VFR drills to help with IFR training?

bflynn

bflynn

Final Approach
Joined
Apr 24, 2012
Messages
9,592
Location
KTTA
Display Name
Display name:
Brian Flynn
Due to work and instructor schedules, my flying part of IFR is delayed. Can anyone suggest drills or work that can be done without a hood in the VFR environment? Obviously I could get a safety pilot and just go practice hood work, but thinking about any or procedures or processes that I can work on.
 
Programming the GPS, in the hangar. Find a lonely airport with a buncha approaches. Go fly them with a buddy and keep eyes out for traffic. Practice messing around with the GPS switching approaches while hand flying with your buddy laughing at you and looking out. Practice turning coordinated with rudder and back pressure trim only, while writing down something while adjusting the volume/squelch stop to stop. Figger out power settings and pitch attitudes for constant rate descents. Figger rule of thumb ft/nm formulas. Do an arc all the way around a VOR, both ways, at less than 10 miles. Fly a VOR track backwards. Busiest part of the flights are GA/missed approaches, maybe practice them? I dunno. I'm just a pilot.
 
The most important part of IFR flying is flying the plane. Just fly. Do all of the VFR procedures that you know, but do them very well. Be precise. Be exact.

Don’t look for anything fancy.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
I had the same question, one thing that got suggested to me was to intercept radials.
 
Oh yeah, basics. For sure.

From my old salty CFII "Hold your gd heading! It's 010, not 011! Stop staring at the DG because you are 20 feet offn yer altitude! Your clearance was for 5000, not 5020. Get off my lawn! More right rudder damnit!" Love you Dad!
 
Learn to fly your plane by the numbers. To do that, you have to go up and fly and take notes. Key flight regimes can be boiled down to an attitude (level, one dot nose high, one dot nose down, etc.) and a power setting that yield predictable performance at a desired airspeed. Key flight regimes are level approach speed (e.g. 90 kt in level flght), departure climb at Vy, 500 fpm descent (say at 90 kt, a common approach speed). Commit these to memory or print them on a post-it on the panel. This way, you can quickly put your plane in the proper attitude and airspeed for a particular approach or departure flight maneuver.

For example, in my AA5, AI level and 2100 rpm will yield 90 kt level flight. Pull the throttle back to 1900 rpm and you get a 500 fpm descent at 90 kt, close to perfect for an ILS or LPV approach. Pull back to 1800 rpm and you get a faster 700 fpm descent for "dive and drive" descents, etc. A departure climb is full throttle and 2 dots up which is about Vy (78 kt) and 500+ fpm, depending on load. This is the old "power plus pitch" = performance gig, and every instrument pilot should know the basic numbers for the plane(s) they fly. It makes maneuvering much simpler to accomplish.
 
Does anyone have an example of a handy card they used for populating the various IFR flight regimes and the respective power and attitude settings? Sounds like something one could do by themselves.

I’d like to mess around and see the effects of using MP vs RPM depending on the prop position.
 
Send me an email via pm, I’ve got one already setup the way IPC trains you, numbers already there for Bonanza and Archer III. Tried to upload, it doesn’t like me.
 
Remember the needles tell you where you are, not the magenta line, it's only advisory. Get comfortable interpreting them. Also use ATC, a big part of the rating is talking to them and negotiating what you need from them, get comfortable on the radios.
 
455 Bravo Uniform said:
Does anyone have an example of a handy card they used for populating the various IFR flight regimes and the respective power and attitude settings? Sounds like something one could do by themselves.
Click to expand...
It is. The trick is understanding the flight phases and selecting the speeds and other configuration elements you want to target for each.

IOW, "do I want to fly an approach with vertical guidance at 90 or 100" and "with or without flaps" are bigger questions, and subject to pilot preference even within a model, than "what power settings will produce that?"

If you can't find a sample (there are many around), the basics are Climb, IAP Level, Non-Precision Descent, Precision Descent, MDA Level. Add columns for pitch, power, flaps/gear, target airspeed, and climb/descent rate.

