Loren French, with Alpine Flight Training, teaches an introductory mountain flying course aimed at piston-engine pilots navigating below 12,000 feet in VFR conditions. Here’s his guidance on weather minimums for pilots new to mountain flying:

What are Your Mountain Flying Wx Minimums?

• Visibility: Minimum 10 miles along your route
• Wind Aloft: Maximum 25 knots forecast between 9,000 and 12,000
• Cloud bases: 2,000 feet above all ridges and passes along your route

Weather minimums are part of Loren’s guidance to develop a strategy that puts conditions in your favor.  If your weather minimums cannot be met look for a suitable alternate route, delay the flight or cancel and rent a car.

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What’s your airplane’s performance at mountain altitudes? Airplane performance is one of five primary topics discussed in the Alpine Flight Training course.

The Pilot Operating Handbook (POH), Section 5 contains performance data for takeoff, climb gradients and landing distances, which you’ll want to study. Your airplane’s performance will vary based on weight, altitude and air temperature. And, keep in mind the POH numbers listed are for a new aircraft. Your plane’s age and condition can be a factor in actual performance.

Alpine Flight Training, suggests creating a blank table template and entering the actual performance for your individual airplane. Training with a local expert can help you gain a better understanding of your airplane’s true performance in the mountains at high altitude. It’s said, a normally aspirated airplane will lose about 3% in engine performance for every 1,000 feet.  At an altitude of 10,000 feet that’s a 30% loss in engine power. Continue reading “What’s the mountain performance of your airplane?” →

This year, we also completed a mountain flying course with Professional Aviation Resources (PAR), based in Addison Texas. Rachel Palmer, CEO of PAR, ensured all the scheduling and onsite arrangements were flawlessly managed.

“What’s that goat doing up here?” A mountain flying joke gave context to our training. Two pilots are looking out from the cockpit and asking the question “What’s that goat doing up here in the clouds?” When flying in the mountains you don’t want to see goats in the clouds – you might be too close to the mountains!

The course included a day of ground instruction, followed by flight training in a full motion Redbird FMX simulator with the configuration based on our make and model aircraft. Robert Palmer is the lead Cirrus Standardized Instructor Pilot (CSIP). He has more than 18,000 hours flight experience and many levels of certification. He delivered a well designed program with high quality instruction.
Continue reading “We completed a mountain flying course with full motion Redbird FMX simulator” →

If you’re interested in flying near mountains you must realize it’s very valuable to receive expert instruction. There are many mountain flight training programs based around the Rockies. Choose one and get with a local expert for personal training.

In Cirrus speak, you’ll want to have a plan to increase both your Critical Decision Making (CDM) and Cirrus Pilot Proficiency (CPP) skills. But CDM may be the most important, as astronaut Frank Borman said, “A superior pilot uses his superior judgement to avoid situations which require the use of his superior skill.”

Here’s the ground instruction syllabus for our Introduction to Mountain Flying Course, by Loren French with Alpine Flight Training. The course introduction begins with a strategy discussion. You’ll want a personal strategy to put as many conditions as possible in your favor. Continue reading “Here’s the syllabus for our Introduction to Mountain Flying Course” →