Approach in IMC with GFC 500

[WDD]

Flew first approach in IMC with the GFC 500 down to 100’ above minimum. Damn - so easy I almost feel guilty for logging it. (But not that guilty mind you).

Vectors to final RNAV. Everything just easy to work. Didn’t miss a step.

Fire, wheel, and autopilot. Kind of a tie.

 

[midlifeflyer]

Flew first approach in IMC with the GFC 500 down to 100’ above minimum. Damn - so easy I almost feel guilty for logging it. (But not that guilty mind you).

Vectors to final RNAV. Everything just easy to work. Didn’t miss a step.

Fire, wheel, and autopilot. Kind of a tie.

Just be careful. It's very easy to get AP dependent. And I'm not referring to hand flying skills. It's anticipation that goes first.

 

[WDD]

It's anticipation that goes first.

Please expound a bit more - interested in your POV.

For context, using the AP this morning allowed me to be far ahead of the plane, waiting and cross checking the next step, knowing what I’d do if the AP misbehaved, etc.

 

[RyanB]

Yeah the GFC500 is awesome. I agree with Mark, however, please don’t get complacent with it. Ever.

 

[WDD]

Suggestions? I’m thinking of doing most of practice approaches hand flying, but mix in AP approaches keep proficient with that as well.

 

[eman1200]

don't hit the "aileron roll" button on the gfc500. at least not on final approach.

 

[midlifeflyer]

Please expound a bit more - interested in your POV.

For context, using the AP this morning allowed me to be far ahead of the plane, waiting and cross checking the next step, knowing what I’d do if the AP misbehaved, etc.

It sounds like you are doing it right. You have probably doing some version of "when I get to [XX], I will need to do [this] laterally and [that] vertically. When I get there I'll also need to make [pitch/power/configuration/avionics] changes" since well before you got the autopilot. Saying those words to yourself, using the 5Ts as a prompt, or always remember Rod Machado's "two most important things in aviation," is what keeps you ahead of the airplane and creates a sense of waiting, with or without an autopilot.

For those who still have an active subscription, that was the subject of "George Doesn't Know," my article in the April 2024 IFR Magazine (now defunct; I have no idea how they are handling the old articles). Basically, when an instrument rated pilot, particularly an experienced one, comes to me, hand flying skills may have deteriorated a bit, but autopilot dependence far more consistently takes the form of the not anticipating "the next two things." Instead they rely on "George" to keep ahead of the airplane.

 

[midlifeflyer]

Suggestions? I’m thinking of doing most of practice approaches hand flying, but mix in AP approaches keep proficient with that as well.

The important thing is, it's not just about approaches. The interplay between FMS/navigator and AP is takes place in every phase of flight. Pilots bust altitudes because they've set something up wrong. Pilots go off course because they accidentally enter an amendment incorrectly, or activate the wrong leg. Remember that the AP is an idiot. No AI to say, "are you sure about that?" Whatever you tell it to do the AP will do.


One general tip: ALWAYS switch the Flight Director off if you are not following it.

 

[WDD]

What was helpful was to set the heading bug and altitude before take off. Another cue to fly the heading and to assigned altitude after take off. Turn the AP on after getting settled post take off.

 

[Hang 4]

One general tip: ALWAYS switch the Flight Director off if you are not following it.

Tell me more on this one. Are you referring to when the AP is not being used? I do that as a matter of course. I am not a flight director type and pretty much ignore it and have never tried turning off while the GFC is navigating, can you do that?

 

[WDD]

The Director has to be on to tell the Autopilot what to do. If not using the AP you can turn off the Director and get rid of the magenta bars.

But should one turn off the Flight Director if “not following it”? I can see if you accidentally then turn on the AP it will follow the FD, which you didn't want otherwise you wouldn’t be ignoring it. Besides - why have the FD on if it’s not what you want to do? Could be confusing.

 

[midlifeflyer]

Tell me more on this one. Are you referring to when the AP is not being used?

if the AP is on, the FD is on. When you switch the AP off, the FD stays on to guide you.

When the AP is off, the FD is a valuable tool when used by a pilot experienced in its use. Some pilots use it. Others don’t. But in either case, I think it’s a best practice to switch it off when the pilot does not plan to follow it. I usually mention it when the pilot is flying one way and the FD chevron/bars is pointing in another. Non-event in visual conditions but an unnecessary potential distraction in the clouds.

 

[midlifeflyer]

What was helpful was to set the heading bug and altitude before take off. Another cue to fly the heading and to assigned altitude after take off. Turn the AP on after getting settled post take off.

Consider this as an SOP. Always have an altitude selected, heading bugged, and active waypoint in the GPS. Even if the altitude is the pattern altitude, the heading bugged to the runway used, and the active waypoint your home base where you are doing touch & goes.

