Due to travel, the plane being busy, and other issues, the earliest Justin and I could fly for another lesson was mid-day today. The first Wednesday of the month is the safety meeting at the aero club, so I stay late at work rather than go home, then drive back to the base. So missing a couple hours in the middle of the day wasn’t going to kill anyone. It was already getting warm (mid to upper 70s) and there was a cold front that had just moved in, but was already getting shoved out by another front. So the winds were going to be shifting and it was predicted to be a bit bumpy (and it was).

Started out with an ILS 8 ABQ approach, with the full DME arc (the northern arc). Rather than use the GPS, which makes flying a DME arc as simple as it gets, set the first 430 to the nearest VOR screen, which is as close as it gets to a DME in 531, and set the second 430 to the traffic screen. Then used the DME + VOR to fly the arc, which is a bit more complicated than letting the GPS tell you “turn right” / “turn left”. Stayed within .3 miles of the arc, which is well within the practical test standards of 1 mile in either direction. The winds aloft were moving pretty good, which made the arc a bit fun to fly. Controller gave us an altitude restriction of 7500′ after we were established on the approach, and then didn’t remove it until we were so far down the approach that the glideslope was already pegged, meaning we had to do a localizer approach. Had some issues with getting it setup right — got so focused on the altitude problems that I let myself get too far north of course. Corrected and fixed it up marginally well. Need to be sharper.

After going missed, went out to the northwest practice area and did some slow flight. It was hot and the updrafts and downdrafts were everywhere, so there were a couple of times where I was sitting right at stall speed in slow flight, with the power wide open, still losing altitude. Gotta love the hot days. Nailed the steep turns and altitude recover.

Then shot the GPS 17 ABQ approach to finish the day. We got vectored to the FAF, but Justin had entered the approach starting at a different IAF. During a discussion about how to bend the GPS to our will, let myself stay high too long. Had to dive the runway a bit, which isn’t so fun. He had me break out early, so that we could make sure to hit the landing. With construction going on, runway 17 is a bit under 4000′ long, so there’s a need for slightly more care than the other runways (like 8, which is 14000′ long). Anyway, I get back on glideslope, with a stabilized approach established and start doing my pre-landing checks. I’m cleared to land from the tower, which I acknowledge. The plane’s ready (which isn’t a surprise, since it’s check is “fuel selector still in on position”). I do a check of the runway for any obstructions when I notice a problem — there’s a helicopter hovering right over the touchdown markers about 5′ off the ground, leading to the conversation:

me: Tower, 1XL, There appears to be a helicopter on runway 17.
tower: Right. [helicopter callsign] depart to the west. 1XL still cleared to land runway 17.

Which seems harmless, except I’m not sure how the tower could clear me to land on an obstructed runway. I think he forgot there was a helicopter hovering there, which seems like an odd thing to forget. Anyway, we were a good mile apart, so no issues at all. But it is a good reminder to always look for other aircraft and obstructions on the runway.

1.5 hours total time, 1.3 simulated instrument. I now have 36.1 hours simulated, so only 3.9 to go, which should be about three lessons. Also need 1.7 hours of cross-country, which I’m going to have to do real soon now. And to pass the written test. I’m now doing pretty well on the sporty’s practice tests, so I’m going to meet with the ground instructor at del sol on Friday to go over some things and get my sign off for the written, then probably do that real soon. Should be done with the IR by the end of May.

Yeah, I’ve been lousy at updates again. Here goes some updates.

[March 27, 2008] Partial panel non-precision approach day. Three VOR 8 ABQ approaches, most of which involved approach control vectoring me right into the cone of confusion of the VOR, making life entertaining. One GPS 3 ABQ approach. After a bunch of VOR approaches, the precision of a GPS approach sure is nice. 1.7 total time, 1.4 simulated instrument. Get some bad news — my instructor is leaving for Mesa Airlines.

[April 5, 2008] Last flight with Chad (my instructor). Did some steep turns and unusual attitudes since we hadn’t done them for a while and you get rusty on that sort of thing. Then more partial panel non-precision approaches — VOR 8 ABQ and GPS 3 ABQ. Solved the cone of confusion vectoring problem by requesting a full procedure turn, removing the opportunity for the controller to do something stupid.

[April 19, 2008] To shake off some rust, flew with another pilot from del sol acting as a safety pilot. Did some maneuvering work out by AEG, then shot the GPS 22 AEG, VOR 8 ABQ, and GPS 3 ABQ. 1.5 total time, 1.2 simulated instrument. First time I’ve logged instrument time without it being dual as well. Yippie.

