I1 to I6 - Lessons Learned and Questions to be Asked

[Nelson L.]

After a 5 day marathon of almost pure PE every night + watching over 24 hours combined of PE Workshops over the course of 2 months (I have no life), its an understatement to say that I'm burned out... Everything was going great up until yesterday - from V1 to I4 I had a perfect record for the Ratings (i.e. no fails - no one needs to know that I practiced all of the Ratings offline and once online before I did the real thing After all, who wants the whole world to hear the wonderful controller laughing as he says "you failed"). That all changed at the I5 - was on a 340 heading for vectors to VNY on the VNY1 departure out of Burbank when the controller said "resume the departure" (2 separate transmissions). Well, he didn't say where to resume did he? So it must mean that I should go direct to the first fix on the DP - VNY!! Right? Nope - Was supposed to stay on the 340 heading until re-intercepting somewhere near SLAPP. Needless to say, most of us wouldn't sit in a Cessna for an hour and a half at FL210 (the clearance controller actually asked me to verify aircraft type and FL ) waiting to get vectored for a visual, so I called it there and got vectors back to Burbank. Second time around also presented some problems - the least of which is that I had no idea what TAS to file seeing as I don't usually cruise at FL210 in my Stationair. Just filed 140 with the intention of using this:

airspeed_85.jpg (10.62 KiB) Viewed 5975 times

once I was established in cruise. Didn't realize until I was enroute to Daggett that I realized I had no idea how to use the thing.... I knew it had something to do with OAT and the pressure (something with resetting to 2992), but there's only one knob? How do I dial in the pressure and OAT using the same knob (I'm assuming they somehow line up)? Apologies to the Center controller btw, I asked if he could give me a reading on my TAS (nope - only ground speed) and I responded "OK, thanks for the help, 53F"... Didn't realize afterwards that he probably thought I was being sarcastic; certainly wasn't my intent. Next hiccup came at Ether. As expected, no Daggett reception, so I borrowed Keith's wonderful line and requested a 058 heading until receiving Daggett. Guess I'm not allowed to do that during a Rating; controller said that the test was "testing" me on my ability to fly the SID. Controller just told me to "do my best", so I just winged it on a 058 heading for a while - all good (though strange). Then came the I6..... At least the SID was simple compared to the VNY1, so I was feeling confident in my abilities to pass on my first try (no practicing here!). Then came the clearance - "climb via SID except maintain 4000" to which I responded that I hadn't briefed Profile SIDs since those were the I9 and asked if that meant that I was to comply with restrictions and then maintain 4000, or did he mean cancel all altitude restrictions and just go direct 4000? Guess that means I have more research to do.... Also, am I the only one who is unable to receive DME on ILS signals while in the Carenado Statoinair (or any other Carenado)? Looking forward at the I7 rating, the VOR/DME - B into KAVX has me a little confused. Looking at the reference material, it seems that ATC will vector me to either the final approach course, to Rigli, or to the feeder (SXC). What would I do if they just left me to fly straight in from the North to SXC? I saw a post earlier about this, but Peter's response was a bit confusing to me. From what I gathered, it wouldn't be legal to pull a U-turn at SXC to join the 352 radial outbound? Stupid question number [insert number here, I've lost count], I know you're supposed to cancel IFR before or after landing at a non towered field to free up the airspace, but if I was to go around, when would I switch off the CTAF and back to Approach to inform them? Is it purely based on the specific situation, or is it when you're established in the hold?


Based on past experience, I get the feeling that my posts are roundabout-like and hard to follow, so I'll clarify below:

Lessons Learned:
1. "Resume the Departure" means you stay on previously assigned headings first
2. ..... Looking back it turns out I actually didn't learn much

Questions to be Asked:
1. How do I use the TAS thingy? Other online sources didn't really provide usable answers for me (could be that I'm just incompetent....)
2. What would have been the correct action to take when the controller didn't approve my request of a 058 heading?
3. Its my understanding that "climb via SID except maintain" means that you comply with the altitude restrictions of the SID, but you can't go above the
"except maintain" part - could someone verify that?
4. If I don't get vectors, direct Rigli, or direct SXC, where do I pull the U-Turn for the VOR/DME-B? Rigli? SXC?
5. When do you switch back to approach to inform of a missed approach from a non-towered field? (I'm assuming its on a per-situation basis)
7. Why do the PE controllers ask "how will this approach terminate"? I saw an earlier post about them being surprised by it, but if i say full stop and have to
go-around due to weather, incompetent pilot, etc... is that frowned upon?

