IMC rating diary
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HWD: cheers, thanks - and I think I will do all QNH this weekend and probably from now on.
tmm: I am based at Wycombe.... so Filton a bit of a trek compared to Cranfield which only takes ~15min to get to. But, once I get the rating I think I will make a point of doing a couple of approaches at Filton on the way back from Land's End trip I am planning with a mate (also IMC rated so we can safety-pilot for each other) - cheers!
Andy
tmm: I am based at Wycombe.... so Filton a bit of a trek compared to Cranfield which only takes ~15min to get to. But, once I get the rating I think I will make a point of doing a couple of approaches at Filton on the way back from Land's End trip I am planning with a mate (also IMC rated so we can safety-pilot for each other) - cheers!
Andy
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It seems that some approaches are optimised for QFE and some for QNH with nice round numbers for either one or the other.
Nice idea, but not the case. The approaches are designed using a set of criteria, with input coming from the local survey of obstacles, aerodrome lighting, missed approach paths amongst other things. The minima and platform heights are derived from this information and if they happen to be round numbers then it's serendipity.
It seems that some approaches are optimised for QFE and some for QNH with nice round numbers for either one or the other.
Nice idea, but not the case. The approaches are designed using a set of criteria, with input coming from the local survey of obstacles, aerodrome lighting, missed approach paths amongst other things. The minima and platform heights are derived from this information and if they happen to be round numbers then it's serendipity.
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HELP! Radio Failure rules, AIP ENR 1-6?
Tevor Thom says "see AIP ENR 1-6" for radio failure rules... but I can't see where in http://www.ais.org.uk/aes/pubs/aip/pdf/enr/2010601.PDF or the other sections of 1-6 this is? I searched using Acrobat for "failure" and although some references to it, not what I was looking for.
If anyone could steer me to this I would be grateful!
Thanks,
Andy
If anyone could steer me to this I would be grateful!
Thanks,
Andy
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Great to be "on top"!!!
Another great day today... low vis, METAR giving 2200m, so definitely wouldn't have flown VFR... sorry to sound mean, but it felt great to hear people cancelling VFR flights at the club and knowing that we could go anyway because of the marvel that is instrument flying... does this make me a bad person!?
As we set out tracking to WCO enroute to Cranfield from Wycombe, we climbed through a layer which I think started about 2600 (I couldn't see out from behind the screens so couldn't tell you for sure!).
In the climb the boss opened the little post-box sized slot before my eyes so I could see I was in cloud - felt great. Then it slowly became brighter, and brigher, then suddenly... BLUE!. It looked wonderful - and felt very special to be in VMC on top with summery blue skies and sunlight all around, above the lovely, flat, fluffy and oh-so-white clouds!
My little letterbox slot closed again after just a few glorious moments on top, then it was back to business... track to enter the hold at Cranfield, around the hold a couple times (boss seemed disappointed because there was no wind to speak of so he thought it a bit too easy for me...) and then a couple of "alternate procedure" ILS approaches followed by a direct ILS approach, then back to Wycombe VFR (well the boss was VFR, I was behind the screens...).
On the way back we did some partial panel recovery from unusual attitudes... these frankly do me head in, so I struggled a bit with these but largely got away with it.
It was very beautiful as we approached Wycombe... those that are familiar with the area will know that there are a series of valleys running N/S as you approach the town, and these filled with mist and it looked lovely from above. I had trouble spotting the field in the haze, but the boss knew where it was anyway, and so we landed uneventfully.
A great flight - and after a pause for a sandwich in the re-furbished "clubhouse" pub on the airfield (much improved from the old "Happy Landings" which was a total dump prior to refurbishment!) I did my IMC ground exam, and passed OK (84% - two silly mistakes, and two I frankly did not know the answer to!). So, a good end to a great day... just a couple more lessons I hope (in the new year as we are going away) and then the test!!!
Andy
p.s. I found www.airquiz.com an excellent way of preparing for the exam - highly recommended!
As we set out tracking to WCO enroute to Cranfield from Wycombe, we climbed through a layer which I think started about 2600 (I couldn't see out from behind the screens so couldn't tell you for sure!).
In the climb the boss opened the little post-box sized slot before my eyes so I could see I was in cloud - felt great. Then it slowly became brighter, and brigher, then suddenly... BLUE!. It looked wonderful - and felt very special to be in VMC on top with summery blue skies and sunlight all around, above the lovely, flat, fluffy and oh-so-white clouds!
My little letterbox slot closed again after just a few glorious moments on top, then it was back to business... track to enter the hold at Cranfield, around the hold a couple times (boss seemed disappointed because there was no wind to speak of so he thought it a bit too easy for me...) and then a couple of "alternate procedure" ILS approaches followed by a direct ILS approach, then back to Wycombe VFR (well the boss was VFR, I was behind the screens...).
On the way back we did some partial panel recovery from unusual attitudes... these frankly do me head in, so I struggled a bit with these but largely got away with it.
It was very beautiful as we approached Wycombe... those that are familiar with the area will know that there are a series of valleys running N/S as you approach the town, and these filled with mist and it looked lovely from above. I had trouble spotting the field in the haze, but the boss knew where it was anyway, and so we landed uneventfully.