As with all things of this type, some add more some remove some.
 
Last edited:
midlifeflyer said:
It is. The trick is understanding the flight phases and selecting the speeds and other configuration elements you want to target for each.

IOW, "do I want to fly an approach with vertical guidance at 90 or 100" and "with or without flaps" are bigger questions, and subject to pilot preference even within a model, than "what power settings will produce that?"

If you can't find a sample (there are many around), the basics are Climb, IAP Level, Non-Precision Descent, Precision Descent, MDA Level. Add columns for pitch, power, flaps/gear, target airspeed, and climb/descent rate.

As with all things of this type, some add more some remove some.
Click to expand...

I did this in the beginning of my training, in 90 degree weather, most of my flying lately has been in sub freezing weather, so the power settings change, remember that.
 
PaulS said:
I did this in the beginning of my training, in 90 degree weather, most of my flying lately has been in sub freezing weather, so the power settings change, remember that.
Click to expand...
Yes. It's a set of targets to get us in the ballpark quickly. Changes in more or less stable conditions should usually be in the range of 100-200 rpm or 1-2" MP if the exercise was done on a more or less average day.
 
Doug Reid said:
Re: Flying by the numbers. I can’t speak for all aircraft types, but Beechcraft has a book called “By the Numbers” that gives power settings for different phases of flight. This is the same approach the military uses when instructing new pilots and I would assume the airlines does the same thing . No need to waste time trying to figure out what power settings to use if this data is available . You will always have to make minor adjustments , but this will get you on track quickly.
Click to expand...
Mooney has something similar.

But I wouldn't call learning how "my" airplane performs "wasting time." Many times I've started with someone else's table and then tweaked it to my preferences. I thought it was a valuable exercise in all 30 or so different model aircraft I've flown.
 
455 Bravo Uniform said:
Does anyone have an example of a handy card they used for populating the various IFR flight regimes and the respective power and attitude settings? Sounds like something one could do by themselves.

I’d like to mess around and see the effects of using MP vs RPM depending on the prop position.
Click to expand...

I just sent you two that have been floating around online. Also, I believe @write-stuff has posted a chart before but you'll either have to dig for it or maybe he can repost, if he's not too busy flying babes around in his DC-3.
 
bflynn said:
Due to work and instructor schedules, my flying part of IFR is delayed. Can anyone suggest drills or work that can be done without a hood in the VFR environment? Obviously I could get a safety pilot and just go practice hood work, but thinking about any or procedures or processes that I can work on.
Click to expand...

EDIT: Sheesh, I shoulda read the thread first. This already been said but I’m gonna leave it here any way, didn’t see much about doing Go Arounds with a Missed Approach mindset.

Do your climbs and descents in different configurations. Hold a certain airspeed and note what it looks like on the AI, what the rate of climb is. Then try holding a rate of climb and note the AI and airspeed. Do the same in level flight at different speeds. Note the power settings you need for various speeds. Make standard rate turns. How much bank gives you standard rate at the different speeds. What’s it feel like. Note how many flicks of the trim wheel it takes to stay in trim for various maneuvers, or how long to hold the trim button. Do go arounds. Do them with an IFR mindset. Do them at typical Missed Approach Points. Concentrate on arresting descent immediately while configuring for climb and getting trimmed ASAP
 
Last edited:
I agree about flying by the numbers. Every student I work with gets this on lesson one. As we work on basic attitudes, we build a chart showing the pitch/power settings for the six-configurations of instrument flight. Now of course these numbers may vary a bit with factors such as weight and density altitude, but generally, the student recognizes the phase of flight and sets the airplane for the predetermined configuration. No hunting around for the proper settings. Just plug in the numbers from the chart.
 
