Tomorrow's forecast fro MRB and HEF is overcast at 700 with 2 SM rain. This above minimums. I just have to remember the following:
(1) When getting a clearance, fly the airplane first. Then communicate.
(2) When doing the hold for the approach into MRB ILS 26, I do not need to go around. Just use a tear drop to get established. Always use a tear drop for an ILS. Do not use the parallel entry as this may force you to fly around one more time to get a full minute.
(3) If using a VOR approach, the speed has to be set at station passage so the clock can start and be measured accurately. Waiting till station passage to get the speed correct will throw off the ETA estimates. After station passage, set up for a 800 FPM descent to the MDA.
(4) Always right down frequency, altitude and time changes! This is critical when flying VFR-on-top or flying on a cruising clearance.
(5) On a missed approach, declare to tower, get set up, then contact DEPARTURE with what you want to do next!
Thats it for now.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
First IFR Flight: HEF to MRB and back again
Synopsis
The training plan was to use the full ILS approach into MRB for ILS 26. This approach involves passing over the MRB VORTAC. From the north, a flight can follow R-126 off HGR to intercept the localizer. The MRB transition involves a fly-over of MRB, followed by an outbound heading on R-053 to intercept the localizer. At that point, a mandatory hold to get from 4000 down to 3400 for the glide slope interception. This requires a parallel entry into the hold. I chose a tear drop, applying a 110 degree magnetic heading away from the intersection point to loop back into the hold. Since that takes about a minute and half to do that, loosing the 600 ft is trivial. Still, a hold is a hold, not procedure turn. I completed one full hold to insure proper glide slope interception.
Given a clearance for the approach I was informed to contact tower at HEVEN. This requires configuring the second VOR MRB R-353. To intercept the glide slope, the second VOR was set to MRB R-053. Sometime during the hold, this needed to be adjusted.
We did not land, instead using the missing approached as a training tool. Once missed, the tower immediately asks for intentions. Always have the backup plan ready. Since MRB is still in the second VOR (and probably the standby of the primary), no additional frequencies changes were needed. I informed tower I wish to complete the missed approach and then activate the flight plan to return the Manassas.
Once on course for Manassas, I began to get overwhelmed: too much information. I began missing altitude and frequency changes. The concept is easy. I was to get vectored back to Manassas. Without vectors, I would need to intercept V4-92 West of MANNE on the ARML VOR, proceed on the airway till MANNE (11 DME) and then proceed for 1.2 miles and then turn left to heading 163 to pick up the localizer for 16L at Manassas. However, this will never happen I always get vectored into DORGE intersection.
Things I learned:
Always write down the frequency changes and altitude changes. Keep a list to know what the last frequency if needed.
Listen carefully.
If you do not have ATIS when requested (such as the activation of the flight plan back Manassas after the the Missed Approach), then say 'Will Call Back when I have information from ATIS'.
On call back for a clearance delivery, listen for key words like Transition. I never got the MRB transition requested on the HEF to MRB flight plan. I was told to 'expect vectors to Martinsburg after Casanova'.
Listen for the word 'heading' vs. 'radial'. They are not the same.
Phraseology.
Filing Plan: "Requesting 4000, ASRLN2.MRB TRansition
Reverse Plan: "Requesting 5000, Direct to CSN, Direct to HEF"
The Clearance: "Expect Radar Vectors to MRB after CSN, Expect 4000' ten minutes. Frequency 124.65, Squak 4640".
The training plan was to use the full ILS approach into MRB for ILS 26. This approach involves passing over the MRB VORTAC. From the north, a flight can follow R-126 off HGR to intercept the localizer. The MRB transition involves a fly-over of MRB, followed by an outbound heading on R-053 to intercept the localizer. At that point, a mandatory hold to get from 4000 down to 3400 for the glide slope interception. This requires a parallel entry into the hold. I chose a tear drop, applying a 110 degree magnetic heading away from the intersection point to loop back into the hold. Since that takes about a minute and half to do that, loosing the 600 ft is trivial. Still, a hold is a hold, not procedure turn. I completed one full hold to insure proper glide slope interception.
