One Pagers

I used to have a collection of notebooks that took up two shipping crates in my basement, always there and ready for reference. At the time of the disaster, it was thirty years of notes. Disaster? Yes, our basement flooded while I was on a trip and I came back to a wet sogginess that was only surpassed in its grossness by the mold that clung to many of the boxes and all of the drywall. I rented a 30-yard dumpster and my marching orders were clear: get rid of anything with any mold.

I did that.

I was a model of efficiency. I managed to convert our moldy finished basesment into a pristine unfinished basement in three days. After the dumpster driver took our troubles away, The Lovely Mrs. and I marvelled at how much nicer everything was, with all those decades of clutter gone. It was only a month later, while looking for some of my archives did I realize what I had done.

The notes. The two boxes of notes were gone.

Of course I had notes spread all over the house and it wasn't a total loss. But it was a loss. As I write this, on Christmas day, I am happy to say I found a notepad from 1994. This was the year I left the 89th Airlift Wing at Andrews and was headed to the Pentagon. I believed my flying days were over and decided to summarize my fourteen years of flying into what I called back then, "one pagers." The idea was that if you couldn't summarize a lesson into a single page, you hadn't thought it through enough. Keep in mind that this was before the days of GPS and it was before I had ever seen a real Flight Management System computer. So, before the next disaster, I've scanned the notebook and here it is.

60 to 1

Photo: 60 to 1 (Notes from 1994)
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More about this: Stories: 60-to-1

Airspeed

Photo: Airspeed (Notes from 1994)
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More about this: Stories: Ice-T

Altimetry

Photo: Altimetry (Notes from 1994)
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More about this: Altimetry

Angle of Attack

Photo: Angle of Attack (Notes from 1994)
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Over the years the T-38 angle of attack guide has proven remarkably consistent across the various jets that I've flown, except the GVII-G500. I haven't yet figured out why.

More about this: Angle of Attack

More about this: Stories: Angle of Attack (1979)

More about this: GVII-G500 Aero

Approach VVI

Photo: Approach VVI, (Notes from 1994)
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You may have heard or realized that your approach VVI on an ILS is usually around 600 to 700 fpm. It depends on your aproach speed and the winds. If you simply take your ground speed, divide by two, and multiply by ten, you will have something that is very close for a 3° glide path.

More about this: Approach VVI

Arc Distance

Photo: Arc distance, (Notes from 1994)
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So why did we need this technique back in the day? The instrument world was filled with arc approaches requiring a descent along the arc. Knowing the distance along the arc allowed us to make the descent more gracefully.

More about this: Arc Distance

Arcs

Photo: Arcs, (Notes from 1994)
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More about this: Arcs

Asymmetrical Thrust

Photo: Asymmetrical thrust, (Notes from 1994)
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More about this: Asymmetrical Thrust

Behind the Power Curve

Photo: Behind the power curve, (Notes from 1994)
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More about this: Low Speed Flight

Block Times

Photo: Block times, (Notes from 1994)
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This used to be the most stressful part of flying for many of us at the 89th Airlift Wing, trying to get to the red carpet plus or minus 5 seconds. Thankfully that kind of silliness is over. But there are some useful techniques here for other situations, such as making an oceanic entry point on time.

More about this: Stories: Block Times (1992)

Cabin Fire

Photo: Cabin fires, (Notes from 1994)
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More about this: Cabin Fire

More about this: Stories: Tutti Fruiti (1983)

Circling Approach

Photo: Circling, 90° to runway (Notes from 1994)
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Photo: Circling, from opposite runway (Notes from 1994)
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Photo: circling area, (Notes from 1994)
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More about this: Circling Approach

Climb Gradient

Photo: Climb gradient, (Notes from 1994)
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More about this: Stories: Climb Gradient (1980)

Control and Performance Concept

Photo: Control and Performance Concept, (Notes from 1994)
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More about this: Control Performance Concept

Course Intercepts

Photo: Course intercepts inbound, (Notes from 1994)
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Photo: Course intercepts outbound, (Notes from 1994)
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More about this: Stories: Course Intercepts (1979)

Course

Photo: Course, (Notes from 1994)
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More about this: Navigation: Direction

Equal Time Points

Photo: ETP/PSR, (Notes from 1994)
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More about this: Equal Time Points

Fix-to-fix Navigation

Photo: Fix-to-fix, (Notes from 1994)
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More about this: Fix-to-fix (1979)

Holding Pattern (FAA)

Photo: Holding Pattern (FAA), (Notes from 1994)
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More about this: Instrument Procedures: Holding

ICAO Course Reversal Entry

Photo: ICAO Course Reversal Entry, (Notes from 1994)
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More about this: Instrument Procedures: Course Reversals

ICAO Course Reversal

Photo: ICAO Course Reversal, (Notes from 1994)
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More about this: Instrument Procedures: Course Reversals

Jerk

Photo: Jerk, (Notes from 1994)
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More about this: Stories: Smoothness

L over D max

Photo: L/D-max, (Notes from 1994)
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More about this: L / D - max

Maintain Arc with bank angles and brackets

Photo: Maintain arc with bank angles, (Notes from 1994)
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Photo: Maintain arc with brackets, (Notes from 1994)
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More about this: Arcs

Maneuver Speed

Photo: Maneuver Speed, (Notes from 1994)
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More about this: Aero: V_A

Runway Distances

Photo: Runway distances, (Notes from 1994)
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More about this: Runway Data

Teardrop Angle

Photo: Teardrop angle, (Notes from 1994)
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More about this: Story: Holding Pattern Teardrop Angle

TERPS Takeoff

Photo: TERPS, Takeoff (Notes from 1994)
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More about this: Departure Obstacle Analysis Strategy

Turn Radius

Photo: Turn Radius, (Notes from 1994)
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More about this: Turn Radius

Unusual Attitudes

Photo: Unusual Attitudes, (Notes from 1994)
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More about this: Unusual Attitude Recovery

Visual Pattern

Photo: Visual patterns, (Notes from 1994)
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More about this: Stories: Final Turn (1979)

More about this: Stories: Traffic Pattern Geometry (1986)