Flying IFR - Lesson 58 - Now With Actual Spatial Disorientation

So today clouds were kinda low and started getting lower as we flew.

The examiner had announced the route we would take for the checkride, assuming the wind is blowing from the west so we did that starting with VFR flight following to Troy and back to Pontiac.

First off to KVLL Troy, where I did a perfect entry into the hold, had announced I was turning inbound, and I then got cancelled off the approach by Detroit Approach due to arriving IFR traffic that got priority.  Flew 360 degrees north for awhile then got vectored back in and did the approach. Overall good but had stayed too close and too high during the circle, but still would have made the landing so it was good enough.  Next time fly a little farther downwind before turning base and I need to announce leaving minimums when I turn base bit other than that it was good.

Next was the RNAV 27L at Pontiac starting at KUHNA.  The approach went pretty much perfectly if I do say so myself.

Then the Localizer Backcourse 27L.  And that's when it began to go sideways, and up and down, too.

Clouds had dropped and at 2,500 feet and we were then in and out of them and I was not comfortable not being an IFR flight in that even if we had ground contact we clearly were not within VFR conditions. I told the instructor I'd rather get an IFR clearance as there was no visibility to the front nor sides at all.

So I got the clearance, climbed to 3,000, then Detroit Approach had me do a turn to 360.  I then got the worst case of spatial disorientation in the turn and climb that I had ever had.  My body, completely irrationally, had become extremely convinced that I was pointed straight up, even though the instruments showed we clearly were not nor had we been before entering IMC. Heading control was crappy as was altitude and even totally focusing on the instruments I was having a ridiculous amount of trouble and could not hold the heading as I normally would off by the tens of degrees and swinging every which way.

That was not good.  Nor was it a particularly pleasant feeling, and that was a bust of an approach.  Finally settled down and got back and lined up and finished it up for a good missed approach but needed to do that again.

Then went to do it again.  

Much better the second time, even in IMC, I had good heading and altitude control.  Much lighter grip on the controls, I then started verbalizing everything and had it right where I wanted it. Not absolutely perfect headings but within range, altitude was good, and I brought it right in for a really nice landing, and all was well.

So yep, still not perfect, probably made my instructor think I completely suck (assuming he doesn't think that already),  and that's rather annoying. Well yet more stuff to work on.

Good actual practice and learning how to deal with unwanted and sudden onset of some impressive spatial disorientation.

That's 1.9 with .7 actual instrument time, .9 simulated, 1 hold, 4 approaches and a really nice landing.  With any luck, only 1 more lesson before the continuation of the checkride.

Flying IFR - Not Exactly The Checkride

So this morning, bright and early, I got up and did all the calculations -- by hand --for a pretend route of flight from KPTK to KMDW via the CCOBB2 Departure and PANGG3 Arrival. That's the preferred route from Pontiac to Chicago Midway per the Chart Supplement, so I could easily defend that choice of route.

Why did I do that route?  Because I was assigned that as the test route for my checkride and today was the day.

That took about a bit over an hour and a half to get all the wind correction, heading adjustment, speed, flight time and fuel burn calculations in for the 2 pages worth of the Nav Log for the flight .  I also calculated time and fuel burn to my selected alternate, KDPA. An eraser and choice language was used quite a bit.

I also drew the route in pencil on the paper Low-Altitude IFR map.

Note that in the real world, you do this in Foreflight or another flight planner application in about a minute, and it will be more accurate.

I had previously done the weight and balance by hand this weekend in preparation for the "flight" and had that all written out and ready to go. Again Foreflight makes that a lot quicker.

I also ran and pulled a full flight brief and downloaded that as well.

Then I had a couple eggs for breakfast and headed to the airport and checked in at DCT and set myself up in the test room at 9.  The test begins at 10, but DCT wants you there an hour early.

Looked like a nice sunny day but with a fair bit of wind. 

Unfortunately DCT didn't have the airplane logbook all tabbed out for the test so that was a major PITA finding everything, especially as it didn't arrive before 10 am.  Very fun and off to a great start.

