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Contents
A License to Learn;
Flying Smart IFR; ..Saving Money;
Safety pilot;
Hood 'Actual';
Safety Standards;
Tape Recorder;
Logging Time;
Low approach;
Cockpit Organization;
Basic IFR Flight Skills;
Transitions;
Flying so Flying is not Part of the IFR Problem;
Trim; ...IFR Climb and Descent; ...Standardized Controlled IFR Flying; ...Control instruments; ...Performance instruments;
Redirect the Aircraft;
Level Cruise;
Approach Cruise; ...Level to Climbing Turn; ...Steep Turn; ...Cruise Descent; ...Slow Cruise Descent; ...Chop/Drop descent; ...Approach; ...Level bank; ...Level to Descent; ...Level Turn; ...Descent to level; ...Cruise to Approach;
Best Angle Climb, Vx;
Best Rate Climb;
Cruise Climb;
Climbs;
Leveling Offf;
Level Cruise to Low Cruise;
Descent;
Level from Descent;
Cruise Descent;
Turns;
Approaches;
Short Approach ;
Partial Panel;
Routes;
VOR Skills;
PAR Simulation;
No-Gyro Simulation;
Training in Actual Conditions;
Rule of Thumb Climb; ...Rule of Thumb Descent; ...Rule of Thumb Cold Wx Altimeter;
Distractions? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Distractions;
Low Visibility Takeoff;
Preping IFR Landings;
Icing;
Hand-flying in Marginal Conditions;
A License to Learn
The hard part of IFR flight after obtaining your rating is not the flying so much as surviving while you fill all the experience gaps not covered in your training. The last level of achievement will be in acquiring the confidence needed to fly IFR alone.
Competent IFR pilots do not crash, often.
Flying Smart IFR
When first beginning IFR training the multiplicity of tasks so divides our attention that the putting together of the puzzle seems impossible. There are some ways not only to fly better but to fly smarter.
--A good pilot will anticipate rather than react. Thinking ahead of the airplane is a necessity, not a choice.
--Scan is an essential ingredient to good IFR piloting. A proficient scan can only be maintained by continual practice.
--You can get away with some memorized checklists. Written checklists are the preferred method of experienced pilots.
--Be exact in your actions. Know how much power, trim, rudder, it takes to do what. Organize the flow path of what you
do.
--Know where you are in the world around you. Nothing, but nothing, so disables the thought processes as being lost,
confused or misplaced.
--Learn enough of the codes so as to know the navaid identifier when you hear it.
--Organize your flight materials. There is considerable difference between having something and knowing just where you
have it.
--Use all your ATC and cockpit resources. Every radio and navaid should be used effectively. Knowing you need
assistance requires a companion factor of being able to ask for it.
--Divide the things you do into priorities. Do the primary things in order. Secondary things must wait both their turn and the
time of doing.
--Standards are just averages. Fly to a higher level in maintaining altitude, heading and airspeed.
--The pre-approach preparation of weather, getting plate essentials, setting radios and navaids is completed before
reaching the initial approach fix.
--If you are not doing something then there must be something you should be doing.
--Getting behind is part of life and flying. Slowing down the airplane is the best way to catch up to it in the cockpit.
--Beginning with aircraft control we find that flying the airplane must be removed as part of the equation.
Saving Money
The IFR rating doesn't have to be as expensive as most pilots make it. The ego of most mid-time pilots often and mistakenly lead them to believe that the major hurdles are to learn the applicable material needed to pass the written. The flying is a 40 hour understood requirement but no problem.
Though often not prone to boast, every pilot likes to think of himself as a good pilot. The pilot, however, is selective in his recollections of flying events and performance. The quality of a pilot is a conglomerate of many skills and thought processes. Any deficiency in one area permeates the whole. Jack Nicklaus said of golfing, "The game of golf is not how many good shots you hit, it's how few bad shots you hit. The same concept applies to instrument flying. Greatest weakness of IFR students is their inability to fly basic instruments.
Until you master efficient aircraft operation don't even think of beginning concentrated IFR instruction. That is unless you have in ingrained desire to escalate your instructional costs. The best way to become IFR efficient after getting your private license would be to get at least forty of your fifty required hours of cross country using IFR enroute techniques while VFR. IFR radio procedures like most ATC procedures are 'canned'. Everything you say will be the same format except for place names, altitudes, aircraft numbers, and special instructions or requests.
The skill of flying has a foundation of planning for efficiency in every phase. Anticipation instead of reaction is the difference. The skillful pilot has a planned efficient preflight, a planned efficient departure, a planned efficient flight route, and a planned efficient arrival. Even the most minute aspect of the above operations should be both planned and efficient. The seeming effortless performance of a skillful pilot is due to planning and efficiency. There is a minimum of wasted or repetitive movement of body and controls. All actions are predicated to anticipate a minimum of subsequent action. How rapidly you improve in your instrument flying will be directly related to how quickly you learn from your mistakes.
How well you fly IFR is directly related to your initial flight training and the extent to which the instrument instructor has to rebuild habits and concepts. Extra vigilance and precision is required to fly IFR. The transition is not easy or without emotional pain. You will sacrifice much of the freedom and tolerances allowed in VFR flight.
A CFII will use numerous devices to reduce the stress of the VFR to IFR transition. The learning curve depends on many factors which must be orchestrated by the student and instructor to keep everything moving in harmony. The student wants the enjoyment of flying, perhaps, without realizing that the expense of flying will soon out run any enjoyment if the required book knowledge is not acquired. I roughly figure about four hours of study for every hour of flying.
Study should go in phases. Initially cover the material quickly as with a novel to get the big picture. You need to see where you are headed. Next read and make small marks (Not underlines or highlights) to identify what you think of as worth underlining. A final reading should underline or highlight the essentials.
The flight training should include extensive pre- and post-flight briefings and review. My preference for a planned flight to Sacramento would include mentioning the flight and suggested preparation for the flight at the end of the immediately preceding flight. This would be followed by a phone conversation the night before during which preparation would reviewed by going through the approach plates and radio procedures to be anticipated.
I would expect the aircraft to be preflighted and ready to go at the appointed time of my arrival at the airport. We would walk through the entire departure route on the ramp. We would walk through the route and expected altitudes including the missed approach. We would walk and talk through the radio procedures. Next, we would sit in the aircraft and make a dry-run through all the communication frequencies and voice communications anticipated including a check of our frequency list. Finally, we would run through The #1 and #2 navigational frequencies and OBS settings for the route as they occurred in sequence. We do everything on the ground that can be done on the ground.
Since all of the preflight briefing and actual flight is tape recorded my post-flight briefing will be directed toward essential successes and shortcomings. I will emphasize how and why any changes must be initiated. A final debriefing will occur over the phone after the student has had a chance to play back the recordings.
