IR Lessons Continue

[DutchessFlier]

Have been away for a few days...finally flew again Wednesday night and this afternoon. Doing the IR work at night was alot of fun and good training. We shot an NDB 'A' approach at an uncontrolled field, did a go around and hold using the ADF in the plane...interesting, but still confusing to me at this point. Trying to understand why the procedure is so convoluted..seems to be more complicated than it has to be. Then we shot a GPS approach back to my home field...what a difference!! The GPS allowed an ILS procedure after the last waypoint and my instructor let me fly the glideslope to 400 ft agl and then had me land the plane visually...that was great too.

Today it was all under the foggles from 600ft after T-O. Back to the maneuvers which are coming along. About 10 minutes into the flight, he partial paneled me again, no AI-HI and kept it that way for the rest of the lesson until we were on short final. The steeps, slow flight and stalls were very interesting with partial panel..I found myself fixating more on the turn coordinator than anything else....but I finally stopped chasing the VSI as much as I was before....I mentioned to him that we were partial paneled almost the entire lesson..he smiled! Said that if I can develop my instrument skills with the partial panel, then full panel would be much much easier, and besides, pilots who never fly partial always get major surprises when the panel does go partial unexpectedly and their training does not prepare them for that eventuality. More to come as we move along!

 

[azure]

I'm not sure I get the part about the GPS approach allowing an ILS? I don't think we have an approach like that around here. Which airport is this, if you don't mind my asking?

Anyway your CFII must have a totally different philosophy from mine! My guy is introducing things slowly, systematically. Basic attitude instrument flying, then holds, then he promised approaches but I haven't flown a single approach as of yet. Last two lessons were spent on holds at a VOR, the whole time just flying holding patterns and trying to get the wind correction right. I'm finding it VERY confusing!! I keep losing track of whether I'm inbound or outbound, mostly because I'm learning that I really don't have a very good understanding of how the CDI behaves when close to the VOR and am using (prolly wasting) way too many CPU cycles trying to figure it out. Oh yeah, the reverse sensing thing when outbound is really throwing me for a loop too.

I wish we were doing more real world stuff like approaches and flying airways, but I'm sure that will come. Next will be more VOR holds, then intersection holds and holds at a fix.

 

[DutchessFlier]

Oh Liz, I know exactly what you mean about the VOR's. Paying alot more attention to them now compared to flying VFR and using them to track into a fix for X-C work! I started to think in terms of imagining laying the VOR indicator flat rather than vertically (as it sits on the panel) and that I am flying above it and intercepting the radials in a horizontal plane. Not sure if this is working yet! LOL I start concentrating on the CDI and the alt/airspeed/turncoord goes to hell! When we flew the NDB, it brought me back to step one mentally!

I think their philosophies (our CFI's) are not so far off though, I do 3/4 of my time in the plane with the basics. The GPS approach is listed at my home field is a listed approach for rwy 24. Rwy 6 has the listed ILS based on field installed equipment. I think the 430W has the capability (ie. it indicates vertical and horizontal position in the glideslope) which allows me to fly the GPS 24 approach to minimums. We are also working alot on timed turns and legs inbound and outbound to a heading (again, almost all were partial panel, including covering the GPS) and simulated holds w/o the VOR. We do the approach as a way of sorta 'rewarding' me by just getting to minimums and then taking off the hood to see how we are actually aligned on the approach. I am realizing that the more I learn, the more I have to learn. Hopefully this will 'click'. Oh, BTW, yesterdays landing...I wear bifocals...the foggles pushed my glasses up into my nose, and just when I flared, the reading part of the lens came up too high in my line of vision, talk about stalling at 10 ft above the runway..bang! I couldn't judge a thing...gotta get another type of foggle things to use!!! Keep me posted...

 

[dmccormack]

I wear bifocals...the foggles pushed my glasses up into my nose, and just when I flared, the reading part of the lens came up too high in my line of vision, talk about stalling at 10 ft above the runway..bang! I couldn't judge a thing...gotta get another type of foggle things to use!!! Keep me posted...

Foggles are fine for 22-year olds.

Get one of these -- I use it for practice and used it on the IR Practical.

 

[DutchessFlier]

Dan...the freeking ugliest things I ever saw!!! Like shower curtains for your face.

I guess they work...Got a pair of these clear yellow humongous things from my CFI which are frosted above and on the sides and clear on the part that sees the panel only. They fit over my glasses and don't push them into my nose. We'll see how they work.

Thanks for the info!

 

[tonycondon]

i used jepp shades on my IPC earlier this week and they seemed to get along just fine with my glasses.

good report. keep working on the NDB thing, you'll get it eventually and be glad that you did. NDBs are odd, they are really the simplest navigation tool in the cockpit, they just point towards the station, but they are also often the toughest to master.

 

[dmccormack]

Dan...the freeking ugliest things I ever saw!!! Like shower curtains for your face.

I guess they work...Got a pair of these clear yellow humongous things from my CFI which are frosted above and on the sides and clear on the part that sees the panel only. They fit over my glasses and don't push them into my nose. We'll see how they work.

Thanks for the info!

I used to get headaches wearing foggles. Then I realized the plastic clear part wasn't exactly the best grade and therefore distorted everything.

One guy I flew with made a pair using safety glasses and black electrical tape. They were ok, but since I wear glasses now, I just don't like yet another layer of stuff to look through, no matter how "clear."

 

[poadeleted20]

I'm not sure I get the part about the GPS approach allowing an ILS? I don't think we have an approach like that around here. Which airport is this, if you don't mind my asking?

I suspect he's referring to the vertical guidance available with a WAAS GPS in the LNAV+V, LNAV/VNAV, and LPV modes. You get ILS-like guidance (vertical steering to keep you on a straight path from the FAF to the touchdown point) derived from GPS data, not actual ILS guidance. Check the AIM section on WAAS for more information.

 

[azure]

My CFII makes me use this. It's a bit of a pain to use since I wear readers to see the panel/charts at night and the hood presses them into my face hard enough that I get a headache after a while. But I would never go back to foggles or anything that clips to glasses. I've never used anything like that that feels like real IMC, too many peripheral cues get through even if I'm trying hard to ignore them.

 

[azure]

I suspect he's referring to the vertical guidance available with a WAAS GPS in the LNAV+V, LNAV/VNAV, and LPV modes. You get ILS-like guidance (vertical steering to keep you on a straight path from the FAF to the touchdown point) derived from GPS data, not actual ILS guidance. Check the AIM section on WAAS for more information.

Yep, I've read about those approaches (my curiosity was piqued by reading posts about them here) and wondered if that's what Bruce meant. I hadn't heard of an "ILS or GPS" approach though, so was confused. Lots of GPS approaches now have LNAV/VNAV minimums given but I haven't seen any LPV approaches in this area yet. It's all academic to me for now, since our club planes have 430's, not 430W's.

We don't have ADFs either.

 

[DutchessFlier]

OMG Liz..those are scary!!!!
RON: Thanks for clearing the terminology up for me. I am working on exactly how these systems operate and the correct description of their capabilities.

 

[CT Arrow]

OMG Liz..those are scary!!!!
RON: Thanks for clearing the terminology up for me. I am working on exactly how these systems operate and the correct description of their capabilities.

Consider Max Trescott's GPS book......