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chucky

chucky

Line Up and Wait
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Chucky
So I got my real instrument flight in this morning: New Haven (HVN) to Barnes (BAF) and back. It was forecast to be an ideal 'first dip' sort of day, marginal VFR improving as the morning wore on. Low enough ceilings to need an approach for the let-down from the enroute portion, not so low as to jeopardize getting in. The reported weather when we left bore that out - HVN was a low-ish ceiling (700, I think), but Barnes, Bradley, and the others up there were reporting much higher ceilings - 1700 at BAF, just as forecast, so off we went. They gave us the VOR-2 into Barnes, started vectoring us almost 30 miles out from the airport, and we had our approach clearance more than 15 miles from the airport. The ATIS reported ceilings 1700. At the MDA (780), we were still in the clouds. I was getting ready to go missed, when about a mile from the MAP, there was the runway almost exactly below us. So I landed (slightly steep approach, but I still made the first turn-off), we got our clearance back, and back up we went. Back at HVN, the reported ceiling was 500 broken, vis 3. We got bounced around going through 3000, but things smoothed out again by the time we got on the approach, I kept those needles locked in the middle, and at 500 hundred feet, there were the approach lights right off my nose. Seriously one of the coolest things ever.

So, point is, my very first approach in actual, and I end up shooting it to minimums (well, almost), and also this flying thing is so freakin' cool!:cornut:

Okay, had to get that off my chest. Now off to work.

PS - if you're flying in New England today, read the forecasts with some serious skepticism - it's lower than promised.
 
chucky said:
PS - if you're flying in New England today, read the forecasts with some serious skepticism - it's lower than promised.
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It always is. Except when it isn't ;)

Congrats on getting your wings wet!! It is fun when you get to fly through the clouds and break, see the runway in front of you. It is really fun when your pax sees you do it!
 
chucky said:
So, point is, my very first approach in actual, and I end up shooting it to minimums (well, almost), and also this flying thing is so freakin' cool!:cornut:
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Yep, and the feeling doesn't wear out. At least, not for me. I still love the feeling of shooting an approach and having the runway appear before me.

PS - if you're flying in New England today, read the forecasts with some serious skepticism - it's lower than promised.
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It's not just today. That is pretty much what I have found consistently across the board. METARs seem to always be optimistic. I know that when I break out is typically several hundred feet below what the METARs are saying. This is why if the METARs say OVC002 and the mins are 200 AGL, I probably don't want to take of funless I have a good alternate planned, and don't mind the potential of having to use it.

TAFs are frequently wrong, too. For example a few weeks ago Danos and I were flying the Aztec back into Linden. TAFs at EWR were OVC025. Yeah, right. We were at mins on the GPS approach and still in the clouds. Went missed, shot the LOC into Caldwell, and landed. So much for those TAFs. Then there's the unscheduled change in weather Laurie and I got flying into Williamsport last week. On approach it was BKN030 or so with winds 080 at 7G17, had a nice high and early break out of the clouds. That was fine, and then we saw a large rain cell coming straight for the airport. By the time we hit the runway, the western half of the airport was +RA and winds 270 at 35G45. Fortunately that puts the winds right down the runway so it was an easy landing, but the weather can change very rapidly.

Sounds like a good flight! Keep at it. :)
 
To the original poster: congrats! That's cool! And man, that ATIS was WAY off the mark!

Ted DuPuis said:
Yep, and the feeling doesn't wear out. At least, not for me. I still love the feeling of shooting an approach and having the runway appear before me.
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Only slightly more invigorating is breaking out and the runway NOT being there! :yikes:
 
i shot an ILS to 200 ft at Stillwater, OK once and the tower hadn't turned on the lights! I was not to thrilled about that but still managed to find the runway.
 
Well, last night when I was looking at the forecasts, I didn't think it was going to be as good as they claimed, since the occluded front that seemed to be responsible for the weather was predicted to be stationary (and it doesn't seem to have moved much). Looking at the METARs before we left, though, I figured the TAFs had been fairly close after all. I'm used to TAFs being wrong (as often as not for the better than for the worse), but I guess I've never thought too hard about METARs being unreliable, too. Learning, learning!

Hopefully, we can go again tomorrow morning.
 
ScottM said:
BTDT. The ILS had PCL and I had never thought of turning it on. Almost landed on the road parallel to the airport.
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I need to add "click the mic to turn on the lights" to my "gear down, go down" FAF mental checklist.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
To the original poster: congrats! That's cool! And man, that ATIS was WAY off the mark!
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I have found them to range all over. Actually when they get down towards minimums is when they seem to be the closest to accurate, but it is not at all uncommon in my experience to see them be 500-1000 ft off, always in the wrong direction.

chucky said:
I'm used to TAFs being wrong (as often as not for the better than for the worse), but I guess I've never thought too hard about METARs being unreliable, too. Learning, learning!
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The best lesson I have learned is to be prepared to handle what the weather throws at me. The forecasts are just that - forecasts. They give you a general idea of what you may encounter. The nice part is that, so long as you can shoot an ILS to mins, you can probably get in somewhere. It's pretty rare to have to go missed on one of those, other than for ground fog, which tends to be local.
 
