starting instrument

[Fred0311]

So I'm starting instrument next week and thought I'd ask if you fine people had any advice? Things to review beforehand, common mistakes, suggestions etc.

[Counterrotate]

Relax and keep your scan going. You are going to be white knuckling like a 1 hour student again when you go under the hood, at least, most of my students did. Tell yourself to relax, and just keep your scan going. It's ok if you are not perfectly on the numbers, just fix the trends with small control inputs and keep it smooth rather than precise as most days are not glassy smooth and you are going to get bumped around a lot. The rest is just practice practice practice.

[C of G]

Best advice I can give is building blocks. Try your first flight or two without the foggles on. It's not conventional, but why run before you can walk. Have a disciplined scan and try not to cheat without them on. That way you break in easy and aren't tossed in the to the deep end. Then you won't be so overwhelmed when you do put them on. My $.02

[Fred0311]

Thank you for the advice!

[Sonic04GT]

Relax and keep your scan going. You are going to be white knuckling like a 1 hour student again when you go under the hood, at least, most of my students did. Tell yourself to relax, and just keep your scan going. It's ok if you are not perfectly on the numbers, just fix the trends with small control inputs and keep it smooth rather than precise as most days are not glassy smooth and you are going to get bumped around a lot. The rest is just practice practice practice.

 

Good advice. Additionally, your kneeboard is going to be your best friend so have one that suits you well, especially once you start doing approaches. Have checklists for various stages of flight and dry erase markers so you can draw out holding patterns and notes. It will make your life 10 times easier. The more you have laid out in front of you, the less you have to divert attention current critical transitions, allowing you to do what you're there to do, fly the helicopter. I like to put a blank sheet of paper in one of the plastic sleeves so I essentially have a scratch pad I can draw on with a dry-erase.

 

Here's an example, my approach phase list beside the approach plate so I can reference both simultaneously. As shown, I also find it helpful to highlight important values on the approach plate.

 

A cyclic-mounted timer is also helpful. I use this.

http://www.mypilotst...tStore/sep/2078

 

[JCM5]

I am in the middle of my instrument training right now. The advice I would offer to date would be to study hard and get your written exam out of the way ASAP.

 

As far as the flying goes, just try to fly consistently - the radio calls may seem difficult at first, but they are really quite simple and predictable. Try to make all of your flights cross-country, and if you can, do some night instrument flights. Logging cross country, night, instrument flights kill three birds with one stone.

[Counterrotate]

I am in the middle of my instrument training right now. The advice I would offer to date would be to study hard and get your written exam out of the way ASAP.

 

As far as the flying goes, just try to fly consistently - the radio calls may seem difficult at first, but they are really quite simple and predictable. Try to make all of your flights cross-country, and if you can, do some night instrument flights. Logging cross country, night, instrument flights kill three birds with one stone.

 

I agree. Night instrument is as close to actual IMC you are going to get. Very good training. Also, to add to the mention of the cyclic mounted timer in an above post, I keep a separate timer on my kneeboard. It works better than a watch or the panel mounted clock for everything from warm-up/cool-down to instrument procedures. It's nice having something right there without having to lean in and potentially push forward on the cyclic. Also, the PTS states that "Helicopters certified for instrument flight rules (IFR)

operations must be flown using two pilots or single pilot with an

approved autopilot or a stability augmentation system (SAS). Therefore,

when conducting practical tests in a helicopter (without autopilot, SAS,

or copilot), examiners may act as an autopilot (e.g., hold heading and

altitude), when requested, to allow applicants to tune radios, select

charts, etc." so be sure to learn how to appropriately utilize this resource with your instructor so you are prepared for it with the examiner.

[Sonic04GT]

The autopilot thing is a good point that probably goes unnoticed a lot. I neglected it during my training, although I did use it occasionally.

 

On my checkride the DPE actually offered to take the controls from me once he cleared me for an approach so I could set up.

[Chuck_2007]

Best advice I can give is building blocks. Try your first flight or two without the foggles on. It's not conventional, but why run before you can walk. Have a disciplined scan and try not to cheat without them on. That way you break in easy and aren't tossed in the to the deep end. Then you won't be so overwhelmed when you do put them on. My $.02

I started doing IFR for commercial pilot requirement yesterday. My instructor told me doing the same thing. Feeling good.

