| Hello, my name is James Jaeger FAA Certified Flight Instructor
(left), and this is Tom next to me. Tom is a Certified Private Pilot from Minneapolis
Minnesota USA looking for a FAA required, 2 year, Biennial Flight Review. "Not so
fast Tom"... I know you can still fly but I want to have a little fun first. Besides
the FAA requires at least one hour of ground review and one hour of dual flight
instruction.
I know Tom does a lot of cross country flying in his Mooney M20C for his business so I'm going to spend more time on uncontrolled airport traffic pattern work and emergency procedures and less time on navigation and flight planning. I know that things not often used are forgotten more easily. After reviewing uncontrolled airport procedures on the ground Tom will have to show not only that he knows the proper entry procedures but can actually demonstrate them as well. If his pattern is too wide or his final approach is too flat I'll pull an engine and ask him if he can make the field. When he says he can't, I'll ask him why. When he says because he's too low, He will learn what could happen if he really lost all or partial engine power in a critical situation. Next we'll go out and do some incipient stalls. I know Tom doesn't like to do stalls and he doesn't like to put himself in situations where control is questionable. He needs this practice though so he will be ready for something unexpected... Like wind shear on short final approach! A stall is controllable for some length of time if you use the rudder properly. It is possible to partially control the plane while fully stalled, using the rudder only, the plane can be held on a straight course avoiding the dreaded Spin. The plane will lose altitude rapidly though! The Falling Leaf Maneuver is a maneuver that that can provide valuable time to practice control techniques while stalled. We won't try this in his Mooney though. The Mooney's laminar flow wings and aerodynamic design can be very unforgiving if a mistake is made. Do not practice this maneuver on your own, it is dangerous without proper training and equipment. On the way back home I'll try to distract Tom while pulling the gear circuit breaker so he'll have to do an emergency gear extension before landing. If he seems to be doing well I'll load some more tasks on him as well. In fact I'll keep loading problems on him until he does make a mistake because I want him to know his limitations. Nothing humbles a man like mistakes, and I want him to know that no matter how good he is there is always room for improvement. When we get back I'll sign his logbook and answer any questions he has. Very few people fail the biennial (2 yr.) flight review because it is not specifically a test, it is a review and should be treated as such. But ultimately an instructor can refuse to sign it if he feels there is a threat to flight safety, but failure is not recorded in his logbook like a flight certificate test failure would be. He could possibly get another instructor to sign it that same day if he wanted to.
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