What a fun thread. As Scott said, it's fun breaking out except when the runway isn't there.

My last flight was a barrel of fun. It was great shooting 4 approaches in 2 hours. One out of four holds was all f'd up (I'd love to see the radar track on that!) and my last landing (ILS) was a bucking bronco. Somehow the airplane found the centerline and stayed there on the roll out.

To the OP, congratulations.
 
Fun thread about a fun flight! I got lucky on the ILS - smooth air except for a bumpy layer at 3000, and wind straight down the runway.

Also, thanks all for the congratulations, but I've got a lot more work to do before I'm competent at instrument flying. It really is different from flying under the hood. Anyway, looks like I'll get to try it again tomorrow.
 
chucky said:
Fun thread about a fun flight! I got lucky on the ILS - smooth air except for a bumpy layer at 3000, and wind straight down the runway.

Also, thanks all for the congratulations, but I've got a lot more work to do before I'm competent at instrument flying. It really is different from flying under the hood. Anyway, looks like I'll get to try it again tomorrow.
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Well done. I passed my IR checkride last week, and it's been perfect Wx since then. Damnit!
 
nddons said:
Well done. I passed my IR checkride last week, and it's been perfect Wx since then. Damnit!
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Congratulations! My instructor and I have had a heck of a time getting the weather to cooperate too. It's either been too low to get back in, CBs and thunderstorms, or clear.
 
Awesome!!! it only gets easier as long as you stay proficient and never fails to be fun(barring ice..bad wx etc).


I can remember my first ILS for real solo into DSM years ago. I remember taking a deep breath right before I hit the soup and wanting to sprint to the bar afterwards. Truly a day you wont forget.
 
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taters said:
Awesome!!! it only gets easier as long as you stay proficient and never fails to be fun(barring ice..bad wx etc).


I can remember my first ILS for real solo into DSM years ago. I remember taking a deep breath right before I hit the soup and wanting to sprint to the bar afterwards. Truly a day you wont forget.
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My very first ILS I could legally log my CFI started hootin an hollerin saying he'd never seen a better approach. I shoulda quit right there cause it couldn't have gotten any better. In fact, it got worse in my training. :goofy:
 
Well, another flight this morning. More of a 'learning experience' flight than a 'holy cow cool!' flight like yesterdays. Points of interest: New York was non-radar, at least in New Haven's sector. That was kind of neat, but it did increase my workload somewhat. More turbulence than yesterday - I shot an ILS into Providence getting bounced around a bit. Still managed to keep the needles centered until breakout (about 500ft) at which point I managed to get a full 2.5 dots to the right of course before I even realized they were moving. The runway popped in to view just to my left, and it was easy to land it (at 500ft, it's basically just like overshooting the turn to final in a normal pattern). Surprising how fast a centered approach can go off, at least that close to the antenna. We were given the visual back in to New Haven, although the visibility was dropping. The ceiling was high, though.

All in all, I made too many mistakes. Crossing the Madison VOR was especially bad - it was a course change, a reporting point, and a radio hand-off all at once, and to top things all off I had just reached my cruise altitude and had to do that adjustment - and an area of turbulence. I'm not quite up to being able to walk and chew gum at the same time, yet. Individually, I can do all the skills, I think (at least, the ones in the PTS), but putting them together in a bouncing airplane is the challenge now.

Okay, I'll stop giving you all a blow-by-blow of my training. Thanks all for the encouragement, though.
 
chucky said:
[snip]Okay, I'll stop giving you all a blow-by-blow of my training. Thanks all for the encouragement, though.
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Speaking for me, please don't stop. I'm planning to restart my IR training after the new year, and this kind of stuff is helpful

John
 
jsstevens said:
Speaking for me, please don't stop. I'm planning to restart my IR training after the new year, and this kind of stuff is helpful

John
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And, even though I am just a low life, scum sucking, baby eating, sport pilot who will never get an IR, I'm still interested in reading about the process.
 
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jsstevens said:
Speaking for me, please don't stop. I'm planning to restart my IR training after the new year, and this kind of stuff is helpful
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Yeah, I've gotten a lot from reading other people's stories here. My non-aviation friends are very good at feigning polite interest in my flying, but I sometimes forget that people here are actually genuinely interested in people's flying experiences. The weather looks sunny and nice for the next week or so, though (boo!), so it may be a while before I get more real instrument flying in. I want to get as much as I can, though, before the freezing levels drop into my altitudes.
 
