spiderweb
Final Approach
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2005
- Messages
- 9,488
- Display Name
Display name:
Ben
I really took advantage of the opportunity, and we sure packed a lot in. This is what we did:
1) GPS familiarization. I already had the basic VFR GPS ops down, but today I was shown all the great IFR features. At Frederick, they have a ground unit to play with, so we worked on flight plans, skipping waypoints, flying approaches, etc. What a great feature.
2) C182 refamiliarization. At Frederick, you need to fly once every 60 days; otherwise, you have to get re-checked out. This was fine with me since I needed to do the IFR checkout. I requested that we do some VFR stuff first. Last night I had reviewed the POH and sweet-spot power settings and airspeed numbers for the bird, so today was fairly routine. I had to refamiliarize my muscles with the heavier but very solid handling of the Skylane. I did remember that the right foot needs to really go in on takeoff! I asked the CFII to do the first landing, because I wanted to fix the sights and sounds in my mind. This was a good choice--my next two landings were good, then better. I LOVE the Skylane because it makes you look good every time with smooth rides in turbulence and sweet landings.
3) IFR checkout. This went well. The drill was to fly out to EMI, fly the ILS, fly a missed, hold over the VOR, etc. I'm glad we did the VFR stuff first, because here's the weird thing with the C182--it is so stable, that you won't feel it floating above or sinking below altitude, so you have to watch. After a couple of minutes, this was going fine, too. But here's a secret--flying the C182 IFR is like cheating! Set the knobs for the numbers and fly with one or two fingers and those needles stick there, right down to the runway.
4) Autopilot familiarization. I have about thirty hours in the PA-32, so I know what a good autopilot should do. The one in the C182 is very nice, and the CFII gave me some tricks as to how to sweet-talk the thing into dreamy, seamless level-offs and smooth tracking on course. He showed me how to use it for an approach. The AP flies the durn thing shamefully well, especially if you help it with the sweet-spot MP and RPM settings. Although I don't yet feel ready to use the AP for an approach, I will definitely be taking advantage of it when in the enroute phase, and also in the clag before an approach, giving me some time to re-brief the plate.
After that, we rentered the pattern, and the day ended with me doing a very nice crosswind landing. The aircraft is really a passenger-pleaser!
1) GPS familiarization. I already had the basic VFR GPS ops down, but today I was shown all the great IFR features. At Frederick, they have a ground unit to play with, so we worked on flight plans, skipping waypoints, flying approaches, etc. What a great feature.
2) C182 refamiliarization. At Frederick, you need to fly once every 60 days; otherwise, you have to get re-checked out. This was fine with me since I needed to do the IFR checkout. I requested that we do some VFR stuff first. Last night I had reviewed the POH and sweet-spot power settings and airspeed numbers for the bird, so today was fairly routine. I had to refamiliarize my muscles with the heavier but very solid handling of the Skylane. I did remember that the right foot needs to really go in on takeoff! I asked the CFII to do the first landing, because I wanted to fix the sights and sounds in my mind. This was a good choice--my next two landings were good, then better. I LOVE the Skylane because it makes you look good every time with smooth rides in turbulence and sweet landings.
3) IFR checkout. This went well. The drill was to fly out to EMI, fly the ILS, fly a missed, hold over the VOR, etc. I'm glad we did the VFR stuff first, because here's the weird thing with the C182--it is so stable, that you won't feel it floating above or sinking below altitude, so you have to watch. After a couple of minutes, this was going fine, too. But here's a secret--flying the C182 IFR is like cheating! Set the knobs for the numbers and fly with one or two fingers and those needles stick there, right down to the runway.
4) Autopilot familiarization. I have about thirty hours in the PA-32, so I know what a good autopilot should do. The one in the C182 is very nice, and the CFII gave me some tricks as to how to sweet-talk the thing into dreamy, seamless level-offs and smooth tracking on course. He showed me how to use it for an approach. The AP flies the durn thing shamefully well, especially if you help it with the sweet-spot MP and RPM settings. Although I don't yet feel ready to use the AP for an approach, I will definitely be taking advantage of it when in the enroute phase, and also in the clag before an approach, giving me some time to re-brief the plate.
After that, we rentered the pattern, and the day ended with me doing a very nice crosswind landing. The aircraft is really a passenger-pleaser!
