Rob Schaffer
Cleared for Takeoff
Looking at my log book, I was doing really well with my IR Training this summer and early fall. In October, I only had one IR training flight, as I went to Windwood with other Pilots here on the forums and had a great time. About that same time, I flew an uncle around for some fall folliage sightseeing. Well, that was the last time I was able to get in the air, early October.
A few cancellations due to all the elections and the VIP visits in the Northeast, and then the weekend of Thanksgiving my Father in Law suddenly passed away. The past few weeks have been rough on the family and I'm sure Christmas won't be any easier, but the normal routine of day to day activities continues to go on.
Looking at the weather here in the Northeast, I decided I needed time to get away from it all and get some flying in. I managed to squeeze in an early morning timeslot at the flight school for this morning and luckily, the weather stayed south with the snow last night. Plan was just to go back up with a CFI and enjoy the flight, maybe do some basic hood work again.
I arrived this morning to preflight in the heated hangar, good thing, as all the other planes had some good frost on them. We talked a little about things, and then prepared to fly from Wings (KLOM) to Modena VOR (MXE) and do an ILS Approach to Chester County. I set things up, and taxiied, remembering to check the turn coordinator ball as we turned to the taxiway, and had the GPS flight plans cleared. Departure was smooth and quick, -6C this morning, clear and smooth air. After departing the pattern I went under the hood and began tracking MXE. Not to bad, found a slight wind correction and tracked well. Identified the LOC, saw needle movement, and began to make the WORST ILS approach ever.... I was snaking down the ILS, good on Glideslope though, but really feeling behind in my scan. In the end, I made it center at about 1 mile out and the runway was there,... went missed back to Modena.
My hold at Modena,... first lap actually came together nicely with a teardrop entry and nearly on time. My second lap,... Ugly. Time was off, inbound tracking was swaying back and forth from center. CFII gave me vectors after crossing MXE to intercept the ILS again. This time, I actually felt a little better. Glideslope captured and I was holding it well,... at least till we were half way down, then I was dancing with the needles again. Time to look up,... and I was off to the right nearly aligned with the taxiway. I called on the radio and made a full stop this time, I needed to get back in the game. Slid left, made a nice landing and regrouped my self. I was definitely slacking and behind on my checks, procedures, and more importantly, the airplane. Wind was 310 @ 9, landing 29 at Chester County.
I decided to head back to Modena, then do the GPS 6 back to Wings, Circle to Land on 24. I departed Chester County and was doing much better on the flying. Leveled off, loaded the GPS approach into the GPS, activated MXEi as the inital appraoch fix, and was on my way. The first leg of the approach I wondered a little, not compensating for the wind that had developed while we were flying. Began to turn to the second leg, and really focused on keeping things together. This time, it all worked out nicely after I crossed the FAF and decended to 880 (circling minimums) Runway 6 was there at the 1.3 nm, straight ahead, I broke off and circled with a nice landing.
Still time to fly around the pattern again to get 3 landings in, decided to do a short field TO and LNDG, which both went well and smooth.
1.5 Hobbs today, but really showed me how rusty instrument skills can be in a short time. In October, I was about to start my XC flights or fly with a safety pilot, as I was nailing the holds, LOC, VOR, ILS approaches. Now, after this morning's flight, I feel I am back starting at nearly the beginning. My altitude holding was great, but my cockpit management of tasks and airplane were horrible.
My CFII said I did alright, but was definitely not on my game today like she has always seen me fly. Really also goes to show that fatique, emotional or physical, can distract from the skills necessry.
A few cancellations due to all the elections and the VIP visits in the Northeast, and then the weekend of Thanksgiving my Father in Law suddenly passed away. The past few weeks have been rough on the family and I'm sure Christmas won't be any easier, but the normal routine of day to day activities continues to go on.
Looking at the weather here in the Northeast, I decided I needed time to get away from it all and get some flying in. I managed to squeeze in an early morning timeslot at the flight school for this morning and luckily, the weather stayed south with the snow last night. Plan was just to go back up with a CFI and enjoy the flight, maybe do some basic hood work again.
I arrived this morning to preflight in the heated hangar, good thing, as all the other planes had some good frost on them. We talked a little about things, and then prepared to fly from Wings (KLOM) to Modena VOR (MXE) and do an ILS Approach to Chester County. I set things up, and taxiied, remembering to check the turn coordinator ball as we turned to the taxiway, and had the GPS flight plans cleared. Departure was smooth and quick, -6C this morning, clear and smooth air. After departing the pattern I went under the hood and began tracking MXE. Not to bad, found a slight wind correction and tracked well. Identified the LOC, saw needle movement, and began to make the WORST ILS approach ever.... I was snaking down the ILS, good on Glideslope though, but really feeling behind in my scan. In the end, I made it center at about 1 mile out and the runway was there,... went missed back to Modena.
My hold at Modena,... first lap actually came together nicely with a teardrop entry and nearly on time. My second lap,... Ugly. Time was off, inbound tracking was swaying back and forth from center. CFII gave me vectors after crossing MXE to intercept the ILS again. This time, I actually felt a little better. Glideslope captured and I was holding it well,... at least till we were half way down, then I was dancing with the needles again. Time to look up,... and I was off to the right nearly aligned with the taxiway. I called on the radio and made a full stop this time, I needed to get back in the game. Slid left, made a nice landing and regrouped my self. I was definitely slacking and behind on my checks, procedures, and more importantly, the airplane. Wind was 310 @ 9, landing 29 at Chester County.
I decided to head back to Modena, then do the GPS 6 back to Wings, Circle to Land on 24. I departed Chester County and was doing much better on the flying. Leveled off, loaded the GPS approach into the GPS, activated MXEi as the inital appraoch fix, and was on my way. The first leg of the approach I wondered a little, not compensating for the wind that had developed while we were flying. Began to turn to the second leg, and really focused on keeping things together. This time, it all worked out nicely after I crossed the FAF and decended to 880 (circling minimums) Runway 6 was there at the 1.3 nm, straight ahead, I broke off and circled with a nice landing.
Still time to fly around the pattern again to get 3 landings in, decided to do a short field TO and LNDG, which both went well and smooth.
1.5 Hobbs today, but really showed me how rusty instrument skills can be in a short time. In October, I was about to start my XC flights or fly with a safety pilot, as I was nailing the holds, LOC, VOR, ILS approaches. Now, after this morning's flight, I feel I am back starting at nearly the beginning. My altitude holding was great, but my cockpit management of tasks and airplane were horrible.
My CFII said I did alright, but was definitely not on my game today like she has always seen me fly. Really also goes to show that fatique, emotional or physical, can distract from the skills necessry.
