More advice please

[gotyacovered]

Aight fellas, back again for more advice.

Upon begining the training for my PPL one of the conditions my CFII/dad requested was that I would eventually get my IR.

I was fine with that, and now almost 100 hours into it, I am ready. He said he wanted me to get a little more experience, I disagree. But that is beside the point, I guess. He himself went PPL, IR, commercial, CFII, ATP in his first 200+/- hours of flying... Oh well, I trust him.

I am taking his advice, which is... Start studying, he wants me to read the instrument flying handbook, which I have a digital copy of as of this morning, and he wants me to read flying IFR by Richard Collins, which I also ordered a hard copy of this morning.

Do any of you have any other suggestions in regards to study materials, magazines, etc I can read as I ease myself into this?

[theFlyingHog]

Aight fellas, back again for more advice.

Upon begining the training for my PPL one of the conditions my CFII/dad requested was that I would eventually get my IR.

I was fine with that, and now almost 100 hours into it, I am ready. He said he wanted me to get a little more experience, I disagree. But that is beside the point, I guess. He himself went PPL, IR, commercial, CFII, ATP in his first 200+/- hours of flying... Oh well, I trust him.

I am taking his advice, which is... Start studying, he wants me to read the instrument flying handbook, which I have a digital copy of as of this morning, and he wants me to read flying IFR by Richard Collins, which I also ordered a hard copy of this morning.

Do any of you have any other suggestions in regards to study materials, magazines, etc I can read as I ease myself into this?

I like your dad. lol. I have Flying IFR, pretty good book. I don't see any reason to wait. It may be a steeper learning curve for you, but it's not that hard. The only thing that gave me trouble in instrument training was overload. I wasn't used to the 172 and was shooting ILS's from day one, no intro period. So I was out there on the localizer trying to hold heading and altitude in a weird plane. Once you can hold it steady while you're setting up the GPS for approach or going through the IAP plate, it's much easier.

On Flying IFR, you may see some stuff that doesn't agree with what your instructor wants you to do. I had to fly the ILS @90kts for instructor and Bill High. Richard and the way the 172 handles like to fly it at 100 or 105. Controls are a lot mushier at 90.

I feel the more you can study, the better. Some of it you need to fly it to understand and get a feel for it(books suck sometimes). Please, during training, go to LIT and shoot a few approaches. One of my friends did all of his at small airports with no controller and he had a hard time in Class C airspace. It can get pretty nuts in actual IFR at LIT, but it's a lot of fun and you'll be smiling the rest of the day. I took off and got vectored around for 30 minutes to the localizer, was on intercept and they ask what my best speed to the outer marker is. Instructor chick tells em 90kts. That controller reels off "slow to final approach speed!!" to about 8 jets behind us! They finally gave me a left turn out of the sequence and I got to go to the back of the line

[gotyacovered]

Good stuff there. Bet those jets were loving you. My cousin and his brother, both own Cherokee 180's Went to Oshkosh this past year and was called off final for a re-sequence 3 times! It's a pretty funny story. 

[theFlyingHog]

The funniest part of that day was the FedEx DC10 in the pattern. One guy in a Citation heard "heavy" in a fedex call sign and freaked out. He got on the radio all antsy and frantic asking if he was following a heavy. He was on a different approach and the heavy was 30 miles out

I was vectoring around, on approach(119.5 I think), controller broadcasting on both freqs. An eagle captain on 135.4 apparently wouldn't pull back on the thrust levers, had a 172 ahead but on the parallel, simultaneous approaches but must be staggered, he was getting too close and got sent around. I wish I had heard what he said because the lady on approach gave him an earful and a phone number so they could talk about it on the ground.

[bvillepig]

All of the above is great advice. Those books mentioned seem to be the core.

You will need to study a lot for the Instrument written. I ended up buying John and Martha Kings Instrument Rating Knowledge Test Course.

http://www.kingschools.com/courses/instrument-rating/faa-exam-training.asp   

It will put you to sleep at times but it will do the job.

Flying Hog is giving great advice on Class C airspace.  The old AFB we have here has an ILS and I could do the approaches in my sleep. It is uncontrolled and no traffic.  You could practice to your hearts content. However it did not prepare me for towered fields.

For me I got lucky in that I met a wonderful instructor who had a 10 day straight to your ticket course. I don't know that it would fit everyone but it did me. I did my 10 days in Dothan.

