Stage one is the most critical, but because it appears relatively simple, many instructors do not give it the attention required. In a good training program, stage one requires 10 to 15 hours of dual instruction before a student develops the proper physical and mental habit patterns.
The essence of instrument interpretation goes far beyond the implied task of looking at an instrument and assessing that information. It becomes critical when you must evaluate two instruments simultaneously, which always occurs when you have two pitch requirements--airspeed and altitude or airspeed and vertical speed.
If airspeed is correct, and either altitude or vertical speed is incorrect, your hands, one on the yoke and one on the throttle, must move simultaneously in order to correct the deviation (elevator-throttle coordination, which we discussed in "Try These Drills to Learn Basic Skills," January 2007 AOPA Flight Training). However, if airspeed and either altitude or vertical speed are incorrect, stop, think, and interpret. Your workload will dramatically decrease if your initial correction--pitch or power--is appropriate. For example, if airspeed and altitude are somewhat high, the initial correction should be a slight power reduction. Yes, further corrections may be required, but your first correction is the key to overall success and reduced workload.
| Learn to fly hands-off and let the airplane share in the work. To descend, reduce power 300 rpm. To level off, if descending 500 fpm, restore that 300 rpm 50 feet above your desired altitude, and watch the magic. |
| Learn to employ the mental conveyor belt. Always ask, where are you, where's the wind, and what do you do if the engine quits? In cruise flight ask, what's my next heading, next altitude, and next course or fix? |
The ability to remain oriented to your geographical position is a prerequisite for instrument flight; if you are unable to do this, you won't attain instrument flying privileges. This situation was best described by Captain Pettybone, a fictitious safety officer in a 1942 issue of the U.S. Navy's Approach magazine: "Instrument flying is when your mind gets a grip on the fact that there's vision beyond sight."
Creating excessive student workload is a common instructor error. A multitude of procedures can be taught, but to succeed, your instructor must use common sense and stick to what is mandatory for flight safety. I have known many frustrated instrument pilots who do not have the proper self-confidence for instrument flight. They were taught superfluous procedures or procedures that occur in two-pilot cockpits, which absolutely have no place in a single-pilot cockpit.
Your first consideration during instrument flight must be the ability to deal with distractions, irregularities, and emergencies without compromising basic instrument flight requirements. An instrument pilot who is continually busy with normal flight requirements is an improperly trained instrument pilot.
There are several basic flight requirements that you must learn to perform automatically, almost without thinking. A good starting point is the APT rule: Attitude, Power, Trim. Know the flight attitudes and power settings for your airplane, and know how to properly trim the airplane for hands-off flight, one of the more time-consuming cockpit tasks.
You must keep certain facts running through your mind at all times. I call that requirement the mental conveyor belt. It contains nine items. The first three occur at all times for all pilots: Where are you, where's the wind, and what do you do if the engine quits? The next three occur during instrument flight: What's your next heading, next altitude, and next course or fix? The last three occur during an instrument approach: What is the decision height (DH) or minimum descent altitude (MDA), the time inbound, and the initial portion of the missed approach procedure?
The 5-Ts checklist procedure must be applied when you cross a fix: time, turn, throttle, twist (the OBS), talk. Please note that the last four items follow the mandatory axiom of "aviate, navigate, communicate." When flying an instrument approach, I recommend that you start the time just prior to crossing the fix when your workload is low, or after you cross the fix and have turned to the new heading, if required, and started your descent. In the first case, add the time delay to your inbound time; in the second case, subtract the time delay from your inbound time. In both cases you're talking about a 10- to 15-second time adjustment at best, which is very easy to apply.
Before you descend from cruise altitude when approaching your destination, you must run a mental checklist procedure that I call the Big Seven: airplane ready for descent; radios tuned for the approach; confirm the DH or MDA, time inbound, initial missed approach procedure (the conveyor belt's last three items), critical notes, and speed. This is a segmented checklist because it cannot be completed at one time. It occurs in stages that are dependent on your location, radio management and flight requirements, and ATC communications. You work through this checklist in spurts, often backing up to double-check what you did previously.
