It sounded perfect for building your IFR confidence: 1000-foot ceilings and stable clouds with a mission to bring your daughter home from a commercial airport to your home town. Now you’re on approach in IMC without an instructor on board–and the instrument indications don’t make sense.
The flight from your weekend getaway house back to your real home is simply a matter of following the highway through the valley—until the airport, the valley, and the hills are no longer in sight! Would IFR only make things worse? Time is short and valley walls are out there … somewhere.
You’re the pilot of a well-equipped Cirrus SR22, complete with weeping-wing anti-icing. It’s a seriously capable airplane, but ice caught you by surprise and isn’t shedding as you would expect. You’re over unfriendly terrain and need to make some choices quickly. What will your decision be?
What happens when two pilots disagree about how to proceed with a flight? One wishes to divert while the other, more experienced pilot is adamant about pressing on. This scenario will put your CRM skills to the test. Find out the best way to resolve this conflict in the cockpit.
A chance to ferry a plane for your local FBO and build up some free flight hours goes well until you approach the destination airport to find fog is rapidly closing in. You realize there are several legal options that will allow you to complete this flight. But of those items, what’s still safe?
You and your friends are loaded into your airplane, eager to get home after a long weekend away. When starting, you discover a minor problem…or is it? After a bit of trouble shooting, the problem appears to be resolved. Do you depart for home or disappoint your passengers?
IFR Emergencies come in all shapes and sizes, but all take on added urgency when you are operating in the clouds. This month, you are faced with an emergency shortly after takeoff when entering IMC. Your options aren’t great, but if you choose wisely you will greatly increase your chances of survival.
Pilots must be prepared to say “unable” when are asked to do something beyond their personal capability or comfort level. At the same time, we all want to fit in with the flow of traffic and help ATC out where we can — especially when flying IFR. What will you say?
Obstacle Departure Procedures are often misunderstood, but are a critical procedure that instrument pilots must be prepared to fly. ODPs may require pre-planning, as is the case in this month’s scenario. Fly along this month and see why a thorough knowledge of ODPs is so important.
Sometimes, pilots get a little lazy with their preflight planning. It’s human nature; after so many flights with nothing unexpected, a little complacency can creep in. Yet a simple lack of planning creates a serious jam. Decide what must happen to avoid this serious mistake?
Glass panels have forced flight instructors to adapt their training techniques. You’re working on your IPC when the instructor throws a simple failure at you Unfortunately, this simulated emergency quickly became a real one because the instructor lacked in-depth knowledge of the equipment..
Most pilots are comfortable preflighting their airplane and making sound decisions as to its airworthiness, but we often fail to evaluate the most important piece of equipment in the airplane: the pilot! Making the best self-analysis isn’t always simple, but it’s key to this scenario.
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