VFR drills to help with IFR training?

I have always compared basic instrument skills to golf...every flight, try to get your score as low as possible: minimal deviations in altitude and heading.

Bob
 
Necro, but weirdly I'm back at this and google gave me this thread so I figured I'd go see who had the same question as me...and it was me. I lost this thread after asking about it, so thank you to everyone that responded.

Flying today and going to work on this if I don't suck too much at the basics. Last spring, I got about 15 hours of dual for ifr and had performed the approaches and holds pretty well, except VOR approaches were still kicking my butt. Then I got a new project and have been traveling excessively for work for the past 8 months.
 
eman1200 said:
interesting post-necro rant necro post.
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New POA word of the day from EMan - "Necro Rant"

The IFR skills quickly degrade, but good for you for kicking the rust off and getting back on that horse!

At this point, flying with a CFII would be preferable than a SP and the two of you trying to remember the proper way to do things.

So for now - and it was already posted - Practice on the ground with the GPS Simulator.
IMHO - loosing altitude and heading is a result of taking concentration off of the AI and the rest of the six pack, and the loss of concentration / focus is caused by too much time being distracted by punching the GPS. You need to not only know how to do things but do it instantly without devoting much mental energy to figure out how so you can keep your concentration on the flying. This applies to instantly changing approaches, instantly dialing in "direct to", how to flip from "Vectors" to "Full Approach". etc etc etc etc

If you have a GNS 430 or GTN 650 there are Garmin app simulators you can get for your I Pad, etc.
 
bflynn said:
Due to work and instructor schedules, my flying part of IFR is delayed. Can anyone suggest drills or work that can be done without a hood in the VFR environment? Obviously I could get a safety pilot and just go practice hood work, but thinking about any or procedures or processes that I can work on.
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Pattern B. Look it up. Thank me later.
 
A lot you can do... practice approaches at unfamiliar airports, or file IFR if you are current, practice holds... make some up while on the ground, and then go find them and enter.
 
chemgeek said:
Learn to fly your plane by the numbers. To do that, you have to go up and fly and take notes. Key flight regimes can be boiled down to an attitude (level, one dot nose high, one dot nose down, etc.) and a power setting that yield predictable performance at a desired airspeed. Key flight regimes are level approach speed (e.g. 90 kt in level flght), departure climb at Vy, 500 fpm descent (say at 90 kt, a common approach speed). Commit these to memory or print them on a post-it on the panel. This way, you can quickly put your plane in the proper attitude and airspeed for a particular approach or departure flight maneuver.

For example, in my AA5, AI level and 2100 rpm will yield 90 kt level flight. Pull the throttle back to 1900 rpm and you get a 500 fpm descent at 90 kt, close to perfect for an ILS or LPV approach. Pull back to 1800 rpm and you get a faster 700 fpm descent for "dive and drive" descents, etc. A departure climb is full throttle and 2 dots up which is about Vy (78 kt) and 500+ fpm, depending on load. This is the old "power plus pitch" = performance gig, and every instrument pilot should know the basic numbers for the plane(s) they fly. It makes maneuvering much simpler to accomplish.
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Great advice.
 
Crap… I fell for the ghost post.

Point still remains valid however…
 
Agreed in the above, be comfortable with requesting VFR flight following on XC flights. The handoffs you'll experience are similar to those you'll have to do when flying IFR. Do it when flying to class C airports for example, where you'll have to check in with approach (while having listened to the ATIS).

Once you're comfortable and having done lessons with your CFII, fly solo and do request practice approaches on your own.

Practice departing a Class C airport where you'll probably need to write down a C-R-A-F-T type clearance but with VFR altitudes.
 
- Using flight following is very helpful for learning comms and flow between parts of the atcc system
- learn power settings for certain speeds - most of my private pilot work was either full power for takeoff, cruise or just above stall for landings - being able to fly a plane at 80-90kts in level flight or descent helps get a feel for finer trim settings and a middle speed range that's frequently used in instrument patterns / descents (these are all in a C172)
- get good at coordinated flight (watch the ball) and standard rate turns
- look at a bunch of approach plates & get comfortable briefing one
- a flight simulator (Xplane / Microsoft) can be helpful too
 
Eric Stoltz said:
Oh yeah, basics. For sure.

From my old salty CFII "Hold your gd heading! It's 010, not 011! Stop staring at the DG because you are 20 feet offn yer altitude! Your clearance was for 5000, not 5020. Get off my lawn! More right rudder damnit!" Love you Dad!
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My instructor once told me, “if you can fly straight and level at 7540’, you can do it at 7500’ too.”.
 
DesertNomad said:
My instructor once told me, “if you can fly straight and level at 7540’, you can do it at 7500’ too.”.
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Same here as a CFI. I hear all the time how the plane "just wants" to settle 100 feet high or low. Uh huh. No, it's because you're not paying attention until it's 100 feet off. I bet the airplane will fly just as well at 7500 as it will at 7600.
 
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