A great flight - and after a pause for a sandwich in the re-furbished "clubhouse" pub on the airfield (much improved from the old "Happy Landings" which was a total dump prior to refurbishment!) I did my IMC ground exam, and passed OK (84% - two silly mistakes, and two I frankly did not know the answer to!). So, a good end to a great day... just a couple more lessons I hope (in the new year as we are going away) and then the test!!!
Andy
p.s. I found www.airquiz.com an excellent way of preparing for the exam - highly recommended!
Last edited by Aussie Andy; 12th Dec 2004 at 20:28.
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Nearly there!
Hi all, not sure where the rest of you (Jez? OBS?) have got to - are you still progressing with the IMC rating, or perhaps you have already completed it by now? Well I haven't had an IMC lesson since mid-December (about 5 weeks!) due to work commitments and wx, so I was feeling a bit anxious before today's session as currency seems to be everything in this game!
The exercise was simply Wycombe -> unofficial WCO SID -> Cranfield ILS approach x 2 and return. The departure was OK - 2000' wind about 35kts so nearly 40 degrees of drift correction applied as I tracked to Westcott (WCO) NDB. From WCO to Cranfield was uneventful, asked for and got cleared to the beacon to commence the procedure for the ILS approach. Forgot to ask for the weather, and when I did copy it I forgot to readback RWY in use and QNH. With the 35~40kt wind almost straight up my chuff as I headed "beacon outbound" I should have taken at least 30 secs off the outbound leg time, but only took off about 10 secs (d'oh!) and so after becoming established on the ILS, it was a l-o-n-g s-l-o-w haul back in to the marker. We eventually got there and the rest was uneventful down to 500' D.H. and go around back to the beacon for another turn.
This second time around, I b*ggered up the tracking outbound from the NDB, turning left when I should have turned right. Once I'd sorted this out at least I got the outbound leg timing right this time, and then turned back in to again intcept the localizer inbound. However it was then pointed out to me that I had failed to remember to do my downwind & "LID" checks whilst beacon outbound (because I was fannying about with the tracking) and so had to get these done whilst tracking in on the ILS. Of course doing so took my mind sufficiently off the job and soon I found I was nearly at half scale deflection and had to then work to get it all back under control. But all was in hand by the time we got to the marker, and things went well down to D.H. from there and we headed back Wycombe-wards VFR.
On the way back we did the usual assortment of limited and partial panel, recovery from unusual attitudes and stalls etc. When we got back to Wycombe it was dark. But at least because it was late and there was no other traffic in the ATZ - especially as there were no helicopters using the low-level circuit - I able for the first time to make a circling approach... we simualted approaching RWY 17 down to 500', then turned left to circle into position for RWY 24. This was a touch-and-go followed by a couple of bad weather low-level circuits at 500' close-in. I had forgotten what was meant by "configure the aircraft for bad weather" by which was meant two stages of flap and 2000 rpm for 75kts airspeed (PA28). I really enjoyed the low-level circuits - especially because I don't have a night-rating and this was night! Great fun.
The flight was followed by the usual de-brief in the bosses office during which he read from a long list of misdemeanors he had written down during the 1hr 50m flight. My verdict was that I will need to do some more consolidation given the long layoff I had had. So imagine my surprise when he told me "you are ready for the test"... gulp! After adding up the training hours it seems I am 40mins short of the min. dual time required, so next Sat evening we will fly 40mins dual IMC to fix this, then next Sunday - weather permitting - I will be doing the test from 14:00.
Anyone with experiences of the test to share, please do...
Wish me luck!
Andy
The exercise was simply Wycombe -> unofficial WCO SID -> Cranfield ILS approach x 2 and return. The departure was OK - 2000' wind about 35kts so nearly 40 degrees of drift correction applied as I tracked to Westcott (WCO) NDB. From WCO to Cranfield was uneventful, asked for and got cleared to the beacon to commence the procedure for the ILS approach. Forgot to ask for the weather, and when I did copy it I forgot to readback RWY in use and QNH. With the 35~40kt wind almost straight up my chuff as I headed "beacon outbound" I should have taken at least 30 secs off the outbound leg time, but only took off about 10 secs (d'oh!) and so after becoming established on the ILS, it was a l-o-n-g s-l-o-w haul back in to the marker. We eventually got there and the rest was uneventful down to 500' D.H. and go around back to the beacon for another turn.
This second time around, I b*ggered up the tracking outbound from the NDB, turning left when I should have turned right. Once I'd sorted this out at least I got the outbound leg timing right this time, and then turned back in to again intcept the localizer inbound. However it was then pointed out to me that I had failed to remember to do my downwind & "LID" checks whilst beacon outbound (because I was fannying about with the tracking) and so had to get these done whilst tracking in on the ILS. Of course doing so took my mind sufficiently off the job and soon I found I was nearly at half scale deflection and had to then work to get it all back under control. But all was in hand by the time we got to the marker, and things went well down to D.H. from there and we headed back Wycombe-wards VFR.
