Organizational Skills Required During Instrument Flight

On 2/18/2007 11:32 PM, wrote the following:
On Feb 18, 9:54 pm, Roy Smith wrote:
"Andrew Sarangan" wrote:
Don't forget the flashlight. I have yet to find a good way to keep it
from getting lost. It is too bulky to attach it to a string but it is
too small to keep from rolling off into a crevice.
Flashlights come in two styles.

Style 1 has a wrist lanyard attached to it. These get hung over a horn of
the yoke.

Style 2 has no laynard. These get lost under the seat.


How about flashlights attached to your head? Or your headset? I
tried one of the LED "headlights", but it gave me a headache after
awhile. It was sure was convenient though! Does anyone use the neck
lights, seatbelt lights, ballcap lights, and even tongue switch lights
they advertise in Sportys and Spruce?


I have actually worked this problem a bit. I found that it is very important
that the light source be above your eye level. If it is not, then your hand
casts a shadow across your pen point when you are writing on a kneeboard and you
can't see what you are writing. This problem will occur with the mic-lights and
any other light that is below your eyes.

I also found that having an adjustable light level was very important, as the
on/off type lights are waaay to bright.

My simplest solution was to put 3M "Dual Lock" tape on the headset shells and to
mount a couple of red lights like the Photon Micro-Light II. (You can also use
Velcro but it does not provide as positive a positioning.)

http://www.photonlight.com/LED-Keych...lights-s/1.htm

They used to have a model they called the "Covert" which had a little
sleeve/snout covering the LED so that all the light went forward. This is
important to eliminate reflections from the side windows, so a little home-made
engineering will now be required. They also sell a thing called a "short
lanyard clip" that helps keep the lights from going under the seat when you bump
them off the headset. If you align them properly they will illuminate most of
the panel and there is not a lot of head-turning required.

Then I went to a Clarity Aloft headset. Spectacular sound quality, etc. but
nowhere to mount the lights! For that I made my own set of "headlights" which
work well but took so much time (and a lathe and a milling machine) that only a
lunatic would do it. For this type of headset, an adjustable brightness red
headlight or ball cap light would be perfect but I have not yet seen one.

dlevy wrote:
You can quickly load the approaches and
graphically see what atc is doing. Otherwise, during training, I found that
I was just blindly following vectors without really visualizing. After
doing the approaches for a while, you will start to anticipate atc. I now
fly practice approaches without the gps.


It took me a while to figure out that those seemingly arbitrary vectors were
actually just corresponding to downwind, base and final legs... just a lot wider
pattern. Eureka!



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com

On Sun, 18 Feb 2007 22:54:11 -0500, Roy Smith wrote:

"Andrew Sarangan" wrote:
Don't forget the flashlight. I have yet to find a good way to keep it
from getting lost. It is too bulky to attach it to a string but it is
too small to keep from rolling off into a crevice.

Flashlights come in two styles.

Style 1 has a wrist lanyard attached to it. These get hung over a horn of
the yoke.

Style 2 has no laynard. These get lost under the seat.

I always thought a flashlight was a device in which one stored dead
batteries. I believe that applies to both of your styles!
Ron (EPM) (N5843Q, Mooney M20E) (CP, ASEL, ASES, IA)

On Feb 19, 11:03 am, "Mortimer Schnerd, RN"
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com wrote:
dlevy wrote:
You can quickly load the approaches and
graphically see what atc is doing. Otherwise, during training, I found that
I was just blindly following vectors without really visualizing. After
doing the approaches for a while, you will start to anticipate atc. I now
fly practice approaches without the gps.

It took me a while to figure out that those seemingly arbitrary vectors were
actually just corresponding to downwind, base and final legs... just a lot wider
pattern. Eureka!

--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com


Eureka is right! I have never thought of vectoring in those terms!
Thanks!

On Feb 18, 10:59 pm, "Dan" wrote:
I like the tip about using OBS #2 to hold altitude assignments! As
far as the flashlight goes, I have one that hangs around my neck on a
lanyard. I don't bother timing my approaches. With 2 GPS units and
associated situational awareness, timing is a waste of time.

