S
spin training guy
Guest
So a few months ago I was going out with a CFI I hadn't flown with before, in an aircraft type I hadn't flown in quite some time (2 years?) to get my spin awareness endorsement. We both typically fly G1000 aircraft, however we were flying a different type in order to be in the "Utility Category" needed for the maneuver which was not G1000 equipped.
We hadn't realized it at the time, but there was a pretty nasty Magnetic Compass error in the aircraft which was about 30 to the west of actual heading (seemed real obvious on taxi back, but neither of us noticed it during preflight). Being we didn't have the huge MFD in our face we were sorta reliant on preplanned headings to steer us clear from the Bravo shelf above us as we climbed up. Not to mention I had some nerves heading into the training as I suppose some people have before spin training so my mind was a bit preoccupied and perhaps a bit too reliant on the CFIs situational awareness as we flew out and prepared.
On climb out the CFI told me to take a 360 heading up to 6500 (which would've steered us well clear of the shelf had we not actually been flying something more like 330 due to the compass issue), however I remember feeling out of place where we were. I eventually realized something was off with our location when I saw an airport in front of us from a perspective I have never seen (we were too far west and too high...in the bravo). I quickly asked "hey is that so-and-so airport over there" to which he said "No it Cant be!". Then I saw the instructor quickly checked his foreflight and had me turn to the east, and I don't think he had realized I noticed we busted at the time (although it was my query about our location that triggered it).
We did our spins, felt good about them actually and was heading back when he told me that we busted earlier in the flight. I should mention we were monitoring the approach control but weren't speaking to them for the flight so we were just a 1200 blip on their screens and ATC didn't bother to make contact with us. It was early morning, and we only just skirted the edge of the airspace for a minute or two...so no real traffic issues or danger at hand.
We got back to home base, landed, switched to ground and that when we got the "We have a number for you, approach wants to talk to you, advise when ready to copy". We nervously copied and taxied back then called approach back at the flight school.
They were actually super friendly and just said to be more careful and that they wanted to make sure we were aware of what happened. It was like we got a controller and we told them why we were calling, and they said "oh yeah....that was you, the manager just wanted to make sure you knew that you were in the airspace with out clearance and to be more vigilant in the future". We asked if there was anything else they needed from us (we were surprised that there wasn't more...trouble for us). But the controller said no and to have a nice day so we didn't protest, apologized and thanked them.
An ASRS report was filed afterwards on my end, and its been a couple of months since the event and nothing else has come of it. Wanted to share this with others to be especially careful when in unfamiliar aircraft and/or unusual/uncomfortable situations where you may be distracted. On a normal day I would have (and I assume the instructor as well) never ever flown in that direction at that altitude knowingly! Its the kind of thing you read about with human factors, but it was eye opening to have it happen first hand.
Also curious if others have had similar airspace violation incidents, where the controllers were generally forgiving and understanding. You hear the "copy a number" thing and you assume that your cert is toast, but that wasn't my experience given the circumstances. I'm sure had we blatantly flew through the middle of the airspace, or interfered with other traffic things would've been different.
I'm hoping between the seemingly positive phone call that didn't indicate any further action would be taken against us, the NASA report, and the time that has lapsed since the incident that nothing else will come of this other than a learning experience.
We hadn't realized it at the time, but there was a pretty nasty Magnetic Compass error in the aircraft which was about 30 to the west of actual heading (seemed real obvious on taxi back, but neither of us noticed it during preflight). Being we didn't have the huge MFD in our face we were sorta reliant on preplanned headings to steer us clear from the Bravo shelf above us as we climbed up. Not to mention I had some nerves heading into the training as I suppose some people have before spin training so my mind was a bit preoccupied and perhaps a bit too reliant on the CFIs situational awareness as we flew out and prepared.
On climb out the CFI told me to take a 360 heading up to 6500 (which would've steered us well clear of the shelf had we not actually been flying something more like 330 due to the compass issue), however I remember feeling out of place where we were. I eventually realized something was off with our location when I saw an airport in front of us from a perspective I have never seen (we were too far west and too high...in the bravo). I quickly asked "hey is that so-and-so airport over there" to which he said "No it Cant be!". Then I saw the instructor quickly checked his foreflight and had me turn to the east, and I don't think he had realized I noticed we busted at the time (although it was my query about our location that triggered it).
We did our spins, felt good about them actually and was heading back when he told me that we busted earlier in the flight. I should mention we were monitoring the approach control but weren't speaking to them for the flight so we were just a 1200 blip on their screens and ATC didn't bother to make contact with us. It was early morning, and we only just skirted the edge of the airspace for a minute or two...so no real traffic issues or danger at hand.
We got back to home base, landed, switched to ground and that when we got the "We have a number for you, approach wants to talk to you, advise when ready to copy". We nervously copied and taxied back then called approach back at the flight school.
They were actually super friendly and just said to be more careful and that they wanted to make sure we were aware of what happened. It was like we got a controller and we told them why we were calling, and they said "oh yeah....that was you, the manager just wanted to make sure you knew that you were in the airspace with out clearance and to be more vigilant in the future". We asked if there was anything else they needed from us (we were surprised that there wasn't more...trouble for us). But the controller said no and to have a nice day so we didn't protest, apologized and thanked them.
An ASRS report was filed afterwards on my end, and its been a couple of months since the event and nothing else has come of it. Wanted to share this with others to be especially careful when in unfamiliar aircraft and/or unusual/uncomfortable situations where you may be distracted. On a normal day I would have (and I assume the instructor as well) never ever flown in that direction at that altitude knowingly! Its the kind of thing you read about with human factors, but it was eye opening to have it happen first hand.
Also curious if others have had similar airspace violation incidents, where the controllers were generally forgiving and understanding. You hear the "copy a number" thing and you assume that your cert is toast, but that wasn't my experience given the circumstances. I'm sure had we blatantly flew through the middle of the airspace, or interfered with other traffic things would've been different.
I'm hoping between the seemingly positive phone call that didn't indicate any further action would be taken against us, the NASA report, and the time that has lapsed since the incident that nothing else will come of this other than a learning experience.