Given a clearance for the approach I was informed to contact tower at HEVEN. This requires configuring the second VOR MRB R-353. To intercept the glide slope, the second VOR was set to MRB R-053. Sometime during the hold, this needed to be adjusted.
We did not land, instead using the missing approached as a training tool. Once missed, the tower immediately asks for intentions. Always have the backup plan ready. Since MRB is still in the second VOR (and probably the standby of the primary), no additional frequencies changes were needed. I informed tower I wish to complete the missed approach and then activate the flight plan to return the Manassas.
Once on course for Manassas, I began to get overwhelmed: too much information. I began missing altitude and frequency changes. The concept is easy. I was to get vectored back to Manassas. Without vectors, I would need to intercept V4-92 West of MANNE on the ARML VOR, proceed on the airway till MANNE (11 DME) and then proceed for 1.2 miles and then turn left to heading 163 to pick up the localizer for 16L at Manassas. However, this will never happen I always get vectored into DORGE intersection.
Things I learned:
Phraseology.
Filing Plan: "Requesting 4000, ASRLN2.MRB TRansition
Reverse Plan: "Requesting 5000, Direct to CSN, Direct to HEF"
The Clearance: "Expect Radar Vectors to MRB after CSN, Expect 4000' ten minutes. Frequency 124.65, Squak 4640".
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Zero/Zero Takeoff
When I line up on the runway, I check the Time, Lights, Transponder, Gyro (lined up with runway). What I have never done before is put the foggles on. Wow. Taking off with view limiting device is freaky. Its like the flying the airplane on the ground (a familiar concept to tail draggers). I focus on the directional gyro and the airspeed. That's it. Hope the runway is perfectly lined with the gyro and GO!
It is good exercise, but not something I wish to put into practice. I would not want to take-off from an airport I could not find quickly or land on an approach in case of system malfunction.
It is good exercise, but not something I wish to put into practice. I would not want to take-off from an airport I could not find quickly or land on an approach in case of system malfunction.
Preparing for the next instruments lesson
Things I will remember to do:
On the last flight, I got a bit flustered when first contacting tower once cleared for the frequency change from Potomac Approach. Here is what I should have said (hiding from reader what I did say): "Manassas Tower, N2229E on the ILS over DORGE for One Six Left". Tower's response, "Expect a clearnace to land at 3 miles". At one mile, no clearance, my inquiry: "Manassas Tower, N2229E over middle marker for 16 L"...as in, heads up!
- Airspeed 0
- Attitude level
- Altimeter at station
- Rate of Turn indicator green and level
- Gyro directional indicator lined up with taxi way and compass
- VSI level 0
- (1) Preflight: Review checklist with instructor and provide the instructor with a briefing include clear exchange of controls and I inform him that he is ATC today. Instructors like students that remain PIC, and I am the PIC.
(2) Talking to ground: remember to say "VFR to Flucky" and "Information X".
(3) When talking to simulated ground (aka instructor), read back verbatim the clearances. Be familiar with the transitions BEFORE meeting with the instructor to avoid getting stuck on transition names like NISAE then direct to Culpeper.
(4) During taxi, verify all instruments.
(5) On vacuum failure, need to use the compass. The compass stabilizes on east/west headings. Once passed, use the counting method. Use the turn coordinator for standard rate turns. Simply count seconds for every three degrees. 15 degree turn is five seconds. If the angle of bank can be determined, take the airspeed and drop a digit (divide by 10), add 5 to get the angle of bank (for 90 kts, 9+5 is 14 degree bank for standard rate turn.
(6) Always keep resetting the time mentally. Consider times when reaching a hold, leaving a hold, leaving a fix, etc.