I try to make flying and learning to fly enjoyable but not without mistakes. Mistakes are an instructional tool not to be feared but to be appreciated as real time events that can occur regardless of experience level. I am always available to talk flying.
I have had IFR pilots go through a very difficult instructional period and then relax. They relax so much that they make basic mistakes of heading, radio, aircraft configuration and situational awareness. Don't relax until you stop the engine.
Safety pilot per FAR 91.109(b)
--Safety pilot must be private with category and class ratings. If VFR safety pilot does not need IFR rating. If IFR PIC must be instrument rated, current, and legal.
--If two equally qualified pilots should chose to trade hood time while the other acts as safety pilot, they both can log PIC
time. One as sole manipulator of the controls and the other as required crew member.
--Minimum qualifications for safety pilot is a private pilot appropriately rated in aircraft. Flight under simulated instrument
conditions are logged as place and type of each instrument approach completed and name of the safety pilot.
Hood 'Actual'
You should have an "actual conditions" checklist. Every time you go under the hood you should go through the list to develop good IFR habits. It could/should include such items as pitot heat, vacuum backup, alternate air check and
HI/Compass check
Safety Standards
1. No hard IFR without redundant vacuum and possible redundant gyros
2. Enough fuel to fly to VFR conditions.
3. Don't do a second approach after missed approach. Go somewhere better.
4. Don't let 'getting there' be part of the problem.
5. Don't fly where slow air masses meet low pressure systems.
Tape Recorder
When using tape recorder always give a time check at the beginning of each 45 minute tape run so that time of a given event can be determined. The FAA does it to you every time you contact ATC.
Logging Time
--FAR Part 1 defines PIC as the one responsible for operation. You cannot be PIC on an IFR flight plan unless IFR rated
even in VFR conditions.
--You can log PIC time under FAR 61.51 (c)(2)(i) which is when the pilot is the sole manipulator of the controls of an
aircraft for which the pilot is rated.
--FAR 61.51 (C)(4) then defines instrument time as when the pilot operates an aircraft solely by reference to instruments.
This second PIC time is time toward instrument flight experience requirement of FAR 61.65.
--Instructional time cannot be logged as IFR instruction unless a CFI is aboard. 40 hours of instruction in IFR is required.
25 hours can be with a CFI and at least 15 must be with a CFII. If you can, get up to twenty-five hours of instruction
from a CFI who will probably instruct for less than a CFII.
Low Approach
The practice of IFR low approaches to minimums does not violate the restrictions in FAR 91.119.
Cockpit Organization
Consider using the back of your lapboard to keep round numbers for range, climb per nautical mile speeds, landing and takeoff distances. Every checklist has a time where it should be completed. Planning ahead gets the list finished before that time. Emergency lists must include such automatics as convert airspeed to altitude, turn to selected field.
The POH tells you how to operate the aircraft but very little is said of the specifics of preparing for IFR flight. Every phase of IFR flight has a specific number of items that should be checked by the checklist. When you play with the 'big boys' you must fit into the game by knowing what to say, do, and avoid.
Basic IFR Flight Skills
To fly basic instruments the pilot must acquire sufficient experience in flying with a light "finger-tip" touch to see that it really works best. Doing so, will make aircraft control an exercise in relaxation. You must hold the controls with only your fingertips. This is the beginning step in good instrument flying.
To fly IFR you must be able to do quite a number of different simple things in correct sequence. Anticipation instead of reaction. The timing and order of these things must be reduced to their most simple denominators. Then, after all aspects of instrument flight are in place and ordered you must have sufficient intellectual/emotional capacity left to carry on a casual conversation AND cope with some unexpected event. This is what you can do while driving a car.
--Do we lift off at Vso and climb at Vy? There are NO acceptable variations in airspeed. Speed is right or not right.
--Have we preset the trim?
--Do we know the direction and amount of trim change for several key configurations and power settings?
--Do we know the power changes and sequence, as well?
--Can you climb and level off at the same speeds with a minimum sequence of trim and power changes? Altitude is either right or not right. There are NO acceptable variations in altitude.
|--Can you go from a climb to level cruise, likewise?
--From level cruise to approach speed?
--From approach to 500 fpm descent? And back level?
--From approach/landing configuration to climb?
--Go through any of the above flight changes and note the time required. Now cut that time in half next time.
--Once in a configuration, can we fly with one finger?
--How well can you hold heading with rudder alone? How long?
--How well can you track to a VOR like this?
For a given aircraft configuration, a known pitch attitude with a known power setting will result in a standard of performance. The configuration, pitch and power requirements MUST be pre-determined and known for the aircraft that we fly. Smoothness and precision is everything in IFR flying. Make flying the plane a part of your body. Think ahead...You must be able to anticipate any power changes required by control movements or pressures. Reaction instead of anticipation is indicative of a skill deficiency,
Basic instrument flight skills are those that a pilot can accomplish by reference to the aircraft instruments without outside reference. The four basic maneuvers (climbs, descents, level, and turns) alone or in combination, can be accomplished at several airspeeds and configurations with exact ordered sequence of power, control and trim. Specifically, you must know the power settings required for level, climb, and descent for at least two or more airspeeds. You must know how to anticipate the control movements and pressures required for any power changes. You must have mastered the following transitions.
(I must make a very important note to the reader at this point. If the leveling off procedures, or any other procedure, given below are different from those you normally use you will have a potential problem. Under an instructor's initial guidance you may learn and perform without difficulty. When you are under stress, as on an actual approach, you may well revert back to prior techniques. I have seen it happen many times. An IFR skill must be over-learned and over-practiced until it becomes the skill you will exercise under stress.)
Having the Light Touch when IFR
There are times, when flying IFR that having confidence in yourself and the aircraft will allow you to release the yoke and do
cockpit chores hands-off. You should be able to change radio frequencies, shift through papers and deal with distractions
for up to five seconds. During this time you do not touch the controls except with your feet. You continue to scan the
instruments and make necessary corrections with you feet.
Compass Turns required when HI Dies
A standard rate turn is at three degrees per second. By dividing the number of degrees requires in a turn you can determine
the number of seconds required to make the turn. Less than six-degree changes in heading can (should) be made with just
rudder. Another way is to roll in and right back our of a half-standard rate for a three degree turn and a full standard rate
for six degree turns. You should practice these turns and others.
Steep Turns
Zero-Zero Takeoff Simulation
Right Seat IFR
Transitions
--Normal climb to level cruise
--Level cruise to level approach speed
--Level cruise to level holding speed
--Level approach speed to holding speed
--Level cruise to 1000 fpm descent
--Level cruise to 500 fpm descent
--Approach speed to 1000 fpm descent
--Approach speed to 500 fpm descent
--Level approach speed to landing approach
--Descending approach speed to landing approach.
