Instrument Flying

Five hours of flying with reference to instruments is the minimum required for the Private Pilot Licence. This training is crucial because one might accidently fly into bad weather or clouds and have no outside visual cues to help fly the plane straight and level. The inner ear that provides a sense balance can also provide false cues which could cause you to accidently put the plane in a spiral dive. You are taught to ignore the body's sensations when you don't have the horizon as a visual flight reference.

Attitute + Power = Performance

- If you are straight and level on the ATTITUTE INDICATOR and your POWER is at cruise setting, you should be at a straight and level flight.
- Performance instruments are Air Speed Indicator, Altimeter, Vertical Speed Indicator, Turn and Balance Coordinator and Heading Indicator - these will be constant if Attitute and Power is controlled.

Tip: With reference to attitude indicator, concentrate on one thing at a time: 1. if height, concentrate on altitude indicator. 2. if heading, concentrate on heading indicator.

Failures

- If the vaccum system fails (you can tell by the suction gauge), use the turn and bank coordinator which is powered by electricity.

Rules of Thumb

- Taking away 100 RPM while maintaining airspeed = 100 Ft. drop
- Taking away 100 RPM while maintaining attitude = 5 KTS drop

Turning back 360 degrees

- Rate one turn is approximatly a 15 degree bank angle
- 15% of your airspeed should be your rate one turn (10% of airspeed + 7 KTS is rule of thumb)
- It takes 2 minutes to turn back 360 degrees ((3 degrees / second)
- check time, note heading, start turn, level out after two minutes.
- Use markings on Attitute indicator and Turn and Bank coordinator to help

Climbing
- Attitute - 10 degree marking
- Power
- Trim

Descending
- Power
- Attitude (slightly below horizon in attitute indicator)
- Trim

Turning
- No more than 15 degrees (rate one)

Aviate, Navigate, Communicate

- when flight into poor visibility
- make 360 degree rate one turn
- if not out of poor visibility, call FSS (126.7) (they might hand you off to Pearson)
- first and foremost: fly the plane; navigate as per instructions; then speak with FSS



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Lessons Learned

- Don't miss any item in checklist / walkaround - don't rush it
- Passenger Briefing
- Land with power completely off
- Cruise alt. minimum (3000 ft.) start at surface
- Cruise alt. is ASL
- K lighting - click 7 times / J lighting - click five times w/in 5 sec.
- Remember which runway you’ll be landing on and have a mental picture of base and final
- At final, you should be 750-1000 above circuit height (NEVER BE LOW ON APPROACH – correct immediately – nose down, full power)
- Crosswind input: ailerons into wind, as much rudder correction as required to keep center line (you’ll do this at the last 3 seconds before touch down)
- Keep pressure off nose wheel – keep aileron off the ground
- Precisely and diligently go through entire checklist (mixture rich)
- Notify FSS as soon as you know that are changes to ETA
- Throttle and carb control should be smooth (especially in winter to prevent shock cooling)
- Lock controls after parking
- Even when taxiing, you are still flying the plane – so wind inputs AT ALL TIMES

Transport Canada has strict standards and minimums for being pilot-in-command (i.e. responsible for the safety of people on-board, those on the ground and the plane). Responsibilities and safety considerations in flying are enormous and the need for high personal standards and requirements for diligence and precision can't be overstated. I spend a lot of time reading or thinking about something flying related: flight safety, manoeuvres, engines, airframes, weather systems, navigation, air spaces, air law, risk management, decision making, etc.

Things to Ask CFI about

Took 220 hour pilot up in C-150. Pilot had never set trim for an airspeed and used arms forward and back to judge sensitivity and accuracy of trim set to control airspeed. Pilot had never been taught the C-150 relationship of the trim best rate of climb speed to the trimmed level cruise speed. Pilot had never done trimmed 30 degree banks to show hands-off stability in such a bank. Pilot had never been shown the 1 to 1 relationship a C-150 has between a full turn of trim and every 10 degrees of flap at approach power (1500 rpm). Pilot had never been shown that C-150 can be landed with power remaining at 1500 through touchdown. A potentially good pilot doing all the work and not using the engineered aircraft properties to make things easier.