07/16/03 - Weather sucks today, but I am flying the sim. Not much to write about today. The sim is nothing exciting to fly. It is a Frasca 141 with no display. It is just the instruments and that is about all. I suppose that is all I need since I am pursuing my IFR rating anyway. It has been at least 6 months since flying the sim so I spent a good amount of time getting used to how touchy the dam thing is.

Today's flight was just a continuation of the things that we covered yesterday in the plane. I had to perform various climbs and descents, then some turns left and right. All of them standard rate of course. I would have to climb at 90 kts, then descend to xxxAGL at the same speed. After that I would have to descend at 500 fpm and then climb at 500 fpm. The biggest thing with the sim is finding the correct power settings that would get the performance that you desired. Once you got the power settings correct, it was just a matter of maintaining those settings. Of course that is no different than flying the plane. Once you have the power settings, it just maintaining the proper scan.

Lessons Learned:
1. Make slow adjustments/corrections.
2. Watch for standard rate turns. Don't crank on the rudder.
3. Pay attention to power settings and the performance they provide.
4. Once you have the settings, maintain a proper, complete scan.
5. When leveling off be sure to anticipate the desired altitude. Let the speed build up then trim out the plane to get the desired performance.
6. Climb at full power, Cruise at 2300rpms, Descend at 1800rpms.
7. Watch the Attitude Indicator. It will do wonders for you.
8. SCAN ! SCAN ! SCAN !