During all my years of flying instruments, I never felt comfortable during an arrival until the first six items of my Big Seven checklist were completed. Then I could relax and keep up my airspeed for as long as possible.
Take a minute or two to reflect on the behind-the-scenes requirements that I have just listed. Do you have room for more? I don't think so, not if you're engaged in single-pilot instrument flight and trying to reserve enough mental capacity for the distractions, irregularities, and emergencies that you must be prepared to handle. The items listed above will keep you from making serious mistakes.
There is, however, one more stumbling block to single-pilot instrument flight: your hands. New private pilots are constantly working to fly the airplane; I call them mechanical pilots. Several years ago, 125 flight hours were required for an instrument rating, because by that time private pilots usually realized that they could let go of the yoke and let the airplane share the workload. That simple fact is a critical, single-pilot instrument flight requirement, which should be introduced during private pilot training.
When the FAA changed the instrument rating requirement to only 50 hours of cross-country pilot-in-command time--which I was in favor of--a red flag popped into my mind. We had a new instrument training problem: teaching hands-off flight. You must learn to take your hand off the yoke and let the airplane do the flying whenever you are maintaining a constant heading--climb, cruise, or descent--and you need your hand for other tasks. Start practicing this important skill now. It will pay off when you start instrument training.
Cruise flight is the place to start. When the controls are trimmed for level flight, take your hand off the yoke and keep the wings level on the attitude indicator using only the rudder. If a wing comes up, step on it just like you'd step on the ball of the slip indicator to maintain coordination or step on the runway centerline when rolling down a runway to maintain directional control.
If you are now climbing or descending somewhat, pitch trim with power. If starting to descend, add a little power; if starting to climb, reduce a little power. What's a little power? Just make an audible power change. There's no need to reference the tachometer or the manifold pressure gauge.
When that's mastered, do the same thing using the turn coordinator instead of the attitude indicator. Keep the turn rate at zero. If the turn coordinator's airplane symbol shows a turn, step on the rising wing just like you did on the attitude indicator, but remember that the turn coordinator has nothing whatsoever to do with attitude.
When the turn coordinator shows no turn and the vertical speed shows zero, you are doing a perfect--yes, perfect--job of flying straight and level. The attitude indicator may be in a slight bank and the slip indicator's ball may be slightly off-center, but you are flying as straight as an arrow and your hands are free to tune radios, get out charts, and take care of distractions. That technique is critical, because you'll have more time for cockpit management, and the airplane will take care of itself.
It's time to descend. Reduce power 300 rpm and continue to fly hands-off. Note how long it takes for the airplane to start descending. Nothing is instantaneous when flying, and that's why it takes considerable time to trim an airplane for hands-off flight. If you're descending at 500 feet per minute, smoothly restore the 300 rpm when 50 feet above your level-off altitude and watch the airplane perform a perfect level-off. That's where the rule of using 10 percent of your vertical speed for leading a level-off comes from--it's what the airplane wants to do when it's doing the flying.
During single-pilot instrument flight, you are always under pressure because of workload and time restraints. With hands-off flight mastered, you'll quickly feel as though you've gained lots of time--which allows you to easily perform the required procedures and double- or triple-check your actions, a wise thing to do.
If you're planning to be a professional pilot, you'll be introduced to two-pilot cockpit procedures. Caution! Use them as instructed, but whether you're flying as a captain or a first officer, always back yourself up with single-pilot thinking.
You must, however, always obey one rule. Never say, "I fly the airplane with rudder." Wilbur and Orville would turn over in their graves. Do say, "When busy, I temporarily control the airplane with rudder, but normally I fly in a coordinated manner with my hand on the yoke."
Ralph Butcher, a retired United Airlines captain, is the chief flight instructor at a California flight school. He has been flying since 1959 and has 25,000 hours in fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft. Visit his Web site.
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Links to additional resources about the topics discussed in this article are available at AOPA Flight Training Online.
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