--Turning approach speed to short approach landing
A tight grip does not allow the pilot to sense the aircraft. This pilot will be anxious to control everything and end up controlling nothing. This anxious pilot will be tense and reduce his ability to sense the aircraft. Having these problems are normal. Some fear, tension, and concern is a good way to help you make safe decisions. The IFR training program is designed to eliminate them in-so-far as they affect your actual flying.
Beginning IFR students usually fly with a "death-grip" on the yoke. They react with jerks and have a tendency to over control. A pilot who reacts to feel or sound before verifying his reaction with the flight instruments will have 'jerk' control problems. Every change in configuration, of altitude, or heading requires that the scan speed be increased. Failure to increase the scan speed will again create control problems. Work on anticipation instead of reaction.
Another nearly unrecognizable factor may be body position. You must adjust the seat so that you can see under the wing and over the panel properly. Your body must be firmly supported by the seat. Some VFR pilots will lean in their seats while turning, a no-no in IFR. Some pilots nod or tilt their heads while receiving radio transmissions, another no-no. These VFR habits create difficulties under IFR.
Flying so Flying is not Part of the IFR Problem
Beginning IFR training before you have mastered the basics is a waste of time and money. In addition to maintaining headings and altitudes you want to know the situations where you will be using the Ts.
--turn
--Time
--Tune
--Transition
--Talk
Learn the power settings and configuration for the performance required. There is a specific power setting, attitude, configuration and airspeed for climb, cruise, cruise descent, level approach, and precision descent. With these settings as constants you increase your ability to deal with problems.
From the very beginning my instructional method is that we must remove the student's ability to fly the aircraft as a problem. There is no one way to do anything in flying and this is even more true in instrument flying. What you have is choices based on POH, FARs, conditions, training and ability. The "light touch" is where it all starts. The feather touch required is one of the last skills acquired but one of the most important.
As a student instrument pilot or as a retread, you must know where every power setting, trim change, and attitude is for a particular aircraft. You must know where you want the aircraft to be relative to speed, attitude, configuration. FULL of anticipation. You anticipate the required throttle movement, anticipate the required trim and anticipate the required attitude. No reactions, all anticipation. With anticipation comes smoothness. Controls are pressed lightly. Controls are pressed into position and trimmed to stay there. Dont press a control unless it needs to be pressed. Always apply half as much pressure as seems to be needed and you will achieve the smoothness of a favorite drink. Fatigue becomes a factor in instrument flying but it is not physical. The instrument pilot flies so lightly that the controls spend most of their time not moving. Things stay where they are supposed to stay because they were put there in the first place.
The argument as to whether you use elevator or throttle to control airspeed and altitude is moot. Neither work independently of the other to control airspeed and altitude. Elevator, by itself, controls attitude. Power, by itself, controls thrust. Stabilized flight conditions such as level or glide slope do require that elevator control altitude and power to control airspeed. In another situation, where by design, power is not a variable, elevator is used to adjust speed. Elevator gives relatively fine speed control when speed is a priority. To do this altitude must be available to lose or gain. Power tends to be coarse, slow, and inaccurate when controlling airspeed.
Instrument flying by itself could be relatively easy if it werent for all the other things you are expected to do. Time writing, talking, listening, feeling for things, looking for things take you away from scanning. Even with good preparation and cockpit organization you will need to take time away from your scan. The solution lies in the scan itself. A good scan will allow you to have time to deal with all the other things.
An autopilot makes it easier but the proficient pilot must be able to hand-fly the plane and still do the required operational tasks. Being prepared means more than just having things where you know where to look and reach, it includes detection and covering of inoperative instruments. Being prepared, includes competency on partial panel. You may be one of those pilots who fly better when there are fewer instruments to watch. The attitude indicator gives most of the information you need. Over reliance on the attitude indicator leads to neglect of the confirming impact of other instruments. You may set the standard rate using the AI if you know your airspeed. But confirming the standard rate with the turn coordinator should be part of the full panel scan. The attitude resolution of the AI is more sensitive and less perceptible than is the resolution obtained from the VFR nose/horizon scale. The fact that aircraft loading and attitude can be adjusted visually come into conflict with the idea that the AI can be reset for these same loading and attitudes.
Instrument flying requires that the pilot be sensitive to and get control pressure feedback from the airplane. This cannot be easily done with a tight full-fist grip on the yoke. It cannot be well done with a tight several finger grip either. It is best done with only a finger and thumb.The way you hold the controls has a direct relationship with the fatigue you will experience in flying. Control feel will tell you what is happening several seconds before the instruments are able to register.
A tight grip does NOT give you the sense of control when flying an airplane any more than it does when driving a car. A beginning driver holds on tight with both hands and jerks the steering wheel this way and that. The experienced driver drives with a couple of fingers resting lightly. The same idea applies to flying. You will have better control with a light touch. The combination of a light touch and an organized scan will give even the single pilot plenty of time to do the other things required by IFR.
The instrument pilot is thinking ahead of the airplane. There is a specific altitude, heading, and airspeed for every situation. He is mentally there ahead of the aircraft and presses it (the airplane) into position. Once the airplane is controlled, instrument flying skills move to the instruments.
Trim
An airplane in a specific configuration will perform consistently according to its power and attitude. Learn to set power and trim for attitude and you will get consistent performance. Adjust trim only when making a, power or airspeed change. If you can maintain a consistent application of trim it will be relatively easy to use the aircraft instruments to keep it there. This system called "control and performance" relies on the AI and anticipation. Do not fly with the trim. Set the attitude with the yoke; then, trim off the pressure. The feel of the aircraft on the yoke is the common denominator to all flight configurations. Proper trim makes the feel of the aircraft remain as a flight constant.
You must be able to trim efficiently and effectively to keep a given flight condition. Every pilot flies with a different trim pressure or feel. This is a matter of an acquired individual comfort zone. Regardless, the pressure must be such that it corrects for any inherent instability in the aircraft. Very few aircraft can be flown hands off. With aircraft peculiarities as a known factor it is a waste of emotional energy to blame the airplane for its performance or failure to perform. The competent pilot makes the airplane give its best performance. The same might be said for riding horses or living with someone.
One factor in trim feel is the position of the microphone switch. Use of this switch cannot be allowed to affect the flight path. The position in front, back, or side of the yoke can make a difference in how triggering of the switch affects the yoke feel and pressure. If you climb, descend or turn when keying the mike try a change in position.
IFR Climb and Descent
You must include in your IFR planning the vertical aspect. Every IFR departure has a climb gradient that your are expected to meet or exceed. Ground speed determines your gradient. Groundspeed divided by 60 equals vertical speed divided by gradient. Jeppesen has a chart of gradients.
Adequate gradient figures for either climb and descent can be obtained by rounding the feet per minute by the distance in miles.
