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Gen. Know. - Take me up!


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Ok,

 

Here's a fun one.

 

To help you with this, have a look at this great resource I found recently! It seems like it could be very useful to students and instructors alike. Note: There is a disclaimer on the website that these charts are not valid for navigation. Anyway, it's ideal for this purpose.

 

Sky Vector - Online Charts

 

Once again, lets leave this for a little while for any students who might want to have a stab, before CFIs jump in.

 

Anyway, the scenario #1 is this.

 

You wish to make a flight from Jacksonville (KJAX) to Bacon Co. (AMG) (a small airfield northwest of KJAX). Your planned route takes you approximately along V51 to AMG.

 

The weather for the entire journey is reported to be 2.5SM vizability, and the ceiling is reported to be 1100 feet. You will make this flight Night VFR.

 

There's one catch to this...your passenger has said that she wants to fly at the maximum altitude you are allowed to AT ALL TIMES.

 

Describe your flight, referencing the points at which you would change altitudes and any special communications with ATC during the flight. (Ignor issues such as fuel, obstacles, navaids and waypoints, whether you'd actually do such a flight etc..etc..)

 

Bonus Easy Question #2:

 

From the chart, what do you know about the Alma VOR (close to AMG).

 

Come what may!

 

Joker

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OK, just to help things along...

 

Use the 'search' function on the chart website! That'll take you straight to KJAX.

 

This question is one I used to ask students to get them thinking / check their knowledge of a few specific subjects...

 

It looks at 'airspace' of course, cloud and visibility requirements, and also 'Special VFR' rules.

 

Airspace is one of those subjects which appears to be a nightmare to learn. The only way to learn it is to apply it to practical situations.

 

Here's a little story.

 

I know of a student who failed his practical checkride due to a lack of knowledge of airspace.

 

Throughout his training, he'd been told he needs 1500' minimum to do Settling With Power practice. This is because he must recover by 1000'.

 

On the day of the checkride the ceiling was 1900' on the METAR. He'd been through this with the examiner on the ground before the flight.

 

So during the flight, the examiner casually asks the student to set up for SWP. Up goes the student to 1500', and passing 1200' they leave G airspace and enter E airspace, and they finish the drill. The examiner makes a little note of this.

 

At the end of the checkride, on the ground again, the examiner re-checks the student's knowledge of cloud and visibility and airspaces.

 

He points at the map and says, "What height does E start?" The answer is 1200'.

"What are the cloud clearance rules in E?" Answer, 500 below.

"What was the cloud base today?" 1900' by the METAR

"What height did you go during the SWP demo?"...Answer..."Ooops!"

 

Well that wasn't the only reason why the student had to retake, but it was just one more reason for the examiner failing that guy.

 

Well, back to the original question.

 

Joker

Edited by joker
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Since I have not started ground training or had any training on charts, I may be completely wrong, but since no one else is answering I will give it a try.

 

If the ceiling is 1100 feet then the maximum altitude during flight would be 600 feet, 500 feet below the ceiling since it is night VFR.

 

I would imagine that you would need to contact the ATC as you left or entered each class of airspace. Also as you made your approach to AMG.

 

Bonus Question- The VOR's frequency is 115.1. The radio channel is 98. The identifier is AMG. It operates 24 hours per day.

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Mdash156,

 

You're on the right lines. Not bad for someone who hasn't done any ground school on this....there's a little more though.

 

Open to the floor now....

 

I have changed the question slightly, to make it more obvious... the visibility along the entire route is now 2.5sm.

 

Notwithstanding saftey, can this flight be done?

 

Joker

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Special out of KJAX, 1099' then once out of the inner "C' ring, down to 699' AGL. Once clear of the magenta fade (700' "E" floor), back to 1099' until just before Blackshear, where it's back to 699'. Prior to entering the surface "E" airspace around KAMG, you'll need another SVFR - you might get Macon FSS to relay, or go to J'ville approach - once you have the clearance and enter the airspace, you could go back to 1099' if you wanted to.

 

Might be scary going over the mighty Okefenokee at night with 2.5SM vis!

Edited by flingwing206
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I've been trying to build a site like that forever!!! The only thing i couldn't get to work out was realtime metars. I couldn't find a "free" way to pull the info from other sources. What a great tool for learning!

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As always, Flingwing206, who seems always up for a challenge, is right on the nail! His answer is exactly what I was thinking...thanks Fling. My suggestion is that he posts the next general knowledge question!! What d'y'all think? :)

 

As for the VOR, these are the points that I would mention to an examiner if asked.

 

tile_6_35_1_19_4.jpgtile_6_35_1_20_4.jpg

 

1. The name is the Alma Vortac. That means it is a VOR with 'Tactical Air Navigation' features (distance information embedded in the VOR transmission).

 

2. The frequency for this VOR is 115.1, the identifier is AMG and it is the morse is shown. -. -- --. It can also be received on the old HF channel 98 It operates continuously (shown by the ommission of a little star.)

 

3. This VORTAC is also a communications station for the 'MACON' flight service station (shown by the word MACON underneath. They have a 'receive' frequency of 122.1 (shown by the adjacent 'R') If you want to call up MACON you should transmit on 122.1R If you use this method, don't forget to tell them what frequency you are transmitting and receiving on! They also have a two way remote communications outlet (for providing local airport advisories) frequency of 123.6 It is probably preferable to try this frequency before using the VOR and the 'R' frequency. That way, they don't have to interrupt the HIWAS to communicate with you.

 

4. There is HIWAS available on this (denoted by the 'H'). This (Hazardous inflight weather advisory service) continuous broadcast of weather will be heard if you turn up the volume of your VOR receiver.

 

Well that's about it for that VOR.

 

Last bonus on this thread...what is the 'A' for on the NDB information box above?

 

Joker

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