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Training and Safety

IFR Fix

Earning an instrument rating is guaranteed to be one of the most challenging, rewarding, and fun projects a pilot takes on during a lifetime in aviation. Each week, this series looks at the IFR experience from a new perspective, and poses a provocative piloting poll question on that subject to let you see what fellow instrument pilots—newly rated and IFR veterans alike-—would do under similar circumstances. Whether the topic is a basic principle, or how to gain experience safely, or the “why” of an unusual approach or procedure, it’s all part of the conversation, as are reader suggestions for issues for us to examine.

IFR: Power and forgiveness

IFR Fix You have an instrument rating, and now, a distant destination. Time to book your old IFR trainer for a new kind of outing. Wait - here's a better idea. It's time to start flying aircraft designed with long-distance travel in mind.

IFR Fix: Pattern B

IFR Fix: Pattern B One idea that emerges fairly clearly about instrument pilots is that the prospect of flying a real-world circling approach triggers considerable avoidance. Give pilots a plausible alternative, and circle-to-land loses.

IFR Fix: And, what are we forgetting?

ifr fix The voice checked in with approach, reporting "out of ten for three with Foxtrot," or something like that. He received and acknowledged instructions to expect the ILS. Then the voice made a curious request. "And Approach, how about saying the localizer frequency for that."

IFR Fix: The way it WAAS

ifr fix Remember curved approaches? Pilots of a certain age recall a time when pilots flew their ILS approaches with the thought in mind that, someday, a technology called the microwave landing system would change the way aircraft got down through the stuff. Now, thanks to satellite-based navigation, GPS approaches are doing the job.

IFR Fix: Knowledge is power

IFR Fix A pilot is seeking rainy-day advice from two IFR-rated friends about training for the instrument rating. When should he take the knowledge test? One says hit the books first; the other recommends getting instrument experience before taking the test. Who's right?

IFR Fix: Signposts in the sky

IFR Fix How do you pronounce GLADI? Does it rhyme with lady or laddie? Ask before you get there because another fix nearby may, or may not, sound similar. The five-letter "words" devised for aviation's signposts in the sky occasionally spell GRIEF for pilots.

IFR Fix: A truer test

IFR Fix Looking for a challenge that will tax your IFR knowledge to the limit and hone your skills, leaving you dry-mouthed and drained? Try explaining what it means to be an instrument pilot to someone who knows nothing about aviation.

IFR Fix: The instrument takeoff

IFR Fix Would you depart under IFR if you would be unable to return immediately and land? Even if you're a pilot whose personal minimums prohibit departure under low conditions, much learning arises from practicing an instrument takeoff with a CFII.

IFR Fix: Just answer the question

ifr fix Lucky you. It's instrument proficiency check day! In honor of spring, this ride will also count as a rental checkout at the FBO. First stop is the classroom, where the chief instructor goes over the aircraft, then asks you to ponder this IFR scenario for any questionable elements.

IFR Fix: Beyond the zone

IFR Fix The course deviation indicator stood perfectly centered as the aircraft neared the vortac inbound. Wham. Station passage. Too bad the pilot didn't notice.

IFR Fix: Not to be redundant

IFR Fix Any pilot who has ever dropped a pen into the abyss beneath the seats while copying a complicated clearance immediately learns one of aviation's overarching lessons: Carry more pens.

IFR Fix: Real or imagined?

IFR fix: Real or imagined? How are things in the real world today? Give flight service a call. Tell the briefer we need weather for a trip from here to the real world and back. In the remarks section, please be sure to note when you file that this is a training flight with a focus on IFR flying under real-world conditions.

IFR Fix: A show of hands

IFR Fix readers weigh in on a variety of topics through informal polls. What does the emerging portrait reveal? Perhaps a syllabus for recurrency training.

IFR Fix: The case of the misplaced planet

IFR Fix The Cessna was tracking outbound for an NDB approach, timer ticking. Stabilized on course and altitude, it seemed to the pilot a good chance to check on the rear-seat passengers, who were experiencing instrument conditions--a medium-low stratus deck--for the first time.