Holds have been an interesting problem for me to solve. They're really simple. However, it takes some time to get one's head around it. When a approaching a hold, notice the inbound leg with respect to the current heading on the gyro. If the in bound leg's radial is on the top half of the directional gryo, then its a direct entry. If on the bottom LEFT, its a parallel approach. It on the bottom RIGHT, then use the tear drop, maintaining 30 degrees from the radial and bottom most tick on the gyro. The above assumes standard hold on the LEFT 'outbound'. ALWAYS no the side on which to hold!
On the last flight, I got a bit flustered when first contacting tower once cleared for the frequency change from Potomac Approach. Here is what I should have said (hiding from reader what I did say): "Manassas Tower, N2229E on the ILS over DORGE for One Six Left". Tower's response, "Expect a clearnace to land at 3 miles". At one mile, no clearance, my inquiry: "Manassas Tower, N2229E over middle marker for 16 L"...as in, heads up!
Friday, July 9, 2010
Two flights and two challenges
I flew with an instructor yesterday. The goal was to continue to improve control of the airplane, flying Pattern C under the hood. Pattern C is a pattern used in WWII instrument training. It is not found in the current FAA handbooks. My training did not go as planned. I got bounced around by the windy conditions, uneven heating and approaching thunder storms. With lightning coming down within 2000 feet of the airplane, we aborted the training. I still obtained 30 minutes of hood time and some great instruction.
Here are some tidbits.
First, checklists are critical to instrument flying. There are many procedures to follow. Using checklists insures the workload is managed properly. There are two approaches to checklists: do and then read OR read and then do. For example, the before take-off checklist is TLTGA (time, lights, transponder, gyro, attitude indicator). Before taking the runway, read this. On the runway, do it. A counter example, I do a pre-flight check of the airplane by memory, then I read the checklist, verifying that I did everything.
Second, remember Out, Off (takeoff), On (on the ground), In (shutdown). These are the times to record hobbs (or clock). This is to line up with the flight plan. In general, start getting a better snapshot of time, bracketing time as you would when moving from one checkpoint to the next.
Third, get in the habit of informing Ground the type of flight: VFR or IFR.
Fourth, use the attitude indicator to maintain control of the turns. In a level turn, the center of the miniature airplane center will be glued to a center of the attitude indicator (well... in slow flight with a different attitude, the 'center' is above the line).
The next flight had a great impact on me. I was helping a friend fly his plane to another airport early in the morning so the plane could be used for a Camp Fantastic (for kids with cancer) event. When I left, the conditions at Manassas were VFR. Luray had an Airmet Sierra and the trend was looking good in the next two hours. I was hopeful I could get to the destination. As I flew over Cassanova, ascending to 5500 to get over the mountains and fly direct to Linden (the FAF for VOR approach to KFRR), clouds rolled under me. I was moving in MVFR(3 to 5 SM visibility and 1000-3000 AGL cloud cover) conditions. If I stayed above the clouds, I would be in VFR conditions. My hope was that, once I got to the FAF, I could descend through an opening to get below the clouds, assuming the ceilings were high enough. I had put an extra hour of fuel in the tanks to allow for a retreat back to Manassas if needed.
As I climbed, some clouds billowed up. It is these clouds the allowed me to have my first experience of vertigo ever. I now understand why pilots who fly through clouds without proper training usually see less than two minutes of life. The vertigo came on fast. I immediately recognized it for what it was, just as the plane started to bank. I focused on the instruments, maintained a proper climb attitude, and cleared the cloud, climbing to a safe 1000 feet above the clouds. Recall that class E VFR conditions require me to stay 1000 above, 500 feet below and 2000 horizontal with 3 miles visibility.
So, I made it through that challenge. As you have guessed, since I am writing this now, I made through the next one as well. The next step was to get down to KFRR from Linden. I understand how to perform a circling approach. I am not authorized to do so, nor would I. I planned to follow the approach, but in visual conditions. KFRR is surrounded by mountains on both sides. I was going to be glued to the radial assigned from Linden.
