I began Stage 2 of 3 in my instrument training today. The first half hour of my lesson was ground school. I explained to Mark, my CFII, what I had already learned about holds. There's three basic entries; Direct, Teardrop and Parallel. Your entry depends on your position relative to the fix (a point on the imaginary racetrack shaped pattern). A standard hold is when all turns are made to the right, a nonstandard hold is when all turns are made to the left. The hold is to be a total of four minutes, with each leg being one minute based on a no wind situation. The reason for performing a hold "is to delay an aircraft already in flight while keeping it within a specified airspace" as stated by Wikipedia. They aren't too common these days, but all Instrument rated pilots are required to learn them.
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| Photo by Wikipedia |
After departing from Runway 36, we flew out north. I quickly put my foggles on, then Mark told me to fly us to the FASHE intersection. This intersection will be our fix for the holding pattern, and can be flown to by using a combination of VORs, DMEs (distance measuring equipment), or a GPS. The combination we chose was to use the St. Louis VOR and the DME. When both navaids match up, we would be at the FASHE intersection (the fix).
Based on our location, we chose to perform a teardrop entry into the pattern.
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| Tpub.com drawing |
Once in the pattern, I started my timer and began a standard rate turn to the right. One minute later I was on the outbound leg and started my timer over again for one minute. Once completed, I made a right hand turn for one minute, then followed the inbound leg for one minute back to the fix. The hold is now complete!
Mark then asked me to fly to the BYRNS intersection, hold west, and follow the pattern around but with left turns (nonstandard). That was enough to confuse me. I knew I had to fly east to enter the pattern, but then I lost it when I couldn't visualize where I was. Do I turn right for a teardrop entry, or left? Mark tried helping, but I was so confused that we decided to call it a day.
I actually feel really good about today's lesson. Although the last maneuver threw me for a loop, I think overall I did well. Holding procedures aren't as intimidating as I had expected. Next lesson we'll do more practice with holding, which I'm looking forward to.
January 15, 2012 - Local TRACON Facility Tour
Today my fiance and I joined a group of people from the local EAA Chapter to tour the St. Louis FAA TRACON (terminal radar approach control) facility. They manage all approach and departure control for a 40 miles radius of Lambert Airport (Class B airspace). When we arrived, we pulled up to the security guards outside the fenced property, let them copy our drivers license, then received visitor badges. After parking, we went inside where we meet with the two tour guides and our group. They broke us into two groups, so we stayed behind while the other group when to tour the radar rooms. While they were gone, our guide explained how their system worked and answered questions. They definitely have an intelligent system, and as a pilot myself, I feel very fortunate to be under their eyes.
A half hour later, it was our turn to go into the radar room. Our guide opened the door and we walked into a pitch black room. There were about 20-30 terminals, but only about five controllers working. It was a slow day. I was fascinated with the radar screens as you could see all the aircraft out flying and their information. It was a neat sensation when I could identify a lot of it on my own. For example, I watched a Beechcraft land at Spirit, and multiple Southwest flights go in to and out of Lambert. Then down towards Festus, we watched a Cessna 182 climb to 11,000ft to drop some parachuters (at least we assumed that's what they were doing because part of their information said "JMP"- jump??). We then walked into the training room where he talked about the simulators and the type of training and requirements that it takes to work ATC. Apparently the training takes approximately two years and the cut off age to get hired is 30. Retirement is mandatory at age 55 in most situations. Must be nice!
Above seeing the process in action, I think I enjoyed listening to the tour guides the most. I learned a lot about how controlled airspace works, who to contact and what to expect when I'm flying. It was also comforting to know that there's a lot of training involved for the employees, and good number of controllers are also pilots. They assured us that there's no reason to fear ATC. If we needed anything at all, whether it be weather information, or other airport information, they are there for us. They have many resources available to them, and it's easier for them to dig it up than for a pilot to figure something out while flying an aircraft in bad weather.
We really enjoyed the tour and thank the EAA group for letting us tag along, and thanks to the FAA for providing the tour!
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| FAA TRACON facility located in the Missouri Research Park |
Hours flown: 96.8
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