 

[bbchien]

I have one (G500) also. I'm just going to have to do IPCs by hand, more regularly.

 

[Jim K]

if the AP is on, the FD is on. When you switch the AP off, the FD stays on to guide you.

When the AP is off, the FD is a valuable tool when used by a pilot experienced in its use. Some pilots use it. Others don’t. But in either case, I think it’s a best practice to switch it off when the pilot does not plan to follow it. I usually mention it when the pilot is flying one way and the FD chevron/bars is pointing in another. Non-event in visual conditions but an unnecessary potential distraction in the clouds.

I hate the FD on my G5's. Might be better on a bigger display, but it's just too busy on the little screen. I wish it defaulted to off when you disconnect the autopilot instead of having to push another button.

 

[wilkersk]

I think flying the full procedure with the GFC500 takes just as much practice as hand-flying. AP doesn't eliminate the workload, it just changes it. When it works right it's awesome. But you still must stay ahead of it and anticipate. If you can't immediately recognize when it has failed or hasn't sequenced correctly, and then know immediately what to do to correct it, it'll eventually put you into a very bad place you don't want to be.

And then, you still have to be able to hand-fly. So, if anything all this great technology only adds to the chore of staying current.

 

[Low Level Flyer]

Here's the plan I follow to extend my instrument currency and maintain proficiency. On a day where I can shoot the approaches in actual, I shoot at least 3 of them. One using the autopilot, one hand flown with command bars, and one hand flown without command bars. Will also do a few turns in holding in the same 3 configurations.

 

[MauleSkinner]

But you still must stay ahead of it and anticipate. If you can't immediately recognize when it has failed or hasn't sequenced correctly, and then know immediately what to do to correct it,

And part of “stay ahead of it and anticipate” is understanding how your system displays what it’s going to do. Does it display the armed modes, and what mode variations are there (I don’t know the garmin systems, but for example my FD will display ALT, ALTS, ALTV, and VALTV as altitude hold modes, but the altitude reference is different for each.)

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Tell me more on this one. Are you referring to when the AP is not being used? I do that as a matter of course. I am not a flight director type and pretty much ignore it and have never tried turning off while the GFC is navigating, can you do that?

You can't turn the FD off when the AP is on, because the FD is essentially commanding the autopilot.

You can turn the AP off and still have the FD on, and doing so is a good idea when you're hand flying, provided you ALWAYS tell it what you want to do as if you were still on autopilot. I have had an FD alert me that I was about to miss a level-off altitude; if you're in the (good) habit of doing as Mark suggests, you'll definitely notice it out of the corner of your eye when the FD all of a sudden departs the center of the display... But if you don't turn the FD off when it's not telling you to do what you want to be doing, you won't have that sense.

But should one turn off the Flight Director if “not following it”?

Absolutely. Why would you leave it on?

I can see if you accidentally then turn on the AP it will follow the FD, which you didn't want otherwise you wouldn’t be ignoring it. Besides - why have the FD on if it’s not what you want to do? Could be confusing.

Exactly.

 

[Pinecone]

Here's the plan I follow to extend my instrument currency and maintain proficiency. On a day where I can shoot the approaches in actual, I shoot at least 3 of them. One using the autopilot, one hand flown with command bars, and one hand flown without command bars. Will also do a few turns in holding in the same 3 configurations.

I do a mix of 2 to 1 to 3, autopilot/command bars/hand flown in maintaining currency.

Command bars are very nice if your AP fails, but only if you have practiced some.

 

[midlifeflyer]

Command bars are very nice if your AP fails, but only if you have practiced some.

Agreed. Even with good instrument pilots, when they transition to a system with a command bar/ flight director, there is often a period of going back to old overcorrection and jerky movement habits.

 

[Trogdor]

And you haven't even explored VNAV yet ...

 

[Martin Pauly]

You have probably doing some version of "when I get to [XX], I will need to do [this] laterally and [that] vertically. When I get there I'll also need to make [pitch/power/configuration/avionics] changes" since well before you got the autopilot. Saying those words to yourself, using the 5Ts as a prompt [...] is what keeps you ahead of the airplane and creates a sense of waiting, with or without an autopilot.

This is worth repeating. In instrument training, I insist that the pilot verbalizes what's going to happen next at each step along the way. Once they do that, their performance increases significantly.

Another thing worth repeating is: turn off the Flight Director symbol when not following it. While the FD symbology does not harm us at those times when we are flying something different, us pilots getting used to seeing a different attitude than what's prescribed by the FD will adversely affect us the next time we actually intend to follow the FD guidance. That is because subconsciously, if we accept on a somewhat routine basis that the FD is off somewhere in the corner, then we will be less spring-loaded to align the symbols when we do want to follow it while hand-flying.

- Martin