IFR Tips
Tips To Help You Survive The IFR Environment
Please feel free to print this page and share it with your friends and fellow pilots.
We owe a great debt of gratitude to Mark Hohstadt, a Life Flight helicopter pilot based in Portland, Oregon, who was kind enough to share the below IFR Tips. Even though these tips are for helicopter pilots, many of these techniques and good operating practices apply to all pilots, regardless of the type of aircraft flown.
From the JUST HELICOPTERS.COM Forum
Great IFR tips from MARK HOHSTADT
Posted on October 27, 2005 at 14:44:41
From: hotshot430
Subject: Tips and techniques for SPIFR (Single Pilot IFR)
Here are some items that I put together for lecture purposes. You might find a few ideas in them.
TIPS TO HELP YOU SURVIVE THE IFR ENVIRONMENT
BY MARK HOHSTADT
1. IN NO OTHER AVIATION ENDEAVOR DOES THE RULE OF 6 P'S BECOME MORE IMPORTANT! PRIOR PLANNING PREVENTS PISS POOR PERFORMANANCE!
2. IF POSSIBLE, PRINT OUT THE LATEST WEATHER BEFORE YOU LAUNCH!
3. ALWAYS GET THE CURRENT NOTAMS THAT MAY AFFECT YOUR FLIGHT FROM AFSS AND CHECK THE CHART NOTAMS IN YOUR JEPPESON KIT OR GOVERNMENT CHARTS!
4. DO NOT ACCECPT AN IFR CLEARANCE THAT YOU OR YOUR AIRCRAFT CANNOT HANDLE!
5. HAVE YOUR FLIGHT DIRECTOR AND AUTO PILOT PRESET TO THE HEADINGS, ALTITUDES AND VERTICAL SPEED SELECTION THAT YOU EXPECT TO FLY BEFORE YOU LAUNCH!
6. NEATNESS DOES COUNT! HAVE YOUR MAPS, APROACH PLATES AND EQUIPMENT ARRANGED SO THEY ARE IN ORDER OF USE AND EASILY ACCESSIBLE IN FLIGHT. (KEEP SPARE PENCILS AND FLASH LIGHT, TAPE AND AN EXTRA HEADSET AT THE READY!)
I thought I would explain the notation regarding pencils and tape.
If you should drop your pencil or pen during IMC - DO NOT BEND OVER TO RETRIEVE IT!
This can cause you to instantly get a raging case of vertigo!
You can just grab another pencil from your pocket and keep on trucking!
If you must retrieve an item during IMC try to not move your head during the retrieval.
As for the tape, If you fly EMS ask your crew for a roll of wide surgical tape that is plentiful in the aircraft.. it is good for: covering a dead instrument in a partial panel situation or.. you can put a strip of it on your leg for an impromptu knee board to jot notes on... or if you are flying in VMC conditions towards the sun you can tear a small swatch of the tape and stick it on the windshield at the point where the sun is glaring thru onto your eye ball!
The spare headset is really important if you have a comm failure.. it may be your helmet or headset that has failed and you can swap with the spare headset.
Mark
7. WHEN HOVERING TO THE ACTIVE RUNWAY BE SURE TO CHECK YOUR INSTRUMENTS FOR PROPER OPERATION. WHEN CLEARED FOR TAKE OFF DO A (HITT) CHECK.
LINE UP ON THE RUNWAY AND CHECK: HEADING, INSTRUMENTS, TRANSPONDER, AND TIME.
NOTE: IF YOU ARE FLYING EMS (EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE) AIRCRAFT YOU MAY HAVE LANDED NEAR AN MRI (MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING) MACHINE THAT MAY CAUSE ALL OF YOUR DIRECTIONAL SYSTEMS TO MALFUNCTION!
8. BEFORE DEPARTING OR LANDING AT AN UNFAMILIAR AIRPORT TAKE TIME TO LOOK AT A VFR SECTIONAL TO FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF WITH TERRAIN AND OBSTRUCTIONS.
"CLEARED DIRECT" CAN BE A TRAP THAT CAN LEAD YOU INTO TERRAIN OR MAN MADE OBSTRUCTIONS!
IF YOU ARE DEPARTING AND GET A "CLEARED DIRECT" ROUTING YOU STILL MAY HAVE TO MANEUVER TO A SAFE ALTITUDE BEFORE TURNING ON COURSE.
FLY THE SID OR THE OBSTICAL CLEARANCE PROCEDURE.
9. WHEN IFR DURING ANY MANEUVER OR EMERGENCY THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS THAT YOU ALWAYS FLY THE AIRCRAFT!
10. IF YOU ARE HAVING A PROBLEM WHILE IMC ALWAYS REMEMBER: AAH! AIRSPEED, ALTITUDE AND HEADING! (regarding the letters AAH. My army instructor used to growl the word AAH! at me while I was flying and things were not quite right. When I asked him why he kept doing it he would explain that it stands for airspeed, altitude and heading. To this day I will tell myself AHH! when things aren't going perfectly when I am on the gauges and I have tried to pass this on to my instrument students.)
GET THE AIRCRAFT UNDER CONTROL AND THEN DEAL WITH THE NAV RADIOS AND OTHER TASKS.