540' rounded to 5 over distance of two miles 2 gives angle of 2.5 degrees
To find gradient per mile you just multiply angle by 100
Angle of 2.5 x 100 = 250' per mile
To convert angle to rate of climb/descent use E6B or work proportion
Ground speed VSI
60 feet per mile (gradient)
IFR departures have obstacle-clearance gradient of 1.5 degrees. that begins 35' above departure end of runway. A .5 degree safety margin is built in so you must make good a 2-degree climb rate. If you accept a DP with a higher rate required you are expected to perform. ATC enroute climb rates are 150 feet per mile below 5000'; 120 between 5k and 10k; and, 100' above 10k.
If below 5,000' you are told to gain 3000' before crossing a particular fix you would do the following.
At 150 feet per mile required converts to 1.5 angle.
3000' converts to 30, divide by 1.5 = 20.
You must begin climb 20 miles out.
ATC usually expects a climb or descent rate of 500 feet per minute. A pilot-discretion clearance means you can choose both when to initiate and at what rate. Once an altitude has been left it cannot be attained again without an amended ATC clearance. Any DP clearance that has a climb gradient is concerned with terrain clearance. Crossing restrictions have more to do with traffic routes that may conflict. When climb and crossing restrictions appear together be careful.
Dont hesitate to request radar vector to assure clearance of terrain. This puts clearance responsibility back to ATC.
300 ft/nm is the maximum TERPS gradient for the intermediate segment; 400 ft/nm is the maximum for the FAF to TDZ
elevation. The more closely you fly the required elevations and descents the more likely will be your approach a stabilized one.
Standardized Controlled IFR Flying
It is not possible to substitute IFR simulation for the experience of actual IFR conditions. Only actual conditions can give
you the turbulence, precipitation, windshear and lighting changes that can cause vertigo. Compounding these conditions
will be ATC speed-talk, demands, clearances, inquiries, and requests for readback. Worst of all will be that the controllers
who have concocted the clearance are not talking the language of the controllers who direct traffic.
I admit to a weakness in my IFR instruction in that in simulated IFR, I seldom make a full-stop landing. In actual conditions
a high percentage of approaches result in full-stop landings. The transition from instrument to visual references in minimum
visual conditions gets far too little practice. I intend to make a higher percentage of full stop landings and published missed
approaches in the future. Training must include hours of actual and opportunities for the student to make real pilot in command decisions.
The purpose of IFR training is to produce a pilot who has sufficient skills and competence to fly IFR safely during the
refining period of retaining proficiency and actual application of the training. This training rests of several basic but
mandatory maneuvers. The IFR pilot must have automatic control of the aircraft through coordinated turns, stalls and
patterns. The fundamental skills of IFR are straight level flight, turns, airspeed climbs and descents, a light or hands-off
yoke touch, and throttle movement.
A weakness in any of these areas will compound any procedure problems. Early mastery of these basics will reduce
training time in the long run. If you can't fly using the gauges without thinking about it, you won't have the ability to think
about all the other things involved in navigation and communication.
Control instruments
--Attitude Indicator and Power (Tachometer or manifold)
Primary instruments are always the ones with the numbers. For straight and level it is the altimeter for pitch, the heading indicator for bank and the tachometer for power. When an airspeed is assigned then the ias is primary for power as the throttle is adjusted to maintain airspeed. Ability to maintain heading and altitude over a distance is a basic requirement.
The proficient pilot knows by sound the present power setting and airspeed. He knows how much change is required to go to another performance situation. He knows by both feel and sound the change made. Then he confirms by looking at the control instruments. I have found that most pilots tend to over-control when using power. I recommend that you make the power change and then take half of it off, immediately. Put in 2" manifold and then back off 1". Seems to work. I have seen an ILS flown beautifully using just power adjustments, trim and rudder. I 'electrified' the yoke so it could not be used. Any procedure you use must work in the worst case situation.
Performance instruments
--Airspeed indicator
--Altimeter
--Turn coordinator
--Directional gyro
--Vertical speed indicator
1. Know your power settings and aircraft configurations.
2. Performance instruments are your means of determining the effect of control input.
--Airspeed is set with power.
--Reset your HI and set approach configuration before descending.
--Descent is initiated by power reduction. Know the reference descent rate and bracket it with power changes.
3. All turns related to flying are pre-selected on the HI but entering and stopping the turn is with the AI.
--Minor corrections can be done with the rudder.
--Power, Power Changes and Trim
Once you have mastered the power, power change and trim required for two climb speeds, two descent speeds, and at least two level speeds, using only the AI, you are ready go on to...
Redirect the aircraft:
1. Set power and AI (attitude), trim as required
2. The trend of movement is shown on the turn coordinator and the VSI.
3. Check trend. If unacceptable redo the AI.
Check the numbers information
FAA Primary instruments have numbers on them. They allow you to fine tune your performance.
4. Fine trim for hands off. This must be done without error or hesitation. If a problem exists practice aircraft
control basics.
5. Look for meaningful information
Set the AI, check the trend then read the numbers
You can practice constant headings first by constant airspeed and them by constant altitude. The variables are made through power changes from full to idle. This requires great attention to the rudder, elevator and throttle coordination. For constant airspeed the hands move in opposite directions to get pitch and power. Initiate the climb until stabilized then set up the descent. Repeat until you can anticipate the coordination required to keep constant airspeed.
Level cruise
--A constant altitude with power and pitch to obtain cruise speed.
--Power for airspeed
--At desired speed, lean for economy
--Frequent full power flight is good for engine
--Set AI, check TC and VSI for trend
--Fine tune: Alt for pitch, HI for bank, Tach for power
--At level cruise the altimeter is primary pitch.
Airspeed, AI, altimeter and VSI are affected by elevator and throttle. Any change in power only results in change in airspeed or altitude. Check altitude before adjusting airspeed by power. Changes in straight and level airspeeds require adjustment of pitch, power, and (bank) rudder.
Approach cruise
--Fine tune: Speed at top of white arc, Vfe
--Reduced airspeed that may be best endurance
--1/2 bar high on AI
--Set AI, check TC and VSI for trend
--Alt for pitch, HI for bank, power for airspeed.
Level to Climbing Turn
(As in a missed approach)
1. -- Airspeed for pitch, TC for bank, Tach for power
2. --AI set, then power (full), airspeed and turn coordinator (TC)
3. --Check trend. If unacceptable redo #1.
If acceptable go to #2 & #3.
4. --Check the numbers information
Bank information is AI/TC or HI for constant heading (wings level)
Pitch information is airspeed/power, altimeter, or VSI
Power information is tachometer or airspeed
The turn requires that the altimeter be used for pitch and the turn coordinator for bank. Tachometer is primary for power.
