The IFR Mindset

killbilly said:
  • How does one keep from getting overloaded?
  • How do you handle curveballs that ATC throws at you? (IE - completely changes your clearance while you're in a 'dangerous' area....how do you keep from hitting a mountain while you're trying to get adjusted to the new clearance?)
  • Now that you've flown IFR for a long time, what do you wish you'd been taught in the beginning?
  • What skillsets are vital and which ones are useless in IR flying?
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1. Overloading is a by-product of not being "ahead of the jet". When people say "stay two steps ahead" that is what they are saying that to prevent getting overloaded. It sounds easy, but to this day I have times where all the sudden I realize that it is almost time to descend and I don't have the right plate out etc. This is also a major antidote to the next question.

2. Curveballs happen...every time you fly you will get a curve ball. It is no different than flying VFR, they change your runway, or weather is a factor and you have to make a deviation/diversion. The first way to minimize the problem is to anticipate it. A decent percentage of the time you have the ability to see/hear the weather up ahead (via ATIS, FSS, ATC, or hearing other traffic requesting deviations etc) and (staying two steps ahead) you already have a plan to handle it should it be a factor. When you get the surprise curve ball it is less of a factor if you are already ahead of the aircraft. You almost always have options at your disposal should you need them, ask for a vector, ask to hold, say "standby". etc. Bottom line, don't move the aircraft away from what you know is a safe area until you know where the mountains/dangers are. Honestly, you should know where the mountains etc are at all times when you are flying. An example, you are on vectors to an ILS 14 approach when you get the call saying they changed to the VOR 32. CURVE BALL, but you had everything else set up, and since you were prepared you had the VOR 32 approach plate out just in case and had looked at it prior to taking off as it was the likely approach in the event of a rwy change. Switch to the VOR freq, put in the new course, brief the new approach and are ready to go. If ATC tells you to intercept final before you have everything set up, "request a delay vector, we need 1 minute to get set up" done. I have heard American Airlines pilots say that when they received a last minute runway change.

3. I wish I had been able to get more time in actual IMC during my training. It would have lead to more comfort in exercising my new found privileges.

4. There is no such thing as a useless skill set. Period Dot. If you had flown all your time as a crop duster there would be some skill that you could apply to flying IMC. Learn WX, your equipment, the limitations of your equipment, the regs, and everything else you can get your hands on.
 
Heading
Altitude
Airspeed
...and in that order of priority.

That's all you have to do.
In developing your basic instrument scan, prioritize those 3 instruments in that order.

Heading, because precise control of heading will make altitude and airspeed more stable.
Matter of fact, if heading and altitude are stable, airspeed takes care of itself.
Take time to develop precise automatic control of heading and pitch before attempting to take on complex procedures.
Your eyes, hands, and feet should be able to control these 3 things while the brain processes the more complex procedures that will occur.
 
One key to being good at IFR, is not forgetting the concepts of VFR.

It's been touched on a bit in a few posts, but one big issue I see are pilots who are "just along for the ride", letting the autopilot fly them and following radar vectors or ATC clearing them direct.

However, when asked to tell me "so....where are you now?" I get the "well, I'm on the 270 for 30 from XXX VOR".
Yes, but where are you......on this sectional? Or on this approach plate?
Where are you in relation to the terrain under you?
Where are you on the plan view of this approach plate, so you can be sure that the vectors ATC is giving you make sense?
Or better, where are you in relation to airports around you in case you need to descend quick and land?

Not forgetting VFR, means having a sectional or something that shows terrain relief under you, not just relying on Low/High charts or similar.

It means that even though you're IFR, you're never forgetting "back to basics".

Because as mundane as the basics appear to be at this advanced level now, they definitely add to your SA bag 'o tricks, and more importantly, they may very well save your life someday.
 
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Here's a couple of things that I think makes flying IFR easier:

1. Allow yourself to relax and think. Don't allow yourself to become paralyzed or overloaded. Take a deep breath, relax and think.

