bluesky74656
Line Up and Wait
Well, I just finished my second official IFR lesson. But I'm going to start at the beginning and chronicle my first lesson. I've always enjoyed reading about other people's lessons, so I figured I'd share my own.
We started with a good bit of pre-flight briefing talking about exactly what I was going to learn - how to fly by the numbers. He drew out a six pack, drew an arrow through the AI, DG, and TC and said these three instruments show you your heading. He then drew an arrow through the AI, Altimiter, and VSI, and said these three instruments show you your altitude. But, he said, we can break it down even further. The AI shows you how the aircraft is oriented, but doesn't really show you what direction it's going or how its altitude is changing. Likewise, the altimeter and heading indicator show you what your current heading and altitude are, but don't show you how those are changing. So eventually, once established in a particular attitude (IE, constant turn, constant ascent/descent, straight and level), you only really need to reference these two instruments, except to tell you when to end your turn or descent.
This was the part I had a bit of a problem with, because I know that the VSI lags noticibly and the TC also shows roll information, which can make it bounce in turbulence. What do you guys think of this approach?
We finished the pre-flight briefing by going over the completion standards for what he called Module One of his IFR syllabus: being able to complete a "vertical s" maneuver, which is a one minute timed 180 turn and 500 foot descent; and being able to complete a partial-panel ILS.
We started soon after takeoff by reinforcing that trim controls airspeed, power controls vertical speed, and the rudder controls the turn coordinator. He said that for at least the beginning part of this training he wanted me to use the yoke as little as possible. So we trimmed for level flight at 90 knots, then he had me turn using only the rudders, and change altitude using primarily (but not exclusively) the throttle.
After a few minutes practicing this, he had me try the vertical s. My first couple were a disaster, as I would get fixated on whichever instrument wasn't cooperating, and meanwhile the other would get completely out of whack. Eventually, though, I managed to complete it to somewhat acceptable standards.
The instructor then tuned the ILS of a nearby airport and put me on a vector towards it. He gave me a simple rule for intercept-- once the needle starts moving, you start moving. When it slows down, you slow down. When it stops, you stop. I managed to hold the localizer to within a dot or two, but the glideslope was off at least two or three. I couldn't get the descent rate stabilized-- first I would have too little power, then too much, but I couldn't get it just right. I was so focused on keeping the TC and VSI in the right spot that I didn't really look at the LOC/GS indicator a lot. The instructor opined that this was a good thing, and that it's much better to hold a stable course down the localizer than be chasing it back and forth. He had me look up at about 200 feet, way high and fast, and quickly reconfigure for landing.
We used the opportunity to take on some relatively cheap fuel, then launched for the quick hop back to Burke Lakefront. He again set me up on a vector for the ILS, and I used the same intercept technique. This time I was more assertive about using the yoke to help maintain my descent rate, and managed to keep both the glideslope and localizer within a dot or two. He let me look up (I never used foggles the whole flight, but was good about keeping my head down) at about 100 feet, and I quickly reconfigured for landing and set her down.
I'm really interested to hear what people think about the TC/VSI scan method. I had never heard it before, but it seemed to work out pretty well.
That's it for now, I'll try to type out lesson two a little later.
We started with a good bit of pre-flight briefing talking about exactly what I was going to learn - how to fly by the numbers. He drew out a six pack, drew an arrow through the AI, DG, and TC and said these three instruments show you your heading. He then drew an arrow through the AI, Altimiter, and VSI, and said these three instruments show you your altitude. But, he said, we can break it down even further. The AI shows you how the aircraft is oriented, but doesn't really show you what direction it's going or how its altitude is changing. Likewise, the altimeter and heading indicator show you what your current heading and altitude are, but don't show you how those are changing. So eventually, once established in a particular attitude (IE, constant turn, constant ascent/descent, straight and level), you only really need to reference these two instruments, except to tell you when to end your turn or descent.
This was the part I had a bit of a problem with, because I know that the VSI lags noticibly and the TC also shows roll information, which can make it bounce in turbulence. What do you guys think of this approach?
We finished the pre-flight briefing by going over the completion standards for what he called Module One of his IFR syllabus: being able to complete a "vertical s" maneuver, which is a one minute timed 180 turn and 500 foot descent; and being able to complete a partial-panel ILS.
We started soon after takeoff by reinforcing that trim controls airspeed, power controls vertical speed, and the rudder controls the turn coordinator. He said that for at least the beginning part of this training he wanted me to use the yoke as little as possible. So we trimmed for level flight at 90 knots, then he had me turn using only the rudders, and change altitude using primarily (but not exclusively) the throttle.
After a few minutes practicing this, he had me try the vertical s. My first couple were a disaster, as I would get fixated on whichever instrument wasn't cooperating, and meanwhile the other would get completely out of whack. Eventually, though, I managed to complete it to somewhat acceptable standards.
The instructor then tuned the ILS of a nearby airport and put me on a vector towards it. He gave me a simple rule for intercept-- once the needle starts moving, you start moving. When it slows down, you slow down. When it stops, you stop. I managed to hold the localizer to within a dot or two, but the glideslope was off at least two or three. I couldn't get the descent rate stabilized-- first I would have too little power, then too much, but I couldn't get it just right. I was so focused on keeping the TC and VSI in the right spot that I didn't really look at the LOC/GS indicator a lot. The instructor opined that this was a good thing, and that it's much better to hold a stable course down the localizer than be chasing it back and forth. He had me look up at about 200 feet, way high and fast, and quickly reconfigure for landing.
We used the opportunity to take on some relatively cheap fuel, then launched for the quick hop back to Burke Lakefront. He again set me up on a vector for the ILS, and I used the same intercept technique. This time I was more assertive about using the yoke to help maintain my descent rate, and managed to keep both the glideslope and localizer within a dot or two. He let me look up (I never used foggles the whole flight, but was good about keeping my head down) at about 100 feet, and I quickly reconfigured for landing and set her down.
I'm really interested to hear what people think about the TC/VSI scan method. I had never heard it before, but it seemed to work out pretty well.
That's it for now, I'll try to type out lesson two a little later.