As before, required airspeed is controlled by power adjustments. The TC should be calibrated by doing timed turns. The
rate of turn is based on airspeed and angle of bank. Turn rate decreases with reduced angle of bank and an increase of
airspeed. Standard rate turns can be figured by using 10% of your ias and adding five. Limit your angle of bank to the
angle of small heading changes. Use five degrees of bank for five degrees of turn. Use the standard 1/2 angle lead in rolling out to a heading.
Steep Turn
-- Altimeter for pitch,
-- Attitude Indicator for bank,
--Tach for power
--Lock the AI center dot
Cruise Descent
--No flaps since G-load is set lower
--Speed limited by ATC, Vne, Vno, or Va
--One bar low on HI for 500 fpm descent
--VSI for pitch, HI/TC for bank, airspeed POH
...Lock the AI in pitch.
Slow Cruise Descent
--Full C.H. and 1500 rpm
--Extend Gear and partial flaps
--Less than 1/2 bar down on AI
--Power for airspeed at or just below Vfe
--Prepare for go-around or landing
Chop/Drop descent
Airspeed/VSI for pitch, TC for bank, tach for power. Lock the AI in pitch.
Approach
VSI for pitch, HI for bank, airspeed for power
Lock the AI in pitch
Level bank
During a level bank the compass, HI, turn coordinator and AI, four instruments in all move. If you don't like what's happening to any of them, adjust the AI
Level to Descent
The type of aircraft makes a difference in how descents are initiated. In fixed gear aircraft you can get 5 for 5 almost every time. 500 fpm for 500 rpm. This works if you maintain the same speed in the descent as you had in level flight. If you are going to descend at a slower speed than the level speed, it may be best to slow and trim for the descent speed while in level flight and then use the five for five descent parameter.
Retractables have vastly differing drag coefficients with the gear down which will necessitate developing a level to descent chart. It is a waste of time to try to fly an approach without having in your memory bank exactly how to attain the speed and descent rate standard for your aircraft. The more 'constants' you have developed for flying the aircraft the less likely will flying the aircraft be part of the problem.
Constant airspeed/power uses the airspeed for pitch, the HI or TC for bank, and tach for power. Lead altitude by 10%
of your rate of climb or descent. A constant airspeed climb/descent while turning you decrease pitch with increase of bank
angle. Airspeed will be constant but descent rate will increase and climb rate will decrease. Pitch, bank and power are all
changed.
Level Turn
Personally, I prefer to hand fly my level turns and always anticipate the forward pressure on roll-out. I fly with a pilot who uses his 3-axis autopilot for just about everything. When he has to, he has trouble hand flying.
Descent to level
If you know that you will be leveling off shortly after initiating a descent as though descending from the FAF to a circle to land altitude, you would be best not to change the trim. Make the descent by power reduction only in fixed gear aircraft or in retractables that have their gear down before the FAF. If the gear/flaps are not down at the FAF use the gear/flaps to initiate the descent and plan to adjust power and trim at the leveling altitude.
Cruise to Approach
In fixed gear the change in speed is initiated with an immediate power reduction to a predetermined setting. You must know and have charted the power setting that will give a given approach speed. Trim off pressure slowly while holding heading and altitude. Keep track of the trim setting.
The constant altitude requires a sequenced movement of both hands in the same direction. This exercise will require trim
adjustments. Power is changed from full to idle and back again. Rudder applications must be anticipated to hold constant
heading. Using power go from full power and back to idle several times.
The process may be made faster by initially taking off more power. Application of trim must then be quicker but to a known setting. Pre-determined power must be brought in just as speed reaches approach speed. Missing this point of power application will exacerbate problems associated with attaining approach speed. Retractables should include dropping the gear and any flap application as a part of the speed change to approach speed. Variations of just when to do what will vary from aircraft to aircraft.
Best Angle Climb, Vx
--3-bar high on AI
--Maximum power
--Speed increases with altitude
--About 5-10 knots below Vy
(Minimum sink speed on engine failure)
--Lock AI in pitch
Best Rate Climb
--2+ bar nose high on AI
--Maximum power
--Fastest rate of climb
--Caution on traffic avoidance and engine heat.
--Lock AI in pitch
Cruise Climb
--Constant airspeed or constant vertical speed
--One-bar nose high - Locked
--Better speed, visibility, and cooling
--Advise ATC if not 500 fpm
Climbs
Initially, we will discuss the climb. Any aircraft in a climb has an inherent left turning tendency. The steeper the climb the greater the tendency. The amount of right rudder required, therefore, will vary. This is strictly a feel skill augmented by watching the 'ball'. As an instructor, I find it very difficult to let students fly without my feet ever so lightly on the rudder. Helping?
The best-angle of climb Vx, as might be required to meet a specific gradient on an approach plate, uses full power and near a three-bar AI climb. Partial flaps may be specified in the POH. Vx speed increases with altitude and usually is less than 10 knots of Vy speed. Vx speed is a good emergency, engine out, glide speed.
Best rate at gross in a C-172 is 78 knots with best angle about 65 knots. This will be near a 2-bar AI climb. Some IFR procedures require different climb rates per mile. Since climb is always at full power we need to determine and fix in our skill envelope the trim required to climb at both 78 and 65 knots. Mark the trim setting as for a Vy takeoff climb on your aircraft. Practice coordinating the trim movement with your yoke and rudder control of the attitude indicator until you can go from one speed to the other with a minimum of oscillation of airspeed and attitude. Different loading may require slightly different settings but once the technique is perfected for one loading, it adapts readily to changes and even other aircraft.
The C-172 trim setting for a 60 knot full flap landing will be very close to the setting required for Vy climb. From level cruise to a Vy climb raise the nose, apply full power, trim one full top button to the bottom and you will be very close to hands-off Vy climb.
Cruise climb provides more distance, better cooling, and better visibility. ATC expects 500 fpm climb rates so be sure to advise ATC if you plan to climb at less than that.
Leveling Off
After the climb we usually level off. An old saying among pilots is, "How long does it take a student pilot to level off?" Thirty-five hours is the answer. I have seen 500+ hour pilots who use a common VFR trim technique take as long as 15 minutes to get a 172 completely trimmed at a given altitude.
If you reduce the power in time and to the right amount the speed will remain at cruise. The trim will be correctly set perhaps with only the slightest of adjustment. It is when you don't level off smoothly with every setting of attitude, power, and trim set in anticipation of aircraft performance that IFR flight problems occur. For me, the best clue is sound. Every performance parameter or change has a sound. Learn the sound of your airplane. Sound sensitivity will transfer from aircraft to aircraft just as it does from car to car.