So I got logged into IACRA, produced all my documentation proving who I was, and that I was qualified to take the IFR checkride and the oral portion of the checkride then began. 

I correctly answered question on what I need to be able to legally fly, what the airplane needs to legally fly, weather, lots of IFR related questions, IFR chart questions, how an altimeter works (it has aneroid wafers inside which is the key answer there) etc.

We went over my flight plan and he ran it and the numbers worked, so I passed my flight planning.

But, I still had a couple brain fades and got stumped on some questions, including this one:

"What is the white D in the black square in the airport diagram at the bottom of the approach plate?"  

I actually knew the answer to this question back in January, but it apparently left my mind in the meantime and never registered that it was gone and needed to be re-memorized. So with all attempts at mind data retrieval failing, I had concede that I had to look it up. 

Yep the D at the top of this diagram:

I proceeded to tell him everything else that was on that entire approach plate not, just this small diagram that was a part of it, but could not remember for the life of me what the fargin' D was for

That D means that declared runway lengths are available to look up for the airport.   So now you know too.  This will clearly make your life better.

As a GA pilot I will never actually use nor need to use declared runway lengths and you don't need them to fly GA IFR, so this is all part of the mind-f___k that is the oral portion of a checkride. They keep asking you stuff until you can't answer it, regardless of its actual utility to show you that you don't know it all. 

I already know rather well that I don't know it all, thank you very much. The stuff I don't know can and does fill volumes.

So, after that bit of demoralization, I then learned I had passed the oral.

I then went out to preflight the plane, and noticed the winds were getting pretty gusty, as I was doing so got a text from my instructor whoi was up flying with another instrument student that the wind gusts were pretty bad, it was very bouncy and turbulent along the route and hard to maintain altitude, and that I should probably discontinue the test at this point.

After all, if turbulence drops or lifts you beyond the 100 foot above, zero below the set altitude you still fail regardles that it was turbulence rather than you that did it.

So what to do?  I had the feeling of get this checkride-over-with-already- warring with the feeling do -not-screw-this up  and I chatted with Mr. B for some advise.  After all, when in doubt, consult a friend.

I also called Flight Service to see what they had and they reported rather gusty at ground level and no sign of it letting up.

I did end up deciding to discontinue as it would have been dumb to go up on a checkride with conditions stacked against me.

Unfortunately, the examiner's next availability is not until July 15, even as tomorrow's weather is forecast to be perfect.  So I will be hoping that July 15 offers better weather. 

So, yet again, this is not over. It's going to take yet more time, require more lessons to maintain proficiency, and as usual take much longer than I would like which seems to be a recurring pattern with my flying instruction.

There's 60 days available in a discontinuance and after that I have to do the whole thing again and pay a whole 'nother full fee for it, so I'm hoping I get an opening and decent weather at the same time in the next 60 days, which is gonna be hard as he's booked solid.

There may be an end to this, but it sure ain't here yet.

Flying IFR - Lesson 56 - More Pre-Checkride Practice

Wind out of the west, sky clear, nice and hot out, time to go flying.

This time I actually got N8570F and did the preflight and we then were off to the the Troy-Pontiac IFR loop.

Did the approach and circle at Troy pretty much perfectly, didn't go too high nor too low, and would have nailed the landing no problem.

Then back to Pontiac for the RNAV 27L with the hold at GUZVY.

Which aside from the hold procedure I did perfectly.

The hold I then proceeded to f-up nicely.

I was about to enter the hold and figured it for a teardrop, when the 430W announced it would be a direct and gave a course heading that was weird, which was weird as it should have been a teardrop.  Rocky said that wasn't right and while we were discussing it I got in the hold and we figured on doing it as a via teardrop, but I dropped almost three hundred feet while futzing around, talking to him, seeing his iPad which showed the course (mine isn't allowed to show position for the test, because really stupid reasons)  turning, and trying to figure out what was off with the GPS and then got back to altitude.  Not good.