11. WHILE ENROUTE TO THE DESTINATION TRY TO PICK UP THE ATIS OR AWOS INFORMATION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
THIS WILL GIVE YOU CLUES AS TO WHAT TYPE OF APPROACH YOU CAN EXPECT WHEN YOU GET TO THE TERMINAL AREA.
12. BRIEF THE PLATE!
THE FIRST THING YOU SHOULD DO IS CHECK THAT YOU HAVE CHOSEN THE CORRECT PLATE FOR THE CORRECT AIRPORT.
IF YOU ARE FLYING WITH A TWO PILOT CREW YOU SHOULD BOTH HAVE YOUR OWN APPROACH PLATES AND VERIFY THAT YOU ARE BOTH READING THE SAME PLATES!
PUT ALL OTHER PLATES ASIDE SO YOU DON'T ACCIDENTALY START READING THE WRONG INFORMATION FROM THE WRONG PLATE!
AFTER CHECKING THAT YOU HAVE THE CORRECT PLATE USE THE MARTHA ACRONYM:
M MISSED APPROACH
A ALTIMETER SETTING
R RADIO'S (THIS INCLUDES APPROACH FREQS. COMPASS LOCATOR, MARKER BEACONS, RADAR ALT. AND APPROACH/TOWER FREQS.)
T TIME IF THE APPROACH IS A TIMED APPROACH
H THE INBOUND HEADING
A ALTITUDE (HOW LOW CAN YOU GO)
NOTE: ALWAYS ASSUME YOU ARE GOING TO BE FLYING THE MISSED APPROACH!
13. THIS ONE IS REALLY IMPORTANT AND IS A QUOTE FROM MY OLD ARMY FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR:
"NEVER LET YOUR AZZ FLY ANYWHERE THAT YOUR MIND HASN'T FLOWN SEVERAL MINUTES EARLIER! "
IN OTHER WORDS, STAY AHEAD OF THE AIRCRAFT.
INSTRUMENT FLYING IS DONE IN SEGMENTS.
EXAMPLE, INITIAL, INTERMEDIATE, FINAL AND MISSED.
WHILE FLYING ON ANY SEGMENT OF YOUR ENROUTE OR APPROACH PROCEDURE BE THINKING ABOUT THE NEXT SEGMENT COMING UP.
WILL YOU NEED TO MAKE AN ALTITUDE OR HEADING CHANGE?
WILL YOU NEED TO RESET NAV RADIOS OR CDI?
ALWAYS BE READY FOR THAT NEXT SEGMENT!
14. USE THE GOOD OLD TRIED AND TRUE 5 T's
TIME
TURN
TWIST
THROTTLE
TALK
15. USE YOUR NAV RADIOS IN EFFICIENT WAYS TO HELP KEEP YOU SITUATIONALY AWARE OF WHERE YOU ARE AT ALL TIMES.
ALSO, IF YOUR AIRCRAFT HAS A HEADING BUG, USE IT!
16. WHILE CLIMBING OR DESCENDING CALL OUT TO YOURSELF WHEN YOU HAVE 1,000 FT.
TO GO TO YOUR TARGET ALTITUDE, THEN 500 FT. TO GO, THEN 100 FT TO GO.
IF YOU GET IN THE HABIT OF DOING THIS YOU WILL BE LESS LIKELY TO BLOW THRU YOUR ASSIGNED OR REQUIRED ALTITUDE.
17. RELAX!
EVERY NOW AND THEN TAKE A DEEP BREATH; RELAX YOUR GRIP ON THE CONTROLS AND TRY TO USE YOUR MIND MORE THEN YOUR MUSCLES!
SOMETIMES A PILOT CAN GET REALLY TENSE AND UPTIGHT WITHOUT EVER REALIZING IT!
18. IF YOU FIND YOU ARE GETTING VERTIGO SPEEDING UP YOUR CROSSCHECK SHOULD HELP OVERCOME THE FEELING.
TURN ON THE AUTO PILOT IF IT ISN'T ALREADY AND THEN KEEP CROSS CHECKING THE GAUGES.
REMEMBER TO NEVER FIXATE ON ONE INSTRUMENT! THE FEELING OF VERTIGO SHOULD LEAVE YOU IN A FEW MOMENTS.
IF YOU CAN'T GET THE AUTO PILOT TURNED ON REMEMBER, AAH! AIRSPEED, ALTITUDE AND HEADING!
SOME TIMES THE REFLECTION OF YOUR NAV LIGHTS AND ROTATING BEACON CAN BE VERY ANNOYING.
SHUT THEM OFF IF THEY ARE DISTRACTING YOU. REMEMBER TO TURN THE LIGHTS BACK ON WHEN YOU ENCOUNTER VMC CONDITIONS.
19. WHEN APPROACHING A TERMINAL AREA AND THE CONTROLER TELLS YOU THAT YOU ARE BEING RADAR "VECTORED" ALWAYS CONSIDER THAT THE WORD "VECTOR" IS A MAGIC WORD THAT MEANS:
TURN TO THE HEADING THAT HE IS GIVING YOU AND THEN SET UP YOUR APPROACH FREQUENCY AND HSI OR CDI!
