October 9th, 2003 - Today was the first day I have flown with Drew in awhile (in the sim that is). The main thing we worked on today was shooting the Localizer approach for 10R. Nothing much new to write about. The first thing that we did though was interesting. Drew had some textbook that had some flight maneuvers that we went through in the sim. It was a racetrack course.

It was just like an approach and included the following:
1: Procedure Turn
2: VOR Tracking (Inbound/Outbound)
3: Tear Drop entry
4: Holding Pattern

After flying the racetrack pattern I flew the Loc-10R approach. It went much better than in the past. Again the biggest thing I need to remember is to keep the scan going and not to omit any instruments. The first time on the approach I flew right through the approach course and subsequently had trouble getting back on. I made the correction to get back, but forgot to account for the wind. Because of that when I hit the outer marker I had yet to center the needle in the donut. Crap. Drew reset the sim and placed me West of the airport for one more try at the approach. This time it went much better. I picked up the approach course right away this time. I drifted slightly though again forgetting to account for the wind. The good thing though was that I made small corrections and was able to keep the needle pretty close to center. I know pretty close may not seem good enough, but it was an improvement and that is what I am always shooting for. Drew even commented that he glad to see the small corrections and things were looking good.

Things To Remember -
1: Scan !!!!!
2: Don't forget the wind.
3: Make small corrections.
4: Pick a heading and use it. If it is 270, then fly 270 and not 265, 268 etc..
5: Keep Learning.

That's all for now. I am back in the sim on Saturday and will update the site soon after that.