I haven’t been posting because I haven’t been flying.
I flew once, a month ago, from MDW to CMI (University of Illinois) for a $100 hamburger with my wife. Most of the flight down and all of the flight back was at night. During my flight planning, I picked a couple of VORs to track that would take me parallel to I-57 the entire trip. (You’ve heard the joke that night flying tests your “IFR” skills: I Follow Roads.) I had my preflight plan, I entered my flight into the Garmin GNS 530 GPS, and I dialed in the VORs on the radio. I made sure that the autopilot was operational as well. There was no way I was risking getting lost or disoriented. Being on the paranoid side as a VFR-only pilot, I won’t fly at night without a functioning autopilot and prior familiarity with the route. As it happens, I spent 3 years at UIUC in Champaign, so I’ve driven the route many times and can pick out each little town along the interstate. The flight went very smoothly and my wife enjoyed the restaurant we visited in Champaign. FlightStar, the FBO at CMI, was amazing—the best I’ve visited (and that includes Atlantic Aviation at MDW which caters to corporate clients). I highly recommend a visit if you’re in the area.
I’m scheduled to fly tonight (Friday) and tomorrow (Saturday) in the DA20 to get signed-off in that aircraft so that I’m not wholy dependent on 9DS being available. I’m holding off on the glass panel transition until I’ve read my IFR book and the G1000 book, which I expect to get for Christmas (hint, hint, mom and dad). Ideally, I’d like to make my G1000 transition as I get my instrument rating. I think that a glass panel cockpit is a compelling feature for IFR flights and I may restrict myself to IFR in glass panels the way I restrict myself to night flight with VORs and autopilots.
I keep mulling over the practicing of engine-out on take-off at 700AGL in a DA40. This nugget in Diamond’s latest email news letter affirms my belief that I did not put myself in undue danger practicing the maneuver: Diamond has designed its aircraft to maintain controllability in the stall and into and out of a spin. The fact that in over 2 million flight hours there has never been a stall – spin accident supports our approach. However, Colin’s passionate responses have been persuasive enough that I will be confining my future practicing of the maneuver to flight simulators.
Friday, October 13, 2006
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2 comments:
The Max Trescott book is great. I read that as I started my instrument training. (I take my check ride in a little more than a week.)
The Jeppesen book is *really* dense and dry. A lot of other people like the Mochado book instead. I just sat through the King DVDs and it's enough information to pass the written and oral.
Philip Greenspun said that he treats night VFR as IFR flights. Always has navigation aids set and tries to fly an approach into the airport. I sort of agree with that, unless there's moonlight or a really well-lit airport.
Good luck on your instrument rating check ride! I’m sure you’ll do great. Thanks for the review of Max’s book. I’m looking forward to reading it more than ever now.
I own the Mochado instrument book and tried to start my instrument self-instruction with it. Unlike his private pilot book, the instrument book didn’t connect with me. I’m hoping that a cursory scan of the Jepp book will give me enough grounding in the material so that I can connect with Rod’s book.
I’ve been eye’ing the King DVDs and your recommendation pushes me over the edge. I’ll break down and get them. Perhaps they will provide the grounding I need to get back into Rod’s book and I won’t need to slug my way through the Jepp book. I can always hope.
I gave a great deal of thought to performing the night flight given the wisdom of so many experienced pilots stating that night flight is essentially IFR flight. Not being instrument rated, I have no illusions about my (in-)ability to maintain control of the airplane if I lose reference to the horizon. I did a lot of my private pilot training at night, including the tail end of some of my solo x-countries. I wouldn’t say that the experience gave me confidence at night flight, but rather that it gave me a healthy appreciation for the challenges of night flight and a good sense of the difference between “night VFR” and just plain night.
To prepare for this night flight I did a lot of preflight planning and maintained my night flight minimums of being in an IFR certified aircraft with GPS and a good autopilot. Part of my preflight planning was to review the airports along the way and check with myself as I neared each: “Can I continue this flight safely?”, “Am I mentally staying ahead of the plane?”, “Is this VFR out my window?”, etc. I prepared myself—and my passenger!—that I would either turn back or land at the nearest airport if anything wasn’t 100%. Finally, I deliberately chose a Class Charlie airport that was nice, big, friendly, and well-lit with a tower that was open for landing and departure.
From the experience, I would definitely contact Center next time and get flight following. Even if the request is rejected, just listening improves situational awareness and keeps help only a mic click away if it’s needed.
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