"Top Gun" Moments

For one reason or another, whenever I strive to learn something new, I sometimes go through stages where things get worse before they get better. It's when the instructor demonstrates a maneuver, you do it by rote repetition (and it turns out semi-well, probably through luck), but in subsequent days, things are not going as well and there's lack of visible improvement. Or, worse: you've been doing well on a maneuver, and suddenly you find that nothing is going your way: the maneuver is outside of PTS tolerances, and perhaps the entire training flight has not gone as well as you might have expected.

I've had one of these moments recently in preparation for the commercial checkride (which, by the way, is already scheduled -- no backing away this time!) I call those events Top Gun Moments, because it seems like when they happen, I go home, watch Top Gun (again), and I tell myself that I can still do it! :-) For this recent flight, it had to do with my perennial problem -- eights on pylons. The maneuver just isn't going so well, and I'm wondering if I'm ever going to just magically "get it". I seem to choose pylons that are either too far apart, or too close, or such that I lose track of where they are altogether in the middle of the maneuver. The plane seems to go all over the place -- and even though I know what to do theoretically with respect to pivotal altitude, I can't seem to reliably translate this knowledge into physical flight control movements.

To add to the frustration, my power-off 180 degree accuracy landings are all over the place: I'm either short, long, or not within the 200-foot PTS limit. What's worse is that I seem to have done quite well on these before, and now for some reason they're not turning out as well. All this seems to be calling for me to watch Top Gun again. :-)

The checkride is coming up soon -- I've scheduled some additional flights to make sure that I'm all up to standard. On a more positive side, at least I'm up to snuff on my airplane and systems knowledge!

"I Fly IFR"

Different types of flying currency tend to lapse if you do not fly often enough. For flying VFR, it's not so hard to maintain currency or to regain it: you need three takeoffs and landings in the past 90 days -- and that's only to carry passengers; for practical purposes, that means you can always get current on your own (if you haven't flown in a while, it may be a good idea to take a CFI along, though). There are additional requirements for flying at night, but these can be accomplished on your own as well.

On the other hand, for flying IFR, it's a bit different. In the past six months, you must have had, under actual or simulated conditions, six instrument approaches, a hold, and you must have intercepted/tracked navigational courses. If you let the six month currency lapse, you cannot file IFR, and you have six additional months to fulfill the requirements in VFR conditions - with a safety pilot on board. Easy enough thus far, with the caveat that you not only have very specific tasks to accomplish, but you cannot really accomplish them on your own, since you will most probably need a safety pilot: even when flying IFR, conditions at your destination airport have to be such that your approach is conducted under actual conditions. That rarely happens, so most IFR proficiency is accomplished in visual conditions while wearing a view-limiting device (also known as "under the hood") -- with either a pilot buddy (free!) or an instructor (paid).

Looking back at my logbook, I did three approaches, a hold, and I flew IFR cross country last September. Before that, I did six approaches, a hold, and some course tracking in June, 2006. What does that mean? Well, I was definitely out of currency for filing IFR -- but not only that! My additional six month grace period for accomplishing the requirements under VFR conditions was almost over. And, as nicely outlined by the FAA in 14 CFR 61.57(d), if you let this additional grace period lapse, you're up for an "instrument proficiency check", which is almost like an instrument checkride all over again. Yikes!

What to do? Take Milen along as a safety pilot, and get instrument current! We did that a couple of weekends ago in the Arrow. It actually went quite well -- better than I expected, probably because I did quite a bit of instrument practice in Microsoft Flight Simulator X (the game actually works quite well for practicing IFR procedures -- if you do everything exactly right, set the realism settings to most realistic, and get used to a bit of extra sensitivity on the yoke). We started off with an ILS 16R to Paine, followed by a VOR 16R, followed by a hold at the Paine VOR (which included tracking directly to the VOR). The Seattle Center controllers were not very busy, so we got vectors for a practice LOC 34 to Arlington, and then we did the ILS 16R approach to Paine again three times. After 1.6 hours of hood time, I'm instrument current. Note, though: current does not necessarily mean proficient. These are just the minimums so that I do not have to go through an instrument checkride in June!

Livin' la Vida JeppView

In a previous post, I mentioned that I bought JeppView electronic charts. Since I've had a couple of opportunities to use these charts in the "real world", it's time to give an update on how I'm doing with them.

JeppView comes with a license to install on up to 4 computers, provided that you do not use more than one copy of the software at a time. I ended up installing on two machines: my desktop machine at home, as well as my Toshiba M200 Tablet PC. The installation went mostly OK; however, since my tablet does not have a built-in CD-ROM drive, I had to jump through some hoops to install JeppView over the network. While the procedure was somewhat difficult (it does not help that Jeppesen's installation program does not detect that I inserted a new disk into the CD drive if the CD drive is used over the network), I do think that most people probably have internal or external CD-ROM drives available for their laptops.

