Ghery
Touchdown! Greaser!
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2005
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- Olympia, Washington
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Ghery Pettit
Well, it took two tries, but I got the IR ride done on Thursday. Here are some more details that I hope will help you all who are still working on it.
In preparation for the oral I was asked to plan a flight from The Dalles, Oregon (DLS) to Olympia, Washington (OLM) via Yakima VOR (YKM). This isn't difficult, I fed the route into DUATS and let it work its magic. Is that cheating? DPE didn't seem to think so and that's how I've been planning flights for the past 10 years. Besides, that wasn't the point of this exercise.
Look at the plates for DLS. The ODP is interesting and one of the runways cannot be used. Of course, the DPE gave me winds that favored that runway. What are you going to do?
Next, as you're approaching YKM SEA center comes up and says to expect direct SEA then OLM after YKM. Then you lose comm. At least, you think you've lost comm. How do you know? What are your troubleshooting steps to make sure that you've really lost comm? Did I mention that the DPE was a former F-4 pilot in the Air Force? Did you know that your audio panel has an emergency mode that will connect your headset directly to Comm 1? I didn't. That was a learning experience.
Next he gave me some low weather at OLM with winds that did not favor rwy 17 (the one with the ILS). Below minimums for any other approach. Would you fly this or stay on the ground at DLS? My conservative nature said stay on the ground, but his position was that you've got a 5500 foot runway at OLM so a slight (10 knots, IIRC) tailwind shouldn't preclude your making the approach.
Oh, and that lost comm? I was already cleared to OLM via YKM and that was the first item in the priority list, so I said that's what I'd do (YKM wasn't VFR, so no way to get there). Right answer.
The oral was as much a learning exercise as it was a test. I passed, so we went out to fly.
My CFII and I had been flying the day before. I was firing on all cylinders with the GNS 430. Didn't help on the ride. Got completely screwed up. Blew the partial panel LOC approach into TIW and got way low. Failed the ride right there. We came around and did the ILS 17. I still didn't have the 430 set properly. It was trying to tell me I needed to go the other way, but the ILS needles were centered, we were cleared for the approach so I ignore the GPS instructions and flew the needles right down to a successful approach. Got credit for that one. Time to get some remedial training and schedule a re-try.
Flew with my CFII, got delayed when the starter on the plane broke and finally got rescheduled for Thursday. Had to call the CFII when I got there as he had forgotten to sign off on my application on IACRA. Fortunately, he was home and got online and fixed that mistake. DPE and I confirmed that all was OK, I signed the form and away we went. I wasn't sure what he'd need, so I had the aircraft logs again. Not necessary. We went out and flew the re-ride.
Unusual attitudes (partial panel), RNAV (GPS) 35 to the missed and then LOC 17 (partial panel) circle to land 35. All talking to SEA approach. Tower had us deviate to the west of the field for the downwind to 35 and that's when the foggles came off. Airport right where it was supposed to be. And I hadn't heard any bad words like "fail" so that final approach was feeling really good. A bit fast for the DPE until I pulled power at the end, but if you've ever been into TIW you'll understand why I kept the speed up a touch. Kind of like approaching a carrier with the cliffs dropping off. In any case, I didn't bend anything and his "congratulations" after shutdown was music to my ears.
I've been working on the IR for a number of years. Issues kept getting in the way. Medical delays a couple of times, a previous CFII who flew helicopters for the Army and kept getting deployed to Afghanistan and, or course, work. But, it's done now. Just have to use the system, stay current and more important, stay proficient. My reason for the rating is to improve the utility of the planes for getting across the state. Now I can punch through a layer over OLM and have smooth sailing the rest of the way. Prior to the IR that would mean a 6 hour drive.
This has been a serious adventure and challenge. One that was well worth while. Go and do it. People keep saying it will make a better pilot out of you and I firmly believe that. It certainly has improved my skills. Now to go learn some more.
In preparation for the oral I was asked to plan a flight from The Dalles, Oregon (DLS) to Olympia, Washington (OLM) via Yakima VOR (YKM). This isn't difficult, I fed the route into DUATS and let it work its magic. Is that cheating? DPE didn't seem to think so and that's how I've been planning flights for the past 10 years. Besides, that wasn't the point of this exercise.
Look at the plates for DLS. The ODP is interesting and one of the runways cannot be used. Of course, the DPE gave me winds that favored that runway. What are you going to do?
Next, as you're approaching YKM SEA center comes up and says to expect direct SEA then OLM after YKM. Then you lose comm. At least, you think you've lost comm. How do you know? What are your troubleshooting steps to make sure that you've really lost comm? Did I mention that the DPE was a former F-4 pilot in the Air Force? Did you know that your audio panel has an emergency mode that will connect your headset directly to Comm 1? I didn't. That was a learning experience.
Next he gave me some low weather at OLM with winds that did not favor rwy 17 (the one with the ILS). Below minimums for any other approach. Would you fly this or stay on the ground at DLS? My conservative nature said stay on the ground, but his position was that you've got a 5500 foot runway at OLM so a slight (10 knots, IIRC) tailwind shouldn't preclude your making the approach.
Oh, and that lost comm? I was already cleared to OLM via YKM and that was the first item in the priority list, so I said that's what I'd do (YKM wasn't VFR, so no way to get there). Right answer.
The oral was as much a learning exercise as it was a test. I passed, so we went out to fly.
My CFII and I had been flying the day before. I was firing on all cylinders with the GNS 430. Didn't help on the ride. Got completely screwed up. Blew the partial panel LOC approach into TIW and got way low. Failed the ride right there. We came around and did the ILS 17. I still didn't have the 430 set properly. It was trying to tell me I needed to go the other way, but the ILS needles were centered, we were cleared for the approach so I ignore the GPS instructions and flew the needles right down to a successful approach. Got credit for that one. Time to get some remedial training and schedule a re-try.
Flew with my CFII, got delayed when the starter on the plane broke and finally got rescheduled for Thursday. Had to call the CFII when I got there as he had forgotten to sign off on my application on IACRA. Fortunately, he was home and got online and fixed that mistake. DPE and I confirmed that all was OK, I signed the form and away we went. I wasn't sure what he'd need, so I had the aircraft logs again. Not necessary. We went out and flew the re-ride.
Unusual attitudes (partial panel), RNAV (GPS) 35 to the missed and then LOC 17 (partial panel) circle to land 35. All talking to SEA approach. Tower had us deviate to the west of the field for the downwind to 35 and that's when the foggles came off. Airport right where it was supposed to be. And I hadn't heard any bad words like "fail" so that final approach was feeling really good. A bit fast for the DPE until I pulled power at the end, but if you've ever been into TIW you'll understand why I kept the speed up a touch. Kind of like approaching a carrier with the cliffs dropping off. In any case, I didn't bend anything and his "congratulations" after shutdown was music to my ears.
I've been working on the IR for a number of years. Issues kept getting in the way. Medical delays a couple of times, a previous CFII who flew helicopters for the Army and kept getting deployed to Afghanistan and, or course, work. But, it's done now. Just have to use the system, stay current and more important, stay proficient. My reason for the rating is to improve the utility of the planes for getting across the state. Now I can punch through a layer over OLM and have smooth sailing the rest of the way. Prior to the IR that would mean a 6 hour drive.
This has been a serious adventure and challenge. One that was well worth while. Go and do it. People keep saying it will make a better pilot out of you and I firmly believe that. It certainly has improved my skills. Now to go learn some more.