WHEN GIVEN THE VECTOR IT WILL BE A GOOD TIME FOR YOU TO BRIEF YOUR PLATE WITH A MARTHA CHECK.
NOTE: WHEN BRIEFING THE PLATE DON'T FORGET TO READ THE FINE PRINT!
ON JEPP PLATES THERE IS A SECTION THAT CONTAINS NOTES TO THE PILOT AND IN THE CIRCLE MINIMUM SECTION YOU MIGHT SEE A NOTE THAT SHOWS RESTRICTIONS TO AIRCRAFT THAT PREVENT YOU FROM CIRCLING IN A CERTAIN DIRECTION.
ALWAYS CHECK THE CIRCLE BOX FOR THE SMALL PRINT!
20. WHEN THE CONTROLLER SAYS THE WORDS "CLEARED FOR THE APPROACH" PHYSICALY MAKE A NOTATION "C' OR "CLR" ON YOUR KNEE BOARD NOTE PAD.
AT LEAST ONE TIME IN YOUR INSTRUMENT FLYING EXPERIENCE YOU WILL BE ASKING YOURSELF IF YOU HAVE OR HAVE NOT BEEN CLEARED FOR THE APPROACH BECAUSE YOU MAY SIMPLY HAVE FORGOTTEN DUE TO A HEAVY WORK LOAD.
REMEMBER THAT UNTIL THE CONTROLLER TELLS YOU THAT YOU ARE CLEARED FOR THE APPROACH YOU MAY NOT BEGIN YOUR DESCENT.
IF YOU ARE TOLD TO JOIN THE LOCALIZER LISTEN FOR HIM TO GIVE YOU THE "CLEARED FOR APPROACH" THE CONTROLLER MAY HAVE SIMPLY FORGOTTEN TO MAKE THE STATEMENT.
IF YOU ARE GETTING CLOSE TO GLIDE SLOPE INTERCEPTION ASK THE CONTROLLER IF YOU ARE CLEARED!
21. WHEN TUNING A LOCALIZER ALWAYS CHECK THE FOLLOWING:
LOOK AT THE HSI OR CDI TO SEE THAT THE TWO/FROM FLAG HAS DISAPPEARED!
IF YOU SEE A TO/FROM FLAG YOU HAVE NOT SELECTED AN ILS FREQENCY!
NEXT, BE SURE TO ALWAYS IDENTIFY THE NAV FREQUENCY THAT YOU HAVE SELECTED.
ALWAYS IDENTIFY THE NAV FREQENCY!!!!!
22. ONCE ESTABLISHED ON THE GLIDE SLOPE ALWAYS CHECK YOUR ALTITUDE WHEN CROSSING A MARKER BEACON, COMPASS LOCATOR OR FIX THAT IS DEPICTED ON THE APPROACH PLATE!
IF YOUR ALTITUDE DOES NOT MATCH WHAT THE CHART DEPICTS SOMETHING IS VERY WRONG!
MOST LIKELY YOU ARE ON A FALSE GLIDE SLOPE OR YOUR ALTIMETER HAS NOT BEEN PROPERLY SET.
23. IF THE APPROACH USES DME BE SURE THAT YOU IDENTIFY WHERE THE DME INFORMATION IS DERIVED!
OFTEN A DME ARC WILL BE USED TO GUIDE YOU TO A LOCALIZER AND THE DME INFORMATION IS BASED ON A VORTAC BUT THE LOCALIZER MAY USE DME THAT IS DERIVED FROM THE LOCALIZER AND NOT THE VOR!
24. WHEN THE CONTROLLER TELLS YOU TO SWITCH TO ADVISORY FREQUENCY AT AN UNCONTROLLED AIRFIELD DON'T FORGET TO TURN ON THE PILOT CONTROLLED LIGHTING SYSTEM (DAY OR NIGHT!).
25. ALWAYS HAVE THE AIRPORT DIAGRAM HANDY SO YOU CAN ORIENT YOURSELF TO THE RUNWAYS WHEN YOU BREAK OUT OF THE CLOUDS.
(THIS IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT IF YOU ARE GOING TO CIRCLE TO LAND!)
26. AT THE MISSED APPROACH POINT IF YOU HAVE TO FLY THE MISSED, ESTABLISH A CLIMB ATTITUDE AND APPLY CLIMB POWER. VERIFY THAT YOU HAVE A POSITIVE RATE OF CLIMB!
27. AFTER THE CONTROL TOWER ADVISES YOU TO CONTACT APPROACH CONTROL BE READY TO ADVISE APPROACH WHAT YOUR NEXT REQUEST IS GOING TO BE.
(HOLD FOR A WHILE, GET VECTORS FOR ANOTHER APPROACH OR CONTINUE TO YOUR ALTERNATE OR OTHER AIRPORT OF YOUR CHOOSING.)
A GOOD TIME TO CONTACT APPROACH AT THE MISSED IS AFTER YOU HAVE COMPLETED YOUR TURN AND YOU HAVE PEN IN HAND READY TO WRITE YOUR NEXT INSTRUCTIONS FROM ATC.
