August 28th, 2003 – Here we go again. Today I was scheduled for the sim. It doesn’t provide any feeling as to how the plane handles, but it gives me the basic ideas to get used to before I get into the plane and try them for real. It is also less than half the price for the plane. I can have up to 14 hours in the simulator so I will use as much as I can to try and save a little dough.
Today’s topics included intersection holds, DME arc’s, DME holds, and shooting (simulating) the ILS for 10R at KFCM. Drew was not available today so I worked with Rich today. I have not worked with him in the past, but he is the one that signed me off for my first solo XC flight to KSTC.
Rich does things a little different with the sim. Where Drew would have me take off and fly to the area where I would hold, Rich had me take off and then would freeze the plane. Afterwords he would position me towards the area I was going to hold. This was nice because it saved a lot of time instead of wasting it flying to the area. The first hold was an intersection hold. This worked fairly well. I used both the GOPHER VOR and the FARMINGTON VOR as well. It is real easy to know when you get to the intersection. All you need to do is twist the VOR’s to the radials that define the intersection and when the CDI needles center, Wallah, you are there. It is now time to start the holding pattern.
Next up was a 25 mile DME hold off of the 180 radial of the GOPHER VOR with 3 mile legs and left hand turns. This was slightly harder, because there was not a direct intersection, but it was not that bad. I tracked the 180 radial from GOPHER and when I got to 25 miles, I started watching the DME. I got to 28 miles and started my turns outbound. While there was no cross intersection, it was almost easier when I did not have to worry about times. Because I was flying a DME hold, I just needed to watch the distance of the legs before turning inbound or outbound. Also I had to watch the VOR to make sure that I was tracking the correct radial and keeping the needle centered. While performing the DME hold, Rich had me turn off the DME and failed the number one NAV. I then had to do the hold with just one VOR instead of using the DME. It weas not too bad, but the diffucult part was switching the VOR back and forth between two different VOR’s.
The last thing on the menu for today was the ILS for 10R at KFCM. He chose this approach because it includes a DME arc on the approach plate. I was flying in from near the FARMINGTON VOR so I kept an eye on the DME until I got to 12 miles DME. Once there I started my turn turn to the left (90 degrees to 270) and twisted the VOR to a “from” indication to locate my position. Once the CDI fully deflected I turned 10 more degrees and re-twisted the VOR to center up again. This process was repeated a few more times until I was lined up with the ILS. By the way, I had the number 1 NAV tuned into the ILS course of 098 degrees. Once the needle centered up on 098 “to” I needed to turn inbound and track the ILS to the airport. This was going well but I was slightly above the glideslope. Not too bad considering I was doing this for the first time. We had just passed the outer marker beacon when we had to stop the lesson. Rich had another lesson and we did not have enough time to finish.
Things To Remember:
1. Scan, Scan, Scan. It is even more important when bringing the other instruments into the picture.
2. Watch your altitude. If you do get off, get right back on as soon as you notice the problem.
3. You are established in the hold when crossing the fix on the inbound leg. That is the time when you would contact approach/center and let them know you are established.
Next up – Performing any and all of these tasks in the plane. Until next time….
