A couple of IFR firsts (long)

Jim Burns wrote:
Great decision making under pressure!! You can be proud of that one. Too
many people go back and try the same approach a second time only to find
worse conditions. Some of those people do not survive.
Good job!
Jim


Thanks Jim. See my reply to Mr. Smith for some additional things that
went through my head prior to saying to ATC "Can I buy a vector to
Livermore?". :-)

Had we seen a hint of the ground somewhere inside the FAF, I might have
tried a second time as I was high on the approach. Still, I also
realized that a second approach likely meant another 20 minutes of
vectors as they sequenced us into the flow and another bumpy ride as I
tried not to chase the localizer. I was pretty much at the "stick a
fork in me, I'm done" phase so deciding to punt and go for the alternate
was pretty easy.

--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL-Instrument Airplane

"To become a Jedi knight, you must master a single force. To become
a private pilot you must strive to master four of them"
- Rod Machado

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)

Doug wrote:
I've always thought going missed is the hardest IFR manuever.
Everything in you is saying "make it" but you have to call it off, full
power and climb.

Yeah, the whole mission oriented mindset we pilots tend to have. I'm
not immune to it but have seen more than a couple of times where
unexpectedly staying the night somewhere definitely was the better
option. I hate the "get there-itis" mentality.


--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL-Instrument Airplane

"To become a Jedi knight, you must master a single force. To become
a private pilot you must strive to master four of them"
- Rod Machado

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)

Jack Allison wrote:
Yep, Hartzell props, AD 2006-18-15. Requires an initial eddy current
inspection within 50 hours time in service then every 100 hours
thereafter. Cost for the inspection where I'm having it done is $300.
Figure another $100 for fuel and engine time and we're up to $400 every
100 hours. At the rate we fly (approx 300 hrs/yr), a replacement hub
(available at a discount, IIRC, just south of 2 AMUs) is the likely
option for permanent compliance.

Ouch. Well that's Harzell for you.

If you're concerned about it, you need to verify your prop serial number
against the AD. If your hub serial number matches the format of the AD
and is a "non-suffix" hub (as in no -A or -B) at the end of the hub
serial number, guess what, you're affected.


No, doesn't affect me now, I put a 3 blade McCauley on my Comanche.
But used to have a 2 blade Hartzell on it that had a 5year/500 hour
AD. I was just curious about the one on your Arrow, seems like Hartzell
comes up with a new AD once every couple of years.

I think of the missed approach as like flying VFR into AirVenture.
You do not know if this is the first time for the guy ahead of you, so
you are spring-loaded to go-around.

Doug wrote:

I've always thought going missed is the hardest IFR manuever.
Everything in you is saying "make it" but you have to call it off, full
power and climb.

Jim Burns wrote:
Great decision making under pressure!! You can be proud of that one. Too
many people go back and try the same approach a second time only to find
worse conditions. Some of those people do not survive.
Good job!
Jim

I'd have to respectfully disagree with the above assessment. What can
be worse then minimums?

See
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/...96220b5e5bedec

for my own experiences of encountering minimums and executing a missed
for the real deal.

Re-trying an approach as far as I am concern is fine, but pressing the
minimums lower then published is what most people don't survive.

Allen

wrote:
Jim Burns wrote:
Great decision making under pressure!! You can be proud of that one. Too
many people go back and try the same approach a second time only to find
worse conditions. Some of those people do not survive.
Good job!
Jim

I'd have to respectfully disagree with the above assessment. What can
be worse then minimums?



Re-trying an approach as far as I am concern is fine, but pressing the
minimums lower then published is what most people don't survive.

Allen

IMHO, sure, trying a 2nd approach is fine, depending on several factors.
For me, if I'd seen anything in terms of ground reference or the
airport *and* it had been a smoother approach in terms of turbulence
*and* I knew I wouldn't get another 20 minutes of vectors in/out of IMC.
It's going to be different for each approach as to my comfort level
trying a second one. In this case, I feel like I did the right thing.
Sure, as my experience increases, I may opt for a second approach in a
similar situation.

As for pressing to lower minimums, I couldn't agree more. Being at MDA
or DH without the required visibility is absolutely no time to go lower
and eat into the safety margins built into the approach.

--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL-Instrument Airplane

"To become a Jedi knight, you must master a single force. To become
a private pilot you must strive to master four of them"
- Rod Machado

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)

...and eat into the safety margins built into the approach.

.... which are actually pretty slim, considering (say) an ILS with a DH
of 200 feet, an altimeter that is good to +/- 75 feet, and an approach
that is a few dots off.

Jose
--
"There are 3 secrets to the perfect landing. Unfortunately, nobody knows
what they are." - (mike).
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

Bad weather, ice, and/or turbulence can make things worse. Also, there
are weather conditions, like low visibility, that you don't really know
if you are within minimums or not. You can see something, but..

It's not just the clouds.

You can see something, but..

.... you don't go down until you =know= what you're seeing.

(yes, I know you can be fooled)

Jose
--
"There are 3 secrets to the perfect landing. Unfortunately, nobody knows
what they are." - (mike).
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

Jose wrote:
...and eat into the safety margins built into the approach.

... which are actually pretty slim, considering (say) an ILS with a DH
of 200 feet, an altimeter that is good to +/- 75 feet, and an approach
that is a few dots off.

Exactly! It's just not worth it to cheat on MDA or DH.


--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL-Instrument Airplane

"To become a Jedi knight, you must master a single force. To become
a private pilot you must strive to master four of them"
- Rod Machado

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)