wessidmike said:
Anyone have any Instrument tips... My problem isn't in interpreting the instruments, it's remembering to start my time at the FAF and holding the +100 -0 altitude standards. I feel like i'm always behind the airplane once established on final..... Today i forgot to start the time at that FAF twice, and i felt like i was behind the airplane most of the flight!!! any tips would be greatly apreciated
When things get rushed, the first thing to go is a good, basic instrument scan. In any instrument scan, approximately 80% of your time will be spent looking at CONTROL instruments. If you don't know right off the top of your head what those instruments are, then we've already found a place to work.
You have in your hands the most important of all the knobs, switches, and levers in the entire airplane. The yoke (or stick) and the power controls determine where your airplane will go, and how fast it will get there. The Instruments that correspond to your hands are the attitude indicator and the power gauges. (I've used generic terms because the concepts apply to any combination of types of controls - yoke/stick, throttle, power lever, whatever). 80% of your crosscheck should be devoted to those instruments. A quick exercise: stop and count to 5 several times. As you count, imagine staring at your attitude indicator (artificial horizon, whatever you want to call it) as you count 1,2,3,4 and then look at some other instrument when you say 5. Start over. Don't look at anything other than your attitude unless you're on the 5th count. By the third time through, you're dying to look at something else before you get to 5, right? Well, as you're looking at the attitude indicator through 2, 3, and 4, think to yourself "Based on where I am right now, and what I want to do next, what is the NEXT most important thing for me to see - - what do I want to look at next?" Now you've prioritized in your mind what you should do when it gets to 5. So, when it gets to 5, look at that instrument, take a mental snapshot of it (don't stare at it, or stagnate on it), and as you begin your count 1, 2, ... again, analyze what you just saw, and take whatever action you need to in order to make that item better.
Example:
1 - (holding the attitude for level flight)
2 - I wonder how my airspeed is doing?
3 - My course is more important, or is it my altitude?
4 - My altitude has been shaky; I'll look at that next
5- Looking at altitude - - MENTAL SNAPSHOT
1 - I didn't take time to interpret the whole instrument, but the needle was to the right of the 0 at the top of the case - - I'm a skosh high
2 - Shucks, perhaps I should have looked at the V V I - - I feel like I'm level, though
3 - I'll look at the V V I next time, but for now let me lower the nose a half degree
4 - There, that's a half degree lower - - better pull the throttle back a half hair, too, to keep the airspeed the same
5 - Looking at V V I - - MENTAL SNAPSHOT
1 - That showed a slight descent - - that's what I want
2 - holding that pitch - - I think I'll trim off the pressure on the yoke
3 - releasing pressure - - the yoke moved, gotta trim some more
4 - reset the attitude - - I'll look at the altitude again to check my progress
5 - Looking at altitude - - MENTAL SNAPSHOT
1 - yea, that was easing back towards the zero - - I like that
2 - releasing pressure on the yoke again - - yes, that's better - - all trimmed now
3 - I better check the heading this time; it's been a few cycles since I checked it last
4 - wings are level, goooooood
5 - looking at heading - MENTAL SNAPSHOT
1 - OK, heading was 2 degrees off what I thought we had set, let me roll into 2 degrees of bank to fix that
2 - keeping the nose level, rolling into bank, SET the picture
3 - having it trimmed makes this easier -- not having to push or pull this time
4 - better check the airspeed this time; it's been a while
5 - looking at airspeed - - MENTAL SNAPSHOT
Well, I'm sure you're quite bored of all this by now, but you probably understand a little of what I'm trying to say. You discipline yourself to do the most important things first, and prioritize the other things. When you set a control instrument, you should be setting a specific PICTURE on the attitude indicator, or a specific POWER SETTING on the gauge - - RPM, pressure, N1, EPR - - whatever the measure is -- a SPECIFIC number. You're not going to just pull a little more, or push a little less, or push the throttle in a tad, or pull it back a hair - - you're going to set a specific picture - - the one that you know will give you level flight, or 300 fpm descent, or whatever it is you want to achieve. And you're going to set the exact power setting that you know will give you 105 knots straight and level at 3000', or 500 fpm descent, or whatever you desire to achieve. If you don't know exactly, take a guess, estimate based on what you DO know, and if it works, remember it for next time. Next time, as you approach the point where you want to begin a 500 fpm descent, you'll be thinking ahead - "When I get to this point, I'll be setting X on my power gauge." If it turns out it doesn't work out exactly the same - - maybe it's warmer today - - you'll make adjustments, but at least they'll be smaller adjustments, and you won't have to chase it as much. Remember - - SET power, SET pitch, SET bank -- none of this push, pull, lean, hope stuff anymore!
Airspeed, heading, V V I - - those are all performance instruments - - they tell you what the airplane is doing - - or, to be more accurate, since they lag, they tell you what the airplane WAS doing - - I think of them as HISTORY instruments. If you spend your time chasing your performance instruments - - if you spend your time chasing your HISTORY - - you'll only frustrate yourself. Incorporate them into your crosscheck only to refine what you're doing with the controls.
Of course, in the instrument environment, you'll also be concerned with the third type of instruments - - Navigation instruments. Obviously you will incorporate those into your cross check as appropriate for the type of procedure you're flying, and the point along that procedure where you find yourself. But the fundamentals of the CONTROL-PERFORMANCE concept of instrument flying remain the same - - focus primarily on the controls - - the HISTORY will follow.
CHAIRFLYING can be an invaluable tool in mastering these skills. Take a piece of paper and write down a general sequence of events for a possible instrument flight scenario. Take your last flight, for example. You took off from point A, you went here, you flew this approach, you did this, you did that. Now, plant yourself in a chair and imagine yourself in the cockpit. Walk through every step of the way just as if you're in the airplane. Pull out the charts and brief the approach. Plan the sequence of specific steps in your mind. PRACTICE your cross check. Keep asking yourself, "WHAT's the most important thing to be looking at NOW - - and what's the NEXT thing I want to be doing?" Rehearsal pays dividends both in enhancement of skills, and in savings of actual flight hours - - i.e., MONEY. If you think it's boring, start counting the dollars you're saving.
(I got too longwinded - - gotta split this in 2 parts…)
. I've never been airsick before, and i used to fly overseas all the time with my dad as a kid. 
