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Busted a Bravo tonight, just over Ramona. I was fiddling around in the freeware V22 trying to get the autopilot to work before I realized how far west I had strayed. I looked down, saw an airport, and did a 180 out of there. So yeah, that was me. Sorry.

Screwed the pooch on the I-07. I knew exactly what I did wrong immediately and felt like a heel after being told by ATC that I failed the flight.

I violated the "Remain within 10 DME" restriction. It has been a long time since doing a VOR approach virtually or RW.

John

Ummmm....I don't know how quite to say this but there will be some repair work required at the Ranch.

Without going into specifics it would seem, now this is what I was told mind you, there was some type of wayward landing by a Baron this morning which took out the main office and other assorted structures. Most alarming is the news that tragically there were some sunbathing ladies that may have been involved in this...their condition at this time is unknown.

Just though I would let ya all know...

Completely unrelated...anyone got a Baron for sale?

BonanzaDude wrote:Screwed the pooch on the I-07. I knew exactly what I did wrong immediately and felt like a heel after being told by ATC that I failed the flight.

I violated the "Remain within 10 DME" restriction. It has been a long time since doing a VOR approach virtually or RW.

John

Ahhh that was you I was flying that day too! Did you redo it yet?

stealthbob wrote:Ummmm....I don't know how quite to say this but there will be some repair work required at the Ranch.

Without going into specifics it would seem, now this is what I was told mind you, there was some type of wayward landing by a Baron this morning which took out the main office and other assorted structures. Most alarming is the news that tragically there were some sunbathing ladies that may have been involved in this...their condition at this time is unknown.

Just though I would let ya all know...

Completely unrelated...anyone got a Baron for sale?

Is the sheep ok?!

Well let us just say that the BBQ was still in perfect working order...don't ask me how I know that.

Ryan B wrote:
Ahhh that was you I was flying that day too! Did you redo it yet?

Yeah the following night. Last night I was on final for the VOR/DME 17 approach at KVCV for the I-11 last night when I got a call from my son and he NEEDED to be picked up immediately. So I had to abort that flight as well.

John

Ouch.....

TAXI!

Here is my "screw the pooch" moment. I did my i4 last night and was streaming on twitch at the same time. One of my viewers **cough disgracedpilot **cough mentioned that he hoped that I get Brown field as it is a "fun" approach and he heard another pilot the other day fail because he landed in Mexico!

Needless to say, I was hoping for an easy one....not! Brown field it was.

The beginning of the flight went great. I even got an expect rwy 26. Great I thought...vectors to 26....not again!!!!

Clear for the RNAV 8L, circle to land 26R. Not exactly sure what to do as I have never done that before, I set up the GTN750 for 8L. I started down towards 8L and was then told to switch to tower that proceeded to tell me to enter right downwind for 26R

Ok...perfect...I had the airport in sight and I thought I was on the right downwind. I glance at my gps and the airport was to my left....and then it dawned on me....crap, crap crap....I was about to cross into Mexican airspace and land in TJ and fail just like the other guy....

I appreciate the stream not saying anything as I am sure they were all giggling waiting to watch me get arrested by the federalies

I noticed my mistake and informed ATC that I was on the left and not right downwind for 26R...he cleared me to land and didn't ding me too much as circle to land isn't covered in this rating.

Ok...now I know why Brown field is so much fun....NOT!!!!