You should keep your hand on the throttle. Use your forefinger as a lock, a measure and control of the throttle. This is particularly important in the C-172. The power to weight ratio of the 172 is such that deceleration and sag is quite abrupt while acceleration may take several minutes if too little excess power is applied. Once the required power settings are known they must be adjusted for altitude and temperature. Up to 200 rpm difference will exist between hot and cold day operations. Numerous small changes of power will be required in most flight conditions but particularly on approach. Keep power reductions small but increases should be of 200 rpm or more soon to be followed by reduction of excess power. Learn the sound of aircraft power as well as performance. Any change in constant power necessitates trim adjustment. Plan accordingly.
The student should know for leveling off from a climb at Vy will require a certain amount of anticipation, a certain amount of trim, a certain amount of acceleration, changing amounts of yoke pressure, a power adjustment, changing sounds and some fine tuning. The trick is to put the aircraft into the desired attitude and leave/keep it there. The reason instrument flying becomes easier is because the pilot selects an attitude and leaves it there. In order to fly instruments well, you learn to note very small indications and very small trends. Doing this while leveling off is just a beginning.
Leveling off from Vx will differ from that of Vy. Leveling off requires anticipation of what the aircraft is going to do. Due to the low power to weight ratio of the C-172 you must anticipate the effect of a longer and slow acceleration. Initially lower the nose to catch the altimeter needle at altitude using the attitude indicator as primary aid. Make your initial rough trim movement that your experience and practice has shown will be about right. I prefer to hand fly while the plane picks up speed. Do not let the aircraft climb as it accelerates. If you have not trimmed enough it will begin to climb during acceleration. Correctly trimmed the nose will want to drop. You must anticipate and gradually relax any back pressure against the trim's effort to lower the nose until the increase in airspeed releases the down pressure. The 172 may take a while to gain speed but once it has reached its normal cruise speed reduce the power to 2450 rpm. Don't be satisfied to fly 50' off altitude even if you are holding it there.
Practice leveling off from Vx and Vy until you can anticipate the attitude, performance and settings required for the transition from climb to level. Mark the trim setting. Learn the sound of level cruise. Do this until you can level off and hold heading. Do this until it becomes automatic not just within 100 feet but right on altitude and heading. You must become so proficient that flying the plane will not get into the way of flying a departure or an approach.
If you level off below altitude the period of hand flying and acceleration becomes prolonged. This is just another area where flying is capable of interfering with IFR procedures. This is just the time that ATC will chose to amend a clearance or such. Everything comes unglued. This usually results in corrections that will require multiple adjustments. It is easier to do it right the first time.
You may not select the correct level attitude on the attitude indicator resulting in a climb above your desired altitude. You have two options. Lower the nose and dive down to altitude. This results in a speed increase which will result in another gain in altitude unless the power is reduced. At the higher speed the trim is no longer correct for level flight. The result is a series of altitude and airspeed oscillations until finally the desired initial settings are acquired. You will go up and down a hundred feet or so with changes in airspeed, attitude, power and trim. Essentially the same effect is created if the power is left in too long so that excess speed is acquired. Likewise, if too little trim is initially applied. These are typically flight indications of a pilot who has not acquired basic skills.
Level Cruise to Low Cruise
After leveling off at cruise we may need to hold level while slowing down to say holding speed. First reduce your power to a predetermined setting (1700 rpm) that you know will work. As the aircraft slows apply back pressure to hold altitude while trimming quickly one turn down (nose up) smoothly to the amount that you know will work. Quickly increase power to 2200 rpm before speed gets below 90 kts. If you don't know what works, repeat these changes until you do know. If you have avoided any oscillation of altitude this should be a very smooth transition. The resulting configuration will show the AI about 1/2 bar high. Otherwise, practice it until it is a very smooth transition. The highest complement you can pay a pilot is that he is very sm-o-o-o-o-th. Work on going from slow to cruise and back again until it is smooth. This speed is right at the Vx climb speed when used to conserve fuel. The name of this game is anticipation.
Descent
Descent, depending on the situation may be made from cruise or from approach speed. A smooth descent is about level on the AI for 500 fpm to 1/2 bar low for greater than 500 fpm.. Work on determining the initial power settings that are required for both 500' and 1000' per minute descents from both airspeeds. Descents of 1000' and the last 1000' of any greater change are made at 500 fpm. The basic is five for five. Low cruise at 2200 rpm reduced to 1700 rpm will approximate 500 fpm descent without change in trim. It is better to set up your descents by reduction of power and not change trim. This is under the assumption that application of power will give level flight at the appropriate speed. This is especially true if the speed has been held during descent. Practice descents and these airspeeds until you determine the power reductions that give the desired performance. Again, the performance parameters of the descent and recovery must be practiced until smooth.
Your airspeed for descent is somewhat limited by the Vne redline, Vno structural meeting of green and yellow, and Va maneuvering in turbulence speed in the POH. Do not extend flaps at any of these speeds since allowable G-load is much lower. Always use some power and carburetor heat for descents to keep the manifold warm.
Level from Descent
Leveling off from a descent is somewhat different. If the descent is only accomplished by a power reduction without speed change, application of power will give you "level". From 1700 rpm to 2200 rpm. I recommend that, knowing level flight will be resumed at a lower altitude as in a step-down approach, descent be done only with power and not trim. If trim is used or a change in speed is called for, it is important to keep in mind the amount of trim change involved so that it can be reset for level later. Speed changes must then be anticipated by power settings.
Cruise Descent
Cruise descent to a destination altitude at 500 fpm can be figures by multiplying your altitude in thousands less destination altitude by two to get the descent time in minutes. Multiply by 4 if descent is at 250 fpm.
Example:
Current MSL altitude 8000'
Destination altitude 1000'
Difference is 7000'.
@ 500 fpm 7 x 2 = 14 minutes descent time.
@ 250 fpm 7 x 4 = 28 minutes descent time.
Turns
The last element of basic IFR flying is the turn. Climbs, descents and level flight will either require a constant heading or a turn to an assigned heading. Initially work on maintaining a constant heading. A constant heading is best assured if the wings are kept level. Use the attitude indicator. If the heading is changed or changing, one wing must be low. In climbs rudder application may be required to keep wings level.
An IFR turn is usually shallow compared to a VFR turn. The VFR habits of yoke pressure in the bank causes over control when IFR. No power change should be made in level IFR turns. Pilots who are frequent VFR pilots will inadvertently climb in VFR turns. Lead your desired heading by 1/2 the angle of bank. Every turn requires a lowered wing and a slight loss of lift. Even the lightest back pressure of one finger in an IFR bank must be countered with the thumb pressure when leveling the wings. Otherwise, a pop-up of some degree will occur.
If you are doing a timed turn with the compass, use a sweep second hand, set the ADF to your initial heading as an aid. Do your figuring before you start the turn. It is much easier to relate sweep hand to turning of HI. Digital watches make relating the time to the turn more difficult.