2. Get ahead of things when you can. If you're caught up with "now", start thinking about what you will be needing to do in 10 minutes, and 30 minutes after that.

3. Have a good plan B and C readily available. The time to establish plan B is not when you realize plan A won't work. Have a plan, but be willing to abandon it for a better plan.

4. Make things easy on yourself. For example, If you're not sure if you will be assigned runway 16L or 16R, tune the most probable localizer in one side of your Nav Radio and the other runway in the other side. Now you're ready for either and you can focus on other things. No stress, no sweat.

4. Establish some broad conceptual basics relating too your flight. For example, if you're flying into Denver and you have mechanical problems, understand that you want to work the issues East of the airport (away from terrain) and not West. Now, when things get busy and you don't have that special engine out procedure handy, you can avoid that frantic "what do I do" moment by simply going East. Relax..... Breath.

5. Slow down the airplane and give it and you some wiggle room. Racing to the IAF at the speed of heat just sets you up for trouble. Relax...Breath.

6. Think through the following frequently: Where am I? Where am I going? What do I need to do to get there safely? And, where do I go if I can't get In. Answer those questions early so you don't get caught not knowing at a bad time.

The mechanics of flying the approach is generally pretty easy. The more difficult part is being able to remove yourself from the tunnel to see the big picture. If you get overly focused on one thing, you'll miss four others. Have "what if" answers and reference materials close at hand. Again, Relax and breath. It makes things sooooo much easier.
 
Wow. There is some really sage advice here that I've not seen before. I really appreciate all of it.

I need to look up what the 1 in 60 rule is. I suppose that will come with training.

I may be putting the cart before the horse in trying to look at all this stuff before I start the aviating portion of my training. I just a) don't want to suck at it and b) don't want to die doing it and I'm trying to arm myself with every advantage I can.
 
killbilly said:
I need to look up what the 1 in 60 rule is. I suppose that will come with training..
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60 to 1 rule is good to know, but primarily applies to faster aircraft where determining things like lead radials and the like is key. Not so much for slower aircraft in terms of the computation-side of things.

For your consumption and to see how keeping ahead of things is imperative, I'll describe how the 60 to 1 rule works for an instrument approach for jets, and how the thought process of keeping ahead of the jet works. In this case, lets look at the HI-ILS 21 into KROW and I'll describe how I used to have to plan for this particular approach and the gotchas involved..

http://155.178.201.160/d-tpp/1410/00354HIL21.PDF

First, we have to establish on the ground what we have to deal with when flying this. In the old F-117 I used to fly, our jet penetration speed was 300 kts, and we had a 14 CFR 91.117d exemption for it. The jet didn't like maneuvering when much slower than that due to the permanent 68 degree wing sweep. The jet was single pilot, had no flaps, had no speed brakes, and only 1 NAV radio and 1 UHF Comm radio, however the HSI has an RMI function within the instrument.

The biggest thing with flying these kinds of approaches...the full approach....is knowing your numbers well ahead of time for performance. In a light GA aircraft, you can wait until you're nearly on an arc or about 0.5nm from it before you start your turn; and similarly, you can wait until after the CDI comes alive before turning from an arc to a radial. Not so in a fighter. At 300kts, you do any of these, and you're going to WELL overshoot any radial/arc. So this is where a little bit of public math comes in known as the 60 to 1 rule.

For fast aircraft, knowing when to turn to intercept an arc/radial is key. Using 60-1 I can easily figure this out.

First, radial to arc:

radial to arc: Turn Radius equals Indicated Mach Number minus 2. Therefore TR=IMN - 2; or mach minus 2, where mach equals miles per minute. In my case, 300 knots equals 5 miles per minute. So 5 minus 2 equals a 3 mile turn radius to make a 90 degree turn; ie- lead the radial to arc by 3 miles.