28. ANY TIME YOU ENTER A HOLDING PATTERN AND ATC DOES NOT GIVE YOU AN EXPECT FURTHER CLEARANCE (EFC) TIME, REQUEST ONE!
A FEW WORDS ABOUT YOUR ADF:
29. YOUR ADF IS A GREAT TOOL FOR SITUATIONAL AWARENESS. WHILE ON A PROCEDURE TURN OR ON A VECTOR TO INTERCEPT THE INBOUND LOC COURSE, YOUR ADF WILL TELL YOU WHEN YOU ARE ABOUT TO INTERCEPT THAT COURSE.
(IF YOU ARE ON A 30 DEG. INTERCEPT ANGLE, WHEN YOUR ADF NEEDLE IS 30 DEG OFF THE NOSE YOU ARE AT COURSE INTERCEPTION.)
NOTE: THE ADF/NDB CAN BE USED IF THE LOCALIZER HAS A COMPASS LOCATOR.
30. IF YOU ARE FLYING PARTIAL PANEL DOING TIMED TURNS AND YOUR AIRCRAFT HAS AN NDB WITH A FIXED COMPASS CARD TUNED TO A LOCAL STATION, START YOUR TURN AND WATCH THE NDB NEEDLE (HEAD OR TAIL) IF YOU WANT A 45 DEG. TURN, WHEN THE NDB NEEDLE MOVES 45 DEG. ROLL OUT OF YOUR TURN! IT'S A GREAT AID!
NOTE: IF YOU HAVE AN ACTUAL DG FAILURE AND YOU ARE IN RADAR CONTACT, ADVISE ATC OF THE FAILURE AND REQUEST NO GYRO TURNS!
31. IT'S ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA TO KNOW HOW MANY DEG. OF BANK ANGLE ARE REQUIRED TO MAKE A STANDARD RATE TURN. THE BANK ANGLE YOU USE WILL DEPEND ON YOUR AIRSPEED.
TO FIGURE OUT HOW MANY DEGREES OF BANK TO ROLL INTO ON YOUR ATTITUDE INDICATOR THAT WILL GIVE YOU A STANDARD 3 DEG PER SECOND, TAKE YOUR INDICATED AIRSPEED (100 KIAS) TAKE THE FIRST 2 DIGITS AND ADD HALF OF THEM TO IT.
(100 KIAS: 10 + 5 = 15 DEG OF BANK)
(120 KIAS: 12 + 6 = 18 DEG OF BANK)
(90 KIAS: 9 + 4 ½ = 13 ½ DEG OF BANK)
REGARDING ICE:
32. IF YOU ARE FLYING IN VISIBLE MOISTURE (CLOUDS, MIST OR RAIN) AND THE OAT IS 1 DEG. ABOVE FREEZING, BE AWARE THAT YOU MAY BE PICKING UP ICE ON YOUR ROTOR BLADES THAT YOU CANNOT SEE.
MAKE NOTES THAT SHOW WHAT YOUR AIRSPEED IS FOR A GIVEN POWER SETTING.
(70% TORQUE = 110 KIAS) IF YOU NOTICE THAT MORE POWER IS REQUIRED TO MAINTAIN 110 KIAS, WHICH IS AN IDICATION THAT YOU MAY HAVE ICING OF YOUR MAIN AND/OR TAIL ROTOR BLADES.
IF YOU THINK YOU MAY BE PICKING UP ICE OR YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE ICE ON YOUR WINDSHIELD WIPERS OR OTHER PART OF THE AIRFRAME, ADVISE ATC OF YOUR SITUATION AND THAT YOU NEED A LOWER ALTITUDE IF THE MEA'S PERMIT OR IF YOU KNOW THE AIR IS WARMER ABOVE YOU, REQUEST A CLIMB.
IF YOU ARE IN FREEZING RAIN AND YOU CANNOT CLIMB OR DESEND REQUEST A 180 DEG TURN TO GET OUT OF THE FREEZING RAIN ASAP.
NOTE: WHEN THE OAT IS 4 ½ DEG C AND YOU ARE IN VISIBLE MOISTURE, TURN ON ALL OF YOUR ANTI ICE EQUIPMENT.
CHECK YOU AIRCRAFT OPERATING MANUAL FOR SPECIFIC ACTIONS.
33. ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT INSTUMENT FLYING SKILLS ARE PERISHABLE.
TRY TO FILE IFR AND FLY IFR ROUTES EVEN WHEN THE SKY IS SEVERE CLEAR!
BE A STUDENT OF THE ART OF INSTRUMENT FLYING RIGHT UP UNTIL THE DAY YOU RETIRE!
REGULATIONS, EQUIPMENT AND APPROACH PROCEDURES ARE CONSTANTLY CHANGING!
MOST TRAINING HELICOPTERS ARE NOT IFR CERTIFIED SO IT IS HARD TO GET ACTUAL IMC EXPERIENCE.
TRY RENTING A FIXED WING WITH A GOOD CFII ON A DAY THAT HAS IMC CONDITIONS.
YOU WILL GAIN CONFIDENCE AND HAVE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT IT'S REALLY LIKE IN THE IFR ENVIRONMENT.
