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Organizational Skills Required During Instrument Flight



 
 
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  #21  
Old February 19th 07, 01:00 PM posted to rec.aviation.student,rec.aviation.ifr
Thomas Borchert
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Posts: 1,749
Default Organizational Skills Required During Instrument Flight

Dan,

I like the tip about using OBS #2 to hold altitude assignments!


We've got one of those extra pointer thingies Sporty's sell put on the
altimeter, with movable markers. Perfect - but not for renters.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

  #22  
Old February 19th 07, 01:41 PM posted to rec.aviation.student,rec.aviation.ifr
Kevin Clarke
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Posts: 147
Default Organizational Skills Required During Instrument Flight

tscottme wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...

Not me, at least not reliably. I hope that I get smarter and can
devote more brain cell cycles to short term memory once I get better
at flying the plane by reference to instruments! In the mean time
it's safer for me to write everything down. These responses are
giving me hope that this won't always be the case!


The more you fly the more you will come to anticipate what to expect. That
makes remembering things far easier than when you are a student. This
change is akin to learning a new language. As a native English speaker I
don't have to decode every utterance of someone and match it up with the one
right word in an English dictionary. Once you engage in conversation you
will take special note of the important words with meaning. If you were to
try to have the same conversation in another language you would have to
devote vast mental energy to every syllable and try to rapidly assemble the
collection of syllables into words as you scrambled to remember the English
meaning of those sounds. That would be a lot of hard work for anyone doing
the same thing. Most of the problem you are is having to rapidly recognize
and decode unusual items with almost no ability to anticipate what is coming
next.


Exactly. The hardest part of instrument training for me thus far has
been the clearances. But the last two times out, especially last night,
I finally got it. I even sounded (to my ears) smooth. It is really
difficult to fly the plane and listen while in the back of your mind
you're thinking about all the stuff the clearance is telling you,
altitude turn the plane, set the radios etc.

As for organization, I have the analog clock in the Cherokee Challenger
(my favorite part of the plane) and a digital kitchen timer that is
stuck on a blanking plate on the radio stack, ie: out of the way.

I use a kneeboard with enroute chart on top, then scratch paper and then
then checklist underneath that. don't forget your checklist. I have my
checkride this Friday. The PTS mentions the "proper use of checklists"
so I made up my own that incorporates the plane checklist with the IFR
checklists I had. Now I have 1 nice one to refer to. I'll share it if
you want. It has all the emergency stuff on there too.

I wear a baseball hat with a pen stuck into the band near my head. We
also have a wad of velcro on the dash with an extra pen stuck on that.
Plus the plane logbook has extra pens. That goes in between the back
seats. I also keep my loose plates in the binder back there. It is all
within easy reach.

Plates go on a yoke clip. All the plates I may need including the plates
for the departure airport. Plates are in order of use. I think that is
all of it. Oh yeah, flashlights. Each side pocket has a flashlight and
my flight bag (on the back seat if passengers) otherwise on the front
seat has a flashlight. I try to keep as many things as I can triple
redundant.

Good luck with the training. It is very intense.

KC
  #23  
Old February 19th 07, 04:56 PM posted to rec.aviation.student,rec.aviation.ifr
Andrew Sarangan
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Posts: 382
Default Organizational Skills Required During Instrument Flight

On Feb 19, 12:32 am, wrote:
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 once considered the headset mounting arrangement but wasn't too
crazy about it. Every time I had to illuminate something I had to turn
my head towards it instead of turning my eyeballs. I found that I was
reaching for the flashlight and turning it by hand. Since excessive
head movements are not the best thing in IMC, I abandoned this
practice. I now carry an LED flashlight. Sometimes I do lose it. I
have to try Roy's suggestion of attaching it to a lanyard.





  #24  
Old February 19th 07, 04:59 PM posted to rec.aviation.student,rec.aviation.ifr
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 57
Default Organizational Skills Required During Instrument Flight

On Feb 19, 3:28 am, "tscottme" wrote:
wrote in message

oups.com...



Not me, at least not reliably. I hope that I get smarter and can
devote more brain cell cycles to short term memory once I get better
at flying the plane by reference to instruments! In the mean time
it's safer for me to write everything down. These responses are
giving me hope that this won't always be the case!


The more you fly the more you will come to anticipate what to expect. That
makes remembering things far easier than when you are a student. This
change is akin to learning a new language. As a native English speaker I
don't have to decode every utterance of someone and match it up with the one
right word in an English dictionary. Once you engage in conversation you
will take special note of the important words with meaning. If you were to
try to have the same conversation in another language you would have to
devote vast mental energy to every syllable and try to rapidly assemble the
collection of syllables into words as you scrambled to remember the English
meaning of those sounds. That would be a lot of hard work for anyone doing
the same thing. Most of the problem you are is having to rapidly recognize
and decode unusual items with almost no ability to anticipate what is coming
next.

