IFR training started today!!!

benyflyguy

benyflyguy

En-Route
Joined
Jan 1, 2018
Messages
3,741
Location
NEPA
Display Name
Display name:
benyflyguy
so I passed my written over a month ago and our club plane was having some nose gear issues that took time to resolve( thought tar on tire then shimmy damper-then knuckle adjustments ultimately bad tire).
Today the stars aligned and the plane was right so we went up! Today was a great day in PA for IFR training. I brought my hood along and pulled it our in our preflight and my CFI looked at me and said, “you are not going to need that today buddy.” And he was right. Was 1000 overcast at my home base. We filed to an airport about 20 min away and shot shome approaches then landed, filed again to go home and did much of the same. Hand flew down and approaches then used autopilot on way back to learn more about how it works.
Humbling experience. One radio call is all it took to get 30 degrees off heading. It is also truly amazing what a role disequilibrium can play in a short period of time. I also think not wearing the hood in IMC can even be more distracting !

Tomorrow is going to be another dreary day here in nepa so we are planning on heading up for another lesson.
His plan is keeping the lessons close together and move through it.overall was a lot of fun today without feeling completely overwhelmed. But definitely there is a lot to learn!
 
Good on ya to start.

Hopefully the instructor quits showing off by starting with approaches and resets back to the basics of attitude flying. Doing approaches now without really knowing what you are supposed to do or how it all works can be very counterproductive.

Is the CFI working with a written syllabus that combines ground school work with flight activities or making it up as he goes?
 
benyflyguy said:
so I passed my written over a month ago and our club plane was having some nose gear issues that took time to resolve( thought tar on tire then shimmy damper-then knuckle adjustments ultimately bad tire).
Today the stars aligned and the plane was right so we went up! Today was a great day in PA for IFR training. I brought my hood along and pulled it our in our preflight and my CFI looked at me and said, “you are not going to need that today buddy.” And he was right. Was 1000 overcast at my home base. We filed to an airport about 20 min away and shot shome approaches then landed, filed again to go home and did much of the same. Hand flew down and approaches then used autopilot on way back to learn more about how it works.
Humbling experience. One radio call is all it took to get 30 degrees off heading. It is also truly amazing what a role disequilibrium can play in a short period of time. I also think not wearing the hood in IMC can even be more distracting !

Tomorrow is going to be another dreary day here in nepa so we are planning on heading up for another lesson.
His plan is keeping the lessons close together and move through it.overall was a lot of fun today without feeling completely overwhelmed. But definitely there is a lot to learn!
Click to expand...

Welcome to the Goo. Sounds like a good and informative first flight. Like @AggieMike88 says you'll be getting some time just doing 'basic atitude' flying which is very important. That can be kinda hard to do sometimes though when you are IFR and ATC is keeping you away from other airplanes in the Goo. While the opportunity to get some 'actual' in is good, hopefully you'll get some clear weather soon so he can 'torture' you, lol.
 
I agree with aggiemike...the first few hours should be b-o-o-o-o-ring, without any thought of approaches. You need to be able to change speed in level flight, make climbing and descending turns (and climbs and descents...duh) until you have developed the muscle memory to perform these actions solely by instrument reference with very little "hunting," You should know what pitch attitude and power setting delivers approach cruise speed, approach speed, speed on final, etc. Then and only then do approaches come into the picture. Knowing only what you have told us, I am not impressed by your instructor.

Bob
 
bobmrg said:
I agree with aggiemike...the first few hours should be b-o-o-o-o-ring, without any thought of approaches. You need to be able to change speed in level flight, make climbing and descending turns (and climbs and descents...duh) until you have developed the muscle memory to perform these actions solely by instrument reference with very little "hunting," You should know what pitch attitude and power setting delivers approach cruise speed, approach speed, speed on final, etc. Then and only then do approaches come into the picture. Knowing only what you have told us, I am not impressed by your instructor.

Bob
Click to expand...
Yeah. Like https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/pattern-a.110212/
 
Although actual is good ,I agree that you need to do some attitude flying. You want to be comfortable flying the airplane,with the instruments,than get to the approachs.
 
Agree with @AggieMike88 and @bobmrg. Gotta have the foundation built first, and that is boring attitude instrument flying, knowing your power settings and configurations for various tasks as Bobmgr said. Hopefully your CFII was just showing you how it works for the first flight, and now you really start.
 
