If you live in a part of the world that has seasons when the trees change color, prepare yourself for more crowded skies. Starting in September there are significantly more aircraft over autumnal forests and the perennial seasonal favorite—the corn maze next to the pumpkin patch.
My favorite place to practice in the Seattle area is located over farmland east of the airport. Every year there are bright-orange pumpkins and mazes to find. In addition to training flights, there are many sightseeing flights. Between what’s on the ground and more airplanes in the air, there are a great many realistic distractions during lessons.
Frankly, it is busy no matter what time of year as there are several active flight schools in the area. An air-to-air frequency of 122.75 is used to self-announce position, altitude, and intentions. The idea is that this notification, combined with clearing turns and looking out the window for situational awareness with ADS-B in the cockpit, will keep pilots from having a midair collision.
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But as we all know it just takes one mistake by one person and one time for the holes in the Swiss cheese to line up for someone—actually a couple of someones—to have a really bad day. For that reason, when we find corn mazes, we announce when we are orbiting over them.
Pro tip: When orbiting a corn maze, indicate the altitude and direction you are circling. Sometimes early in the season another pilot will click on and ask if you have figured out what the design is supposed to be.
The wildlife of Washington state is also an excellent attraction. Depending on the whims of Mother Nature, there can be robust salmon runs that attract seals and sea lions and the apex predator orca.
If you intend to overfly wildlife, check with your local fish and game department to determine an appropriate altitude. Often “no lower than 2,000 feet” is authorized, and harassment of the animals is not permitted.
Harassment is often determined by movement. If the seals on the beach suddenly sprint toward the water because they see salmon and you are flying over it, that might look suspicious to someone who witnesses it from the surface or beach. Be prepared to defend yourself with FlightAware or a similar app that tracks your flight with an indication of altitude.
Atmospheric Obscurations
With the days getting shorter, you may find yourself accidentally landing in the dark or close to it.
Fall is an excellent time to shake the rust off of your night-flying and instrument skills. You never know when a flight will go a little later than planned, or the clouds and fog will form sooner than anticipated.
If there is an instrument approach at your airport, have it loaded and ready to go if needed. If there isn’t, practice the approaches into the nearest suitable airport, and be prepared to call someone for a ride.
Remember, fog doesn’t just happen at night. The temperature and dew point can converge at any time. It can be surprising and deadly when the fog drops like a blanket.
For student pilots, it can be a shock to experience how fast fog forms in the morning.
One of my learners experienced this. It was an early morning flight. First light was beginning to manifest, and the skies were clear as he headed out to the ramp to begin the preflight inspection.
Official sunrise happened as he returned to the FBO for the prebrief, which took all of 10 minutes then, as we stepped out of the hangar door onto the ramp, we walked into a curtain of fog. We could barely see the aircraft or the hangars in the distance.
“What happened?” the learner said. “We were going to fly today!”
“Mother Nature had other ideas,” I replied. “Did you check the TAF this morning?”
A sheepish “no” was the answer. As he had been driving to the airport, he saw the moon and stars and figured it would stay clear. This led to a discussion about what we would have done if we had been in the air when the field became socked in.
A METAR review showed that the visibility and ceiling were below what was required for the RNAV approach into the airport. This led to a review of the local TAFs and METARs, and the learner came away with a list of airports to use as alternatives.
Although we did not get into the sky that morning, I am reasonably certain learning did take place.