Tackling Transition Training
The Importance of Familiarizing Yourself with Unfamiliar Aircraft
By Tom Hoffmann, FAA Safety Briefing Magazine
Imagine yourself sitting behind the wheel of a car that has a stick shift, but all you’ve ever driven is an automatic transmission. Sure, it’s still a car, but if you’re driving a vehicle with a stick shift, you’ll need to know how to operate the gears and clutch. You’ll need transition training from an automatic to a manual transmission. Similarly, pilots who are transitioning to unfamiliar aircraft require not only stick and rudder development, but also specific training in the new aircraft’s systems and operating characteristics, including normal, abnormal, and emergency procedures.
Remember — skills learned in some aircraft don’t directly translate to other aircraft. Your new aircraft may look and feel like the one you’re used to flying, but subtle differences can exist, such as higher or lower performance, higher stall speeds, and variations in handling characteristics that could ultimately affect your reaction time and/or lead to loss of aircraft control in normal, adverse, and emergency conditions. Transition training is also important whenever you’re operating an unfamiliar aircraft or avionics system.
Impetus for Instruction
Lack of transition training has been cited as a causal factor in many general aviation accidents. Accidents frequently result from pilots being unprepared for challenges presented by the new or different aircraft they are flying. Even when pilots are legally certificated to operate aircraft within a specific category and class, significant differences can exist among different types of aircraft within that category and class, thus necessitating the need for effective transition training.
The first 50 to 100 hours in a new aircraft type are particularly dangerous, especially when a formal transition training program isn’t followed.
Stepping Down and Stepping Up
Transitioning to another aircraft works both ways — stepping down is just as important as stepping up. It’s not just about learning how to fly a more complex airplane. It’s also about learning to transition from high-performance aircraft to aircraft with lower performance and complexity, which can be equally challenging. The same rules apply when you’re operating in unfamiliar environments — you need to train for your new surroundings.
Transition Training Program
Whether you’re transitioning from higher- to lower-performance aircraft or even to a different model, you should follow these three steps to ensure a sound transition training program.
- Hit the books
You can get a leg up on your transition if you study the pilot’s operating handbook first, especially if you’ve flown similar aircraft before. Your study topics should include basic characteristics of the aircraft’s systems (e.g., fuel, electrical, control, hydraulic, avionics, and environmental) and how characteristics of the new aircraft differ from aircraft you have already flown.
Get a feel for what you can and can’t do with the aircraft. Focus on normal and abnormal procedures, performance characteristics, and what to expect on takeoff, landing, climb, cruise, descent, and glide. Also address the aircraft’s limitations, such as weight and balance, speeds, and wind limits. Know your aircraft’s emergency procedures, speeds, power setting, and configurations for normal operations. - Train with a qualified flight instructor
Finding the right flight instructor is key. Interview current owners, aircraft type clubs, or pilot organizations. They provide an excellent source of aircraft-specific information and a roster of flight instructors. Simulation training providers are another good source of information.
Talk to more than one flight instructor. They must be experienced with the make and model of your aircraft. More importantly, they must have recent experience. Let them know about your experience and capabilities as well, and how you intend to use the aircraft. Assess their communication style. Are they clear and easy to understand? Would they be an effective teacher?
Make sure your flight instructor uses a syllabus — a training roadmap that should contain training events and schedules, completion standards, and established roles and responsibilities for you and the flight instructor.
The National Association of Flight Instructors advocates the ACE (Analyze, Create, Execute) training method. Analyze the aircraft’s performance. Create your list of concerns about the new aircraft. And execute several flights similar to the type of operation you plan to do in the aircraft. - And practice, practice, practice
It is important to practice with your flight instructor — twice a week is suggested to yield the best result — and in your operating environment. Develop personal performance figures and minimums, and develop your personal data at mission weights.
New avionics systems require practice too. Try logging some time on an avionics simulator to practice in a glass cockpit.
Practice slow speed maneuvering at altitude, manage distractions, seek regular refresher training, and document your achievement in the WINGS Pilot Proficiency Program!
Transition Training with Modified Aircraft
Even aircraft that pilots have flown before may require transition training or at least thorough familiarization flights if they have been modified. Aircraft modifications not only increase utility and performance, but they may also alter flight characteristics. For example, vortex generators may decrease stall speed, but they may also reduce aerodynamic indications of approaching stalls. And aircraft with multiple alterations may exhibit flight characteristics that are different from those associated with single modifications. This means that pilots must be especially careful when transitioning to modified aircraft, even if they have extensive experience with the unmodified versions.
If you’ve got an aircraft that’s been modified, here are some tips to consider when taking your first flight:
- Regardless of any testing the installer may have done, your first flight in a modified aircraft will be a test flight. Advisory Circular 90–89C, Amateur-Built Aircraft and Ultralight Flight Testing Handbook, section 4, provides excellent guidance on test flying. You may not be conducting a full test program, but a review of the content will give you some useful information on test flying.
- It’s a good idea to engage a flight instructor who’s familiar with the aircraft and its modifications to assist you in your transition.
- Give yourself plenty of altitude.
- Take it slowly — don’t try to win a short-field landing contest or demonstrate ultimate performance right away. Ease into the altered performance envelope. Make sure you have good VFR weather, plenty of altitude, and long runways for the test flight(s).
The excitement of a new aircraft can make you feel like a kid on Christmas morning. Don’t let that excitement make you forget the importance of transition training. Whether it’s an entirely new aircraft, a new system, or a modification, always make time to familiarize yourself with the unfamiliar.
Learn More
- Advisory Circular 90–109A, Transition to Unfamiliar Aircraft
- “Shifting Gears: Tips for Transition Training,” Page 26, FAA Safety Briefing, Sep/Oct 2017
- “What’s Your Type, How Type Clubs Enhance Safety,” FAA Safety Briefing, Jan/Feb 2023
- AOPA Online Course: Transitioning to Other Airplanes
- FAA Airplane Flying Handbook, chapters 12 to 17
Tom Hoffmann is the editor of FAA Safety Briefing. He is a commercial pilot and holds an A&P certificate.