Need to watch the altitude constantly as the second I get distracted something always happens. I do scan for it, but this time I got distracted and it was a mess.

Carried on and did the rest of the approach just fine.

Then I did the Back Course 27L and did it very well if I say so myself without issue, probably my best back-course approach yet, everything was pretty darn well perfect.

Then we went out and did the RNAV 27L again, this time without a problem.

So, I need to go back Saturday and get another lesson in as that one wasn't acceptable due to the altitude loss.  FML.

Flying IFR - Lesson 54 - The Pre-Checkride Checkride Checkride

Yep, today I was up again.  Beautiful day, wind only 4 knots out of 300, beautiful sunny and nary a cloud in the sky and none anywhere that would make an issue.

Preflighted N85470F and Alec met me and let me know we would be doing the KPTK-KVLL Troy-KPTK loop.

Got flight following, did the preflight and we were off.

Had Detroit Approach route us to Celub for the full procedure for the KVLL RNAV 9(10) circle to 27(28).  

You get to Celub real fast and there's little to no tie to setup.

Unfortunately Detroit Approach did not have us switch channels to check the AWOS and as the examiner (for some dumb reason) does not let you split frequencies (listen to two radios at once) so technically I was supposed to ask them if I could drop off the frequency to get the weather and come back to it so  a minor error for me there.

Then did the procedure turn at Celub and headed inbound and let Detroit Approach know, then got on the advisory frequency for Troy and all was well.  Did a pretty good circle if I say so myself and would have had the landing made.

Went missed and back to Pontiac, first for the RNAV 27L. That went fine.

Then for the Backcourse 27L  partial panel.  First approach I technically failed because I didn't turn the OBS onto a heading of 275 for the localizer but kept it on 041 so I could switch to the Salem VOR if he did something tricky like cover the GPS DME so I couldn't know when I was crossing the final approach fix. 

The Localizer is the honey badger of the approach navigation aid world.  It doesn't care what your OBS is set to, its going to broadcast one signal, your VOR receiver will get it and it will line up regardless of what OBS you have.

In fact other instructors had told me to keep it on 041 for just that reason so you can always switch to the VOR and the needle will line up when you cross the intersection that is the FAF if you were lined up on the localizer.

Apparently I'm not supposed to do that.

Also needed to be more of a dive bomber on that approach, I had stayed at the required 3,000 until established and it took awhile to get established so I have to work on dropping faster. I mean I still would have had it made as a landing, but need to work on that.

So that was sucky.

Then up to do it again and it went much better this time.  Did the setting, got everything lined up, did an appropriate dive bombing run down to minimums and in for a landing no problem.

Overall Alec thinks I'm ok and just need to practice the KPTK-KVLL Troy-KPTK loop until its second nature.

Basically it felt like a 3.6 Roentgen Flight - Not great, not terrible.

So that's 1.6, 1.2 simulated instrument, 4 approaches and a good landing.

Flying IFR - Lesson 55 - Double Drat

Well I had high hopes for today. 

 I even had a plan. 

 I even did visualization and studied the plates I expected to use.

 I even did some studying last night for the orals just to keep all this crap in my head that will never be used again after the test.  I did all that and well, not so flipping much.

Weather was stable air with low clouds/fog and rain. Wind out of the east so off to Flint.

Some weirdness before the flight: I was chatting with Rocky my instructor and he noted their preferred examiner (who I have issues with but they want me to use...) has suddenly sprung having instrument examinees fly to D95 Lapeer and do an RNAV followed by a circle approach.

When looking at Lapeer's charts that's kinda funny as the circle approaches are weird.  Both 18 and 36 each have their own RNAV approach, so circling to them instead of following the RNAV in to the  runway makes very little sense, and circling is not allowed to the grass field 9/27, so it makes you even wonder why there's a circle for them in the first place --- just fly the other RNAV approach and use the guidance and safety benefits a nice RNAV approach provides.  Well, we'll circle that approach when we get to it, I suppose. Which won't be any f'ing time soon.