Tips To Help You Survive The IFR Environment
Please feel free to print this page and share it with your friends and fellow pilots.
We owe a great debt of gratitude to Mark Hohstadt, a Life Flight helicopter pilot based in Portland, Oregon, who was kind enough to share the below IFR Tips. Even though these tips are for helicopter pilots, many of these techniques and good operating practices apply to all pilots, regardless of the type of aircraft flown.
From the JUST HELICOPTERS.COM Forum
Great IFR tips from MARK HOHSTADT
Posted on October 27, 2005 at 14:44:41
From: hotshot430
Subject: Tips and techniques for SPIFR (Single Pilot IFR)
Here are some items that I put together for lecture purposes. You might find a few ideas in them.
TIPS TO HELP YOU SURVIVE THE IFR ENVIRONMENT
BY MARK HOHSTADT
1. IN NO OTHER AVIATION ENDEAVOR DOES THE RULE OF 6 P'S BECOME MORE IMPORTANT! PRIOR PLANNING PREVENTS PISS POOR PERFORMANANCE!
2. IF POSSIBLE, PRINT OUT THE LATEST WEATHER BEFORE YOU LAUNCH!
3. ALWAYS GET THE CURRENT NOTAMS THAT MAY AFFECT YOUR FLIGHT FROM AFSS AND CHECK THE CHART NOTAMS IN YOUR JEPPESON KIT OR GOVERNMENT CHARTS!
4. DO NOT ACCECPT AN IFR CLEARANCE THAT YOU OR YOUR AIRCRAFT CANNOT HANDLE!
5. HAVE YOUR FLIGHT DIRECTOR AND AUTO PILOT PRESET TO THE HEADINGS, ALTITUDES AND VERTICAL SPEED SELECTION THAT YOU EXPECT TO FLY BEFORE YOU LAUNCH!
6. NEATNESS DOES COUNT! HAVE YOUR MAPS, APROACH PLATES AND EQUIPMENT ARRANGED SO THEY ARE IN ORDER OF USE AND EASILY ACCESSIBLE IN FLIGHT. (KEEP SPARE PENCILS AND FLASH LIGHT, TAPE AND AN EXTRA HEADSET AT THE READY!)
I thought I would explain the notation regarding pencils and tape.
If you should drop your pencil or pen during IMC - DO NOT BEND OVER TO RETRIEVE IT!
This can cause you to instantly get a raging case of vertigo!
You can just grab another pencil from your pocket and keep on trucking!
If you must retrieve an item during IMC try to not move your head during the retrieval.
As for the tape, If you fly EMS ask your crew for a roll of wide surgical tape that is plentiful in the aircraft.. it is good for: covering a dead instrument in a partial panel situation or.. you can put a strip of it on your leg for an impromptu knee board to jot notes on... or if you are flying in VMC conditions towards the sun you can tear a small swatch of the tape and stick it on the windshield at the point where the sun is glaring thru onto your eye ball!
The spare headset is really important if you have a comm failure.. it may be your helmet or headset that has failed and you can swap with the spare headset.
Mark
7. WHEN HOVERING TO THE ACTIVE RUNWAY BE SURE TO CHECK YOUR INSTRUMENTS FOR PROPER OPERATION. WHEN CLEARED FOR TAKE OFF DO A (HITT) CHECK.
LINE UP ON THE RUNWAY AND CHECK: HEADING, INSTRUMENTS, TRANSPONDER, AND TIME.
NOTE: IF YOU ARE FLYING EMS (EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE) AIRCRAFT YOU MAY HAVE LANDED NEAR AN MRI (MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING) MACHINE THAT MAY CAUSE ALL OF YOUR DIRECTIONAL SYSTEMS TO MALFUNCTION!
8. BEFORE DEPARTING OR LANDING AT AN UNFAMILIAR AIRPORT TAKE TIME TO LOOK AT A VFR SECTIONAL TO FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF WITH TERRAIN AND OBSTRUCTIONS.
"CLEARED DIRECT" CAN BE A TRAP THAT CAN LEAD YOU INTO TERRAIN OR MAN MADE OBSTRUCTIONS!
IF YOU ARE DEPARTING AND GET A "CLEARED DIRECT" ROUTING YOU STILL MAY HAVE TO MANEUVER TO A SAFE ALTITUDE BEFORE TURNING ON COURSE.
FLY THE SID OR THE OBSTICAL CLEARANCE PROCEDURE.
9. WHEN IFR DURING ANY MANEUVER OR EMERGENCY THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS THAT YOU ALWAYS FLY THE AIRCRAFT!
10. IF YOU ARE HAVING A PROBLEM WHILE IMC ALWAYS REMEMBER: AAH! AIRSPEED, ALTITUDE AND HEADING! (regarding the letters AAH. My army instructor used to growl the word AAH! at me while I was flying and things were not quite right. When I asked him why he kept doing it he would explain that it stands for airspeed, altitude and heading. To this day I will tell myself AHH! when things aren't going perfectly when I am on the gauges and I have tried to pass this on to my instrument students.)
GET THE AIRCRAFT UNDER CONTROL AND THEN DEAL WITH THE NAV RADIOS AND OTHER TASKS.