The circling approach MDA is around 3000 MSL (well above the 740 MSL runway threshold). I figured the ceiling was about 1500 AGL. Once down that low, I would be in class G airspace , permitting me to fly in 1 SM visibility and remain clear of clouds. I just needed to get there. Well, my plan worked. As I began my turn and descent at Linden, the clouds left an opening for me to see the ground about 7 miles out in front of me. I could not see the airport. I could see that I would get the 1500 AGL ceiling I needed. I proceeded with the approach.
I also proceeded to fly over the airport without seeing it. Since I knew I flew over the airport (I was timing the approach), I had to circle back. I took a wider circle to get oriented with the area. I was in class G at this point and the clouds were safely above me. I had 5 miles visibility. In an IFR scenario, this would be a missed approach. I am still flying under VFR, using instrument procedures to get me to an unfamiliar airport in a mountainous region.
FYI, I would not fly in 1 SM visibility ever without an IFR flight plan. That does not provide a pilot enough time to scan for planes, towers and hills.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Pre-flight check
It is easy to trust a plane is ready to fly if one thinks it is well maintained. We pilots build up practices to do a thorough inspection of the plane using a checklist as part of the pre-flight procedures. This includes things like checking the surface and controls, looking for water and contaminants in the gas, checking the oil, inspecting the propeller, tires, struts, brakes, lights, static port, and air-inlets, including the pitot tube and fuel air inlet.
Is this enough? NO. The PIC must validate that the plane is airworthy. This means the airplane is in a safe condition for flight and in compliance with approved data or approved altered state. Approved data includes the POH associate with the aircraft, any logged approved and logged alterations to the aircraft including equipment and any Airworthiness Directives (A/D). An A/D can be met either by complying with the A/D in one of the ways described in the A/D or through a specific approved request sent to the FAA administrator for an alternative (such as complete removal of the faulty equipment).
Prior to each flight, the PIC needs to verify that the plane is compliance. Included in this validation process is checking the engine log for 100 hour inspections, propeller log for 100 hour inspection and the airframe log for the annual. These are usual all done as part of the annual along with the ELT inspection (battery 50% of life or used more than an hour. Other things to check include the 24 month inspection of the transponder and pitot static system. These go together since Mode C transponder report altimeter readings.
Lastly, the oil changes are required to be compliant with manufacturer recommendations. This can be as often as every 20 hours.
Seems like alot to do. It is not if you familiar with the aircraft. For any aircraft new to you as a pilot, it is worth going through all this with the maintenance log books. It is good practice and, if something were to go wrong, you, as a PIC, can say that you completed a thorough inspection. Your passengers will thank you as well!
Is this enough? NO. The PIC must validate that the plane is airworthy. This means the airplane is in a safe condition for flight and in compliance with approved data or approved altered state. Approved data includes the POH associate with the aircraft, any logged approved and logged alterations to the aircraft including equipment and any Airworthiness Directives (A/D). An A/D can be met either by complying with the A/D in one of the ways described in the A/D or through a specific approved request sent to the FAA administrator for an alternative (such as complete removal of the faulty equipment).
Prior to each flight, the PIC needs to verify that the plane is compliance. Included in this validation process is checking the engine log for 100 hour inspections, propeller log for 100 hour inspection and the airframe log for the annual. These are usual all done as part of the annual along with the ELT inspection (battery 50% of life or used more than an hour. Other things to check include the 24 month inspection of the transponder and pitot static system. These go together since Mode C transponder report altimeter readings.
Lastly, the oil changes are required to be compliant with manufacturer recommendations. This can be as often as every 20 hours.
Seems like alot to do. It is not if you familiar with the aircraft. For any aircraft new to you as a pilot, it is worth going through all this with the maintenance log books. It is good practice and, if something were to go wrong, you, as a PIC, can say that you completed a thorough inspection. Your passengers will thank you as well!
Thursday, May 20, 2010
I'm back...and then I am not
I wanted to write. I got busy. I have been a pilot for eight months now. I fly once every three weeks. Until now. Ear drum rupture.
