Preparing for the next instruments lesson

Things I will remember to do:

(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.





1. Airspeed 0


2. Attitude level


3. Altimeter at station


4. Rate of Turn indicator green and level


5. Gyro directional indicator lined up with taxi way and compass


6. VSI level 0








(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!

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!