Yep, best laid plans have been known to fail, and fail hard.

Took off in N5337F and while it was officially called VFR flight conditions I'd beg to differ.  I could see down to the ground for the most part but forward visibility got worse and worse so I called for a pop-up IFR clearance.  Got some actual time in.  So far so good.

Went and did the ILS 9 at Flint.  Was ok-ish. Got a little off coming back in the hold as the GPS instruction was off which was interesting, so took awhile to get on the ILS but once on it I was fine.     I thought it was rather good.

Then on to the VOR 18 to 9 Circle, again ok, actually it turned into really breaking out at minimums which was neat as I couldn't see the runways until minimums but need much better  heading control and still a very right hand turning tendency on that plane.  

Could be the airplane has a major right turning tendency, even hands off it would turn right.  Getting stuck flying a variety of planes each with their own quirks is kinda sucky.

Then on to the RNAV 9R back at Pontiac.   Heading control was again pretty off, and got worse once he failed the G5s.  Was high on the course because I was too low initially and over corrected and then didn't come down fast enough. Still made out the runways and was set for the approach, and then Tower had us do a sidestep to 9L.  Thanks for that.  Came in high-ish but actually did a nice greaser of a landing, so there's that.

Rocky has no idea why I was doing so terrible, nor do I for that matter.  

Procedures and radio communications are great, briefing the approach, doing all the things that need to be done, yet it is aircraft control that hoses me again and again. That and whoever set out a 100 feet altitude max deviation up and 0 down in for the test, thanks for that, you jerk.

So yep, going nowhere fast and if anything going in circles, with some circles ascending and some descending.

1.7 with 3 approaches, 1.4 actual instrument, and 1 landing. and yet more frustration.

Flying IFR - Lesson 54 - Drat

Well, for Lesson 54 someone moved me back to 88J with the touchscreen GPS.

Not good, so I was able to get N1689H with the auto-moving seats, messed up turn coordinator and all that, but at least it had a 430W.

Since the wind was out of 130 it was off to Flint.  It was also kinda bouncy out so that added to the fun.

Did the VOR 18 Circle to 9 approach full procedure, and it went rather well, was a little high on final due to making a tight turn in but would have been a do-able landing.  Did it nicely even after getting delayed to do it due to traffic.  So far, so good.

Then did the VOR 18 Circle to 9 approach again, but by vectors. overall very good but on the circle I went above 1400 feet with the circling minimum at 1300 feet.  Actually then made a really great approach and figured out where to begin the turn to base, so something was learned anyways  Unfortunately going over 100 feet above minimums is not good, technically a fail.

Then back to Pontiac for the ILS 9R which I handled rather perfectly. 

Then the RNAV 9R at  Pontiac and Detroit Approach started vectoring me everywhere but the approach course. First towards it, then away, then towards and away again.  Fun with traffic management.  As I did it, Rocky made it a partial panel approach and it was ok, but again i was kinda high on final.  Did a decent landing even so.

Well, with screwing up the circle approach I can't do the practice check-ride yet so I'm rather annoyed and frustrated.

This will never end.

That's 1.8, 1.3 simulated, 4 approaches, 1 hold, and 1 landing.

Flying IFR - Lesson 47 - The F In IFR Conditions

Today would be a real IMC day. Overcast layer at 1,100 above the field.   Unsurprisingly, no one else was out flying this morning from DCT. I had Tom as my instructor today.

Unfortunately, I also had N1689H.  

Yes the seat shifted all on its own, again.  The shoulder belt likes to detach, and did from the lap belt while I was flying; the seat is low and can't be adjusted up; and level flight has the yoke slightly skewed to the left.  In short, I hates that plane, I hates it.

 

Yes, we hates it.

 

Fine, fine, suck it up and just fly it.

Got an IFR clearance, real simple readback with cleared as filed and we were off to Troy for the 9 circle to 27, then Flint for the ILS 27, and back to Pontiac for everybody's favorite, the Localizer Back course 27L.

Pretty much in IMC all the time. Bases were at 2,500 and we were 3,000-4,000 in complete cloud-filled IMC. Good practice. Yes, it is very different from simulated IMC.

Unfortunately, today was one step forward two steps back day.

My procedures overall were excellent, radio excellent, when doing the approaches held on the needles quite well and I know what I'm doing and how to do them. But once again its the simple stuff that's hosing me.

Did the full procedure into Troy, but need to remember that when circling not to drop below minimums until 30 degrees of final.  other instructors told me different so who know who is right. 

Did the ILS 27 at Flint went missed and got instructions to fly the actual missed procedure for the first time rather than runway heading.  Flew to the hold, did about 5 circles through the hold until we got released to head for Pontiac.

For Pontiac, we did the Localizer Backcourse 27L.  Not partial panel  but I essentially pretended I was partial panel and just looked at VOR 2.  Flew the needle nicely lined up and stepped right down, broke out of the clouds around 2,500 with the runway perfectly lined up and headed on in.

Unfortunately there of course was the two steps back. Maintaining altitude and heading was absolute suckage. I was all over the damned place. Fix one, the other runs off, and I was way, way, over-controlling and couldn't get the damn thing to stay straight and level for beans. In short, I was really, really, crappy up there today. Much frustration. Really should not be this f'ing difficult. I'm not nearly as good as I was in January and wouldn't pass an right exam now.

But, I finally made a really great landing.  About time. So, that was some compensation for the suckitude of the flight overall.

I'm now back to being current for passengers.

Downside, I now have 7 days left until I need a flight review. So, I'm getting a flight review instead of being able to credit the IFR checkride as one because I'm sure as hell not ready for it now, and even if I was, I doubt an examiner is available in time either.

That's 2.0, with 1.3 Actual Instrument; 3 approaches; 2 holds; and 1 really great landing, and a load of frustration.

Flying IFR - Lesson 41 - Well That Just Sucked Rocks

So this afternoon at 3:30 was the mock pre-checkride checkride.

Winds out of the South east 11-21 knots would make it sporty.

Took off in N5337F from Runway 9L at Pontiac. 

Since winds were southeast, that eliminated using the Troy RNAV 9 circle 27 so we did the examiner's other favored checkride practice route.  Off to do the Flint ILS 9 followed by Flint VOR 18 circle to 9 and then Pontiac's RNAV 9.

Straightforward enough, and it gives you more time to setup and get ready for the approach on the way to Flint compared to the very few short minutes you have before getting on the approach to Troy.

Well yes, but not so much. It really did not go well.

The ride started smooth and then hit some moderate turbulence as I flew close by Flint, pressure actually dropped quite a bit and wind-shear and winds from the south were gusting to 18-28 knots. Lots of fun - not - just trying to keep things steady, and yes we both caught air and got bopped out of our seats a few times.  Yes, yay seat-belts.

As a result, during the hold and turn in on the ILS 9 approach, I got blown way off which made catching the localizer kinda hard.  Never had that happen before, so it sucked.  Finally got established and flew a decent approach with one helluva crab angle the whole damn way. Not a good start at all and not nearly good enough.

Then I did the VOR 18 to 27 partial panel. Getting vectored and established onto the VOR with limited instruments was a royal pain, especially while getting bounced around all over the place, it was so bad I had to get vectored onto it again as I was just getting hammered by the wind and turbulence.

Reasonable enough approach and circle etc once established, but still not good enough on the initial approach.

Then back to Pontiac with a change to do the ILS 9 as the instructor wanted me to do another hold.  Went better this time and got the hold ok with massive wind correction.  Had a crazy intercept angle of 180 degrees for a localizer on the 95 degree line due to the wind - that's rather huge with a wild crab angle where the plane is flying one direction but pointed in another.

Crazy crosswind but actually got it down and flew it in like it was on rails and did a very good landing.  It really was a smooth crosswind landing which surprised everyone on board.

That's 1.9 with 1.5 simulated, two holds, 3 approaches and going nowhere near good enough to get to a real check ride. Just when you think you've got it down and can do this, you can't.

We will see if I can redeem myself tomorrow.

Not Flying - On The Schedule, What Schedule?

So this IFR training has been taking so long that my recurring scheduling for lessons for it at DCT apparently ended without my knowing it.

As a result, I went to DCT this morning for what I thought was a simulator lesson to find out not so much, as I'm not on the schedule at all.  Ooops.

Welp, now back on staring this Friday, but the only opening for my instructor on Tuesdays is now 6:00 pm instead of 10:30 am.  On the upside, this will get me current again for night flying and right quick, so there's that.

I plan to do the final studying for the f'ing written test this week, and take it this weekend to get it done and out of the way.

Then I need to tidy up my flying, get ready for the oral and check ride.

Then comes the quandry re a check-ride examiner.  DCT tends to use a certain examiner. The upside to using him is that DCT really teaches exactly to his style of check-ride.    They know how he runs his check-ride, where he goes and what he will do.

Downside - I had an absolutely no-good, very bad, horrible experience with him for my private check-ride and I really don't think I want to use him for my instrument as a result.

As such, I think it's probably better I go with a different examiner so I need to arrange that. Then comes the question that dsince I'm not using their preferred examiner,  do I use their plane or my flying club's plane.  Quandaries, quandaries.  Should not need to worry about this, but here we are.

Well the drop dead point for getting my IFR cert is January 12, for reasons which will be clear in time, so either I get it by then or to hell with it.

Flying IFR - Lesson 14 - Well, That Sucked

So today was the flight portion of Stage Check 2.

It did not go well.

Basically showed up and pre-flighted the airplane, in the rain, met the instructor who was doing the check ride and was told we would do The Flint VOR 18 circle to 27, then the Flint ILS 27, then the Flint RNAV 27 followed by the RNAV 27L circle to 27R at Pontiac. Not a lot of prep.

Of those, only the RNAV at Pontiac went even passably well.

In short, I was feeling rushed, over-controlling, behind the aircraft, and not ready for this stage check. 

I do feel like I'm still missing a lot.  On the upside, the check instructor who is the head instructor for DCT said I seemed to have a good understanding of what was going on and was doing things right but need a lot more work on my instrument scan and controlling the airplane.  I think I fooled him on the understanding part though.

So yep, I flunked that one pretty good.

Ah well, need some more work on it but I kinda knew that going into this stage check, onward and upward or something.

That 's 2.0, 1.7 simulated instrument,  4 approaches with 3 being crappy, and 1 landing.

Well This Is Going To Be Just Great Part 2

Well it turns out the scum who falsely filed a Federal tax return in our names have also filed a false Michigan State tax return as well.

We've sent in the appropriate fraud affidavits, flagged our credit etc.

But, to date no one at IRS or Michigan State Treasury has contacted us regarding this, nor can we get through to a live human to make sure this is being dealt with. Still no assistance on how to file valid returns to make sure they are accepted, but I've at least found out the returns will need to be on paper with all sorts of additional hassles.

Apparently this fraud is becoming even easier because you can now get the option that instead of a traditional refund check or direct deposit to a bank account, the IRS can send out a Visa Card loaded with the refund money.

Can you say thanks for enabling fraudsters?

Not amused at all.

Well This is Going To Be Just Great

Just got a letter in the mail today from the Internal Revenue Service that they are quality checking our 2014 tax return.

There's a major problem with this:

We have not yet filed our 2014 tax return.

Indeed, we can't file it yet as we're still waiting on some forms to arrive.

So I'm now busy filling out IRS fraud affidavit forms, but the IRS letter lacks a fax number to send them quickly and instead they need to be mailed. This is very stupid in this day and age, especially as speed is important to catch people filing false returns. So I'm sure I'll be on hold on Monday for hours as I try to get through to them to let them know that identity theft has occurred here and try to receive a fax number where I can send the forms in to speed this up.