Now arc to radial (need to compute a Lead Radial):

arc to radial: 60 to 1 rule. 60/DME arc x TR, DME arc distance divided into 60, multiplied by Turn Radius. So, on a 15 DME arc (yes, I know it's 16 for this IAP, but for sake of public math ease), 60/15 equals 4....times 3 (TR) equals 12. Or make the lead radial 12 degrees short of the desired radial. So start your turn to intercept a particular radial, when 12 radials prior to it.

Yes, it's public math, but it's pretty simple public math that can be figured out in pre-mission planning, or even enroute if required.

Now getting to the IAP. Am inbound (westbound) at 300kts on the CME R-080 at at/above 15,000, Channel 108 tuned in and headed for JENOM (IAF). Crossing JENOM, continue inbound on the R-080 until 5 DME, where I have to start my right turn to intercept the CME R-360 (Gotcha #1). Continue outbound on R-360 to begin the right turn to the arc at no later than 13 DME due to radial-to-arc needs in order to intercept the 16 DME arc(Gotcha #2). Have to simultaneously begin a descent from at/above 15,000 to at/below 8000 while turning onto the arc (about 3500+ fpm descent....normal to what many Jet Penetrations are planned for), and have this completed prior to crossing CME R-020 (Gotcha #3)....because when crossing R-020, I now have to make a descent to a hard-alt 6500 for LOC intercept (Gotcha #4). I await the Lead Radial of 044 (round it to 045 because I can see that on the RMI) from CME to begin the turn to intercept the LOC (Gotcha #5). Crossing the LR, I have to quickly change from CME to the LOC freq I-ROW Ch 36 ...(big Gotcha #6).....double check the morse code....and set the inbound course of 215 into the HSI, to where I should see the CDI already off the case by this time (halfway through the turn), and maneuver to intercept it. Drop the landing gear, perform final landing checks, slow to 180 (or computed basic weight + fuel + ordnance + 1/2 crosswind gust component), and descend to at/above 5100 when tracking the LOC (no need to be centered up, just intercepting) in prep for glide path intercept. No frequency change to tower should be necessary, since SFA procedures are in effect when IMC (for fighter jet use). Have no ADF to identify TOPAN, nor do I have CME tuned up anymore, so DME is all that's available. Intercepting the GP and crossing 7 DME, crosscheck the glideslope check altitude and run through the 5-Ts, and proceed down the GP to the DH of 3824 (rounded to 3850)...noting the other MDAs in case a transition to non-precision is needed. Once breaking out and transitioning to visual, land; throw out the drag chute if less than 15kts x-wind, slow and exit the runway, jettisoning the chute off before pulling off.

All of this while in the soup, and single pilot...with the aircraft limitations listed above.

A nice mental workout.

Best part of all this is, now that I'm full-time helo trash, all this stuff is N/A for me anymore. :)
 
MikeD said:
In this case, lets look at the HI-ILS 21 into KROW
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Of course! The famous "widowmaker"!

Unfortunately, now that the T-38A is no longer the UPT trainer, this approach isn't nearly the threat it was when you and I went through. In the 38C, like many other dual-nav aircraft (most of which are also flying the approach much slower!), can have the VORTAC and the Localizer dialed up and displaying simultaneously.
 
killbilly said:
  1. How does one keep from getting overloaded?
  2. How do you handle curveballs that ATC throws at you? (IE - completely changes your clearance while you're in a 'dangerous' area....how do you keep from hitting a mountain while you're trying to get adjusted to the new clearance?)
  3. Now that you've flown IFR for a long time, what do you wish you'd been taught in the beginning?
  4. What skillsets are vital and which ones are useless in IR flying?

EDIT - don't limit responses to those 4 questions if you think of something I didn't cover...like I said, I don't know what I don't know yet.
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1. How does one keep from getting overloaded?

Fly the airplane. Nothing really happens that quickly that you don't have time to fly the plane. However, when you fixate on something else and stop flying the airplane, you'll create new problems for yourself.

2. How do you handle curveballs that ATC throws at you? (IE - completely changes your clearance while you're in a 'dangerous' area....how do you keep from hitting a mountain while you're trying to get adjusted to the new clearance?)