My last planned excursion was going to be free. Thanks to a good friend who needed to fly a plane to a FBO for maintenance, I was going to fly the entire trip under the hood for the price of lunch at Sheetz and, I hope, some good company. The weather fouled our plans, so we opportunistically trained me on a FAA certified simulator for another great price. Not free...but easily affordable. The sim was modeled after Piper Arrow, so I was able to start my complex endorsement work as well. Two birds, one stone. Love it.
What did I learn?
FLOW is important. The carb heat, landing gear, throttle, prop, mixture and flaps, IN THAT ORDER, left to right, to be managed in a well defined flow. There are some basic rules. They are simple, so this is where pilots mess up. In the end, its not simple, without FLOW and a little knowledge of how the specific aircraft works.
Land Gear: landing gear down for landing, landing gear up after positive rate of climb on takeoff.
Prop and Throttle: avoid high manifold and low RPM (sometimes not...but more on that later).
Mixture: Adjust for altitude over 3000 AGL, Full rich on take-off and landing.
Flaps: 10 degrees on take off (for this aircraft...it is truck).
How did I take off? Carb Heat off. Mixture Full Rich. Prop Full RPM. THROTTLE to the Wall. After positive rate of climb, gear up. Confirm (visually) Now back over to the flaps. Flaps up.
Climb out? Technically, throttle should be brought back before RPM. Keep the flow, right to left. Throttle to 25" MP. RPM to 2500. Adjust Mixture.
Cruise? Throttle to 24", RPM to 2400. Adjust Mixture.
Slow Cruise? Carb heat. Throttle to 18", RPM to stay. As plane slows, Throttle to 20". RPM to stay. Check Mixture. Trim.
Descent? Throttle to desired descent rate, assuming no airspeed change. RPM to stay. Adjust mixture periodically.
Landing? Reverse direction with one slight alteration. Carb Heat. Do this now while the exhaust temperature is still hot. Flaps (10 degrees). Landing Gear. Confirm. Mixture full rich. RPM full. Throttle as necessary.
Now. Every senior pilot is going to have a different flow. Every plane may have variants in the POH. Here are some considerations:
(1) On a carbureted engine like the Lycoming in a Cessna 172N, any RPM setting is not going to stress the engine for any throttle setting. Go ahead, ask Lycoming. I know one pilot that keeps the throttle at the top of the green (around 25") after climb out and does not move the throttle till landing. Cruise is around 2100 RPM to 2200 RPM. This pilot knows his plane. He is extremely precise with the mixture and its effects on fuel flow. For best performance and best longevity, this is where the time and effort make the most sense. I would only follow this procedure on his plane. I am too new to this business to do anything different than what is in the POH. If you are curious if this fore-mentioned pilot runs ROP or LOP, I do not recall. I will find out.
(2) Why flaps and gear down at the same time? Simple, it cancels out the flare when 10 degrees of flaps is added. The aircraft just slows down and stays in near perfect trim. This is critical in instrument flying. Sure, gears could go down earlier. Many planes support gear down and higher speeds than 10 degrees of flaps. If a I remember correctly, the gear and speed should be adjusted at the FAF and held in a controlled descent until either the field is identified or a go around is initiated. In either case, a different configuration takes place at that point. Slow aircraft can adjust this model so they do not hang in the lane from the FAF to the field. One idea I am exploring is keeping the speed up, not going to gear down configuration until DA or reaching MDA. I shall see what my mentors have to say about this. It is still a controlled descent...just a tad faster.
(3) For the sake this discussion, I did not include gas tanks in the flow, just mixture. For example, Cessna 172 POH has the tanks set to Both for take off and landing. I believe the Arrow is Left take and landing, and right for second half of the flight. I need to confirm this. I also did not include other critical check list items such as fuel pumps. All important. However, for someone new to complex aircraft, the flow described above is critical to understand and deserves special attention.
So where am I going with this blog. Well. I am going to make an attempt to back fill lost lessons in both private and instrument training. I am also going to move forward with more exciting flights.
At the moment, I have some time to backfill. You see, I am grounded. Ruptured Ear Drum.