[April 26, 2008] Finally able to fly with my new instructor. Shot the ILS 22 AEG, VOR 8 ABQ, and GPS 17 ABQ. Also did some holds at ABQ, which I think was the first time I actually did holds at a VOR (normally, we’ve done them on a DME position to lesson traffic load on the controller). 1.4 total time, 1.1 simulated instrument. New instructor is a good guy, and should help me finish up pretty quick.

While there haven’t been updates on my training, I’ve been flying on a fairly regular basis. So here’s an overview of what I remember from the last couple of flights.

[February 2, 2008] Flew down to Belen to fly the GPS 21 and VOR-A approaches at E80. Then returned to the Sunport for the ILS 8 approach. Two non-precision approaches, followed by a precision approach, not a bad day.

[February 9, 2008] Flew up to Santa Fe to do some approach work there. Filed IFR for the flight from KABQ to KSAF, which was a little interesting. Flew two ILS 2 SAF and two VOR 33 SAF approaches, then back to Albuquerque where we finished with the GPS 3 approach.

[February 29, 2008] My long IFR cross-country. Our route of flight was Albuquerque to Farmington to Gallup, then back to Albuquerque. We stopped in Gallup for a bit of fuel and to stretch our legs (the Liberty is not a fast bird). Flew the VOR/DME 7 approach into Farmington, and was a bit high at the missed approach point, which was caused by a delayed start to the descent due to some confusion on my part. At Gallup, flew the Localizer 6 approach, with a circle to land to runway 24 so that we caught a headwind instead of a tail wind. The final approach to 24 was pretty poor — it’s weird flying an approach that low to the ground and then having to make a complete turn from downwind to final. To finish the day, flew a GPS 3 into Albuquerque. I’m getting pretty good at flying the GPS 3 approach. The Farmington to Gallup and Gallup to Albuquerque legs (including approaches) were flown partial panel, with either the attitude indicator or heading indicator covered to simulate a failure.

[March 8, 2008] We took a break from flying approaches to work on maneuvers. Worked on steep turns and unusual attitude recovery, then some more partial panel work (including flying vectors without a heading indicator). My steep turns need some work — I was busting altitude low about 270 degrees into the turn, then recovering from that too aggressively and ending up a bit high. But I got better with each turn, so there’s hope.

[March 15, 2008] Back up to Santa Fe for more approach work. Flew almost the entire trip partial panel with the attitude indicator “failed”. Flew the GPS 2 SAF, two ILS 2 SAF, two VOR 33 SAF, and then back to Albuquerque for the GPS 3 ABQ with both the attitude and heading indicators failed.

[March 22, 2008] Started with some steep turns and unusual attitude recovery in the south practice area. The turns were much better than the last time we did maneuver work, which was good. No problem with unusual attitude recovery. We still had a bunch of time, so we did some more partial panel approach work. Flew the GPS 21 E80 approach partial panel to work on non-precision partial panel approaches (which is a requirement for the practical exam). We were going to work at the Sunport, but they were getting slammed, so we went over to Double Eagle for a couple of approaches. Started with the ILS 22 AEG approach, mainly to practice own-navigation approaches and make sure I could keep sharp on precision approaches. Then another partial panel non-precision approach with the GPS 22 AEG approach (again, full own-nav with procedure turn). By that point, Albuquerque had settled down enough that we could shoot some approaches back at the Sunport. Started with the VOR 8 ABQ approach for yet another partial panel non-precision approach. Then headed south to end the day with the GPS 3 ABQ approach, also partial panel, this time with both attitude and heading indicators failed. Due to traffic behind me, we got vectored really close to the final approach fix, about 5 miles from the end of the runway. Nailed the approach, made a semi-decent landing, and another 2.2 hours of instrument time in the books.

I’m up to 30 hours of simulated instrument time, so I’m 75% of the way through the main experience requirement of IFR training. I’ve also finished my IFR cross-country requirement. I need another 1.2 hours of cross-country flight time, but that should be pretty easy to accumulate. Worst case, go to Grants or Socorro to shoot a couple of approaches and make one of them a touch-n-go. Looks like I should be IFR certified in May. Yay.

Started working on approaches again. Started with vectors from KABQ to DUDLE, the initial approach fix for the ILS 22 at Double Eagle (the airport west of town). Unlike the last time we tried to do approaches at KAEG, it was nearly empty, so we were able to fly fairly deep into the approach. Decision height (the lowest altitude a pilot can descend without seeing the runway) for the ILS 22 is 6017′ MSL, or 200′ above the ground. We flew the approach to about 300′, then “broke out” (ie, I took off the view limiting thingy). I wasn’t exactly on the beam, but close enough that it would have passed inspection and at 300′ AGL, it would not have been a hard maneuver to land. We went missed, headed west per approach control’s instructions, and went on to the next approach.

