Tommay85
Well-Known Member
Kinda late in the game to be asking such a question, but what things do you guys specifically brief off an approach plate, and what order. I'd love insights from single pilot and crew environments as I'd imagine this would vary, especially with some operators that may have a standardized way of briefing an approach.
To be honest, my CFI during instrument training had very little insight and didn't really care how, what, or when I read off certain things on a plate. UND didn't really have any kind of standard or judgement on this either. The example briefing in the instrument procedures book seems cumbersome and easy to forget, well, everything.
It's just something I came to realize while reading off a plate to myself the other day that perhaps the way I do it isn't transferable to another company, would incite great criticism, could be dangerous or become so habitual that it'd be hard to fix. I've just never had any formal(or informal for that matter) criticisms or affirmations in this area.
What I do now:
-name of approach including the airport name and identifier(I've set up for wrong approaches by skipping verification of the identifier, oops)
-skip the briefing strip to the plan view
-left, right, or straight in entry and state the approach course and which navaid(s) is setup for it and verifying, as well as verifying the DME is setup if applicable. I don't usually say the frequency numbers out loud,
-skipping to the profile view, what altitude to maintain, step downs(if applicable), the DH(A), the minimums required and what is actually reported at the time
-the TDZE, the MSL alt if I just get the ALS(I state the type of ALS system here also) in sight, the length of the runway, my landing distance and which side the PAPI/VASI is on
-the published missed if no instructions have been given
-the MSA in the event of an emergency
I think that's everything I do. So what do YOU do? Is there anything you think I should add or take away? Keep in mind, I'm single pilot so less numbers are better IMO. Less head bobbing frantically verifying something I've forgotten or confused. Granted, I do take a quick peak before I descend at a step down fix or at glide-slope intercept. After that, eyes are on the instruments. Is it even different in a crew environment? I'm okay at reading numbers solely for verification purposes and dumping them however, but it can get a little ridiculous for me if there's many many of them.
I imagine the guys flying bigger equipment may brief taxi-way turn offs to aim for. I just make sure I'm turning towards the GA side.
To be honest, my CFI during instrument training had very little insight and didn't really care how, what, or when I read off certain things on a plate. UND didn't really have any kind of standard or judgement on this either. The example briefing in the instrument procedures book seems cumbersome and easy to forget, well, everything.
It's just something I came to realize while reading off a plate to myself the other day that perhaps the way I do it isn't transferable to another company, would incite great criticism, could be dangerous or become so habitual that it'd be hard to fix. I've just never had any formal(or informal for that matter) criticisms or affirmations in this area.
What I do now:
-name of approach including the airport name and identifier(I've set up for wrong approaches by skipping verification of the identifier, oops)
-skip the briefing strip to the plan view
-left, right, or straight in entry and state the approach course and which navaid(s) is setup for it and verifying, as well as verifying the DME is setup if applicable. I don't usually say the frequency numbers out loud,
-skipping to the profile view, what altitude to maintain, step downs(if applicable), the DH(A), the minimums required and what is actually reported at the time
-the TDZE, the MSL alt if I just get the ALS(I state the type of ALS system here also) in sight, the length of the runway, my landing distance and which side the PAPI/VASI is on
-the published missed if no instructions have been given
-the MSA in the event of an emergency
I think that's everything I do. So what do YOU do? Is there anything you think I should add or take away? Keep in mind, I'm single pilot so less numbers are better IMO. Less head bobbing frantically verifying something I've forgotten or confused. Granted, I do take a quick peak before I descend at a step down fix or at glide-slope intercept. After that, eyes are on the instruments. Is it even different in a crew environment? I'm okay at reading numbers solely for verification purposes and dumping them however, but it can get a little ridiculous for me if there's many many of them.
I imagine the guys flying bigger equipment may brief taxi-way turn offs to aim for. I just make sure I'm turning towards the GA side.