On the way back we did the usual assortment of limited and partial panel, recovery from unusual attitudes and stalls etc. When we got back to Wycombe it was dark. But at least because it was late and there was no other traffic in the ATZ - especially as there were no helicopters using the low-level circuit - I able for the first time to make a circling approach... we simualted approaching RWY 17 down to 500', then turned left to circle into position for RWY 24. This was a touch-and-go followed by a couple of bad weather low-level circuits at 500' close-in. I had forgotten what was meant by "configure the aircraft for bad weather" by which was meant two stages of flap and 2000 rpm for 75kts airspeed (PA28). I really enjoyed the low-level circuits - especially because I don't have a night-rating and this was night! Great fun.
The flight was followed by the usual de-brief in the bosses office during which he read from a long list of misdemeanors he had written down during the 1hr 50m flight. My verdict was that I will need to do some more consolidation given the long layoff I had had. So imagine my surprise when he told me "you are ready for the test"... gulp! After adding up the training hours it seems I am 40mins short of the min. dual time required, so next Sat evening we will fly 40mins dual IMC to fix this, then next Sunday - weather permitting - I will be doing the test from 14:00.
Anyone with experiences of the test to share, please do...
Wish me luck!
Andy
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Aussie Andy,
Great to hear you are nearly there.
I am still chasing the goal, and in reality only have about 2 1/2 hours to do before getting there. The difficulty has been domestic arrangements with small child and family just bringing a tremendously hectic Christmas period.
I am aiming to get airbourne again later this week and all going well the re-invigorated training should see me through the test within the next few weeks.
Apologies to all for the slight delay in updates, normal service will be resumed shortly.
Obs Cop
Great to hear you are nearly there.
I am still chasing the goal, and in reality only have about 2 1/2 hours to do before getting there. The difficulty has been domestic arrangements with small child and family just bringing a tremendously hectic Christmas period.
I am aiming to get airbourne again later this week and all going well the re-invigorated training should see me through the test within the next few weeks.
Apologies to all for the slight delay in updates, normal service will be resumed shortly.
Obs Cop
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Hi all, not sure where the rest of you (Jez? OBS?) have got to
Just took my IMC Skills Test and... passed!
Glad to hear you are fast approaching the target of the IMC skills test. I think it'd be a little unfair of me to talk too much about what's in the skills test. But it would be fair to say that you've got little to worry about if your boss reckons your ready. One good source of what's in the test is available from the CAA website - http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/FORSRG1176.PDF.
Get all of those bits right and you'll be filling in this form.
Since getting the IMCR (it took about three weeks to be issued) I've not flown anywhere near one cloud. Coming back into EMA the other day from Cambridge I request and flew a radar vectored ILS approach for the hell of it. I was working on my theory that flying the approach in VMC without a hood has the benifit of keeping the procedure and RT current. I messed some of it up so it was a worthy excersise...
Good luck for the weekend!
Jez
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I PASSED!!!
Hi everybody, happy to report that I did the IMC flight test today and passed! It went pretty smoothly... only two slight probs:
The first is that I had a choice between two aircraft, one with a "slightly dodgy AI" (reported to be sticking a bit in the pitch axis), and the other with no bug on the DI. I decided that living without a bug and having to remember my last selected heading was probably the lesser of two evils, and I would just have to manage with that - so we set used G-BODR.
The second problem was going to be the wind, which was forecast as having about a 25 knot tail-wind component on the ILS heading (215), so I'd have to keep up the rate-of-descent and the final phase would happen much more quickly than usual.
The drill was that I was to plan and fly to Cranfield, as if the examiner was just a passenger. I prepared a nice flight plan and all, but he didn't ask to see it. I had already booked my NDB/ILS approach at Cranfield, timed to be on the beacon at 15:00. As it turned out we were ready to go much earlier and the nice people at Cranfield TWR were happy to accomodate my request to bring it forward to 14:30. We ended up there about 10 mins earlier, but they managed to accomodate us by getting us to descend below some other chap who was joining the hold about then (thanks guys!).
Flew the club's unofficial "Westcott SID" to depart Wycombe, tracked to WCO, then turned and tracked to the CIT at Cranfield from where the approach begins at 3,500'. Got my clearance from CFD APP, copied the weather and readback the RWY in use and QNH. Because of the headwind, it seemed to take an age to reach CIT. A few times along the way the nice lady in the TWR asked me to transmit for VDF (no Radar at Cranfield) so she could guage my position and eventually this led to me being asked to descend to 2,500' before reaching the beacon. I added 30 seconds to the outbound leg time to account for the headwind for total of 3 minutes (cat A) and 20 degrees of drift heading. To my delight, it all worked out and I didn't end up passing through the centreline when turning to become established on the LLZ. So far it had all been quite leisurely but then, as expected due to the big tail-wind, it all started going a bit more quickly than usual and I was back at the beacon in no time and with 700fpm R.o.D. (versus usual 400 fpm) was above the glide slope... so back with the power and down with the nose for ~1,000fpm until I caught up with the glideslope. At least the crosswind was steady, requiring about 15 degrees into wind all the way down, so maintaining the centreline was mercifully easy in today's conditions! At 500' D.H. the screen was drawn back to reveal the runway dead ahead - happy days!
Climbed away on the go-around, up to 4,000' whilst routing VFR back to Wycombe via WCO and on the way back had the expected position fix, timed compass turns, partial panel, unusual attitudes, etc. All went well, I am pleased to report! Then screens down and VFR return to Wycombe. Happy Days indeed
!
