One more for the road

Tonight we decided to head out to Santa Barbara (SBA) for one last cross country, and do it to checkride standards. Departed Van Nuys around 5:30pm, and climbed on top of a pretty nasty haze layer. Smooth and clear (from what I hear) the whole way from there. That is until we got to SBA – clouds over the coast meant we’d get some actual on the VOR 26 approach.

Not quite. I started my descent, and Kent had me lift the hood just before we hit the clouds. Problem was, that was right when I got to the MDA! We were AT the minimum altitude for the approach, and still on TOP of the overcast! I thought about continuing to the missed, but we figured we had better just ask for the ILS instead. Turns out if we had just continued the approach, we’d have been able to land anyway – the overcast stopped right at the coastline. Good lesson there.

So we got vectored around for the ILS. I was cleared for the approach and told to maintain 2000 until established. This was where I made my first disqualifying mistake, had it been a checkride. The localizer started coming in, and for some reason I didn’t start to descend – I waited until the needle was centered. By that time, the glideslope needle was pegged. I flew the rest of the approach fine, but didn’t really give any thought to what happened.

From there, we headed back to Van Nuys, via a very strange clearance: runway heading, vectors CMA, then the Lima-1 routing. Not at ALL sure what that routing was, and can’t find it anywhere. We got vectored for the ILS once we got to CMA, but had to ask for it. I’ll have to look that one up. The approach SHOULD have been a snap, but instead I did the SAME thing I did at SBA! By the time I noticed the problem, the glideslope needle was pegged. Good experience all the way around.

When I said we decided to fly one more cross country, that was because I scheduled my checkride today! Next Saturday, October 28 will be the big day. This leaves only a few days for tuning and other practice. Written is tomorrow, phase check is Monday, after a VFR flight to Vegas for my sister’s wedding.

Polishing

Now we come to the most painful phase of the training – polishing the skills to get ready for the checkride. Not that flying of any kind is boring, mind you, but being under the hood tightening up things that you already know about doesn’t exactly rank as “exciting”.

So we went up for some airwork today. Started out with something I haven’t actually done under the hood yet (although I did them plenty without the hood for my private license) which was steep turns. A bit rusty at first – rolling in and out wasn’t smooth enough – but other than that they were OK. Then a hold over at Fillmore, which went fine. Then came unusual attitudes – fine again. Feeling pretty good, but not good enough to do an intersection hold. We’ll save that for next time. We shot the ILS coming home, which went well, considering the confusion on the radio. A jet and a twin behind me ended up putting me on the left (non-ILS) runway, so Kent had to vector me to the runway. I held the glideslope well, so that was good.

Instrument Cross Country

Friday the 13th. Perfect day for 300+ miles of flying, all under the hood.

To meet the requirements of the rating, the trip needs to be 250NM total, three legs, one leg over 100NM, and three different approaches. I planned a trip from Van Nuys (VNY) to San Diego-Montgomery Field (MYF) to Camarillo (CMA) back to Van Nuys. My goal was to stay ahead of the airplane at all times, so I created a nav log that included all the necessary frequencies, radials, timing, distances, etc, for each leg. I reviewed the route extensively the night before so I’d feel prepared.

We launched around 9:15. The clearance for the first leg was exactly what I’d filed – V186 V363 V25 MZB. A few vectors that actually shortened the route a bit, but other than that, there were no surprises. Trimmed the plane well, stayed ahead, never busted altitude, and maintained positional awareness. Shot the ILS at MYF, parked and grabbed a quick snack before heading back out.

The next leg wasn’t quite the same. I filed by phone from MYF, and got a completely different clearance from what I filed. My new clearance was vectors to OCN V23 LAX VNY. No problem. I’ll just have to handle it in flight. And I did. Stayed ahead, even dialed in radials for fixes I was simply crossing, in order to verify my position. Busted altitude once coming in towards final for CMA, but nothing horrible. I caught it quickly, corrected and that was that. The approach was tough. The VOR 26 at CMA is difficult to begin with – two step downs from 4400 to 2000 in a short distance make workload high. The winds were keeping me south of the final approach course, until we got closer, then they shifted and kept me north. This threw me. I didn’t manage speed very well, but I ended up just about where I should have been when took off the hood. Landed, and in for lunch.

Leaving there, we just got Tower Enroute back to VNY. Once we were talking to approach, we requested the LDA-C, which they gave us. I flew this one well too, with the only problem being that the #2 VOR head has a thing called ARC – Automatic Radial Centering. You just push the OBS in, and it centers the needle with a TO indication. Pull it, and it centers with a FROM. Pretty cool, eh? Not really. See, the problem is that if you’re not careful, you can inadvertently push it in, and it starts centering. You can’t stop it until it’s done. That happened TWICE while I was trying to dial in the radial that identified the FAF for the approach. VERY irritating. Circled for 16R, and came home.

