Eblo

More VOR Work

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Last Wednesday, I got to do VOR work again - wow, three flying days in a row! There were two noteworthy bits about this flight. First of all, after tracking in to the Burlington VOR one time, my instructor told me that he wanted me to start getting used to relying on the instruments to prepare to 'hood work.'

A Private Pilot is not allowed to fly in, through, or actually anywhere near clouds. Not without an Instrument Rating. That is because the life expectancy of an untrained pilot in a cloud is very VERY short. Without reference to the horizon, untrained pilots mistakenly trust their senses and not their instruments. A few illusions combine to cause what is known as the "Graveyard Spiral." Get into one, and you'll meet the ground in a hurry. Or the water, in the case of JFK Jr.

For this reason, the FAA requires even Private Pilots to have at least three hours of training on flying only with reference to instruments. Those three hours don't teach you enough to safely fly through clouds, but the idea is to keep you alive long enough to be able to turn around and get out if you 'just happen' to stumble into a zero visibility situation.

To simulate this situation, a pilot wears a hood (think of a giant-brimmed baseball cap) or special glasses called Foggles which block out the view outside the airplane so the pilot can only see the instruments. Note that this is only done when there is a CFI present looking out for traffic and ready to bail out a disoriented student. Since you wear a hood for this training, it's called 'hood work,' or more technically, 'simulated IMC (Instrument Metrological Conditions).

Anyway, I wasn't doing hood work yet, just getting ready for it. But it's really a strange adjustment to make. Since I started flying, I've really been working on building a good traffic scan - a literal lifesaver when flying. If you're not constantly looking for other aircraft, you're much more likely to hit them. Now, suddenly, I was being told NOT to scan for traffic. Not to look outside at all. Just to scan the instruments, establish a course, and make turns based on what they told me. Even though the outside wasn't blocked from view, I could see/feel how you might tend to doubt what the instruments said you were doing.

So I pretty much did the whole flight after takeoff and before entering the pattern without looking outside. So I can't write anything about the weather or the scenery ;-) If you look at the track, I did pretty well. The leg between Wilmot and Wag Aero is a bit curved because I wasn't actually on a radial at that point, I was tracking north to intercept the 120 degree radial, which I didn't wind up doing until I was almost on tom of the VOR.

Also, the track up to the north of the VOR station is a little misleading, too. I did not make a perfectly straight shot out and then zig-zag back. Instead, I zig-zagged when I started north, then straightened out. After I did the 180 degree turn, I zig-zagged a bit again, then straightened out.

The only other really interesting part of the flight was the landing (isn't that always the case?). I was set up nicely (and looking outside at this point) and compensating for a mild crosswind. Everything was looking good, and then suddenly I was dropping like a rock. I added in a bit of power to slow the sink rate, but I just kept falling.

The natural reaction, and wrong thing to do, is to pull back on the elevator to pick your nose up. What that does is bleeds off airspeed and the next thing you know you're looking at a stall less than 50 feet above the ground. I started to do this, but when I noticed my airspeed was 5 knots lower than it should have been, I did what I should have done in the first place - I added a lot of power. This slowed our fall to a respectable rate - one that would get us to the runway - and got the airspeed back up where it belonged. I was able to finish out the landing as if nothing had happened.

I don't know if I was hit by a downdraft, a gust dropped out from under me, or I underestimated the sink from the slip I put in for the crosswind. But I adjusted and learned from the situation. There were three lessons enforced here:

1. Don't let your airspeed get too low on approach (or ever).
   
2. Fly the plane until it's tied down - a pretty approach does not guarantee a pretty landing.
   
3. When you're flying slow, control effectiveness is dampened, so make corrections with authority (within reason). This goes for the throttle, too.
   

So I flew three days in a row last week. And now we're in for a week of grey, grey days. Some times, that's the way it goes.

ADDENDUM

I forgot a few things in my original post. See how much I forget if I wait almost a week to do a writeup?

I forgot one 'cute' bit about my preflight. I checked the tanks and they were both low. My CFI wasn't back from his previous lesson yet, so I mentioned it to one of the FBO owners. He said, "Can you pull it up to the pump? We'll get it filled up for ya'." My initial reaction was, no, I can't do that. But then it hit me, I BETTER be able to do that, I'm signed off for solos!!!! So I got in the plane, started it up and taxied over to the gap pump. Just one of those 'little things' that made me realize how far I've come and what I can do now. Just one of those things that make you smile.

And there was one not-so-cute thing: as the FBO owner walked up to the pump and I jumped off the wing proud of my valet job, he pointed out the fuel dripping/streaming from the fuel bowl sump valve. Doh!!! Note to self: BE CAREFUL NOT TO LEAVE THE SUMP OPEN WHEN DRAINING FUEL!!!!! On this plane the bowl drains really slowly, so I just didn't notice it as I headed from the engine to the left wing. At least I was just going to the pump, not on a cross country flight.

So now I'm wondering if I should do another walk around AFTER my walk-around to make sure I didn't break anything.

Posted by oblivion at December 9, 2003 07:58 PM