This post reminds me of my first approach in actual - did my PPL checkride at BVY with the weather deteriorating near the end. Instructor and I had to file IFR to get back to Newport - never saw the ground at UUU, went missed and ended up with a night ILS into PVD. Broke out at 400' AGL. We were in the soup the entire flight from departure until breaking out on the ILS. Heck of a way to start instrument training!
 
Fearless Tower said:
This post reminds me of my first approach in actual - did my PPL checkride at BVY with the weather deteriorating near the end. Instructor and I had to file IFR to get back to Newport - never saw the ground at UUU, went missed and ended up with a night ILS into PVD. Broke out at 400' AGL. We were in the soup the entire flight from departure until breaking out on the ILS. Heck of a way to start instrument training!
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I seem to recall returning from the oral part of my PP checkride on an IR clearance, too. Not as bad as yours, but I'm glad my CFI was with me. Not sure how I would have gotten home otherwise.
 
JOOC, is it common for instructors to go along with a student to the checkride? The reason I ask is that I'd never heard of the practice until my CFII said he usually sits in on his students' instrument orals. I'm not thrilled with the idea... it seems like it would be like my Ph.D. quals all over again, being grilled by a committee, even if the CFII was just there as an observer. My private CFI definitely didn't go with me to my checkride -- in fact, he'd been fired by the flight school a week or two earlier and had to sign me off at his new job. (That's not a bad reflection on him btw, actually based on the last 8 years it seems they fire all of their flight instructors, sooner or later.)
 
azure said:
JOOC, is it common for instructors to go along with a student to the checkride? The reason I ask is that I'd never heard of the practice until my CFII said he usually sits in on his students' instrument orals. I'm not thrilled with the idea... it seems like it would be like my Ph.D. quals all over again, being grilled by a committee, even if the CFII was just there as an observer. My private CFI definitely didn't go with me to my checkride -- in fact, he'd been fired by the flight school a week or two earlier and had to sign me off at his new job. (That's not a bad reflection on him btw, actually based on the last 8 years it seems they fire all of their flight instructors, sooner or later.)
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With more than a dozen checkrides under my belt, I've never had my instructor "sit in" on the oral or ride along on the checkride. It probably wouldn't bother me if one did as long as they kept their mouth shut.
 
gismo said:
With more than a dozen checkrides under my belt, I've never had my instructor "sit in" on the oral or ride along on the checkride. It probably wouldn't bother me if one did as long as they kept their mouth shut.
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I think that says a lot about the caliber of CFIs you've had. I can think of a few I couldn't say that about.
 
+1 on keep posting. I'm an earth-bound misfit right now, so the reports are appreciated.
 
Well, fingers are crossed for the next few days...
 
tonycondon said:
i shot an ILS to 200 ft at Stillwater, OK once and the tower hadn't turned on the lights! I was not to thrilled about that but still managed to find the runway.
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I had that happen flying into KCHS a few years ago. Apparently they had turned them off for some C-17s flying night vision approaches and forgot to turn them back on.
 
chucky said:
Well, fingers are crossed for the next few days...
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For reasons I've never been able to understand the PAPI at my towered home base is pilot controlled and according to the controllers there's no way to turn it on from the tower. For that reason lone I try to make a habit of 7 clicks on the PTT after passing the FAF when making any approach in actual IMC.
 
Well, it took three tries, but I did get a good instrument flight in yesterday. We were going to go in the morning, which was forecast to be MVFR, but that didn't work out, so my instructor took me up as a safety pilot while he shot some approaches in the FBO's new (to them) Arrow. The touch-and-gos he did seemed like so much fun that when we landed, I grabbed a free Warrior and did some pattern work myself. In the afternoon, though, the clouds came down, so I called my CFII up, and we got a quick flight to Groton. We put it together in a hurry, and my instructor checked the wrong day on the schedule, so the plane he filed with was actually booked. He wasn't really sure if we'd need to completely refile with the new call sign and wait for it to go through the system. So we called the tower, and they said it was no problem.

My instructor really wanted some time in actual, too, since he hasn't gotten much recently. Fair's fair, since I hogged the last few great IFR practice days, so he flew out - right seat - and I flew back. He got the better approach - a VOR with the ceilings almost at MDA and 3 miles visibility. I got to remind an approach controller that a /A plane can't go direct to a fix, and a 900 foot breakout on the ILS. I landed with a light tailwind. The only problem I had was getting off the localizer early in the approach (before glideslope interception). It was getting awfully close to full deflection before I brought it back in. I'm not sure what happened - I think I got lazy. The ILS-2 in to New Haven is a good place to learn those sorts of lessons, since it's over water pretty much the whole way in. Broke out at 900ft and maybe 5 miles of visibility.

So, three flights in my logbook yesterday, three different planes. Is it weird that I think I enjoy instrument flight more than VFR flight?
 
Oh! And a picture!
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Not weird at all. You can enjoy them both! I enjoy flying instruments for the challenge it give me and the degree of respect and control I need to use in the plane. I love VFR flying for the beauty of the world I can see from above.
 
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