So it was a pretty straightforward affair, nothing unexpected and generally easier than the lessons which had been generally taught to higher-than-test tolerances to ensure we are OK for the test.
Before I go, I must tell you about my previous lesson, which was not so straight forward and generally more dramatic... Although the test was booked, I had been told that I had to fly an additional 40 minutes prior to the test in order to have the requisite 15 instructional hrs required. I was scheduled for a 16:30 slot from Wycombe for this last training sortie, but the occlusion with the snow that headed our way from the west yesterday afternoon was also timed to be with us at about the same time, and TAF at Brize was indicating ~800' cloud base with it, so I figured the flight would not be on (no instrument approach at Wycombe). But when the boss landed back from a previous trip he said to go an get ready and wait in the a/c, which I did. We had signs of carb-ice at the hold, but cleared it all OK. I asked if I should be concerned about icing, but the boss said that "as snow is already frozen it won't stick" and it seems he knows what he is talking about (!) as we had no ice form on the wings during the flight.
We climbed out just as the snow shower arrived - no need for the panels as we were straight into the soup by ~400' and I did not see anything much again until we landed. I found I had an incredibly persuasive case of the leans - seemed to be due to the long climbing turn involved in this SID, being in real IMC, and feeling nervy due to what we could hear of other people's problems below us (more on this below). Once levelled off at 3,500', we headed out towards Westcott as planned but when we didn't pop out of the side of the shower and could not out-climb it given the airspace, the boss said we'd have to head back so we got a radar service from Farnborough and tracked towards CPT to pick up a radial that would take us back to the field.
As we were doing this, the RT back at Wycombe became very busy - and was at times frightening to listen to. Three aircraft were VFR and trying to return to the field, where by now the cloudbase in the snow shower was ~300' or worse. Two were PPL's returning from cross countries to the east, and must have thought twice about continuing to Wycombe but seemingly the snow shower and low cloud engulfed them just as they had nearly made it back... the other aircraft was an instructor and student on a training detail. One of the returning a/c and the training flight made it back by whatever means they could, both eventually seeing the field at about 1/2 mile. But the third chap, apparently returning from Cambridge, seemed to really be in dire straights... he was unable to tell TWR his position, so they got him to call D&D on 121.5 for a position fix and vectors for the approach to Wycombe RWY 06... twice he called back to Wycombe TWR but apparently either couldn't see the airfield, or saw it too late and was too high to land, and so back into the soup... in the end he had to call back to D&D on 121.5 three times and on the thrid attempt made it back into Wycombe - lucky boy...!
So, back to us in our Warrior at 3,500' heading to CPT... we turned to intercept CPT radial 070 which takes you back to Wycombe at about 17dme. By now it was pitch dark because even though it was not yet official night, the black clouds that had brought the snow showers had blocked out all of what remained of the daylight. The boss had me descend first to 2,500' then to 2,000 then to 1,500 (about 1000' aal) and then we could jst make out some lights below. For me this was a useful lesson: I found I was so badly tempted to look out the side windows to see the odd house light that I was very quickly - frighteningly so - in a descending turn towards where I was looking: even though I had only looked away from the instruments for a fraction of a second I thought. After the second time (and a growl from the boss!) I decided I'd just keep my head inside the cockpit for now..! The boss had me orbit at 1,500 while he confirmed our position as Henley (bend in the river, town) and got me to say bye to Farnborough, and call Wycombe inbound from Henley with 4 miles to run.
No way could we see Wycombe, but an orangey-glow ahead just might be the red APAPI's? We headed for this, whilst stil ltracking CPT070. I found looking ahead to keep my eye on this glow (fleetingly, then back to instruments!) was difficult because of the dazzling effect of the snow-flakes rushing towards me and illuminated by the beam of the landing light. As we got closer to the glow, I could see a couple of red lights further ahead that looked more like they might be APAPI's, and then passed overhead the glow which turned out to be a big bonfire in some back yard! Now we could see the APAPI's, but not the runway (the runway lights were on, but they are not designed for such low-vis conditions as these!)...
Eventually, at about 1 mile, and with the cloud-base by now improved to about 600' aal but still snowing, the runway heaved into view and I was able to call final. The boss said "make this a touch and go"... the man in the TWR thought we were mad, but said "if you insist" and so we did 4x "real" bad weather circuits before finally landing!
All good character building stuff, and a great experience I would not want to have missed - but I was glad the boss was along for the ride as I am only about 75% sure I would have got myself back in those conditions. In practice I would have diverted to Cranfield as the weather wouldn't have yet reached them, or if I couldn't out-run it I would have headed for Brize and asked for a vectored SRA or PAR approach I guess.
So I hope you might find this of interest - all the best to everyone and I look forward to hearing more from the rest of you, especially OBSCop when you do your test - good luck!
Andy
The first is that I had a choice between two aircraft, one with a "slightly dodgy AI" (reported to be sticking a bit in the pitch axis), and the other with no bug on the DI. I decided that living without a bug and having to remember my last selected heading was probably the lesser of two evils, and I would just have to manage with that - so we set used G-BODR.
The second problem was going to be the wind, which was forecast as having about a 25 knot tail-wind component on the ILS heading (215), so I'd have to keep up the rate-of-descent and the final phase would happen much more quickly than usual.