Next approach was a full own navigation GPS 22 approach at KAEG, with a hold at EYIPE, the initial approach fix. I busted the altitude restriction during the hold, which is a big no-no. Other than that, did pretty well with the approach. Timed the descent from EYIPE to CUTIX (the final approach fix) almost perfectly — I only had to level off at 7700′ for a couple of seconds before reaching CUTIX and resuming my descent. The landing would have been mildly entertaining, as I started to drift a bit due to the wind, but would have been doable without any hard maneuvering. We went missed about 300′ AGL, headed west and contacted approach control to return to KABQ.

Winds favored landing on 3 at the Sunport and the ILS for 3 is out of service, so we finished the day with the GPS 3 approach at the Sunport. To do the full approach means going about 15 minutes out of our way, so we got vectors to TECZA, the final approach fix (about 6 NM from the end of the runway). I knew this one was going to result in a full stop landing (or that was the plan), so I was really careful about keeping the approach so that I ended up at decision height right before the missed approach point. In hindsight, this was a mistake, because even with an early breakout, I was still a bit low — not enough to cause problems, but enough to be more of a drag it in approach than a normal light plane approach. But it was a good approach setup for a landing.

I’ve been having some trouble with my landings in the Liberty, and it was getting frustrating. This time, I made sure to fly the numbers and flap settings exactly as the book says and setup a bit more carefully for the flare. I floated it ever so slightly, but hit within the landing block I was planning on. Hit the middle of the runway, perfectly tracking the runway centerline. Just as I touched down, the stall warning came on, which is exactly what you want in a light aircraft. The landing was a slight bump and the nose stayed off until we lost some airspeed. Finally a good landing in the Liberty!

[yes, the entry is backdated. cope]

Today was practicing holds, with a couple of different entries, over the Socorro VOR (ONM). Winds aloft were fairly strong — out of the north at 30 knots at 9000′ MSL, so that made the hold a bit more interesting, as the real difficulty in holding is figuring out a wind correction angle that keeps you flying an oval over the point you want to be at. We did 4-5 holds over ONM, each one getting progressively better. I don’t know why, but it made a lot more sense than it did when we practiced them a couple months ago in the C-172. It’s possible that all the time with the flight simulator has helped.

Last hold was with a simulated ADI failure (the ADI is also called the attitude indicator or artificial horizon, and gives the attitude of the plane in two axis — bank and pitch. This is the central instrument for scanning the instrument panel when flying on instruments). I handled the failure pretty well and had no problems getting back from Socorro to Albuquerque without it. Due to construction, 3 of the runways (12/30, 3/21, and 17/35) were closed, leaving 8/26 as the only runway open. One of the commuter airliners was having issues with landing gear and doing low passes over the tower, so 8/26 was closed when we called in. This backed up traffic a bit, so I got to practice circling over a general spot under radar control, which was not fun (it’s all the fun of a hold, without knowing where you are. This would likely never be done under IFR, but since it was simulated instruments, it got me more instrument time). Anyway, they finally got traffic landing on 8 again, and after about 20 minutes of circling, it was our turn to land. Yippie.

Winds were out of the north at 8-10 knots, so I had some cross-wind to deal with. I also was coming in a bit hot because there was a 737 behind us to land. Long and short of it was that I floated that sucker for 2000 feet or so, and it was ugly. Actual touchdown was ok, not quite as centered as I would like, but actually acceptably smooth. But the approach was ugly, and that has to get fixed…

Most unfortunately, the Liberty has been stuck at the LIberty plant in Florida for the last two months for some AD corrections. It’s finally back, and I finally got to go instrument flying today. Since we hadn’t been up for far too long, today was going to be some review — shoot some approaches and fly some maneuvers. The winds were out of the south, so KABQ was using runway 21, which always makes things interesting and very busy.

The most amazing thing happened during takeoff — I got to cut in line in front of an airliner. He called ready for takeoff, was told position and hold at the end of 21. I called in right after that ready for takeoff at an intersection further down 21 (since the Liberty doesn’t need all 10,000′ for takeoff). The tower actually sent me out first, since I’d have a three minute delay after his departure for wake turbulence and he’d just have to wait for me to get off the runway centerline. So I departed first and as soon as I was a safe altitude (pretty quick), I made a turn 30 degrees off runway centerline so he could go. He probably wanted 90 seconds for me, but it was much appreciated.

After departure, we headed over to KAEG, with me under the hood. I established an istrument scan pretty quickly, which was a nice surprise. I think the practice time with the flight simulator on my computer was helpful on this front. Albuquerque approach was insanely busy, as was the airspace around Double Eagle. Thankfully, the approach controller was a saint and handled the load very well. She caught one of my mistakes but was very kind about helping correct (I turned to a heading of 210 when I should have turned to 120).