--

Scott


I know this is at least partially true. I learned to fly at an
uncontrolled field, so at first I had limited exposure to the ATC
lingo and was frequently tongue tied. I am now based at a Class D
airport, so I've gotten much better at VFR verbiage. I know my IFR
language skills are still dismal (what did he just say?). The
combination of so much thought going into actually flying the
airplane, adjusting the radios, reading the approach, and having ATC
say something I wasn't expecting can put me in brain overload
sometimes! Practice, practice, practice!!!

  #25  
Old February 19th 07, 05:18 PM posted to rec.aviation.student,rec.aviation.ifr
dlevy
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 30
Default Organizational Skills Required During Instrument Flight

I fly with two of these.
I write down every frequency change. It's not a big deal and on the return
flight it's nice to have all the frequencies written down so you know what
to expect.

I don't fly ifr that much. I always consider those radios (vor's and an
ndb) as primary navigation. It's a simple matter to to glance at the gps
(396) to verify. If you are a student, I would suggest a 396 and spend a
bit of time learning it. 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.

I like my old panel. 2 vor's, 1 ils, adf, vaccum and electric attitude, and
396 with weather. As long as you really understand how to use a vor, the
rest is just repetative procedures that will become second nature.

wrote in message
oups.com...
snip
Unfortunately, not with KX-170B's. :-(

snip



  #26  
Old February 19th 07, 05:29 PM posted to rec.aviation.student,rec.aviation.ifr
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 57
Default Organizational Skills Required During Instrument Flight

On Feb 19, 6:00 am, Thomas Borchert
wrote:
How many folks use a kneeboard?


I do. Zuluworks Zuluboard with binder rings, so that approach plates go
in there, too. I take them out to the yoke clip when I know which one I
need. I put STARs, Approaches and SIDs in one plastic pocket each. The
Zulupad form is nicely tailored too IFR flying, too.


I haven't tried using a kneeboard yet, but the Zuluworks one you
describe sure sounds handy! I'll check out their website.

What kind of timer (analog or digital stopwatch) do you use, and where
do you put it?


The ASA stopwatch. I know, it's expensive and kitchen timers do the
trick. But I use the ASA timer for holds, approaches, fuel tank
switching and getting "the time" both in Zulu and local. All that in one
gimmick - that's worth the money to me. It goes on the velcro top of the
ASA yoke clip I use. It does cover part of the panel, but one can easily
work around it.


I've been leaning toward an analog stopwatch, just for the
simplicity. Maybe after I have my rating, I can graduate to a full
blown ASA with all the bells and whistles!

Where do you keep the charts, approach plates, and
scratch paper?


Kneeboard and the side pocket in our plane, right by the knee. That's
where the laminated checklists go, too. I clip them to the yoke until
take-off, because that's when there is much to read.


Good idea!

How many people write down every clearance, heading,
altitude and frequency change?


Full clearances, yes. Headings, altitudes, transponder codes and freqs,
no, unless they are part of a clearance I'm writing down anyway (CRAFT
is a nice acronym for that: Clearance limit, Route, Altitude, Freq,
Transponder). But we have a transponder with buttons.


I'm not there yet, since my short term memory seems to be impaired
while wearing the IQ reducer (foggles). In the mean time, I have to
(or should) write everything down.

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?


The Zuluboards have these nice big pen holder pockets. Really neat, they
work well in turbulence. For dropping protection, I have several pens in
those pockets.



One thing I haven't figured out yet is where to put the handheld backup
GPS (we have a Garmin 430 in the plane). I would NEVER fly without at
least a handheld GPS in IMC (if there is none in the panel - if there
is, I still like the backup). The cost of that safety device has become
trivial, with the Lowrance Airmap 500 or 600c. One can put it on the
yoke, and I would if it were my primary GPS, to have it in the scan. But
in my set-up, it then gets obscured by anything on the yoke clip.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)


I've been thinking about handheld GPS placement also (after the
checkride). I've been using the yoke so far (VFR flying), but I think
having the approach plates directly in your scan may be more
important. I've thought about using the industrial strength suction
cup attached to the side window Lowrance includes (for cars).


Thanks!

  #27  
Old February 19th 07, 05:34 PM posted to rec.aviation.student,rec.aviation.ifr
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 57
Default Organizational Skills Required During Instrument Flight

On Feb 19, 6:41 am, Kevin Clarke wrote:
tscottme wrote:
wrote in message
roups.com...


Not me, at least not reliably. I hope that I get smarter and can
devote more brain cell cycles to short term memory once I get better
at flying the plane by reference to instruments! In the mean time
it's safer for me to write everything down. These responses are
giving me hope that this won't always be the case!