Looking for IFR - Good VFR habits translate directly to good IFR habits: When VFR, do a proper weather/NOTAM briefing, file a VFR flight plan, open it with FSS and use flight following on every XC flight. Make sure to close the plan. Plan VOR routing and get good at tracking them. Get as familiar with you avionics as you can. Sure get a safety pilot and log hood time while doing basic maneuvers (straight and level, turns, climbs and descents). Get familiar with IFR charts and terminal procedures. If you have a good safety pilot that's IFR rated, practice some procedures. Once you become familiar with the basics, then you can hone these into useful skills during IFR training.
 
The only one I disagree with in @SbestCFII's list is flying the procedures before you learn them. That's arguably true for any hood flying beyond the simple private pilot emergency procedure. Way too easy to learn bad habits and bad procedures which will then have to be unlearned, not merely tweaked.

I see hood work with a safety pilot as the instrument trainees equivalent of student pilot solo. To practice what has been taught.
 
I'm very anal, so my first 600 VFR-only hours were spent trying to fly as precisely as possible. Trying to fly within a degree of heading, flying within 10 feet of altitude. When I was ready to start instrument training, I had no idea just how prepared that made me until I started doing the under the hood flying...
 
bflynn said:
Due to work and instructor schedules, my flying part of IFR is delayed. Can anyone suggest drills or work that can be done without a hood in the VFR environment? Obviously I could get a safety pilot and just go practice hood work, but thinking about any or procedures or processes that I can work on.
Click to expand...

One thing to add to this. A lot of the stuff being discussed here can require a lot more head in the cockpit time than usual. More time spent looking at instruments while you practice holding headings, rates of climb, airspeeds etc. look out for traffic frequently. Beware of getting hypnotized by your scan
 
Fly precisely, stay on headings and altitudes.

Fly with flight following to get more comfortable with ATC and the use of radio.
 
I find that reversible....and variable speed are very helpful. o_O


...and sometimes being cordless is good too.
 
write-stuff said:
I agree about flying by the numbers. Every student I work with gets this on lesson one. As we work on basic attitudes, we build a chart showing the pitch/power settings for the six-configurations of instrument flight. Now of course these numbers may vary a bit with factors such as weight and density altitude, but generally, the student recognizes the phase of flight and sets the airplane for the predetermined configuration. No hunting around for the proper settings. Just plug in the numbers from the chart.
Click to expand...
What are the “six configurations” of IFR flight?
 
Salty said:
What are the “six configurations” of IFR flight?
Click to expand...
LOL! Like the 5, 6, 7 or 12 Ts, it depends who you ask. I've seen as few as 4 and as many as 10.

When I've seen 6, they have usually (not universally) been Initial Climb, IAP Level, Non-Precision Descent, Precision Descent, MDA Level, and Missed Climb.

Personally (for me, not for students), I have 4 and only three of them are in the above list.
 
Mark is correct in that there are always variations of memory aids/mnemonics etc.
But to answer your question, the six I teach are:
Cruise
Cruise Climb
Cruise Descent
Approach Level
Precision Approach Descent
Non-precision Approach Descent
 
Wings Level, unaccelerated. (Straight and Level)
Wings Level, decelerating.
Wings Level, Accelerating.
Wings Level climb.
Wings Level descent.
Constant altitude turns. (Left and Right)
Climbing turns. (Left and Right)
Descending turns. (Left and Right)
Do them separately, then connect them together.
 
Last edited:
IK04 said:
Level, unaccelerated. (Straight and Level) - I don't really understand this, since power settings will be different base on altitudes, % HP. gotta know all your power settings
Level, decelerating. - I don't really understand this, I know how to set power at certain speeds but not for "level decelerating"
Level, Accelerating. - I don't really understand this, same as above
Level climb. - I definitely don't understand what a level climb is
Level descent. - I definitely don't understand what a level descent is
Level turns. - not really sure I even understand this
Climbing turns. - eh, maybe
Descending turns. - eh, maybe
Do them separately, then connect them together.
Click to expand...

why not just climb, descent, level
 
455 Bravo Uniform said:
Does anyone have an example of a handy card they used for populating the various IFR flight regimes and the respective power and attitude settings? Sounds like something one could do by themselves.