Approaches weren’t as smooth as I would like, but not bad. I shot 2 ILS 22 and 1 GPS 22 approaches at Double Eagle. We had to break all three off earlier than I would have liked because of traffic — everyone was using Runway 17, which meant traffic on base cutting right across my final approach coarse. Not their fault, of course, as that’s the way it works when the wind is strong and out of the south. I was within one dot on all three when we broke off, so that makes me happy. Still need to get better about not searching quite so much when I’m flying the approach, but it’ll come.

KABQ was so busy that we just flew VFR on the way back and made a VFR approach to 21. My landing absolutely sucked, but I’ll get there. I was too tired at the end of the flight — need to get in better shape with the scan for long periods of time.

Had another lesson in the Liberty today. It’s not the most powerful plane in the world, but it sure is nice for training. Winds were 190@10, so everyone was using Runway 21. I was a little worried about the combination of wind and the finger brakes, but it was no problem.

We worked on basic maneuvers under the hood again, just to get more used to the plane. The plane’s instruments are all electric (including the attitude indicator and directional gyro, since there’s two electrical systems due to the FADEC system), and it’s possible to fail the AI or DG separate from other instruments. So my instructor failed my AI in the middle of maneuvers. It took me longer than I’d like to notice that it failed — the vertical guidance started sliding before the horizontal guidance, and my cross-check against the altimeter was not strong enough to catch it until the gyros slowed enough that the horizontal scan didn’t match between the AI and DG. Oh well. Just before starting a steep turn, he failed the DG, which was a pain because I was in the middle of a steep turn with no gyro. I leveled out and started flying compass heading, and we moved on.

One dumb mistake I made — when the instructor recovered the DG (ie, pushed the circuit breaker back in), I didn’t adjust it to compensate for the fact that we were turning while it was off. It took me a while to notice. Dumb, dumb.

Next time I fly will be a bit more review, then a quick check with another instructor, then approaches, approaches, approaches.

When I decided to leave Los Alamos, I stopped working on my instrument training to save some money. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be staying in Albuquerque, and I was at a good stopping point in terms of the training syllabus.

Since it’s clear I’m staying in Albuquerque and have a steady income lined up, I decided to start up again. My instructor at Bode had left for the airlines, so I needed a new instructor. I’ve grown attached to the situational awareness offered by a IFR-certified GPS, so I didn’t want to lose that. I had done all my IFR training in airplanes with glass panels, but that wasn’t a requirement. Shopping around a little bit, there were three options in Albuquerque — Bode at Double Eagle, del sol Aviation at the Sunport, and the Kirtland AeroClub at the Sunport. Bode was expensive and at Double Eagle, which means crossing the bridges to get there. del sol is a small operation, has a Liberty, which is small, but has dual GNS 430 GPSs, and is the middle of the price range. The AeroClub only has one plane with an IFR GPS and it’s in a 182 that requires more hours than I currently have for solo flight.

So I decided to try del sol. The instrument instructor I’ll be flying with is cool with flying early in the morning, so I’d be able to fly at least one morning a week before work, likely still beating most everyone into work. My first flight was this morning. We decided to do some intro to the airplane, then a bit of simulated instrument work, mainly the flight back to the airport from the practice area and then an IFR approach to runway 3. I liked the airplane — a Liberty XL2. Nothing fancy, but a good trainer and the dual GNS 430 units means nice situational awareness. Oh, and no flying with the Double Eagle crazies. The one odd thing about the plane is that it has finger brakes instead of pedal brakes — the steering on the ground is controlled by two levers on the center column. Not too bad, but I don’t think I’ll be doing a zero/zero takeoff (one under the hood) in the near future.

The flight was mostly uneventful. It’s the first time in a long time I’ve taken off on 8 at ABQ in something other than the RV, so the ground roll went on *forever*, but really not too bad. The plane handled really well, and has a stick which is nice. The air was smooth this morning, but holding headings & altitude under instruments was no problem. I came into the approach a little hot because tower asked me to keep the speed up, so I had trouble keeping the descent on the glidescope. I kept on the localizer until about a mile out, where I started over-correcting. Instructor decided to have me “break out” at about 500′ AGL, a bit higher than minimums, but plenty of time for me to get setup for a nice landing. Unlike previous ILS approaches, I was on top of things enough that I already had flaps down, was at approach speed, and didn’t have too much work to do to get it down.

Next flight is tomorrow morning — will probably be maneuvers under the hood to get me used to the plane under the hood, then a couple of approaches.