Changes to clearances are the norm. In GA aircraft, around weather, expect your clearance to change two or three times enroute. It is probably going to change immediately on departure, too. Fly the airplane. Load the first fix, get to the others when you have time. Ask for a heading if you are really, really busy. ATC has only tried to fly me into a mountain once, so I wouldn't worry about that one too much :)

If you really, really can't do something ATC asks for, just say "unable." Circumstances do happen when this is appropriate, and once you get some time flying IFR, your CFI will doubtlessly come across a few situations to point out.

3. Now that you've flown IFR for a long time, what do you wish you'd been taught in the beginning?

N/A - I'm a CFI, so pretty much always VMC around here. But I would say, some of the ATC rules as they pertain to when you can be cleared for various approach fixes. While you don't strictly need to know their procedures for an IR, it is handy knowing what to expect looking at a plate, and be able to anticipate what you will be flying.

4. What skillsets are vital and which ones are useless in IR flying?

Stabilized flight - absolutely vital. If you can't trim the airplane for hands-off flying within a few seconds of a configuration change, you will be behind the eight ball constantly. Weather already does a good job bouncing things around, you don't want to make things any worse. Aerobatics - well, pretty much useless in civil aircraft.

Otherwise, if done correctly, the flying should be simple and boring. Most of the effort is in knowing what the rules, procedures, and phraseology.

And as @CaptBill said, always have plans A, B, C, D... ready to go. The only way that it is safe to fly around weather, is to have several solid plans of action to keep you out of it. For example, I was picking my way around the normal Florida convective activity this weekend. Plan A) Fly around, stay VMC between layers. Plan B) Drop below to stay VMC, cancel, continue under layers avoiding precip. Plan C) Land, wait for weather to pass. Plan D) Hold outside of weather, waiting for improvement. Packed extra gas to do this, etc, etc ,etc... You probably won't need any of the backup plans 99% of the time, but you don't want to ever paint yourself into a box where none of them are options anymore.
 
killbilly said:
I just a) don't want to suck at it and b) don't want to die doing it and I'm trying to arm myself with every advantage I can.
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You're preparing and thinking ahead, which are solid IFR pilot traits. If you're training with those red-shirted professionals, you're in great hands.
 
MikeD said:
However, when asked to tell me "so....where are you now?" I get the "well, I'm on the 270 for 30 from XXX VOR".
Yes, but where are you......on this sectional? Or on this approach plate?
Where are you in relation to the terrain under you?
Where are you on the plan view of this approach plate, so you can be sure that the vectors ATC is giving you make sense?
Or better, where are you in relation to airports around you in case you need to descend quick and land?
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This is my favorite part of flying IFR - having alternate options and throwing them in the backseat once they are not needed. An excellent practice to keep ones head in the game. I only learned that after a re-route to less than desirable fuel situation, a typical confirmation bias scenario.

While I still do not have an iPad, I have a file folder of alternates in order "to be expected" in the event something goes wrong. That included a quick reference frequency sheet for each airport along with at least two approach plates printed for each runway in the event I lost reception of either. In that event, I did not have to thumb through a book of approaches while already task saturated, dealing with something not going the way I had planned. It was a lot of preparation, but confidence improves, as well as comfort level, because I simply have outs and an outlined plan that will allow me to make a decision.
 
Hacker15e said:
It isn't just "hard" -- it is impossible.
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Depends on the experience. Obviously there are certain things that can't be the subject of ground academics or flight training. But there are others that, while not as serious, can be used to help students monitor themselves.

One of my favorites in instrument training is simply not correcting things. Example: a simple flight between two airports 25 NM away from each other. Despite my best efforts at inculcating a "do what you can in advance" one student never did. So I stopped bothering him about it. Needless to say, he got task saturated on the simplest of flights with no surprises.
 
I've only had my Instrument rating for about a year now so I can't offer a lot of advice, but a huge thing that helped me during my instrument training was knowing that I could always ask ATC for "extended vectors". I believe I only actually used it once or twice, but just knowing that that's an option made me much more comfortable and lowered my stress while preparing for each approach.
 
