November 13, 2003 -Another beautiful day here in Minnesota and it was time to go flying. Today we were scheduled for 5342Y and this is the first time in awhile that I have flown that plane. I had the preflight done and we got ready to go. I pulled the seat up and grabbed the belt. After pulling on the belt one time it was stuck and would not come loose. Crap ! We had to sqwauk the plane before starting the engine. Luckily there was another C172 available so I preflighted again and was ready to go.

Today we were set for some more ILS and VOR approaches. First up was the VOR-9 into Anoka, the ILS-10R into Flying Cloud, and then the VOR-36 into Flying Cloud. The first approach started off pretty good. The radio calls were somewhat troubling becuase there was alot of traffic and I had trouble focusing on our callsign. We departed FCM and headed North for a rather long extended base leg. The approach set up pretty easy as because of the direction we were being vectored. I was still having some trouble keeping the plane trimmed, but it is getting better. Because of my Alt. problems I failed to get through my entire pre-approach brief. I did not complete the "MARTHA" portion and started the timer later than I should have.

We went missed and headed back West own a downwind leg for the LOC-10R approach. This approach did go better, as I got the trim figured out better. I have started to use the electric trim and that helps quite a bit by not having to reach down to the trim wheel. I managed the headings a little better this time as well. I need to remember to slow the plane to 90 kts when entering the "base leg" protion of the approach. That will help in keeping the plane stable and allow me to concentrate on flying the approach. I was able to ge through my pre-approach better this time as well. The GS was out of service so all I had coming was the Localizer. Once over the FAF I did start my timer but forgot to accounf for the winds so my time should have been much shorter. I did manage to keep the cdi pegged within 1 dot either side so that was nice to see some improvement.

We went missed and next up, was the VOR-36 back into Flying Cloud. We flew out to the SW before we got vectored into the base leg for the approach. This approach was probably the better of the three today. Once we cleared for the approach I started my turn to intercept the 353 radial from FCM. I managed my altitude better this time, but it still needs work. Just before crosing PRIOR we were asked to slow our approach becauase we were coming close to overtaking another plane. That threw me off at that point. I got distracted and lost my heading. I got back on heading before the step down fix at NEADY and did much better from there on in. After passing NEADY we descended a little mroe and started our circle-to-land for 28L. I was slightly high, because we were so close to the apt, but I slipped the plane slightly and intercepted the VASI lights on track. There was a Citation waiting to depart and I can only imagine what these people were thinking as they saw my littel Cessna came limping in to land. Don't get me wrong, the landing was fine, but I had to really crank the turn to stay close to the RW and not cross into the path of 28R. I landed and only slightly floated, I would say a 7 on the landing. Not too bad.

Things To Remember:
1. Stay Ahead of the plane. It will help in all phases of flight.
2. Slow the plane as you get to the base leg portion of the approach.
3. Do not forget MARTHA. Go through each and every step. Touch the buttons.
4. Do not forget to account for the winds aloft. You must add a wind correction if needed. You will get blown off course if you don't.
5. Use small corrections to keep the needle centered.
6. Do not descend below your MDA/DH until the time to your MAP has passed.
7. Power controls altitude, Pitch controls the airspeed. (I think that's how it goes.)
8. Once crossing the FAF, reduce power 500 rpm's and pitch for 90 kts in airspeed.

That's all for now ! Next up is GPS approaches.