The drill was that I was to plan and fly to Cranfield, as if the examiner was just a passenger. I prepared a nice flight plan and all, but he didn't ask to see it. I had already booked my NDB/ILS approach at Cranfield, timed to be on the beacon at 15:00. As it turned out we were ready to go much earlier and the nice people at Cranfield TWR were happy to accomodate my request to bring it forward to 14:30. We ended up there about 10 mins earlier, but they managed to accomodate us by getting us to descend below some other chap who was joining the hold about then (thanks guys!).
Flew the club's unofficial "Westcott SID" to depart Wycombe, tracked to WCO, then turned and tracked to the CIT at Cranfield from where the approach begins at 3,500'. Got my clearance from CFD APP, copied the weather and readback the RWY in use and QNH. Because of the headwind, it seemed to take an age to reach CIT. A few times along the way the nice lady in the TWR asked me to transmit for VDF (no Radar at Cranfield) so she could guage my position and eventually this led to me being asked to descend to 2,500' before reaching the beacon. I added 30 seconds to the outbound leg time to account for the headwind for total of 3 minutes (cat A) and 20 degrees of drift heading. To my delight, it all worked out and I didn't end up passing through the centreline when turning to become established on the LLZ. So far it had all been quite leisurely but then, as expected due to the big tail-wind, it all started going a bit more quickly than usual and I was back at the beacon in no time and with 700fpm R.o.D. (versus usual 400 fpm) was above the glide slope... so back with the power and down with the nose for ~1,000fpm until I caught up with the glideslope. At least the crosswind was steady, requiring about 15 degrees into wind all the way down, so maintaining the centreline was mercifully easy in today's conditions! At 500' D.H. the screen was drawn back to reveal the runway dead ahead - happy days!
Climbed away on the go-around, up to 4,000' whilst routing VFR back to Wycombe via WCO and on the way back had the expected position fix, timed compass turns, partial panel, unusual attitudes, etc. All went well, I am pleased to report! Then screens down and VFR return to Wycombe. Happy Days indeed
!So it was a pretty straightforward affair, nothing unexpected and generally easier than the lessons which had been generally taught to higher-than-test tolerances to ensure we are OK for the test.
Before I go, I must tell you about my previous lesson, which was not so straight forward and generally more dramatic... Although the test was booked, I had been told that I had to fly an additional 40 minutes prior to the test in order to have the requisite 15 instructional hrs required. I was scheduled for a 16:30 slot from Wycombe for this last training sortie, but the occlusion with the snow that headed our way from the west yesterday afternoon was also timed to be with us at about the same time, and TAF at Brize was indicating ~800' cloud base with it, so I figured the flight would not be on (no instrument approach at Wycombe). But when the boss landed back from a previous trip he said to go an get ready and wait in the a/c, which I did. We had signs of carb-ice at the hold, but cleared it all OK. I asked if I should be concerned about icing, but the boss said that "as snow is already frozen it won't stick" and it seems he knows what he is talking about (!) as we had no ice form on the wings during the flight.
We climbed out just as the snow shower arrived - no need for the panels as we were straight into the soup by ~400' and I did not see anything much again until we landed. I found I had an incredibly persuasive case of the leans - seemed to be due to the long climbing turn involved in this SID, being in real IMC, and feeling nervy due to what we could hear of other people's problems below us (more on this below). Once levelled off at 3,500', we headed out towards Westcott as planned but when we didn't pop out of the side of the shower and could not out-climb it given the airspace, the boss said we'd have to head back so we got a radar service from Farnborough and tracked towards CPT to pick up a radial that would take us back to the field.
As we were doing this, the RT back at Wycombe became very busy - and was at times frightening to listen to. Three aircraft were VFR and trying to return to the field, where by now the cloudbase in the snow shower was ~300' or worse. Two were PPL's returning from cross countries to the east, and must have thought twice about continuing to Wycombe but seemingly the snow shower and low cloud engulfed them just as they had nearly made it back... the other aircraft was an instructor and student on a training detail. One of the returning a/c and the training flight made it back by whatever means they could, both eventually seeing the field at about 1/2 mile. But the third chap, apparently returning from Cambridge, seemed to really be in dire straights... he was unable to tell TWR his position, so they got him to call D&D on 121.5 for a position fix and vectors for the approach to Wycombe RWY 06... twice he called back to Wycombe TWR but apparently either couldn't see the airfield, or saw it too late and was too high to land, and so back into the soup... in the end he had to call back to D&D on 121.5 three times and on the thrid attempt made it back into Wycombe - lucky boy...!
So, back to us in our Warrior at 3,500' heading to CPT... we turned to intercept CPT radial 070 which takes you back to Wycombe at about 17dme. By now it was pitch dark because even though it was not yet official night, the black clouds that had brought the snow showers had blocked out all of what remained of the daylight. The boss had me descend first to 2,500' then to 2,000 then to 1,500 (about 1000' aal) and then we could jst make out some lights below. For me this was a useful lesson: I found I was so badly tempted to look out the side windows to see the odd house light that I was very quickly - frighteningly so - in a descending turn towards where I was looking: even though I had only looked away from the instruments for a fraction of a second I thought. After the second time (and a growl from the boss!) I decided I'd just keep my head inside the cockpit for now..! The boss had me orbit at 1,500 while he confirmed our position as Henley (bend in the river, town) and got me to say bye to Farnborough, and call Wycombe inbound from Henley with 4 miles to run.