IFR Fix: Did you peek?

IFR Fix Whether the view-limiting device you use makes you look like a welder, a scuba diver, or a student in a college chem lab, remember that you are preparing for the time when you can't just peel off the gizmo and squint at splendid scenery.

IFR Fix: ADF Required

ifr fix Pilots, don't throw away your automatic direction finders just yet. As many readers of the Jan. 20 "IFR Fix: Take a left, then a right" discovered, there was a typographical error in the notes to the Waterbury-Oxford ILS or LOC RWY 36 instrument approach procedure. Instead of "ADF Required," it says "AFD Required."

IFR fix: Take a left, then a right

IFR Fix: Take a left, then a right What's the difference between inventiveness and error? The question arises in the context of how someone flew a procedure turn.

IFR Fix: IPC report card

IFR Fix: IPC report card A pilot and his instrument flight instructor are sitting at a booth in Scud's Diner, debriefing and re-caffeinating after an instrument proficiency flight. Based on their discussion, should the CFII sign him off?

IFR Fix: Not on speaking terms

Flying IFR is a contact sport. Sooner or later you will need to contact ATC, with a strong bias toward sooner. When the plan isn't working, people can get into trouble.

IFR Fix: Just take me home

Nothing makes for a fun practice session like shooting the home-field instrument approach. The headings, frequencies, and minima all are as comfortable as the proverbial old shoe. Too comfortable to be truly useful--and certainly not registering very high on the variety meter--but there's no way you'll gripe about that during today's instrument proficiency check.

IFR Fix: Ready or not

A leisurely flight for hamburgers and picture-taking can get hectic if weather deteriorates. Low clouds and fog haven't reached your destination yet, but they're moving in fast on a wet south breeze. Inbound pilots are commenting on it, and your passengers are starting to ask questions.

IFR Fix: A loss for words

It's been quite a while since anybody has spoken up on the frequency. "Center, radio check?" Then you see the popped circuit breaker.

IFR Fix: The comfort factor

The big holiday flight with the family aboard is tomorrow. Weather's only looking so-so--but you're IFR current, proficient, and eager to fly the FBO's familiar trainer. The aircraft is down for maintenance, but another--the same make and model as the aircraft you've been renting, but with a different panel--is available. Is this a go, or a no-go?

IFR Fix: Appreciating OATs

Flying along in IMC, you stop your scan on the airspeed indicator. That indication can't be right--it's 10 knots too slow for this cruise power setting.

IFR Fix: Event planning

ifr fix A wise saying of instrument training goes something like this: If you cross a fix at exactly 1500Z, you should have already crossed it mentally at 1458Z.

IFR Fix: A miss that's as good as a mile

Where's the missed approach point? Where the solid line ends and the upward-curving dotted arrow begins on the approach's profile view. But is that the only possible missed approach point? No.

IFR Fix: It takes all kinds

IFR fix Why did you become an instrument pilot? For some pilots, the rating is an essential stepping stone to other goals such as landing an aviation career, maximizing their ability to travel in a personal aircraft, or upgrading to a high-performance single or a twin.

IFR Fix: How to break out

"Breaking out" is the climactic moment on an instrument approach. Descending to minimums, there will be either a landing or a missed approach in your immediate future. Which is it going to be?

IFR fix: A bad vector

Flying under the hood "This isn't going to work," you say aloud as you roll out on the assigned vector and prepare to shoot the approach. Good thing this is just practice. Under instrument meteorological conditions this scenario could be nerve wracking. Maybe your workload would have prevented you from even seeing the problem developing.

IFR fix: Practice instrument approaches

Practice instrument approaches give your recreational flying added value by counting the instrument procedures flown toward recency requirements, and by giving you a chance to fly approaches other than the same old home-airport ILS.

IFR fix: Benchmarking the basics

Is your instrument flying based on a good foundation? Complex procedures require a solid basis in the fundamentals. That means practicing - and not just on clear, calm days.