Dothan is where the King Air army guys train and also the helicopter pilots . It was busy, busy and busier between Ft Rucker and the Dothan tower and all of the guys doing IFR training.

The 10 day course worked for me because I had been flying and practicing approaches with my local instructor for a while. Having an ILS, VOR, and 2 GPS approaches at your home field with 0 traffic is great for practice. I could have finished with him but he was very busy and it was going to take a little longer than I wanted.

I started calling flight schools. As I said I got lucky. The one I used only took 2 people at a time. So myself and a friend of mine headed down for the 10 days. I was well ahead of him so after a day or 2 he put me with an assistant and we got to do neat cross countrys down into Florida just to build enough hours to do my ckeck ride.

We will be glad to help any way.

[bvillepig]

The funniest part of that day was the FedEx DC10 in the pattern. One guy in a Citation heard "heavy" in a fedex call sign and freaked out. He got on the radio all antsy and frantic asking if he was following a heavy. He was on a different approach and the heavy was 30 miles out

I was vectoring around, on approach(119.5 I think), controller broadcasting on both freqs. An eagle captain on 135.4 apparently wouldn't pull back on the thrust levers, had a 172 ahead but on the parallel, simultaneous approaches but must be staggered, he was getting too close and got sent around. I wish I had heard what he said because the lady on approach gave him an earful and a phone number so they could talk about it on the ground.

The Memphis contollers seem to be great. Poor captain in the Eagle probably was pretty upset having to give way to a lowly 172. I wonder how his call went?   

I was coming in one time and they asked if I could maintain 140 on Rwy 27 down the glide slope. Affirmitive.

Felt just like one of the big boys till I had to get it slowed down to gear down speed on very short final.

The first time I went into Memphis I was with my Private instructor and probably had around 50-60 hours. The tough part for me was the taxi stuff. I was in my Archer and had left Signature for 18 Left. Thats a taxi almost to Mississippi.

There were a couple of Delta big boys in front of me and I could't see behind. As I turned the 90 at the end of the taxiway I could see what was behind. There must of been 10 Fed Ex jumbos behind .   Talk about feeling like an ant.

[gotyacovered]

The funniest part of that day was the FedEx DC10 in the pattern. One guy in a Citation heard "heavy" in a fedex call sign and freaked out. He got on the radio all antsy and frantic asking if he was following a heavy. He was on a different approach and the heavy was 30 miles out

I was vectoring around, on approach(119.5 I think), controller broadcasting on both freqs. An eagle captain on 135.4 apparently wouldn't pull back on the thrust levers, had a 172 ahead but on the parallel, simultaneous approaches but must be staggered, he was getting too close and got sent around. I wish I had heard what he said because the lady on approach gave him an earful and a phone number so they could talk about it on the ground.

i bet that was funny.

i have been into LIT 6-7-8 times now and 2 things have happened to me every time. seems like the app frequencies are not consistent - i will call according to the procedure in the af/d (35.4 42*-221* or 19.5 41*-222*) and each time i was switched to the other frequencies. could be an anomaly.

the other is after i get clearance and taxi to departure runway 36(each time), i will be told to cross 36 and depart 22R. that happened all but twice, and each those two times was at night-and i was given 36.

no big deal, just an observation.

[theFlyingHog]

The Memphis contollers seem to be great. Poor captain in the Eagle probably was pretty upset having to give way to a lowly 172. I wonder how his call went?   

I was coming in one time and they asked if I could maintain 140 on Rwy 27 down the glide slope. Affirmitive.

Felt just like one of the big boys till I had to get it slowed down to gear down speed on very short final.

The first time I went into Memphis I was with my Private instructor and probably had around 50-60 hours. The tough part for me was the taxi stuff. I was in my Archer and had left Signature for 18 Left. Thats a taxi almost to Mississippi.

There were a couple of Delta big boys in front of me and I could't see behind. As I turned the 90 at the end of the taxiway I could see what was behind. There must of been 10 Fed Ex jumbos behind .   Talk about feeling like an ant.

I haven't had the desire to visit my local Class B's!! A friend I went through training with always wanted to go to DFW. His radio work was bad enough at LIT. I didn't think he knew what we would be getting into at the D.