My last planned excursion was going to be free. Thanks to a good friend who needed to fly a plane to a FBO for maintenance, I was going to fly the entire trip under the hood for the price of lunch at Sheetz and, I hope, some good company. The weather fouled our plans, so we opportunistically trained me on a FAA certified simulator for another great price. Not free...but easily affordable. The sim was modeled after Piper Arrow, so I was able to start my complex endorsement work as well. Two birds, one stone. Love it.
What did I learn?
FLOW is important. The carb heat, landing gear, throttle, prop, mixture and flaps, IN THAT ORDER, left to right, to be managed in a well defined flow. There are some basic rules. They are simple, so this is where pilots mess up. In the end, its not simple, without FLOW and a little knowledge of how the specific aircraft works.
Land Gear: landing gear down for landing, landing gear up after positive rate of climb on takeoff.
Prop and Throttle: avoid high manifold and low RPM (sometimes not...but more on that later).
Mixture: Adjust for altitude over 3000 AGL, Full rich on take-off and landing.
Flaps: 10 degrees on take off (for this aircraft...it is truck).
How did I take off? Carb Heat off. Mixture Full Rich. Prop Full RPM. THROTTLE to the Wall. After positive rate of climb, gear up. Confirm (visually) Now back over to the flaps. Flaps up.
Climb out? Technically, throttle should be brought back before RPM. Keep the flow, right to left. Throttle to 25" MP. RPM to 2500. Adjust Mixture.
Cruise? Throttle to 24", RPM to 2400. Adjust Mixture.
Slow Cruise? Carb heat. Throttle to 18", RPM to stay. As plane slows, Throttle to 20". RPM to stay. Check Mixture. Trim.
Descent? Throttle to desired descent rate, assuming no airspeed change. RPM to stay. Adjust mixture periodically.
Landing? Reverse direction with one slight alteration. Carb Heat. Do this now while the exhaust temperature is still hot. Flaps (10 degrees). Landing Gear. Confirm. Mixture full rich. RPM full. Throttle as necessary.
Now. Every senior pilot is going to have a different flow. Every plane may have variants in the POH. Here are some considerations:
(1) On a carbureted engine like the Lycoming in a Cessna 172N, any RPM setting is not going to stress the engine for any throttle setting. Go ahead, ask Lycoming. I know one pilot that keeps the throttle at the top of the green (around 25") after climb out and does not move the throttle till landing. Cruise is around 2100 RPM to 2200 RPM. This pilot knows his plane. He is extremely precise with the mixture and its effects on fuel flow. For best performance and best longevity, this is where the time and effort make the most sense. I would only follow this procedure on his plane. I am too new to this business to do anything different than what is in the POH. If you are curious if this fore-mentioned pilot runs ROP or LOP, I do not recall. I will find out.
(2) Why flaps and gear down at the same time? Simple, it cancels out the flare when 10 degrees of flaps is added. The aircraft just slows down and stays in near perfect trim. This is critical in instrument flying. Sure, gears could go down earlier. Many planes support gear down and higher speeds than 10 degrees of flaps. If a I remember correctly, the gear and speed should be adjusted at the FAF and held in a controlled descent until either the field is identified or a go around is initiated. In either case, a different configuration takes place at that point. Slow aircraft can adjust this model so they do not hang in the lane from the FAF to the field. One idea I am exploring is keeping the speed up, not going to gear down configuration until DA or reaching MDA. I shall see what my mentors have to say about this. It is still a controlled descent...just a tad faster.
(3) For the sake this discussion, I did not include gas tanks in the flow, just mixture. For example, Cessna 172 POH has the tanks set to Both for take off and landing. I believe the Arrow is Left take and landing, and right for second half of the flight. I need to confirm this. I also did not include other critical check list items such as fuel pumps. All important. However, for someone new to complex aircraft, the flow described above is critical to understand and deserves special attention.
So where am I going with this blog. Well. I am going to make an attempt to back fill lost lessons in both private and instrument training. I am also going to move forward with more exciting flights.
At the moment, I have some time to backfill. You see, I am grounded. Ruptured Ear Drum.
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