I’d like to mess around and see the effects of using MP vs RPM depending on the prop position.
Click to expand...

I have a format in THE COMPLETE ADVANCED PILOT but you don't need it. You want to go up (with a safety pilot, because your attention will be inside) and establish the power settings and pitch attitude (and bank angle for turns) for the following:

Constant airspeed climb

Transition from climb to level cruise

Level cruise

Transition to 500 pm descent

500 fpm descent at constant airspeed or constant rate (learn both)

Non-precision descent at constant airspeed, rate > 500 fpm

Climbing or descending turns

You need to do this boring exercise over and over until almost without thinking you will (for example) pitch up two bar widths and set power to 2500 rpm or 25/25, whatever, to climb at Vy. You should be able to set power and pitch and get predictable results.

I do not understand "MP vs RPM depending on prop position." The prop governor will change blade angle to maintain RPM so long as it is not on the low-speed stops or full throttle and not adjustable. The blue knob is pretty much "set it and forget it"...you do not twiddle with it.

Bob Gardner
 
bobmrg said:
I have a format in THE COMPLETE ADVANCED PILOT but you don't need it. You want to go up (with a safety pilot, because your attention will be inside) and establish the power settings and pitch attitude (and bank angle for turns) for the following:

Constant airspeed climb

Transition from climb to level cruise

Level cruise

Transition to 500 pm descent

500 fpm descent at constant airspeed or constant rate (learn both)

Non-precision descent at constant airspeed, rate > 500 fpm

Climbing or descending turns

You need to do this boring exercise over and over until almost without thinking you will (for example) pitch up two bar widths and set power to 2500 rpm or 25/25, whatever, to climb at Vy. You should be able to set power and pitch and get predictable results.

I do not understand "MP vs RPM depending on prop position." The prop governor will change blade angle to maintain RPM so long as it is not on the low-speed stops or full throttle and not adjustable. The blue knob is pretty much "set it and forget it"...you do not twiddle with it.

Bob Gardner
Click to expand...

Thanks Bob.

Actually, I think I meant MPH, not RPM. Here’s what I was thinking- If I set MP at 18, with the prop full forward, my speed will be X; With the same MP, but prop pulled back some, my speed will be Y. Thinking X<Y. No?
 
Never saw the need to do that, never tried it. Most POHs, in the Limitations section, say that there is no time limit on full=throttle operation; others say 5 minutes max. There should be a MAP vs RPM table in your POH, and you can use any combination in that table. Lindbergh taught WWII pilots to use minimum RPM that gave smooth running. My personal favorite is 23/23 in cruise, leaving the prop alone until the wheels touch...I am not fan of going full forward on the prop on the approach simply as a habit. The rationale has always been "In case you have to go around." If I can't see a cow on the runway or someone in the runup area with an itchy throttle from short final I should not be flying.

Bob
 
bobmrg said:
The rationale has always been "In case you have to go around." If I can't see a cow on the runway or someone in the runup area with an itchy throttle from short final I should not be flying.
Click to expand...
That's funny :D

You are right, of course. True for such things as cowl flaps, turning a boost pump on for landing, using carb heat as a preventive in a Piper too.

I figure that once I am in the vicinity of the pattern, my MP is low enough that, with a full forward prop, I'm not doing higher RPM than with a fixed pitch prop at a similar power level. A full forward prop acts like a fixed pitch prop at MPs in the run-up power and below range. I know instructors who, as a technique, take advantage of that by teaching to focus on RPM rather than MP in the traffic pattern.

So "have to go around" combined with "no real difference doing it early" could easily make full forward for landing someone's preference. Just a difference in technique.
 
Try a hold, and see how well you get back to the same point.

While on the topic, learn and understand entries to holds until the light bulb goes off in your head.
 
Use Flight Following on each and every flight so that ATC coms are second nature knowing what to expect and not a distraction on trying to decipher what they are telling you and they expect while you are actually IFR
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top