11. WHILE ENROUTE TO THE DESTINATION TRY TO PICK UP THE ATIS OR AWOS INFORMATION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
THIS WILL GIVE YOU CLUES AS TO WHAT TYPE OF APPROACH YOU CAN EXPECT WHEN YOU GET TO THE TERMINAL AREA.
12. BRIEF THE PLATE!
THE FIRST THING YOU SHOULD DO IS CHECK THAT YOU HAVE CHOSEN THE CORRECT PLATE FOR THE CORRECT AIRPORT.
IF YOU ARE FLYING WITH A TWO PILOT CREW YOU SHOULD BOTH HAVE YOUR OWN APPROACH PLATES AND VERIFY THAT YOU ARE BOTH READING THE SAME PLATES!
PUT ALL OTHER PLATES ASIDE SO YOU DON'T ACCIDENTALY START READING THE WRONG INFORMATION FROM THE WRONG PLATE!
AFTER CHECKING THAT YOU HAVE THE CORRECT PLATE USE THE MARTHA ACRONYM:
M MISSED APPROACH
A ALTIMETER SETTING
R RADIO'S (THIS INCLUDES APPROACH FREQS. COMPASS LOCATOR, MARKER BEACONS, RADAR ALT. AND APPROACH/TOWER FREQS.)
T TIME IF THE APPROACH IS A TIMED APPROACH
H THE INBOUND HEADING
A ALTITUDE (HOW LOW CAN YOU GO)
NOTE: ALWAYS ASSUME YOU ARE GOING TO BE FLYING THE MISSED APPROACH!
13. THIS ONE IS REALLY IMPORTANT AND IS A QUOTE FROM MY OLD ARMY FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR:
"NEVER LET YOUR AZZ FLY ANYWHERE THAT YOUR MIND HASN'T FLOWN SEVERAL MINUTES EARLIER! "
IN OTHER WORDS, STAY AHEAD OF THE AIRCRAFT.
INSTRUMENT FLYING IS DONE IN SEGMENTS.
EXAMPLE, INITIAL, INTERMEDIATE, FINAL AND MISSED.
WHILE FLYING ON ANY SEGMENT OF YOUR ENROUTE OR APPROACH PROCEDURE BE THINKING ABOUT THE NEXT SEGMENT COMING UP.
WILL YOU NEED TO MAKE AN ALTITUDE OR HEADING CHANGE?
WILL YOU NEED TO RESET NAV RADIOS OR CDI?
ALWAYS BE READY FOR THAT NEXT SEGMENT!
14. USE THE GOOD OLD TRIED AND TRUE 5 T's
TIME
TURN
TWIST
THROTTLE
TALK
15. USE YOUR NAV RADIOS IN EFFICIENT WAYS TO HELP KEEP YOU SITUATIONALY AWARE OF WHERE YOU ARE AT ALL TIMES.
ALSO, IF YOUR AIRCRAFT HAS A HEADING BUG, USE IT!
16. WHILE CLIMBING OR DESCENDING CALL OUT TO YOURSELF WHEN YOU HAVE 1,000 FT.
TO GO TO YOUR TARGET ALTITUDE, THEN 500 FT. TO GO, THEN 100 FT TO GO.
IF YOU GET IN THE HABIT OF DOING THIS YOU WILL BE LESS LIKELY TO BLOW THRU YOUR ASSIGNED OR REQUIRED ALTITUDE.
17. RELAX!
EVERY NOW AND THEN TAKE A DEEP BREATH; RELAX YOUR GRIP ON THE CONTROLS AND TRY TO USE YOUR MIND MORE THEN YOUR MUSCLES!
SOMETIMES A PILOT CAN GET REALLY TENSE AND UPTIGHT WITHOUT EVER REALIZING IT!
18. IF YOU FIND YOU ARE GETTING VERTIGO SPEEDING UP YOUR CROSSCHECK SHOULD HELP OVERCOME THE FEELING.
TURN ON THE AUTO PILOT IF IT ISN'T ALREADY AND THEN KEEP CROSS CHECKING THE GAUGES.
REMEMBER TO NEVER FIXATE ON ONE INSTRUMENT! THE FEELING OF VERTIGO SHOULD LEAVE YOU IN A FEW MOMENTS.
IF YOU CAN'T GET THE AUTO PILOT TURNED ON REMEMBER, AAH! AIRSPEED, ALTITUDE AND HEADING!
SOME TIMES THE REFLECTION OF YOUR NAV LIGHTS AND ROTATING BEACON CAN BE VERY ANNOYING.
SHUT THEM OFF IF THEY ARE DISTRACTING YOU. REMEMBER TO TURN THE LIGHTS BACK ON WHEN YOU ENCOUNTER VMC CONDITIONS.
19. WHEN APPROACHING A TERMINAL AREA AND THE CONTROLER TELLS YOU THAT YOU ARE BEING RADAR "VECTORED" ALWAYS CONSIDER THAT THE WORD "VECTOR" IS A MAGIC WORD THAT MEANS:
TURN TO THE HEADING THAT HE IS GIVING YOU AND THEN SET UP YOUR APPROACH FREQUENCY AND HSI OR CDI!
