And if you're at an FBO, the line guide will stand out front.
Waiting, yeah.
And most of them, I like to stand five or 10 feet away from it.
And so, as your student starts the airplane,
you don't run over somebody because they forget to hold the brakes.
But don't put your headsets on until after you start the airplane.
Why is that?
You can't hear the starter of the airplane.
You couldn't hear if somebody's yelling at you you have a problem,
you may have left the tow bar on.
There maybe somebody standing close by.
- Fire. - Fire.
It could be a dog running close by.
All of this has happened over the last 20 years of my flying.
And you need to be aware of that, because as a new student,
you're down here, even as the pilot, you're down here starting the airplane,
looking at the oil pressure and deck, and not paying much attention outside,
but you need to.
Sure.
And this has happened to a few of my co-pilots.
They forget to take the trucks out.
Never did that. Never, never did that, either.
- He'll take the blame for something. - Why are you blaming?
See, I am now, apparently, the prototypical worst student
Joel's ever had because all of the stuff that's happened
over the years is now me [unin].
So, the headsets, from your purchase
all the way to the taxing of the airplane, there are many steps.
And if you learn that the first pre-solo knowledge.
And then, we can also get in at a later time
of what happens when the headset doesn't work.
Good point.
From the plug to the intercom to the [unin] settings.
Yeah, they have a microphone in there.
And this happened last night on a flight.
The bonanzas have a hand mic that is on there.
And this was me, because I'm sitting on the co-pilot seat.
I keep putting my hand down here.
And I'm like, "What's transmitting?"
Well, it's me putting my hand on the hand mic.
So, I've relocated the hand mic, because it's first flight out [of annual,]
so everything are put back to where it's supposed to be.
I put the hand mic back in the glovebox for emergencies.
I got a question for you.
If you have a malfunctioned headset, would you squawk 7600?
No.
No, don't do that.
We'll go into a whole 7600 series. We will name it 7600.
- There we go. - Because I have some good stories.
- That's correct. - I believe it.
Let's save it for a future series. - Sure.
I'll have you, guys, back down to Ocala again soon.
Again, the end of this series will be more
of Joel and Bob in the future, I am sure.
Life experiences in the cockpit.
Well, important tips, for sure.
Yes, absolutely.
So, listen, guys. Enjoy the rest of your day.
And Bob, would you like redemption?
A good pilot is always...
- Learning. - Learning.
Did I do it wrong that time?
- Yeah, but it's okay. - It's all right.
They'll forgive you. See you, guys.
Hey, send comments. We'll work on it next time.
Yeah, we'll work on it.
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