The more you fly the more you will come to anticipate what to expect. That
makes remembering things far easier than when you are a student. This
change is akin to learning a new language. As a native English speaker I
don't have to decode every utterance of someone and match it up with the one
right word in an English dictionary. Once you engage in conversation you
will take special note of the important words with meaning. If you were to
try to have the same conversation in another language you would have to
devote vast mental energy to every syllable and try to rapidly assemble the
collection of syllables into words as you scrambled to remember the English
meaning of those sounds. That would be a lot of hard work for anyone doing
the same thing. Most of the problem you are is having to rapidly recognize
and decode unusual items with almost no ability to anticipate what is coming
next.


Exactly. The hardest part of instrument training for me thus far has
been the clearances. But the last two times out, especially last night,
I finally got it. I even sounded (to my ears) smooth. It is really
difficult to fly the plane and listen while in the back of your mind
you're thinking about all the stuff the clearance is telling you,
altitude turn the plane, set the radios etc.

As for organization, I have the analog clock in the Cherokee Challenger
(my favorite part of the plane) and a digital kitchen timer that is
stuck on a blanking plate on the radio stack, ie: out of the way.

I use a kneeboard with enroute chart on top, then scratch paper and then
then checklist underneath that. don't forget your checklist. I have my
checkride this Friday.


Good Luck! Please let us know how it went down!

The PTS mentions the "proper use of checklists"
so I made up my own that incorporates the plane checklist with the IFR
checklists I had. Now I have 1 nice one to refer to. I'll share it if
you want. It has all the emergency stuff on there too.


Please do share it!

I wear a baseball hat with a pen stuck into the band near my head. We
also have a wad of velcro on the dash with an extra pen stuck on that.
Plus the plane logbook has extra pens. That goes in between the back
seats. I also keep my loose plates in the binder back there. It is all
within easy reach.

Plates go on a yoke clip. All the plates I may need including the plates
for the departure airport. Plates are in order of use. I think that is
all of it. Oh yeah, flashlights. Each side pocket has a flashlight and
my flight bag (on the back seat if passengers) otherwise on the front
seat has a flashlight. I try to keep as many things as I can triple
redundant.

Good luck with the training. It is very intense.

KC


Thanks for all the tips KC! Don't forget to let us know about the
checkride!


  #28  
Old February 19th 07, 05:44 PM posted to rec.aviation.student,rec.aviation.ifr
G. Sylvester
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 58
Default Organizational Skills Required During Instrument Flight

Lots of good advice.

For timers, I use:
http://www.lcflight.com/timers.html
"4 Channel Alarm /Clock Timer"

#1 is the 'active' timer (expected times, times approaches, etc.), #3
and #4 are fuel tanks. #2 is the countdown for beverage and meal
service, ie I dont' use it. ;-) My CFII said it was too complicated
but I had used it when I worked in a laboratory and it is very simple to
use. A few weeks later after he told me this, I saw a picture of the
cockpit of SpaceShipOne and it had one mounted in it.

Gerald
  #29  
Old February 19th 07, 05:53 PM posted to rec.aviation.student,rec.aviation.ifr
Thomas Borchert
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,749
Default Organizational Skills Required During Instrument Flight

I've been using the yoke so far (VFR flying), but I think
having the approach plates directly in your scan may be more
important.


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.

I've thought about using the industrial strength suction
cup attached to the side window Lowrance includes (for cars).


Yep, the RAM mount suction cups will certainly work.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

  #30  
Old February 19th 07, 05:56 PM posted to rec.aviation.student,rec.aviation.ifr
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 57
Default Organizational Skills Required During Instrument Flight

On Feb 19, 10:18 am, "dlevy" wrote:
I fly with two of these.
I write down every frequency change. It's not a big deal and on the return
flight it's nice to have all the frequencies written down so you know what
to expect.

I don't fly ifr that much. I always consider those radios (vor's and an
ndb) as primary navigation. It's a simple matter to to glance at the gps
(396) to verify. If you are a student, I would suggest a 396 and spend a
bit of time learning it. 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.


I have a Lowrance 2000C, but you can't load the approaches directly.
However the waypoints are depicted, and it's valuable to see where you
are (while being vectored) in relation to the FAF. I've only done
this so far while acting as a safety pilot, and found that ATC
continued to vector us inside the FAF on one occasion. OK for
practice, but not so good if we were in real IMC!

Visualization is sure tough (for me) without the GPS. The Garmin 396
(or 496) with weather is on my wish list!

I like my old panel. 2 vor's, 1 ils, adf, vaccum and electric attitude, and
396 with weather. As long as you really understand how to use a vor, the
rest is just repetative procedures that will become second nature.


I've read an interesting article about an alternative way to interpret
the VOR. Has anyone read Joe Campbell's IFR diary, or this article:
http://www.campbells.org/Airplanes/VOR/vor.html ? If so, what did you
think?

wrote in message

oups.com...

snip
Unfortunately, not with KX-170B's. :-(


snip



 




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