Edit - umm, why is the picture huge?? Sorry about that, I'll try to find a smaller version. fixed

[Peter Grey]

Hey,

Here are my answers to your questions:

1. How do I use the TAS thingy? Other online sources didn't really provide usable answers for me (could be that I'm just incompetent....)

I'm not 100% sure X-plane models it correctly, but assuming it does turn the lower left black knob until the top window (between 200 and 40 knots) displays your pressure altitude (really just altitude is fine) under the temperature, then read TAS under IAS in the bottom right window.

2. What would have been the correct action to take when the controller didn't approve my request of a 058 heading?

Can I get a time and date on this flight, the controller can't really deny this request when you can't receive the navaid. This is a known X-plane issue which the controller should know about it.

3. Its my understanding that "climb via SID except maintain" means that you comply with the altitude restrictions of the SID, but you can't go above the
"except maintain" part - could someone verify that?

Correct!

4. If I don't get vectors, direct Rigli, or direct SXC, where do I pull the U-Turn for the VOR/DME-B? Rigli? SXC?

SXC, or more generically "join the approach from the first IAF or feeder route fix your flight plan overflies after getting clearance." Your FP goes nowhere near RIGLI.

The "illegal" U-turn is something controllers have to worry about not pilots. If you're given an approach clearance that requires a u-turn at SXC you can assume it's legal. It's not a "trap" to get you to do an illegal u-turn (and then fail the rating).

5. When do you switch back to approach to inform of a missed approach from a non-towered field? (I'm assuming its on a per-situation basis)

When you are clear of the field and have no traffic conflicts to resolve on CTAF.

7. Why do the PE controllers ask "how will this approach terminate"? I saw an earlier post about them being surprised by it, but if i say full stop and have to
go-around due to weather, incompetent pilot, etc... is that frowned upon?

We ask for our own planning. It's not the end of the world if you say one thing then do another due to something changing after the fact. You may get a "what happened?" question, but any reasonable answer would be ok in that case.

Now for a couple other points you bring up:

That all changed at the I5 - was on a 340 heading for vectors to VNY on the VNY1 departure out of Burbank when the controller said "resume the departure" (2 separate transmissions). Well, he didn't say where to resume did he? So it must mean that I should go direct to the first fix on the DP - VNY!! Right? Nope - Was supposed to stay on the 340 heading until re-intercepting somewhere near SLAPP

This could have been worded better by the controller but an instruction to "resume the departure" means to fly the last assigned heading to intercept the departure course.

btw, I asked if he could give me a reading on my TAS (nope - only ground speed)

Yup, we can only give GS. Think of it this way, we see your blip going across the ground and a computer uses the rate of blip movement to give us a speed. As that speed is relative to the ground it's GS. Honestly we only care about your IAS in the sense of using it to get the "proper" GS for what we want out of you.

That's my take on all of this, let me know if you have any questions.

[par2005]

To get true airspeed:

You check the current altitude and outside temperature at the altitude you are currently in, and line them up

[wmburns]

Needless to say, most of us wouldn't sit in a Cessna for an hour and a half at FL210 (the clearance controller actually asked me to verify aircraft type and FL

Ok. Inquiring minds want to know. What did you do for Oxygen? Was the Oxygen mask comfortable? I'm guessing that you had oxygen otherwise everyone on board would be dead.

I was listening to the PE receiver at the time of your flight. I had to do a double take as well when I heard Cessna and FL210 used in the same sentence.

I recently completed an FSE flight from KRIV to NV11 in a Cessna 208 Caravan. The cursing altitude was 12,000'. This was my first long flight in the 208. Keeping the engine parameters in the green (ITT's, torque, RPM's), I was surprised to see just how anemic the climb rate with a full load of PAX is. Much of the flight over 8,000' yielded a ROC around 200-250 FPM. It took forever to get to 12,000'.

I can't image how long it took to get a 206 to FL210!

