From: skip@mitre.org (Skip Guild)
Subject: FAA PULLS PERMANENT FLYING PRIVILEGES (Part 1/2)
Organization: The MITRE Corp
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 13:50:44 GMT

[Problems posting this as one message.  Broke it into          
 Parts 1 and 2 of 2.  This is Part 1]
	  
	  FAA PULLS PERMANENT FLYING PRIVILEGES

Replaces Permanent Certificate With 180 Temporary Certificate
Dateline:  Manchester, New Hampshire

	As of 4:15 p.m. (2115 UCT), 20 November, the clouds are no 
longer a safe place to hide from this newly minted Private Pilot, 
Single-Engine Land, Instrument-rated Airplane certificated flier.  
Thus follows the traditional spill-the-beans tell-all report on 
my FAA checkride with my local FAA designated examiner.

	I was originally scheduled for the practical exam for my 
instrument rating last Friday.  I was actually asked if it made 
any difference to me that the test would be given on Friday the 
13th.  I answered "gulp, no."  

	I never got to find out if it actually would have made a 
difference.  Early Friday morning the forecast for the local area 
included thunderstorms, 40 knot winds, icing in clouds and 
precipitation, everything but the kitchen sink.  My instructor 
and the D.E. concurred on deferring the test.

	The D.E. (hereafter referred to as Charlie) left that day 
for a business trip and didn't return until this past Wednesday.  
I finally reached him Thursday afternoon.  He asked if I was 
available the next afternoon (Friday).  I was.  He planned to be 
in the air on another checkride at that time but suggested I show 
up early at 2:00 p.m. and start work on planning the cross-
country.  He said he would leave instructions with his secretary 
to tell me what airport I should start planning for.

	As it turned out, when I arrived by air (of course) from 
Nashua, only 10 miles away, his building at the far end of 
Manchester Airport was deserted.  Charlie landed with his PPSEL 
examinee precisely at 2:00.  After introductions, he indicated we 
were going to do the air work first followed by the oral as this 
would keep us away from having to test in the air close to 
sundown (around 4:00 around here now).  He had me review the 
plates for Manchester and let me know the order we would be doing 
the approaches.  He then debriefed the other pilot for 10 minutes 
while I prepared to aviate.

	My instructor and I expected from his previous experiences 
with Charlie that I would be asked to execute a rather busy 
approach sequence at Concord airport consisting of the CON ILS 35 
/ CON VOR 12 / CON NDB 35 executed directly after departing 
Manchester.  That sequence is particularly challenging as (1) the 
CON ILS 35 localizer intersection (for a vectored approach) is 
less than 5 miles from Manchester; (2) the CON VOR 12 IAF (at 
3500 feet MSL) is only 4 miles from the CON ILS 35 DH (400 MSL) 
(requiring a 1162 fpm climb rate at 90 knots and no tail wind), a 
2000 foot drop from procedure turn back to the VOR, and then a 15 
degree dog leg turn to final at the VOR for the final 700 foot 
drop to MDA in 3 miles; and (3) the EPSOM NDB used for the CON 
NDB 35 approach is notorious for being very weak and easily lost 
during the procedure turn usually used for this approach.  
Fortunately this day, the CON ILS 35 localizer and glideslope 
were out of service so Charlie went with plan B (all approaches 
to Manchester).  Tsk-tsk.

	Before departure, Charlie briefed the "rules of engagement" 
he uses for check rides, and some were different from what I 
expected.  I had been briefed Charlie would emphasize ability to 
work under stress to include his asking IFR related questions and 
generally chatting while I'm trying to concentrate on setting up 
for the approaches.  Not so, says Charlie right up front.  He 
will be a silent passenger whose only role will be ATC 
communications for VFR traffic advisories, and calling out when 
to look up for the visual verification of approach completion 
(after I declare where we are relative to DH or MDA as 
applicable).  As this was not expected, I asked why this change 
in approach.  His answer referred to FAA reviews of air carrier 
voice recordings which indicated presence of informal chatter on 
the flight deck just prior to several pilot-error accidents.  
This led to the "sterile cockpit" rules for air carriers during 
critical phases of flight which is now being carried all the way 
down through private pilot checkrides.  Emphasis is now on 
limiting communications during critical phases of flight to only 
that essential for safe flight.

	Another surprise was how we would correct for heading 
indicator precession.  Charlie indicated he would take care of 
monitoring the mag compass and either correct the DG himself or 
provide the necessary correction to me to enter as required.  He 
explained the reason for this procedure is the artificial nature 
of trying to correct for DG precession while flying under the 
hood (or with foggles in my case).  Often the examinee will 
observe the compass at the end of a swing, see it stationary, and 
take that reading as correct.  In real life (actual IMC), the 
compass will be a part of a modified instrument scan over a 
minute or so to observe trends and a better correction is 
obtained.  Hood flying is very artificial in this respect so 
Charlie won't place you in the position of blowing the NDB 
approach due only to misreading the compass.  (There are 
sufficient other ways to screw up the approach that removing this 
artificiality isn't significant to telling if you know what 
you're doing).

	The briefed approach sequence was straight forward starting 
with the MHT VOR 35, followed by the MHT ILS 35, followed by the 
MHT NDB 35, and finishing with landing at Manchester from the NDB 
approach.  The flight conditions were CAVU with a slight 
quartering headwind from the northwest which resulted in a rather 
consistent 5 degree wind correction to the left for all three 
approaches.

	We didn't bother filing an actual instrument clearance as 
Manchester is the primary airport in an ARSA and every takeoff 
involves almost as much ATC chatter as a real IFR clearance.  On 
initial contact with Clearance Delivery we stated our intentions 
and were immediately assigned an initial heading (runway 
heading), altitude (at or below 2500), frequency for Manchester 
Approach, and transponder squawk.  Over to Ground for taxi and 
thence to the runup area for the regular procedure plus the extra 
checks of radios, nav aids, etc. for IFR flight.

	Takeoff was normal.  At around 800 feet AGL and handover to 
Approach, Charlie said he had the plane and would I please put on 
my foggles.  He responded to the next ATC call and took care of 
the initial turn to 110 and noted the assigned altitude of 2000 
feet while I was getting "situated".  I liked his professional 
handover of the airplane back to me which included, "your 
clearance is to 2000 feet on an assigned heading is 110; the 
plane is yours."  I responded by repeating the clearance to 
Charlie and taking the controls.  From there on to final landing 
there wasn't a peep from Charlie except for an occasional 
statement or request for clarification from me.  I almost forgot 
he was there.   ;-)

	All three approaches were the best I've ever done!  The VOR 
TO-FROM indicator snapped through OFF with almost an audible 
click as we passed over the VOR on approach.  Later the NDB 
needle seemed to twist off the shaft spinning from 005 to 185 in 
one second during the NDB approach.  (I'd almost gotten used to 
thinking my normally slow 10-15 second ADF swing through 180 
degrees was perfection)!

	Charlie may not have said a word; but my instructor, Kurt, 
was chattering incessantly in my ear mentally all the way through 
every approach.  "Don't S-turn through the localizer on final.  
Wind correction opposite side before the NDB, same side after.  
DON'T BUST MINIMUMS!  Verify the OBS setting before using it.  
Verify VOR, ILS, NDB frequency settings aurally.  Keep the ADF 
audio turned on when using it to navigate.  Do, don't, do, 
don't..."

[to be continued in Part 2/2]
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