 

[ridethisbike]

All good info, especially ANYTHING said about keeping your scan going. It's so easy to fixate on one instrument, or switching radios, or loading the GPS, or any number of things and forget to keep scanning. Make it a goal to beat how many times you bust PTS standards each flight. So if you bust standards 5 times on one flight, make it a goal to beat it.

 

KEEP CALM! Stay relaxed. Don't get flustered. I was riding along in the back seat with a friend one time and he kept busting altitude and airspeed. He asked the instructor to take the controls. He barely had a hold of them before the student let go. The student then pulled the mic away from his mouth and started screaming and punching the air in frustration. As you already know, stress helps to a point. After that, though, it's your worst enemy. Make sure you keep it in check. If something is overwhelming you, take a deep breath and think your way through it ONE STEP AT A TIME.

 

Don't be afraid to write on your approach plates. Highlight, write checklists on them, whatever you need. I had my 5T's highlighted with one color and MTITSMMM's with another.

 

Also, you don't need that $50 timer. Seriously. I used the one below, with velcro zip tied to the clip on the back of it and attached it to the cyclic. It doesn't have a light on it, which is a down fall, but you can get ones like it that do, so not a biggie. Or you can just use a red lens head lamp and call it good, assuming you fly at night.

 

http://www.walmart.c...00534W/14913165

 

 

 

OH! One last thing. You should ALWAYS be busy! There's ALWAYS something you could be doing. If the cockpit ever gets quiet, figure out what you're forgetting about. I actually added a 6th T to the 5T checklist to help counteract that...

 

Time

Turn

Twist

Throttle

Talk

*THINK ("What's next? What can I do to make that part easier?")

[avbug]

organization is the key to pain free instrument flight. Organize your cockpit, organize your approaches. Know before you go. Plan in advance. Look at departures before you leave. Look at arrivals long before you get ready to fly the approach. When in doubt, slow down. Time is your friend.

 

Scan. Force yourself not to fixate. Everyone does. Everyone learns to scan.

 

Playing instrument flight is similar to playing a video game. I don't play video games, but those who do seem to make the correlation.

 

Don't chase needles. Don't chase airspeed, altitude, vertical speed, or heading. Make corrections, hold them, see what they do. Then correct for the corrections. Make small ones, and make subsequent ones even smaller.

 

Less is more in instrument flight.

 

No rule says you need to work at minimums. No need to fly with minimum fuel, minimum weather, minimum comfort level, or minimum safety. Set your own standards higher than the law allows. Consider it your gift to yourself.

 

Remember that there is no flight which must be made. A valuable skill is the ability to say no.

 

Inform and stay informed.

 

Brief every approach, and be standardized. It really helps when flying an unfamiliar approach. Stack the blocks in your favor.

 

Relax. Breathe. Sometimes people forget.

[Counterrotate]

organization is the key to pain free instrument flight. Organize your cockpit, organize your approaches. Know before you go. Plan in advance. Look at departures before you leave. Look at arrivals long before you get ready to fly the approach. When in doubt, slow down. Time is your friend.

 

Scan. Force yourself not to fixate. Everyone does. Everyone learns to scan.

 

Playing instrument flight is similar to playing a video game. I don't play video games, but those who do seem to make the correlation.

 

Don't chase needles. Don't chase airspeed, altitude, vertical speed, or heading. Make corrections, hold them, see what they do. Then correct for the corrections. Make small ones, and make subsequent ones even smaller.

 

Less is more in instrument flight.

 

No rule says you need to work at minimums. No need to fly with minimum fuel, minimum weather, minimum comfort level, or minimum safety. Set your own standards higher than the law allows. Consider it your gift to yourself.

 

Remember that there is no flight which must be made. A valuable skill is the ability to say no.

 

Inform and stay informed.

 

Brief every approach, and be standardized. It really helps when flying an unfamiliar approach. Stack the blocks in your favor.

 

Relax. Breathe. Sometimes people forget.

 

Damn. I couldn't have put it any better than that.

