This second Video Safety Bulletin has made use of recent data collected at UND Aerospace and is disseminating this data in a dynamic video to illustrate the risk of possible tail strikes occurring during the takeoff and landing phases. While this risk is prevalent in any UND Aerospace aircraft, even transport category aircraft are susceptible to striking a tail if certain conditions exist. Keep the tips offered in this video in the back of your mind on your next flight and never miss an opportunity to avoid a tail strike by executing a smooth go-around.

The AeroCast staff would like to give a shout-out to Eric Basile from Roscoe, Il and to Attilio De Luca from Rome, Italy for sending in the latest batch of fantastic Fan Photos. Thanks fellas!
Have fun and fly safe!

Day in and day out, UND Aerospace flight operations exercises one of the best safety cultures in the country. As an extension of that commitment to safety, a “Video Safety Bulletin” will interweave with the training topics on the broader AeroCast series as an effective way to promote our safety culture and keep our students and instructors constantly up to date with the latest developments in safety-sensitive flight training issues.

Bulletin #1 deals with converging VFR departures on close parallel runways. All UND Aerospace students and instructors should review this bulletin before their next flight lesson and discuss in their pre-brief the plan to actively mitigate the risks involved with this issue. Enjoy the episode and let us know what you think of this new series by emailing the UND AeroCast staff at undaerocast@aero.und.edu

Also, be sure to check out the great Fan Photos sent in by Jackie Foster, Jason Hanson and Eric Klopfenstein - fantastic as always.

As the UND Aerospace fleet continues its transition to the Cessna-172, exacting standardization across our large group of flight instructors and students is the main concern of the flight department. The latest episode entitled “Checklist Procedures and Resource Management” is designed to start every UND pilot off on the right foot the first time they show up to fly these brand-new airplanes. Using this episode in conjunction with the expanded checklist procedures from the UND C-172 standardization manual will be the perfect primer for any pilot getting ready to fly the Cessna.

As you watch the video, don’t be afraid to pause along the way in order to study different animated flows and checklist procedures. If you are a student new to the C-172, use this video in conjunction with the UND Aerospace online checklist procedures trainer so that you have your flows down by the time you show up for your first lesson. Knowing all of your flows will make your first flight smoother and a lot more fun.

Thanks to everyone who submitted fan photos - keep ‘em coming. If you have any comments about the episode or the series in general, as always, let us know what you think by leaving a comment on our iTunes page.

Enjoy the episode, and have fun on your next flight!

Let’s face it, as we begin our flight training, most, if not all of us will be doing quite a bit of flying in small, single-engine aircraft. At UND Aerospace our entire fleet is maintained to meet the highest standards of airworthiness and safety. In other words, we could not feel more confident in our machines every time we fly. Still, those machines are powered with one engine, and so this video is dedicated to that highly-unlikely event that every pilot keeps in the back of their mind each and every time their wheels leave the ground. Though extremely rare even the best-maintained aircraft is susceptible to an engine failure during flight in which the pilot must rely heavily on previous training and experience in order to successfully execute a forced, power-off landing. UND CFI Anthony Bottini takes you through the necessary steps that should be in the back of YOUR mind the next time you fly, because the best pilots will ALWAYS have a plan.

For the viewer’s convenience, this latest High Definition (HD) AeroCast episode has been released in two versions, a “Large” and “Small”. (”Large” and “Small” refers to the file sizes) The Large will work great and look great on your computer, while the Small version is meant to really “pop” on that iPod/iPhone while taking up less storage space. Enjoy the episode, and don’t forget, we on the UND AeroCast staff loooooovvvvveee the attention, so hop on iTunes, go to our “UND AeroCast” page and tell us what you think by leaving a comment and a rating - every little bit helps:)

Smack dab in the middle of our 40th Anniversary, UND Aerospace has let the cat out of the bag and introduced the addition of the newest member of a fleet of over 100 aircraft. As of July, 2008 UND Aerospace started the process of transitioning its fleet of primary trainers, comprised of the Piper Warrior, over to brand-new 2008 Cessna 172SP’s. This latest AeroCast episode gives an inside-out look at UND’s new single engine trainer. This episode also marks the beginning of the UND AeroCast being presented in HD. (Now you won’t have to waste screen space on those cool new iPhones and iPod Touches when you watch the AeroCast.)

In keeping with our recent traffic pattern/landing theme, the UND AeroCast has released the Warrior Standardization episode for the Soft-Field Approach and Landing. Mike Lents is filmed in this episode demonstrating Soft-Field Landing techniques that every student must practice and master prior to operation into any airport that doesn’t have pavement. If you have any questions or comments about this or any other UND AeroCast episodes, send them to undaerocast@aero.und.edu Enjoy the episode!

OK, so its been awhile, but the UND AeroCast is back at it and this time UND Aerospace Lead Flight Instructor Mike Lents teaches the UND Warrior Standardization procedures for performing high performance Short-Field Approaches and Landings. In this episode, Mike draws upon his years of experience teaching students the Short-Field Landing technique in both tailwheel and tricycle-gear aircraft and discusses the key points involved with performing a safe and successful Short-Field Approach and Landing. A huge thanks goes out to Steve Kulhman for sending in his video sign-off from Ontario and to Stephan Gerhardt for the amazing flying photos. Keep sending ‘em in, we’re running low! Whether watching from your computer, iPod, iPhone or whatever, enjoy the latest UND Aerospace AeroCast training addition and stay subscribed for more great aviation video-podcasted episodes.