Favorite methods for brief approaches

B

Blueangel

Line Up and Wait
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Scott
So my instructor has me using TIMSABC from King Schools for approaches:

Tune nav/comm freqs
Identify nav/comm
Markers beacon on/off
Setting altimeter
Align HI to Compass
Brief approach procedures
Compute speeds and runway

I am wondering if there is an easier less mental intense way to do the same thing that folks who fly IFR a lot use? This seems a lot of extra workload to me!
 
Ask for a surveillance approach? :rofl:

Easy peasy!
 
I just start from the top right of the pate and work my way down
 
Why intense? These are all actions that can take place before you get to the initial approach fix. I consider this an "in range" checklist, to be completed as early as possible.

Bob Gardner
 
Blueangel said:
So my instructor has me using TIMSABC from King Schools for approaches:



Tune nav/comm freqs

Identify nav/comm

Markers beacon on/off

Setting altimeter

Align HI to Compass

Brief approach procedures

Compute speeds and runway



I am wondering if there is an easier less mental intense way to do the same thing that folks who fly IFR a lot use? This seems a lot of extra workload to me!
Click to expand...

Is that really what Smiley and the Fro recommend?

Seems you should know your speed and runway info before you brief the approach.
 
Tune & identify are duplicates, how do you do the former without the latter?
Marker beacons are going the away, much like NDB.
If you have slaved HSI, forget the align
Compute speeds and runway??
Brief approach? I thought that's what we were doing from step 1?

Where is the miss approach ?
 
I must be hungry. I read that as "Beef approaches"
 
James331 said:
I just start from the top right of the pate and work my way down
Click to expand...
Indeed.

A lot of time and effort was made to study the way pilots actually briefed approached to come up with an approach chart flow that made sense. The result was the Volpe "briefing strip" that appears with only minor variations on both FAA and Jepp approach plates.

Most of the nonsense I've seen in mnemonic briefing methods seem to want to make sure the process fits into a word or to cover things that are normally covered in the course of flying. As a lowly VFR pilot, don't we tune in the ATIS or AWOS well before coming to an airport to check the weather and select a runway? Do we really need a prompt to tune in the Approach frequency we are going to be handed off to or are already speaking with. It just makes a simple process so much more complicated than it needs to be.

My own method is, I think, pretty simple.

  • Look at the plate to confirm it's the one for the airport I'm going to.
  • Look at the Plan View, glancing at the Profile View) to makes sure it makes sense, to get a big picture of the courses and altitudes, and to select a logical IAP based on my direction of flight. (I'm often amazed by the number of pilots who are so tied up in some mnemonic that the miss this simple situational awareness step, which makes all the rest of the briefing simple.) This step takes at least 10 times longer to explain than to do.
  • If I have GPS, load the approach and verify the fixes against the chart. Without, usin the Plan View to select the navaids you need to set up.
  • Start at the top left of the briefing strip and follow it all the way through, set frequencies that have not been set and as a general cross-check on items that may have been missed.

And Bob is absolutely right. Nothing intense about it, except in training where you are artificially called upon to set up approaches in 10 seconds. In the real world you typically have an incredible amount of time. With a little practice, I think the whole process takes a maximum of 3 minutes total.
 
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teejayevans said:
Tune & identify are duplicates, how do you do the former without the latter?
Click to expand...
By not listening for the Morse code identifier (and checking it against the plate, if you don't know the Code). Failing to do this is a bust on the checkride and it's strongly recommended in actual practice for a couple of reasons.
Where is the miss approach ?
Click to expand...
I suspect that comes under "brief approach procedures", but personally, the briefing is something I almost always do long before I'm close enough to identify the navaid.
 
midlifeflyer said:
And Bob is absolutely right. Nothing intense about it, except in training where you are artificially called upon to set up approaches in 10 seconds. In the real world you typically have an incredible amount of time. With a little practice, I think the whole process takes a maximum of 3 minutes total.
Click to expand...

Exactly, and if you need extra time ask for holding vectors or go hang out in a hold for a few laps.

Long and short you should never be rushed, just brief it from the top down, heck I'm normally all set up right as I come into range of the ATIS/AWOS.

Just say no to being rushed, even during a ride I've been rushed into the next approach, I just said I'm going to make a couple laps in the hold or you can vector me while I set up, never have been balked at for that, personally I think it's a sign of good airmanship.
 
Flying a lot of single pilot IFR/IMC in the real world, my approach briefing boils down to only two critical items: minimums (typically MDA or DA, along with AGL value for reference), and missed approach.
After that, at my leisure, I review the rest of the plate, left to right, top to bottom, as well as the complete panel. Since I don't trust myself to be perfect, whenever time permits, I re-do the above process, trying to commit to memory the "magic number" (MDA/DA) and first heading and altitude of the missed approach.
I have discovered (to my embarrassment) that there is always benefit to one more review of the plate and panel. The tighter the expected approach, the more times I review it.

Edit: One more thing that I add is wind. If I expect any significant crosswind on landing, I try to imagine which side the runway would appear, and the control inputs needed to take out the crab.
 
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WX
MARTHA
3


WX - get weather 20-30 miles out.

MA - brief missed approach
R - set/confirm radios
T - brief times
H - brief headings
A - brief altitudes

3 miles or 3 minutes from approach course intercept, slow to approach level
 
midlifeflyer said:
  • Look at the plate to confirm it's the one for the airport I'm going to.
  • Look at the Plan View, glancing at the Profile View) to makes sure it makes sense, to get a big picture of the courses and altitudes, and to select a logical IAP based on my direction of flight. (I'm often amazed by the number of pilots who are so tied up in some mnemonic that the miss this simple situational awareness step, which makes all the rest of the briefing simple.) This step takes at least 10 times longer to explain than to do.
  • If I have GPS, load the approach and verify the fixes against the chart. Without, usin the Plan View to select the navaids you need to set up.
  • Start at the top left of the briefing strip and follow it all the way through, set frequencies that have not been set and as a general cross-check on items that may have been missed.
Click to expand...

