From: jd5f+@andrew.cmu.edu (Jeffrey Dunkle)
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.ifr
Subject: Re: Getting the IFR ticket
Date: 29 Dec 92 10:51:25 GMT
Article-I.D.: andrew.wfE=dBy00Uh_02b3o2
	<1992Dec20.235527.2158@peck.com>
Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

>> 3. Are my feelings of frustration and worthlessness normal?  :^)  Every
>> time I think I have everything under control, my CFII points out something
>> that I have screwed up.  My division of attention seems to need the most
>> work.  Any individual task is easy, putting them all together is proving
>> difficult.

The net experts have done their usual, thorough job of responding
thoughtfully to a well intended question.  As a modest time pilot with a
3 year old "weekend pilot" instrument rating...let me add a thought or
two to the.."every time I think I have everything under control...."
lament that I'm sure all IFR pilot/net readers relate to.  There's lots
of good CFII advice on learning instrument flying....let me relate two
exercises i went through about the middle of my training...that helped
me "reclaim" some of the precious little mental capacity that kept
getting diverted to non-flying tasks..and made the "act" of instrument
flying...just a bit simpler.  The first is on cockpit
organization....the second on instrument flight "visualization".

First....cockpit organization....the details of how you manage charts,
night lighting, etc.  Standardize!!!  Do the same thing...every
flight....and prepare...before a flight.  The best advice my instructor
gave me was to do "something" to organize charts, approach plates,
flight plan copies, briefing notes, hoods, headsets, etc....but spend
some time...in the cockpit...with no one there...and have all that
"stuff" with you...and organize it all in a way that works for you.  Its
the single most productive exercise I went through during my instrument
training....silly as that may sound.

Here's my system.

1.  An intercom with PTT (portable or built in....) is a MUST!...along
with a noise attenuating headset and boom mike.  Using the A/C hand mike
is too much waisted motion and the noise attenuating headset makes ATC
much easier to "read".

2.  Get a simple lap board with a couple of spring clips to hold your
approach plate and current enroute chart...and a small note pad. ( I
detest leg strapped contraptions....but find something that WORKS for
you)  Instead of having a separate "flight plan" sheet with time over
fix blocks for tracking flight progress...I note the time right on the
chart at the fix....( I DO plan the flight...and have such a plan sheet
where I can get it...i just like noting things on the
chart...inverably...you'll get ammended clearances...especailly as you
get close to your destination...so the neetly boxed lines on a planning
sheet become useless at that point.

3.  Approach plates....mark em, tag em, or do something so you can open
them easily.  If you use Jeps...you can't hold the whole binder on your
lap. Figure out how, and when you're going to pull the plates for the
approach you are to fly....and do the same thing every time you pull
plates so you don't "forget" in the middle of an approach segment  and
have to "read" a bunch of plates to find the one you want.  What do I
do?  I use NOS charts...and put a small post-it on the margin (like a
tab) of the first approach at my destination, and alternate
airport....have the approach plates clipped to my chart....and when told
to "expect.....the blank blank approach at  Smallville airport....in a
few seconds, I'm there.  If there's only one...or a most likely
approach...of course be already opened to it.  

Pencils/pens.  Have em..keep em the same place and have spares.
Lighting...KNOW how you're going to light the cockpit and your charts in
the plane you are going to fly that night...BEFORE...you start to fly!
Flashlights....I carry 3...plus spare batteries...when flying at night. 
Hood....spend time being sure the one you have works...with your
glasses, with your headset...etc.

Nuff about the "obvious"....but I literally spent two  1/2 hour sessions
in the cockpit on the ground....sorting out where I put everything...how
I opened charts...and all this little stuff...and created my "system". 
When your brain goes to mental mush on a missed apporach (simulated or
real)....being able to automatically "do things" in the cockpit....pays
off in reducing frustration and diverting the precious little attention
you have to give to non-flying details.
This will give you back some "control".


Second.....how I "visualize the instrument flying environment". I'm not
talking about scanning..and the different "techniques" for scanning. 
But keep about 3% of the maxed out mental capacity you have when hand
flying an airplane IFR to "visualize" the stages of the flight: 
immediate position/attitude, enroute location, airport environment, and
general traffic flow...where you are...what you are currently
doing...and what you'll be expected to do next, and finally, the entire
flight.  Every minute or every 10 minutes...recreate the "updated" image
of this stuff.  What does this do?  First, it allows you to anticipate
what's coming next.....you should know within about 1 minute....when
you're crossing a TRACON boundary and are going to get a frequency
change....anticipate receiving it.  You should know when you're going to
get enroute to approach transition clearance instructions.....anticipate
those....that callup should not surprise you.  Anticipate when you have
5 minutes prior to a transition to approach to open your approach
plate...re-scan the salient details of the approach..and then "fly the
approach"....dont' worry about it.   Anticipate ahead of time...the
process of attitude transitions i.e. entering a hold, crossing an FAF,
intercepting the glide slope. 

I also spent several 1/2 hour sessions trying to create a "sort of
standard" framework for visualizing departure, enroute, approach
transition, approach, and missed approach phases.  When the flight
progresses to the next phase...my dust off that "mental image"
framework...and lay in a few key details of what the flight I'm now
making....then fly the task at hand.

The skill set needed for hand flying IFR in a full ATC environment is
formidable.

But these two exercises, cockpit organization, and "flight
visualization"...helped me emensely and freed what little excess mental
energy I had to give to the task of "learning" and "flying" IFR.

Jeff Dunkle
Chmn. Circle W Flying Club
Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators