Localizer

February 25, 2011

I was looking forward to today's lesson because my CFII said that we'd be flying to Spirit Airport, then to Creve Coeur and finishing back at home. I always seem to enjoy the flights that take me outside of my practice area. After a successful preflight inspection, we were ready to let the fun begin.

We takeoff from runway 27 and fly west, taking it up to 2,500ft. Once clear of the area, Mark tells me to turn left to a eastern heading. We tune into Spirits weather and airport information frequency to hear that they are favoring their 26R and 26L runways. We wanted to practice tracking the Localizer, which meant we would need to ask for runway 26L. You can read the differences between a VOR, ILS and a Localizer on my Learning Zone page (info coming soon). Now that I have all the information, I can make my initial call to St. Louis Approach. I tell him my intentions and he instructs me to climb to 3,500 ft. He also told me that he would vector us around so that we could intercept the Localizer Approach for runway 26L.

The controller cleared us to enter Lambert's Class B airspace so that we could fly directly overhead of the airport. Entering Class B airspace is serious business, specially to a student like me. Only the nation's largest airports are Class B. The controller gives me a set of headings to fly that take us to Lambert Airport. We were told that once we made visual contact with the main terminal, we could turn to a heading of 220 (southwest).

Since I was wearing the foggles, Mark did all the looking. Once he made visual contact with the main terminal, he notified the controller and we turned to the 220 heading. It felt so awkward to fly over Lambert, but I couldn't help but be excited. Soon we would intercept the radial that we needed for the Localizer approach into Spirit Airport. After several minutes of flying, we intercept the radial and get on course for the straight in landing. Shortly thereafter, the controller clears us for the approach and requests that we contact Spirit Tower. I start my descent and continue tracking the Localizer. If the needle on my instrument is to the left of the center dot, I need to turn right and vise versa. I contact the tower and let them know that we're inbound for the approach to 26L. Once at the Final Approach Fix (the last checkpoint of the approach), I slow down, continue to descend and drop a notch of flaps. Mark tells me to look up and sure enough, it took me right where I needed to be. We didn't need to land, so I told the Tower that we were going missed. 

The controller tells us to just fly straight and to contact St. Louis Approach again. We tell approach that we now want to practice the VOR-A approach into Creve Coeur Airport. I did this once before so I knew more of what to expect. In addition, a VOR approach is twice as easy as a Localizer or ILS approach. We get the clearance to carry out the approach and it takes us right to the airport. 

Now it's time to head back home. The controller tells us to stay clear of Class B airspace and that we could now change radio frequencies to our choice. We tuned in to our home airport's weather, then the traffic frequency. I take my foggles off, enter downwind for runway 18 and set up to land. Now turning left onto base, drop more flaps and keep descending. Turn left onto the final leg. I'm way too high so I cut the power to idle and drop all remaining flaps. Once over the runway, I flare and gently touch down. 

Approaches

February 19, 2012

Lately, Sundays have been my favorite day of the week because I always get to wake up and go fly. I hurried to the airport to find my plane in the hanger waiting for me. I organize the cockpit and inspect the airplane; ready to go! I track down my instructor, and after a briefing of our plans today we go outside. It appears that we will do the same VOR approaches as the last lesson, but this time at a controlled airport.

As I set up the radios and instruments, my CFI taxis out to runway 36. I do the run-up, then depart the area. Before reaching 1000ft, Mark tells me to put on the foggles. I'm told to fly a heading of north (360°) and climb to 2,500ft. I'm now positioned northeast of the St. Louis VOR and can make my initial radio call to ATC. Before making the call, I must check the ATIS to get reports of weather and airport information. Once I have received all of the information, I can tell ATC that I have "Information Romeo." This makes them aware that I know what to expect when I come in to land.

Mark tells me that now is the time to call up Approach. I take a deep breath, then push the button. "St. Louis Approach, Skyhawk 4882G(golf) with request." After a moment, the controllers voice responds and tells me to continue with my request. "82G, we'd like to practice the VOR-A approach into regional, we have information romeo." He then tells me to squawk "0210" on my transponder so that he can find me on his radar screen. Once identified, he assigns me to an altitude and a heading of east (090°). Now flying towards Regional, there's not much for us to do until we get closer. The sky had a layer of high altitude clouds and the air was smooth. We were loving it. After a couple minutes of relaxation, the controller tells me that I can continue with the approach but to remain at altitude. Marks tells me that the controller's instructions meant that I can go ahead and turn from a heading of 090° to 142°, which is the heading I'll need to fly to remain on the approach course. We continue flying and perform our pre-landing checklist. The controller's voice comes over the radio again and tells me that I now need to contact Regional's tower.

Sure enough, as soon as I contact Regional, the suns starts peeking through the clouds and the air gets bumpy. I went from flying with the normal one hand, to flying with both hands. My workload immediately got harder. Once I arrived at the TOPAZ intersection, the tower told me that I was cleared for the approach. I read my approach plate to see that I can now descend down to 1100ft, slow down to 90 knots, and lower one notch of flaps. I have 16NM (nautical miles) to go before reaching the airport. I struggle to keep the airplane at the assigned altitude and heading, as the turbulence is making things difficult. Once at about 11.5NM away, we reach the missed approach point (MAP), meaning that at this point, if anything is off at all, we need to "go missed" (basically do a go-around and not land). This particular airplane is equipped with two VOR indicators, and the one I was using wasn't working properly (it's not rated for IFR, so it's not required to work). So when Mark told me to look outside, I see that we're northwest of the airport, and not even close to on course. I called the tower and went missed.

Regional gives me a heading and altitude, then passes me back to St. Louis Approach. I call up approach and  tell him that we want to practice it one more time. He gives us a set of directions and we follow. This time, we're going to use the other VOR indicator and see if we can do a better approach. I continue to fight the turbulence as we get closer. Now close enough, I am passed back to the Regional tower for directions. All of this radio talk gets complicated and makes the job challenging. I do my best and keep flying. I watch the VOR indicator, as it tells me if I need to turn left or right to stay on course. Looking good, real good. I arrive at the MAP and look outside. Perfect!

We're done practicing approaches, so we head back to our home airport. I managed to do 90% of the radio communications with ATC, so I'm feeling pretty good. While flying back home, we listen to the current weather and decide to land on runway 9. I enter the downwind leg and take off the foggles. Once abeam the number 9 on the runway, I decrease power, slow down, lower flaps and descend. I then turn onto the base leg, lower more flaps, then turn onto final. I'm really high so I drop all 40° of flaps. A steep descent is now in progress. After clearing the power lines, I'm right on track. I adjust power as necessary, flare and gently touch down. That's the kind of landing I've been wanting for a while; I loved it.

Half Way Point

February 12, 2012

I like to think that today was the half way point in my instrument flight training. We began to solely focus on approaches. I studied all my approach plates and charts, and learned how approaches are done before today's lesson.

I arrive at the airport and it's a beautiful clear, sunny day with a cold mild wind. It's been two weeks since my last lesson, so I'm more than excited to hop in the plane. With the preflight inspection now complete, we listen to the AWOS (Aviation Weather Observing Station) which is located on-site. With the winds coming from the northwest, we could either takeoff from runway 27 or runway 36. I chose runway 27 because it was closer to the direction we needed to fly.

Today we were only working on approaches... for the first time. To keep things a little more simple, Mark said we'd be practicing approaches at uncontrolled airports. By doing that I wouldn't have to talk with ATC, which meant less stress. After takeoff, I put my foggles on, then Mark gave me instructions to fly a heading of 240° and at 1500ft. We're on track to follow the approach in to Creve Coeur (1H0) airport. Mark continued giving me headings before giving me the "ok" to track the VOR-A approach to the airport. Below is a picture of the approach plate I used for guidance. My course is drawn in a red line, with the larger circle being where we came from, and the smaller circle being 1H0 airport.

Photo of the AOPA Approach Plate for 1H0

The only thing we did differently was following the altitudes it requested. If you were actually flying under an instrument flight plan, you would be cleared to enter Lambert's class B airspace, however since it was just a practice day, we could not enter. So we kept low and clear. After one approach, we started flying northeast to head back home.

We track to the St. Louis VOR station, then continue heading north so that we could set up to do a VOR approach into my home airport. We could now climb without violating Lambert's airspace, so we flew up to 2500ft. We used the TOY VOR and the STL VOR to find our location. With the needle on my instruments lined up with both VORs, I knew we were at the first intersection. I continued flying outbound for one minute, then turned to a heading of 243°. I flew that for one minute, then made my procedure turn to the right. I no longer needed to use the TOY VOR, so my attention went only to the STL VOR. When the instrument's needle lined back up, I could follow it home. The needle tells me which direction I need to fly. Below is the approach plate for this approach.

AOPA approach plate for the VOR approach to KSET

The chart can be difficult to understand, and I'm certainly still learning how to read it. But the top collection of red arrows is the course I flew. The bottom set of arrows is a close up of the approach. It tells me what altitude I need to be at, at certain points of the approach. Since we did not want to land on the runway it required, we did what's called a circling approach. We flew over the airport, then basically circled back around to land on runway 27. We needed runway 27 because of the wind direction.

By now, the wind was a little breezy and bumpy at low altitudes. I did not care for my landing, and since we were done with the lesson early, I asked Mark if I could do one more landing. He didn't mind, so away I went. After flying the pattern around, I felt that my setup was better. Feeling more confident this time, I made a nicer landing.

For the rest of Stage 2, we will be doing approaches. Some using VORs, some an ILS or Localizer approach, some with DMEs (distance measuring equipment), etc. There's a lot of different approaches, and I'll need to know them all. We will also continue to practice holding procedures, and doing missed approach procedures. Eventually I'll start practicing them at controlled airports.

I actually had a lot of fun today. By time I drove home, I was ready to go fly again. The fun part of instrument flying has officially begun.

Memories

February 5, 2012

The risk of encountering ice during today's flight in the clouds kept us from even leaving the ground. I hadn't even finished breakfast when my instructor called and canceled today's lesson. But as they say, "it's better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air, than be in the air wishing you were on the ground."

Since I didn't get to fly today, I read my Flight Training Magazine that AOPA mails to me each month. There's always some great information inside, and plenty of stories that make you remember parts of your  training. This sent me on a walk down memory lane...

• That first lesson (Oct. 2010) - wow, was I nervous! But once airborne, I knew life would never be the same.
• My first solo (Dec. 2010) - an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. Did I really just do that??
• First solo cross country - scared to death. Thought I was getting lost, but with the help of a GPS, I made it home safely.
• Sport Pilot checkride (March 2011) - after a slight emergency in flight on day one, I passed my checkride on day two and became a true pilot. The one dream I thought was impossible, was possible after all.
• First passenger - Took my boyfriend Dion. I was overly cautious with every move, our safety was all on me. It was a wonderful, stressful moment. 
• The day my private pilot CFI taught me crosswind landings with a 30kt wind - I was so fascinated. I had no idea you could make an airplane fly sideways!!
• First time landing at a controlled airport - Talking to ATC is a very intimidating task for many pilots. I was so fortunate to work with Alton. The controller was patient and friendly, which made it a positive experience for a newbie.
• First night cross country - Gives a whole new outlook on flying; it's a completely different sensation. Where would I land in an emergency? I don't know, it's too dark to see anything! But, the beautifully lit city underneath the glowing moon is a sight not to be missed.
• First spin - I don't know what I was thinking asking my CFI to show me a spin. I think my heart raced faster that day than on my sport checkride. It was a valuable lesson indeed.
• First time flying in the clouds - There's really no words to describe what it's like flying an airplane when all you can see is white... no ground, no sun, no birds, nothing except white.
• Actually getting lost - Yep, that was me on a cross country... solo. 
• Private Pilot checkride (Aug. 2011) - same examiner, different plane, mostly all the same maneuvers, and a passing grade in the end. So many more privileges are now open to me... time to fly!
• First day of instrument training - Foggles covering my eyes for the entire flight = serious mental workout.
• Flying my brother - His first time ever flying in an airplane. Wonderful way to have brother/ sister bonding time.
• Pumpkin Drop - Dion and I competed in our first competition. Dropping pumpkins of of the airplane window while in flight. Came in 4th place of over 50 contestants!
• Instrument Stage 1 Check - basically like a checkride, but without the pass/fail. Tested me on all my instrument training to date. Nerve wrecking day, but a total confidence booster.
• Hitting my 100th hour - WOW! If 100 hours feels this good, what will 1000 feel like?

Now a year and three months in to my training, I finally feel like doing this as a career is truly possible. It's been a great experience and I'm so excited to see what the future will bring.

What's your best aviation memory?