Stop the turn by reference to the top index marker on the attitude indicator. The most common error of any small turn is to reverse the turn back to where you started as opposed to stopping the turn and holding it. Making the turn with the rudder seems to focus your attention to the AI better on recovery. Larger turns are subject to same error to a lesser degree. If you have a heading bug use it. If you don't, use your mouth (say aloud) to keep the required heading actively in mind.
You must learn the angle of bank on the attitude indicator which represents the standard rate turn on the turn coordinator for your IFR airspeeds. The angle of bank for any airspeed can be determined by dropping the last digit of the airspeed; Divide by 2 and add back to first dividend.
An airspeed of 100 knots would show:
100 drop the last 0 = 10.
Divide 10 by 2 = 5
Add back the 10 = 15 degrees of bank.
Work on your skill in making small heading changes using only the rudder since those are most often required. Use half standard angle and a count system for the turn itself. For heading changes of less than 20 degrees, use banks of 5 degrees. For heading changes of less than 10 degrees, use rudder alone.
Approaches
To attempt to fly IFR approaches without the required basic flying skills is both frustrating and self defeating. There is little or no value in flying repeated approaches without success. This is even more so if the absence of basic required flying skills are the major cause. If there are any required elements in IFR flying it must be the holding of altitude and heading. Of the two, altitude is most easily acquired and retained. Heading holding requires a rigid arm and wrist with a feather touch on the yoke. Better yet, use the rudder to hold or change approach headings once established.
For practice you might try flying a rectangle at altitude using just the rudder and no yoke to execute standard rate turns. Then try flying a pattern with descent using just rudder and power and standard rate turns. Expect the ball not to be "pretty" during rudder only maneuvers. Mastery is when you can fly an approach with rudder and power.
Short Approach
Since this is often a weak area in the training program I will make a practice of having the students always requesting a short approach from the tower to all circling approaches. We will remove the hood at minimums and visual descent point time (VDPT) on approaches and see if a landing is possible.
Partial Panel
As opportunities present themselves the unusual attitude, no-gyro approach, and inoperative equipment situations should become a regular part of the training program. Every flight should revisit some technique that is part of the PTS. If you have a "heading bug", set it for every heading. Set it for the ILS prior to interception. HSI equipped planes should always have HSI set to correct heading even though the HSI will correct for reverse sensing. One of the best partial panel exercises is to fly Single VOR using a Hand-held radio.
I do not use simulators to train pilots. I enjoy flying too much and I have a strong feeling that simulators cannot replicate the flying forces that really occur in flight. While rocking and rolling can bounce you around you will not feel the pressures of a steep turn or abrupt change in altitude. The gradual failure of a gyro that disorients a pilot can be recovered in a simulator but recovery is far less likely to be successful in flight. A disoriented pilot is more likely to remain disoriented. Avoiding loss of control in the first place is the defining element of successful flight with malfunctioning instruments. You must recognize that you are dealing with a malfunction. You must exercise the will power needed to ignore, ideally cover, the failed instrument and concentrate on those instruments that are working. Since my recent experience with gyro failure, I make a point to have instrument 'covers' readily available. It is very difficult to ignore a failed instrument if you can see it.
Actually partial panel flying is relatively easy once you have isolated the problem. One very desirable practice exercise would be maintaining control in turbulence using the turn coordinator. My airplane has a vacuum failure horn so I know when my AI and HI are out of service. I will never enjoy a vacuum failure but I will know when it happens. The symbolic airplane of the AI and the turn coordinator turn in opposite directions. You must practice with the TC to make sure you won't become confused. It is of interest that nearly all loss of control situations occur in a spiral dive with increasing airspeed. Seems to indicate that most anyone would be better off attempting to climb after the wings are level.
Routes
A pilot filing IFR in busy terminal areas should expect to be routed differently from the filed or shortest route. Look up the preferred routes but still expect changes due to your aircraft performance. Re-routing will usually lengthen your flight and reduce your reserves. Be prepared to indicate to ATC this as their changes affect your time enroute and fuel reserves. Never pass up a chance to fill the tanks and stay high if fuel becomes a problem. Once, years ago, I was able to execute a VFR landing on an IFR flight. Allow a passenger bathroom time and resume the same IFR flight and clearance without missing a beat just by reporting airborne. Might not be possible today.
VOR Skills
Visually fly a timed square around a VOR of one minute legs with the OBS set at 360 in right turns. Then in left turns under the hood to check student orientation. Fly across VOR in 180 degree crossings with procedure turns two minutes out. Do the same with 90/270 course reversals. Fly a 10 degree heading to each side of the OBS heading for one minute as you depart over a VOR. Start the minute when needle is centered each time. Note how needle works Vs distance. Do the same departing over a localizer. VOR has 20 degree wide possible needle deflection- 10 degrees each side. Localizer has 5 degree possible needle deflection-2 1/2 to each side. Fly localizer with 1/2 rate turns.
PAR Simulation
Do a simulated PAR approach to line up on an ILS runway with the ILS covered. Set up the final approach course and descent. Fly to intercept and stabilize approach; then cover the ILS. Uncover the ILS every few seconds to check needles. This method forces the student to concentrate on aircraft attitude (AI), power, and trends of movement. The trends are shown by the turn coordinator, and VSI. When flying the ILS, chasing the number instruments can get you out of the doughnut.
No-Gyro Simulation
Request ATC to give you no-gyro vectors to the ILS or any other approach. Instructor will have covered AI and HI. Double your minimums in this situation. Avoid tendency to over bank.
Training in Actual Conditions
Good weather judgment can best be taught by actual exposure to real situations. Learning to recognize and anticipate weather situations reduces the need for the dangerous judgment personality traits of
1. Impulsivity - the tendency to do something without due consideration
2. Mascho - The 'big man' in the air attitude
3. Antiauthority - I don't need to obey the FAA
4. Resigned - Giving up
Any one of the above or in combination can result in actions that show poor judgment. The FAA test program does not
adequately check on pilot judgment skills or weather interpretation. Nearly 20% of G.A. fatal accidents are weather related. Very little of the IFR written test has practical applications in judging judgement skills.
Except for ice and convective activity, I use every available opportunity to expose my IFR students to weather conditions that will broaden their experience and knowledge of actual situations and conditions. Marginal conditions, especially when improving, offer a wide variation of experience. It is not enough just to read books about weather, it must be experienced.
One of the most common but unmentioned motivators into the relm of poor judgment is the presence of a real or imagined
audience to view your flying performance. The wise pilot tries to make every flight as not-eventful as possible and tells any prospective audience or passengers that it is intentional.
