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.
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