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Date: Fri, 04 Dec 1998 21:45:13 -0600
From: Snowbird <snbird@ibm.net>
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Subject: Re: Instrument Flight is Not Natural
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Jim wrote:

> I do not like flying under the hood.  (...)
> One problem was that I couldn't see the instruments very well. (...)
> My CFI kept telling me to keep in level. 

> I guess the only thing to do is get back up on the horse, as the 
> saying goes.
 
> Any one else go through this?

I think everyone does, eventually.  And they aren't safe on instruments
until it happens, and they fight through it.

Instrument flying initially came very naturally to me, I think 
because I'm a very visual pilot and the AI was a straightforward
substitution for what I see.  But the first time I flew in
clouds, it was a knife fight to stay on the instruments.  It's
still a knife fight periodically, especially partial panel.

Re the horse, though, I think sometimes a little modification
of the riding scenario is in order.  Try a saddle next time,
try riding in a paddock, try getting a little instruction
on how to ride.  So to speak.

For instrument training, the equivalent is: first, make durn
sure you can really see the instruments.  If the plane's
lighting is inadequate (and many are) equip yourself with an
AOPA beam and read, a shirt-pocket Versa-light, one of those
spiffy headset lights, or some other suitable hands-free source
of extra illumination.  

Next, did your CFI actually explain HOW to use the instruments
to you?  It seems there's a lot of "toss 'em in the pool and 
let 'em figure out how to swim" philosophy when it comes to
instruments, and if you were getting into 40 degree banks with
your CFI chanting "keep it level", perhaps you're one of those
splashing around trying to figure it out before drowning.  

You might want to try reading the description of the scan in a 
couple of different instrument books, then ask your CFI to describe
in detail what you should be doing.  I like the description in
Peter Dogan's Instrument Flight Training Manual.  Also the "pitch
triangle of agreement" and "bank triangle of agreement" are clearly
described in Rod Machado's Instrument Pilot's Survival Manual.

Anyway, the way I fight something that gives me the willies is:
focus on technique, then I'm too busy thinking about what I
need to be doing to worry about it.  So maybe it'll help you.

Snowbird