In the past several years I have flown with several IFR rated pilots who have never flown in actual conditions. At some point before acquiring the rating, the student should experience low IFR conditions. Flying in actual IFR conditions increases a student's confidence level. ATC systems become loaded in IFR conditions and the system is not tolerant of pilots who aren't proficient or lacking in procedural knowledge. I, personally, make it a practice to offer my time free to my former students when conditions are actual. The actual conditions allow me to retain my currency at no cost other than time.
In general aviation actual instrument flying there are three rarities, a flight to minimums with a landing, a missed approach, and enter a holding pattern. We may practice these but they seldom occur. Practice conditions at busy airports are not conducive to allowing even descents to minimums. This means during IFR practice and training we seldom get to experience the shock of transition from IFR to visual flight and the landing to follow. Worst yet, we seldom get to experience a missed approach in actual conditions.
I have always made it a practice to expose my student into actual IFR conditions. To do otherwise will expose a pilot/trainee to a situation beyond his training experience. I do not believe that any change in the FARs are required. I do think that it is an inherent responsibility of the instructor to train for actual conditions.
You cannot rely on the specialist issuing vectors to be aware of wind effects on a vector given. Sometimes they are aware and make allowances, another time allowances may not be made and a vector will fly you into obstacles. Protect yourself by being aware of where you are and where you are going. On a recent LDA approach into Concort we had 40-knot direct crosswinds that changed to 20-knots when we crossed the shoreline and 20-knot headwinds on final. ATC had a problem believing the headings we were flying to maintain track.
Rule of Thumb Climb
Memorize aircraft speed in knots per minute. Multiply by required feet per mile climb gradient. 75 kts = 1.25 a minute x300 fpm (feet per mile)=375 fpm
Rule of Thumb Descent
(150 kt range of ground speeds)
# 1. Take 1/3 of altitude-to-lose to get distance, descent at 1/2 ground speed.
# 2. Take half of ground speed and add a zero for descent rate.
# 3. Take the distance to field times three and add two zeros. This will give the altitude that the distance will give a three degree glide slope (hypotenuse) to the field.
Rule of Thumb Cold Wx Altimeter
Any error is proportional to difference of actual and standard temperatures and the altitude of the aircraft above the altimeter setting source. This assumes standard lapse rate. Error should be figured as four-feet per thousand feet for each Celsius degree difference.
Example:
Surface temperature is -20° C which is 35° C below standard.
Aircraft at 5000 indicated would be 4 x 5 x 35 or 700 low. 4300 adjusted.
Distractions? We don't need no stinkin' distractions
Types:
1. Radio and Intercom
2. Head down
3. Unusual/Unexpected
4. Traffic search
It is the unexpected distraction that is most difficult to ignore. Any distraction that requires multiple responses is more difficult to accept and correct for. Distractions that require you to reference to an unfamiliar sectional or chart are more likely to require extended concentration. Any inattention from the instruments while hand flying of over three seconds is likely to mean the aircraft will deviate somewhat in heading and pitch.
It takes considerable discipline to break away from a distraction critical to flight safety. Still, flying the aircraft is the most important duty of the pilot. In actual IFR conditions any time spent away from the instruments makes you subject to vertigo. The temptation to abruptly move the controls can be overwhelming.
Conversation, either with ATC or in the cockpit is likely to become a major distraction when a high workload situation exists. Minimize conversation when you are busy. You cannot monitor the flight if your head is down. Practice holding papers up in the cockpit so you can see outside or the instruments over the top of documents. Get your critical approach information well ahead of time; plan for getting the ATIS/AWOS well before you arrive. A disproportionate number of incidents/accidents occur while taxiing. It is best; (mandatory) to suspend unrelated activities while taxiing.
In flight, it is the turn that is most susceptible to distraction. Do not change frequencies, write, or otherwise allow other activities to interfere with a turn. When you must do two tasks at one time, concentrate on the instruments and do a bit of each task at a time. Any interruption is a strong warning that your workload is building to where things may begin to unravel. Don't let flying the plane become a part of the problem.
ATC's multiple instructions build into a multiple distraction. Write what you can
let ATC fill in the blanks as you are able then give the readback to verify. I was recently in a single-pilot IFR situation where I was flying an approach via vectors without an approach plate. In the course of giving me my briefing, I was told that I would be using a localizer 32 approach and that the marker was five DME out. Additional instructions included a 120-degree heading change, a descent, and the marker altitude check. It was too much at one time. What's worse, I failed to verify.
I made two mistakes; I neglected to set my OBS and heading bug to 230. When I was cleared to intercept I turned the wrong way. I knew it immediately and advised ATC. They gave me a new vector and I intercepted the localizer. Shortly thereafter, I noticed I was inside the five-mile marker DME with no marker. Only afterwards did I discover that my marker would not work on the speaker setting only on headphones. I advised ATC and initiated a descent and broke out with the runway three miles ahead. In a tighter IFR situation, all of these problems could have been quite serious.
In complex aircraft crash the NTSB blamed the pilot because he failed to recognize an 'error trap' and then performed unsafe maneuvers as of his wrongful assumptions.
Low-Visibility Takeoff
The most obvious risk is loss of aircraft control during and shortly after takeoff. Control can be lost during ground acceleration or in the transition from seeing the ground and entering MIC. You do not have any prep-period for the instantaneous change. The increasing acceleration and climb attitude during the takeoff has dramatic effects on the pilot's inner ear so concentration on initial heading and climb attitude are essential. The entire takeoff and climb should/must be on the gauges. The primary instrument, initially and throughout is the heading indicator that has been set for runway heading while holding on the center line.
The next immediate risk is loss of power. Even if you know the area, low-visibility blinds you and trusting to blind luck is not a good choice. It is for these reasons that the airline minimums of one-mile visibility are good minimums for the Part 91 pilot, too. Should a power loss occur you have little option beyond maintaining straight ahead control. This particular takeoff is far more dangerous for mulitengine aircraft than for single engine.
Preping IFR Landings
1. Slow and trim before you start down
2. Retractable gear to slow down or for descent.
3. Retrim for configuration changes
4. Runway in sight with landing assured signals final configuration change.
Icing
1. Have a contingency plan
2. A successful escape from icing one time has no relevance for the next.
3. Known icing exists if forecast or reported.
4. Aircraft not certified for flight into known icing must not enter icing conditions.
Hand-Flying in Marginal Conditions
Once you become dependent on an autopilot you will find that reversion back to hand flying skills in moderately severe weather seem to lack the precision flying, power and airspeed control, delicate changes and processing information at rates that validate your experience and confidence.
You can regain your hand-flying skills by flying a monitored approach. One pilot flying and the other pilot giving the altitude callouts as well as the go-around.
Circling approaches very often turn you into runways that have neither an approach nor a missed procedure. Airlines avoid making circling approaches and contact approaches.
When things get crowded ask for a contact approach. A contact approach is a radar vector to an airport and a runway requiring ground contact with one-mile visibility and clear of clouds.
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