No way could we see Wycombe, but an orangey-glow ahead just might be the red APAPI's? We headed for this, whilst stil ltracking CPT070. I found looking ahead to keep my eye on this glow (fleetingly, then back to instruments!) was difficult because of the dazzling effect of the snow-flakes rushing towards me and illuminated by the beam of the landing light. As we got closer to the glow, I could see a couple of red lights further ahead that looked more like they might be APAPI's, and then passed overhead the glow which turned out to be a big bonfire in some back yard! Now we could see the APAPI's, but not the runway (the runway lights were on, but they are not designed for such low-vis conditions as these!)...
Eventually, at about 1 mile, and with the cloud-base by now improved to about 600' aal but still snowing, the runway heaved into view and I was able to call final. The boss said "make this a touch and go"... the man in the TWR thought we were mad, but said "if you insist" and so we did 4x "real" bad weather circuits before finally landing!
All good character building stuff, and a great experience I would not want to have missed - but I was glad the boss was along for the ride as I am only about 75% sure I would have got myself back in those conditions. In practice I would have diverted to Cranfield as the weather wouldn't have yet reached them, or if I couldn't out-run it I would have headed for Brize and asked for a vectored SRA or PAR approach I guess.
So I hope you might find this of interest - all the best to everyone and I look forward to hearing more from the rest of you, especially OBSCop when you do your test - good luck!
Andy
Last edited by Aussie Andy; 22nd Feb 2005 at 14:24.
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Well done Andy, that puts you in the same catagory as Jez (both g1ts for having passed, with me languishing a dismal third
).
Lesson, oh darn I don't know what number
Got airbourne late last week, but the winds were horrendous, full of lumps and bumps. Worst of it was that I was airsick, meaning a return to the field after only 20 minutes. Most of this is attributed to the long 8 week layoff from my last flight, with very rough air and limited visual references.
Should anyone be remptely interested in airsickness (and no, as supported by the RAF's School of Aviation Medicine desensitisation course attended by my good self, it is not all in the mind!) then I have made several posts on the medical matters forum. Suffice to say, I fly for fun and when it's no longer fun I land.
Lesson, oh darn I don't know what number + 1
Got airbourne on Friday afternoon. Eeek what a wind. We used this hour for a bit of beacon tracking, climb and descent practice and also partial panel work. The wind was Northerly between 35 and 40 kts, and we even had the joy of real cloud. The cloudbase was at about 1800 feet, so we climbed straight into the crud after a takeoff from 05. We routed initially towards Daventry VOR and climbed to 3000'. It was great to find out that despite the time away from the air I could still track a VOR. It was harder than usual as our Nav 1 VOR/ILS/DME gauge wasn't giving track information only distance and groundspeed. The Nav2 gauge only does track but is on the far right of the cockpit. This somewhat stretched my scan, but still small things are sent to try you.
Heading South East with a strong Northerly it didn't take long to get there, before I passed over the beacon and turned to intercept a 010 radial. A couple of minutes later I had crept about a mile north of the beacon into a vicious headwind. We climbed to 4000' to see if we could break the cloud tops but all I found was ice. It looks like stationary water on the wing struts, and in some ways looked quite harmless, but knowledge is power and so down we went. The warmer climes of 2500' soon cleared it as I laughed to airtraffic dealing with trying to deconflict several VFR aircraft trying to operate in the narrow band of 1200 to 1700' to remain clear of the cloud. Unhindered by such considerations we were powering North at a groundspeed of 50 kts
I am a strong believer in maintaining a picture of aerial activity when listening to the radio, and when a Thompsonfly 737 announced itself as inbound to Coventry on the radio, I pictured up an image of small IMC cessna in cloud, large 737 plus wake in cloud, both in uncontrolled airspace. sensing an AAIB enquiry and not knowing their whereabouts to ensure clearance I thought it prudent to update ATC with our position and altitude. By now we had crept to 8nm North of Daventry, crawling along and getting nowhere fast. Due to the wind, it was still bumpy in our little world of cloud, but I was feeling way better than last week, so much so that we even did 15 minutes of partial panel with climbs and descents included. Todays fun was some partial panel low speed flying at 50 kts in cloud. Whilst quite unnerving, the aircraft just needed some fine handling and there we were, a groundspeed of 15 kts. Some would say why bother, but just knowing the aircraft will do it gives me a boost of confidence, even though I may never do it again.
Indeed, gentle exploration of the limits of an aircraft with an experienced instructor alongside should be something that more people do when they do get a chance. Most flying training is quite prescriptive in what you need to learn/achieve, but there is so much more outside of this that really can develop and improve a pilot. Sometimes, just taking yourself out of the comfort zone is a good thing (as I say with an experienced instructor!)
Finally figuring out that we would probably never get to Leicester in our alloted time, we headed back to Coventry, but due to the traffic we just had to accept a conventional recovery.
All in all, pretty happy. No sickness, 1 hour to do and already ready for test - apparently
Again, well done Jez and Andy. BTW have either of you used your new IMCR's yet?
