tonycondon
Gastons CRO (Chief Dinner Reservation Officer)
After work today I had arranged to get checked out with the club president. I wanted to be authorized to instruct in the club, and also wanted to do an IPC. My last was in September for my ATP ride, but i've done a laughable amount of IFR and IMC flying since then. I think in the last 6 months i've only done 2 approaches, and those were in January. So I was in the mood for a good workout, and I got it.
Airplane was a club 172N with 430W, KX-155, King DME, Strikefinder, and Fancy Garmin Transponder. Well equipped IFR bird. No autopilot. We started off with 45 degree steep turns, then 55 degree. I did OK, lost a little more altitude than I would've liked on the second steep turn but it was acceptable. then some slow flight and stalls, and unusual attitudes. After the airwork was completed I was feeling warmed up and ready to tackle some approaches.
Wind was strong out of the East/Southeast today, so I had to keep that in mind. We set up for the first approach, the VOR/DME-A into Newton, KS. It is right here:
http://204.108.4.16/d-tpp/0904/05582VDA.PDF
We had briefed before and decided to fly the Arc the old fashioned way. I must say that it has probably been 3 or 4 years since I flew a real DME Arc so I was looking forward to it, and to seeing how well I did. I came in from the east with a slight tailwind. Started my turn at 14 miles and rolled level at about 13.3. I ended making only a few heading changes on the way around. The wind was pushing me towards my course anyway, and I really wasn't on the arc for long. Turned inbound and kept the needles more or less centered. Down to minimums and then the instructor asked me which runway I would land on. With winds reported 120 deg in the high teens gusting 20's i chose the crosswind runway 8 and he agreed so we went missed. His only complaint was that I forgot to turn on the runway lights. Doh! I knew better than that. A call back to Wichita Approach to tell them we were going to do the ILS 17 into Newton and we started to set up for it. Here it is:
http://204.108.4.16/d-tpp/0904/05582IL17.PDF
I used the 430W to get me to the IAF and flew the outbound and procedure turn. Did a good enough job adjusting my PT for the wind so that I ended up not overshooting the inbound. Once inbound we got released from Approach. Instructor gave me some scenario where a go around was improbably due to theoretical lack of fuel. what was I going to do differently on this approach? Im like "dont screw it up". So I didn't. Never more than half a dot deviation on the localizer and 1 dot on the glideslope. I remember to turn on the lights too! I was very satisfied with this approach. We did a touch and go and then headed back down towards Jabarra for our last approach, a Partial Panel VOR-A, this time shot out of a hold.
http://204.108.4.16/d-tpp/0904/06234VA.PDF
I used the 430W again to navigate to HANCE to enter the hold. I was partial panel at this point and motoring along very happily. I was coming from the NW and decided I would like to use a teardrop entry, so I did. I explained to the CFII how if I didnt have a Garmin 430W I would do a timed turn to approximate the outbound heading, figured I needed about 20 seconds of turn. I worked the outbound out just fine, and decided that since I would be turning downwind as I went inbound that I would extend. Also, with the inbound course selected I still felt like the needle was a bit close to center when the GPS thought I should turn in. Dummy me forgot to think that the hold was nearly 25 MILES away from the VOR, so the needle wouldnt be too sensitive. So anyway, I had to stop my turn a bit coming inbound to intercept the course, but it was all good. I shot the approach in, using DME stepdowns and it was all just fine. I had no problems making the descent angle even with 20 knot tailwinds.
Crossed the field and made a right downwind for 18 at Jabarra. Instructor decided this would be a nice time to simulate engine failure so I made a pretty nice power off landing and we taxied it in. Ended up with 1.5 hrs, an instructor recommendation to the Board of the club, and an IPC. It was great!
Afterwards, went to a friends house and started gluing the canopy back together on my glider. We mixed up a pot of glue and clamped the front piece of Polycarbonate in place on the frame, used a syringe to lay a bead of glue between the fram and Poly. Worked very nicely, I look forward to seeing how it dries tomorrow, then we'll put the back piece on.
Airplane was a club 172N with 430W, KX-155, King DME, Strikefinder, and Fancy Garmin Transponder. Well equipped IFR bird. No autopilot. We started off with 45 degree steep turns, then 55 degree. I did OK, lost a little more altitude than I would've liked on the second steep turn but it was acceptable. then some slow flight and stalls, and unusual attitudes. After the airwork was completed I was feeling warmed up and ready to tackle some approaches.
Wind was strong out of the East/Southeast today, so I had to keep that in mind. We set up for the first approach, the VOR/DME-A into Newton, KS. It is right here:
http://204.108.4.16/d-tpp/0904/05582VDA.PDF
We had briefed before and decided to fly the Arc the old fashioned way. I must say that it has probably been 3 or 4 years since I flew a real DME Arc so I was looking forward to it, and to seeing how well I did. I came in from the east with a slight tailwind. Started my turn at 14 miles and rolled level at about 13.3. I ended making only a few heading changes on the way around. The wind was pushing me towards my course anyway, and I really wasn't on the arc for long. Turned inbound and kept the needles more or less centered. Down to minimums and then the instructor asked me which runway I would land on. With winds reported 120 deg in the high teens gusting 20's i chose the crosswind runway 8 and he agreed so we went missed. His only complaint was that I forgot to turn on the runway lights. Doh! I knew better than that. A call back to Wichita Approach to tell them we were going to do the ILS 17 into Newton and we started to set up for it. Here it is:
http://204.108.4.16/d-tpp/0904/05582IL17.PDF
I used the 430W to get me to the IAF and flew the outbound and procedure turn. Did a good enough job adjusting my PT for the wind so that I ended up not overshooting the inbound. Once inbound we got released from Approach. Instructor gave me some scenario where a go around was improbably due to theoretical lack of fuel. what was I going to do differently on this approach? Im like "dont screw it up". So I didn't. Never more than half a dot deviation on the localizer and 1 dot on the glideslope. I remember to turn on the lights too! I was very satisfied with this approach. We did a touch and go and then headed back down towards Jabarra for our last approach, a Partial Panel VOR-A, this time shot out of a hold.
http://204.108.4.16/d-tpp/0904/06234VA.PDF
I used the 430W again to navigate to HANCE to enter the hold. I was partial panel at this point and motoring along very happily. I was coming from the NW and decided I would like to use a teardrop entry, so I did. I explained to the CFII how if I didnt have a Garmin 430W I would do a timed turn to approximate the outbound heading, figured I needed about 20 seconds of turn. I worked the outbound out just fine, and decided that since I would be turning downwind as I went inbound that I would extend. Also, with the inbound course selected I still felt like the needle was a bit close to center when the GPS thought I should turn in. Dummy me forgot to think that the hold was nearly 25 MILES away from the VOR, so the needle wouldnt be too sensitive. So anyway, I had to stop my turn a bit coming inbound to intercept the course, but it was all good. I shot the approach in, using DME stepdowns and it was all just fine. I had no problems making the descent angle even with 20 knot tailwinds.
Crossed the field and made a right downwind for 18 at Jabarra. Instructor decided this would be a nice time to simulate engine failure so I made a pretty nice power off landing and we taxied it in. Ended up with 1.5 hrs, an instructor recommendation to the Board of the club, and an IPC. It was great!
Afterwards, went to a friends house and started gluing the canopy back together on my glider. We mixed up a pot of glue and clamped the front piece of Polycarbonate in place on the frame, used a syringe to lay a bead of glue between the fram and Poly. Worked very nicely, I look forward to seeing how it dries tomorrow, then we'll put the back piece on.
Sounds like fun! 