--Dan


I have a small suction cup based bug that I stick on my altimeter.
Works absolutely great for altitude assignments. Much better than the
OBS #2 idea. And really cheap.

I use the zulu works knee board. Works great for me, place for charts
and pens and writing. Those are the things you need.

Greg J.

I skip all the fancy stuff. Lots of pens (so if I drop I have
another), the writing pad (I use the 4x6 ones), enroute chart and
terminal charts (bound govt--much sturdier), two pairs of reading
glasses. All I need. There is a flashlight or two, but I don't fly in
IMC at night. Put the heading into the heading bug, the altitude into
the altimeter bug and the freq into the radio. I find that to be a
godsend over trying to write everything down. I do write down initial
clearances, because they are usually long. I just file everywhere
direct (I have IFR GPS), and take what I get, unless I know how to get
something special out of ATC (then I file that). I don't need a timer,
but if I did, I'd just use my wris****ch. I store my pencil in my
shirt pocket. Nothing fancy.

If you do buy a bunch of fancy stuff, buy the cheap stuff. That way
when you throw it out, it won't hurt as much.

On Feb 18, 7:33 pm, wrote:
What methods do you deploy? How many folks use a kneeboard? What
kind of timer (analog or digital stopwatch) do you use, and where do
you put it? Where do you keep the charts, approach plates, and
scratch paper? How many people write down every clearance, heading,
altitude and frequency change? How do you keep from dropping your pen
(or pencil)? Is it on a string? Where do you put in when not in
use? Velcro? Your pocket?

I've read the books, but I just wonder how people cope in real life.
Rod Machado talks about using a clipboard (with extra clips on the 3
other sides) in his excellent training manual. This seems like a good
idea to me.

Steve
PP ASEL
Instrument student

Thomas Borchert wrote:
Well, actually, my CFII insisted that after a proper approach briefing
you shouldn't really need to look at the plate much anymore. Certainly
not enough to warrant a need to have it in your scan. The minimum
altitudes should be memorized, as well as the first part of the missed.

Depends. On a vectored ILS, there's only one altitude you need to remember
(the DA). Most of us can probably handle remembering one number.

But, not all approaches are that simple. I would never trust myself to
remember two or three stepdown fixes and the altitudes for each. Brief the
approach to make sure you understand what you need to do, but keep the
plate handy to find the exact number each time I cross a fix.

This is another place where the GPS really reduces workload. Many
non-precision approaches these days have vertical guidance. Just follow
the needle down like it's an ILS. Now you're back to remembering a single
number.

As far as memorizing the fist part of the missed, that's easy. I haven't
seen one yet that didn't being with "climb".

As far as memorizing the fist part of the missed, that's easy. I haven't
seen one yet that didn't being with "climb".

Approaches into a mountain usually have a missed that starts "climb and
turn". That second part is probably important too.

Jose
--
Humans are pack animals. Above all things, they have a deep need to
follow something, be it a leader, a creed, or a mob. Whosoever fully
understands this holds the world in his hands.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

Jose writes:

Approaches into a mountain usually have a missed that starts "climb and
turn". That second part is probably important too.

Cf. KTEX.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

Doug wrote:

snip
If you do buy a bunch of fancy stuff, buy the cheap stuff. That way
when you throw it out, it won't hurt as much.

On Feb 18, 7:33 pm, wrote:

What methods do you deploy? How many folks use a kneeboard? What
kind of timer (analog or digital stopwatch) do you use, and where do
you put it? Where do you keep the charts, approach plates, and
scratch paper? How many people write down every clearance, heading,
altitude and frequency change? How do you keep from dropping your pen
(or pencil)? Is it on a string? Where do you put in when not in
use? Velcro? Your pocket?

I've read the books, but I just wonder how people cope in real life.
Rod Machado talks about using a clipboard (with extra clips on the 3
other sides) in his excellent training manual. This seems like a good
idea to me.

Steve
PP ASEL
Instrument student




Nobody had mentioned this. I do use a clipboard and put velcro around
the pen. I have the mating velcro on the edge of the clipboard. It is
always where I need it. I haven't dropped it yet, but I keep a back up
in the shirt pocket.

--

Regards, Ross
C-172F 180HP
KSWI