[Fred0311]

Thank you all for the input! I look forward to putting it to good use here soon.

[superstallion6113]

Bookmarking this thread for when I get back home and kick off with my instrument semester.

[Rogue]

I second doing as much as you can at night time ! I'm glad I did.

 

Also, I second Sonic04GT's kneeboard set up as it is probably identical to mine. I will take pictures of it later, but basically it is just the Flyboys model.

 

I laid it out in a manner that made sense to me, basically starting with startup checklist, taxi diagram, pre takeoff checklist.. etc, etc I work backwards closing the "book" as I go (that way open pages weren't hanging down by the collective). It is also divided into sections yellow(lost comm), green, red (red for emergency !) I utilize the plastic sleeves to write directly on with dry erase markers, like CRAFT clearance, holding patterns. I pulled the pages out of the NACO chart books and put them into the sleeves after highlighting appropriate areas.

 

Lastly, 5Ts is okay but I found the simplest thing was to stick to the FACTS.

• F - frequency
  
• A - altitude
  
• C - course
  
• T - time
  
• S - supplemental (for example our practice missed approach procedure was not the actual missed approach procedure)
  

You'll find that you need the FACTS to set up the approach and after beginning the approach you really need to only ACT. I found that much simpler than other mnemonics and I also believe if you prepped properly on the ground there is no reason to read the entire AF/D, Instrument Flying Handbook and Instrument Procedures Handbook while en route....

Edited March 16, 2013 by Rogue

[Sonic04GT]

I second doing as much as you can at night time ! I'm glad I did.

 

Also, I second Sonic04GT's kneeboard set up as it is probably identical to mine. I will take pictures of it later, but basically it is just the Flyboys model.

Yeah I use the Flyboys and it's a great kneeboard. Unfortunately the stitching around the pocket velcro let go, but that's what the girlfriend is for.

 

The dry erase concept works well. My checklists have places for writing ATIS, CRAFT, holds, etc. Simple and effective. Drawing out holds is very helpful for me.

[jim_222]

somebody put 7500 in the box, cause I am about to hijack this thread...

 

I just got one of those advertising brochures in the mail, for a subscription to the "IFR refresher." Does anyone have any comment on the publication? Does it worth subscribing to?

 

To be honest, I had never heard of it before, so I am a little skeptical about it...

 

thanks...

[Flying Pig]

Dont neglect the book work. IFR flight is about procedures.

 

As far as the IFR refresher subscription, I love it. Its written in just plain old english as if you were sitting in a restaurant talking shop about flying IFR. Each issue profiles a procedure and then breaks it down step by step. They go over IFR accident studies. Excellent.

[Counterrotate]

somebody put 7500 in the box, cause I am about to hijack this thread...

 

You're so witty, oh so witty...

[ridethisbike]

You'll find that you need the FACTS to set up the approach and after beginning the approach you really need to only ACT.

 

Everyone has their own. As long as it works for you and gets the job done, that's all that matters. The ones I was taught work and they get the job done. If I try to learn and use someone else's checklists at this point, I'll probably only confuse myself. Especially since I'm not flying Instrument right now...

 

 

 

I also recently received the IFR Refresher letter in the mail. Haven't even opened it yet. Suppose I should get on that....

[Rogue]

Yep to each and all there own, FACTS synched with my brain. 5Ts or any of the other ones - I spent most of my time trying to remember if I forgot a T or not.... *shrug*

[Fred0311]

Thank you all for the great advice. I just passed my check ride Wednesday. One thing I found very helpful was laminating my approach plates. Putting them in the plastic sleeves just didn't agree with me. They bunch up or tear and the sleeve its self would make it hard to read. Well on to commercial.

Edited May 24, 2013 by Fred0311

[eagle5]

Funny, I like those plastic approach plate sleeves I got from Sportys?

[Fred0311]

I think I bought some sub standard ones from a local pilot shop. Laminating the plates worked great though for me and I just used the sleeves for checklists.

[Velocity173]

Second the IFR Refresher. I've had a subscription for about 6 yrs now. As FP said its written in easy to understand English with good real world articles and excellent quizzes in the back. I've kept all my issues as a reference.