MikeD said:
60 to 1 rule is good to know, but primarily applies to faster aircraft where determining things like lead radials and the like is key. Not so much for slower aircraft in terms of the computation-side of things.
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That's the reason for my earlier comment.

The rule itself It's a series of calculations that stem from the basic concept (related to the formula for determining the radius of a circle with a known circumference) that if you are 60 miles from a waypoint and off track by 1 degree you are about 1 mile off track (I recal one math wag who pointed out that it's actually the 1-in 67.3 rule). I have no idea whether the FAA knowledge test still has questions on it (there was some movement a few years ago to get rid of them) but they usually came down to calculating time or distance from a VOR based on the time it takes to change radials. The questions always seemed to me to sound like, "If I flew off course for a while (violating 91.123 in the process), I can figure out that if I hadn't flown off course, I'd be there by now."
 
CaptBill said:
5. Slow down the airplane and give it and you some wiggle room. Racing to the IAF at the speed of heat just sets you up for trouble. Relax...Breath.
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This is such a good, solid addition to the discussion, and one pilots violate all the time. I went up to be a safety pilot for a friend who is transitioning from a PA28 to an A36. Heading to an IAF for a practice approach (no ATC used), there was another aircraft just entering the HILO, so we turned and headed away to give ourselves some separation. At full cruise. My friend was clearly falling behind so I gently suggested he slow things down. He did and things went much better after that.

Even in the real world: Last weekend I flew into KGMU for the Southeast Aviation Expo in a Mooney. It was a light IFR day and most everyone coming in that morning was IFR. Being vectored outbound and told I was No. 6 for the approach (even then they didn't bother to give a hold), I said to ATC (remembering my required report), "We're going to slow to 105 knots unless that's a problem for you." ATC's reply: "That would be great!"
IMG_0226(3).png
 
I would echo the sentiment that the best way to prevent saturation is planning.

I've been in a single-pilot 135 gig for about 10 months now and I discovered that quickly. I get all my necessary charts and approach plate books on the seat next to me and when I'm in cruise I write down the atis/ground/tower/clearance frequencies for the next airport on my kneeboard. I also keep large paperclips to bookmark the airports i need in my approach plate books. It also doesn't hurt to have a decend A/FD on the plane (or on your phone).
 
Also, the best ways to kill yourself flying IFR are:

1. Not understanding the various types of departure procedures, and their guarantees/limitiations/conditions. We tend to focus a lot of IFR training on approaches, but not nearly as much on how to safely get away from the ground.

2. When flying IFR really means you are going to stay VMC or even fly VFR. Just because you CAN fly in the clouds does not mean that you SHOULD. Ice, embedded thunderstorms, turbulence, low clouds, widespread low visibility,etc all hazards that take on a new meaning when you have your instrument rating. Often the best course of action is to use your new found instrument knowledge and maintain VFR/VMC. Threat mitigation is paramount to safely operating IFR.

3. Transitioning to IMC and back to VFR. Numerous instrument rated pilots have died flying into IMC while VFR. You have to know how to get on your instrument scan quickly! I was cruising VFR around 2000' AGL one night and all the sudden I was in the clouds. Got on the instruments, called ATC and asked for a climb and IFR clearance. Learned a lot from that experience, but the point I am trying to make is to learn how to get on the dials. Perhaps even more important in the grand scheme is learning how to safely transition back from the dials to looking out the window at the end of the approach. When the weather is at ILS mins and you break out at 200' with barely visible runway lights you have to fight the urge to stare outside the whole time. Yes, you need to see outside, but you still have to maintain control of the aircraft and what's outside your window might not be the best and most reliable means of doing that.

4. Last, single pilot IFR in a single engine aircraft with 2 radios and 2 VORs is not always easy. Learn to have what you need handy, learn what resources you have if you need assistance. Trying to get a chart buried in your bag that is in the back seat while raging around in moderate to severe turbulence is not as much fun as you might imagine.
 
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