Obs cop
Well done Andy, that puts you in the same catagory as Jez (both g1ts for having passed, with me languishing a dismal third
).Lesson, oh darn I don't know what number
Got airbourne late last week, but the winds were horrendous, full of lumps and bumps. Worst of it was that I was airsick, meaning a return to the field after only 20 minutes. Most of this is attributed to the long 8 week layoff from my last flight, with very rough air and limited visual references.
Should anyone be remptely interested in airsickness (and no, as supported by the RAF's School of Aviation Medicine desensitisation course attended by my good self, it is not all in the mind!) then I have made several posts on the medical matters forum. Suffice to say, I fly for fun and when it's no longer fun I land.
Lesson, oh darn I don't know what number + 1
Got airbourne on Friday afternoon. Eeek what a wind. We used this hour for a bit of beacon tracking, climb and descent practice and also partial panel work. The wind was Northerly between 35 and 40 kts, and we even had the joy of real cloud. The cloudbase was at about 1800 feet, so we climbed straight into the crud after a takeoff from 05. We routed initially towards Daventry VOR and climbed to 3000'. It was great to find out that despite the time away from the air I could still track a VOR. It was harder than usual as our Nav 1 VOR/ILS/DME gauge wasn't giving track information only distance and groundspeed. The Nav2 gauge only does track but is on the far right of the cockpit. This somewhat stretched my scan, but still small things are sent to try you.
Heading South East with a strong Northerly it didn't take long to get there, before I passed over the beacon and turned to intercept a 010 radial. A couple of minutes later I had crept about a mile north of the beacon into a vicious headwind. We climbed to 4000' to see if we could break the cloud tops but all I found was ice. It looks like stationary water on the wing struts, and in some ways looked quite harmless, but knowledge is power and so down we went. The warmer climes of 2500' soon cleared it as I laughed to airtraffic dealing with trying to deconflict several VFR aircraft trying to operate in the narrow band of 1200 to 1700' to remain clear of the cloud. Unhindered by such considerations we were powering North at a groundspeed of 50 kts
I am a strong believer in maintaining a picture of aerial activity when listening to the radio, and when a Thompsonfly 737 announced itself as inbound to Coventry on the radio, I pictured up an image of small IMC cessna in cloud, large 737 plus wake in cloud, both in uncontrolled airspace. sensing an AAIB enquiry and not knowing their whereabouts to ensure clearance I thought it prudent to update ATC with our position and altitude. By now we had crept to 8nm North of Daventry, crawling along and getting nowhere fast. Due to the wind, it was still bumpy in our little world of cloud, but I was feeling way better than last week, so much so that we even did 15 minutes of partial panel with climbs and descents included. Todays fun was some partial panel low speed flying at 50 kts in cloud. Whilst quite unnerving, the aircraft just needed some fine handling and there we were, a groundspeed of 15 kts. Some would say why bother, but just knowing the aircraft will do it gives me a boost of confidence, even though I may never do it again.
Indeed, gentle exploration of the limits of an aircraft with an experienced instructor alongside should be something that more people do when they do get a chance. Most flying training is quite prescriptive in what you need to learn/achieve, but there is so much more outside of this that really can develop and improve a pilot. Sometimes, just taking yourself out of the comfort zone is a good thing (as I say with an experienced instructor!)
Finally figuring out that we would probably never get to Leicester in our alloted time, we headed back to Coventry, but due to the traffic we just had to accept a conventional recovery.
All in all, pretty happy. No sickness, 1 hour to do and already ready for test - apparently
Again, well done Jez and Andy. BTW have either of you used your new IMCR's yet?
Obs cop
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G'day Obs cop! Sounds like you're back in the saddle and enjoying yourself! I am envious of your experience of a little ice: although I did get to spend some time in actual IMC, it never iced and I find myself wondering what it would look like, whether I'd notice it, how ti would affect handling, how quickly it would melt once I descended etc. as it's always better to have practical than theoretical experience... anyway, thanks for your description!
I have not used the rating in anger yet - primarily because I don't have it... I sent off the form with logbook and a cheque for £70 on Monday last week and on about Thursday received a receipt (so at least I know that they have received the application and logbook OK). I guess I'll have it in a week or so!?
Am planning to fly VFR next weekend - I almost "need the practice" at VFR now!
Then, on Sat 12 Feb, I have planned a trip to Land's End with a mate of mine, which we'll do primarily VFR but I plan to a) climb above a thin layer if there is one; and b) do a practice approach at Exeter and/or Bourmeouth on the way back... so that will hopefully be the first use of the rating in anger.
I guess you must have the test coming up soon... good luck!
Andy
I have not used the rating in anger yet - primarily because I don't have it... I sent off the form with logbook and a cheque for £70 on Monday last week and on about Thursday received a receipt (so at least I know that they have received the application and logbook OK). I guess I'll have it in a week or so!?
Am planning to fly VFR next weekend - I almost "need the practice" at VFR now!
Then, on Sat 12 Feb, I have planned a trip to Land's End with a mate of mine, which we'll do primarily VFR but I plan to a) climb above a thin layer if there is one; and b) do a practice approach at Exeter and/or Bourmeouth on the way back... so that will hopefully be the first use of the rating in anger.I guess you must have the test coming up soon... good luck!