One has to wonder about the accuracy of the flight model if you good get up to FL210 as the 206 specifications I can find have the service ceiling at 15,700'.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessna_206

Lessons Learned:
1. "Resume the Departure" means you stay on previously assigned headings first
2. ..... Looking back it turns out I actually didn't learn much

I'm sorry that you feel that way. I happen to believe that often I learn more from my flights were things go badly than where they go prefect.

A couple of suggestions depending upon what your goals are. If you goals are to learn how to fly real airplanes then "burn out" should be avoided. Remember this is supposed to be fun.

If you like to fly to the point of OCD, then can I suggest fseconomy.net. FSE is the "crack" of flight simulation. You have been warned.

[Nelson L.]

Since the multi-quoting option is beyond my mental capacity, I'll type all of this manually....


Peter and par2005,

Thanks for the help on the TAS indicator, think I can somewhat grasp at the concept now. If I'm at 12,000 feet and its -10C outside, I would scroll the knob until the 12 on top lines up with the -10 on the bottom, correct?


Peter,

2 - Date and Time - http://peaware.pilotedge.net/flight.cfm?id=92230 (too lazy to type it all up )

4 - Thanks for the help on the VOR/DME-B approach. So if no instructions were given by the controller, I would fly to SXC, perform a 180 degree course
reversal, and then continue outbound on the 352 radial until I perform the course reversal inbound, correct?

3,5,7, extras - Thank you! Clears up a lot.


Wmburns:

Actually, the Carenado Stationair has a pressurization system on the roof (a little slider with a cabin pressure gauge next to it). No idea how to actually use it, but I just pushed it all the way forward and hoped for the best. On the topic of climbs, I had 2 hours and 54 minutes of fuel on board (the default XP fuel) and no pax - kept a 900 fpm climb going up until about FL190, at which point I decreased to 700fpm. All at 30 MP, 19 GPH, and 2400 RPM I actually got DCT Palmdale soon after leaving Burbank - got to FL210 about 5 miles before reaching PMD at a speed of about 100 knots. For the 206's service ceiling, Carenado actually provides performance tables on altitudes up to 25,000 feet, so I assumed FL210 would be a breeze. The ".....Looking back it turns out I actually didn't learn much" refers to new material (i.e. the meaning of resume the departure). How to fly SIDs, STARS, etc... was all old news after hours upon hours of PE Workshops (I get the feeling they could just be a little more concise ) From what I could tell, the CRESO3 Arrival is just fly from Daggett in a straight line, and then fly to Boulder City on a straight line until being vectored

PS - Scratch that, ".....Looking back it turns out I actually didn't learn much" should be #3. I actually spent 5 minutes on descent planning - got to a 800fpm descent at 30 miles out or something (rounded up from about 28 for safety), but I lost my nerve when the controller said "Cross [insert the name of the fix whose name I forgot - something like Whiggy I think....] at and maintain 12000" Thinking I did my math wrong, I pushed to a 1000 fpm descent - looking at the PEAware altitude charts, a 800fpm descent would have been perfect...... *Sigh*

[Ryan B]

To get true airspeed:

You check the current altitude and outside temperature at the altitude you are currently in, and line them up

Except when below FL180 (USA)... then you need to get your pressure altitude. Peter probably has some awesome fast equation for this... But I use your current pressure minus 29.92... so say its 30.14. 30.14 - 29.92 = .22 Multiply that by 1000 and you get 220. If your current pressure is higher than std (2992), do the inverse for the math... IE subtract 220 from current altitude to get pressure altitude. Pressure altitude is now what you'd use in conjunction with your OAT to find TAS.

[Peter Grey]

I just noticed I missed the follow up questions for me on this one.

2 - Date and Time - http://peaware.pilotedge.net/flight.cfm?id=92230 (too lazy to type it all up )

The controller actually confessed to me after reading your post. He's now aware of the X-plane issue with DAG.

4 - Thanks for the help on the VOR/DME-B approach. So if no instructions were given by the controller, I would fly to SXC, perform a 180 degree course
reversal, and then continue outbound on the 352 radial until I perform the course reversal inbound, correct?

Correct

[Nelson L.]

The controller actually confessed to me

The wording there makes me feel great

[Peter Grey]

The wording there makes me feel great

No no, it's meant in a humorous way.

Basically before I could look into it the controller involved contacted me and told me "yup I did that didn't realize it was a sim issue I won't do it again".