Brian

Good morning virtual aviators,
Well, I had a frustrating evening of flying on PilotEdge. First off, please don’t think I’m complaining or putting the controllers on blast here for what MIGHT have been a deviation from the norm. I’ve had days like this in an actual cockpit while I learned VFR flight in San Diegos airspace. It’s me, not you… And I appreciate your patience with my policy of making every mistake at least once!
Hopefully you guys can learn from them…
I took off for the I3 exam (again) and flew like a cartoon character. Things were going well until shortly after I was above ground level. (Like my first checkride…)
I got handed of to socal, and my altitude restriction was lifted to 4K immediately. Then… Instead of telling me to go direct to Seal Beach, which I had tuned the VOR for already, he controller directed me to go to a heading I wasn’t expecting, then to follow a radial on the Santa Monica VOR (Don’t remember which one.). I tuned to the radial, forgetting that Nav1 was on Seal Beach (SLI).
I was flying a Barron, and the autopilot has recently become a little wonky in X-Plane…
When overflying a radial and flying outbound to another, I put the heading bug on my current heading, switch to ‘HDG’ on the autopilot… Then turn the VOR to the new radial, and click ‘NAV” at the right time for the speed I’m at… And bam, the autopilot turns me to the new radial. Cheating? Yup. But I figure I’m not trying to learn stick and rudder skills. That’s what tailwheel airplanes are for.
Except… I was tuned to the wrong VOR as I mentioned. And the autopilot wouldn’t go from HDG to NAV. Crap. Cockpit overload to level ten, cognitive capacity to caveman.
Aaaaaannnnd a fail on the I3 again for failing to coply with ATC.
So… Minutes later… I took off to PRACTICE for the I3 exam and get this sorted out. Same flight plan. I told clearance that I was going to PRACTICE for I3.
I got the same clearance from Socal. THIS time I tuned to the correct VOR and flew the correct radial, after jiggling the handle of my autopilot for a while. I was ready this time.
During a lull in the action, I asked ATC if the TEC route had changed. He stumbled a little and said no… That I should be ready for amended clearances. This is very true. I flew on, and eventually got an odd radial (not the one in the TEC route) to fly outbound from Santa Monica VOR. I soon heard something about ‘silex’ (a little garbled), “turn 050 maintain 3500 till established, cleared ils runway 8 approach, contact tower…”
Well… On this radial I was not going to get to Silex. I started to turn to 050, got told not to by ATC.
At that point, I decided to politely log off and try again another night. I apologize if my voice was strained, or if I sounded terse. My frustration level was exceeding my ability to learn, and I didn’t feel like stumbling around the airspace. I’m a little type A that way. All I could think of was that I was supposed to be flying a TEC route, and got steamed.
I suppose I could have stuck with it and got the airplane down. Had I climbed out of a real airplane at that point, the first step would have been a doozy.
The happy thing is that, like the times I’ve climbed out of a Cherokee or Champ after getting my backside handed to me, I learned some valuable lessons. And had a few reinforced.
- It’s good to anticipate ATC instructions and be ready for the most likely scenario. Have navaids tuned, the next radio frequency on standby, etc. Have a plan… but don’t get married to it!
- Anticipate changes… And again be ready for the most likely! Have nearby navaid freqs handy just in case, be as familiar with airspace as possible, etc. Plan for the plan to change. Be fluid. Flexible is too rigid!
- I’m not saying this happened here, but controllers get lost in the sauce once in a while. If they ask for something strange, don’t argue, but have a quick clarifying chat with them ASAP. Clearances are compulsory, but you are PIC, and need to understand what’s happening on your flight. Your bacon is floating on air, not theirs. Comply, then ask. IF their instructions are immediately unsafe, give them an unable. If they put you in a pickle, or you do it to yourself, don’t hesitate to declare an emergency. You will shortly get someone’s undivided attention.
- I should have asked for clarification of the clearance when it was not clear. The radio wasn’t that busy, and the flight was in no danger. In real life, that could change if you make assumptions.
- Cool my jets. It’s a prop plane. Getting frustrated reduces your ability to make good decisions.
- Practice the flight before you go for the exam. There is less pressure on you. And you learn better with less pressure.
All that said, these are the problems, frustrations and mistakes that I’ve encountered and created in real world flight as well. That’s party of the beauty of PE and the sim.
I worked an airshow with a pilot who once ran out of gas leading a formation center stage in an airshow. He was a retired Naval Aviator, and a good one. He said he used to put a grease pencil tally mark on the canopy while he flew when he made a mistake, to remind himself to think about each one. Self evaluation should be part of our culture.
There is much more, I’m sure. But that’s it for now… I’ll let you know how it goes. Thanks again to the controllers for their patience with me! You are making me a better sim AND real world pilot.
Warmest regards,
Ron