I spoke with him and the attitude, setting up and controlling ascents, descents and turns is in the plan. The last two days were taking advantage of the IMC. Tomorrow if we go up that is in the mix. He has a plan and is following some sort of master plan. I am getting assignments to read about what we did and what we are going to do for next flight. Reviews my his plan and expectations are going forward after every lesson.
 
benyflyguy said:
I spoke with him and the attitude, setting up and controlling ascents, descents and turns is in the plan. The last two days were taking advantage of the IMC. Tomorrow if we go up that is in the mix. He has a plan and is following some sort of master plan. I am getting assignments to read about what we did and what we are going to do for next flight. Reviews my his plan and expectations are going forward after every lesson.
Click to expand...
Having your own copy of the entire written plan is beneficial.
 
Last edited:
benyflyguy said:
I spoke with him and the attitude, setting up and controlling ascents, descents and turns is in the plan. The last two days were taking advantage of the IMC.
Click to expand...

While I agree that you should start students with the basic instrument flying skills and not approaches, I can't fault the CFI for taking advantage of some good smooth IMC and giving you real experience.
 
Today we worked on attitude flying and holding. Happened to work out in IMC again. The holding pattern for the missed just so happened to be right in the broken cloud layer. So it was a bumpy day, but very productive.
 
dell30rb said:
While I agree that you should start students with the basic instrument flying skills and not approaches, I can't fault the CFI for taking advantage of some good smooth IMC and giving you real experience.
Click to expand...

Agree completely. Far too many students
end up with no actual experience. First flight in actual is a great way to show a student how serious it is and how easy it is to make mistakes. I applaud the instructor for taking advantage of the weather. I think the student will have a greater appreciation for what is involved throughout the rest of the training.

Jim
 
Topper said:
Agree completely. Far too many students
end up with no actual experience. First flight in actual is a great way to show a student how serious it is and how easy it is to make mistakes. I applaud the instructor for taking advantage of the weather. I think the student will have a greater appreciation for what is involved throughout the rest of the training.

Jim
Click to expand...
That was my thought as well - a way to show the beginning student both what it's really like, and how far he has to go. No criticism of the instructor from me; it all depends on how it goes starting next lesson.
 
Just my opinion, but approaches and holds don't belong in any initial instrument lessons. Learn basic attitudes flying and fill out this chart in the process. Keep and use the chart for the remainder of your IFR flying.

upload_2018-5-31_13-55-12.png
 
write-stuff said:
Just my opinion, but approaches and holds don't belong in any initial instrument lessons. Learn basic attitudes flying and fill out this chart in the process. Keep and use the chart for the remainder of your IFR flying.

View attachment 63599
Click to expand...
I have a chart like this as part of the checklist for the Skylane. Knowing ahead of time that for a particular phase I need to configure aircraft in the manner shown on that line really aids in remaining ahead of the airplane.
 
I love this. I copied it and going to fill it out to what I’m using in those scenarios and calibrate to what I actually need as far as power settings then make a hard copy to go into the clear plastic part of my kneeboard. Thank you for sharing!!!
 
I just had my first IFR lesson last week. Constant speed climbs and descents, standard rate turns while maintaining altitude, turns to headings, etc. We did the RNAV approach to land, which I knew already and was no biggie. Next lesson is on Sunday: going up and figuring out which power settings and pitch attitudes produce which airspeeds, etc. Sounds like my instructor is on the ball. I'm his first instrument student.
 
denverpilot said:
Then he started charging for signatures and generally being an ass.

Good thing you used past-tense on that one. :)
Click to expand...

I didn't because I knew someone would say what an ass he is. Totally opposite of Bob Hoover. Met Hoover years ago at SnF and he was completely cordial.
 
mscard88 said:
I didn't because I knew someone would say what an ass he is. Totally opposite of Bob Hoover. Met Hoover years ago at SnF and he was completely cordial.
Click to expand...

Someone actually posted this on his FB recently, whether him or someone handling it for him. And someone responded, “Let’s hope so.” LOL. Ouch.

6e206c4400ecad67001268083b2685ac.jpg
 
Update. Have had time to work on attitude flying, climbs and descents.
Today got to put some stuff together. In nepa we have had the unique opportunity of a lot of bad weather. Today rain and ifr everywhere. My instructor took the opportunity to go up and do some cross country, approaches, departure procedures, procedure turns. All real world stuff. Got some great radio work in, he filed three different flight plans so worked on receiving clearances as well. It was 2.5 total with 2 in IMC. Approaches were to about 400 feet above the minimums. Looking at my log book so far we have been able to spend more time in IMC then not.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top