I was going out for my solo x-country from LIT, 18/36 was closed for extension, using the 22's this day. The cessna ahead of me got 'straight ahead on Bravo, left on Charlie to 22 right' so I was expecting the same thing. She came up and says 'north on Alpha cross the approach end of 18, right on Papa(?) left on Charlie to 22 right'. I was lost after North on Alpha! I swallowed my pride and told her student pilot solo, I'd like progressive taxi please. I keep an open mind when receiving instructions now!!


Gotyacovered, I would look up approach plates and study them. Look at all the different symbols. You can download individual plates for free at airnav.com and other places. Flying IFR has pretty good chapters on weather. Collins gives good insight into considerations you should take. ( I think he said he usually has like 5 flashlights)  The way my training went, it had nothing to do with real-world flying. It was pass the written, knock out the oral, and fly the approaches good enough to pass. I found myself in Gulfport in November, IMC, rain/scattered showers, and nothing about my training really helped me. Past training, most of what you need to know comes from what you learn while flying. Cross-country pre-flight with instructor was doing weight and balance and those annoying little nav logs. I never do that stuff when I'm x-country now. It's mostly weather interpretation using any source available. We piece together a picture from everything we can get our hands on. And the forecasts are wrong a lot.
I would build up a little library of any books that look good to you. For the check ride though, whatever you use to study the written, the Oral handbook, and fly fly fly!

[theFlyingHog]

i bet that was funny.

i have been into LIT 6-7-8 times now and 2 things have happened to me every time. seems like the app frequencies are not consistent - i will call according to the procedure in the af/d (35.4 42*-221* or 19.5 41*-222*) and each time i was switched to the other frequencies. could be an anomaly.

the other is after i get clearance and taxi to departure runway 36(each time), i will be told to cross 36 and depart 22R. that happened all but twice, and each those two times was at night-and i was given 36.

no big deal, just an observation.

Those people at LIT will switch you around. From the east it's 135.4, west is 119.5. Then they may only have one person on app/dep so they switch everybody to one freq. Then they have an overflow freq for a third controller(118.1).

22R or 4L? They do that all the time! If the bigger runway is available they give it to you since it's right there.

[gotyacovered]

The Memphis contollers seem to be great. Poor captain in the Eagle probably was pretty upset having to give way to a lowly 172. I wonder how his call went?   

I was coming in one time and they asked if I could maintain 140 on Rwy 27 down the glide slope. Affirmitive.

Felt just like one of the big boys till I had to get it slowed down to gear down speed on very short final.

The first time I went into Memphis I was with my Private instructor and probably had around 50-60 hours. The tough part for me was the taxi stuff. I was in my Archer and had left Signature for 18 Left. Thats a taxi almost to Mississippi.

There were a couple of Delta big boys in front of me and I could't see behind. As I turned the 90 at the end of the taxiway I could see what was behind. There must of been 10 Fed Ex jumbos behind .   Talk about feeling like an ant.

ant. thats kinda how i felt when this gulfstream taxi'd up at KHBR.

it was kinda funny, i had just pulled it out of the hanger and taxi'd it in that, very clearly marked, non-movement area (it was raining) and i had to load up, and since i was the only airplane i had seen at that airport the 15 hours i was there, thought, no biggie.

it was general tommy franks, i watch them unload and when the pilot walks in i apologize for blocking the walk way, he replied, "its ok, i am sure the general and his wife don't mind walking around your 182 in the rain!"

at that point, i look at my wife and say, "did he just say general?" that when i had to ask the FBO operator who it was. timings everything.

bvillepig, my wife's bday is the first weekend in may and i want to take her shopping, some place i can fly in, get a courtesy car, or a cab and drive to an area that has a lot of shops or malls. i was considering Memphis or Dallas, (obviously be dealing with bravo in one way or another, but looking for a more GA friendly airport) you have any input for an outing like that with the wife? or anywhere else, even thought about Branson, but i have never been there this time of year, so didnt know.

[gotyacovered]

I haven't had the desire to visit my local Class B's!! A friend I went through training with always wanted to go to DFW. His radio work was bad enough at LIT. I didn't think he knew what we would be getting into at the D.

I was going out for my solo x-country from LIT, 18/36 was closed for extension, using the 22's this day. The cessna ahead of me got 'straight ahead on Bravo, left on Charlie to 22 right' so I was expecting the same thing. She came up and says 'north on Alpha cross the approach end of 18, right on Papa(?) left on Charlie to 22 right'. I was lost after North on Alpha! I swallowed my pride and told her student pilot solo, I'd like progressive taxi please. I keep an open mind when receiving instructions now!!