WHEN GIVEN THE VECTOR IT WILL BE A GOOD TIME FOR YOU TO BRIEF YOUR PLATE WITH A MARTHA CHECK.
NOTE: WHEN BRIEFING THE PLATE DON'T FORGET TO READ THE FINE PRINT!
ON JEPP PLATES THERE IS A SECTION THAT CONTAINS NOTES TO THE PILOT AND IN THE CIRCLE MINIMUM SECTION YOU MIGHT SEE A NOTE THAT SHOWS RESTRICTIONS TO AIRCRAFT THAT PREVENT YOU FROM CIRCLING IN A CERTAIN DIRECTION.
ALWAYS CHECK THE CIRCLE BOX FOR THE SMALL PRINT!
20. WHEN THE CONTROLLER SAYS THE WORDS "CLEARED FOR THE APPROACH" PHYSICALY MAKE A NOTATION "C' OR "CLR" ON YOUR KNEE BOARD NOTE PAD.
AT LEAST ONE TIME IN YOUR INSTRUMENT FLYING EXPERIENCE YOU WILL BE ASKING YOURSELF IF YOU HAVE OR HAVE NOT BEEN CLEARED FOR THE APPROACH BECAUSE YOU MAY SIMPLY HAVE FORGOTTEN DUE TO A HEAVY WORK LOAD.
REMEMBER THAT UNTIL THE CONTROLLER TELLS YOU THAT YOU ARE CLEARED FOR THE APPROACH YOU MAY NOT BEGIN YOUR DESCENT.
IF YOU ARE TOLD TO JOIN THE LOCALIZER LISTEN FOR HIM TO GIVE YOU THE "CLEARED FOR APPROACH" THE CONTROLLER MAY HAVE SIMPLY FORGOTTEN TO MAKE THE STATEMENT.
IF YOU ARE GETTING CLOSE TO GLIDE SLOPE INTERCEPTION ASK THE CONTROLLER IF YOU ARE CLEARED!
21. WHEN TUNING A LOCALIZER ALWAYS CHECK THE FOLLOWING:
LOOK AT THE HSI OR CDI TO SEE THAT THE TWO/FROM FLAG HAS DISAPPEARED!
IF YOU SEE A TO/FROM FLAG YOU HAVE NOT SELECTED AN ILS FREQENCY!
NEXT, BE SURE TO ALWAYS IDENTIFY THE NAV FREQUENCY THAT YOU HAVE SELECTED.
ALWAYS IDENTIFY THE NAV FREQENCY!!!!!
22. ONCE ESTABLISHED ON THE GLIDE SLOPE ALWAYS CHECK YOUR ALTITUDE WHEN CROSSING A MARKER BEACON, COMPASS LOCATOR OR FIX THAT IS DEPICTED ON THE APPROACH PLATE!
IF YOUR ALTITUDE DOES NOT MATCH WHAT THE CHART DEPICTS SOMETHING IS VERY WRONG!
MOST LIKELY YOU ARE ON A FALSE GLIDE SLOPE OR YOUR ALTIMETER HAS NOT BEEN PROPERLY SET.
23. IF THE APPROACH USES DME BE SURE THAT YOU IDENTIFY WHERE THE DME INFORMATION IS DERIVED!
OFTEN A DME ARC WILL BE USED TO GUIDE YOU TO A LOCALIZER AND THE DME INFORMATION IS BASED ON A VORTAC BUT THE LOCALIZER MAY USE DME THAT IS DERIVED FROM THE LOCALIZER AND NOT THE VOR!
24. WHEN THE CONTROLLER TELLS YOU TO SWITCH TO ADVISORY FREQUENCY AT AN UNCONTROLLED AIRFIELD DON'T FORGET TO TURN ON THE PILOT CONTROLLED LIGHTING SYSTEM (DAY OR NIGHT!).
25. ALWAYS HAVE THE AIRPORT DIAGRAM HANDY SO YOU CAN ORIENT YOURSELF TO THE RUNWAYS WHEN YOU BREAK OUT OF THE CLOUDS.
(THIS IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT IF YOU ARE GOING TO CIRCLE TO LAND!)
26. AT THE MISSED APPROACH POINT IF YOU HAVE TO FLY THE MISSED, ESTABLISH A CLIMB ATTITUDE AND APPLY CLIMB POWER. VERIFY THAT YOU HAVE A POSITIVE RATE OF CLIMB!
27. AFTER THE CONTROL TOWER ADVISES YOU TO CONTACT APPROACH CONTROL BE READY TO ADVISE APPROACH WHAT YOUR NEXT REQUEST IS GOING TO BE.
(HOLD FOR A WHILE, GET VECTORS FOR ANOTHER APPROACH OR CONTINUE TO YOUR ALTERNATE OR OTHER AIRPORT OF YOUR CHOOSING.)
A GOOD TIME TO CONTACT APPROACH AT THE MISSED IS AFTER YOU HAVE COMPLETED YOUR TURN AND YOU HAVE PEN IN HAND READY TO WRITE YOUR NEXT INSTRUCTIONS FROM ATC.
