IFR Lesson 8 - Tones of Home
12/04/2007 Filed in: Flying
IFR Lesson 8 - Tones of Home
Another simulated IFR XC today.
CFII: So how about 2M2 with MRC as an alternate with approaches into both?
Me: Works for me.
I've been wanting to visit MRC (Maury County) for a while anyway. The way I hear it they're basically giving away hangar space down there and the gas prices aren't bad either. The thing about where I live is that I'm equidistant between about 5 local airports, all of which are at least a 30 minute drive. MRC is one of the farther ones, but the cheap hangar space has me intrigued.
So we saddle up in our trusty Katana, feed it some of its favorite liquid oats, and one part takeoff, two parts foggles and our journey has begun.
Along the way that pesky vacuum stops working again. I must have terrible luck with these things. Seems to happen about every flight. I fully intend to write a strongly-worded letter to the mechanic. And to steal those damn suction thingies from CFII's bag when he's not looking.
I still manage to navigate us right on down the road with some arcane instrument called a "compass". This aquatic animal apparently works by magic and is precise enough to show the correct heading a good 50% of the time. Amazing technology.
As we near 2M2 I check the weather and plates and it's time for a GPS 17 approach. I take note of all the settings and my hands blur like Neil Peart during a second set drum solo as I set up the stack. One final paradiddle on the Garmin 420 and we're set.
Remarkably, I fly the approach pretty well. I know, I was shocked, too! I think I've determined that GPS approaches are the easiest of the non-precision approaches. If you can follow the purple line and descend when you should, they're really no big deal. Even without gyros I found this approach very manageable. I pull off the glasses at CFII's behest, perform a touch-and-go and I'm back into the "clouds".
So here's the thing about IFR training that makes it so much more difficult than most IFR flights: lack of time. I'd normally have somewhere between 20 minutes to multiple hours of cruise flight to figure our which approach I want, how I'll want to set it up, how the airport will look at minimums, the missed procedures, and so on. In 90% of my training flights I have 5 minutes or less to read the plate, set it all up, and fly the approach. This one is no exception.
I pick another GPS approach and CFII sees a SDF 24 approach and tells me to fly it instead. I normally don't do requests, but I make an exception for him.
As I begin to setup the SDF approach, I'm trying in vain to setup the NAV radio and ID the localizer. I double-check all the frequencies, and find that I've got it right, oddly enough. For some reason, I decide now's a good time make a call to CTAF and announce our imminent approach and arrival. Dumb luck strikes again as the Unicom guy tells us the localizer is out of service. Party! I'd rather be lucky than good any day.
So it's back to the GPS approach (neener, neener Mr. CFII!) and, again, it is acceptable. We land, shutdown, and in we go hoping to be the 9th customer today so we can collect our free-for-life T-hangar!
Life isn't quite that rosy, but it's not far off. They only have community space available right now. That's good news and bad news. It's good because it's the ONLY hangar space I've found available anywhere. It's bad news because I'd prefer a T-hangar. Still, community would probably work, at least until something else opened up. Also, the rent can't be beat: $100/mo for community and $120/mo for a T. That sounds like a deal right there, despite the 45 minute drive from the house. So I may have just found my new airplane home.
We finally climb back in and head for Smyrna, performing a no-gyro DME arc and hold over Shelbyville (SYI) along the way. Then God sees fit to miracle my vacuum back into order for a full panel ILS 32 into Smyrna. I must say, the ILS approaches are coming along nicely. The localizer needle now swings more like a hula girl on valium than a windshield wiper. Progress, baby, progress!
Another simulated IFR XC today.
CFII: So how about 2M2 with MRC as an alternate with approaches into both?
Me: Works for me.
I've been wanting to visit MRC (Maury County) for a while anyway. The way I hear it they're basically giving away hangar space down there and the gas prices aren't bad either. The thing about where I live is that I'm equidistant between about 5 local airports, all of which are at least a 30 minute drive. MRC is one of the farther ones, but the cheap hangar space has me intrigued.
So we saddle up in our trusty Katana, feed it some of its favorite liquid oats, and one part takeoff, two parts foggles and our journey has begun.
Along the way that pesky vacuum stops working again. I must have terrible luck with these things. Seems to happen about every flight. I fully intend to write a strongly-worded letter to the mechanic. And to steal those damn suction thingies from CFII's bag when he's not looking.
I still manage to navigate us right on down the road with some arcane instrument called a "compass". This aquatic animal apparently works by magic and is precise enough to show the correct heading a good 50% of the time. Amazing technology.
As we near 2M2 I check the weather and plates and it's time for a GPS 17 approach. I take note of all the settings and my hands blur like Neil Peart during a second set drum solo as I set up the stack. One final paradiddle on the Garmin 420 and we're set.
Remarkably, I fly the approach pretty well. I know, I was shocked, too! I think I've determined that GPS approaches are the easiest of the non-precision approaches. If you can follow the purple line and descend when you should, they're really no big deal. Even without gyros I found this approach very manageable. I pull off the glasses at CFII's behest, perform a touch-and-go and I'm back into the "clouds".
So here's the thing about IFR training that makes it so much more difficult than most IFR flights: lack of time. I'd normally have somewhere between 20 minutes to multiple hours of cruise flight to figure our which approach I want, how I'll want to set it up, how the airport will look at minimums, the missed procedures, and so on. In 90% of my training flights I have 5 minutes or less to read the plate, set it all up, and fly the approach. This one is no exception.
I pick another GPS approach and CFII sees a SDF 24 approach and tells me to fly it instead. I normally don't do requests, but I make an exception for him.
As I begin to setup the SDF approach, I'm trying in vain to setup the NAV radio and ID the localizer. I double-check all the frequencies, and find that I've got it right, oddly enough. For some reason, I decide now's a good time make a call to CTAF and announce our imminent approach and arrival. Dumb luck strikes again as the Unicom guy tells us the localizer is out of service. Party! I'd rather be lucky than good any day.
So it's back to the GPS approach (neener, neener Mr. CFII!) and, again, it is acceptable. We land, shutdown, and in we go hoping to be the 9th customer today so we can collect our free-for-life T-hangar!
Life isn't quite that rosy, but it's not far off. They only have community space available right now. That's good news and bad news. It's good because it's the ONLY hangar space I've found available anywhere. It's bad news because I'd prefer a T-hangar. Still, community would probably work, at least until something else opened up. Also, the rent can't be beat: $100/mo for community and $120/mo for a T. That sounds like a deal right there, despite the 45 minute drive from the house. So I may have just found my new airplane home.
We finally climb back in and head for Smyrna, performing a no-gyro DME arc and hold over Shelbyville (SYI) along the way. Then God sees fit to miracle my vacuum back into order for a full panel ILS 32 into Smyrna. I must say, the ILS approaches are coming along nicely. The localizer needle now swings more like a hula girl on valium than a windshield wiper. Progress, baby, progress!