Very educational, and a real confidence builder. I feel good about my skills now, and know I can handle the tasks associated with flying IFR without killing myself. So THAT’S good. 4.5 hours is all I need now. This will probably be 2 lessons with Kent to clean things up, a phase check with Gene Hudson (the same CFII that did my PP phase check). I’m going to take the written next Friday, so that will be done. Then a VFR flight to Vegas for the weekend. That will be nice, considering I haven’t flown while seeing OUTSIDE the plane for about 10 flights now. Then the checkride!

Tightening things up

As the checkride approaches, it’s time to start getting things tight. Tolerances are now lower – 50 feet on altitude, 5 knots on airspeed, 2 degrees on heading. We thought we’d head to Camarillo, then to grab a bite at Santa Monica (SMO). We departed VFR, with the plan being that Kent would give me vectors. No dice. It was practically IFR anyway, so we called up for the approach into Santa Monica. No problem. Vectored back to the Van Nuys VOR, then on to the approach.

It was an interesting one, too. In and out of clouds until we got established on final, and then it was solid IMC down to the MDA. Low visibility made it hard to see the runway until we were a few miles out. I tried to stay ahead, and paid good attention to the altitude, but forgot to get the ATIS coming in. Not good. I’ll be more ahead next time.

After a nice dinner, it was back up to shoot the ILS at Van Nuys. An interesting departure procedure, then somewhat routine flying back. As I got to the outer marker at Van Nuys, I was asked to maintain best forward speed on the approach. OK, then. At 120 the whole way, I had to really concentrate to keep it on the glideslope. It got away from me a bit at the end, but not too bad. More Wednesday, then my cross country Friday!

So much for Big Sky theory

Today we decided to just go a quick one out to Camarillo (CMA) and back to Van Nuys (VNY) – I had to pick up the daughter at preschool, and had only 90 minutes or so. Should be plenty of time.

Only it wasn’t. By the time we got our clearance and got released, 20 minutes were gone. We got vectored around quite a bit, and were told not to descend on the final approach course until told to do so. We found ourselves over the FAF, 2000 feet too high. The approach frequency was like a party line. When the controller finally got back to me, he said we’d be vectored for spacing, and that we were number 7 in sequence! I knew I wouldn’t have time. I told him I’d like to go back to Van Nuys. He sounded relieved when he handed us to another controller.

Van Nuys was about the same. We got vectored around endlessly. Fly heading 360. Fly heading 180. Fly heading 360. Finally he turned us to the approach. By the time we got on the ground, I had 20 minutes to get to preschool. Made it in time, though.

It was a good flight anyway. Lots of airwork, and I flew it pretty well. Maintained altitude, got a better feel for the plane even. Decent approach, although they switched us to the left (non IAP) runway after we broke out. Kent had to vector me down to the DH. Still good.

Planning my cross country for next Friday. It has to be 250 miles, with one leg over 100 miles, and 3 different approaches. I’m looking to do VNY-MYF-CMA-VNY – which just covers it. Can’t wait.

More actual!

Anytime an instrument student gets a chance to fly in IMC in southern California – he takes it. And that’s exactly what I did this morning. Weather was great for IFR training – ceilings high enough to be comfortable, but still plenty of actual.

We flew out to Brackett (POC) for the VOR there. This was the first circling approach I did, other than Whiteman, but we didn’t land at Whiteman. When I hit the MAP, I lifted up the hood, and to my surprise couldn’t really make out the runway. I was looking in the right place, but the visibility was bad enough that I could just barely see it. We flew a typical pattern, and landed. Had some breakfast while deciding what to do next. I thought it would be good to go south, to maybe Fullerton or Long Beach, but given the time that would take, we decided to head back towards home instead.

I asked ground for a clearance to Burbank, and he rattled it off so fast I could barely write it down in time. Got it all, checked the chart to be sure I could fly it, and off we went. Flew it pretty well, if I do say, although the approach was a bit tougher than I expected. Flew it too fast, which meant that I’d arrive at the actual MAP before my timer went off. I’ll pay more attention to that next time. Stopped in at an FBO on the field to check out the planes, then VFR (marginal, that is) back home.

Over lunch we decided that I should plan my cross country. It has to be 250 miles, and do 3 approaches, one precision. Sounds like fun. That’s about 4 hours of time, which will leave about 6 that I need to fulfill the requirements for the rating. Not sure I’ll be ready right at that point, but I should be pretty close.

Approaches, Partial Panel, and some IMC

Today the plan was going to be to do some steep turns under the hood, some more unusual attitude recovery, and a bit more airwork, but the weather didn’t cooperate. The visibility was really bad, so we decided to get Tower Enroute to Oxnard (OXR). Tower Enroute is like a mini-clearance, with published routes to nearby airports that don’t leave the approach control area. We tried this to Fox on Monday (which is pretty close), and there isn’t a route published. Strange because there is one to Santa Barbara which is about 3 times as far.

