ME IFR training: My pet peeves

[PunkStarStudios]

You really earn your pay when you're flying an AP that has the thresholds slightly off - like when you command a pitch up it pitches down for a moment before going up. Love that. Or the only way to level it off is to "forcefully" command level from pitch up. Knowing those short comings blending hand flying and AP becomes art.

[Big Pistons Forever]

Pet peeves (continued)

10) FTU's make a meal out the dreaded "Comm failure". Yes you have to know the procedures but it seems to me the first reaction to a comm failure on a training flight is usually a big complicated recital of altitudes to be flown, routes taken, holding procedures at clearance limit , EFC EAP times blah blah blah. In the real world, there is almost always no immediate safety of flight as for the majority of the flight you will droning along in cruise at an already cleared altitude and route so the first priority is getting the comms back and the most likely cause is you have inadvertently selected the wrong radio on the audio panel or turned down the radio volume. The best way to do a quick check is to disable the squelch while adjusting the volume. If it is quiet but the background hissing becomes audible as you turn the volume knob up then give yourself a slap upside the head and do a radio check with ATC....and you might as well confess to finger trouble....that way ATC gets to feel superior and probably won't CADOR your ass

No hissing at any volume with the squelch off and yup you do have a problem. At this stage I would ask myself if this the first indication of a bigger electrical/avionics problem and have a quick look at the electrical system gauges/indicators. Assuming all is electrically well then the obvious second step is try radio number two, and look for the transmit light. Still no joy then I would suspect a bad PTT or mike, so try the hand mike ( you do know where it is and how to plug it in right ?). Still no luck then your perfect day of flying is in danger of becoming less fun. Time to go to plan B. Squawk 7600 and get your cell phone out. Since you have all the center direct dial phone numbers in your cell phone address book it is easy to give them a ring and check in. When you phone you want to have a plan already worked out that will include your route and altitudes and what approach you are going to fly. Tell them to text you if they want to change the plan and set your phone to vibrate.

In the unlikely event you can't get ATC on the phone then and only then should you roll out the full meal deal TC approved lost comm procedure

[burninggoats]

But let's face it - they still need to know how to hand fly it. A while ago I was flying a 182 with a G1000 shuttling someone around (while we were waiting for the purchase of the new company plane). Had a AHRS failure in IMC. No autopilot and a lot of red Xs. Hand to handfly on backup for over an hour. My love affair for the AP blossomed after that day.

Absolutely, you have to have (and practice) the hand flying skills to be a competant pilot. One skill that gets short thrift is being able to make a smooth transistion from autopilot on to hand flying, that is why autopilot training and SOP's are important. In any flight there will be optimum times to revert to hand flying and other times when turning off the autopilot would be a bad idea. Most pilots get to figure this out by trial and error.......too bad it is almost never taught.

Absolutely this. Did my IFR renew recently, and had a few hours in the alsim beforehand to practice. I'd never flown a plane with a functioning auto pilot before so we went over how to use it and disengaging at first sign of engine failure etc. I was amazed at how simple life was having the plane fly for me so I could brief approaches, holds, set radios etc.

It really took me by surprise how easy it is to fall into the complacency trap. knowing full well all about auto pilots and the need to keep on top of things it was much more difficult than I realized. A couple times in an engine failure I had to disengage and really yank the controls to keep the plane where I wanted. making that transition can be very dificult and I was not very comfortable doing it on a fight test with only a handful of practice runs.

Honestly it was almost a blessing when he failed the AP on my for my non-precision. I would not be very comfortable flying SPIFR without first being very familiar with that transition and every detail of the AP.