The Jeppesen electronic IFR package comes with two main applications: JeppView, which is meant to be used from a desktop computer and allows for viewing, packaging, and printing charts, and FliteDeck, which is meant to be used as an electronic chart viewer in the cockpit.

While I have not flown an actual approach using the FliteDeck software alone (that is, an approach without printed-out paper charts), I did bring the laptop along when Milen was flying left seat. I made the following observations:

• The display on my tablet, although not the brightest, is mostly readable in sunlight. Of course, it's more readable when there is no sun, but it's good to know that theoretically, I'd be able to read the plate even with the sun shining.
• The software is, once you figure out the pictograms/icons, quite easy to use. And, it has smart features -- it's not just a simple single-screen approach plate viewer. While I won't go into detail on JeppView features, it is worth pointing out that Jeppesen's approach plate viewer is divided into two areas: a larger window that covers about 70% of the screen, and a smaller one below which covers the remaining 30%. Clicking on the big window alternates between viewing the whole chart versus a zoomed-in plan view. Clicking on the little window alternates between zoomed in Briefing Strip, profile view, and minimums view. If you want to zoom in even more on a chart, that feature is available, too. Essentially, you can view the entire approach chart, and zoom in/out, without having to click on clumsy (and little) scroll bars -- and I'm sure clicking on those in turbulent air would not be the easiest thing in the world.
• The tablet, although with a small screen by today's standards (12-inch), is somewhat big and clumsy to use in a general aviation cockpit environment. In the Cessna 172, the control wheel gets in the way, and I'm sure it would be the same case in a Piper Arrow. There is not much room between the seats to securely store the computer when not in use, either. And, laptop screens tend to be delicate -- so you cannot just put the computer anywhere with the screen exposed -- it could get scratched, or worse, cracked.
• I cannot afford to lose the stylus (pen) of the tablet in the cockpit. Since my tablet does not have a touch screen, I need to use the stylus to access the FliteDeck interface -- for everything from picking the airport to view terminal procedures for, to selecting the procedure, to navigating around the chart. It would be a good idea to invest into some kind of a tethering wire, such that if the stylus ever slips away, it remains within easy reach.
• Overall, I still seem to prefer paper charts. :- For now, I'm going to stick to my planned mode of operation: print out the charts I anticipate I will need, and bring the charged laptop along just in case there is some procedure I need that I did not print out prior to flight.

FliteDeck's desktop cousin, JeppView, has a familiar interface if you've ever used AOPA's RealTime Flight Planner. In fact, it seems like JeppView uses the same basic interface as RealTime Flight Planner with some extra tabs and side windows tacked on. But, that's for another blog entry. I'll post some of the experiences with JeppView, as well as some things that I wish it did a little better. Stay tuned!

The Effects of Wind

If you read the Commercial Pilot Practical Test Standards (conveniently provided by the FAA online), you'll find that for some maneuvers the FAA expects you to apply wind drift correction. And, while for others, there is no specific wind drift correction technique specified in the PTS, you're still expected to use good judgment and take wind into consideration. This was quite evident for me in a recent lesson.

As usual, we took off (this time westbound) from Paine Field into the practice area immediately to the west of the airport. That day, winds aloft were quite strong: around 30 knots from the south. We started off by doing chandelles. My CFI pointed out something I didn't quite realize before -- but in hindsight, it makes sense. Make the climbing turn into the wind -- that way, the airplane does not get blown away from the practice area in which you just checked for other traffic. Likewise, for lazy eights -- begin the maneuver with the wind either to your left or to your right. Beginning the maneuver in such a way not only will keep you more in the practice area, but it should also help you with maintaining the entry airspeed at the 180-degree point.

Where the wind matters even more, though, is during maneuvers performed with reference to the ground. For the commercial single engine checkride, that would be eights-on-pylons. And, although the FAA does not specifically classify it as a ground reference maneuver, a steep spiral is performed with reference to a ground point, and maintaining equal distance all the way around the point certainly requires correcting for drift. Needless to say, I found that while my steep spiral may have been coming along well in a no-wind situation, it looked much worse with wind than without. My CFI offered a hint , which we'll have to try out next time I'm doing steep spirals: try to do steep spirals over a point formed by an intersection of two roads rather than over one distinct point (like a tree). The reasoning is that with an intersection, you can approach the point along one of the roads. This will help you align yourself, and verify the alignment, as you're approaching the point over which the steep spiral will be done. We'll see how it goes next time on a windy day! And hopefully that really windy day won't be the day of the checkride. :-)