In article ,
Paul Folbrecht wrote:

1) Concerning the heading standards (+- 10 degrees, of course), I find
that I still, at this point, _occasionally_ exceed them, _especially_ in
prepping for an approach

Take your hand off the yoke when you're not looking at the instruments.
Try to study the plate in short bursts. The rush you feel on practice
flights and on the checkride isn't there in a "real" IFR XC, when you
get plenty of enroute time to study your approach.

2) I also seem to have a devil of a time passing DIRECTLY OVER a VOR

The closer you get, the faster it will come back in, which is important
on a VOR approach. The most important thing, though, is to avoid chasing
it at the last second. Commit to a heading before it starts pegging and
hold that heading until you get a good indication on the far side.

I pegged the CDI at station passage on the VOR approach on my checkride
and I still passed.

--
Ben Jackson

http://www.ben.com/