Thursday, September 29, 2005

IFR 2 - Chasing it


We spent some time briefing this one and decided that the best use of time would be the ILS/DME 1 into Rome (RMG - I-HBQ), followed by a simple VOR/DME A (RMG) into Cartersville and finally an ILS 27 (I-RYY) back home. Pretty straight forward with no apparent tricks, as long as I stayed ahead of the aircraft. I didn't.

The departure was uneventful and the climb to 4500 went fine. I had the 284 from RMG dialed into #2 Nav, Localizer with 007 in Nav #1 with GPS backing up the approach. I chased the needle a little bit inbound, but the rest of my air work was solid. The holding entry to approach was straight forward(right turns - parallel) and I looked good at the initial approach fix (IAF). It went down hill (in more ways then one) from here. I intercepted the glide slope normally, but started chasing the needle for heading. I should have picked a course to fly and let the needle correct, instead I kept chasing it all the way down. Pretty ugly

Missed was fine, back to holding at RMG (left turns - teardrop) , but I was late doing checklist and getting Navaids set up for the VOR into Cartersville. Just plain ugly. Busted mins, chased the needle, overall just worked way too hard. Circle to land went well, and the landing was great.

Picked up radar vectors for the ILS 27 back home. Had to just fly straight for awhile...gave me a chance to think ahead. Everything was set by the time I intercepted the final approach course. I flew course this time, calling out the corrections to myself all the way down. This worked well. Took the glasses off at mins for a beautiful setup for landing. I blew the landing.

Hard, hard workout, but a great training flight. The course covered 165 miles. My cockpit organization is lousy, my procedures are rough, but I'm optimistic. I can do this...and it is REALLY fun!

Time 1.9

Monday, September 26, 2005

Homework


I can remember sitting in a one bedroom apartment, studying a small plastic RMI. Three of us would give different holding instructions while the others tried to figure out the correct entry procedure. Things have changed. Now GPS allows you to see the pattern, provides a direct track to the entry point, and even provides the recommended entry. If only I had been able to have this then. Technology is great. The simulator can be downloaded for free from the Garmin website. Couple this with MS Flight Simulator you can fly the entire lesson while sitting at home with the computer. While the PC doesn’t provide the ‘feel’, it does give you the situational awareness needed to anticipate what the approach should look like.

Thursday, September 22, 2005

First Instrument Flight


After taking off he handed me some "foggles" to put over my glasses so that I could only see the instruments. I continued to climb, turning north to get up to the practice area. I wanted to get the 'numbers' straight. How many engine rpm are necessary to climb at 90kts, what is the pitch up attitude, how many feet per second will that yield? Same for descent, slow flight, etc.

Next I did a Localizer Approach into Cartersville (the straight portion heading south next to route 293), missed approach and did a VOR approach back to Cobb County. I took the glasses off at pattern altitude for the approach, and did a 'circle to land' (left base) to a "squeaker" full stop landing.

It took a little under an hour, but I was so busy it felt like 5 minutes. More approaches (including an ILS) next week.

Total Time = 0.8

Saturday, September 17, 2005

Cessna


I got checked out in a Cessna 172P last night. I thought you might be
interested in the track. As you can see, we did a number of T&Gs, some
slow flight and steep turns up at the lake, then back (right base) for
some no flap landings. The last was particularly interesting as he
chopped power 700 ft immediately after Take Off and I did a 'tear drop'
back to the opposing runway. A lot of fun.

Time = 1.2