28. ANY TIME YOU ENTER A HOLDING PATTERN AND ATC DOES NOT GIVE YOU AN EXPECT FURTHER CLEARANCE (EFC) TIME, REQUEST ONE!
A FEW WORDS ABOUT YOUR ADF:
29. YOUR ADF IS A GREAT TOOL FOR SITUATIONAL AWARENESS. WHILE ON A PROCEDURE TURN OR ON A VECTOR TO INTERCEPT THE INBOUND LOC COURSE, YOUR ADF WILL TELL YOU WHEN YOU ARE ABOUT TO INTERCEPT THAT COURSE.
(IF YOU ARE ON A 30 DEG. INTERCEPT ANGLE, WHEN YOUR ADF NEEDLE IS 30 DEG OFF THE NOSE YOU ARE AT COURSE INTERCEPTION.)
NOTE: THE ADF/NDB CAN BE USED IF THE LOCALIZER HAS A COMPASS LOCATOR.
30. IF YOU ARE FLYING PARTIAL PANEL DOING TIMED TURNS AND YOUR AIRCRAFT HAS AN NDB WITH A FIXED COMPASS CARD TUNED TO A LOCAL STATION, START YOUR TURN AND WATCH THE NDB NEEDLE (HEAD OR TAIL) IF YOU WANT A 45 DEG. TURN, WHEN THE NDB NEEDLE MOVES 45 DEG. ROLL OUT OF YOUR TURN! IT'S A GREAT AID!
NOTE: IF YOU HAVE AN ACTUAL DG FAILURE AND YOU ARE IN RADAR CONTACT, ADVISE ATC OF THE FAILURE AND REQUEST NO GYRO TURNS!
31. IT'S ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA TO KNOW HOW MANY DEG. OF BANK ANGLE ARE REQUIRED TO MAKE A STANDARD RATE TURN. THE BANK ANGLE YOU USE WILL DEPEND ON YOUR AIRSPEED.
TO FIGURE OUT HOW MANY DEGREES OF BANK TO ROLL INTO ON YOUR ATTITUDE INDICATOR THAT WILL GIVE YOU A STANDARD 3 DEG PER SECOND, TAKE YOUR INDICATED AIRSPEED (100 KIAS) TAKE THE FIRST 2 DIGITS AND ADD HALF OF THEM TO IT.
(100 KIAS: 10 + 5 = 15 DEG OF BANK)
(120 KIAS: 12 + 6 = 18 DEG OF BANK)
(90 KIAS: 9 + 4 ½ = 13 ½ DEG OF BANK)
REGARDING ICE:
32. IF YOU ARE FLYING IN VISIBLE MOISTURE (CLOUDS, MIST OR RAIN) AND THE OAT IS 1 DEG. ABOVE FREEZING, BE AWARE THAT YOU MAY BE PICKING UP ICE ON YOUR ROTOR BLADES THAT YOU CANNOT SEE.
MAKE NOTES THAT SHOW WHAT YOUR AIRSPEED IS FOR A GIVEN POWER SETTING.
(70% TORQUE = 110 KIAS) IF YOU NOTICE THAT MORE POWER IS REQUIRED TO MAINTAIN 110 KIAS, WHICH IS AN IDICATION THAT YOU MAY HAVE ICING OF YOUR MAIN AND/OR TAIL ROTOR BLADES.
IF YOU THINK YOU MAY BE PICKING UP ICE OR YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE ICE ON YOUR WINDSHIELD WIPERS OR OTHER PART OF THE AIRFRAME, ADVISE ATC OF YOUR SITUATION AND THAT YOU NEED A LOWER ALTITUDE IF THE MEA'S PERMIT OR IF YOU KNOW THE AIR IS WARMER ABOVE YOU, REQUEST A CLIMB.
IF YOU ARE IN FREEZING RAIN AND YOU CANNOT CLIMB OR DESEND REQUEST A 180 DEG TURN TO GET OUT OF THE FREEZING RAIN ASAP.
NOTE: WHEN THE OAT IS 4 ½ DEG C AND YOU ARE IN VISIBLE MOISTURE, TURN ON ALL OF YOUR ANTI ICE EQUIPMENT.
CHECK YOU AIRCRAFT OPERATING MANUAL FOR SPECIFIC ACTIONS.
33. ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT INSTUMENT FLYING SKILLS ARE PERISHABLE.
TRY TO FILE IFR AND FLY IFR ROUTES EVEN WHEN THE SKY IS SEVERE CLEAR!
BE A STUDENT OF THE ART OF INSTRUMENT FLYING RIGHT UP UNTIL THE DAY YOU RETIRE!
REGULATIONS, EQUIPMENT AND APPROACH PROCEDURES ARE CONSTANTLY CHANGING!
MOST TRAINING HELICOPTERS ARE NOT IFR CERTIFIED SO IT IS HARD TO GET ACTUAL IMC EXPERIENCE.
TRY RENTING A FIXED WING WITH A GOOD CFII ON A DAY THAT HAS IMC CONDITIONS.
YOU WILL GAIN CONFIDENCE AND HAVE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT IT'S REALLY LIKE IN THE IFR ENVIRONMENT.
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