I used to have all these steps to memorize that were presented to me in acronym form but I've pretty much ditched that in favor of something that's similar to the above. The plate basically has all the information you will need... then add in whatever checklists you need for your airplane's systems, ID navaids and double check radios(nav and com).

One other little thing I should add is make sure the plate is current, but hopefully the paper chart is current or your ipad is updated before you take off:)
 
I'm going to go against the grain here.

WRIME time

Weather
Radios
Instruments
Minima /missed
Time FAF to MAP
 
Chip Sylverne said:
I'm going to go against the grain here.

WRIME time

Weather
Radios
Instruments
Minima /missed
Time FAF to MAP
Click to expand...
Personally, my favorite (or at least the one I hate the least) is the even simpler WIRE, which is actually a work you might remember:
Weather
Instruments
Radios
Everything else :D (I've also heard it called Environment but Everything Else is much more appropriate)
 
fiveoboy01 said:
I used to have all these steps to memorize that were presented to me in acronym form but I've pretty much ditched that in favor of something that's similar to the above. The plate basically has all the information you will need... then add in whatever checklists you need for your airplane's systems, ID navaids and double check radios(nav and com).

One other little thing I should add is make sure the plate is current, but hopefully the paper chart is current or your iPad is updated before you take off:)
Click to expand...
Here's how it happened to me.

I was taught all sorts of weird acronyms along the way that looked like the sole purpose was to prove the process was impossibly confusing.I was already instrument rated but, living in Colorado meant few opportunities to exercise my instrument wings, so I kept looking for a good ways to brief the approach.

I was going to be on vacation in the spring in the southeast so I contacted a CFII with the idea of going up on an IMC day and getting some real approaches in. Unfortunately, the airplane didn't cooperate - a maintenance issue. So there I was the morning of the flight, widespread 600' ceilings, bemoaning the fact that we couldn't fly on a perfect day. I was walking on the beach with one of the approach plates, taking the time to really spend time with it and mentally visualize the approach - the direction we would be coming from, which IAP we would use, how we would be vectored, etc., all the way to the landing.

And then it struck me. The plan view was the "template" of the approach. It was the big picture. It was situational awareness. It made the entire approach make sense. The "numbers" were details that filled in the blanks in places that suddenly made perfect sense and had a logical sequence. I didn't even have to memorize anything; once briefed and set up, a glance at the next step on the template told me all I needed to know.

The rest of the stuff the mnemonics try to catch? Nice for base instruction but really just a normal part of the SOP of flying.
 
Thanks everyone this is very helpful. I like the shorter acronyms and tips that simplify things compared to what my CFII was telling me about with Kings method of using TIMSABCs.

Scott
 
Blueangel said:
So my instructor has me using TIMSABC from King Schools for approaches:

Tune nav/comm freqs
Identify nav/comm
Markers beacon on/off
Setting altimeter
Align HI to Compass
Brief approach procedures
Compute speeds and runway

I am wondering if there is an easier less mental intense way to do the same thing that folks who fly IFR a lot use? This seems a lot of extra workload to me!
Click to expand...

First of all, I'd dry-fly the approach plate to make sure I have all the required navigation equipment not only for the approach, but to return myself to the enroute environment (missed approach).

Then I'd use my little ditty here beginning at slide #39 to hunt down killer traps.

Next, I'd use a full panel scan to make sure everything (and I mean it all) is set for the approach.

Finally, I'd run the approach and landing checklists normally.

The "ditty" I have is a little different than a mnemonic in that it is prose and describes the overall execution of an instrument approach, so it's easier to remember. It also hunts down specific items that can commonly be overlooked and potentially be fatal. I don't put much value in the briefing strip arrangement at all.

dtuuri
 
Just the FACTS

Frequency
Altitude
Course
Time
Supplemental - Notams, Inop Equip, Cold temps, & Missed procedure
 
Dave, I really like your little "ditty". Very easy to remember, logically reflects the execution of an approach, and, if you take care of all the items thoroughly, you won't miss anything important. For example, when figuring out how to identify the "Fix", I will naturally tune and identify the primary navaid; setting the final approach "Course" will make me set the CDI source to the right thing and so on. Thank you!! I am going to steal this thing and use for my flying.
Cheers!
 
kzadora said:
Dave, I really like your little "ditty". Very easy to remember, logically reflects the execution of an approach, and, if you take care of all the items thoroughly, you won't miss anything important. For example, when figuring out how to identify the "Fix", I will naturally tune and identify the primary navaid; setting the final approach "Course" will make me set the CDI source to the right thing and so on. Thank you!! I am going to steal this thing and use for my flying.
Cheers!
Click to expand...

Hey it isn't "theft", it's a gift! Remember to look for the gothcha's, that's what it's supposed to remind you to do:
  • Does it actually have a FAF or not? If not, you have to go out far enough on the PT to lose the altitude at a reasonable descent rate.
  • Do the minimums have step down fixes? If so, don't lock in on the lowest MDA or you might try to move a TV tower.
  • Is there a timing table? If not, how long do you make your PT to give time to descend without busting the limit?
  • Does the course have a dogleg at the FAF? If so, remember to change course there. It's for a reason, probably a lil' ol' mountain or something.
  • Where do you make the pull-up? DME? Timing? DH/DA? What's the first heading and altitude.
There's another verse for it too, but this will keep you out of most trouble. I just repeat it over and over as I go along. Kept me alive a long time.

dtuuri
 
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