Instrument Practice this Wednesday

Everskyward said:
I did a procedure turn for real the other day, in the snow, in Wisconsin. Of course, I'm thinking grrrrrrr.... what, no vectors? I'm used to having to do the full approach at some of the airports out here, but I wasn't expecting it in the midwest where I would assume they had better radar coverage.
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Where, Mari?

Radar coverage is generally excellent in southern Wis, but there ain't much up nort, eh?
 
Everskyward said:
KEAU, Eau Claire, which I had never been to before... or even heard of. LOL.
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Hey, I was there yesterday too! :goofy: The big huge mondo complex just a couple miles due west of the field. It's the main HQ/DC/everything for Menards. I drove right past KEAU afterwards too.

"Eau Claire" is French for Clearwater. But, that's in Florida. :rofl:

I'm kind of surprised they didn't vector you. Did they actually say "lost radar contact?" Or might it have been a workload issue, and they just figured it'd be easier to have you do the full approach? Not a whole lot of traffic there, the control tower is only a few months old. It's not even on the latest sectional, I don't think.

I flew to KEAU to meet up with some PoAers in January... I think I had flight following on the way in, but I can't remember. (Kate? You remember?)
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Hey, I was there yesterday too! :goofy:
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We were there Sunday evening.

I'm kind of surprised they didn't vector you. Did they actually say "lost radar contact?" Or might it have been a workload issue, and they just figured it'd be easier to have you do the full approach?
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Definitely not a workload issue for them. I didn't hear any other traffic and I don't think anyone else took off or landed at the airport for the 45 min or so we were there. The only thing I saw on the runway was the snowplow. I don't remember specifically if they said "radar contact lost". They gave us a choice of the backcourse or the ILS. The winds were about 5 knots favoring the BC but they were reporting slightly less than BC minimums. Anyway it wasn't a big deal, just that I was a bit surprised.
 
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Awesome write-up, Troy!

Was the 2.2 hrs of IMC tiring? How did the PIREPS of turbulence jive with your flight?


-Rich
 
rpadula said:
Awesome write-up, Troy!
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Thanks, Rich!

rpadula said:
Was the 2.2 hrs of IMC tiring? How did the PIREPS of turbulence jive with your flight?
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No, it wasn't bad. For one, I got a good night's rest, and had carefully studied approaches, practiced on the sim, etc. since Saturday afternoon, so I was well prepared. Also, I had called the instructor to see if he wanted me to plan to hand fly the entire thing, or use the autopilot, or a bit of both. He said "let's do a bit of both, it's there as a tool you should be using when it's working if you're solo IMC anyway."

I agreed with that assessment, so I actually used the A/P almost exclusively for the trip down and back, except for putting on the hood and hand flying the ILS back in to KAFW to minimums, so I did get some hand-flying in as well.

That said, there's still a lot of "thinking" to do to fly the A/P right... knowing the system, how it interfaces with the GPS, when to go to APR mode vs HDG mode (the KAP140 flies less-than-standard-rate-turns in APR mode and will overshoot any turns onto the final approach course if you're in APR mode too early), how to manage switching from GPS to VOR or ILS mode without the autopilot turning some direction you don't intend, altitude management, vertical speed modes, etc. I had fun with the flight, and proper use of the A/P reinforced my confidence that it can be a great assistant in IMC.

As far as the turbulence goes, we had a few bumps here and there, but nothing I'd even classify as moderate... lucked out, I guess!!
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Ron has some info that says something to the effect of GPS is OK to use in lieu of DME *except for* primary lateral navigation, which it is on a DME arc. (Possible exception: WAAS.) I'm pretty sure that's more recent than July 1998, but I dunno.
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Flying DME arcs with GPS is specifically allowed (with current database, proper installation, etc.) unless your AFM somehow prohibits it.

Current official word on this is found in the published NOTAMs (NTAP). For 2/15/07-3/14/07, the exact page is here: http://www.faa.gov/NTAP/NTAP07FEB15/gen06000.htm

If you're searching, the page is found in "Part 3: International," under "General."
 
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flyingcheesehead said:
I flew to KEAU to meet up with some PoAers in January... I think I had flight following on the way in, but I can't remember. (Kate? You remember?)
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Nope, no flight following. Maybe you're confusing the enthusiastic Class D tower controller at CWA for flight following. He kept us with him longer than usual. After he let us go, we were on our own until contacting EAU tower.
 
skyflyer8 said:
Flying DME arcs with GPS is speficically allowed (with current database, proper installation, etc.) unless your AFM somehow prohibits it.

Current official word on this is found in the published NOTAMs (NTAP). For the 2/15/07-3/14/07, the exact page is here: http://www.faa.gov/NTAP/NTAP07FEB15/gen06000.htm

If you're searching, the page is found in "Part 3: International," under "General."
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Thanks for the current link!!
 
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