So we went to Oxnard. After we got our first vector, Kent took away the AI, which was no trouble, considering how easy it was for me the first time we tried it. After about 10 minutes he took it off again, because the visibility was bad enough to be approaching actual, and Kent wanted to be able to see it. Fine by me. I flew the approach within tolerances, but not great. On the missed, I asked the controller if we could shoot the VOR approach at Camarillo (CMA), and he said “I thought you wanted to go back to Van Nuys – did you just change your mind?”. He was irritated. I apologized, and promised to go back to Van Nuys after Camarillo. It sounded like I got a smile out of him, and he set us up for the VOR 26 at CMA. I flew that one much better, staying on top of the plane all the way.

After the missed at CMA, it was back home for the ILS at Van Nuys. This went very well, and I stayed on top of things right down to the DH, where the needles were right inside the donut. I made a nice landing and went home for pasta and kisses from my 3 year old.

I’ve got about 13 hours left, 5 of which I’m going to do in a simulator. Not because it’s cheaper (it’s about the same price as the 172), but because we can shoot 5 times as many approaches in the same time, and do other things like unusual attitude recovery without the influence of the planes forces mucking things up. That will leave a cross country to meet the requirements for the rating. Still studying for the written as well – almost ready for that too.

Far and away

This was the most fun I’ve had since the training started. Just like with the private pilot license, getting to solo is the most frustrating part – and the cross countries make it all worth it.

Tonight we did a short cross country from Van Nuys (VNY) to Lancaster – Fox Field (WJF). Even though this flight is short – maybe 30 minutes VFR, it took much longer IFR. After being vectored around the valley while we climbed to 7000’, we went direct to the Palmdale (PMD) VOR. This is a good 25 miles out of the way, but it turns out that is the way it goes. This approach not only takes you way east, but you fly back over the airport and do a procedure turn to boot. I asked Kent why this was (since it seemed like we had plenty of time to lose all the extra altitude and there is absolutely no terrain) and he didn’t know.

I flew it all pretty well, keeping up a solid scan, staying ahead, keeping organized, and maintaining heading and altitude. After lifting up the hood to see the runway right where it was supposed to be, we flew the missed. Leaving is just the same. The controller gave us the Lynx 7 arrival to Van Nuys, which goes back to PMD before heading home. They were landing on 34 at VNY, so they issued us a visual approach. Kent vectored me around the pattern, then took the landing himself to stay night current.

This felt really good. I’m learning what’s important, and staying ahead. I’m also starting to focus on the checkride, and tightening things up.

It’s all about the workload

Today was lesson in more ways than one. I’ve been frustrated in the past because I felt like things weren’t moving fast enough. Today I learned that the faster they move, the worse it gets.

We started out doing an intersection hold – something I’d only done on the simulator – and took quite a bit of time to get set up on. Kent gave me a pretty easy hold to start with – a direct entry, holding on the airway on which we were already flying. I made the HUGE mistake of saying “this should be easy”. That’s when my “amended clearance” came along. Now on the crossing airway of the fix, at a different altitude, and left turns instead of right. This irritated me a bit – too much too soon – but I figured it out on the way. I got into the hold OK, and actually flew it just fine.

Then came the real trick. Kent said “57 Echo, we need to reposition you for spacing. Hold north of Kimmo intersection (a different intersection than the one on which I was currently holding) on blah blah blah…” I looked at the chart, and saw Kimmo just south of my current position, but couldn’t for the life of me figure out how I was going to get into the hold. I said “Kent – I have no idea how to do this”. He gave me a hint, and I got in just fine.

What I learned here was that you can’t just throw in the towel whenever things get difficult. In IMC, this is going to happen, and there might not be anyone there to help you figure it out. I need to stay calm, focus on the task at hand (and more importantly the next task, and the next after that) and get the job done. I do this in other aspects of my life – time to apply it to my flying more seriously.

On the way to the LDA-C approach at VNY (the ILS was out of service), we did some unusual attitudes under the hood, which went OK. I haven’t done them since my private checkride, so I was rusty. I recovered OK, but it took me a bit longer than it should have. The approach went fine, and we circled to land on 34. It’s coming together now – I’m feeling confident I can be a proficient instrument pilot.

Coming together!

Once again, there were a few lessons between this and the last one, but there was nothing exciting enough to report. I’ll do that more no doubt, but this is the last time I’ll mention it.

Tonight we went out to do more maneuvering work, and ended up doing holds instead. I’m at the point now where I’m tracking VOR’s accurately, maintaining altitude, and generally flying the plane much better. Coupled with trimming (which I’m working hard to master) this will significantly reduce the workload that is so hard to manage during IFR flights. The holds went fine as well – I need to be more careful about not changing groundspeed during holds (it wreaks havoc on the timing) but I nailed the entry, and eventually got the time right.

Kent took the approach back into Van Nuys, which was a good learning experience for me. Seeing him 1 dot off the localizer 2 miles out was a real eye-opener. He was WAY off course from just 1 dot.