Gotyacovered, I would look up approach plates and study them. Look at all the different symbols. You can download individual plates for free at airnav.com and other places. Flying IFR has pretty good chapters on weather. Collins gives good insight into considerations you should take. ( I think he said he usually has like 5 flashlights)  The way my training went, it had nothing to do with real-world flying. It was pass the written, knock out the oral, and fly the approaches good enough to pass. I found myself in Gulfport in November, IMC, rain/scattered showers, and nothing about my training really helped me. Past training, most of what you need to know comes from what you learn while flying. Cross-country pre-flight with instructor was doing weight and balance and those annoying little nav logs. I never do that stuff when I'm x-country now. It's mostly weather interpretation using any source available. We piece together a picture from everything we can get our hands on. And the forecasts are wrong a lot.
I would build up a little library of any books that look good to you. For the check ride though, whatever you use to study the written, the Oral handbook, and fly fly fly!

thanks again for the input. the weather interpretation is huge, i saw that last weekend.

i seriously think sometimes those controllers sense weakness and go in for the kill. when my first transmission is professional, well thought out, and in order, everything goes smoothly. if i botch it, they get impatient.

if it wasnt too much to type i wish i could give you guys a run down of a conversion i had with denver center when coming out of KRTN. the main problem is that he was talking to quiet. it was funny, he was kind of a jerk.

[gotyacovered]

Those people at LIT will switch you around. From the east it's 135.4, west is 119.5. Then they may only have one person on app/dep so they switch everybody to one freq. Then they have an overflow freq for a third controller(118.1).

22R or 4L? They do that all the time! If the bigger runway is available they give it to you since it's right there.

your right, it was 4L

[theFlyingHog]

Wow, Tommy Franks. I've wanted to meet him since I read his autobiography. I'm sure he had to deal with a lot worse than walking around your cessna when we was CentCom

[bvillepig]

ant. thats kinda how i felt when this gulfstream taxi'd up at KHBR.

it was kinda funny, i had just pulled it out of the hanger and taxi'd it in that, very clearly marked, non-movement area (it was raining) and i had to load up, and since i was the only airplane i had seen at that airport the 15 hours i was there, thought, no biggie.

it was general tommy franks, i watch them unload and when the pilot walks in i apologize for blocking the walk way, he replied, "its ok, i am sure the general and his wife don't mind walking around your 182 in the rain!"

at that point, i look at my wife and say, "did he just say general?" that when i had to ask the FBO operator who it was. timings everything.

bvillepig, my wife's bday is the first weekend in may and i want to take her shopping, some place i can fly in, get a courtesy car, or a cab and drive to an area that has a lot of shops or malls. i was considering Memphis or Dallas, (obviously be dealing with bravo in one way or another, but looking for a more GA friendly airport) you have any input for an outing like that with the wife? or anywhere else, even thought about Branson, but i have never been there this time of year, so didnt know.

The galleria in Dallas is right down the road from KADS. Great restaurants attached to the Westin and also the Galleria. A group of us went over to the Galleria the next day after the Cotton Bowl. Your wife would love that.

The first time I went into Addison they gave me the keys to a courtesy car and I walked outside and started looking for it. I look for a few minutes and click the clicker and can't find it. One of the line girls is coming in and I ask where the courtesy car is. She points to the top of a little hill and lined up are 6 new jaguars. I kind of look puzzled and say I don't see it. She says its one of those jaguars. I throw the keys to a friend who is a State Trooper and tell him That's way beyond my class. No way I can drive that. He hops in and gets on the main road and floors it. OH well. Not sure if that's whats still there as that's been a few years. There gas price makes one think so.

Branson is also good although I don't think they have courtesy cars. They have three airports now servicing the Branson airport.  I have only been into KPLK. It is a neat field and like landing on the top of an aircraft carrier.
Branson West is nearer Silver Doller City.

De witt Spain M01 just north of the Pyramid in Memphis is a short cab ride to the downtown area and Beale Street. Not any Malls downtown but the area is loaded around the Peabody, Fed Ex Forum, Red Birds stadium with quite a bit to do. The approach is over the river so its kind of memorable.

Believe it or not my wife and I have grown fond of flying into either Rogers or Bentonville. The new mall at Pinnacle is huge. There are all the Restaurants you could want and there are some lodges on Beaver Lake that are also pretty Rustic.