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Obs is alive and well and strapped back into a C152. Hurrah!
Glad to hear you're back on the case and just a short time away from your test.
In terms of using the IMCR - not really. I've now had it issued for about a month and in that time I've mostly been doing my Night Qualification. Since this requies VMC for VFR, there's been no opertunity to use it there. However, on a short jolly down to Cambridge and back I did shoot a ILS appr in VMC (without a hood) for the hell of it. It was CAVOK so not really much point in doing it. I could see the RWY 20nm away, but did one anyway "because I could".
Once I get this NQ out the way I'm going to plan a longer flight for late/mid Feb and pick somewhere that I could actually use the rating if I can.
Glad to hear you're back on the case and just a short time away from your test.
In terms of using the IMCR - not really. I've now had it issued for about a month and in that time I've mostly been doing my Night Qualification. Since this requies VMC for VFR, there's been no opertunity to use it there. However, on a short jolly down to Cambridge and back I did shoot a ILS appr in VMC (without a hood) for the hell of it. It was CAVOK so not really much point in doing it. I could see the RWY 20nm away, but did one anyway "because I could".
Once I get this NQ out the way I'm going to plan a longer flight for late/mid Feb and pick somewhere that I could actually use the rating if I can.
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Cheers for the support fella's.
The test is now only 1 hour away, and I'm hoping to get both done within the next fortnight (practice test and real one that is!).
I have to admit I've seen rime ice before when in the military, but this was definately clear ice. On the windscreen there was an odd mix which basically looked like a clear frost that wasn't shifting. I'm guessing that as the cockpit heat was on and we were not that far below freezing anyway, the screen would not have been that cold and this caused the slightly odd effect.
The clear ice was evident on the wing struts and looked like drips of water which had been blown back from the leading edge before freezing. With such a poor performing aircraft to begin with I would have thought the effects of the added weight and drag would soon become a problem, but we didn't hang around that long. We didn't collect enough to notice any handling or performance deficiencies and none was shed by the prop etc. to give any vibration.
Once in the warmer air it only took a couple of minutes to clear from the visible areas, but the cold metal towards the wing tips may have taken slightly longer, dunno as I copuldn't see.
Anyways, I am alive and well and back in the saddle, so the end is nigh for all of those out there tracking my every move (or lack of it recently)
Obs cop
The test is now only 1 hour away, and I'm hoping to get both done within the next fortnight (practice test and real one that is!).
I have to admit I've seen rime ice before when in the military, but this was definately clear ice. On the windscreen there was an odd mix which basically looked like a clear frost that wasn't shifting. I'm guessing that as the cockpit heat was on and we were not that far below freezing anyway, the screen would not have been that cold and this caused the slightly odd effect.
The clear ice was evident on the wing struts and looked like drips of water which had been blown back from the leading edge before freezing. With such a poor performing aircraft to begin with I would have thought the effects of the added weight and drag would soon become a problem, but we didn't hang around that long. We didn't collect enough to notice any handling or performance deficiencies and none was shed by the prop etc. to give any vibration.
Once in the warmer air it only took a couple of minutes to clear from the visible areas, but the cold metal towards the wing tips may have taken slightly longer, dunno as I copuldn't see.
Anyways, I am alive and well and back in the saddle, so the end is nigh for all of those out there tracking my every move (or lack of it recently)
Obs cop
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Very nice read this thread, thank you to the ones whos contributing there experiance.
I'm hoping to get a head start in IMC by preparing myself for the theory. I've read thoms volume 5 and enjoyed it but i doubt this book alone will get me through the theory. Just wishing to know how other IMC pilots prepared themselfs for the theory exam.
I dont have a good idea of what topics the theory is looking for as i've only been able to do 1 or 2 airquiz mock exams to get a feeling of what to expect.
I'm hoping to get a head start in IMC by preparing myself for the theory. I've read thoms volume 5 and enjoyed it but i doubt this book alone will get me through the theory. Just wishing to know how other IMC pilots prepared themselfs for the theory exam.
I dont have a good idea of what topics the theory is looking for as i've only been able to do 1 or 2 airquiz mock exams to get a feeling of what to expect.
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G'day wbryce:
Basically, I prepared by:[list=a][*]Reading Thom, and religiously doing the quiz at the end of each chapter (don't worry if not 100% clear at this stage, but this is the foundation work required);[*]Buying the IMC Confuser[*]Using the www.airquiz.com tests[*]Then, when scoring consistently above 90% on Airquiz and/or Confuser, I sat the test.[/list=a]You will pass. At the end of the day, I didn't find this as hard as I remembered some of the PPL tests (like Air Law for example) and there was more than enough time to get through the paper.
On the subject of whether to do it before the flight training or during it, I would say that I found some of the stuff for the exam a bit confusing before I had done the flight training, and that a lot of things made more sense because I had the context once I was about half way through the training, which is when I sat the paper.
Hope this helps,
Andy
wishing to know how other IMC pilots prepared themselfs for the theory exam
On the subject of whether to do it before the flight training or during it, I would say that I found some of the stuff for the exam a bit confusing before I had done the flight training, and that a lot of things made more sense because I had the context once I was about half way through the training, which is when I sat the paper.
Hope this helps,
Andy